The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Red Wings, Team USA Hockey, and Middle Fingers ft. Kevin Allen & Greg Wyshynski

Episode Date: January 27, 2026

Today’s episode of The Sheet is a special MvsW edition as Jeff Marek and Greg Wyshynski dig into another wild night around the NHL. The guys open with the fallout from William Nylander and his very visible middle-finger moment, breaking down the reaction, the league response, and the $5,000 fine that followed. They also get into Sean Durzi completely losing it in the penalty box, plus Mattias Ekholm making history with his first career hat trick. From there, the conversation expands to the rest of the league before welcoming Kevin Allen for a deep dive on everything surrounding the Detroit Red Wings and the latest storylines impacting Team USA. Plenty of headlines, strong opinions, and classic MvsW energy throughout.Leave a voicemail: https://www.speakpipe.com/TheSheetEmail us: [e-mail] TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼Uber Eats: https://www.ubereats.com/caReach 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!#TheSheet #MvsW #JeffMarek #GregWyshynski #NHL #WilliamNylander #SeanDurzi #MattiasEkholm #DetroitRedWings #TeamUSA #KevinAllen #HockeyPodcast #DailyFaceoff Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So Greg Wysinski, and welcome everybody once again to The Sheets. It's Tuesday, January 27th. So Greg Wyshke, I was on DFO Live this afternoon with Tyler E. Remchuk and Carter Hutton. Let me turn the volume down on my laptop here. And they asked me the William Neelander controversy is the biggest non-controversy since. And the thing that popped to my mind was Joe Thornton discussing the part of him that is most a man. and what he would do to the part of him that is most a man, should he ever score for goals?

Can you think of anything else since Joe Thornton and Roostergate that has risen to the level of non-controversy controversy in the world of William Mielander's finger? I can't remember the specifics, but any time it's involved water bottle squirting, I think is something that reminds me of that. Now that that is maybe even more egregious because it's it's sometimes player to player

and it is on the on the playing surface or as they say in heated rivalry the boy aquarium but the but this this obviously was an off ice incident involving Willie Nealander not not at liking the camera

now here's an interesting thing about this because I was think my people have been asking me like what's my first reaction to the middle finger obviously my first reaction was hey good form you know As somebody who is constantly having the finger on the roads of New York, I thought that was good form. I thought he did it well.

I typically like to go two hands and then swirl them around like a swarm of bees at the other driver. But his was pretty good. My second reaction is, that's a lot of camera time for the injured players. Well, I think they were making a point that this is a depleted Maple Leafs lineup. Sure, sure. As they were getting like completely roasted by the. avalanche. But if you're if you're asking me like what my reaction was, my first reaction was like as as a reporter who is paid to cover these games, I don't think I could stick my camera on the injured

players for as long as T's ended. I don't know if that would be allowed. I understand the logistics are different like me at a practice versus them sitting in a box at the game. But I can understand how if you're an injured player, if you're not even playing in the game, how it could get a little annoying to have that much camera time on national television. But here's my primary reaction when I saw it. And we'll get to the fine in a second. Collectively bargained. If this had happened, if this had happened to the Amazon cameras instead of the

TSN cameras, it would have been the lead image in the trailer for the next season of whatever Amazon show, Willie Nealander has participated in. Going away 100%. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Not even close. That would be, look at this wild show.

Look at the bed. The curtain. Look at this. Yeah, look at a sweet in the press box. Flip in the bird. Watch him give the bird before drop. Watch him give the bird before dropping actual F bombs to Austin Matthews, which Willie Naylander did.

In the Amazon show, if you'll remember, again, whenever there's somebody who maybe takes offense to something, it all comes down to timing and venue. That's what I've always said. When you go to a comedy club, you expect to be insulted. If that same comedian goes on morning television and makes the same jokes they made in the comedy club, well, now we have a problem on our hands because the people watching morning television don't expect to hear that stuff like the people in the show. the comedy club do. The people tuning into TSN to watch the game, they don't expect to have their little precious children have to see a middle finger pointed at the camera. That's a terrible thing to see if you're a parent.

But if you're tuning into the Amazon show, you assume that you're going to see it because that's where you go for the F bombs and the candor. It's all timing in venue, Eric. It's 20, it's 2026. Spare me the fainting couch about, oh, think of the children having to see young William Nealander's middle finger for 90 seconds.

Spare me the fainting couch. Spare me the fainting couch on that one. But here's the thing, too. When you're doing those cutaways, that type of stuff is what you're looking for. You're looking for the general manager throwing the binder. You're looking for Pierre Dorian whipping a chair. And this is where I always go back to Pat Quinn,

who was the master of this. There was no one better at understanding media during a game than Pat Quinn. Because when the game was on, he would be up and down the bench just giving it to guys. Okay? The minute the whistle blew

and the play stopped, statue practice. Pat Quinn might have been just like rehearsing an elevator ride. Are you saying, are you saying coaches can be performative? Are you trying to say coaches can be performative? None better, none better.

But the performance is based on understanding how it works. Because if you don't understand, like, okay, maybe the only time they're going to do a cutaway here as well while the play isn't on. So I might be on camera right now. So I'm just going to do some statue practice here. Pat got it better than anybody. Who was the devil's coach that hurled the bench on the ice?

Was it photoric or was it Larry Robinson? I forget what it was. Robbie Photoric would chuck stuff. Yeah, I think it was. Robbie Photoric would Tom Webster through sticks. So like it has happened, you know, before. We've had coaches, you know, tear their shirts off too, which is always interesting. I'm so mad I'm going to get naked here on the bench.

I don't make a mockery out of this. Next time you do the show with Bruce, next time you do the show with Bruce, you ask him why he never decided to doff his top in the grade. I'll get right on that. Let me just write that one down for Monday. Gotcha. Here's the interesting thing about the fine, as you mentioned. the maximum.

Collectively bargained. Allowable under the collective bargaining agreement. Yes. Did you see who gave a statement to Chris Johnston about the fine? No. George Peros. Oh, I did see that. Yes.

As a student of the Department of Player's Safety, this struck me as being a little odd. Now, why is George Peros giving a statement to Chris Johnston? As far as I know, for years and years and years, since the Department of Player's Safety was founded, the Hockey Operations Department of the National. Hockey League is the apparatus that gives out fines for slurs on the ice, middle fingers to cameras, all of the player stuff that does involve fouling another player physically. Now, what I did Jeff Merrick, even though I am technically still on paternity leave from ESPN. Did you do a journalism?

Did you do a journalism? You did a journalism. Okay. And what I found out, what I found out is that this season, there has been a tweak to the way the NHL is handling discipline, wherein anything involving a player. Now, we're not talking like DUIs or any of the severe stuff. That's still a Gary Bettman decision.

But, you know, lewd gestures, slurs on the ice, squirting water bottles, all the stuff that used to be suspended by Coley Campbell is now going to fall under the umbrella of the Department of Player's Safety. So George Peros' statement to, Chris Johnson came because he was the one who determined what the punishment for Willie Naylander is going to be. So why make this change? Well, you got to remember why this whole thing happened.

The Department of Player's Safety was founded by Brandon Chanahan roughly around, what, like 15 years ago or something along those lines. And Colin Campbell used to be the guy that suspended players for hits from behind, you know, hits to the head occasion. Brian, I think actually started that department. It was called something else. But that was the genesis of it. So player safety comes in.

They're going to be the one to handle all the physical fouls on the ice. We've got to give Colin Campbell something to do. So he became the guy that fined players for non-contact disciplinary issues, lewd gestures, slurs, what have you. And then also was the guy who handled the fines for coaches and GMs when they would do or say things like criticizing the officiating. Right. So what's happened this year is now anything involving a player falls.

under player safety. From what I understand, Colin Campbell is still going to be the guy that handles the fines for executives and coaches. But this is a big change. And the only question I had about it was, and I'm interested to hear your opinion on this, is it weird to have the same people who hand out multi-game suspensions to players for misbehavior on the ice, also handling the other part of their misbehavior. Like if they suspend the guy for 10 games for boarding, and then, you know, his first game back, he calls someone something you can't call them

and they have to give him discipline. Is it good to have one department handling all of this stuff? Or is it better to have multiple departments handling? What will happen from the optics point of view is, and we've already saw this online, is, okay, so you rang up William Meilander $5,000 for, flipping a bird where and then we can all see all the screen grabs and the videos of perhaps elbows to the head that were missed that's where it gets measured so you're sort of walking

yourself into a situation where because this is your department right physical fouls now whatever verbal or digital attack someone unleashes at a camera or another player or at a fan that's going to be measured up and here's mikhail surgeshev from last spring flipping the bird as well, which many people pointed out yesterday on social media, which didn't receive anything, but it's the same thing. Andrew Farrant's did.

I think when Farrant did it, he got fined. Now, this was last night, too. This is Sean Dursey on, who was it? It was on Declan Carlisle. Yeah. So it was F-U-U-F-N-P word. So, okay, like, pretty obvious here. And again, this is going to be measured up against

William Nealander's finger. Should that be... Did you see the Department of Player's Safety? Should that be someone else? If it's a Department of Player's safe, if they want to handle it, that's fine. But the criticism is going to be, okay, let's measure that up against physical fouls.

First of all, did you see the fan giving the finger to Jersey? She should be banned from the arena. I mean, that's... I told you can be watching. But again, so... I'll get back to the Player's Safety part of this in a second, but to Jersey, it's what I said before.

it's venue and timing. The venue, in this case, was the penalty box. And while in theory every player should know, there are cameras on them at all times, there is a difference between the camera catching something and doing something to camera. I completely agree with Leafs fans that are bent out of shape about Sergeathev given a finger to the camera

on the way off the ice and getting nothing for it because that is essentially the same thing we just saw Neander do. Obviously. I mean, a bit of a hypocrisy there. To your point about player's safety, though, where I thought you were going with the online criticism was that there are certainly fan bases in this league

that believe that the Department of Player's Safety has it in for them. Right. And so now if you're covering both the off-ice stuff and the on-ice stuff, now you're kind of doubling your pleasure a little bit. Now all of a sudden it's like you're handing out a fine for something for this team. that you didn't give to this other team

and it could maybe reinforce the perceived biases of this department. But I will say this, like, I talked to somebody at the NHL this morning about player safety now handling all, every player infraction. And I said, do we like the idea of the people suspending for boarding,

also suspending for giving the finger? And their response, and I thought it was a good one is, if there's one thing that we know about George Peros is Department of Player Safety, and again, like, Everybody in the audience is probably like they don't suspend anybody. I understand that. It's that they see each infraction as being its own genre.

And by that I mean, at the height of Tom Wilson panic, it was all about the hits that Tom Wilson was delivering from behind. If Tom Wilson tripped a guy and deserved a suspension for it, he wasn't going to get 20 games for the trip. They see that as a different genre of, of infraction. And so I think in this case, with them now running the off,

not off-eye stuff, but like the non-contact stuff as well, they're going to be able to differentiate between, you know, those things and the other things. And I don't think we're going to see a, you know, a one-game suspension for a guy giving the finger

if he happens to also be a guy that got a 10-gamer for boarding last week. What it, hang on, let me get the intro because I do want to make one point. And it does wink back at, um, what we saw yesterday between Jersey and Declan Carlisle here.

But here's this coming up on the program today. And I'm looking very much forward to talking to our guest today. The blueprint is powered by Fandu. We'll download the app today and play your game. We're already heavy on the intro, but welcome to MvSW here on a Tuesday afternoon. Coming up on the program, you've seen them, you've heard him, you love him. He's Greg Wischinski from ESPN. We've talked about fingers swearing and fines.

We'll still do that, but we'll also add trades. Kevin Allen from the trade hockey now. We'll stop by a long time. longtime voice of hockey at USA today, one of the most influential voices the game has ever seen or heard. We'll talk about the Detroit Red Wings and we'll talk about Team USA as well with Kevin.

Now, circle back. One other point that I want to make here because I think this is maybe where the next step of the conversation goes. And it hasn't really gone there yet and I kind of thought that it would. Maybe after the Jersey incident last night between Utah and Tampa.

It's all these Utah guys with the foul fingers and the foul mouths. Like, this is Utah folks. I know. They're playing. A Norman City for God's six. What is going on? We've got these two guys like, like Ryan Smith, like put a leash on your puppies here. Yeah. Calm down.

We need the real husbands of Salt Lake City to completely pull back the curtain on all this lewd behavior of the men of Salt Lake City. What I think it leads to is a conversation about, and like already like the NHL on the ice as far as communication between players. is not as salty as it used to be, but it's still pretty salty as we saw between the Tampa and Utah player last night. I wonder how much this leads to a conversation about how you want players to behave on the ice. Hmm. And what is acceptable behavior based on clearly flipping the bird in a press box for an injured player is unacceptable, and that's going to get a $5,000 fine.

At what point does a conversation turn to? Well, Neelander got $5,000. fine collectively bargained for the finger. What does Dersie get for the cameras? And to your point, players are told, assume you're on at all times. It's like one of the first things you learn in broadcast college,

even though I never went, is assume every mic is hot. Always assume every single mic is hot, right? And you're playing on the ice, you assume that every camera could catch anything that you possibly do. How quick it is a conversation turned to behavior on the ice between players?

Not for like slashes and cross checks and things like that, but the salt on the tongue from Sean Jersey last night. That's what I... You got to watch out for those hot mics or else they'll pick up that you are going to give one team the next penalty because that's what the script says. And then you don't get to referee anymore in the league.

So, yeah, it did happen. I can't see it leading to that, to be honest with you, Merrick. Like, I think there's a... I think the lewdness of the sport and stuff like we saw from Jersey last night is a lot like fighting. It's like we can be mad at fighting and we don't want fighting and we penalize fighting. But we also kind of like wink-wink encourage it a little bit by not banning it outright

because we know that there is a segment of the population that really enjoys it. And we can get into the whole functionality of it, the releasing the pressure of the moment and all that stuff. But at the end of the day, it's like, you know, we still want a few lions, Christians. Part of the game always has been. People like it. we're not going to get it. We're not going to get in their way. So the rough edges and the taunting and all of that stuff and what we saw from Jersey last night.

I mean, like, that's part and parcel of what makes hockey hockey and part and parcel of what people like about the sport and the rough edges of it all. And, you know, if you're going to do it to camera, if you're going to do it in a blatant way, then you're going to get fined for it. But I don't think that they're going to go around thought policing everybody on the ice unless you cross the line and say a slur or something that's going to really be offensive to. You know, there was one last night. UF&P word. UF&P word is different than some of the other things that we've seen get fired. Oh, I get it. I understand it.

But is that not a line in the reality of 2026? I mean, is it a line for the league? Probably not. Well, clearly not because refresh your Department of Player Safety social media feed all you want today. You ain't going to see Sean Dursey's name. I think you make a good, but I think you make a good point. which is like where should the line be? You know, if you are trying to, I mean, listen,

we have seen a massive influx of people being interested in the NHL because of heated rivalry. By the way, I'm on a reheat right now with the show and find it to be enriching to watch the earlier episodes knowing where everything is going. And a lot of those people are coming to hockey new and they're discovering some great things about the sport and some not great things about the sport.

So a moment like that, you know, in the context of where the sport is in 2026, I think it's a fair question to ask, you know, where should the line be? I know where the NHL will draw it, and I don't think that that kind of language is ever going to be penalized by the league. But your point is taken in so far as where hockey is in 2026. Okay. Bracket that conversation. I'm sure we're going to pick it up at some point over the remainder of the season.

Kevin Allen joining us at the bottom of the hour. We'll talk about the Detroit Red Wings and Team USA. In the meantime, we had a trade. One of the rarest things that we've seen, a trade between the New York Rangers and the New York Island. Islanders, Carson Sousy, ends up a member of the New York Islanders. A third round pick goes the other way. You know, another sort of Domino Falls here in this, whatever it's going to turn into retool for the New York Rangers.

So a couple of things that I wonder about here is, does this tell us anything about the Ryan Pooleck injury? Is it more severe than we previously thought? I don't know. Good point. One of the initial thoughts one would have. And the other is, I don't think. the Islanders are done by any stretch of the imagination. I don't think you have a

goaltender like this playing the way that he does and a team like this in a division and conference that behaves as if the like the Metropolitan and Eastern have, where it's kind of jump ball, you know, after the Carolina hurricanes. You've got a real shot out of here if you're the Islanders. One of the things that I wonder about here is, as you look at the New York Islanders, maybe looking for a right shot defenseman and maybe have a couple of players, I will cite to specifically Isaiah, George and Marshall Warren, who are both left-shot defensemen, future prospects for the New York Islanders,

perhaps may be available for trade. Does it maybe set up Tyler Myers going to the Islanders? As they look for right-shot defensemen, and as Ben Kuzma has reported in his conversation with Tyler Myers, he would be perhaps amenable to finding a new address. Not a bad thought. Not a bad thought at all. As far as the need and the availability of the player is obviously the fire sale will continue and abated in Vancouver.

By the way, how's the VanderCain, not in L.A. already. We all assume Kenny's going to grab a second. Hang on a second. Have you met the new NHL insider? No. Who's that? You haven't met the new NHL insider? Oh, who's that?

Oh, well, we're going to show you who the new NHL insider is because this is how we figure out trades now in the NHL. Zach, do you have the piece that we talked about yesterday? on the program with Evander Kane, there is a new social media feed, NHL follow tracker. Oh, you mean the Instagram tracker? And how Evander Kane now follows

Build Texas Solutions. That just means he's into real estate. First of all, what guy on an expiring contract is going to look to build something in Texas? I'm just saying he's having a look at what the Texas market is all about. There have been linkages between, you know, Evander Cain and Colorado and Evander Cain and Dallas, perhaps. This is how we do.

This is how we do. This is how we resource trades now. This is how we do. We find out which real estate companies players are following in the NHL. King's. Listen, King does make some sense because of Ken Holland, obviously. Yeah. Yeah.

Obviously. I, it's funny. I do follow that NHL tracker Instagram feed. And I get, I get, you know, I would say, 80% of it is players following and unfollowing attractive women. And then there's like, there's a few times when it's clear a player or his marketing company has let his friends know that he's on Instagram. So like there was a run of about 20 guys all following Jake Ottinger in the last week, which I thought was kind of funny. But then there's ones that are kind of informative.

Everybody from the agency. Oh, we just got Ottinger. And I go, all of a sudden. and everybody agency follows them. I'm following it and I'm keeping my eye on it because I guarantee you

at the trade deadline there's going to be some there's going to be some news made by like Alex Tuck Alex Tuck no longer follows the Buffalo Sabres or some such and like and that's going to be the big news. I mean it's it's setting up that way

but no I think first of all your Myers calls a really good one for the Islanders and I also think that you know the great thing about having Sorokin is that even if you do dip a little bit in the standings, there's a safety net. Like there's a floor. There's a floor that he's not going to allow you to break through.

And that's important. But the cane thing's really interesting because I, there's always going to be a team that wants that potential goal scoring and the level of truculence and the playoff experience. But I mean, at what cost? Like, for example, like, you can make a list of the teams that won't be acquiring a Vanderkane, and they just so happen to be all the teams that he's played for. You know, like, there's a, there's a reason why. That's true of a lot of players, though. I don't know, man.

Like, you could go home again in some situations. Some situations. But he sure ain't going to Buffalo and he sure ain't going to Edmonton and he sure ain't going to San Jose. Like, you know, they're certain. I mean, like this guy is leaving, you know, sports. mouldering ashes where bridges used to be in every market that he plays in. And I don't know if that's necessarily the guy you want to add to your roster. Something that the Vancouver Canucks put out about 20 minutes ago,

Patrick Alvin announcing that goaltender Thatcher Demko will undergo hip surgery and will not play for the remainder of the season. He is being shut down. What a bummer for that guy. What a talented player whose body has just completely failed him. stay healthy. Stay healthy. He's in the conversation with the Norris every single year. Vezna. Oh, did I say Norris? Yeah, Vezna.

He did. I mean, that's how good he is, though. He could also win the defense for the year. Yeah, he's the Sergey Fedoroff of goalies. He's playing goalies. He's playing the defense. The only position Fedorov didn't play was in net. Beat it, Ozzie. Wow, that's a real drag, certainly, for him.

And in another season where everything has just come off the rails for the Vancouver Canucks. just throw that log onto the fire as well, too. Two and a half years ago, this guy looked like he was probably a lock for Team USA as well. It's such a bummer for him. Okay. A couple more things I wanted to go over with you before Kevin joins us here in a couple of moments.

What do you make of all the, Jasper Walshastat conversation? I was going to ask you about that too. Well, what I wonder about here is if that's going to be part of the bait to get a center. I mean, it's obviously the bait to get a center. And when you start throwing around a name like that, then now you're talking about,

I mean, the first name that comes to mind is sort of like your Robert Thomas level guy, although I don't know if the blues necessarily are looking to get a goalie out of a deal like that. But, but I mean, it's their Achilles heel. It's the biggest hole on the team. It's the thing that has probably Billy Guerin. He's most nervous about the Olympics. The second most nervous thing for Billy Garon is probably the idea that his team, loaded with talent that it is, is going to be going up against Connor and Leon and McKinnon and Brock Nelson, and they're a donut. And that's kind of the issue right now.

So you have to give to get. But like, to your point, and I know this is why you asked the question in the manner in which you did, this is like the goalie of the future in theory that you've basically put out there. and if Russo has it, you kind of know where it's coming from. You've kind of put it out there that he's available. Yeah. And why is that? I mean, you do have Gustavs. He's great.

And maybe it's as simple as that is we don't need them because we got our guy and we like him. But man, that's a good goalie. That's a great prospect that you're, you basically are putting on the auction block and like, it gives you pause a little bit. Can I say the, can I just say the elephant in the room, which isn't going to happen, but I just want to say it. Go ahead. Get Jack used.

Well. I just wanted to see your face, sorry. I understand. But hang on, but hang on a second. I know Jake Allen is locked up for five here and Markstrom's new deal hasn't even kicked in yet. Yeah. But hang on. But wouldn't New Jersey make some sense here?

Well, they have a goalie in the system who's pretty good. but they don't have a Walshead. They don't have a Walsh stat. And they do have, they do have someone whose contract will expire after next season who plays down the middle as we play fantasy trade here. I get in Tyler Myers going to the island. What about Niko Hesher? I saw Penaulta talk about Hesher too.

Where is this coming from? Where the Devils would trade Hesher? Is it because they're, unless they're assured that he's not going to resign? Like, that's a heart and soul. the team kind of player. It is. And I don't understand the idea of trading him away unless you're convinced he's not staying.

Maybe that's the situation. I don't know. But like, to me, that's a lot of fantasy casting. But I mean, sure, if he becomes available, that's the kind of guy who trade Jasper Waltzad for. He's fantastic. Like, that's the level of trade we're talking about here. Establish center.

Listen, I don't think that happens. But, you know, the minute someone becomes available, what does everybody do naturally, the landing spot for him. Try to find the landing pad. So what happens in 2030 when Quinn Hughes, Jack Hughes, and Nico Heeshire are all in the Minnesota Wild and they have a cup? Like, should the devil's just fold?

Like, what's the emotion in Jersey then? They've all gone. They've all laughed. And Wallstead has like an 895, say, percentage. Oof. The franchise just fold. I've seen it before. Let's get to our guest.

I'm very much looking forward to this conversation with someone who's been for as long as we can all remember, one of the most influential voices in the history of hockey. He is Kevin Allen. He is Red Wings Beat Writer for Detroit Hockey Now, National columnist for the hockey buzz as well. He joins us on the sheet. Kevin, first of all, thanks so much for joining us today. How do you look at, I mean, right now, it seems a little bit early for trade buzz. We still have the Olympics to get to, et cetera, et cetera.

But does it just feel friscier to you? Here we are late January, and we have seen a couple of trades, Carson Sussi, the most recent. Does this time of year right now, as opposed to other seasons, feel frisgier for trade talk? You've seen and reported on a lot. For sure. And I think it's the caliber of players that are available. I mean, when you have a player like Panarin, who, you know, still scoring at a high level even at his age, you know, he's going to move. They're going to get a nice package for him.

even though, you know, he has complete control. I still think they'll do pretty well because of who he is. And then, you know, you hear Pedersen's name out there as well. And, you know, there's a lot of issues, obviously, with him. But, you know, there's no denying his skill level. So, you know, in my city, there's just constant buzz about what Steve Eiserman will do or really has to do. You know, for the first time, I think, in Steve Eisenman's career, I think he's feeling a little bit of pressure. Like the fan drumbeat is that he really needs to do something that, you know, Patrick Cain said the other day that, you know, we've done what we need to do to get the GM essentially to make some moves.

He didn't phrase it like that, but that's essentially what he was saying. Yeah. Dude, do you think, I'll turn this over to Greg in a second, do you think that's a reflection of a pretty barren free agent pool at July 1st and teams are now realizing more so than ever? if we're going to improve here, unless the young kids take major leaps, we're going to have to do this through trade. Yeah, for sure. I mean, you know, there has been a discussion already about what the Red Wings are going to do in the offseason. And then, you know, what I tell people is that take a look, you know, there's not a lot there.

You know, if you want to make a move, you know, I think now is the time to do it. And particularly with the way they've played, their holes are not numerous. You know, John Gibson since the beginning of December has really acted as if he's the best goal in the league. You know, he's 17 to 2. His numbers are terrific. He's really carried this team. And, you know, they've turned it around offensively. They have a little bit of a hiccup now because Simon Edmondson is out.

And Cider and Edvinson, that defensive pairing really is at kind of the heart of their competitiveness. And so I think this, you know, these next five games when he's going to be out of the line, lineup is going to be a little bit of a test for them because they've gotten accustomed to those two guys sort of leading the charge. And, you know, because some nights they don't get enough offense, but they have that defensive pairing at Gibson that are doing it. First of all, it's good to see you again, man. I feel like I haven't seen you in a minute. And you are, and forever will be the dean of USA hockey writing, in my opinion. So like, the cane comments interesting because it kind of piggybacks on, on

what Larkin said, right, about the reinforcements and such. And so, you know, is there a moment in which the players are putting pressure on, enough pressure on Iserman where he has to do something, or is Iserman unbothered by what the room is basically saying about, hey, we've earned the right to have you bolster this team? Yeah, that's a great question. And one that I would have said forever. I mean, Steve has said numerous times, numerous times that he,

really doesn't pay attention to what the fans say. However, I think the, as I said, the drumbeat has gotten really loud. Chris Illich does. Just FYI. This Illich does. Steve might not. Yeah. Mike, you know, Mike Illich is gone. And Chris Illich is there. It's much more corporate than it's been before. You know, the baseball organization seems to have a say now and what's going on with the as well. So I do think, you know, the fan heartbeat matters. They're paying attention to it. And, you know, I think they're going to do something. You know, if you listen around the league, their first round picks in play, I don't think it really has been for the last few years. And I think they're willing to move some of their younger players. But, you know, the one thing

that Steve does not want to do is get rentals. Now, he may have to do that. But I think his preference is to get someone who has at least another year on his contractor can be part of the future or moving forward. Let me focus on one area specifically. I'm of the belief, Kevin, you're closer to it than I am, that they're looking for one top six forward and one top four defensemen. They missed out on Quinn Hughes. They missed out on Raz Anderson. were those the two top targets for Eisenman and the Red Wings? Is it now essentially for the blue line?

Is it now, okay, plan B? Because they didn't want to pay the price. Like, listen, Anderson was probably going to Vegas anyway. They didn't want to pay the Quinn Hughes price. Understood. That was hefty. But is it plan B time for the back end now? Yes, for sure.

I am absolutely confident they're going to bring in a defenseman. And I think they went pretty hard after Hughes. And I think everybody talked about how they didn't want to give up Edmondson, and that's certainly true. But what they really didn't like more than anything was that they didn't have a shot to sign him now. I don't think they would have given up Edmondson, but I think they might have sweetened the offer to the point where they would have had a shot. But, you know, the fact that Quinn Hughes was unwilling to resign with anybody at this point.

I think sort of put them out on that. They didn't feel like they wanted to give up all those assets for a year and a half. But there's no doubt I think they're going to be looking at people. Like I think Myers, you mentioned him, like he's a possibility. I think he's down the list a little bit. But I think a guy that they might be sort of looking at hard as someone like Justin Falk, who's been around the block a little bit. You know, McClellan likes to have guys that can move the puck a little bit as well

and still sort of will pay attention to the defensive side of the game as well. And there's a history with Doug Armstrong and St. Louis and Steve Biceman and their friends. And to be honest, like if it's not Falk, it could be some other St. Louis Blues defensemen because they like to make trades. There's no doubt about that. Between Myers and Edmondson, you're going to tick on the. Pistons, sounds like. Yeah, yeah.

Well, one of the things that's never brought up is Steve Eisenman said when he, when he got the job that he wanted a big defense. And if you look at it, you know, I mean, obviously Axel Sandin Pellick, it doesn't fit that. But, you know, he has a special skill set. But otherwise, they have brought in guys that are big. They've got this guy named Anton Johansson, who was a good prospect, who's a big guy who's a big guy who likes to head as well. Wallander, well, I think eventually will make the team, is probably going to be a third pairing guy, but he's a big guy as well. So they're going to be

big for a while. Yep. I wanted to, so last one for me on the Red Wings, like, you mentioned Gibson before. He's been playing out of his mind, and I don't think that acquisition has probably gotten enough love from people who are skeptical about it. He's played incredibly well and has solved a big problem for that team. But how real is this? I think we're all. all sitting back trying to figure out how real are the sabers, how real are the penguins? Like, how real are the red wings insofar as how much of this is insane Vesna-worthy goaltending and how much of this is the Izer plan producing a team that is playoff-worthy? Yeah, I mean, there's enough parts to it to give you a sense of optimism that this is who they are.

You know, and I'm going to start with Todd McClellan. It took Steve Eisenman some time to get it right, but he did with McClellan. You know, this is the kind of coach that Iserman needs. You know, he wants a coach that's going to hold them accountable. This is a guy that's not afraid to say, you know, publicly he has called out Larkin before he's called out Lucas Raymond for not shooting enough. You know, he gets into the players, yet he's a type of coach that I think everybody like. So, you know, I think it's a pretty good mix for it. I do think, as I mentioned before,

that the McClellan wasn't timid or fearful of putting Edmondson together. He didn't talk about balancing out his defense. He said, I got two premium defensemen. I'm going to put them together. And, you know, that's worked out well. And as I mentioned, you know, they've talked a lot about the chemistry of this team, at least they do here in Detroit. And they've talked about the fact that Lucas Raymond has been one of the best young players. Probably doesn't get enough credit for what a good young player he's been. Like when you see all of his accomplishments in Detroit, they're with people like Eisenman and Fedoroff and Henry Zetterberg.

Those are the kind of numbers he's putting up. So I do think there's enough here. And Gibson is a big part of it. If you go back to what was happening then, you know, Steve Arzman said it as postseason press conference, look, we've been below 900 and saved. percentage for far too. And you can't win in this league with, you know, with goalies with save percentages at low. So he wanted a guy that had a proven record in terms of save percentage. At the time,

I think Gibson was 9-11 or 9-12. So they brought him in for his save percentage because some of that was accomplished on some bad teams. So that's why we brought him in. And he didn't start out with a good save percentage, but he has delivered lately. You know, since December, you know, he's been over 920 and most of his game in the 900 range. And the other thing about him, and he's a pretty calm, poised guy. And I think they

needed that. They need someone who like they don't worry about who's in net when he's playing because he always looks like he's in control. I'm going to surrender this over to Greg for questions about USA hockey. But my last Red Wings question is this. And you've written recently about

Marco Casper, someone that I've, I can still remember the first time Kevin that I spoke to him was at the Combine, sort of, you know, player interviews before the workouts and just were marveling at how mature beyond his years. This kid was 17 years old. He talks like he's 25. I remember he wore, to the interview, he wore a suit with a bowtie. And he was walking in like this, like an unironic bow tie, which is really hard to pull off.

But there was Marco Casper pulling it off. And I just thought like this guy is going to be such a pro for whoever gets him. I don't know how quickly he's going to turn into a pro, how he's going to distinguish himself, but this guy's going to be a pro player for someone for a long time. You've written about him most recently, you know, getting some of his confidence back, hasn't been the best possible season for Casper. Give us a snapshot of where he's at because if he's healthy and his head's locked in, that solves a lot of problems for Iserman.

Well, for sure. And there's a lot to unpack here. I mean, first of all, you've got to remember his draft year. What did Scouts say about him? He's going to play hard. He's going to be an NHL player. He's going to be the type of player you need to win in the NHL. But he may or may not score.

And that was the question that everybody had. You know, will he be a third line score or put he squeeze up and get in the second line? So last year, when he ended up on the top line, you know, everybody thought, wow. Like, he's really hit all run. He had the, you know, 19 goals. He was, you know, playing at a high level in the second half. And so people thought, I think this was as, you know, this is just the standard sophomore jinks. He came in.

He, you know, that first year was on instinct. He just played hard. And, you know, and I'm co-chairman of the committee to tell everybody how hard the Casper plays. I mean, most people didn't catch on. They was second on the team last year and hits. you know, he had 180-some hits. Like, this is a guy that goes out and plays hard. So he plays hired every ship.

And the other thing I want to remind people is during all this offensive drought, and it was as ugly as it gets. Like, he went, you know, weeks and weeks without getting a point and playing with some pretty good players. You know, they never considered sending him down to the minors. And I think that speaks to what his game is. Like, they, you know, they got asked, all the time.

And Colon says, you know, he does other things besides the score. And he does. He's, you know, he's still one of the leading hitters on the team. You know, he competes hard. You can put him out there. You feel comfortable putting him out with the game on the line. So even when he's not scoring. But they, you know, because of last season, they want more from him.

So, like, they're happy that he's scoring and they're going to, you know, they're going to hold him accountable to produce more than he has this season for sure. Let's push this dumb Canadian to the side for a second and talk about the glory that is the USA men's. You sound like your president now, Greg. Hey, calm down. No politics. Anyways. So listen, you have had the honor of being on the inside of the construction of an Olympic team. And you have obviously covered many, many incarnations of the men's U.S. Olympic team.

What are your thoughts about the roster construction of this team and their chances for, winning gold. I was going to say beating Canada, but we all know Canada will be upset by the checks well before the gold medal game. So what do you think about this team USA? Go Denmark. Well, it's interesting to me because this is a roster that we've all anticipated that they were going to be, you know, the team to beat next time they got in the Olympics. And yet when I look at this roster, it just feels that while the players are right, the timing seems to be horrible in terms of the readiness to play. And I point out that, you know, the Kachukes, which were going to be the heart and soul, you know, both of them have been injured, Matthew more hurt than Brady. But, you know,

all of us know who covered this business, there's a time when you come back and you enter the lineup and then there's the time when you're playing like you normally do and that they're not one in the same so as much as i believe matthew will give it everything he's got you know what matthew could truck are we going to get um i want to believe he's going to be as i said you know the flag carrier of the team and the guy that you know puts his heart and soul in it but you know he's been off the ice for a long time and he's just trying to get his timing back and it just feels like there's too many of those guys on this team, guys that, you know, had injuries and have had some struggles, you know, Austin Matthews has been up and down, although, you know,

his goal numbers now are good, but, you know, you'd like to see a few more assists from them, but so I don't know, I don't know where this team is. Like, like, I like all the guys, you know, like everyone else, I wonder why we're not going to see Lane Hudson. I get that he's young, but, you know, all of us have seen what happens because we see it in Quinn Hughes. When you have an offensive, a dynamic offensive defenseman that can move the puck in the zone and just create havoc and just give a team a lift. And, you know, I get, you know, what Bill Guerin was saying with, you know, he's got Quinn Hughes. He's going to do that.

And, you know, in today's game, we just use one of those guys on the point on the power play. However, you know, it's nice to have a guy like that that, you know, when you're down to go, you can, you know, just give him license to kill and let them go out there and sort of skate around as to happen. So it's tough. I, you know, I covered the 96 World Cup championship, and I've written about often about the biggest change in American hockey was when Kachuk and Bill Guerin joined, were old enough to join that team because America had always had a couple of good, you know, great defensemen, you know,

the Ryan Leases, the celliosis, and they had centers, you know, Pat LaFontaine and all that. What they never had, and the late building, they always talked about the fact that, you know, the good athletes went to football. You know, Bob Gilly, Bob Johnson, you talk about that. And, you know, John Elway would have been a great left wing, but he never had the opportunity. but Kachuk and Garen was that first group that were the great athletes that could have gone to football, but didn't. And suddenly they had guys who could go in the corner with Lindros and the Canadians of that era. And I think so I think Bill Garon understands how to build a team, but it still doesn't explain to me why he didn't take a guy like Lane Hudson. Like I sort of understand Robertson, you know, because it.

You know, you don't always need the leading score. You need up front. But I do think when there's a guy that's a difference maker like Hudson, you want him on the... The one thing that I come to with the decision, you know, Seth Jones goes out and Jackson Lachombe comes in over someone like Lane Hudson, the one thing that I come back to on that is killing penalties. And, you know, we don't know.

Like, Jacob Slavin, guarantee. Like, I thought Jacob Slavin was the best player at Four Nations full stop last year, like 100% of any team in the tournament. I looked at Jackson Lecombe and said he's there to kill penalties. That's why. We have our offense. You know, Bill Gans, okay, we got our players that can score. We got defenders that can move the part.

We need more guys that can kill penalties. Is that a way do you think we can look at this decision to go with Jackson Lachon? Well, for sure. There's no doubt. And, you know, I have great respect for Bill Guerin and, you know, his knowledge of the game and how badly he wants to win. And I think Greg made reference to it, you know, before that, you know, I'm sure he's spent sleepless nights, you know, trying to win. Because, I mean, this guy just lives to be Canada, you know. So I, like, I really get it.

And the one thing I always try to remember. And actually, it was taught to me in the early 1980s by, he was then a scout, David McNabb. Oh, yeah. Yeah, David McNabb always said to me, the first time I was. looking at the Olympic selections and just shaking my head over some of them. And Dave said, you know, this is the way it works. There always has to be the best player, not on an Olympic team. And he's the guy we're going to want to talk about.

And it never ceases. Every Olympics we have, that it's the best guy that does make the team, any All-Star team. And that's the guy we want to talk about, not the guys that are on. Cole Field, Lane Hudson. Call, I'll remember this Jackson-Lacombe justification of the gold medal game when there are no power plays. How important it is to have a penalty killer. It's not exclusively

HF referees, but there will be double IHF referees, and there's nothing double IHF referees like more than the whistle. They live for the whistle. NHL referees and Crunchtime like to keep it in the pockets. double IHF officials love to blow whistles

at big and inopportune times. Yes, so there will be power plays. There will be power of plays. Kevin, this is great. Really appreciate your contributions, as always.

It's always a delight to catch up to one of the most distinguished and respected voices in hockey media the game has ever had. You're still the king around here. Thanks, Kevin. Always a pleasure.

Appreciate it, guys. See you later. There is. Great, Kevin Allen. the voice of hockey in the United States for decades. Yeah. I mean, for those I don't know, first of all, Kevin was the president of the Professional Hockey Writers Association forever. And so there's that part of it.

But look, back when we had newspapers, USA Today was the single most highest circulation newspaper in the U.S. And he was the leading hockey voice in that newspaper. for a very long time, if you're an American hockey fan, there were two people that were carrying the torch for your sport in our great nation. One was Michael Farber, who would write these, I mean, eloquent, mind-blowing, make you completely angry as a writer by how good they are stories in Sports Illustrated. And the other was Kevin Allen, who would write about the news of the day and the stories of the day and the rumors and the trades and all the other stuff in the biggest publication on the country.

And for a very long time, that's what we had. And then a plucky young blogger named Greg Wyshinsky came along and made something called Puck Daddy. Change the game. You know what? One of my favorite hockey conversations I ever had was with Michael Farber. We did it at the old Hockey Night in Canada radio show that I used to do on Sirius, where you and I met. Farber and I spent, I know you're not going to be shocked by this one. But I was just so impressed at how in depth he went with what I thought was just a throwaway question.

about hockey history. We had this like 15, 20 minute conversation about shadows in hockey and the old photographs of hockey players. And now that there's things like proper lighting, you don't get shadows anymore. But it's always, and I still like always look for shadows now when I look at old photographs. And when I look at old videos, I always look for like the shadow game that's being played at the same time. And that's something that's been lost. And Farber honestly, like I would just remember, it was like a throw. throwaway question or a throwaway comment I made about shadows.

I think it might have been about the barical goal in 51. And Farber was just like, boom, I'm doing 20 minutes on shadows. And it blew my mind. But that's the level that Farber is at. As a writer, the thing about Farber that always killed me was like you'd read his giant story in Sports Illustrated. And it was an event that maybe you covered. And he's there covering it.

And he writes this story. And you read it. And you're like, oh shit that's right I need to describe the room where this is happening like it's the simplest little detail as a writer

oh just talk about what the room looks like or what the weather's like or what the atmosphere was like and you always forget to do it because you're so focused on the quote or so focused on the play that you forget that the totality of it all

the making you feel like you're in it of it all the scene setting for lack of a better term is really what made farber a special writer and you read it you're like oh remember to do that next time and you go back and read your lead and you're like oh no i didn't do any of that terrible compared to michael farber yeah he's uh an absolute treasure i didn't take many improv classes but one year that i was at an old radio station am six 40 um that we got a new program director and he insisted that all announcers take improv classes,

which great idea. You can imagine how well that went over with a lot of the veterans that have been doing things the same way for 50 years and they're not going to change by doing improv classes, but I did. And one of the things that I learned, and it's a sort of little sort of device and trick

that I still do to this day, whenever telling a story is start at the middle. Yeah. Don't do the ABC. Start at the middle. Find that moment that captures the attention and then goes back. Farber knows like all of those devices

Christopher Nolan way of looking at improv people You got a couple seconds still? I do. I should mention I saw something come down the pipe Ryan Russ gets three games for the elbow on Besser and it's about where I thought it would be

like it again it's not predatory but it was extremely reckless and resulted in an injury and if you do the math on that three is probably where it ends up. So again, last week we're just talking about how it was a series of one game suspensions this year outside of Lake One. And then we get a three bagger the following week.

So $5,000 for Nealander for the finger. And three games for an elbow. So it's a finger, it's five grand. If it's an elbow, it's three games. Yeah. And now imagine he flipped him the bird before he elbowed him in the head like Stonecold or after while Bester was down. This went like double bird right in a moment.

God, what would that have been? Three games. Three games and $5,000. No, hang on a second. Because if he did double bird, that's 10. Actually, Merrick, it's during the course of play. So it would have been nothing. Yeah, you didn't even know the camera was on him. So.

Gotcha. Okay, well, we've cleared all that up then. You want to do the history segment with us? Because it involves someone that we actually kind of just talked about with Kevin here. So, hungry for hockey history, a presentation of Uber Eats. Uber Eats is enabling fans to maximize their fandom all season long with exclusive game day deals on the app. From game day eats to paper plates and napkins if you're hosting to all of the ingredients you need to make your favorite game day dip before, during, and after the game. Uber Eats is assisting every fan's hockey experience all season long.

Zach, what do you have today? January 27th, 1989, Eiserman joins a rare group. Steve Eisman became the fourth player in NHL history to reach 100 points. 50 games or fewer with defeat. Iserman joined Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Bernie Nichols. Pumper. Yeah. There you go.

Steve Iserman. Now, when he was drafted in 1983, he was drafted with 91 points. This was interesting because the players before him, and Brian Lottin went first overall to the North Star is like an incredible high school career. Sovan Terjean had 165 points in the queue. Pat Lafontein. the queue as well, played it for done. He had like 130 points.

And Steve Eisenman was selected fourth overall by the Detroit Red Wings with 90 points. 90 points. Now here's why. And this is one of those things where like if you're just like basing your draft position, which in all honesty, because not every team invested heavily in amateur scouting at that point, you would just look at the totals and go like, oh, Turgeon got 163 points or 165 points in the queue. Yeah, he's got to be high up on our list.

higher than someone like Steve Isman at only 90 points or 91 points. You know why that was? If you knew anything about the time. Dick Todd was the coach. Dick Todd rolled lines. All four played pretty much equal lines. So there was no like putting Steve Eisenman with, God, his line would have been Bob Airy with the Peterborough Pete's then.

They just could have like to jacked up the points and had 150, 160 points. Which is why Steve Iserman, who you can make the rightful claim, with all due respect to Pat Lafontein, was the best of the bunch, fell to the Detroit Red Wings at 4th. I will give a quick little history myself before I hop off. You mentioned Stylvain Turgeon. Oh, we. Boy, you talk about a formative moment for young Greg Wischinski.

1989 was the year that the New Jersey Devils traded away one of my single most favorite players as a young fan. A guy you might know as the GM of the Anaheim Ducks, Pat Verbeek, the little ball of hate. in a one-for-one trade for Sylvain Terjan, who, as many double fans know, was not as good as Pat Verbeek in New Jersey. Now, Verbeek, by the way,

was traded by the Whalers in 1995 to the New York Rangers in a deal that involved their first-round pick. A first-round pick, Merrick, who turned out to be none other than Jean-Sebastian Jaguer. So there you go. A little trade tree action. Yeah, but I hated Sylvain Turgeon as a kid. My God.

Just because you were not. What hell are you doing here? Just because that was like Lanny for Wolf Paymont, for a lot of Toronto. Yeah. There is every, it's a very rational reaction for a fan to see your guy get traded for another guy. And then that guy stinks. And now you hate that guy. I think it's a completely rational reaction for a fan.

As we go down a different road here, do you think that considering, this is one of the things I wondered about, when Pat Verbeek took over his manager of the Anaheim Ducks, that considering he was going to have much more of a public profile, that people would go back at the Hall of Fame selection committee, look at the numbers, namely the 500 goals and the, you know, almost 3,000 penalty minutes and say, you know what, someone should do a presentation for Pat Verbeek because we might just vote him in. Like that's the way it has to. They don't decide. People have to, you know, present candidates. I always thought that given a higher profile in hockey and now he has it, that somewhere down the road, Verbeek would make it into the Hall of Fame. 500 goals being the barrier to entry, but he's got it. Right.

That there would be a reevaluation of his career. Well, now that, that's an interesting thought. And I would agree. but if increasing one's profile leads to a reevaluation of a career, then I believe Keith Kachuk would be a Hall of Famer by now. But don't you think there's more noise? There's more noise around Kachuk now than there ever has been.

That's what I'm saying. And it hasn't happened. But do you think that it's maybe just an inevitability that one day it will? I based on the numbers and impact I'd like to think so I'm kind of a chuck for the Hall of Fame guy but uh but but like it doesn't get any more higher profile than your two sons are the two biggest stars on team USA and that and you've been appeared on reality television shows because they're so famous like that he might have a higher profile than the GM of the ducks at this point you know so that's fair can we get like the great great great great grandchildren of Lauren

Shabbat playing hockey so we can raise the profile of someone else who belongs in the Hockey Hall of Fame that no one from the selection committee is. Hey man. I'm not honest. I digress. I'm still fat and happy from the McGilney thing. I got that finally. That was a big one for you.

And I'll have to, maybe the, maybe Chuck will be the next to cause aleb. Something I wanted. I thought about you this weekend because I had an idea. I had an idea about trophies. I want to do something with you. And we're going to like trademark this thing right now. And I don't even know what we're going to call it, but we've got to come up with a name for this trophy.

At the end of the year, I want to do like an alternative trophy thing with you. And maybe this is something that actually players would like more than the Lady Bing itself. Who would be the most ungentlemanly like player in the NHL? Can we have that? Oh, no. And you open up a can of worms. And, and, and would players like to win that one over the Lady Bing?

The question I have about. that because obviously you're going to deal with suspensions you're going to deal with penalty minutes you're going to deal with overall comportment do you factor in how much your own team doesn't like you oh that's next level yeah i mean like i mean that that that that's to me the more interesting aspect of the anti lady bing is do you factor in how much your own team can't stand you you know it's interesting i was so matt barnaby was on the show yesterday and we were talking about billy smith And I was bringing up the point with Barney that one stat that will never get, one goalie stat that will never be broken is Billy Smith's career fights, 21.

Right. No one's coming close. But he fought, he fought players. And like everybody hated, like hated, hated, hated, hated. Billy Smith, like I said to him, like, if you're, if you're an NHL player in that era and Billy Smith hates you, don't feel special. I'm sure there are guys in the NHL right now that if you're only, team hates you, don't feel special. Yeah.

That could be a really good side. Let's massage this one. Listeners, please, please do send in your suggestions for what this case. Yes. But yeah. I want candidates and I need a name for it, like the opposite of the Lady Bang. Yeah. And maybe we just do alternative, like least, least valuable player in the NHL.

There you go. What do you think? Your trophy guy. I think it's good. I'm all for it and I'm all for pooling together the resources of daily

face off to create an actual physical trophy that we can send to somebody Zach take back your empties we're making trophies bud get every quarter under every cushion and take back your empties we're making trophies around the shop All right Greg, you'll be good

We'll talk to on Thursday pal Take care There is Greg Wischinski from ESPN and ESPN.com What? Are you shaking your head at I'm sure I just Just those empties, man.

Slightly off camera. I'm sure like you got like the frat house wall of tins up against the wall. No, no, no, no, no. You that guy? No. Nope. But we do have a bag that we had whenever we had friends come over and we say, oh, this bag, this bag, yeah, just throw it in here.

It's a little easier for us. Throw everything in here. Oh, okay. And how long would you let it sit there? Take a stroll. No, that would get bad. I'm a pizza boxes. I'm a condo.

No, if it was in the university house a little different because that we could like put in the front hall and nobody ever sees it really or smells it. Here it's a little different. It's a little smaller when you're operating with like eight to 900 square feet of living space. A little different. A little bit different. I got it. Okay. Let's finish up here.

That was a fun show. Before we go, this is always a little cookie for everybody at the end. They can all be hits, but we'll see how we go. today. The sheet is powered by Fanduel. Here we go, Zach. Play your game with Fanduel. It's the NHL season. And Fandul is your home for all the action on the ice. From Blue Line to Batslap,

we've got you covered all season with unique promos, live offerings, and more features to let you play your game. Miss Puck drop, no sweat with a live same game parlay. You can build your bets up until the final buzzer. Download Fandual 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 1-866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. Your honor, the floor is yours. I don't know how familiar people are with what's going on in Toronto right now, but we got a snowmageddon.

I think that, Jeff, they said, this is the largest snow dump that we've gotten since the snow measuring stat has taken. place. You're not old enough to know this, but once in a time, Miramel Laspin called in the army. God, it was embarrassing for everybody in Toronto. But I digress.

Oh, my God. It's like everybody in Manitoba, everybody in Quebec, everybody in Alberta, like just howling at Toronto. It's like, this is so, there was a lot of snow, but like, we're calling in the arm. Anyhow, I digress. Go ahead, Zach. It's actual story. That's insane.

Look it up, bud. It happened. I live through it. I live through that shame. Big a Trontonian. Anyway, thanks, Mel. I still try to get outside a little bit.

I need fresh air at some point. And at the grocery store, I'm lucky enough. It's just down the street. So I've been walking in and out. But it is really cold and there's a lot of snow and it's getting a little wet. So as a preventative measure,

my girlfriend has been making teas so that I don't lose my voice and get sick and I can still do the shows. But we couldn't remember the tea that Gregor had told us about here on the show. So she said she had her own home remedy, but I've been struggling to get through of it

because every time I would take a sip, I kept finding that it had hints of toffee, mint, and stone. Tofoli. Rupert Hints, Tyler Tafoli, Fraser Minton, and Mark Stone. Wow. Hints of Tuffy, mint in stone.

I like it, man. I, you know, I like it. Five bucks wins you $8774. And I love it. Hints to score to Foley to score, a Minton to score. Does that still pain you, by the way, to see? And Mark Stone as well for your Vegas school, the Knights.

Yeah, so there's your parlay. Four legs on the one. Just quickly, to be honest with you, the Minton thing, no. It more pains me like how hung up people are on it. I think it was an expensive price to pay for Brandon Carlo and the team not being very good this year obviously makes it worse but yeah it's what the team needed they needed a right shot defenseman and pretty much everything last year at the deadline was expensive like i remember getting brandon carlo and saying hey that's the piece you need you hear the return back it sucks like

frisiminton is going to be a good player i liked him when he was here uh it was too expensive like i'm not going to excuse brad tree living of that he did pay too much but i don't know it doesn't pain me the same way as it does when people come back and come in the chat and they're like, how did we give up this guy? The future captain of the Boston Bruins. And I'm like, okay, like, let's, let's just take a breath here, everybody. It'll be okay. We'll figure this out.

We'll get through it. Okay, one thing. To answer your question. No. From someone that I've known for a long, long time. We've heard our conversation about all the things that have happened since the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup. Just want to throw one more and then I'm going to stop.

I'm going to stop bugging you about it. More men have landed on the moon since 67 than players who have won the Stanley Cup with the leaps. More people have gone to the moon than the Stanley Cup since 1960s. More people have left the earth. I got that one. Does it show it off the air yesterday? I'm like, okay, I'm going to really try to hold it together while I'm present this one to Zach because that's a really good one too.

Anywho, on that, we'll remind you that it's a New York Hockey Night presented by Parasso. This is so cool. Zach and I have to weasel our way down there. Man, this is going to be fun.

Thursday, February 19th, joined Daily Faceoff alongside special hockey guests at the atrium inside Ideal Glass Studios in New York City for a night of live podcasts, activations, and giveaways. In partnership with Parasso,

Morning Cup of Hockey and Tri-State Hockey Pod will be on location for a night of candid conversation, big laughs, and unapologetic hockey talk, and if we get our way, me and Zach. Door is open at 6.30, Eastern. And Tri-State Hockey Pod gets going with a live show at 7.30. Thursday, February 19th, at the Atrium Inside Ideal Glass Studios, 21 and over, please.

Secure your spot, RSVP at Nationgear.ca. I haven't exactly figured out, Zach, how I'm going to beg our way into this thing, but make no mistake about it. Somehow I'm going to try to weasel our way into this thing because this one sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun. And again, it is Thursday, February 19th. Looking forward to that one. The program gets underway at 730 with a tri-state hockey podcast. That would be your Johnny Laz hosting on that one.

That would be your Mike Rupp and that would be your Arthur Staples, which is a podcast you should listen to as well because that area is, I love cluster pods and that area right now as far as hockey goes, one of the most interesting areas in all of hockey. So enjoy that pot and enjoy that night. Colby will be there too, by the way.

Colby's coming? Awesome. I'm a 99% sure. Vic. Vic is. Vic is going to be. Anybody else from our daily faceoff crew going to make their way down there? That's what I know from the daily faceoff crew.

I'm certain that. They're working on some other guests to come through as well, but I don't want to say anything because I don't know. Will Matt Rempe be there? Will Matt Rempe be there? Alexei Lafranier, will he be there? Oh, geez. And will Johnny Lazarus be able to stand up if Alexi Lafranier?

Barely have enough loose skin to blink if Lexi Lafranier. Is there? Hey, Laz, you want to stand up and shake a set? No, I can't stand up right now. It's math at the chalkboard time in high school. All right. All right, get out of here. I've had a really tough day.

I needed some laughs. Thanks for joining me here today. Thanks to Kevin Allen for stopping by. Thanks to Greg Wyshinsky, as always. We're back tomorrow. 1 o'clock Eastern for the show.