The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Quinn Hughes’ Future, Jack Hughes’ Comments & Remembering Barry Melrose ft. Arthur Staple & Colby Cohen

Episode Date: September 10, 2026

On today’s episode of The Sheet, Jeff Marek is joined by Arthur Staple for a deep dive into the Hughes family and the possibility of the three brothers eventually playing together in the NHL. They break down the latest surrounding Quinn Hughes and his future with the Minnesota Wild, Jack Hughes’ recent comments about wanting to play with his brother, and what it could realistically take for Quinn, Jack and Luke Hughes to one day end up on the same team. Jeff and Arthur also discuss Matthew Schaefer following his appearance at NHL Media Week, his continued rise as one of the league’s brightest young stars and what his next contract could eventually look like. Later, Colby Cohen joins Jeff to remember Barry Melrose, reflecting on his passing, his unforgettable broadcasting career, coaching legacy, impact on the sport and what he meant to generations of hockey fans.HOF TOUR: https://youtu.be/fR9r3M2ovIU#TheSheet #NHL #Hockey #QuinnHughes #JackHughes #HughesBrothers #MatthewSchaefer #ChrisKreider #AnaheimDucks #BarryMelrose #JeffMarekReach 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.

Okay, welcome to the program. No fancy, shiny new studio in downtown Toronto. We're at a very cool practice facility, though, for the Washington Capitals. This is the MedStar Capitals Iceplex, and Zach, I'll tell you, I came in here yesterday to do an interview with Vinnie Dayharnay. A little bit later on, I'll be talking to Spencer Carberry for the Ad Lifers podcast. And the minute you walk in and see the Washington Capitol skating, and this is even without Tom Wilson. And without Alex Ovechkin, this Capitals team is enormous. Whether it's the Protis Brothers, whether it's Vinny Dayharnay, I think it's got to be like four or five guys that are over six foot four or six foot five.

It is just, these are just, it's a massive team. And it's got to be deliberate. Like no one is accidentally large in the NHL. So just a quick note on the caps, get ready to see large farm animals in Washington Capitals, jerseys this year. This is a massive squad, Zach. I forgot about how big they were

and the moves that they made in the off season until you tweeted it. And then I went and looked at the lineup and was like, wow, yeah. Okay, there you go. That's kind of one of those exercises I think you and I should do in like two weeks' time right before the season. Where are they now? We'll just list off players and what team they're on because I was looking at them. Even you just brought up

Vinnie Day or N. I'm like, what the hell? He's in Washington. I forgot about that. Like some of this feels like it was years ago that this free agency day happened. You know what? That's a good point because normally July 1st and the fumes and the cascade from July 1st sort of exist right into September. We've completely ignored July 1st and it's all about it's like it's it's post Leo Carlson. This is all just a Leo Carlson world. And to some extent too, um, now kind of a Zeev Boyum world because, you know, now we're wondering what the, the cascade from that contract is going to look like.

Like there's a lot to get into today. Arthur Staples is going to stop by in a couple of moments here. We'll talk about the Hughes family. Colby Cohen is going to stop by and we'll talk about the passing of Mary Melrose, him as a player, as a coach and as an elite-level broadcaster, who should have won the Foster Hewitt by now, more on that later. But whether it's Chris Kreider getting way for the purposes of exterminating the contract, or whether it is the Hughes drama, which we're going to get into here in a couple of seconds,

whether it is the ongoing saga that is who is going to run the Detroit Red Wings, whether it is, is there going to be a new contract for Edmondson, Edvinson, or an Akeesian coming up sometime soon, and how do the Zeev-Boyum deal affect those negotiations? And could whoever runs the Red Wings have any type of leverage over him before the CBA flips to the new CBA, i.e. eight-year max,

to say nothing of heavying up the bonus. early in the contract. That just might be the game here. But we'll see. There's still no shortage of things to talk about. And then there's, as Greg Wischinsky points out in his latest piece at ESPN.com, another group involved in Atlanta, this one led by Anson Carter and a new group of investors that he's part of.

A second group as well, interested in at least discussing or kicking tires on the idea of another team going back to Arizona. So no shortage of friends. things here to get into. It's been the most newsy off season. And that continues as we start to see players get back on the ice and rookie tournaments get going around the NHL, Zach. Yeah. And in what part of that did you want me to be remembering where a guy signed on July 1? There was so many things listed. Where do I want, where do you want me to start? It'll be a good one for me and wish to do together. Guess where this player is now.

Yeah. Book that for next week. Okay. There you go. We're doing show production live on the air here. Let me know when Arthur stops. He's ready. Oh, is Arthur ready? Well, let's get right to him then.

He is the co-host of the very excellent Tri-State Pocky podcast. He is Arthur Staple and he joins us now. So I wanted to sort of read out the dueling comments from both Quinn and Jack Hughes. But if you're watching slash listening to a show like this, you've already seen them. Like we don't have to do a lot of janitorial work on this program because a lot of that already been done. Everybody's on the same page. Still clear as mud. I think Vancouver Canucks fans are saying,

we've seen this movie before. I like it here. I'm happy. Everything's great. Do you want to resign? Well, let's just see how this goes. I don't know if you have a Hughes family decoder ring or if you think that they're trying to tell us something here, Arthur. But how are you reading this situation as it unfolds here? You know, I saw the quote.

Jeff, and then the reaction. And obviously when you see things on Twitter these days, you're not seeing the full picture. But the fact that Wild fans and Devils fans both reacted with, oh, yeah, this is great for us. It really, really was kind of the pinnacle of the confusion. You know, I honestly have no idea which way this is going to go. I feel like, you know, some of the things that Quinn had said all the way along about, you know, feeling some loyalty to Billy Garen. You know, that clearly led to some confidence on Minnesota side that this was going to get done quickly.

And whether that maybe wasn't the full picture for Quinn Hughes or maybe other things have come into play since then, you know, we see a lot of these guys and they all seem to have one thing in common, which is they all have gold medals from Milan from a few months ago. but it does seem like there's a lot of thought that's going into this about, I'm not just going to do this because I'm here, and whether Minnie has a better chance to win or Jersey or a third team that Billy Garron might trade Quinn Hughes to that he might want to go to before he extends somewhere else. It just seems like everybody's exploring all of their options and all of their taking down every last little hypothetical

that they can take down before they make a decision. So, and especially in this case, where you have three brothers that are playing at a high level, two of whom coming off of winning gold and being very instrumental in winning gold in the biggest tournament we've seen in a long time. I don't get the sense that anyone in the Hughes family rushes into anything headlong and Quinn maybe is the most deliberate of all of them. So that's a lot of words to say, I have no idea, but I do sort of feel like, here's the one thing I can say that I've talked to a couple people. which is if he says to Billy, he's not signing, he's not extending in Minnesota before the season, and maybe not at all. He's going to wait until after the season. And it starts to go wrong in Minnesota, and Jersey is having a good year. And it's looking like, okay, this is a no-brainer. If you're Sonny Maida, why are you giving up anything to get Quinn Hughes? I understand maybe you

want to take a runner to Stanley Cup this season, but you know you're going to get him on July 1. Maybe you don't know, but you feel pretty confident that that's what's going to happen if that's the way the season plays out, why would you expend one asset at all to make this happen in the middle of the season? You just wait so you can, and then it just costs the money. So I don't know that he'll stay, he'll extend to Minnesota. I don't know that if that doesn't happen, he'll automatically be a New Jersey devil in the short term. Nobody knows, except maybe Quinn Hughes, and maybe the one thing that I read from those quotes is that I don't know if he knows yet. So So the uncertainty continues.

And I guess we've got to wait till Quinn and his family decide which way he wants to go. You may think that you said nothing, but there's a few things here that I do want to pull out because I do think that there's some fruit on the vine. And that thing that you said at the end, too, about Quinn, the one thing that I do wonder about, again, we're parsing every single word here. But when he talked about when the time is right, again, everybody might have a different interpretation on that. But to me that meant when I feel this team has it, when I feel that Minnesota can be a consistently competitive team at that point, that to him, again, this is my

interpretation. This is all we have to go on is what various family members have said. Because all through all of it, the thing that I've wondered about is, does Quinn think that Minnesota has the team. And we look down the middle and that gives you one answer, but then you look at the back end and it gives you a different answer. So what is it? And that's when he says when it's the right time, it's almost as if in my mind I'm thinking that's a message to Bill Garan saying, improve this team down the middle. And you got me. Yeah, I will say this too, and I'm stealing this from my tri-state co-host, Mike Rupp, that if you are Quinn Hughes or say someone who's kind of pondering their future and you're out west and you see just even just in their division you see

Colorado you see Dallas you see Utah on the rise and then over in the other division you see Vegas and you see Edmonton and then you look in the east if you have a choice you are coming to the east if you think if you're talking about I want a chance to win year after year you can make that happen if you're Quinn Hughes just by moving to a team in the east and the balance of power doesn't always stay that lopsided, but it feels like it's going to stay that lopsided for a little bit. And Minnie is certainly part of that conversation, but they are one of half a dozen teams that you say every year, huh, maybe these guys have a legitimate chance and they're going to go

for broke and they have owners that are committed to trying to win every year. And you certainly can say that about Vegas and Colorado at the very least. And you look in the east and aside from the reigning champs, who do you really say that about year after year? Florida maybe, Tampa maybe, Everybody wants to win, but you don't see the teams that are at the top and staying at the top and reloading year after year. So maybe that's another factor, probably not one that many fans want to hear. But as you pointed out, they are not sitting at the top of that heap right now in terms of I look at the wild team as it stands right now, even with Quinn Hughes and say, that's a cup contender for me. They're just not right now as they're constituted. and maybe Quincy's it too, as you pointed out.

You know, one of the things as well, and we see this every year, Arthur, there's always one team, like there's always one, or sometimes two, 100-point teams that the following season fall off the face of the earth. It happens. It happens every year, and if you say anything about it in the off-season, you're called crazy, and then it happens, and everyone says, well, we should have seen this coming. Minnesota, Dallas.

I know it may sound preposterous based on how we believe, how good we believe these teams are, but we've always said this about 100-point teams that fall off. Who saw that coming? But it happens. Like the worst thing for any Quinn Hughes negotiation, obviously is an awful start.

I do like your point about Sunny Meda and New Jersey. Let me sort of drill down on that with you for a couple of seconds. Sunday Mata has a background in certainly analytical, and also poker. And I think that in his mind, he's thinking the exact same thing that you're putting forward as well. Why? As long as I have patience,

I can get this player without touching my roster or touching my prospects or touching any of my draft picks. And as much as there may be a temptation, and we've seen this before, when a new general manager emerges, The first thing they want to do is do stuff, show that they belong. Show, you know, I'm here to work when sometimes, as you all know, sometimes the best thing to do is nothing.

And I wonder if Sonny's looking at this and saying, listen, if it doesn't work out in Minnesota right now and they want me to win a trade like slam dunk, we'll make it. Otherwise, I can wait. Yeah. I can be patient. play the long game. Yeah. Yeah, you know, I think he has done a bit, and I, and I, I like what he's done. And it's not just about adding, you know, we get into these summer

conversations a lot, whether it's devils, Rangers, Islanders, and everybody wants to talk about adding. And Free Agent, July 1 was, was a bit of a dud. A lot of guys changed hands, but really the interesting stuff was all on the trade market. But you have to subtract, too. You have to make room, whether it's for your kids or a new mix. And Sunny unloading that Jacob Markstrom contract, and I understand that's probably the area of weakness that we see the most on paper with this team right now, which is in net, where we've kind of got a two and a half-headed monster with Jake Allen leading the way, who's not really been a number one for a little bit of a few years here.

You've got David Riddick, who I think we know what he is right now. And you've got Nico Dawes who has shown okay in a couple of stints, but has never really been able to grab hold of a regular spot. And if that's the three and they figure it out and as we get into the season, suddenly a Connor Hellebuck trade or a Jordan Bittington trade materializes, then maybe they'll make that pivot. But making room is almost as important as what you bring in. And I like the fact that he did make room and got off of that Markstrom contract,

being aggressive with Luke Evangelista. I feel like you mentioned his background. And I think we're seeing this with some of the newer GMs that they are, they're not coming in and saying, well, I need a, I need a little bit of time to evaluate. I need to, I need to see what I have. They've done the evaluation. They did that in preparation for the interview with the owner. And that's, they come in, come into the job and make the changes you need to make because you can't, you can't, you can't sit still anymore in the NHL. You can't wait for your guys to, several years for your guys to develop.

You'll be stuck in that developmental hell. And you can't, you know, really just sort of assume your, after year, your core guys are always going to get better and improve. So I like what he's done, and I think you're right. I don't know him at all, but I imagine that his background tells him there's a time to be aggressive and there's a time to sort of wait things out. And I imagine things play out the way that the devils want and the wild are struggling and the devils are riding high that everyone will say like, oh, Quinn Hughes is, they're just a glide path to becoming a devil right now. And I don't think he's going to say that. I think if there's a trade to be made,

That's an easy one. He'll do it, but you just wait. How big of a, because we tend to focus in this huge drama on Jack and Quinn, perhaps for the obvious reasons, probably for the obvious reasons. And Luke kind of gets sort of outside, outside of this conversation. Eventually, every now and then someone will bring up a point about the presence of Luke Hughes in all of this. And usually it's around power play time. Well, if Quinn goes to New Jersey, there goes Brother Luke's power play time. does one family member want to do that to another family member because Quinn comes in,

he's taking the full two minutes. How much of a factor positively, negatively, is Luke Hughes in all of this with the New Jersey Devils? I assume he's got to be a big part. Even though he wasn't part of the Olympics, he still exists as a big part of the trio of brothers. And when they talk about playing with each other, it's not just Quinn and Jack talking about it, which is why it puzzles me a little bit. it when you see like, oh, well, Jack will just come to play with Quinn when, you know, if Quinn signs in Minnie for three years, their contracts are up, they'll go wherever they can go.

They're just going to leave their brother behind because in three years, Luke may be as good as the other two. That's sort of the hope for path, right? That's why he got the eight-year deal and why he's going to be on the most likely on the top pair when the season opens and have a lot of responsibilities because the potential is there for him to be just as good as his brothers. So yeah, it's, and I liked what Jack said yesterday about how complicating that makes it because there's three of them.

You know, he pointed out how Brady Kachuk went to Florida. His contract is easier to move. And I think the implication there too was there's two Kachuk brothers. So one team just needs to, one guy just needs to say to one team, I want to go play with my brother and that's it. This doesn't really line up the way that everybody wants it to line up. So, you know, the simplest arrangement is. is obviously Quinn Hughes joining Jack and Luke with the Devils.

And the thought of like a third team being involved down the road would require two free agent signings and a trade. And, you know, who knows what things will look like then and whether Luke Hughes will decide, you know, he's just he's just the third guy tagging along or if he's the guy that can be dictating some of the terms too because he'll be one of the premier players in the league by then. And again, like, through,

all of this, through all of this with the Hughes family, even the season starts and Quinn Hughes doesn't have a contract extension. It still does very much seem like, and with all the points that Brady Kachuk makes as well, this team, this family does seem determined to play together, whether it's New Jersey or whether it's elsewhere. Like there, there is that vibe that even though they may shrug it off, oh, we don't talk about this, or if we do, it's just in passing and oh, past the salt at the table. Like, they seem, they seem hell bent that somewhere along the way, their brothers are going to play together.

Yeah. And if that's the case, then like I said, the simplest answer is Quinn Hughes doesn't extend. And on July 1 of 2027, he becomes a devil because you don't have to, you don't have to have a, you know, an NHL schedule matrix to try to figure out all the permutations of where they could end up and what the cap implications would be. So, yeah, you know, and that could all be blown up as soon as we hang up here. Quinn Hughes could announce an eight-year extension or a seven-year extension or a three-year extension and then we kick this down the road a bit.

But yeah, if we go into the season with him still not signed and still answering these questions about what he wants to do with his future. It doesn't necessarily mean Minnesota is going to be a bad team or a team that's on edge because they don't know what one of their star players is going to do after this season. I covered John Tavares' last season on Long Island, and it was not a great season, but it wasn't necessarily because John Tavares hadn't made up his mind. It was a lot of other factors. So, you know, I think it puts them in a tough spot because, as you pointed out, if any of it has to do with improving them down the middle or completing a Dylan Larkin trade or completing a trade for someone else, their assets are pretty depleted at the moment. So it would take a lot

and to do that on the eve of a season when you're coming off one of your better seasons ever, it's a difficult thing to pull off, especially under the gun there. So yeah, it does leave a lot of questions unanswered if he isn't signed in the next couple weeks. And I feel like those questions don't really go away, even if you're not, even if they're not being asked to him directly, it's just sort of hanging over that team. And as you said, they do need a good start. It's a division where, you know, if the mainstays in Colorado and Dallas start off the way that they usually start off and there's Utah involved, maybe they've improved quite a bit, suddenly you're looking at, are we even going to make the playoffs as you get into the

Christmas time? And that, that I think would really make people start to sweat out there. Okay, a couple of moments left with you. One thing I do want to get to, is Matthew Schaefer. Like pretty, pretty quickly at the end of next season. There's going to be a lot of attention on what is he going to command. There's going to be a lot of reading into the personality. There's going to be a lot of talk about Danny Breyer's. Like, Danny Breyer is the star of the offseason by so much his tracks right back to him submitting that offer sheet for Leo Carlson.

There's going to be a lot about his personality and the future of the Islanders. and where does he want to position himself and maybe responsibility to the players association and all other defensemen. There's a pretty big Zeev-Boyam contract that was just signed, and that's going to affect other young defensemen, most notably Nekishin and Edvinson as well. How do you see, like, let's just get ahead of ourselves here.

Like, this kid is insanely good. We all know that. This kid is like amongst already distinguished himself amongst the elites in the NHL. and he's barely scratching the surface. What's the conversation with the islanders going to be like around Matthew Schaefer? Knowing that what, and again, not comparables, but what McCar has signed for, what Quinn Hughes will sign for,

what's already out there. And let me throw another log on the fire. There's 31 general managers who all said the same thing this summer. I don't want to be Pat for Beak. I don't want to go through that. How do you lump all that? together around Matthew Schaefer next year. I mean, I think the conversation is Matthew Darsh and Matthew Schaefer's agent.

You say, what do you want to do? Do you want five years? Do you want to walk right up to UFA? Do you want to go the full seven? Do you want something even shorter to keep chopping it up and making the number go up? I think that, you know, the number itself is going to be the max percentage of the cap. that you can get. I just sort of feel like it's not it's not going to be you know maybe he'll leave some on the table but I think you look at this roster there's there's some money coming off

the books after this season in the next in the next couple seasons and they and you know I think I think he said it on your show Evan Gold their new assistant GM this is a transition year it's it's it's a roster that's still pretty familiar to Islander fans from the last decade or so really. A lot of mainstays are still there. I know Anders Lee left and they've lost, you know, two-thirds of the best fourth line in hockey to retirement over the last few years. But a lot of familiar names. And that doesn't necessarily scream, you know, cup contender right now, unless Matthew Schaefer surpasses what he did last year and Ily Serochaun surpasses what he did last year. So I think I think if you're in that situation and you're pointing yourselves towards

the future, it has to be built around Matthew Schaefer, and that gives him all the leverage in any sort of negotiation, and you obviously don't want to be in a situation where you have to sign someone else's contract, whether, you know, for whatever number that begins with a two and has several zeros after it. So I feel like they'll get out ahead of it. Matthew Darsh is a smart guy. I think he understands the landscape here, and that's kind of one small piece of the changes that need to happen around the islanders. You know, maybe they could surprise us and have a really great year, even having not really altered the group much from the end of last season.

But if not, and they're where they've been last three, four years, which is kind of on that Eastern playoff cut line, maybe a little bit in, little bit out, seeing what they can do. I have a feeling that that conversation should be short and sweet, and then they have the big, the oversized check, and that's the end of that, because this is the guy that they're hanging, their hat on and without him or you can't really talk yourself into anything other than he's the guy he's going to be the cornerstone he'll be the captain eventually if he's not going

to be named it even before this season i don't think that's that'll happen but it'll happen down the road um they've built so much of their identity already around him at 19 years old that i can't see any other path but uh if it's four years or five years or six or seven that it's going to be close to or if not the max you're right there are just some players where there's There's no negotiation. We saw this in San Jose with Maclon Celebrini with Mike Greer essentially saying like, listen, he didn't take the max. But if he did, what were we going to say?

No. Exactly. Sorry, we got to negotiate with you. No chance. No chance. Not a chance. This is just like, okay, put it right at a number down on a piece of paper and please, if you could, try to save us some dignity here.

Exactly. Try to just work with us on this one. You're the best, as always. Arthur, thanks so much for stopping by. and sharing your expertise on all of it. Really appreciate it. You got it, Jeff. Anytime, my man.

There is the great Arthur Staples from a tri-state hockey podcast, which was rolling all summer long as well. So always good to have a nice conversation with Arthur Staples about not just tri-state things as well, but like other issues around the NHL and so much of it right now. And again, a lot of it is the cascade from the Danny Breyer offer sheet of Leo Carlson still playing itself out right now. In the meantime, hockey lost a legend and someone who had a larger-than-life personality,

someone who was a success in a number of different areas in the hockey world. When I think Barry Melrose, I think of the player that I watched, I think about the coach who pulled off one of the rarest things we've ever seen. He won a Memorial Cup with Medicine Hat. He won the Calder Cup in the American Hockey League with Adirondack in one of the most interesting Calder Cup finals we've ever seen a seven gamer between Adirondack and St. John where the visiting team won every single game. I don't

think that's ever happened at the American Hockey League level or the national hockey league level for that matter, and then took the Los Angeles Kings to the Stanley Cup final in 1993 against the Montreal Canadians. Barry Melrose passed away yesterday, someone who's always gone out of his way to talk about Barry Melrose, the coach, the player, and more specifically the person.

And I should mention, too, like the one thing I don't want to ignore here is, A, how great a broadcaster Barry Melrose was, and for the longest time, he was the voice of hockey in America at a time where it was really hard to get any attention on this sport.

Barry Melrose always had the flag out for hockey. He understood that it needed a voice, and it was going to be him. Colby Cohen for Morning Cup of Hockey joins me now to talk about. Barry Mulrose on a really sad day where, like, honestly, Colby, and you've talked about this a number of different times with Barry. everybody has been affected by Barry Melrose, whether they know it or not, specifically in the United States. Back on, of course, Calvington, Saskatchewan, like in the prairies in Canada, just such an instrumental voice for a lot of years and was always someone that was willing to work with younger broadcasters, and you are right up around the top of that list.

Condolences to you because I know you two were close. Yeah, you know, first off, I appreciate you having me come on to talk about them today because, you know, as I sat there on the plane last night, I was traveling when I heard, you know, butchie texted me. And I really didn't have words for it. And sometimes, you know, you're sitting on an airplane. You're by yourself. You've got your headphones on. And I just so many emotions, Jeff. because Barry just, he meant a lot to me.

And I took more of a selfish approach. And I didn't think about even the rest of the hockey world. Because I had so much love for Barry in my heart. And I just, you know, he treated me so well. And when I think about the success that I've had with ESPN and, you know, I get to work the Frozen Four every year. And that wouldn't have happened if he didn't approve it. The first year I got moved up to the crew with him and John Butchagross, he had to be okay with it because for 15 or 20 straight years, he was the only guy.

And he didn't share the airtime. But what I quickly learned was that, you know, Barry had no ego. And, you know, they say don't meet your heroes or don't meet people that are larger than life people. Well, like, I got to meet a guy that I watched on TV my whole time. childhood and he was better in person than you ever could have expected and you know he was just the kindest human and i i've been reading today you know on social media everybody has a berry story and in berry's stories and these people that just met him one time they all felt like they were his best friend and they all felt important by and and loved by him and you know i i i i

I just love that. Like his impact was so great. And I think about all the nights that we'd finish a double header. And we would have been broadcasting for six, seven straight hours at the Frozen Four. And I would have to pull him away from people. And I would have to be like, Barry, no more. You can't talk to any more people. You can't take any more pictures.

I got us a dinner reservation that we have to go to. And look, I actually have this behind me that I've had. This isn't a new, you know, this is a photo of the three of us. One of the years we were working in the regionals. And I always had this here because, you know, again, Barry, he just meant so much to me. And, you know, I, to everyone, to the hockey world. But I just hope people know that, like, this is one of the kindest, most gentle human beings in the world. And he just lit up a room without having to say anything.

He was the coolest guy without trying to be cool. I just, it's, it's, I love talking about him. And I've always loved talking about him when he was alive. He's obviously passed now just because I want people to know that didn't know him, just how great of a human being that he is and that he was. And an important voice, too. Like, it's lost on, it's, it's, well, and I want to, I want to get your perspective on this as a hockey fan, a hockey player, a hockey broadcaster as well. In Canada, hockey is just always on.

It's wallpaper. Like, we all grow up with it, right? Like, you're born, the doctor smacks you on the butt and says, is he a left hand shot or a right hand shot? Like, that's, that's just Canada, right? But in the United States, like, the idea of having to fight for a place for hockey, like, that exists in the United States. Yeah. And for a while, Barry was the lone voice. Like this is what I've always said about Barry Mel was like for a long time.

It was Barry versus everybody. It was Barry, you know, with the flag for the, for the NHL versus basketball, versus baseball, versus football, versus all of it. Always trying to carve out some time, some place and sometime on sports center and showing up for interviews. Like Barry is one of those guys like as it, even as an, as a radio producer or radio host, like he was so easy to get because he never said no.

It's almost if you had this idea that I have a responsibility here in a tough time for hockey in the United States to keep this thing alive and wave the flag. I'm sure you notice this. As a player, as a fan, as a kid, all of it. He was the reason that you stayed up for the 11 p.m. Sports Center for all the years hockey was not on ESPN and ESPN they were covering the sports that they had the rights packages to right so you know Barry would get five or seven minutes on Sports Center and Barry's bistro was one of the best of all time he would do it with Steve Levy he would do with John Butchagross like and I think what's really cool and and I've been trying to retweet some of these and I think you know others have as well look at the other people that are well-known TV people from ESPN in the U.S.,

Carl Ravich, Scott Van Pelt, all of these NFL athletes, okay? They've all put out a tweet in the last 24 hours, and they've all talked about the time they spent with Barry in the cafeteria at ESPN. He had this effect where everybody wanted to be around Barry. You could have a Hall of Fame NFL player in the cafeteria at ESPN,

but everybody wanted to sit and hear from Barry because he was this, like, we used to joke, and we were like the odd couple. You've got this farm boy from Western Canada and me, you've got me, this kid who grew up on third base on the main line in, you know, in Radner Township, you know, with every opportunity in the world

being given to me and handed to me. And then we were just so different. I'll never forget when I started teaching him, we were talking about Lulu Levin and yoga pants, and we used to joke about it. Like he couldn't wrap his head around these things. And, you know, he'd order a well-done steak at dinner. And I'd be like, Barry, I could have just brought you a hockey puck from the game.

Like we, and I wrote this last night, and it's maybe one, one hundredth of what I want to say about him. but I feel so fortunate of all the nights, all the dinners, all the travel, you know, sitting in the bars and bars would stay open for us in Fanual Hall because they wanted Barry Melrose to sit there and be there after hours. He just, he had this way about him where he never asked for things. He would give you the, you know, people use the term he'd give you the shirt off of his back. But it's not always true. With him, it was true.

And he was just, he was the guy who kept hockey alive and him and Butchy and Leaves and Steve Levy. Like those guys carried the flag for a long time. But you don't have to be a hockey person to know who Barry is in America. And I just would say this. Like here's, here's the analogy that I would use. Because like I didn't grow up wanting to be a broadcaster. that was never my plan. My plan was to play in the NHL and have a unbelievable career like the rest of us. But, you know, there were a few moments in my playing career, whether it was the first time I went on the ice with Joe Sacki or the first time I was in a locker room with Mark Recky.

And the reason I used those two guys in particular is because I watched those guys in my childhood when I was 9, 10, 11, 12. Like those guys were superstars. They were Hall of Fame. They are Hall of Famers, right? And you got to kind of act, okay, like now I'm in the locker room with you. So like I got to, I got to keep it together. You can't act. But there's always like even now, I see Joe Sackick in a press box. It still blows my mind that Joe Sackick knows who I am and can send me a text message or whatever. Like it still blows my mind.

It's never worn off to me that like, wow, I get to know a person that I idolized growing up. With Barry, he was that because he was on television. You saw him every night on ESPN. And so he was just this larger-than-life person on ESPN. And when I started working with him, I always was like, holy shit. I'm working with Barry Melrose. Like it was like going on the ice with Joe Sackick or Mark Recki, these people that you watched and you can't believe that you get to occupy spaces.

and work or play with these guys. And that's how it was with Barry. Up until our very last Frozen Four that we did together in Tampa Bay, it never wore off. I said that to Butchy last night. We were texting. And I said, you know, the cool factor of working with him was the same every game we did over the course of those four or five seasons together.

And it always was like a pinch me moment. Like I get to go on with Barry. and I get to listen to Barry and we had so much fun on the air and, you know, people got really critical of him at the end and they had no idea what he was dealing with from a health standpoint. It used to be really hard for me to see, but I could just tell you this. Not many people truly, truly love the game of hockey and care about the game of hockey and care about the hockey people like Barry did.

Let me, those are beautiful words. Let me tell you something about my country. Let me tell you something about Saskatchewan. I'm from Ontario, but here's the reputation that people from Saskatchewan have always had. They are very low maintenance. Very. They are very friendly. And they love open spaces.

So Wendell Clark's his cousin. And I remember Wendell, when he played with the Toronto Maple Leafs, he would always get to the rink really, really early. And he would just sit in the stands before they were. was anyone there because it reminded him of Saskatchewan. It was just open space before anybody was in there, really, really comfortable in open space. And I think that's why people from Saskatchewan who get into broadcasting are such a success because they are low maintenance. They are friendly. And they just love being at the rank. And I think Colby, it's because it reminds them of home. and open spaces in the prairies.

You know, the stereotype in Saskatchewan is you could watch your dog run away for two weeks. That's how open it is. And I always saw that with Barry Mulrose. Like he's, even though he was, like he was a larger than life personality.

Like he got the fame part of it. And he, and he was really comfortable there. But I still saw a humble guy. Totally. In the most low maintenance province province in the, country. Yeah. Yeah. I think people think like maybe he was showtime because of his hair. Nope. Nope. He's the opposite of showtime. Barry was the coolest guy in the room, but he wasn't

trying to be the cool guy. He was just himself. And the more time I've spent in Edmonton and out, you know, I played in a Four Nations tournament in Saskatchewan back in the day. We were in Moose Jaw. We were kind of bouncing around up in those areas. And, you know, look, the people out there are, they're a different breed. Like they, I would, I would compare them to a lot of the great people that live in the Midwest in the U.S. They're just good. Midwest, yeah.

They're salt to the earth people. They would give you the shirt off their back. They're the type of people that when you stop and you ask them for directions, they're, like, worried about if they gave you the right directions. And they're not just like people that live on the East Coast or the West. coast where it's like sorry you're not my problem you know i i i truly believe that if i was ever in trouble and i needed someone at three o'clock in the morning barry would be there for me and i don't think i'm alone and i i just again i think the best part is that it's not just people like you jeff

you know people that have access you know i saw chris pronger i mean all these people all these great writers you know ruse wrote something nice about him and butchie and leaves and and but it's it's these pictures that people are posting fans and then they're posting the story of when they got to talk to him and i i just like he's a hall of fame person for sure and a hall of fame ambassador to our game and i i don't know what the arrangements yet are for his celebration um of life or you know whatever it is that they're going to hold for him but i'll tell you this, be prepared to wait in line because you are going to see people coming from all over the globe to pay their respects to him. And, you know, anybody who's been texting me telling me what a

good man he was, I've been correcting them because he was a great man. And he was one that mattered to a lot of people. Quick story. So when the news broke, one of the first texts I got was from Colin Priestner. And Colin is the general manager of the Saskatoon. Toon Blades of the Western Hockey League. And his dad was roommate and junior with Barry Melrose. And they bumped into one another. Colin was there with his dad. And he's like, I don't know if Barry's going to remember me.

Not only did Barry remember Colin's dad. But he outed him as a fan of the Bee Gees when he was like 16 years old. And Colin's dad always sort of prided himself on having different types of musical taste. And he's like, the BG's, by the way. So do I, but I guess this was a, this was a thing. Your dad will listen to the same tapes over. Like he remembered when he was 16 playing junior hockey,

this roommate that he had for a short amount of time and playing BG's records over and over and over again. Because I'm with you, everybody is this going to empty the tank with Barry Melrose stories. That is like one of the silver linings here is, we get to hear a bunch of great Barry Melville stories. And they're all good. And they're all good, Colby.

And you know what? You know, Barry was suffering. He was. And so, you know, you have to take solace in the fact that that's not happening anymore. And it's, it's, you're right. The silver lining is all the great. And this is something that our community does exceptionally well as we rally. and we support when we lose great people.

And, you know, I always fight back when people say our hockey culture isn't great. I fight that tooth and nail because, sure, there's always bad apples in every culture, in every walk of life, in every section of the planet. Tell you what, you want to put a guy on a pedestal that is everything that is good about this sport. well, I got a statue I can build for you. And it's going to have long hair and it's going to have a mullet. And it's going to have a big old smile on his face. Because hard to be around Barry and not be happy, be in a good mood, be laughing.

He just, he was one of a kind. Like he really was a one of a kind type of person. He really was. Absolutely. These are all great words. again, condolences to your friend and condolences to hockey fans everywhere. To everyone. We lost a giant.

Listen, when a large tree falls, there's no obvious replacement. There is a major, major hole in the hockey forest right now with the passing of Barry Malrose. Colby, thanks so much. And listen, next time you're on, we'll talk about your new role with the USHL. That's very exciting news. I would love that. Looking forward to doing that. We got, listen, we're starting the 21st morning couple will be back live.

So we're, you know, you're making us look bad by staying live all summer. But hey, you know what? You guys have lives. You guys have lives. We did a couple. We've done a couple. But that's why they pay you the big bucks to keep the channel. No, no, no, no, no.

The money I have still makes noise in my pocket. It's not like that long, quiet green that you and Johnny had. You want the quiet money. We're working on it. More shoutouts on the sheet. We're working on it. We're excited. and we'll get back to our regular programming with everything,

and we'll catch up with you for sure. And, you know, it'll be good to get back on in a regular capacity. So I'm looking forward to it, lots of good hockey. So, and we got to plan your next NCAA arena visit. We got to talk about that because, you know, last year was Yost. I'm thinking NoDAC this year. Hard to top it, but I like where your head's at.

If you're going to do a college hockey hit, that place will blow. will do away in Grand Force. And Dane Jackson, he's legit. He is legit. Bryn Chiswick has done such a great job there, too. We got to throw Brin's name out there because he's done a tremendous job.

But I'll tell you what, my oldest has a tournament in Boston this year, Kobe. So maybe I'll come knocking on the BU door. I know a guy. I know a guy. I can probably get you set up nicely there in the great city of Boston, Massachusetts. it's maybe we get a little, might be a violation so we can't get him a nameplate, but we'll make him feel special when he walks through the building, okay? I know all the traffic, right?

I know, I get, you know a guy, you know a guy. All right, thanks, pal. We'll talk soon. All right, Jeff. There is a great Colby Cohen from Morning Cup of hockey, close friend, former colleague of the late Barry Melrose. I want to wrap up here. But, Zach, before we do, do you have a quick couple of thoughts on Barry Melrose?

I mean, he is someone that crosses a lot of generations and was, again, larger than life, hockey commentator. By now, he probably should have won the Foster Hewitt. That's a conversation for another day, but he's one of the names that we always come back to. Unfortunately, if he does what it now, it'll be posthumously. But a quick thought on Barry Melrose from your point of view. Yeah, I'll be honest and straightforward with it. I don't have the same experience that you and Colby do with Barry or the same.

you know, takeaways just more so because I didn't get to consume it as much growing up here in Canada and consuming hockey from the lens that I did. But what I can say about him is kind of just to further the points that you guys made and the association that I have of Barry Melrose and hockey in the United States and that anytime I played in a tournament there or if I ever had access to ESPN and US programming, if you ever turned it on or you get on, even on the weekend sometimes where it would be you know they would be i guess simulcasting is a way to put it here in canada the espn broadcast yep it was barry melrose and that was who i saw and as a kid growing up that was what i associated american hockey with was barry melrose and um you know i i didn't

again i didn't get to experience it the same way that you guys did or experience barry the same way that you guys did so i'm glad that we're able to have you and colby speak on him here today um and i'm not doing him any justice to the words that I'm using to describe him or my experience, but I just furthering, like, that was what I associated him with. Here's what I would say to people that don't, that haven't, that didn't have the, the quote unquote, Barry Melrose's experience. Because, like, in the sweet spot of the bat for his career, like, when he was, like, always good to love, you know, love to watch a broadcaster hit his or her stride,

he was elite and he was so watchable and so informed. and so passionate, like all of it. And if you never got a chance to watch him during his career for younger hockey fans or newer hockey fans, just go online and type in Barry Malrose and social media and just listen to the tributes and watch the clips and see the pictures. Like, that's all there for you because hockey lost a giant. Hockey lost an absolute giant in broadcasting. The sport is poorer today than it was two days ago for the absence of. Barry Melrose in it.

Okay, Zacharoo, we're wrapping up here from Washington, and we are back, we're going to be announcing and putting together our return to full-time action, our five days a week. So that's going to be the brain trust. It's going to be the law firm of Merrick Delich and Phillips that put that one together. So the law firm will have to get together over the weekend

and figure this one out. And we'll have that information available sometime next week. week. Also, the Hall of Fame tour video went out. Yes. So last spring, Pierre McGuire and I got to wander through the Hockey Hall of Fame and just riff on and freestyle commentary on all of it. We did put the clip up of the Bobby War Valley's pinball machine. Can you spot the mistake?

By the way, the goaltender is on the pinball machine. I don't know. Former Toronto Maple Leaf goaltender, Wayne Thomas. Okay. It's based on, based on Wayne Thomas. Anyhow. But the whole thing's out there.

And the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the,

the, the, the, the, replico, Montreal, Canadians' dressing room. So, which we spent a lot of time in,

by the way. We went through all the numbers. Yes. We went through all the players and that had to have stories about each of them. I know, I know, I know. It's, trust me, it was geeky out time.

It's like, the first time you go to Poyser Russ as a kid. You're like, that's what happens when I go to fame. I don't know where to start and some great stuff with the great hall. Anyhow, check that out. That's available. Oh, you put it in? Great. For people, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Okay, so check that one out as well. The sheet returns on Tuesday.

We will be back and then announcing our full-time schedule resumption next week as well. In the meantime, thanks to everybody here. Huey's to my left. Thanks, Huey. That oh, boy. I'm making us, making a sound so good. He's got this, like, cool, like, podcast and a box set up here. I'm not sure that I'm brave enough. to try to, to, to try to steal it under Huey's nose, but you could take this anywhere and do... Not for sale, not for sale, not for sale. Thanks to everybody here in Washington for being so hospitable,

doing some stuff for the Hockey Lifeers podcast as well. Look for that to come out sooner than later. It sat down for an hour with Ted Leones's, the owner, a long-time owner for the Washington Capitals, bought the team in 1999. And we talked about a wide range of things, as you would imagine, an NHL owner giving you an hour. That's precious.

So thanks to Leone. his family, to Ted and to Zach Leonces as well. Thanks to everybody here in Washington for making another trip seamless, and we will talk to you again on Tuesday when the she returns.