The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Playoff Takeaways, Trevor Lewis Retires, and Bolts Draw Even ft. Brian Burke & Marco D'Amico

Episode Date: April 22, 2026

Today on The Sheet, Jeff Marek is joined by Brian Burke to break down the opening days of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They dive into the biggest surprises from the first games of the postseason, the early concerns for contenders, and what has stood out around the league as the chase for the Cup begins. Burke also shares his thoughts on the playoff atmosphere in Buffalo and what it means for the market as hockey energy returns to the city. Plus, a look back at the career of Trevor Lewis as the longtime NHL veteran announces his retirement.Later, Marco D’Amico joins the show to break down the Montreal Canadiens vs Tampa Bay Lightning series after it evened up at 1-1. They discuss the slow start for Montreal’s top line, Juraj Slafkovsky’s emergence in the playoffs, what adjustments the Canadiens may need to make, and how the Lightning are responding as the series heats up.Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode of The Sheet.#NHL #StanleyCupPlayoffs #TheSheet #JeffMarek #BrianBurke #MontrealCanadiens #GoHabsGo #TampaBayLightning #JurajSlafkovsky #HockeySHOUTOUT TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼 Ninja: https://www.sharkninja.ca/ninja-crispi-pro-6-in-1-countertop-glass-air-fryer-rose-quartz/AS101CRS.html?utm_source=Meta&utm_medium=Paid+Social&utm_campaign=H1NinjaCrispi&utm_content=NinjaEN&dwvar_AS101CRS_color=cdb9b8Reach 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/@FNBarnBurner🚨 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-faceoffReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So here are a couple of questions. Is Brandon Hagel, the new Sam Bennett, discussed amongst yourselves, and is there a better line than Cooley, Gunther, and Yamamoto in the playoffs so far? Two games deep. Welcome to the sheet once again for this Wednesday, April the 22nd.

Apologies for my voice. A little bit under the weather here, but nobody wants to hear my complaints. We've got a lot to get to here and a couple of really special guests, as always. One is a staple, and one is a relative newcomer to the program. He's joined us once before

and look forward to talking to him again. so let's get right to it on today's program. Here it is, the blueprint powered by Fanduel. Download the app today and play your game on Fandul. We're moments away from welcoming back to the program. Once again, our Wednesdays, we call it Civilian Wednesdays with Brian Burke. He will be here. He was in Buffalo for games one and two.

Two very distinct games, by the way. We'll get his thoughts there. Trevor Lewis has officially called it a career. We'll spend a cozy couple of seconds talking about that. Marco D'Amico will stop by, as we mentioned, couple of moments ago. We'll talk about Uri Slavkovsky scoring goals, getting frustrated, getting popped by Brandon Hagel, and that CZs is now all evened up. Tampa and Montreal, as the venue now shifts to the Bell Center in La Belle Provenal. In the meantime, someone who

was there to watch all the action games, one and two, making the track two nights, to watch the Buffalo Sabres and the Boston Bruins at the Key Bank is Brian Burke. He joins me here, as he does each and every Wednesday. Berkey, how are you today? How is the scene in Buffalo, specifically game one for you? Hey, Jeff. Hope you feel better.

Thanks, man. The scene in Buffalo was great. The fans are so great. They're so wound up. They're so pent up for 15 years. So it was a crazy scene for game one. A lot tamer last night. Yeah, it was a pretty quiet key bank last night.

Just a couple of thoughts. You know, Kyle Poso was on the program yesterday. We talked to him about what it was like playing in Buffalo for that team, that owner, those fans, all of it. But, I mean, Berkia, like, you remember when the Buffalo State, well, you remember the Buffalo State. which came into the league. And also, you remember the French Connection when they were a powerhouse and going to the final in 75? And then the Stanley Cup final, talk of a foot in the crease with Brett Hall in 1999, et cetera, that 2016, that was probably good enough to win the Stanley Cup. Let me wide brush this one for you.

Ryan Burke, when I say Buffalo Sabres, what comes to your mind? Great market that hasn't been rewarded properly in football and hockey. It's a great market for us in hockey. Buffalo Sabers fans watch hockey. They haven't been in the playoffs for 15 years, but their ratings in the playoffs. The TV ratings are excellent. People watch the NHL even after their teams are winning, which is not common. So they're great fans.

I love going to games there. I had fun last two nights or two or the last three nights. Great to have playoff hockey back in Buffalo. Oh, to be 25 years old again after game one, leaving the key bank and heading out into Buffalo. What happened last night, Berkey, everyone was expecting another big, you know, maybe comeback by the Buffalo Sabres,

some more heroics, take a two-nothing series lead. Last time I checked, I know you always check on the Stanley Cup. One thing I always check on is, is the other team allowed to try? And again, the answer was yes. And the Boston Bruins tried and won, four to two, doubling up the Buffalo Sabres,

late couple of goals by the swords. Your thoughts on what you saw last night? I think Boston was a better team. I think it was really a timely rally to keep the game in check in game one. That game was over in game one. And Tage Thompson and the boys decided it wasn't over.

It was about six minutes to go. Last night it was over well before that. Boston out played them. UPL was just okay and that. One poor goal, really poor goal, and it was over. So we got a series now. I like Boston's team. I like Buffalo and what they're doing.

I'm just not sure they're experienced enough to figure this out in time. It's fascinating, too. The goal that you refer to is the Morgan Geeky backhand from Centerite. And listen, you remember J.C. Tromblay, who I think he credits 25 goals of his career to that same play. Tromblay would get center ice and just flip it in front of goaltenders. I've always wondered why this isn't used as a tactic more so.

We're just watching this now. Morgan Geeky just lobs it at Ukepeka-Lukkonen, and nobody knows where this stone is going to skip on the water, least of all, the netminder. J.C. Tromblay was the master at it. Jim Dory was pretty good, too. Why don't more players do this? Instead of dumpins where essentially you're surrendering the puck, just have a bouncing puck in front of a goaltender. No one knows where it's going. Case in point last night. I think you've got to decide right away. Am I going to charge that puck or wait for it? Yes. He got caught in no man's land. If he charged that puck hard and grabbed it instead of waiting for it at the end, he would have been fine.

So there's two ways to play that puck. He didn't pick either of them. And I cost them. Excuse me, I got to. I told you I'm sick. I'm going to put that on my coffin. I told you I was sick. My tombstone.

The thing about what we saw on that goal, too, is like, if you have a baseball background, you make that play, right? Like if I could peck a lukin and played shortstop growing up or second base or third base, wherever, he probably reads that and gets on top of it and takes it in the chest. I remember talking to Felix Potfan once, and he was complaining about goalies not being able to catch. He said, all goaltenders do now is they block the puck with their glove,

but they don't actually catch. He said, you can tell the goaltenders that played baseball growing up because they can actually catch. And in the case of Lukinen, and we'll move on after this, if he played baseball growing up in Finland, then he probably makes that save because he plays it like a routine ground ball. They have baseball in Finland, though. I know mostly kids don't play, but they have baseball in Finland.

Not like he can't play. That one there, he's either got to charge that buckhart and get it before it skips best or wait on it. It would have gone wide, I think, if he'd waited on it. So just unfortunate, but that wasn't costing the game. They were out of that game before that in my mind. What's making Broston tick here? Like I looked at this series and said if Boston's going to win this thing, Jeremy Swayman has to play out of his mind

and he almost stole one in game one. He almost flat out stole that game one. But what's doing it for the Boston Bruins? We'll move to Montreal Tampa after this. They have a good team. The problem is people forget they have a good team. They lost a lot of Star Park in the last two, three years. They still have a really good team.

I felt when I saw the Boston play the Leafs this fall, I felt I said this to someone in the press box beside me. That might be the most competitive team I've seen this year, the Boston Bruins. The way they competed for the puck in all three zones. Every loose

puck was a contest. I was really impressed with Marco Stern the job he had done coaching that team. So I'm not surprised. And they're big time tough. They're big time tough. And that counts. They have a couple of, well, more than

a couple really, because they also do have that sort of pack mentality, but Tanner, Genoa, and cast a look like it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a's a nasty too like it's a it's a bit of business now speaking a nasty bit of business montreal and tampa really don't like each other and that was pretty obvious in game one and it became more apparent in game two and i don't know where you want to begin with the million penalties in the first period and we thought the game might take four hours uh whether you want to talk about brandon hagel uh just smoking eras lofkofsky in his first NHL fight,

whether you want to talk about Scott Sabrin, hitting Josh Anderson from behind, a five turns into a two on that one. The inevitability that Scott Sabard is probably going to have to fight Arbor Jackai at some point in this series. They've done it before, and it did not end well for Scott Sabrin.

Where do you want to begin on the hostilities between these two teams? Well, a guy like Scott Sabrin, he's going to fight him. It doesn't matter if he wins or not. They don't count wins and losses. they count when they should fight, which is really admirable. These two teams don't like each other.

I like what they've done in Tampa. They responded to Florida's lineup. They said we're getting outpunched or pushed around here. Not going to happen again. They've only got Tanners, you know. They subsequently move for a pile of picks. But they tried to respond to the Florida threat. They've done it admirably.

They got a good team, but they can play as hard as you want now. That was fun watching the highlights less. That was a fun game. And right now, the Sorrelli line, listen, Tampa was at home, so they get last change. That Sorrelli line is sort of neutralized, the Suzuki line. So they're winning that matchup. I mentioned it off the top. You know, Brandon Hagel, we all know what Sam Bennett did last year in the playoffs.

Are you getting similar vibes? Are you getting like Sam Bennett vibes? I know we're only two games in here, but are you getting San Bennett vibes off of Brandon Hagel at this point? Yeah, I am. but he's not as big as Sam, but he's equally competitive and tough. I remember talking to Mark Crawford when Hagle was a young player in Chicago. I talked to Mark Crawford.

I said, tell me about Hagle. He said, Hagle is going to be a star. And I almost laughed. I was having a coffee with Crow. I almost first thought laughing. Brandon Hagle's going to be a star, and he is. He's a really good player. He has all those goals, none of them are on Power Play.

It doesn't get any power play time at all. So this kid's a legit heavyweight or not heavyweight, middleweight fighter, and you can do any job on a rink. It's amazing to watch. What did you make up? Because you mentioned like it doesn't matter, like whether you win or lose a fight. It's all about showing up.

And not that all the playoffs is all about fighting, but more so physicality. The Montraucanians got frustrated yesterday, and specifically Uri Slavkovsky, who was brilliant in the first game, Hattrick, everything that he told. touched, you know, a red light went off. But Slavkovsky getting frustrated enough to go at Brandon Hagel the way that he did.

If you're the coach, if you're the manager of the Montreal Canadiens, what do you think about that? Do you say, good on you kid for standing up for yourself? Or do you say, hey, we need you to score. We have people to do that. Remember in Slapshot when the referee said, too much too soon? Remember that? Of course, too much. Too soon.

Oh, yeah, great lines. I would say to Slavkowski, keep your gloves on, kid. I do admire people that have had enough and just say I'm going to take care of business. I do admire that. But I tell him, just keep your gloves on. You got three goals in the game one, got knocked out in game two. Which one was better? Which one did we win?

How do you see this series going, Berkey? Like, already it may be the most coming. I want to get to Utah in a second here, because I find that series really good with Vegas. But how do you see this series going? Like right now, this thing looks like it's headed for seven games, and if it's going to be like the first two, give me seven of that. But how do you read it so far? I'd say they're too young to have an impact, same thing as Buffalo.

I don't think they're ready for prime time yet. But Marty San Luis makes such a difference on the team and how they prepare, that they look like they're ready to play and compete. So I say toss the coin now after those two. really good games, really exciting, and Montreal is clearly a team of the future. One thing that I was mentioning over the last couple of days,

we'll dovetail to Utah here in a second on this one. One of my favorite things to watch now in hockey when Montreal is playing is when one of the two referees are Quebec-I, French, and Marty Saint-Louis starts yelling at them in French. And the referee goes back at Marty-S-Louis in French. It is honestly, Burkey, it is one of my favorite things. French is such a passionate language to begin with.

But hearing and seeing Marty San Luis give it to an official in French is one of my favorite things. Do you have a favorite French coach who would lose it on officials or maybe French manager? Take your pick. I'm embarrassed by the fact that I only speak one language. I think that's really embarrassing. You know, I know, I know you're in Stu, for example, speak seven languages. I only speak one, so I'm embarrassed. I'm admiring Marty Saint-Ali or anyone else to speak.

Yerri Salisovsky probably speaks four. So I admire people with the multilingual skills. But the French thing, the prop was the best for yelling at people. Ron Karan? He would scream in English and French. I couldn't understand it half the time. He was great. Michelle Bergenre.

There's another great one screaming. Pierre Pajet. keep going all the way down the list. Bob Hartley. Bob Hartley could... He used to swear like crazy. English and French and French and English. It's hilarious.

I love it. It's the... I don't know. It's one of the things that I watch for when I watch Montchagin. My first thing is like, okay, are we getting a French-Canadian ref? And if so, is Marty going to go at him?

Gunther Cooley and Yamamoto are a problem for the Vegas Golden Knights, specifically Logan Cooley, Vegas does not know what to do or has no answer right now. It's like shot shares 13 to 5, 5 to 1 high danger chances. That coolly line is doing whatever they want in games 1 and 2 against the Vegas Golden Knights. What do you think of that, Berkey? Well, I haven't been able to follow that series as closely because the games are played during the Buffalo games

or while I'm driving home. So I have just been watched in highlights and what little bit I can. can see a bit, but they're really good players and they're playing really well as the line. I've never seen, I've never felt even when you have playing on the road, when you have the last change at home, you go on the road. I've never felt that you couldn't neutralize the line just by juggling your lines a little bit, getting someone away that can take care of Kuli or Yamamoto. So to me, I've never understood this.

So the team's, one line's really bugging you, fix it. Yeah. They have no answer for it. Like that line has just played so well and Cooley's getting under the skin of everybody too. It's been a beautiful thing to watch so far. Also, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, I don't know that the hockey's been great.

Like, as far as like all the series go, if you just look at quality of the game, it's probably coming in last. But nonetheless, I don't want to, you know, shovel dirt on Philadelphia Flyers fans here. They're up to nothing. And they're going back to Philadelphia. And Porter Martone has become a big story.

And Dan Fla Dar has become a big story. And Travis Sanheim has become a big story. And Rick Tockett once again is a big story. What do you see in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh here, Berkey? I see a team that shouldn't know better and don't know better. They think they're still, they think they're in a position to beat the Pittsburgh penguins. If I'll play them, I think. I really like the new coach in Pittsburgh. I think he's an excellent coach. I really like the old group of guys. Obviously, I was around them for a while.

But they look young and quick and fast and hostile. The Flyers do more than Pittsburgh. Is it a situation critical right now for the Pittsburgh Penguins? Or have you seen enough to say, you know what, they can make a series of this? Well, they can make a series of this because they've got good goaltending. They've had it all along, and Stuart Skinner's been good. So they can make it.

They have the players and the coaching staff and the goaltending make a series of it. But the situation's critical is they can't go down three-kneth or it's over, obviously. You think you've kept an obvious, but they've got it won the next game. I think they will.

I think they'll come back. A couple more things here around the NHL that I wanted to your thoughts on here and one of them involves a kind of a weird moment. Like I'm not a big fan of glass bangers. I really got no time in my life for glass bangers. But yeah, I never expect to see what we saw yesterday with the glass breaking behind DJ Smith. I don't know if you have a thought on glass bangers in general or what we saw is we have a look here on the video.

The glass breaking, thankfully DJ was okay. through all of this and the coaching staff and the players are Mia, Joseph, everybody right in front of DJ Smith. First of all, have you seen something like that before, Berkey? We've seen, you know, we've seen Gaston Gras smash the glass before with slap shots. We've seen players do that. But glass breaking from fans hitting it. That's kind of a new one, Berkey, to say nothing of it falling on a coach.

The new one for me. I remember in Philly when Ty Jones in the penalty box of the fan pushed the glass open over in the penalty box. But that was a plexiglass that stayed together. I don't know what happened here. There's no way the force of the fans pushing the glass would have done this. It must have been a structural flaw in the glass somehow. So I must say it with a pocket and practice or something must have weakened that glass

for it to break like that. Unfortunately, you know, it was hurt. And it is the kind of glass that breaks into pieces without real sharp edges. so fortunately, it kind of like windshield glass. So fortunately, no, sir, DJ's got a hard ad. It's okay. DJ will be fine. A couple of issues from around the NHL.

I want to get your thoughts on here. One, the Toronto Maple Leaf's search for a manager continues, as does the Vancouver Canucks search for a manager continue. You know both markets quite well. You worked in both. Do you have a thought on both these situations as they continue to progress? Well, first off, I have not been contacted by either team, Jeff. So I thought I, I listen, I still maintain, Berkey, that someone is calling you to work as a consultant in the NHL now, more so than ever for reasons of someone who's been there before and can talk from a position of patience and not rushing into a bad decision.

I've always maintained that. So Toronto hasn't called and Vancouver hasn't called. Thank you. I would love that. Having failed in both marketplaces or had a problem in Vancouver's ownership, I don't think that's going to happen. We can start by getting a picture of you somewhere in the arena. How about that?

Just to begin with someone who's like one of the most significant managers Vancouver's ever had, you wouldn't know if you walk into the ring because there's no evidence of it anywhere. That's hilarious. Mark, you know, we're playing Vancouver in the plastic. I was in Calgary. Mark Gio Don't know walked over to me.

He goes, can ask you a question? I don't want to hurt your feelings. I said, yeah. He said, did you used to work here? I said, yeah, twice. He goes, how come there's no pictures of you? Not one picture of me anywhere in the building.

I left my ass on. There's this fingerprint somewhere, but not anywhere in the building. No, I don't know what's going on there. I think Keith Pelley's doing a very widespread search, still in a wide net, and contacting a lot of people. more publicly than I would like,

but I believe in Keith Pelley. I trust that I think he'll get this right. But Vancouver's being more low-key, and I think they'll sort it out. They both got big jobs that, and whoever goes in there. It's, I mean, the Vancouver one is interesting, and a lot of it,

maybe you can straighten me out on this here, Berkey, but it does seem kind of backwards. So Adam Ford is the coach. There's no general manager, Jim Rutherford, of course, the president of hockey, operations. Nice shot there. Every time I have a drink of my diet Coke.

I know. We get a close-up. We get a close-up of. Listen, we all love the last call look with the tie on down like Clem. That's classic. That's classic Berkey. But so they're hiring a new general manager. If you listen to Rutherford's press conference on Friday, he's not committing to more than it seems like a few months and then he's going to decide on his future there. so then you're going to have a new president of hockey operations come in

and he already has a manager that he didn't hire. We don't know if the coach will or will not be there by then. Does it, does the, like, you're a big guy in order, right? Does the order seem like way out of whack here for you? The sequence doesn't make much sense. It didn't make sense. It made sense to make a change with Patrick Alvin. Well, I didn't understand it without a formal plan in place.

but when Jimmy met with the media and talked about it, it seemed a little backwards to me, same thing. I'm going to hire a new GM, he'll hire the new coach, and then I'm going to move on probably, in which case you hired a GM and then not been there to help him. So I think it's backwards, but I'm not sure what goes anywhere with ownership. You know, Jeff Patterson was on with me on Monday, and he brought up the really interesting point that

if Alvin gets fired and Jim Rutherford, walks away or he gets dismissed as well, then it's Francesco Aquilini hosting that press conference. And I don't think that he wants to speak publicly right now. The speculation is maybe that was Aquilini protection more than anything else. Well, could be. I don't think Francesco wants to run the team. I think Jimmy's a smart man, and I think they want him to make this call.

So there is some logic to it. If they have faith in Jimmy Ruther, which I do, I think Jimmy Rutherford's been a really good executive in our league. He's a great guy, too. So I think that makes sense if you look at it that way. It's hard for that to sell that publicly, though. The sequence of this doesn't make sense publicly. But if you back it out like that, it does make more sense.

Last one for you, Berke. We'll let you get on with your day. Is Ottawa done? Like, they can't seem to score a goal. Let me frame it this way. I don't know how many great goaltending performances, Linus Almark has in him these playoffs, but Ottawa has already used up too

because Almarc has been excellent. He's been really good for Ottawa. Outstanding. And, you know, I mean, how many times have you looked at your goaltender do that and you come away with an L and you say, man, we just squandered a great goaltending performance. Unless Ottawa can find a way to score and get goals past Freddie Anderson here,

I don't know about this series. What do you think, Berkey? Thank you, right. The problem is they played so well and had no success. And that's what Carolina does. That's what Rod Vindamore does. I think they're in deep trouble now. I think they'll winning a game in Ottawa.

Everyone's pulling for Ottawa because they're a great story, great owner, great GM, great coach. Everyone likes Ottawa. Everyone wants them to do well. But they're playing Carolina. Carolina has an answer for everyone until the third round. They're a deadly team and they're not getting any kind of looks. they're getting great cold thing and not getting a chance to win.

Freddie Anderson's been great. So, no, I think they're in deep doo-doo. All right, we'll see what happens there. Burkey, as always, appreciate it. Where are you off to next? Are you following another round? You're going to stick with the Buffalo Series and head to Boston?

I'm not sure. Same with Buffalo, I think, for game five and see what happens. Gotcha. All right, well, we'll talk to you perhaps before then or perhaps after. You'd be good in the meantime. Thanks, Jeff. I'll see you.

There is great Brian Burke, former NHL executive, former NHL general manager, with a number of teams. We all know the Berkey resume, and it is impressive. Also, he was the guy, as every season around this time,

we talk about the general manager of the year, the Jim Gregory, General Manager of the Year award, which I'm so glad they named after Jim, by the way. That was his idea. And Berkey pushed for the GM of the year, for years and years and years with Colin Campbell

trying to get that through. One thing I want to mention just really quickly, Marco DiMico is going to be stopping by here in a second. Trevor Lewis made it official today that he's retired. Surprise, surprise. Just make it an official.

One of the great stories, as we all know, going back to the 2006 NHL draft, was Philadelphia Flyers general manager Bobby Clark for getting Claude Jure's name as he went up on the stage to announce the Philadelphia Flyers pick. So here's the backstory on this one, and it involves Trevor Lewis. So before the draft, Ron Hextall left the Philadelphia Flyers to join the Los Angeles Kings and had been in on all the meetings, I'm assuming, draft meetings, etc.

And so I had a pretty good idea of who the Philadelphia Flyers wanted. And the Los Angeles Kings, who were selecting 17th, the Philadelphia Flyers were selecting 22nd, Dean LaVarty goes up and announces Trevor Lewis. Now, why is that significant? That's the guy that Bobby Clark wanted, the Philadelphia Flyers. As I'm told, Bobby Clark saw a lot of himself in Trevor Lewis, aggressive, center, like all of it. And so Clarkie thinks, man, Hextal just left to L.A. He knows who we want, why we value Trevor Lewis, and he's just stolen one from me.

Now, the next player on the flyers list after that was Bobby Sanguinetti. The defenseman played with Owen Sound. Sure enough, one pick before Philadelphia, the Rangers get up there and pick Bobby Sanguinetti. So at this point, Bobby Clark is just spitting. He is furious that he's seen the L.A. Kings with Ron Hextall steal their guy. And then the Rangers take their number two in Bobby Sanguinetti, and he can't get it out of his head. and next thing you know, he's at the podium and he can't remember Claude Jureau's name and says,

Homer, who he taken? And the kicker of all of it, he got the better player. With all their respect to Trevor Lewis, Bobby Sanguinetti, passed up on Claude Jureau. Anyhow, a little story. Congratulations on a wonderful 17-year career for Trevor Lewis. With that, let's get back to our Montreal Canadiens talk,

which is always wonderful. Marco joins me from the star of the, the star and D'emiko show. Sorry, first day with the new tongue, and I'm a little bit sick today here, Michael, so you have to excuse me. Oh, no. Yeah, I know.

I just hit me like a ton of bricks yesterday, too, and I'm like, I don't even know if I can do the show today, but here I am. First of all, Marco, thanks so much for stopping by. Like, last time you were on, like the feedback was incredible. People really, really like you, Marco, for that's, and for good reason. You work hard, you present well, and you do your homework.

What did you make of last night? I don't know. I want to get to Suzuki. I want to get to Slavkovsky. I want to get to Anderson and Sabrin, all of it. But just wide-brushed thoughts. Like, what do you take out of last night? I think last night was a nice window into the difference between, you know,

electric energy of youth versus the experience and the stamina that the Tampa Bay Lightning had. And I felt this was a game of two halves. I would say the Canadians really took it to Tampa in the first half of this game. And then you really kind of felt Tampa. take over in the third and definitely into overtime. And it's, you know, there was the emotional side of it with the first half of the game, a lot of physical play, a lot of post-wistle, scurfuffle, a lot of head games. And then they started playing hockey really in the second half.

And that's where Tampa just continued to take over. And the biggest difference between the two is a five-on-five. If they stuck to five-on-five, especially with the last change, Tampa always had that advantage because their two top lines are rolling. It doesn't matter who is on the ice. If you're cycling those two in, it's very difficult for Montreal right now. It's not really getting that cycle going at five on five and that offense at five on five to keep up. And that's where Tapa really kind of took over the game.

You know, it's interesting to, again, if said butts were candies and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas. What if Lane Hudson scores? How different is this conversation right now if Hudson scores? Well, I mean, it would have been a very opportunistic way to win a game. and what Sabarin was doing on the ice with two minutes left and in the decision that he took, that would have been nightmare fuel for a team like Tampa that was looking for their first win at home in the playoffs

in, I believe, nine games. So a lot of questions would have been up there going back to Montreal down to nothing. But again, it's a game of inches. Just before that, Tampa had also hit the post. So it's really just being able to take advantage of that. And kudos to Lane Hudson for a player that in November would look at us in the dressing room and admit that he was still trying to find confidence in his shot. And here we are fast forward.

He finished the season with 12 goals. And his scene is now a shooting threat on the power play and was, to me, the best Montreal Canadians player on the ice overall, obviously next to a guy like Josh Anderson. Let me get to Josh. But really quick on Lane Hudson, that's something that Quinn Hughes did. Like when it became really obvious that Quinn Hughes is on top of that powerplay at the blue line, everything, he was just going to be there to distribute, distribute, distribute, was never a scoring threat, never a shooting threat. Teams could read Vancouver a lot easier on the power play.

And he just spent a whole summer shooting bucks. Not that he's, you know, everybody going to be considered, you know, confused with, you know, Shay Weber or Gaston-Gingra, there's a poll for you from a million years ago. But all of a sudden, thanks, man. But all of a sudden, like, Quinn Hughes became like a legitimate shooting coach. So I'm not surprised that Lane Hudson is that guy because as we talked about last time, him and Demidoff,

like they didn't get off the ice all summer long. Let me ask about Josh Anderson. And specifically play off Josh Anderson. He's fantastic. I love watching him in the postseason. He's tremendous. I looked at the hit yesterday with Scott Sabrin from behind. And like, the worst thing that I hate in hockey is slewfoot's.

And a close second right behind that is what we saw Sabrin do. to Anderson. And it doesn't matter who's a team or who's a player. It's just like you're skating backwards and someone just goes into you hard. That is, like we've seen so many players injured significantly, whiplash neck, all of it. And a five turns into a two.

And all of a sudden, Scott Sabrin is the center of attention for the Montreal Canadiens. I think the worst thing Montreal can do is react to that. I know that Arbor Jack I really wants to fight Sabrin. The first time they fought, it didn't go well for Sabrin. And he's looking for the sequel. I don't know that Sabrin wants that. But how did you see Sabrin Anderson?

And is it inevitable that Jack I fights against Scott Sabrin in the series? Well, the way that he played, does Sabarin even play game three? Because he almost cost Tampa game two with the way that he, and putting him out there like that. So like there's something to consider. But at the same time, you know, like if I'm Tampa, I feel like Connor Geeky offers you more in terms of a layered approach than Sabarin does. I get what they were trying to do, but clearly he was not effective in trying to get any of the Montreal Canadians off their game. The only thing he did was send Josh Anderson to the dressing room two minutes early before the

end of the period. Thankfully, Anderson was not injured on the play. But it really put this, the game was almost over. It came within inches of going in for Lane Hudson right after on that power play. I felt like he was a non-factor for the Montreal Canadiens. most of the game like yak he was there but they paid him no mind and in fact josh anderson was more worried about brandon hagel and that's a trade off the montreal canadians are willing to take oh yeah you know when when it comes to who wants to bother who and who wants to take who into into a fight and even to a lesser degree ureislovsky trying to get into a fight like i'm sure that over a five minutes stretch of of a fight like that the canadians feel like well the way that haggle's

playing taking them out for five minutes maybe makes a bit more sense And then you're able to play the matchup game accordingly. So I think the Canadians played it intelligently. Where I think it maybe came to a head was I think it took a lot out of their sales. Like they had a lot of momentum in the first and most of the second period. But a lot of this really kind of weighed on them. It was the focus. They were getting into the mind games a little bit.

There was a lot of physical strain and getting tied up and the emotional stamina as well. And I felt like that's when Tampa started to take over the game is because, because they were able to reach another gear, show that level of desperation. Then it didn't become a question of Sabre, Anderson, Hegel. It just became, you know, back-to-back hockey up and down, and that's where Tampa thrives. Did it seem like Montreal let Tampa play that game?

Because they didn't get one. You know what I mean? Like Montreal, like, if I have Montreal, I try everything that I can not to let Tampa play that game specifically. You know what I mean? Montreal is a different team when they're holding a lead versus when they're chasing it. And when they're chasing it, it's really hard to match up with their energy and their pacing. But when they're defending a lead, one of the biggest things from a structural perspective that's been an issue is that they don't really protect the low neutral zone into the high slot coming down from the center line.

So it's easy to enter the Canadian zone and then establish yourself in terms of possession. and that's where you get momentum shifts going, especially in the third period, where Tampa was playing with desperation, forced a lot of pressure onto the Montreal Canadiens, especially along the boards where they like to clear the puck. And what happens, Uri Slavkovsky tries to send Nick Suzuki on almost a breakaway,

if not a short break, puck goes back the other way, Kuturov with the wraparound and the game is tied. So that's where things get a little dangerous for Montreal. They know they need to do a better job of it. they did a much better job of covering the center of the ice and at least the zone entries in game one. Got to be a little bit more consistent on that going into game three. How much do you think Marty tries to get the Suzuki line away from Sirelli?

Well, with the last change, they're going to have that luxury to do so. But I don't think the way that Martin St. Louis has used that top line all season, it's been a shutdown line even at home. And it's been that way for the last two years where he has no problem using that line. and going up head to head with the top line of the opposition. But I think now that you have De No Evans and Josh Anderson, playing the way they have as a shutdown line, they're the only line scoring of five on five right now for this team. So that trade-off is working quite well.

It gives Martina-Sain-Louis the flexibility instead to match them up against perhaps the Dominic James line on the fourth line, depending on how the game is going. Or if they feel like they could take it to them, go right up against points line, and see if they could take Kucharov out of the game entirely. I'm going to say that it's going to sound really cynical, but here I go.

Does Kirby Doc know that they have video review for off sides? I look at that play, and I'm looking at him, and he's pointing at the blue line to the official, and I'm like, what are you doing? Like, leave it, just play. Stop. I, I...

Pierre McGuire was on this morning, and he did a really good breakdown. Breakdown of that on Morning Cup of hockey. but like the moment where he where doc starts looking at the linesman and pointing at him is the moment that he loses his man and that's the difference and that's the overtime winner and j j mozier ends up being the hero i'm like what is doc doing if it's if it's offside you bet Montreal's not a dumb team like that thing is getting challenged just keep on like i want to say he's young but i don't know how young kirby doc is like he's not that young

You know, drafted in 2019, so he's going to be 25. Not, you're in that, you're in the peak, well, peak. You're entering your prime at that point. And listen, it's not so much the whining to the referee part. It's, to me, the most egregious mistake on that was the Hail Mary swing at the blue line. No, no, the Hail Mary swing at the blue line. It took him out of position entirely. Had he been more patient on that play and allowed Moser, like, you have, you have nothing to lose.

allow Moser to retain possession of the puck, but at least if you don't overcommit that way, he's six foot four with a ridiculously long reach and a long stick. You have way more chances defensively of being able to counter Moser at that point on the back check going backwards and trying to push him to the exterior, then trying to swing at him at the blue, and then he beats you and has the corridor all the way to the net all to himself.

You know what he's thinking, if I tap this puck, Mosier's going one way and I'm going right up the gut, And it's a breakaway in overtime and I got the game on my stick. I get it. So that's like how much do you want to allow a creative player to try to be creative and create a game winning goal a chance versus, hold on a second here. We're in overtime and this is too costly. We have to mitigate risk.

That's it. Like you know Marty San Luis. You're there all the time. Like it didn't work out. I understand it. But the idea of him trying to spring himself on the breakaway, like what does Marty do with that one? What does San Luis do with that one? He gave us absolutely no clues in today's press conference.

I'll tell you that much. You know, it was a very, it very much felt like a, I'm just here so I don't get fined kind of situation. He definitely defended Kirby Doc and obviously tried to downplay that play and point out the positives in the rest of the game. The fans can choose to agree or disagree with that viewpoint, but a coach is always going to protect his players. But for me, on that play, especially for Kirby,

like you have to have faith in the other four players that are playing with you on the ice and yakob dolbech and net to not try to overcommit yourself for the in the cause of glory in overtime safe is not death in overtime safe allows you to live another day especially on on on an icing that was caused by him in the first place that two strides longer would have been not a problem so it's it's yeah demidov did the same thing but when the puck came back the other way he was the hardest working player on the ice and he helped get that puck out um slavkovsky did did it at one point in game one same concept was one of the hardest working players but didn't overcommit himself to make it happen i just feel like that was a calculated needless mistake that was made

there and unfortunately when you're playing a team like Tampa bay they took advantage of every mistake montreal made in that game did that's uh did that keoghapovsky because he looked like a different player after that did that essentially or maybe my eyes it may even projecting this but it did seem like that fight took slofkoffsky out of the game and as you all know game one he was just feeling it and everything he was touching was going in and it just seemed he just seemed like a profoundly different player after the scrap with hagel well those that's the trade off sometimes when you go for a fight like that like yes you want to stand up for your teammates and you want to stand up for yourself and you want to fight fire with fire but then what happens when you lose that

fight how does that give Tampa bay momentum you know thankfully you know i i After that punch, he got back up right away. There was no injury. So, you know, that's the most important part. But I think that line's been struggling at five-on-five dating back to the first game of this series. And a lot of it, in my opinion, has to do with the speed of their play.

If you look at the way that Sorelli and his line plays against them, they play with speed. There's a guy at the, if not the Canadian's blue line, at least the red line waiting for an outlet pass out of the zone so they can quickly counterattack against that line. because Suzuki's line right now is not playing with speed and they're not playing with the same pace that they did this season which saw, you know, Coffield score 51 goals,

Suzuki score 100 points and Slavkowski get to 73 points. They need to play with more oomph in their game. And did the fight kind of take them out of it? I could see the argument for it, but I think what ended up happening is that Tampa up to the volume after that and really just didn't look back and play with a level of desperation

that maybe Montreal and their young core hasn't seen yet in this kind of environment. At the Four Nations in Montreal, they were cheering Brandon Hagel. I don't think they will be cheering Brandon Hagel in Game 3. Set the scene for the for Game 3 here in Montreal.

I love all the cutaways, by the way, of all the fans in the Montreal Cathedral cheering on that. It's just such a, it's just so Montreal, Marco. It's beautiful. Set the stage here for Game 3. I don't think there's going to be like, oh, yeah, we're really.

remember him at four nations we were cheer you i think those days are gone i think those days are gone now yeah oh absolutely not yeah hagel point uh cooper you name it these guys were all cheered in montreal and they are public enemy number one now um i think it's almost uh symbolic that canadian's games are being showed in churches right now considering that this team is a religion in this city and i don't think it really needs to be set up montreal is the cradle of organized sport whenever the playoffs happen in Montreal. They could be favorites. They could be underdogs. And it is absolute pandemonium. And from a fan perspective, the Bell Center, you know, we talk about which is the loudest building. I think they'll put that to bed in game three considering the stakes of this series.

But I think for the Canadians, having the luxury of the last change, being able to maybe take this time to go over a lot of their strategies, to practice a little bit, something they didn't get a chance to do much of in this super condensed season, I think this is going to help them a great deal because that really is what sets great teams apart is how they're able to adjust and adapt to the adversity face in front of them. I'm fully expecting that top line of Slavkovsky, Cole Cawfield, Nick Suzuki to come out, you know, guns ablazing. And it'll be interesting to see if Kirby Doc's mistake ultimately allows Martin St. Louis to consider Brendan Gallagher or Joe Valeno in his spot to bring a little bit.

bit more of that bite because the Canadians haven't been in Vasilevsky's face enough to my liking as Tampa has been in Dobesh's face. I thought that Falano might find his way in knowing that this is going to be a rough series and there's going to be a lot of penalties and they need someone to kill. That's where I thought Falunner would sneak in. It offers them opportunity and options as well because he can take the left shot face off. So then does that allow you to maybe put Capannon back on the top, on the second line with Demidov and You Hook,

a line that really worked throughout the season? And then you slide down Valeno onto the fourth line. And now you have a nice, you know, balance two right shot centers, two left shot centers. Valeno can take a little bit of the penalty kill responsibilities away from some of the more offensive guys. Like it rebalances things. But an argument can also be made for Brendan Gallagher,

who would be an absolute pest and a disaster. for Tampa Bay in the hash marks and around the goal the goalie crease. And I feel like although Vasilevsky has been money for Tampa Bay and has made some really great saves for them, he hasn't truly been bothered. And I feel like that's an aspect of Montreal's game that may need to be tweaked for game three. The loudest building I've ever been in, Marco, March 16th, 2013, George St. Pierre, Nick Diaz, Montreal. It was

deafening. Montrealers and Quebecers just love GSP like no other. How loud is that going to be for game three? We'll finish there. Is it going to be GSP loud? I mean, listen, last year's playoffs, I think it was 113

decibels or something like that. I'm fully expecting it to be much louder. There is way more expectation, way more energy and way more hype around this team than you could argue over the last 30 years, I I think the last time the Canadians had something like this was probably 2014 in their run to the Eastern Conference finals. If not, the year they finished first in the East in 2008.

That is it. So I expect the Canadians fans to show up in droves. I expect them to be loud, and I expect that to be a significant boost to the Montreal Canadians, especially if this game once again goes to overtime. Pack the rink, pack the churches. The Montreal Canadians are back in town. Marco, thanks so much for stopping by. Always appreciate it, pal.

Thank you so much. a great day. The star of the Star and Demiko show, our good friend. I'll tell you what, Marco does a great job of breaking all these, everything, all this sort of intricacies and the fine details of what the Montreal Canadians are doing or trying to do out there and is a massive rising star in this industry too. I'm glad that we have me here on the program on a semi-consistent basis because that guy is the goods. Hey, Zach, it's been nice not having you on the show.

Come on, man. You're flaunting around here, wearing your cape. Look at me. I'm playing sick today. Oh, I got the snit-risk. And then I come in here. I was coughing in the Berkey segment. That's coughing, man.

It was brutal. I know. I'm just messing with you. I'm just messing with you. You're good. Did you, there's something that just came out here. I want to show you. What's up?

Right now. This tweet came from at Reporter Tubb, James Tubb, during the show. Yes. Gavin McKenna is in medicine hat, skating with the Tigers. Yes. In Penn State Gear. Yes.

Yes. Finishes the tweet with as far as I know he's just here to skate with former teammates, which echoes what Jeff Merrick said. Also in the replies, he did also follow up with, for what it's worth, he's skating alongside Gavin Kour and Luke Rupptash, outside of the Tigers four lines. But I wanted to bring that onto the show here. Do not.

Let me just repost that. Yeah, I threw that out there somewhere around noon. Just got the word this morning and was told, don't read anything into it. No, he's not joining me. the medicine hat tigers. No, that's not having a big conference final coming up against Prince Albert. No, he is not joining the medicine hat tigers.

He's in medicine hat, as I was told. No, no, no, no, no. No, I know. I love to get my mind carried away on things like that, but no, no, no, no, no. That would satisfy you're bringing guy to the Memorial Cup thing, by the way. Well, that's not mine. That's old school. That's old school Memorial Cup.

used to be able to pick a player. You go to the Memorial Cup, you get to take a player. Hey, John Davidson, looking in your direction. Hey, John Garrett. Hey, Mike Vernon. Like, that was a thing that you could do once upon a time.

No, I think, you know, what's interesting about this, too, is I think not to lose sight of something here. And that is we all know the issues between the CHL and NCAA. Right. And it's, it's, this is the first season of the new reality. and this is, you know, the number one showpiece here, Gavin McKenna, who after the Memorial Cup left to go join Penn State, as we all know. And he's been welcome back.

Even if it's just go and skate with the medicine hat tigers, that where you might think that the animosity is at a burning hot level between the two, make no mistakes about it. Like no one's going to a barbecue here at anyone's backyard this weekend, the CH on the NCAA, but it's not perhaps as bad as we think. There's still sort of, hey, yeah, you want to go skate with the tigers?

Go skate with the tigers. My understanding is he's just there to see his buddies that he went to the Memorial Cup with last year. No more, no less. No story here. Kid skates with his old pals that he played junior hockey with last year. That's it. That's the story.

Is it a story if tomorrow he's skating and his pants and his gloves are black and orange and not blown one? You're dying for this to be something more than it is. I love some of my mom. I know you do. It's not this. It's funny too because I'm sure there were some people that wanted this to. Maybe Gavin McKenna's camp probably just wanted this to be quiet. Just a slide on.

Not a chance. There's no chance. Oh, come on. Oh, yeah, it's the presumptive first overall draft picks. Sight of controversy last year leaving the Western Hockey League to join Penn State. Pages upon pages. Oh, no, this one will fly under the radar. Oh, did that happen?

Oh, was that a couple weeks ago? I missed that. Yeah, no. Teams are too well covered. Anyway, it makes for an interesting visual, certainly. But read, nothing into it. But it is interesting and for some really good to see Gavin McKenna back with the tiger. on his chest.

It's a nice picture, too. No, stop it, stop it. Don't be that guy. Always looking for stuff. This segment of presentation of the Ninja Crispy Pro countertop glass air fryer. Shark Ninja is elevating the airfire experience.

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Like essentially, Zach, we should just start a segment called What's on Your Mind? It's on your mind, Zach. That big, big hockey brain of yours. It's on your mind. What's on my mind other than dinner? Well, yeah, that. What's on my mind? I've been thinking about the idea of what Brandon Hagel would look like in a Leafs jersey.

We don't have to talk about that, but that is something that is on my mind. Buffalo didn't want to sign them and Chicago traded them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. The one thing that is on my mind is what is going to happen penalty-wise when they return to Montreal? Because I wonder how much Tampa wants to be involved in that, on the road for Tampa, at home from Montreal. taking penalties to the extent that they had, especially given how they got burned for it in game one,

more so than in game two. But now you go into that barn a little bit extra juice behind them. Brandon Hagel was asked about it last night with one of the funnier questions of all time. Yep. By the way, during the broadcast, and he said,

you know, effectively we don't plan to take that many penalties. They got to play physical and bully Montreal, but they can't rope themselves into, killing penalties that way. So I'm really excited for game three because I think that it just gets amplified playing in Montreal there. Everybody is.

And it's going to be so emotional. And every time that Arbor Jackie and Scott Sabrin are on the ice at the same time, every time Arbor Jackie and, actually, every time Brandon Hagel is on the ice, like what Montreal needs to do is resist the temptation, right? Resist the temptation. but what was it that Brooke you told us on Friday? 4 to 1. Yeah, 4 to 1, that's right, the 4 to 1 rule.

The 4 to 1 rule. It gets the 4 to 1 either way. Look out. Yeah, someone's going to go do something down. It's 4 to 1 of the 3rd, guess what? Which I kind of love, by the way. I kind of love that. That's honestly like it's something that I've wished I've seen from the team I cheer for a whole lot more.

hearing somebody say it and put it into a rule. You can't say four to one to your team. This brings up too many bad memories. Why do you do it to yourself though? Honestly, you do it to yourself. You're choosing to put your hand on the stove. You're putting your hand on the stove deliberately. Why are you hitting your head against the wall?

Because it feels good when I stop. that's what you're doing. That's what you're doing. That's what you're doing with this team. Jeff, I didn't even think about it. Oh, please. Okay, one question for you about another series.

Okay, shoot. One other question. Is Utah too fast for Vegas? Holy smokes, that top line looks good. How great does Logan Cooley look? They are flying. It is so much fun to watch this Utah team play. Like, there's a lot of, like, teams that are, you know, easy to get behind.

And even if you're not necessarily, fan of the mammoth, you can really appreciate how they play. Really, and that top line, like, honestly, that top line is the best line in the playoffs so far. Merrick, we're two games deep. I know, but I'm the guy that awards trophies after every single game. Who's the Hart Trophy favorite after three games? Stay tuned to the sheet. Put it this way.

That's the most impressive line that I've seen. That Logan Cooley line with Dylan Gunther and Kyler Yamamoto is the most impressive line that I've seen so far. Is it for you or is there a line that I'm completely missing here? Because to me, that's been the best line. No, I think that's the best line for me. That, that, I've watched in full both of those games. Yeah.

They jump off the page. I was interested to see what was going to happen with Logan Cooley last night after Nick Dow threatens to, uh, end his existence. Yeah. You will no longer share oxygen with us. Yeah. longer be sharing oxygen with us after the next game. Yeah, he didn't bat an eye.

And, you know, it's a different experience to play in the playoffs and to have that emotion and intensity and then to have somebody behind you chasing you down telling you they're going to kill you who, you know, based on the look on his face, may have being literal. You never know. You're like, holy shit, this guy's got something going on in there. But he didn't bat an eye. And he played amazing.

That line is very dangerous. They are hard for Vegas to handle right now. now and just as I keep watching it even in game one Vegas came away with the win but even in that one I was like hmm there is an issue here with the speed of Utah do you have the um do you have the McKenzie Weger goal do you have do you have that clip with Razza Anderson yes I do fire that one first of all you feel terrible for for Anderson but it was a it was an interesting play we don't see this very often oh can you can do we have way kicks it in do we

have the shot from Weiger because he takes a lot off of it looking for the looking for the tip like it is a total muffin coming in because he's who's going across is it Schmaltz going across that he's that he's looking for the tip

because when he got the puck I'm watching I'm like oh he's got to blast it I'm like yeah it was Schmaltz so he's looking for he's trying to he's aiming at Schmaltz's stick and doesn't get it and instead poor Razz Oh

Angling his foot too I know he's trying to get it to himself The thing is If it were Utah that did that Would that goal count That's what I'm thinking He kicked it No yeah

Yeah If that's a Utah player Is a distinct Is it distinct That is a very deep cut That is a distinct kicking motion Right there From Raz Aiders

That's a tough one But yeah We are shooting for the stick on that one. Up in the air of his head up. And, oh, no, I put it in to my own net. Tough one. You know it's going all,

you know it's going Utah's way in the game when that happens. When that happens. The sheet is powered by Fanduel. Play your game with Fanduel. It's the NHL season. Fandul, you're home for all the action on the ice. From Blue Line to Batslip, we've got you covered all season with Unique.

Promo, Live Offerings, and more features to let you play your game right here in the playoffs. Miss Puck drop, no sweat with the live team game parley. You can build your bets up until the final buzzer. Download Fan Dual Sportsbook today and play your game. Please play responsibly 19 plus and physically located in Ontario. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or the gambling of someone close to you, please contact Connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2-6-600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. All right, big man. I've got a take for you today.

That's what my parlay is. It's a take before tonight's games. What do you got? So the fact that Connor McDavid didn't register a points in game one against Sianaheim Ducks, didn't factor in the way that I think he would have liked the fans. He should go back and skate with the medicine hat tigers is what you're saying. It should be him and Gab McHenigran. The Uriottors.

Right, of course. The Uriottes, yes. Naturally. Yes. I think you should go back. Yes. He is going to be hungry tonight. He's going to be hungry here tonight.

And I've got a bold take for this one. So, oh boy. Mark my words. Tonight is the McDavid game between the Oilers and the ducks. My bold take is McDavid Burry's two. Mark. My words. My words.

Tonight is the McDavid game. My bold, Matt Boldy, take is McDavid Barry's 2. And for Mark, you used M-A-R as in Mart tone. Tone. Right. And I said McDavid's name twice. You did. No, I know.

It's good. All right. $5. $2. The McDavid things, listen, I was talking to someone this morning about this. We've never seen McDavid and Bouchard have in the playoffs, have bad games back-to-back together. They didn't have good games in game one.

Don't expect Bouchard and McDavid to have two bad games. Not going to happen. No. I think this one could be like a blowout. Blowouts are hard to predict in the playoffs, but McDavid and Bouchard don't have bad games back to back. Ryan in the chat is shaking his fist yelling at the air right now. What?

What, Ryan? In the chat, he's losing his mind. Well, listen. Listen. Hold on a second. You got to the playoffs. Your team is taking steps. It's going to be a good team for a long time.

Those San Jose Anaheim matchups are going to be must watch TV for years and years and years. So your team is getting there. They're just not there yet. That's okay. You're just getting a taste. Walk before you can run. A sampling platter. You got to go to Costco and go up and down.

the aisles every now and then and try things out before you can buy the actual product. So this is your hallway stroll through. Here's the playoffs. Do you like the playoffs? Are you enjoying yourself? Would you like to come back? Should you make reservations for next year? That's what's happening with the ducks right now.

Check out aisle six in the frozen section. That's where you can find more. You've done this before, Zach. Anything else? Anything we left on the table that we should go over from the day? Anything. Oh, do we have that? By the way, do we have that email from the,

the other day. The one that I wanted to get to. You know what? Let's hold it for tomorrow because there's an interesting question in the email we got about P.K. Suban becoming a Vancouver Canuck. And there was a legitimate shot at that happening

going back to the Buffalo draft. There's a couple of sidebars and detours along the way for it happening. And I believe Jim Benning actually got fine for tampering over it. It was like $500,000 spending got dinged for tampering. But anyhow, we'll get to that one.

We'll get to that one tomorrow. Okay. Anything else? What else am I missing here? What else am I missing here? I think that was it. I had written down some notes for yesterday. Oh, I know.

We've pretty much cut me all. No, no, no, we got one. It's a great idea. Awesome idea. You know how I feel about Glass Bangers. So Ben sends me a note on Instagram. New rule from Ben. Glass bangers have to swap seats with someone

in the nosebleeds if an infraction occurs. I would even just leave out the if an infraction occurs. You bang glass, you switch seats. All right, bud. Up top and bring someone from way up top down to the premium seats. You want to be a glass banger? All right, we'll deal with you. Out of here.

Punt. Day late, dollar short. I'm with you on glass bangers in general. If you're banging on the glass during the course of plus, No, no. That's super annoying. I hate that. Where I will excuse the Aves fans in this instance is I'm 99% sure this was following a goal.

And it's behind the away team bench in their own barn. Yeah. I can accept that and make an exception there where it's like... Leave the glass alone. You look stupid. Well, they're not... I don't think they're trying to break the glass. That's just...

No, of course they're not trying to break the glass. Just glass banging in general. is dumb and makes you look ridiculous. Now, the only thing that I don't mind is when kids do it because kids, go to the hockey game, have fun. But you're a grown-up. Like, look, grew up the act.

Don't bang the glass. I'm with you. I'm with you on glass-bangers. Like, just beat it. I'm just trying to provide some. Ben also adds, the Dallas guy should be put into a glass cage in the concourse. but that's just my personal

opinion. Ben with the high heat on the show today. I'm at it. There you go. All the glass you want. That's awesome. Thanks for that one, Ben on Instagram. Appreciate that one.

Okay. Thanks to Marco D'Amico for stopping by the program today to shed some light and some sunshine and some optimism about the Montreal Canadian is dropping a tough one last night to the Tampa Bay Light. and we'll see what happens here in game three. That series is already awesome. And thanks to Brian Burke for stopping by on Civilian Wednesdays,

as he normally does. Brian, as we mentioned, was in Buffalo for games one and two. That series is split, heading to Boston. And a really great time. Like, that was maybe the most anticipated atmosphere of any of the series here in the opening round of the playoffs. If you haven't, by the way, had a chance to have a peek at Utah and Vegas. first of all, shame on you.

Second of all, do yourself a favor. Utah just played great yesterday. And again, that Logan Cooley line is outstanding. Playoffs are where you establish reputations. And right now, Logan Cooley, Dylan Gunther, Kyloy, Yama Moto, doing a great job doing just that for the Utah Mammoth. On behalf of everybody here, most notably, Zach Phillips. And I guess that's kind of everyone.

Hey, it's like a two-person operation here every now and then Amel checks in and says, everything good? Good boss. Okay, I'll leave you alone now. So on behalf of Philly, Eric's signing up. We got some help.

We got some help from some guys. We should give them credit. Shout out to our guys, Dante and Thomas. Yeah. Vic helps every now and then for helping out behind the scenes as well. Vic. So I just want to give those boys.

Hang on. Dante and Thomas, yeah. Vic. And Vic. And Vic. And Vic. I threw him in there as a courtesy because I figured it might help him, look at that and be like,

oh, you said my name. I'll help you out with some stuff in the future. I'm trying to, some groundwork here, Jeff. He should change his first name to and. And Vic. Side car.

And Vic. Love you, you know, really. All right, that's it. Third down in Canada, fourth down on the States. We are punting. Let's go.

We're out. Talk to you tomorrow. One o'clock for this sheet. We should be about it. Talk to you. There's not.