The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Playoff Race Is On ft. Paul Bissonnette, Eric Tulsky, and Jonny Lazarus

Episode Date: March 11, 2025

Jeff Marek is joined by Paul Bissonnette, Eric Tulsky, and Jonny Lazarus as we gear up for the final stretch of the regular season. Reacting to the fallout of Rod Brind'Amour's comments after Mikko Rantanen's departure, Mitch Marner's very public contract negotiations in Toronto, and a heating-up Eastern Conference playoff raceShout out to our sponsors!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼 Tim Hortons: https://www.timhortons.ca/rollupSHOW INDEX00:00 Intro07:34 FanDuel Daily Outline09:00 Aaron Ekblad10:35 Jonny Lazarus31:15 Paul Bissonnette58:55 Eric Tulsky01:16:05 Closing ThoughtsReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Flames_Nation🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoff Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You know, I don't know if I've ever seen so much cascading after an NHL trade deadline. And by that I mean the embers are still burning. We can still smell the fumes from what happened on Friday. And the conversation continues here on the program today. I wanna start off by talking about a couple of things here. We got a lot of guests, I'm gonna get that in a second. Eric Kulski's gonna stop by, Paul Bissonette's gonna stop by, Johnny Lazaro's gonna stop by.

Big show, so we're going late. Normally maybe you park an hour for me today. Give me an extra 15. We're gonna go to 415 Eastern, if you're watching live here on our daily face-off YouTube channel. You know what I think the worst job at the hospital is? No, let me paraphr-

No, no, no, hang on, hang on. Let me amend that. You know what I think one of the worst jobs mentally must be at the hospital? Triage. I would hate to be the person who has to decide the order of who gets seen when. I would hate to be able to I would hate to be the person that says to someone no you're going to have to wait. Someone else has a situation that's more important than yours.

That's gotta be mentally draining and mentally tough. And on a day like this, not that it's anywhere near what people who work triage at hospitals go through. How would a hard time deciding what's gonna be the top topic on the show today? Have a tough, is it gonna be Aaron Ackblad? And the 20 game suspension for the PED violation? Is it gonna be the ongoing saga of Mikko Rantunen?

Is it gonna be Mitch Marner? Is it gonna be Brad Marshand at TD Garden? Is it gonna be Rasmus Stallien? I don't know, but I'm having a hard, and it's my job to do this. Actually, you know what? How about this? It's not my job to do this. Zach's job to do this.

It's my job to pass the buck. I wanna say a couple of things here. Before we get, you like that one, Zach? That one's for you. Where there's a buck to be passed, I will be there. I will be your guy, and I will be the one saying, oh yeah, that's Zach's job. Zach's gonna take care of it. Zach's gonna take care of it.

So today I want to start off by mentioning a couple of things and tell you a quick story about lying. And I want to tell you a story about, this is all sort of under the umbrella of one of my favorite quotes by Winston Churchill. I'm kind of on a Churchill bender these days, documentaries and books etc. One of my favorite lines from Winston Churchill, he's talking about wartime and he said, and I'm paraphrasing, he said, during war the truth is so sacred that she needs to be protected with a bodyguard of lies. protected with a bodyguard of lies. The truth is so sacred she needs to be protected with a bodyguard of lies. I'll tell you something here. There's a lot of different reports about Miko Rantzenen. There is the the Paul Bissonnette report from Spit and Chicklets about Rasmus Dahlien. I've been there.

I've been there and know what Paul is going through right now with this situation where he's maintaining one thing and The other person is saying no, that's not true Let me tell you a quick story about truth in hockey in all sports again under the umbrella of Protected with a bodyguard of lies and I'm not saying the one person's right not saying one person's wrong What I am saying is that's a tough gig and that's

a tough sit for someone. And I've done that one before and it's not easy. So you'll like this one because this involves your one of your former captains. This involves Matt Sundeen and this involves Mike Seisberger who now works with nhl.com and back then wrote for the Toronto Sun when it had probably the most vibrant sports department of all the newspapers. Scott Morrison oversaw the whole thing and it was about the Matt Sundeen contract extension and it was a whopper and Zeissberger calls Bill Waters who I worked with for many years at 640 local radio in Toronto doing a show called Leafs Lunch. Bill used to be

the assistant general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Zeiss calls him at 640, a local radio in Toronto, doing a show called Leaf's Lunch. Bill used to be the Assistant General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Zeiss calls him up one day and says, "'Billie, just a heads up, quick courtesy call here. "'I have the details on the Matt Sundeen contract extension "'and we're gonna put them in the paper tomorrow.'" And Bill says, "'Oh, well, tell me what you have.'" Zeiss Burger tells him what he has,

the details of the contract, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Bill's on the phone with him, says, Mike, you're wrong, and if I were you, I would not publish that. Zeissberger says, look, I got it from a great place, it's double checked, it's well sourced, I'm not being frivolous about this, I'm just giving you the courtesy call

so there's no surprises in the organization Essentially so Cliff Fletcher isn't isn't surprised here and Billy goes on to say something along the lines of no you're gonna embarrass yourself You put this in your newspaper Don't put this in the Toronto Sun don't put with it. Don't put in anything like this. It's all wrong Mike You're gonna embarrass yourself Zeisberger says Willie appreciate it, but we're going with it. So he publishes it the next day, okay, and as it turns out it's like 99% accurate. He's, Mike's got it, like Mike's an excellent as always has been. Mike is an

excellent reporter and he has it nailed. The following summer, Bill Waters invites Mike Zeisberger to his cottage in Aurelia and they're walking through the house and Bill is showing him. Here's the dock at the back and here's the lake and here's the family room and here's like Bill's got this basement that's like a hockey hall of fame. He's got like the Bobby Orr pinball machine, Bambali, he's like the whole deal and then he goes come on into this one room. Mike says okay and he is a room with a sofa and a chair and a stand with a phone on it and he says Mike he points to the chair and he says Mike

that's the chair I was sitting in when I lied to you about the Matt Sundeen contract. The truth is so sacred she must be protected. The bodyguard of lies. These are interesting times right now folks. By the way, talk about an exciting time to be a hockey fan. It's like not that a new story pops up every couple of days, it's like not even the new story pops up every day, it's that a new story pops up like every hour. Like at the end of the show I'm gonna feel like we've missed something. I'm gonna go back and you're like oh yeah, Merrick, like 45 minutes ago this happened and we should probably just stay on the air and continue to go. It's

been a wonderful story for a wonderful season for stories so far and right now The action on the ice has been awesome. There's Superman punch yesterday in church st. Pierre tweeted about it We're gonna get there in a couple of seconds, too. The action on the ice has been outstanding and the drama even though the NHL Previously had positioned themselves as not soap opera All their soap opera and it's soap opera all the way to the bank. All the stuff off the ice has been compelling as well. Okay coming up on the program today Daily Outlines presented by our friends and partners at FanDuel, North America's number one sportsbook app provider. Coming up general manager of the

Carolina Hurricanes, Eric Tulsky. Now a lot of this conversation that I'll have with Eric will revolve around timelines and there's probably going to be an element of who said what to who and who meant what and how did this all come together because you know one of the one of the voices that we haven't heard through all of this Is Eric Tulsky, GM of the Carolina Hurricanes. He will be aboard coming up here in just under an hour Paul Bissonnette from the Spit and Chickles podcast and the NHL on TNT will be aboard coming up here in just under an hour. Paul Bissonnette from the Spit and Chickles podcast and the NHL on TNT will be aboard, it's his birthday by the way.

And he actually shares a birth date with some pretty significant moments in hockey history. We'll go over those with Paul and all the latest, whether it's Marner, whether it's Rantanen, whether it's Buffalo Sabres, all of it, we'll do that with Paul. Coming up here in a couple of moments, Johnny Lazarus. Laz was great on Morning Cup of Hockey,

and just bluntly, I wanted to come on and retell a story. I wanted to retell a story about taking weight loss pills while he played, and some other NHL issues around. Listen, he's such a talent, and this one story, you gotta listen to. If you don't listen or watch Morning Cup of Hockey, you really should. And Laz is gonna be aboard here in a little while.

Mikko Rantinen, we'll talk about Mitch Marner as well. And we'll also talk about Aaron Ekblad. And maybe let's start there before we get Laz aboard. I don't know if you have a thought on this one, but I kinda look at PEDs in sports Not in the most popular way, I know everybody likes to Get on their high horse and moral high ground Some might say jealousy with a halo about things like PEDs. I

Kind of look at performance enhancing drugs. I don't know who said it. I always thought it was Victor Conte but I don't know that it was who said there's no such thing as a drug test. There are only IQ tests. There are no such things as drug tests. There are only IQ tests and that's why when I hear someone like Aaron Ekblad say that I took something that I wasn't aware of and didn't clear it with our trainers, like I believe them. For a couple of them, I believe him. And I believe athletes to say that because let's face it, these guys have access to the elite of the elite gear out there and masking agents. Again, there are no such thing as drug tests,

only IQ tests. And it has been proven time and time again that a lot of these companies that manufacture your protein powders and your creatines, et cetera, have been guilty of either deliberately or inadvertently having ingredients in their powders that aren't listed on the labels, which can, as we've seen time and time again,

get an athlete in a lot of trouble. So we got a massive show here today. So everyone, let's just take a breath early. Everyone in the chat, everyone listening, everyone watching, settle in and bring aboard the man, the engine, the driver for the Morning Cup of Hockey show here on our daily face-off, the one and only Johnny Lazarus. Johnny, I just mentioned a couple of seconds.

By the way, what do you think of that statement? You and Colby talked a lot about ECPLAD this morning, spent the balance of the beginning of your show today talking about it. I'm very much of the belief that in agreement with those that say there's no such thing as a drug test, only an IQ test. Drug tests are incredibly easy to pass as we all know. But I look at this ECBLAD situation and I believe them because we've seen plenty of athletes take things, put things in their body that shouldn't be there, but I don't necessarily know that it's deliberate in that case because everybody knows when wash day is. Everybody knows this where I would make the argument

we're incapable of having a grownup conversation about PEDs but we'll park that for one second. What did you make of it when you first heard it? I mean, it is hefty. It is 20 games and that goes into the playoffs as well for the Florida Panthers. Listen, I don't wanna speculate, but when I first heard it, my first thought was he's in a contract year.

You know, they're trying to get back to the stand like a final. I'm sure his body is beat up from the past two years. Like maybe he was doing something that he just like didn't tell anyone and didn't know any better. And you know, I know you teed me up for the story. I told it this morning like it's so but I didn't have the resources for it. So I feel like with him, it's a little bit different, right? Like I was playing junior hockey in the North American League, like, no one told me what to take what not to take. He's in the NFL. I'm sure if there was

something bothering him, he could have asked doctors, Hey, is this a good idea? But I feel for him like 20 games, you know, whether he meant to or didn't mean to, it's a hefty punishment, like he said. So obviously it's going to be a learning lesson for him and missing those two playoff games is huge too. But, you know, hopefully it's a mistake he learned from and never does again. It's see, again, like sometimes when athletes say like, it's not, I didn't, this wasn't deliberate.

I believe them, but I don't think, I'm not naive enough to suspect that, well, I guess they caught the one guy who was using this year. Like, come on. Like when the difference between the American league and a retirement contract in the National Hockey League is like razor thin, you know, I'm still very much of the belief

that like players look for edges wherever they can get them. And I know I'm painting with a wide brush here, but I kind of look at all sports the same. And I don't think that hockey should be sort of placed in a, this sort of position away from football, baseball, basketball, track and field, all the rest of it. It's a story we like to tell ourselves. Oh, good hockey boys would never do that.

I was born at night, Johnny, but I wasn't born last night. One of my favorite segments. I love the show part of my take and they like never really talk hockey, but I find those guys wildly entertaining. And I'm pretty sure a couple of years ago, they had like a segment on their show. Is this guy taking steroids? And they would just they would just list off names and they go like, yes or no, have a debate style show

on if that athlete was taking steroids. And I found it hilarious, but there was never a hockey player on that list. So, goes to show you, right? And yeah, I mean, I don't wanna bog the whole show down talking about it. It is a drag for Eckblad. It's awful for the Florida Panthers.

And as you mentioned, he's in a contract season as well. But I do understand it. I do understand athletes that use. I don't get up on a pedestal here and try to place myself technically over any of them. I get it. I totally understand it. I look at all these PED suspensions and go like, yep, I get it. I understand. You're an athlete. Yeah, this is your job and you have 10 years to make the most amount of money that you can. Mm-hmm. And honestly like, you know, people always, the baseball fans, I feel like I always hear talk about, you know, Barry Bonds and Mark McGuire and all these guys, A-Rod, I think.

But it was still entertaining, right? Like no one's gonna go back and wish they weren't doing it. Right? Look, every record that gets smashed. Yeah, probably a stupid comment by me, but like, you know, it is what it is. Well, no, we all went along for the home run. We all went along for, you know, so-so McGuire and Bonds.

We were all along for the ride and thought it was awesome. Baseball has been dropping in the ratings lately. Maybe that should be a requirement. I'll tell you what though, I was making this point off the top of the show. Hockey's hot, man. Yeah.

Like right now, like on the ice, every night it's fantastic. Off the ice, there's, you know, so and I'm gonna get into this with Tulski a little bit later on in the program. You know, there's soap opera off the ice. There's like, you go around, I'll go to the rink later on tonight

and the parents will be, you know, the hockey moms and dads will be like, this about Rantanin, I heard this about Dallene, and I heard this about Aaron Ekblad. It's just, it's like we have, and it hasn't been like this like maybe forever. Like this conversation churn that's happening. The games are awesome.

The games are wild. The games are more of an accent on violence lately, ever since the Four Nations do with guys dropping gloves off the, off the, uh, off the hop. But like there's never been more storylines all at the same time, which only leads to good things for the league. Like it's a, it's a hot time to be in hockey. Well, don't you think a lot of the players that watch the Four Nations to wanted to be a part of that and are now replicating their NHL games like?

Yes. Yes. And punch last night, even though it wasn't landed. It doesn't matter. That picture is probably the best picture I've ever seen in hockey or one. It is it is perfect. It's pretty good. Again, I think there were complaints, though, leading into like the end of January that there wasn't enough drama this year and last year was full of drama throughout the entire

NHL season. And I think everything started Jeff, when we were in Jasper and the whole ranting and trade went down originally for an Aegis. Like that's when this whole ripple effect went the following Friday night, JT Miller gets traded to the Rangers. And then, you know, a week or so after that, Four Nations begins. And then since then, we've been rolling and there's so many eyes on it. I saw a TikTok of some random guy, I forgot the name, but he was talking about the Kraken vs. Flyers game. This

is a new hockey fan watching a regular season game between the Kraken and the Flyers. And he was saying, man, if playoff hockey is like they say it is, it's going to be insane because I'm watching this Kraken Flyers game and it's unbelievable. And I was like, buddy, if playoff hockey is like they say it is, it's going to be insane because I'm watching this crack and flyers game and it's unbelievable. And I was like, buddy, literally watch any other game and you'll think it's even that much thicker. So there are more eyes on it. And it's been so much fun to talk about every day.

Like, it's a blessing for guys like us, right? We do daily shows and we have something to talk about every morning. I loved how you started your show today. Like, where do I begin? I would hate, like I was saying, I'd hate to do triage at a hospital. I hate to do like your show today. Like where do I begin? I hate I guess in like I'd hate to do Triage at a hospital. I hate to do like okay, how am I gonna determine what the biggest story of the day here is

It's true. Like every single night like you can be watching games ago like boom. There's our lead and five minutes later No, wait, there's our lead for tomorrow. It's it's it's and tonight we got 11 games So tonight's gonna be a lot of fun too And we'll probably have you know, we'll probably have a ton more things to talk about. One of the things I wanna get your thoughts on as well, Brad Marshand. Now I wasn't on yesterday, or else I would have had a good whack at this pinata

during yesterday's show, but this is gonna be a weird one tonight at TD Garden. Now Brad Marshand's not playing, the Florida Panthers hope to have him back by the end of the season, but the Panthers are in TD Garden. And as much as we talk about, there's only a handful of guys that have ever done this. Keith Kachuk was one of them when he got traded to Atlanta and then went right back to St. Louis the following season after playing like 13 or 14 games in playoffs with Atlanta.

their 14 games and playoffs with, um, with Atlanta. Like it, it just, it just doesn't happen. And as much as, you know, and, and good on Brad Marsh and for the, um, for the, uh, for the ad that he took out in the Boston globe, thanking fans, um, the press conference, which was combination tough to watch. And yet also, I think we're all trying to put on our Brad Marsh and decoder ring and saying, okay, is that one a shot at Neely? Is that one a shot at Sweeney? Is that one? I could like, you know what I'm that one a shot at Jacobs How are you feeling about the whole Brad Marshand thing here? And I think you and Colby nailed it like the most miserable line to play against in the playoffs

Yeah, be that Kachuk Marshand Bennett line. Good lord. Yeah. I mean listen, I love it I love every second of it. And I think it's because he's a perfect fit there and everything that Florida has built their team around. Yeah. Brad Marsh and is that extra puzzle piece to bring them in for a back to back run. Right. And one thing that stood out that actually like didn't get clipped from his press conference yesterday, he was talking about the Bruins and Panthers previous playoff series over the past two years. And he said, we referring to the Bruins and Panthers previous playoff series over the past two years and he said we

Referring to the Bruins and quickly correct himself and caught cracking himself and called them the Bruins Like I found that interesting too that he caught himself in the moment in a pretty big press conference Like referring to the Bruins as we and then you know, basically flipping his mindset right there in that moment That he's a part of the Panthers It's gonna be emotional for him tonight for sure. They're probably going to show him on the Jumbotron in the press box and I don't know what his reaction will be probably a wave or maybe he'll just sit there and not smile. I don't know how he's going to handle it.

I imagine he's going to have a pretty big fat smile on his face for sure. But you never know how guys handle these situations. And with that said, if I'm a Bruins fan, like while it will hurt to see him in a Florida Panther uniform, the rivalry isn't that long lasting. You know, it's a new division rival over the past two years. It's not like he went to the Leafs where there's been hatred for, you know, north of decades. Right? Like, I think this is, it's still painful for sure. But it's not like, I don't see it as him going to Toronto and like helping Toronto win a couple. Montreal would have been the one. Like, that's one where it's like, oh, wow.

I mean, that goes back to the 20s. Yeah, so. That's rivalry. I'd say if he asked 100 Bruins fans, 95% would say they're happy for him. I think it's gonna be one of those situations where like, listen, I'm gonna be like this with Vlad Guerrero this year. Like I, God, I just hate what's happened to my Toronto Blue Jays, but wherever Vlad goes when he gets traded, I'm going to cheer him and I hope he goes to

Atlanta with his old manager, Alex Anthopoulos, and I'm just going to be cheering whichever team Vlad goes to and I'm going to be cheering for Vlad to win the World Series because I hate my baseball team right now. And I'm sure like, listen, we've talked about this before. One of the great things about sports is hating sports. One of the great things about having a team is hating your team. Right? And I think it's funny too, eh Johnny?

It's one of the areas in sports that sports doesn't want to embrace, but it's so legitimate for every single fan. One of the great things about being a sports fan is hating sports and hating your team and hating on all of it. And I think that that's one area that we we don't maybe talk about enough like there's a lot of Boston Bruins fans that really hate their team right now. They really do. But let me tell you this though on the flip side of that, Jeff, and it's a great like point you make because I've always done it as a ranger fan like anyone who came at the Rangers like I'm coming right back at you to defend them. and like we're on the same team here. Like, you know? So that's when it's really sad,

but it's fun when your team sucks and you still believe in them because you want to fight for them. But I think Bruins fans right now might've given up the fight. And when people trip the Bruins, they're going to be like, you know what? You're right.

You know, I thought it's, I thought this morning you guys had, you and Colby had a really good conversation about Dylan Cousins. Now we've seen a lot of players and you made this point too. There's a sort of history here of players leaving the Buffalo Sabres to greener pastures. Everybody's made that point I feel like. No I know but hey but it's legitimate like I've always said like low hanging fruit is still nutritious. It's okay to pick that off the vine it's okay. I mean there is there is a track record here. I thought that Colby made an interesting point too. He's like to pick that off the vine. It's okay. I mean, there is a track

record here. I thought that Colby made an interesting point too. He's like, look, he had the 31 goal season once. That doesn't mean that he's a 31 goal scorer. That doesn't mean that whatsoever. But like, I keep going back and forth on this one. Ultimately, I look at Dylan Cousins and I say, that's probably a player that didn't spend enough time in the American Hockey League. But I say that about half the Buffalo Sabres lineup. Like I say, this is the team that you can point at and say like, that's why you don't rush everybody.

Like sure, like Kevin Adams was in Chicago and saw Jonathan Taves and Patrick Kane join the lineup like that. Well, those guys are Hall of Famers. That's not gonna be the Buffalo Sabres. That's not gonna be Owen Power and Samuelson and Dylan Cousins. Guys need time to develop. But I keep going back and forth on Dylan Cousins.

Keep saying to myself, yeah, he got that 31 in Buffalo and I know he can do that again, but I'm basing that on nothing. I'm just basing that on vibes. But he has looked good so far in the couple of games with the Ottawa Senators and a beautiful goal yesterday. Okay. So I was wondering if the conversation would go here. And it's funny because I actually had a really long conversation with one of my friends who

played in the Buffalo organization for about a year. He was with Rochester essentially the entire time, but was with the Sabres for camp. And he was telling me like, the way it works in Buffalo in the AHL is that they're not taught to win in the AHL. They play their guys on NHL contracts to help develop them, but they're not building the right habits down there to teach those guys how to win. So when those guys are called up to the NHL, they're young and they're inexperienced when it comes to winning games. And the only way you learn how to win is by having the older guys show you how to do it. And Buffalo hasn't necessarily had the veterans

in the past couple of years that have won before that can teach the younger guys how to do it. So you look at an organization like the Washington Capitals, a team that's won back to back Calder Cup championships in the AHL, and they have their guys in the AHL getting called up to the NHL, and they're winners. And that's why they're contributing

and making the Washington Capitals a much better team. Whereas the guys that are coming up in Rochester, they haven't been winners down there, so they don't know how to win when they're called up to the NHL. You know what I mean? So it's this constant cycle of where it starts and you build it up and it's not starting down there. So that's interesting because this year, out of any year, like I look at Rochester right now in the American League

and I say, they could win the Calder. Like they could win the Calder Cup. Like that team is that good. Like they could win the whole thing this year. Like that might be the one thing the Buffalo Sabres, you know, hang their hat on this season. Or American League team, you know, won the AHL Calder Cup and these are the players

that are on the horizon, you know, with the old saying in sports you can sell wins or you can sell hope then you start selling hope hard look at this this is the next wave of Buffalo Sabre you know don't forget to buy your season ticket holder buy your season tickets for Buffalo next season what do you really quickly here the Ottawa Senators yeah and you guys had a conversation this morning about Lena Solomarck that I thought was really good. And the one thing about Linus Almark to me,

and I'm waiting for him to have a moment where he can just erase this feeling about him. Linus Almark has never really had a moment of pressure where he's bit down on the mouth guard and done something and taken a team somewhere. Obviously he couldn't do it in Buffalo because they're never in that position. Didn't do it at Rochester when he's playing in the minors in with the Boston Bruins. As everybody has noticed all those big games, those big pressure

moments, those were all Jeremy Swainman. Those were not Linus Almark. He hasn't had that moment yet. I really do wonder if this could be the season that he has that moment. Hope so, because the story is, can he be that guy? We don't know. What kind of moment are you looking for? Like I take last night as an example, right? He makes like what?

48 saves. Yeah, he was great. You know, essentially every game now is must win for Ottawa, especially with a team like Detroit that was within three points of them last night. You know, and he puts up a performance like that. Like Ottawa had no business winning that game. But I'll tell you what, the Ottawa Senators, I said they made the playoffs last year. Like, you know, I famously bet my life on it on Twitter and got dunked on by a lot of

people. I was a year early to the cool trend. But they're becoming a team that hockey fans are falling in love with, I think. Right. Like Brady Kachuk built up, I mean, he's already had the persona, but he built it up even more after Four Nations doing this whole media tour, going on the Kelsey Brothers podcast, going on part of my take, doing every little thing to help grow the game here in the States a little bit. And the personalities around that team, Shane Pinto's come back after being suspended 41 games last year. Jake Sanderson emerging at Four Nations as well, being a last minute roster ad, like

they have little pieces on their team. Adam got debt, you know, another phenomenal season start playing two years in the AHL winning a hobby Baker, you know, not, not too long ago in that Northeastern, you know, they have a lot of cool storylines within their team that make them so lovable. And honestly, Ottawa fans them so lovable. And honestly Ottawa fans are so passionate too. I love following the Ottawa Senators fan base. Like the lockdown Sens podcast guys, Martian, like those guys are hilarious people to follow. And I've honestly had a blast watching this Ottawa Senators team. Obviously not as much when they're coming back

from down 3-1 in the third period against the Rangers, but They're a fun team to get on the bandwagon for and I really hope they make the playoffs because that fan base looks like an incredible party Games matter though the the one like there's there's always like the the sunny side of the mountain the shady side of the mountain Detroit man like losers of six in a row here like at a certain point like There has to be the season where this finally changes here. Like, you know, we keep going on and on about the Buffalo Sabres, Buffalo Sabres, Buffalo Sabres, but like Detroit Red Wings, I know it's not Sabreland, but still they're not that far behind. And again, relatively brand new rank, no playoffs. That's the, yeah, that's the, yeah.

I, uh, I feel for Sabres fans, man. My friend Dwayne, he had the famous like five minute phone call on the radio that went re-viral this past year. Oh yeah. Something like 10 years ago that still rings true today. He was texting me the other night like, and this is why I love Buffalo fans because they're always hopeful no matter how bad things are. He's trying to convince me that the Sabres are going to go after and get Mitch Marner this summer for 16 million per. I was like, Dwayne,

I love you, but that's just that's just never gonna happen. Do you think it might? No, I don't. I on Marner, I still do think that push comes to shove that Marner stays with Toronto. Yeah, I really do. But do I think he gets to market? I mean, you look at Darren Ferris, like it's the same thing with Sam Bennett. Like Darren Ferris at Quartex has both Bennett

and Mitch Marner. The thing about Darren Ferris is he's always said this. Like, I don't know. He's always said like, I don't know why more players don't go to market to see their worth. It's not as if the Maple Leafs can't sign him on July 2nd

or July 3rd, but I do think that at the end of all of it, push to shove, I think it's important for the business of Mitch Marner, Inc. to be a Toronto Maple Leaf, but we'll see where it goes. I agree. I couldn't agree more. Treated with gods. Real quick, Paul Bissonnette coming up here, how much has he influenced your life as a broadcaster and hockey player? Yeah, I mean, I am who I am because Paul Bissonnette made me sign on to Twitter when I was in 10th grade in high school. He made you?

I was playing, well, he didn't make me physically, but the team I was playing for, the Metro Fighting Moose at the time, all we would talk about in the locker room is how there was this NHL fourth liner that actually chirps back at fans So we'd like take a picture with a cone and tweet it at him Like just ran the ball business on the street, you know We just wanted to get his attention because it was so cool that an NHL player like would notice us So I actually haven't told him this directly ever because just whenever business somewhere everyone surrounds him. He just attracts everybody That's the guy he is but yeah, like my teammates back then

when I signed into Twitter for the first time, they started calling me Laz Nasty because I was such a big Biz fan growing up. So my birthday is actually in 11 days on March 22nd and I used to tweet at Biz every year on my birthday to chert me. So maybe if he's hearing this, he can chert me on my birthday this year.

That's something that the 15, 16 year old Johnny Lazarus would have died for. Let's see if we can do a quick overlap here then. Zach, can we get a busy board for a victory lap here for Johnny Lazarus with Paul Bissonnette from the NHL on TNT and the Spittin' Chicklets podcast as we get them set up here. Zach, can we do the three? The three shot? One thing I will say- There we go.

The three banger. I'm not gonna chirp you, Johnny Laz. Come on, man, what do you mean here? So, hang on a second. I'm not chirping, we're coworkers. But here's the thing, Biz, thanks as always for stopping by, pal. Here's the thing, I don't mean this as an insult,

but do you understand- I like this. No, I know you do. Trust me, I don't mean this as an insult, but do you understand? I like this. No, I know you do. Trust me, I'm the same way. Everyone gets free shots. More than compliments, actually. Do you get an idea of how influential you've become? I don't really like to think about it.

It's true, though, bud. It's true. Do you get a sense? Hearing that story from Johnny, what goes on in between your ears? Yeah, no, that's that's pretty cool. And it was fun, because I guess at the time, like, not only were there not a lot of NHLers that were active on it, I was just fortunate enough to be in a market where like, the PR department, and the team didn't care that I was like, going back and forth with fans, like, you know, like a few matches here, like I was going at it with

Kaniacs the other night after this whole rotten and debacle. Like, like I love it. And I love passionate fans. And I like kind of joshing back and forth about hockey. And I love taking the piss, whether it's a pile on that somebody's sending me who's saying great, great running into biz or or whether it's a pigeon eating breadcrumbs on the, on the road. Hey, I just ran into biz.

So, or, or at the grocery store, the grocery stick. Oh, hey, you just ran into biz. So I love that shit, you know, and it's great to see, man. And they congrats, Lazi on your career and what you've done with it and being in the mix, not only on social media, but the interviews you're doing with players for BR and everything else you got going in your media world. And it's also nice to see that you kind of,

like even you too, Merrick, like you guys don't pigeon-shole yourselves. You guys do all types of media and never really say no to anything. And it kind of continues to evolve any way we want to bury it. So it's awesome. I'm very flattered, but I kind of I said this on our podcast recently, it just seems like

with the league and where everything's going, it's like, what's the boat comment like all tides? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, tides, right? Rides all boats. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I tied rides all boats or whatever. I'm not I'm not a big quote guy, but you guys. Yeah. Jeff, can I just say one thing before I? Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. You want to hear from Biz, but I will say, Biz, like for our generation, like you were the first guy to make being scratched or playing on the fourth line

like kind of cool, you know, like that's that's something that you never really heard hockey players say before. And I know it's self-deprecating humor and that's like where I get my humor from but when I first heard of spitting chiclets I was a freshman getting scratched you know I was playing fourth line trying to get into the lineup and I listened to you guys talk and you just talk about being a teammate and being positive around the guys and it would help the guys like me that were going through it at the time so like

that's why you were so influential for a guy like me and I don't want to take up too much time in the show, but I think people know, no, no, I, I appreciate the comments. And that's cool to hear. Cause like, you know, sometimes I get like some players might get discouraged, but you know, there's all roles are important. And especially if you're bringing that positive energy, like that just means they're going to want to keep you around, right?

And you can continue to go to the next level and also just teach you good I guess life life qualities bringing it into the working world right you know you're not always going to be in that position that you want so if you keep that positive attitude and I agree with you man and that's awesome that I was able to kind of help out with that part of your career so appreciate the comments and like I said right back, man, you're doing your thing and, uh, and it's, it's great to be a coworker of yours. Yeah. Inside you, inside you, there's a 15 year old Johnny Lazarus that's doing what right now? Oh, he's, uh, I'll keep it PG, but there's probably no John.

Going on his pod pretty soon. I just texted him. I, I, I'm kind of jammed up the next couple of weeks, but I'll be hopping on with him. That's awesome. Right before we go into playoffs. And like, you know, all us media members just keep snapping it around, man. It's great. It's great to see what's happening with the league

and there's so much to talk about. That's awesome. All right, well let me hop because people want to hear about Darlene. Thanks, bud. You'll be good. Aw, yeah. How's your day going, bud?

Paul Bissonnette from NHL on TNT. Hey, man. Hey, I'm just repeating what I heard. I'm just repeating what I heard. You know, it's funny too, because I've been in your position many times. It's tough out there. It's really hard, and especially when there's a whole...

I'm not an insider. No, I know. But here's the thing. You don't even have to be, right? Right now there are so many stories. I was saying off the top of the show, the person at the hospital who does triage has the hardest job there. I shouldn't say that.

One of the toughest mentally tough jobs at the hospital to say, okay, this is more important than that and this needs to get more detailed than that and this person's here. No, you're gonna wait a little bit. Putting it all together, like, it's not the easiest thing in the world. And when you're doing something like a podcast that has the audience that you have, like, you know, like the gravity that your words carry.

And I've been in situations where it's like, I've stuck my neck out and said one thing based on what I've been told, and someone else says the opposite, and eventually it all works out. It's just a tough sit for a little while, that's all. Yeah, like I personally, because like I don't really, like I don't really care. Like that's kind of where I'm at.

Like, you know, I repeated what I heard, I said apparently, and I mean, you gotta you know, I repeated what I heard. I said, apparently, and I mean, you got to think though, like with what's going on there and, and, and how quality of a player that Dahlene is, I mean, I think he's got what six years left on his deal. Like you think this guy's going to put up with this for much longer? Like I, from other things that you're here about just how things are ran and the, and the way that the, the, the camaraderie and culture is on the team.

I just can't see this guy sticking around much longer if it ends up like this. Like this is, would you say that if they miss playoffs next year and the following year that he's still a Buffalo Saber in year three after that? Listen, I think this off season all bets are off for a lot of those players on the Buffalo Sabers. I think you're like honestly like your point about players feeling you know misguided here like here's the thing like I always look at hockey players and say if I'm a hockey player like Rasmus Dallin, I'll give the Buffalo Sabres part of my career for a rebuild but not too long.

I can sit through one, I ain't gonna sit through two. And I'm definitely not gonna sit through three. I got a long-term deal, et cetera. But you know, you played. You have this finite amount of time to do it, to make your money, legacy, all that, championships. I'll do the rebuild once, but that's it. That's all you get at it.

I mean, speaking from personal experience, I would'll do the rebuild once, but that's it. That's all you get out. I mean speaking from a personal experience I would have done the rebuild for 20 years because that's the player that I was and that was the position I was in but when you're a player of that magnitude and and You've been playing in that type of situation for that long like there's got to be frustration and a boiling point that's at some time and I just think that at a certain time, this guy is gonna be like, all right, enough's enough, I'm out of here. Like he just, his talents are going to waste right now.

He's a world-class defenseman. There's plenty of teams out there who could use a number one D-man who don't have one. I mean, I would probably say Toronto Maple Leafs are that team. I would say the Carolina Hurricanes. I would say probably at least 10 teams in the league don't have a number one defenseman.

So they have that luxury. They also have a few more behind him in the pipeline. So I don't know, I don't know what transpires here and he can deny whatever comments. I was just repeating what I was told. And I, yeah, that's kind of all I got on that situation, Maris. You know, right now in the NHL, you guys were talking about this on the most recent edition of Chicklets.

On the ice, it's hot, and I want to get to the Superman punch here in a couple of seconds. Benoit last night. But as far as there's action on the ice and now there's more of an accent on violence on the ice, we're see more scraps than ever before. I don't know that anyone ever went poor saying, you know what, we need to stop selling so much sex and violence, it's really not working. I don't think anyone's ever said that before.

But you look at the NHL now, it's like every single day, there's another blockbuster storyline, right? For so long, the NHL would run away from all of this. And everyone in the media would be like, no, like, embrace this. The product is hot. The product is tough. The product is awesome. And off the ice, there's things for everyone to talk about and everyone to follow. Like, what's got your attention more than anything else? Either on or off.

Well, just going back to, like, your original comment there where, like, the fighting has seemed to pick up, especially after the Four Nations. I feel like every night there's a big one. You see Matthew Olivier and the attention that he's gotten from kind of taking the heavyweight belt away from maybe some bigger names. All of a sudden, he's got what? 13 goals on the year. He gets rewarded with a three times or six times three. Great to see. Dean Edison put him on the second line the other night. You see that? He bumped them up to the second line.

He's played over 17 minutes in two of the last five games for that team. So just awesome to see. And he's earned it. I think it just, it's, I mean, you look at UFC and how fast that's grown and how people do like the violence, right? I'm not saying I want the knuckle draggers of the past

just lining up, tapping each other on the shin pads. The best thing about it and the spark of it all since Four Nations is it always seems to happen naturally and organically. And we're getting the offense and the high skill players. We're getting the big saves. We're getting everything. And that's what I think the game needs. And you said, as you said, we're not running away from it now. We're embracing it where there was a sensitive time there on Twitter and in the game with all the CT and head contact stuff where it seems like a lot of people were beating the drum of get this out of our game where it's like, whoa, whoa, whoa.

This is the one thing that separates us from a passion perspective compared to other major sports. We're fourth on the totem pole, so we a passion perspective compared to other major sports. We're fourth on the totem pole, so we need any of the help we can get. And now that you've seen that we've been embracing it, what's happening? We're starting to gain a little bit of traction on not only baseball,

which I feel like we're a way better product than baseball, especially come regular season, but now with the NBA and kind of the pre-Madonna approach that their players have taken where, listen, man, most hockey guys are putting it on the night, are on the line night in and night out. And it's awesome to see. And not only that, but the parody in our league,

it's speaking for itself, not only at the top with the fact that probably eight teams are cup contenders this year, but look at the wild card race. Like it's just awesome to see all these markets engage right now. And even if their team isn't in the mix, they're still hot to trot online, given all the rumor mills and crazy storylines going at it. So it seems like everybody's engaged right now.

And there's just no doubt that the traction that the four nations has caused has just continued to snowball and here we are. You know, everyone in a certain generation will always talk about that Jerome McGinley, Vincent LeCavillier fight like, oh, wow, the two superstars go ahead. But the Kachuk fights at Four Nation, that's the new this generation's version of McGinley and LeCavillier throwing down. It's like, wow, I can't believe these guys did this on this stage.

That was a Stanley Cup final. This is the four nations. And then you get Brady and Tom Wilson going at it. And I'm sure that, well, I think it was Drew that hit Tom Wilson and he said something to him and then Brady came to his aid. But with everybody kind of, oh, if Tom Wilson was in the Canada lineup, it'd be a different story where it's like, yes, he probably read that or saw that. I was like, oh, read that or saw that.

Oh, you think so? I agree, I agree. It's awesome. My first thought was for that was Brady Koshak saying, oh yeah, you don't think we would have done this if Tom Wilson was there? Try this on for size. We were doing this like on a Saturday afternoon.

We're doing this just for just like breaking sticks. And that's something that I think that our game needs in order to gain like just like general interest from like an average American fan like that. The the obviously that game at four nations, the one in the round Robin, like I keep talking to a lot of people saying like, oh, I had all my buddies who I think it was Rick bonus who we had them on the TNT panel shortly after. And he was like, I got buddies in Tampa Bay where I live, who at the golf course, who don't even follow hockey, asking me like, hey, what's going on

with all this hockey stuff? Like, which Tampa Bay Lightning game should I go watch or buy tickets to now? Like who are the fun teams to go see? So even just hearing that, it's just awesome where people just wanna see competitive people on the ice or in sport in general going at it. Okay, I want to ask you about Brad Marchand here in a second,

but first, I did a really poor job of introducing you because it's your birthday. So happy birthday, Paul Bissonnette. Now, have you ever gone back and looked at what happened in hockey different years on March 11th? There are two that stand out to me. So one is the closing of the Montreal Forum last game 1996. That was that was March.

That was a March 11th. It was Andre Kovalenko's court. The last goal is a four to one win Montreal over Dallas. Okay, but that's not the big one that I want to get to 1979 there's a game between the Los Angeles Kings and the Philadelphia Flyers where Randy Holt Set the single game penalty minute record with 67 PIMS three fighting majors He fought he had hang on he had three game misconducts, two 10s, three fighting majors. Got a minor for a hold earlier, something like that.

He had two fights with Frank Bave, whose daughter now works with the Los Angeles Kings, Carlin Bave. He played with the Philadelphia Flyers. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, you know Carlin, right? Yeah, yeah, she does all the in arena stuff. Yes!

And like, yeah, plenty of the media. Yeah, she's awesome. So her dad. Beautiful girl, very talented. Super talented. I think she recently got married as well. Yep. And so yeah, so her dad fought twice and then he fought Paul Holmgren. This is all, dude, this is all in the first period, okay? So here's my question. First period, 100%. Come on. Yes. That is ridiculous. First period, 67 PIMs. So here's my question. What's the most PIMS you ever had in a game, birthday boy? Oh God.

I would say 17 in an NHL game. Yeah? That would be my guess. A 2, a 5, and a 10. Okay. Maybe 19? You had games where you had two fights though, didn't you? Yeah, but I would have assumed that if I would have gotten a 10 that that would count more than just like, my guess would be 17 minutes and it would be against in a preseason game.

Maybe they didn't count that though. And it was when I jumped the boards for Max Domi when a Radoslav Klezla got hit by, I want to say it was Nolan for LA and it was a preseason game. So I jumped over the boards. Jordan Nolan. Yeah, Jordan Nolan. Max was skating towards the bench. We made eye contact and then the scrum was across the ice.

So as soon as I made eye contact, I jumped, went to the scrum to grab him. And then Max being the good teammate that he is Kind of was like oh something must have happened. So he turned around and went so I got a 10-game Misconduct and it was reduced to three games. So it caught it up costing me 11 grand. It almost cost me 67 grand So that would have been a heavy heavy dent in the salary. Who is. Who was your favorite tough player growing up? Who was the guy for you? So I was a massive foot and Chris Pronger fan. Just because I was the defenseman at the time.

So not necessarily like scrappers per se, but guys who could handle their own business. Like if push came to shove, like they had no problem handling their own business. And when I was a D man playing in the Ontario Hockey League or even coming up, like I had never had an issue. Like if I was getting in a net front battle and push came to shove, I had no problem shedding the mitts.

So I was never shy from that. So that's what helped me, I guess, it made it an easier transition actually just strictly becoming a fighter. So here's what I me, I guess, it made it an easier transition actually just strictly becoming a fighter. So here's what I think on Adam Foote. I'm glad you mentioned that. He's one of my favorite people to talk about. I think he should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Like there's a couple of areas in the Hall of Fame where they've kind of fallen down. One of them is goaltenders and they're cleaning that up. Like every year now a couple goalies go in. But defensive defenseman, like that's why I was happy to see Kev Lowe go in, you know, but before that it's like Rod Langway, you know, it's like the defensive defense,

the classic defensive defenseman, I'll transition this like someone like Jacob Slavin, like doesn't get any love from the Hockey Hall of Fame and never really has. And from that era, I'd put Adam Foote. That's a great point, yeah. And like you're talking about for what, 12 to 15 years of his career at the top of his game.

Yes. Having to go against guys like Brandon Shanahan and just net front battling with these mutants. And this is also a different time too, right? Where I mean, I'm sure he was getting enough guys breathing down his neck on the forecheck but also You know just the the punishment that he would have to take so I agree with you there And what does he have two Stanley Cups as well? Yeah, he's got a pair of Colorado

Yeah, so yeah, I can't deny that he was talking into a piece Talking to such a big what did they I mean he even at some point was putting up like 45 50 points as well as being a shutdown defenseman So you'd have to either you'd have to probably pull up his hockey DB But I want to write on the feet I would be shocked if he hit the 50-point mark Maybe twice in his career and most he ever had actually with 31. No, really? Fuck I thought he was a little bit more offensive than that. Back in, back in 2003-04, yeah, Plug, one of the best defenses we've

seen in that era. I thought maybe there was a year he had like 10-15 goals and... There was a year he had 11. Oh, we got Tulski on the line here. What's that? Am I, am I, am I allowed to ask a question? Where? Oh, there he is right there. What? Oh, Tulski's on the line. If you get a chance to ask him, could you ask him if he had a chance to talk to Ratnan or his agent before the deal ended up going down? Because what I'm hearing is that they never discussed it with them and got clearance to negotiate a contract before it went down. We're going to do the one discrepancy going down right now in the back and forth of the run and saga. Yeah, I'm going to do I'm going to do a timeline with Eric at the top of the arrow when he

when he hops on here. I want to spend a couple I want a couple of couple of moments here with you on a couple of things. Um, Mitch Marner, I'm of the, I'm still firmly of the belief that even if he goes to market and Darren Ferris, I was mentioning this a couple of seconds ago before he came on, he's an agent that likes to take his players to market. See what's out there. Why not? You've earned it.

Here's your right. See what, see what your value is that at the end of the day push comes to shove He ends up in Toronto You think he's gonna end up in Toronto. I do I Just think I'm leaning so I'm leaning towards I'm leaning towards not now just based on the I felt like it was maybe a little Disrespectful at this point given the season that he's had after dealing with all that in the past to then get asked to wave it again. I thought that I was shocked to hear that.

And also, if you hear that they're prepared to give somebody who hasn't put sweat or sweat equity into the organization and hasn't been able to play in that type of market and offer him 13 and a half and maybe even a little to play in that type of market and offer him 13 and a half and maybe even a little bit north of that. I just don't think that there's any way that he's taking any type of hometown discount. So I think that Marner's probably looking at 14 sheets now in Toronto,

because I think that anybody else would give it to him. I just don't see him based on the, maybe the disrespect that he's felt at this point. Maybe not even wanting to come back, but if he still does, he ain't taking the deal. And at that point, are they even offering them that type of money? Like the players, do players though, not look at that and say, that's part of the business of hockey. I think that maybe in the off season when, when he didn't play up to his playoff, like the playoff performance maybe didn't match the tag

that he was making. I think that anybody could have reasonably looked at that in the off season and said that, but then when he came back this year, performed up to the standard that he has, he's probably been their best player, given the fact that Matthews, I mean, you could argue Nylander

in the first half of the season, might have been a little bit better with the goal scoring. But as far as playmaking penalty kill and how many areas of the game that he touches, I think that Marner has been their overall horse this year. And to still get asked at the deadline given with the situation he's put them in to waive a no move. I just, it's like how much can you put the guy through and expect him to come back at a hometown rate? And given the fact that they seem to be eagerly

they seem to eagerly enough want to move off of them. Why wouldn't he take that as disrespect? Jeff, do you not though look at Mitch Marner specifically and look at, see I don't just look at Mitch Marner, I look at Mitch Marner, Inc. And I look at like the totality of, because we're not just talking about a hockey player here, there's so many, whether it's activations or charity initiatives, and I know a lot of players

are involved in that, but it just seems like so much of everything that Mitch Marner incorporated is, not that it specifically revolves around one team, but it does seem like a lot of it is predicated on Mitch Marner plays with the Toronto Maple Leafs and that allows all these other things to occur. Yeah, I think he I think he's unreal in that market. And I think that like if he's if he matches his playoff performance to what he's done the regular season, I would I would be confident in an organization to offer him like 1313 and a half.

Give him what you gave Matthews, but give it to him on an eight year deal. I don't like these five year deals, especially as a fan, right? You're not getting the term if you're getting the AAV as well. So I think that he matches the market perfectly I kind of like what Elliott said about it where I feel like both sides will regret it if he doesn't end up back there But you have to imagine there's gonna be eight teams that are prepared to offer him 14 if maybe not even north of that this offseason It's just a matter of whether he wants to go there and And what do you think that Toronto is willing to come up to

if they want to keep him around? I think that your numbers are probably bang on if you're the Marner camp. And then that's why I say like this guy will go to market, but that doesn't disqualify the Toronto Maple Leafs from bringing them back. I think he goes and he has a look and sees what's out there. I'm, listen, I'm in the camp. It says, I'm surprised a lot more players don't do that. I expect Sam Bennett

to do that and I expect Mitch Marner to do that this offseason. Now let me ask you about another player who's a pending free agent and that's Brad Marchand. That was a tough one. Let me close on this here. That was a tough one to watch. That was hard because you know, he was fighting it back and I was the whole time with my Brad Marshand Dakota ring on saying, okay, is that a shot at Neely? Is that a shot at Sweeney? What is he trying to say here? What's this, you know, what is he really trying

to tell us here? First of all, that one was a shocker. Good on Freage. Like that was a, that was a bomb on, on Friday. You were there for it. Well, I think he's the one who like, like Freage is the one who reported that they wanted him at what he's making now. And he wanted about seven and a half, I think was around the number. So apparently that he asked them for a meeting and he was willing to come down

and, and basically meet in the middle of what they wanted and what he wanted and they were still staying firm on their numbers. So let's say they were off by 500 grand, 750,000. I just don't get how you're not willing to offer, especially a three-year deal. So we're not talking about this guy asking for a long term for him to come back after what he's put into that organization and the fact that he's the captain and not pay him even close to what you gave Lindholm. So it's just

I think it's also a little short-sighted in the fact that he's come off an off-season where he had all those surgeries so he hasn't really been able to get his footing right got thrown in the fire and then you got the four nations and like yeah he hasn't looked like the Brad Marshawn of the past but you know he's going to go back this off season and, and put the work in and try to continue this hall of fame career. I would say he's a borderliner right now. And if you have him on the outside, you know, he's so stubborn and, and he's got that dog mentality where he's going to want to be in the hall of fame.

So you know, he's going to play another three years. And I still think he's a very useful player and also a guy that can play in big moments. Like, he's not afraid of the moment. And that's also not easy to find. So, I would imagine that he's going to find greener pastures playing with the Florida Panthers and is probably even willing to take a discount if things go well there, too. So, pretty good deal, though, for Florida not having to give up much considering that was the only landing place he would have went. So I'm just happy for him. I think he deserves it. And I think it's awesome that Boston was willing to accommodate him for

such a low price coming back. Let me finish on this. What's it going to be like tonight in Boston? I know he's not on the ice, but still. I would imagine there's some chants going on tonight. I think that it was probably a tough, like going back to the Swainman-Almark situation and just kind of everything that's transpired, probably a forgettable year for the management.

But yeah, they're in for a long rebuild here. It's not easy, as you can see. You were talking about Detroit before we came on look what they've been They've got the hardest strength to schedule for the rest of the year So I would imagine they're probably on the outside looking in and then look at Buffalo. That's a that's a shit show that one continues Biz you're awesome. Thanks pal. Appreciate the time time as always. Continued success and happy birthday. Thanks for having me on. Thanks for coming on our pod as well. And tell Eric Tulski,

I'm sorry for creating so much drama in Canesland. I love him. I love what he's done there. And I actually think that Stan Kovan fits their program, man. That guy's a puck hound. He four checks like a madman. And you know he's gonna wanna be there. And he's on a bar

goon contract this year next. Woo! Thanks, man. We'll pass that on. Thanks, Paul. You'll be good. The great Paul Bissonnette at BizNasty from the NHL on TNT and the Spit and Chicklets podcast.

And with that, we'll bring on our final guest, you know, the headline maker. He's the general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes. A lot to get to here with Eric Tulski. Eric, I'm not sure if you had a chance to hear Biz, but he's a big fan of Stan Kovan on your team as you are as well, I assume. Yeah, I appreciate his attempt to make nice with Kane's fans there at the end,

but I also heard the part where he listed us as a team that didn't have a number one defenseman. So I liked where you stood up and said, we've got a guy who's going to get all the fame considerations someday. Yeah, Jacob Slavin is, put it this way, the secret is out. Like if anyone, because every now and then if you want to sort of once upon a time drop down like your hipster cred, like, oh well, the guy you got to watch is Jacob Slavin. He doesn't get a lot of headlines. But after Four Nations, like, sorry,

no one can claim to not know about Jacob Slave and I know we're going to get to Ranton and everything here. But just like, I haven't had a chance to talk to you publicly since Four Nations. But secrets out, like everyone knows you can't put pucks under a stick. Um, I could, I would make the argument that he was the best player at the Four Nations period. Um, everybody knows now. Eric, everybody knows. Yep, he was incredible.

Okay, the Miko Rantanen situation. There's been a lot out there. I'm sure you've read it. I'm sure you've heard it, digested it, maybe nodded at some and disagreed with plenty as well. But we'll start sort of reverse pyramid here. A general thought on what happened. Before we get into specifics here,

what from your chair do you think people need to understand that perhaps they don't? Yeah, I mean, big picture. We wanna be aggressive, we wanna take swings. We had a chance to acquire the kind of player you can't normally get your hands on. We took our shot. We knew he was not going to sign an extension the day we traded for him. We had reason to believe, maybe we were right, maybe we were wrong, but we had reason to believe we had a decent chance of getting it done.

He came in, he decided it wasn't for him. That's been pretty rare for us. And we had time to move on and still end up okay. And up with a player who we're really happy with. The interesting thing through all of it, like there's always gonna be, as you know, there's gonna be players that want to move on just because of, listen, I'm blocked here

or I don't have opportunity here and they'll wanna leave. I don't know that I've heard someone specifically say, I want out of Carolina. Like, I don't wanna be here. That's why this sort of story that's popped up here kind of rings a little bit hollow to me, Eric. No, it's crazy.

We've had to let a lot of people go because we've had a really good team and the salary cap makes it hard to keep everyone. But I don't know that we've had anybody who wanted to leave unless it was, you know, somebody who felt like they were blocked, like you say, like that happens occasionally, but even then not very often. For the most part, guys who are here want to be here. You know, we talked about Slaven earlier. He just signed a long term extension at a number that was designed to help us keep building around him. We've had people do that because they like it here and they want to be part of it and they want to help us keep building around him. We've had people do that because they like it here and they want to be part of it and they want to help us. But look, it's a personal thing. Every individual makes their own choice. And you know, some people like the bustle of Canada, some people like warmer

weather climates, some people like small towns where they can raise a family, some people want urban metropolis. Whatever reasons he had for deciding this wasn't the fit for him, that's okay. But no, it's not something that happens all the time. People keep connecting it to Genzel. So very similar situation in one way, which is we traded for him knowing he wouldn't sign an extension the day we traded for him because he had been with one team his whole career. That was where his mind was. He didn't have his head around signing anywhere else right away.

He came in, he got to know us, he really liked it. He wanted to be here. That's what happens most of the time. We couldn't get that one done because we had salary cap issues. We had a couple of big name free agents coming up and we were really tight against it and we needed some time to figure out what we actually had available. And obviously in retrospect, you know, it would have been great to just get that one done and figure out the other stuff, but we were trying to fit everything and trying to

make the team as good as we could. You know, it happens. Can you walk us through a timeline, not just of the activity of making the trade, but also the conversations around an extension and staying? Because I think that there's been, obviously, in a situation like this, a lot of things get said and a lot of things get interpreted in certain ways. From your chair, Eric, can you walk us through both the timeline of bringing in Rantanen and the conversations, either Rantanen, agent, yourself, your staff, Rod Rendemore, can you walk us through that?

Yeah. So, just dating back to when we first started talking about it, we talked to the staff, we talked to the coaches, everybody was like, if you can get this guy, you have to. Like honestly, the biggest concern was they'll never trade him. Why would they? Nobody ever trades a player like this. And you know, that was sort of our going in was, you know, it felt like we have to be in the game just in case, but it probably won't end up happening.

And then we started to get the feeling that he might actually be on the table. We got permission from Colorado to field them out about an extension. They told us their focus right then was on getting a deal done with Colorado. That was, you know, the players focus at that time. Our read based on a variety of conversations with people was that we would have been a team he was interested in if it didn't work out in Colorado. Maybe we got that right. Maybe we got that wrong. I don't know. At the time, that's what we believed. We figured, look, I don't know if it's 50% or 70% or 85% that he signs with us, but if he doesn't, we'll have time to go make another trade and recoup our assets. And if he does, it's a home run. And so we took the swing. And if he does, it's a home run. And so we took the swing.

So for those that may want sort of clarification on one thing, did you speak to Rantanen's camp? Like did Rantanen's camp, this would be Octagon, ever say that they were willing to talk extension with the Carolina hurricanes? So we did talk to them. They said at that time they were not interested in an extension with anyone but Colorado. They were focused on that. But never with the Carolina hurricanes. There was still that period of adjustment and we're not. Yeah, so before the trade, he was hoping to be there.

Like that was where he wanted to be at the time. The question was what would happen after he got traded and they didn't wanna think about that. They wanted to focus on getting a deal done there. Right, so at no point during his tenure with the hurricanes, did they say that they'd be amenable to talking about a contract. So they came in and on day one, it was a big trade.

It was a big light change and he wasn't ready to sign that day, but it was, give me a minute here to get used to the change in my life and we'll talk. And we gave them a week or two. We had a pitch that we went through where we talked about, you know, team, salary cap, prospect pool, coach, city, like everything that goes into making a life decision like this. And about how the team is's gonna look going forwards. He you know was appreciative and engaged and you know said he'd keep thinking about it. Time went by and you know he he realized that for whatever reason it wasn't the right place for him and it you know I I never got the sense that he had any issue with our team or our coaches or anything like

that. I think this just didn't feel like home to him is the sense I got. I hate putting words in someone else's mouth, but that's how it felt to me. So yeah, about a week before the deadline, he gave us a list of four teams that he thought did feel like a better fit. And we moved him and brought in a player who were really excited to have. The coach comments Rod Brendamore saying yeah he came in and said there's only four teams that he'll that he'll play

for, paraphrasing your coach here. When you heard that, what did you think? Yeah, so Rod needs a little bit of a decoder ring. You know, he speaks in hyperbole a lot. People in this market know very well that, you know, if you ask him about an injury and he says, oh yeah, it's horrible, he's going to be out months. Like that means he's out until at least Thursday and maybe the weekend. So's you know that's part of what's going on here he did of course he didn't walk in and on day one say I'm not staying here here are the four teams I'll go to he walked in saying wow I can't believe I got traded give me a minute here guys right and it was yeah it was a week before the deadline that he told us he didn't think,

he didn't see an extension here and he had thought about where he thought it could be. When you acquired him, was this always in the back of your mind that if we don't have him signed by a certain date, that this is what we are going to do? Like, was there, was there any chance at all that the Carolina Hurricanes were going to keep him till the end of the playoff run? Oh yeah, absolutely. So that was for sure. There were three possibilities.

We could extend him. We could keep him and Opie wide to sign at the end of the year or we could move him. And he didn't give us the choice to extend him because that takes both sides agreeing. The choosing between the other two was up to us and really depended on what we were getting offered. And we wanted to get back a piece that we thought could help the team right now. You know, we didn't want to make a trade that was just for futures, and we've our NHLers wondering how they were going to compete this year.

But we got back a player who fits us really well, and we're excited to have, and you know, frankly, we're comfortable with where we are. How quickly did the Dallas deal come together? I don't know, I mean, I guess it was a matter of a few days of discussion with them and so focused on the teams where we would extend, but talked to pretty much everyone just to make sure I knew what the offers were. So that process of gathering everybody's offers and then sort of nailing down best offers at the end and closing one took four or five days maybe.

And then actually executing the deal was a step at the end too because he needed to work out his extension with them for them to want to do the deal. Right. I'm not going to try to get you in trouble with tampering charges here so I'm just gonna ask something sort of wide wide brush so you don't run a foul. What was it about the Dallas deal? Like was there one element of the deal where like okay we can't we can't do this unless X is involved. What was X for you? Yeah I, we're really big on Logan and he was, you know, he was

one of our first asks. I, you know, I think when we looked at their roster, he was a player who several people on our staff pointed to and said, like, I don't know how else to say it except that guy's a hurricane. So he was a focus for us from the outset. I'm always curious as well how the draft pick compensation gets settled on. I mean, players, you can understand. How did you settle on the draft pick piece in the deal? Yeah. piece in the deal. Yeah, I mean, you know, at some point there are other offers we could do and, you know, so we were sort of going back and forth on what it would take to get

it done and near the end I, you know, sort of gave a, if it's this, it's done. Otherwise, I'm going to go back to the other team." And they said they would do it. How did your players feel about all of this? Yeah, I mean, obviously the last few days of it were a little tumultuous. It was tough having this hanging over things. I think I sat down with the leadership group and heard very clearly from them that they were glad we took the swing. They do not want to see the team just sit on its laurels and hope the players get better. They want to see us keep trying to add better and better players and build around them. So they were glad about that. At the end, they were glad about the outcome too. They could see that Logan's a player who'll fit

and they were glad to have the closure. Two things before I release you. before I release you. One, and I wanna get to the marketplace here, but I look at the Carolina Hurricanes right now and you're on a four game winning streak. It felt like when the Rantanen deal, if you looked at the storylines around it, that this is the end of the Carolina Hurricanes. You know, last time we were together,

you talked about, I'm gonna paraphrase you here, something about like an entrepreneurial spirit about taking chances. And if you're, if you take seven swings and you're successful with five, like with those percentages, you tend to do, to do very well. Should we expect, provide you have the opportunity, more moves like this from

you and the hurricanes? Yeah. I mean, we want to be aggressive. That's just in our DNA. more moves like this from you and the Hurricanes? Yeah, I mean, we wanna be aggressive. That's just in our DNA. It's how we play on the ice. We for-check hard. We press aggressively in the D-zone.

And it's how we wanna play off the ice too. I don't think we want to miss out on chances to take real steps forward. Players like this don't come around very often and you have to be willing to take some risk when you get that shot. Is there, and we'll close on this, is there one thing that you've seen out there about the Rantanen situation that you look at and say, that's dead wrong. That's completely wrong. Is there anything out there that you just wanna

put an end to? The floor is yours. Uh, I don't know. I mean, people are all over the place. Yeah, there's a lot that's wrong. You know, we'd need another hour for me to sort of list all the things people are saying that isn't quite right. You can play Whac-A-Mole if you want. I mean, the floor is yours.

I think the one that's toughest is people connecting this to Gunzel. You know, those are really two very different situations. Gunzel walked in and from day one, you know, again, I hate speaking for players, but it looked to me like he felt like it was home. And at the end of the year, you know, he was ready to sign with us. We just didn't have the money that he wanted available at the time. And by the time we worked through some things on some other contracts and knew that we had

it available, it had gotten close enough to July 1st that he was looking elsewhere. This one was different, right? This one just never felt like home, but that's one player. It's not a pattern. Got it. And are you super busy? Thanks so much for your time and attention today. Four game winning streak.

It looks good on you and your team. Continued success. Yeah, thanks for having me. There is Eric Tulsky, he's the general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes. The Gensel thing was interesting too, and they are quite different even though people want to try to put them together here. Like I thought that the Carolina Hurricanes legitimately thought that they could, they were concerned about putting themselves in a

position where they could be a target for offer sheets just to be blunt. In the summer where we saw a couple of offer sheets with the St. Louis Blues and the Edmonds and others and I, by the time they had maneuvered themselves out of it, the Gensler camp had maneuvered themselves out of Carolina in that situation. Anyhow, Zach Rook, we got a couple of things here still to do and I know we're getting really heavy on time here. Anything stand out to you from Tulski, from Bissonnette, from Johnny Lazarus. Haven't seen you in like an hour here bud. You've aged an hour. I know, I know. I've been zipping around getting people in and out. I think that was a pretty good show. I appreciated the honesty from Tulski there. I think one of the things that at least

people can take away from that as long as as people listen and actually pay attention what he said Was that they're gonna take shots like we praise Vegas, Florida, Tampa. Oh, wow. Look at these teams They take shots Toschi took a shot and had to wear with all to realize You know, obviously it became a little bit more harsh in the public eye, but this isn't gonna work He doesn't want to be here or he doesn't fit here or however you want to phrase it. We got to move on, but they took the shot. Why is that something that wouldn't be celebrated? You have to try and we talked about it all the time and I got mad about it because the Leafs, it felt like we're holding back on things. Try to win. Go try to improve your team. Eric Tulski's done that.

He went out there. He got the big fish. He took the swing. It didn't work. Well, Logan Stankovic is a hell of a player. Like they made a pretty good move here, Jeff. They got a couple of first round picks, got Logan Stankovic. Maybe this isn't the year that it works out for them and they go all the way, who the hell knows, but you set yourself up pretty good in the summer. I mean, I have a lot of respect for him doing that. Also, the fact that he came on here and was that honest with you talking about everything that just went on, answering all the questions,

a lot of appreciation for it because the other thing here is like, why don't players talk? Why don't coaches talk? Why don't they give us all these right answers? And then it's like, here you go. Here is the honest truth of what I think and what went down. It's like, here you go. Here is the honest truth of what I think and what went down.

It's like, that was refreshing. You know, here's a great comment in the chat from Drew. Scared money don't make money. I love that line. I've never heard that, but have you ever heard that? That's a great line. Scared money don't make money. I'm with you.

Like they took a shot. Man, we're so quickly. What's the old saying in the dojo? The protruding nail gets hammered down. Like anytime anyone tries to stick their head up and tries to do something, it's just like, in hockey we do bam, bam, bam, bam, should never be a general manager, what are they doing?

Took a shot with one of the best players in the game. Decided it wasn't gonna work out and moved on. Tried to make their team better. You know, you get the sense, again, you get the sense that if Tulski had a chance to do it all over again, he would. And I think we'll probably see that from him in the off season.

And I wonder too, considering he's one of these like, I'll use everything at my disposal too. I wonder if that's gonna be an offer sheet team. Carolina has before a lot of it on the instruction of Tom Dundon, but still, why not? Yeah, and you heard him say the first time he joined us, which if people haven't listened to that one, go listen. Like that was after Ranted In, they just made that trade. You brought it up here in the interview with him as well,

but you know, like maybe five of the trades that you make or signings that you make don't work out, but maybe five of the trades that you make or signings that you make don't work out. But maybe five of them do. And maybe those five that work out outweigh the five that lost. Or maybe five of them don't work out, but seven of them do. But if you never took those 11 shots,

maybe you just don't find those key pieces or build up that acumen of players and personnel. Like you to try. It's it's going to be an aggressive organization. Make make make no mistake about it. Like get used to it. This is how the Carolina Hurricanes are going to be. And even still like I'll even maintain, even though they've never sort of landed the big one before. Carolina has been all in on all

the major names that you've seen out there. I know Tom Dundee gets criticized, oh, squeezes the beaver on the nickel till it squeals. He's so cheap, like all that stuff. He just has a value on everything. He was around Eichel, right? Carolina was trying to bring in Jack Eichel before I went to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Like Carolina's around it and we'll see what happens next year. And listen, thanks to the Carolina Hurricanes for making Eric Tulski available and thanks to Eric Tulsky for making himself available. We got a few things we still got to do here. One thing I do want to remind people of, Tim's, folks, Canada, your favorite contest is back. Roll Up to Win is back at Tim Hortons and that means you could win millions of amazing

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and maybe the most emotional moments gonna be off the ice. FanDuel, proud to connect fans to the major sports moments that matter to them. Roster updates as always from our daily faceoff fantasy Twitter slash X feed. 11 games on the board for this March 11th and the big one and you just wished that everybody were healthy for this because there's a healthy hatred between these two teams although it's gonna be an outpouring of love today in Boston for Brad Marshand the Florida Panthers face off against the Boston Bruins. It's a drag that Boston's not gonna be in the mix here. That the Boston Bruins have said eyes to

next season. Here's we're gonna go through whatever qualifies here as a rebuild when you have Charlie McEvoy and Hampus Lindholm and David Pasternak and Jeremy Swainman on the roster. Your rebuild isn't gonna take that long. But it is just a drag not having the Boston Bruins. I know you're probably saying like, yeah, screw you, Merrick, as a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, you're saying, get rid of those guys. We don't want to see them in the in the opening or second round anymore Thank you very much, but it's it's a weird one, but I will say one thing and this is obvious statement two million out of me Man, it's important to finish first in the Atlantic

It is so important not to get that matchup of death with either, Florida or Tampa And it's probably important for that first place team just to let those two just tear each other apart. Yeah, exactly. This is the problem here right now that I'm like fighting with people over like, oh, well, you got to go through those teams anyways, or you're not trying to pick the easy matchup. I'm not talking about easy matchup in round one.

You need an easy matchup. I'm not even talking about like, like oh this team's not that good I'm talking about going and getting Physically abused for seven games or whatever. It's gonna be in the first round Tampa or Florida Let's say the Leafs play one of those teams or they play each other is going to be a bloodbath in that first round Whoever's coming out of there like yeah, yeah, maybe you come out and you're rearing to go, but you've probably just gone through hell and back to get out of that series, and that was only round one.

Like, you'd much rather not have to deal with that and just take maybe a slightly less physical series than what you know is going to be a nightmare situation in round one. You need an easy round. Like, if you're gonna do, if you're gonna get the ultimate prize, you need an easy round along the way. That's why I always say like one of the great things we never talked about because how do you talk about it that every team

needs if they're gonna do anything is luck. Luck with health, luck with playoff draw, all of it. Like we don't talk about it because you can't other than to say well you got lucky or you need some luck along the way. But in this situation you need some luck along the way. The in this situation, you need some luck along the way. The other thing that's interesting here is that there's a back to back. We should note tonight, the Vancouver Canucks face off against the Montreal Canadians tomorrow. Vancouver plays Calgary. I know it's going to be tough for Vancouver not to look ahead and don't sleep

on Montreal or playing some really good hockey lately. But this one, this back to back, I don't want to say this is the season for the Vancouver Canucks but man these are two these are two really important games here specifically tomorrow against Calgary but before you get there you got to face off against the Montreal Canadiens tonight and also the Anaheim Ducks host the Washington Capitals Alexander Rovvechkin. Nine goals away now, Zach. We're gonna see this thing, aren't we? Yes, we are.

Uh, this is where it's like, I mean, obviously I'm betting on these things. Ovechkin, last goal. Ovechkin, anytime goal. Like every night here down the stretch, it's not even giving anything away. I think people are well aware these things are out there. I will be having those queued up in BetSlip on a regular basis. Yeah, like that's just, yeah, I want to have money on it when history is made. Yeah, and really quick, can we show that picture again of Simon Benoit and do we have the

George St. Pierre tweet queued up? It's going to go down as one of the best pictures of the season in the NHL. It's in the Toronto-Utah game last night. Do we have those? Yeah, I just kind of pulled this up for you here right now. I gotta switch another image out. Sorry. What were you putting up there? Oh, look at that. There we go.

George St. Pierre. Superman punched in the NHL last night. He missed a target because he telegraphed too much, but the picture is awesome. Yeah. You know, one of the things that we talked about during Four Nations was how many non hockey people were commenting on social media about hockey. It continues. Like dude, George Saint, like Simone Benoit has got that for life now. Like, like George Saint Pierre just like tweeted a comment at my fight with Kesselring.

Did you happen to see what Benoit did in the box after too, by the way? Oh, when he put his, when he jammed his thumb back. Goes in Superman punches, gets in a fight, goes to the box and puts his dislocated thumb back. I really try hard not to be that like, Oh oh look how much tougher our game is than yours. Oh, you have a hangnail you can't play. Oh, boo hoo. Go over to Benoit jamming his finger back in place

after cracking a guy in there. I try really hard, Zach. I just want you to know, I try really hard not to be that guy. It was hard not to be that guy last night. Cause that was super cool. No, that was a good moment. Yeah. That was a pretty sweet moment. Because that was super cool. No, that was a good moment. Yeah.

That was a pretty sweet moment. Anything we left on the table today, sir? Or are we all dismissed? Thanks, by the way. Everybody for your attention. Normally we try to keep the program around an hour. Eric Tulsky kind of fell into our laps here, so we had to go a little bit Broadway, Zach. We had to go a little bit Broadway today.

Yeah, so first of all, did not realize that the time, like didn't clue into the fact that the time change happens in Canada and not other places. So there was people showing up being like, is it like, was three o'clock start early in Canada today? And they're like, no, it was regular three o'clock. Well, didn't start where they were. So realized that partway through the show went oh

okay that's interesting I do have one thing just quickly wanted to throw out there to you yeah last night in that Leafs game because we're gonna do this again like why not why not just talk about the Leafs all day here did you happen to catch the reviewed goal did I happen to see that one? Did I? Tweeted about it right away because I think he wanted to say good goal like my phone exploded like you just wrecked that guy he really wanted to say good goal but he didn't want you to like tweet about him or something like that. No I'm not. I was watching it live you know the Leo DiCaprio meme where he's sitting on the couch and he's pointing

But good but good like okay, so like let's just get let's just all in the same page here the proper way to say It is we have a goal Yes It's either a goal or it's not a goal Whether say goal or no goal. I don't say good goal and bad goal We've been through this like this is part of my thing. This is part of my gimmick It's the guy that freaks out about what officials say good goals But yeah, I did put a smile on my face

But he really did speed bump because I think what was coming out of his mouth was good goal But then caught himself and went yeah goal Really wanted to say it but like I'm gonna get roasted if I say good goal Just say goal. Yeah, what I don't know this but I but there's more there's more officials now that are just saying goal I wonder if something has come down from Wacom like just call it a goal We don't need good goal just it's just goal oh this is all spontaneous it listen I've thrown it out there for the last few years I have had a couple officials say like you just stop like let us just say what we want

no no chance yeah no I'm gonna be that I'm gonna be that guy with with good goal I'll continue I'll take that one to the crematorium with me also No chance. I'm going to be that guy with good goal. I'll continue. I'll take that one to the crematorium with me. Also, comments of the day here in the chat so far. I wanted to give credit to this one because I actually physically laughed out loud. Dan Henney, when Tulski came on, he I guess had just joined the chat and he goes, Whoa, that's not Wish.

It's Tuesday folks, yeah, Greg's on vacation. It just caught me off guard. He looks different. I haven't seen him since the Yahoo days. He looks different and somehow he's gotten way smarter. I don't know how that happened. When did Wish get so smart? Yeah. It's like the old Mark Twain,

it was think it was Mark Twain, and said, you know, when I was 16 years old, I thought my father was the stupidest person on the face of the earth. And then by the time I turned 21, it was amazing how much he had learned. Hehehehe. All right.

Get us out of here. Get us out of here. Take us out. Play us off. Small town strip club. Let's go. Let's get the band going here and wrap things up. Thanks so much for sticking around long. 90 minute show. We try to respect your time a little bit more than that. We got really selfish with you today. So thank you for sticking around.

Program returns tomorrow. 3 o'clock eastern. Don't forget. 9 a.m. Eastern tomorrow. Morning Cup of Hockey, you heard from Johnny Lazarus earlier today, join him and Colby Cohen tomorrow at 9 o'clock Eastern for Morning Cup of Hockey. Awesome F'n Show. Do yourself a favor.

And if you don't get a chance to watch it live, or listen live, check out the podcast, or the archive here on our daily face-off YouTube channel. Deal? We got a deal. Thanks for joining me and thanks for indulging me by giving me a day off yesterday. Really appreciate that. We'll talk to you tomorrow, right? Let's do it again. The Sheik, 3 o'clock Eastern right here, our daily face-off YouTube channel. Talk to you in 23... I guess 22, 30, yeah, 22 and a half hours. Let's do that. Tomorrow.

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