The Sheet with Jeff Marek - RUN IT BACK ft. Greg Wyshynski | The Sheet with Jeff Marek

Episode Date: December 17, 2024

Jeff Marek and Greg Wyshynski recap the Florida vs Edmonton game from last night, dig into the Dallas Stars, talk about playoff teams and who's on the bubble, and Wysh introduces a new game to the show...SHOW INDEX00:00 Intro00:40 Open02:10 Greg Wyshynski07:37 Ketamine Therapy Clinics?11:26 Florida Panthers16:56 New York Rangers21:46 Terry Pegula23:15 Kucherov for Draisaitl?30:44 NHL Bubble Watch37:23 Celebrini or Bedard?43:06 New York Islanders47:53 Anthony Stolarz48:58 Game Show Friday on Tuesday59:33 Closing Thoughts____________________________________________________________________________________________Up Close with Stephen BruntApple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/trailer/id1784718713?i=1000680017895Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0qQNAp0eleA4H3vuuWOZWp?si=196f81830f374255Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.ca/podcasts/1285b1e8-82fd-4d00-ae34-f48d596dd1ce/up-close-with-stephen-brunt____________________________________________________________________________________________Reach 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.

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Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at one you need, whenever you need it. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. Okay, so here's the experiment to kick off the show today. Greg Wyshynski on the other side. It is MVSW Tuesday here on The Sheet. So I'm going to do a story about Dave Semenko and somehow try to relate it to the Florida Panthers.

Let's see if I can get there. I told this story on the Ice Guardians documentary. So for those of you that haven't heard it, here it is. For those of you that have, I don't know, maybe pretend you haven't heard it before. So Dave Semenko, I heard this story from Marty McSorley

when I used to work with Marty. So Marty goes from the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Edmonton Oilers. Does anybody remember the trade? He was traded for, I'm reaching over my right shoulder, that guy, Gilles Malache, Edmonton-Pittsburgh deal. Anyhow. So Marty McSorley, young gunslinger, goes to the Edmonton Oilers. And all he wants to do every single game is fight.

He's a young scrapper. He's in the room with Dave Semenko. This is going to be great. It's cowboy time every night. But he would get to the rink and Dave would say, we're not doing it today. Nope, we're not doing it today, Marty. And they would just play. And then the next game, Marty would be all set to do it. Nope. Not doing it today, Marty. We're not doing it today. This goes on for a few games and Marty keeps saying, Dave, Dave, when are we going to do it? When are we going to do it? Dave keeps saying, not the time, not the time. Until one day, Marty says he came into the dressing room and there was Dave Semenko, King of the Jungle, taping up his wrists. And this was the quote that he said to Marty McSorley.

He said, Marty, every now and then we must remind them. And tonight, we will remind them. Last night, is that the Florida Panthers reminding the NHL they might make it back to the Cup again. Welcome to the Sheets. Dave Semenko, by the way, one of the reasons why I loved him, he hated, like, classic goon talk, like,

oh, I'm going to kick your ass when that puck drops, we're going to go, and, like, all that crap. What Semenko would do is he would saddle up next to the winger that he wanted to fight, and he would whisper in his ear, why don't you and I go on a little canoe ride? It's MVSW Tuesday, so we're going to bring aboard our man Greg Wyshynski because I've got a hard hour at the top of the hour, so

I want to get as much wish in here as possible. Hello, Greg. I've got your take your eye off the puck book over my right shoulder. Oh, I thank you very much. That canoe ride line, that was my pickup line in college. I don't know how it got mixed up with them. Actually, you want to hear a little bit before.

So after MVSW, the OG version, blew up, and before I started to do 32 Thoughts with Elliot, you know which pod... I'm familiar. Vaguely familiar. So you know which pod... There was a pod... Did I ever tell you?

I don't know if I ever told you this story. Do you know which pod we were working on putting together? No. I love this. Do you know which pod we were working on putting together? No. I love this. It was a podcast that was going to be called Canoe Ride.

And it was, hang on, hang on. I know, right? For Dave Semenko. Come on. So it was me and Chris Johnston and Tyler Delo, who's now the assistant general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, who then was writing. This is after the MC79 stuff. And he was writing for Sportsnet. And that was going to be the pod. And then 32 happened.

And everybody went on their merry ways. And Tyler's in the NHL. And CJ's got about eight jobs now. But that was before 32 happened. That was going to be the next pod that he did. Tyler's name came up this week. I'm sure you were spying were spying the uh dom from the athletic tony d'angelo drama from over the weekend where dom was taking runs at him and tony was

coming back your classic analytics versus eye testing no and and tyler's name came up as someone who you know back in the day would be the analytics guy that would proudly take on the uh the ex players that were saying all you said is foolish now granted the ex-player in this case was usually colin campbell but uh but he it was it was it was fun to reminisce of those wild days of the early analytics movement when you know the battle scars that you took from the establishment were uh were ones you wore proudly uh as you uh moved your advocates around there was one epic one. I was talking to Zach Phillips, our producer,

earlier this afternoon about this one, where Dello was on TSN radio, might have been on Matt Cause's show, and he went toe-to-toe with, and good on both the guys. They both showed up and put on the boxing gloves, the eye test gloves, and the analytics gloves. It was Tyler Dello in the blue corner and Steve Simmons of the Sun in the red corner.

And I'm telling you, like it was you go in there and everyone has like cheering for this guy, cheering for that guy. But by the end of it, it was pretty fascinating conversation and good on both those guys for getting in there and putting on the boxing gloves and starting to swing. Now, one of the reasons why I want to mention your book, one of the things that I love about it, and I'm not sure where the relationship is at now, but Jeremy Roenick wrote the foreword for that one. And when we were doing the old MVSW, man, what was that? Let me see if I can drag this webcam into the toilet so I can get a really good representation of where my relationship with Jeremy Roenick is these days. Let me put it this way, Merrick. Jeremy Roenick is doing a podcast with Tim Peel.

So just to frame it perfectly as to who's on one side of the line and who's on the other side of the line as far as the who likes Greg, I don't think Roenick and I are really swapping Christmas cards these days. Honestly, I pulled it out of the bookshelf. I'm like, I should have Greg's book up here out of respect. He's on every Tuesday. Let's help him move some of the back catalog here. And now Tim has shifted his focus away from you and placed it square on Tyler E. Ramchuk. No, look. So the Ronik thing was a bummer for me.

And I've said this before in other places, so it's not like breaking news. But like it kind of is never meet your idols like ronick was my favorite player growing up as an american kid in the 1990s to have someone be that good and that brash and and that exciting and you know even before the whole swingers cameo thing from the video game like it was awesome to be a jeremy ronick. And then I met him and he's, I mean, like the times I've interviewed him, he's kind of spent his entire time on his phone while answering questions with one sentence. The publisher I work with said we got Jeremy Roenick to write the forward. I got kind of excited. I'm like, maybe this will be the moment in which

Jeremy Roenick and I can be simpatico if he writes a glowing forward to my book. And he essentially, I think, probably dictated to somebody, you know, while he was walking to his car. It was very, very sad to like have somebody that you love so much as a kid and as a player and have him turn out to be, well, everything that Jeremy Roenick turned out to be. First rock concert I ever saw, like real rock concert concert like at an arena with an opening band was Kiss always loved them till I met Gene Simmons

could not this is what I was doing talk radio at 640 could not have been a bigger dick like the worst ever in capitals okay but speaking about writing things and speaking about compliments and I want to thank you

for all the nice things you said about me in the Toronto Star piece with Bruce Arthur, but I want to frame it this way. First of all, thank you very much. Over the top, but thank you. I want to frame it this way. So that piece comes out

and what arrived in my inbox this morning was a message from someone who referenced a couple of times that I mentioned Timothy Leary, a guy that runs a bunch of ketamine therapy clinics. Now, for those who didn't see the article, like my reference to Merrick was that he he he's such a unique individual like he's such a unique talent he has so many varied uh loves in life that they can't all be shared on hockey night in Canada radio they can't all be shared on sports net like you can't get on sports net and start talking about foraging for mushrooms in the forest like you can't do it we did that we did that and so w we did but not like you can't go on like, you know, and you have Ron

McClain throwing to you and be like, no, Jeff, we'll talk about psychedelics. No, it doesn't work like that on corporate television. So my point was that it's great that you, I mean, one of the reasons why people relate to you so much is because you do have varied taste. And one of the things that you occasionally taste, I think are probably the back of a toad's back, you know, with your tongue. But why, so so are you gonna go down the ketamine road now is that what you've been invited into this tent so the thing about me and this is gonna sound weird the thing about me and ketamine so i i've only tried it once and it was after i got a slap shot in the face oh okay so sean cullen the comedian great guy, wonderful comedian.

So we were playing like a Saturday night beer league game and dumb me wasn't wearing a cage, just a visor, but wearing it like old OHL style. So the visor is popped up, you know, and so it's just covering your forehead. And I get one like right here. This is why I still have like, I can't smile properly because a lot of the nerves have been damaged. Yeah, so I got a droopy smile and a ch a chipped tooth i like 30 stitches inside the nose outside the nose anyway so i go it's a saturday night and i go to saint joseph's hospital in the west end of toronto and like it's packed like people that were in like bar fights and knife fights and like i'm like when it comes to triage like it's gonna take me like three hours to get seen and i'm soaking soaking soaking towel after towel after and they finally get in for the needle to freeze it before.

It takes like 35 stitches to freeze it. And the freezing doesn't take. So they take me upstairs to like a surgical room. And you'll appreciate this one. The nurse says, well, the freezing's not taking. We're going to have to give you ketamine. And I whipped around and said, you're giving me special K? And she said, we don't call it that at the hospital, sir.

Anyhoo, that was the one time. But it's, wow, it was. You give me morphine, doctor? We chasing the dragon tonight, baby? Sir? Chasing the dragon tonight? We the dragon tonight we're going down that k-hole tonight are we we'll get to the hockey in a second but like the reason i've the heart i don't i don't dabble in heart the harder drugs and especially the psychedelics

because i i've lived my entire life being deathly afraid of what's lurking in here yeah um and and i've always felt like while you can have wonderful experiences that expand your mind and you see the vastness of the universe, you can also have experiences where a demon emerges from the radiator. And I'm a little bit concerned that I'm going to have the latter experience if I ever dabbled.

It's for a bigger conversation. I understand that. But there is a counter argument to it depending on the intention you go into it with. But again, we're here to talk about hockey greg only took us three episodes for the podcast to come back properly yeah it certainly did okay i want to let me tell you about this panthers team so okay one of the things that happens when you win is you stop fretting about the regular season all that much and by that i mean the the biggest achilles heel of this panthers team and we saw it again last night is goaltending like the goaltending's

in the trash right now like they're both both night and brobrowski are playing below expected uh their safe percentages are atrocious and what's the least thing that that team worries about right now what brobrowski does in the regular season Like there are other teams that are going to be that. Yeah. I mean, Colorado just like nuked its entire crease because it's like the way it's goaltending is going. If you ask anybody about the Panthers,

Hey, Bobrovsky has got like a 700 say percentage. They're going to be like, okay, great. It's December, you know? And you know what?

That's why in a lot of ways, I always relate that this Florida Panthers team to the Dynasty New York Islanders. Oh! Listen, a lot of the positions sort of overlap, and there's a lot of skill overlap. And I'll start with the goaltender. And Billy Smith's regular seasons were quite pedestrian, thank you very much. One of the best two-way centers in Brian Troche is now playing the role of,

well, Sasha Barkoff now playing the role of Brian Troche. Look, at a lot of different levels, this kind of is that Islanders team. But you're right. Nobody cares. But as I couched it in my hastily put together intro, if we get seven games of what we saw last night, give it to me. It was skilled. It was sloppy.

It was violent. It was dangerous. It was goofy. It was the Oil is just playing an awful third period and it was once again and you know jack hughes i don't know how much he started it but as much as he popularized it we now have players again shooting pucks at goalies' heads to score. Thank you for the RVH saying snipers all around the NHL. I'm serious, dude. Give me seven more games of that. Give me that Stanley Cup. And it could happen.

I always think that there's not one team that's really pulled away from the pack. I want to get to your PCDSPN.com in a second, but there's not one team that's really distinguished itself. Like, okay, this is the best team in the NHL. Clearly, no one's done that. But I always say to myself, every now and then the Florida Panthers remind us that they are that team and they still have that in them.

And I'm wondering, was that last night the Edmonton Oilers, as Dave Semenko said to Marty McSorley back in, would have been 1985, tonight we're going to remind them. Who's Dennis Potvin? Is it Ekblad or is it? I want to say Ekblad, but that's kind of where it falls apart because Ekblad is nowhere near Dennis Potvin. And Forsling is probably better than Ekblad if we're being honest. So here's the thing about the Panthers I've been thinking about a lot as far as their dynastic tendencies.

If you were going to say the five most important skaters in that lineup okay so you got barkoff you got kachuk you've got reinhardt you've got bennett and then like pick your defenseman right how many of those guys that i just mentioned are like the toughest sobs in the league and and and and don't put up with anything and give it out as much as they take it. The core of this team, and credit to Bill Zito for doing this, the core of this team is so playoff ready and take no prisoners playoff ready that it's hard to imagine other teams matching up with that. You look at the Leafs, the knock on the Leafs is, like, your core players aren't the ones,

don't have what it takes to carry you to victory in the playoffs. The Devils, to me, like, God bless Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Nico Heischer, that's a lot of skill, but not a kachuk among them. The Florida Panthers not only have some of the most skilled guys in the league, point per game, kachuk. We know what Barkoff does. Reinhardt's scoring a goal a game, basically. But they also have guys that are built for playoff success in a way that other cores can't match up.

It's incredibly impressive. Do you recall Bill Zito's first move when he took over as GM of the Florida Panthers? I remember it specifically. What was it? He brought in Patrick Hornquist. Oh, that's right. The Hornquist move. Right, yeah.

One of the most miserable, nasty, grumpy players you could play against. And I thought it was fascinating when, you know, Paul Maurice took over and there were two Mr. Irrelevance on the same team. Paul Maurice was drafted last overall in his draft and Patrick Hornquist was drafted last overall in his. But to me, that was the message. That was Bill Zito saying, I'm going to go out there and just bluntly, I'm going to go find the biggest bunch of pricks I can find.

Like, we need to be hard, like nasty to play against. And he's filled this team with them. Well, they are so miserable to play against. You just hate it. You just hate it you just hate that's the subtext but that's the subtext of the of the huberto trade like you could make the argument all day that kachuk's better than huberto you probably win that argument but there's also that inherent kachukness that huberto will never be able to attain as a player and if you talk to

the panthers there was that subtext to that trade of, can we win with this guy versus can we win with this other guy? And I'm not trying to besmirch Huberto. Like, Alan Walsh, don't send the email, buddy. He's a great player, a great player, but he's not Kachuk and he doesn't do Kachuk things. And that's one of the reasons that they made that trade. Okay. Speaking of Kachuk, thought of something this morning.

Speaking of Kachuk, thought of something this morning. I really, really want the Ottawa Senators to start putting out rumors about being interested in Alexi Lafreniere. Because Ottawa actually has a better record than the Rangers do. If anyone should be tampering with anybody else, it should be the Ottawa Senators tampering with the New York Rangers now. Who says no, Greg Wyshynski? Who says no? By the way, you know, you bring up the Rangers, and just to circle back to the analytics thing. I'm trying

hard. By the way, I'm trying really hard just so you know, not to talk about the Rangers and not to talk about the Sabres. I just feel like we're turning into, like, a Sabre-Ranger lunch. I don't understand that. I'm going to say one thing about the Rangers. Two things about the Rangers. and not to talk about the sabers i just i just want to get into like on saber range at lunch i don't understand that i'm gonna say one thing about the rain two things about two things all right first of all you want to talk about the beautiful marriage of of the eye test and analytics okay sure capo caco tells molly walker this morning about him getting scratched hey not for nothing but i don't think i'm on the ice a lot when other teams score you check the

analytics and it checks it checks out capo caco is completely right'm on the ice a lot when other teams score. You check the analytics, and it checks. It checks out. Capococco is completely right. Second on the team amongst all skaters in goals against per 60. Second amongst forwards on the Rangers in expected goals against per 60. Capococco's not – it's not Capococco's fault. The man is a scapegoat. I don't care what Laviolette says.

You've made an example of a guy who doesn't deserve to be made an example of second Rangers thing. By the way, pause. Yeah, everything's going great. Everybody. Everything's awesome. Everything's fantastic. It's good. No. Now we have Capo Caco

taking shots at the coach. Everything's going great. Everybody. The second thing is, can you remember a time in in the nhl when the general manager was the villain the general manager was the guy that all the boys in the locker room hated the can you remember a time when the general manager lost the room because say please hold that for a second but like just to spell it out the goudreau thing in the summer the uh the the truba mess in the summer that carried over to the season where he basically under drew re-undercut him as captain and then they finally shipped him out to anaheim the inability of of the gm to make the team all that much better during

the summer like there's palpable dislike of the way the team is being managed within that Rangers room right now. And I can't remember the last time a GM lost the room, but luckily you are smarter than me and will tell me when you, when it was. 79, 80 season punch him. There you go.

And this is, this is, this is one of the first examples, by the way. I don't know if he was the first in the NHL to have a no trade, as we still have, you know, sort of we're still surfing on the wave of the Jacob Truba story from not too long ago. I don't think Daryl Sittler was the first to have a no trade,

but this was the first time, one of the first times we ever saw a player put his foot down and say, yeah, I've got a no trade clause in my contract. You can't trade me. Punch Imlach wanted to trade Daryl Sittler, then captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. he ended up ripping the sea off the off the sweater and so what punch him lack as he just destroyed a team that was probably two players away from being a legitimate cup contender he said okay if i can't trade you i'll just trade all your friends instead

laney mcdon McDonald off to Colorado. It was just like one after the other, after the other, after the other. It was, it was this vendetta. Well, punch him.

Lack had against this player and took it out on all of his, all of his teammates because they're also that it wouldn't waive is no trade. Not for nothing. Historians, by the way, will tell me whether that was – I don't know if Sittler had the first, but I think it was one of the first. No trade losses. Not for nothing, but are we that far away from

I'm putting Chris Kreider's name in this memo to get Mika Zibandijad going as far as like playing the relationship card, as far as putting pressure on one guy to get another guy going? I never thought about it that way. the gm lost the room we've heard about coaches losing the room you're saying the gm there's lots of room do you think drew gets fired if they lose the to the predators like is that is that the nadir of the season is that does he pay for that with his job if they lose the predators you know what the wild card here is. Dolan. Dolan. Like, could he lose it? Yeah.

Normally, you would say, no, you don't juice a team by firing the general manager. Like, there's no electric shock that goes into the dressing room if you fire the general manager. Is this different? Maybe. But general manager moves are in the offseason. Coaches are generally in season because you're looking to turbocharge your team. You're looking for a sign of life. Has Dolan even noticed?

Is he too obsessed with the Knicks right now to even notice what's going on with the Rangers? It's like Pagula. Pagula watched Josh Allen basically put his name on the Super Bowl trophy, and he's like, let me see what the Sabres are doing. Oh my God, what happened here?

Fly to Montreal. Now, apparently Terry Pagula always makes the Montreal trip. Why not? He loves going to Montreal. I don't blame him. I don't blame him at all. Christmas time in Montreal. Chef's kiss.

It's so beautiful. Old Montreal's cobblestone. Oh, it's a beautiful thing. Man, I said I wasn't going to talk about the Sabres. Man, I said I wasn't going to talk about the Air Crangers. You just did it. No, it's my fault. I bought a a pagula i bought a pagula you you tried your best and i screwed it up for you i'm sorry but please i should i should have like two swear jars one for

every time i say new york rangers and one for every time i say buffalo sabers you put a subway token in one and then a buffalo by the way other. By the way, I realize that we haven't used Subway tokens for at least 15 years. Yeah. Gen X. I made a reference that is archaic. I want to play something for you. Please. This is from Morning Cup of Hockey.

So Colby and Laz this morning. And by the way, the opening was fire. Colby was just like spitting dragon. It was fantastic. But they had Rick Bonus on. Rick Bonus, by the way. So whether it's Hockey Night, whether it's TNT, always a great interview. Fantastic.

I know he doesn't want to do it full. I get the impression he doesn't want to do it full time. But if he ever did, like Rick Bonus would be fantastic. So anyway, so here's a clip from Cup of Morning Hockey. Morning Cup of Hockey, duh. Morning Cup of Hockey with Rick Bonus. I know, first day with the new tongue. I just bought a new one.

Don't break it in on the new show, Merrick, but they're like, ah, it's a new tongue. It'll be fine. Using that daily face-off money for black market organs, I see. Very exciting. Pull some of that money off the tree in the backyard, Greg Wyshynski. You need a new agent. So here is...

Here is Rick Bonas in the most labored intro of all time on morning cup of hockey talking about coaches getting fired here's bones it's kind of becoming the nfl when it comes to nhl head coaches the way guys are being given no time at all really you know you're seeing coaches brought in for rebuilds that aren't seeing the end of their second season. The turnover seems to me to be as wild as ever, obviously not really your career because you had a lot of long stretches in places, but why do you think the sudden change in the way owners are clamping down or maybe it's GMs or whatever the case may be?

Because it does seem like the turnover these days, Bones, is a hell of a lot quicker than it used to be. It's crazy. It is. Okay, so listen, you had mentioned John Cooper before. Yeah. So they have that fantastic year, and then they get blown out in the playoffs by Columbus. They didn't fire the coach. What they did was they changed some of the personnel on their team. changed i think there was eight or nine new players in there when they won the cup and two years later

there was and i had only gone for two years there was like nine new players half the lineup had changed so they took the approach that okay we've got the right coach we got to make the we got to change the way we play with the personnel we've got to change get some grittier guys in there which they did coach is saying don't fire coaches now grittier guys in there, which they did. Coach is saying don't fire coaches. Now, a couple of things in there that I want to sort of unpack here. So, one, I've long believed that when the hard salary cap

came in in 2005, it was bullseye on the coaches because it was going to become increasingly and increasingly harder to make trades because now you don't have to make the players match up, you have to make the money match up in a lot of these deals as well. Salary cap leads to more coach firings. But the other point that Bones made there was 2019.

And we can all recall one of the great non-goalie polls of all time. Do you remember how bad Bobrovsky was? If you're looking for flexible workouts, Peloton's got you covered. Do you remember how bad Bobrovsky was? New locations. What matters is that you have something there to adapt with you, whether you need a challenge or rest. And Peloton has everything you need, whenever you need it. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca.

It was in that first period. And didn't get the hook, left them in. They end up sweeping the Tampa Bay Lightning. And Bonas says, like, yeah, they didn't fire the coach. They shuffled out some guys at the bottom. They needed to change their mix. So that year, there were conversations, and I've had this confirmed, there were conversations between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Edmonton Oilers and the two primaries changing Nikita Kucherov to the Andrei Seidel.

What? Stop. No way. That was the conversation. And that was Kucherov's heart year, right? But it was the year in which he completely flaked in the playoffs and got suspended. Yeah, he got suspended and got suspended and got suspended. That was the name. Now, I'm not sure how close they got.

I think that Edmonton may have also wanted Anthony Sorelli. And that's when things kind of, well, that's not going to happen. Cooper's like, no way. Not at all. You're never getting Anthony Sorelli, and that's when things kind of, eh, well, that's not going to happen. Cooper's like, no way, not at all. You're never getting Anthony Sorelli. It's not as if they didn't consider massive change because that was the conversation between those two teams. And just as a hockey fan, forget being a Boilers fan because this is like, whoa, hold on a second.

Just imagine Kucherov playing with McDavid for a second. Insane. Like, Dreisaitl is incredible. Dreisaitl is an incredible player. I think Tampa was looking at, okay, so we go up the gut with Stamkos and Dreisaitl. Yeah, that looks pretty nice. Thank you very much. Not bad.

Not bad at all. But the thought about Kucherov playing alongside Connor McDavid, that is juicy, Junior. Juicy. But the thought about Kucherov playing alongside Connor McDavid, that is juicy, Junior, juicy. The thing about Cooper, though, that year was like he had multiple seasons of proof of concept before that first round flameout. Like they made the conference final at least, what, twice before that? The year before. Maybe three times? The year before, for sure, they went to the final, yes. Yeah.

So, I mean, it's not – I what bones is saying but like i i mean i think cooper had already kind of stated his case vis-a-vis hey let me stick around and end up being the right decision but yeah dry sled over kucherov yeah 2019 you make that trade now for the oilers no you know you know geez move move new job Move Nugent to 2C? No. Give Conor Kucherov? You know why? Why?

This is going to sound harsher than I really intended, but if you're the Oilers, much like you're the Winnipeg Jets, you need to find players that like playing there, that like playing in cold. Dreisaitl is fine with that. No problem. No, that's a really fair point. You mentioned Jonathan Huberto a second ago,

and he goes from being one of the best playmakers in the NHL in Florida and loves everything about it, has a number of convertibles, loves the Florida lifestyle, all of it, and then you plunk him into Alberta, where it's different. If I were the Oilers, that would be one of my concerns i think that's a really that's a really great point and the other thing too like you said is like assuming that connor signs which we all assume he will if leon signed connor's gonna sign you've got those two guys two guys locked in there

for you know seven or eight years together and and's their team. They take ownership of it. They're not going to be mercenaries. They are going to work together to make this thing work. And the other thing too is that usually if you're going to make a huge... We talked about the Hubert O. Kachuk trade. What is the benefit to the Oilers ever trading dry sidle? He's got the dog in him. He's a great postseason player.

You don't need to swap him out for anybody who's going to be a different type of player when it counts the most because you have that guy already in dry sidle. But it's a fun thought exercise. By the way, from previous in the chat, Jonathan Dunphy, Merrick is soft tampering now. Only thing that I soft tamper with is the morning cup of hockey chat where I just try to get everyone to migrate over here to the afternoon. Soft tampering. Oh, my God.

Okay. Okay. Let me – because I want to leave some time here for you to do whatever this game show thing is. This game show thing is what we want to do, but we'll do it on Tuesday. Game show Friday on Tuesday. On Tuesday. And it's not going to be a listener this time. We'll definitely do one later, but I'm going to quiz Merrick.

We should have teased that from the top? Again, you and I are both radio professionals. There will be a quiz administered for me, quiz master wish, to Merrick at the end of the show. I'm going to hate this. I'm going to hate this. One of the banes of my existence is trivia. Liam McGuire is the king. You want to do trivia?

Do it with Liam McGuire. That's impressive. That guy is the king. It's a really interesting quirk withuire. That's impressive. That guy is the king. It's a really interesting, like, juxt... It's a really interesting quirk with you. Like, you know everything. I don't like trivia. You're part of the... I don't like trivia.

I don't. Society of hockey historians. But you... It's all up here, but you can't seem to spit it out when you need to. No, I know. Welcome to my brain. See top of the show conversation. Okay. I want to get to my brain. See top of the show conversation. Okay.

I want to get to NHL bubble watch. Projecting playoff hopes for all 32 teams. Greg Wyshynski's latest offering at ESPN.com. Look at those smiling Washington Capitals. And did we see a Stanley Cup playoff preview between Edmonton and Florida? And dare we say, did we see one between Washington and the Dallas Stars? And you and I are old enough to remember the days when we were both gleeful about the idea of a Washington Capitals-Dallas Stars Stanley Cup final

when Bruce Boudreau was coaching the Caps and Lindy Ruff was coaching the Stars and neither team cared a wit about playing defense. And we're like, just get these teams to the final. And then everybody will play like this. And that did not happen because you can't get to the final plan like that. The stars have an 89% chance of making the playoffs. I think they probably will.

I do. I do have a couple of concerns about them though, that we should talk about real quick. One being I and again, I haven't covered them in person, so I haven't been able to ask the boys in the room about this yet myself. My theory is that adjusting to life without Joe Pavelski has been a little bit more difficult than they imagined. Fair to say, you think? I don't know. It wasn't as if he, like that last season, it wasn't as if he was lighting the world

on fire. No, but he was a very important veteran voice in that team. He did have good regular season numbers. And I'm specifically thinking about Wyatt Johnston having, at last count, six goals for them. Well, OK, I have a thought on that one. I think that he's out of place. I think that Wyatt Johnston

belongs in a center position. The problem is Matt DeShane is having an incredible year. Incredible year, yeah. So where are you going to put Wyatt Johnston? The third line center?

I mean, really, if anything, you're trying to find more ice time and slowly but surely, and I think he was up to like 18 minutes last night against Washington. You want to find more minutes for Bork.

Like, it's kind of a nice problem to have. We have Wyatt Johnston and we can't play him in his proper position because he should be a center. Much like I say, Bork should have, should have more minutes, but you look at, you know,

the Shane's having a freak year. Marchman's having a freak year as well. He's been fantastic. And again, like I think we're all wondering, we're all cynics. We're looking at Tyler Sagan, and is this playoff game number one?

Of course it is. They'd be idiots not to do that with that salary cap space, and then it's a matter of how they use it. That's the real interesting thing for me, Merrick, is the idea that you go out and replace Sagan with that money with another offensive player. I don't know if they do that. To me, the biggest need for this team, and they addressed it last year with the TANF trade at the deadline, is going out and

getting the right kind of defense for that blue line in front of Ottinger for the playoffs. And I wonder if they end up using that salary cap space for that instead. By the way, I know it was deflected, but, you know, bichelle scored again yesterday and he's like dumping braden shen in the bench in the game against st louis he's got two goals in three the three games for the dallas stars they only had one goal in like 20 games in the american hockey league like i put in my notes this week like if if if bichelle can be there now as opposed to where they expected him to be and when they expected him to arrive, then you don't have to go out there and say like,

you know, how, how are we going to get Rasmus Anderson away from the Calgary flames? Like that just, it's a problem that you don't have anymore than all your resources are directed at bringing in the best possible forwards. You can find in theory. The other thing about the central that I found interesting in doing the

bubble watch is the, according to staff leads, the Utah hockey club has a 73% chance of making the playoffs right now and um that's exciting that's very exciting i i want salt lake to taste the playoffs as early as possible um they've gotten crazy great performances out of out of gunther out of cooley keller has been great keller should have been on team usa by the way i don't know if we talked about that keller should have been on team usa down the the way. I don't know if we talked about that. Keller should have been on Team USA down the lineup. He's the kind of guy that you could say,

hey, go do this assignment, and he'll do the assignment. I don't think you necessarily had to skip over him for one of those veterans that did make the team. Sergachev, 25 minutes a night? How exciting is it to see somebody who emerged from the shadow of an all-timer like he had been next to him

in Tampa, and next to him in Tampa and go to another team and actualize as a stud defenseman that's clearly the number one guy. So let me ask you this question then. How come he had such a hard time as a number two in Tampa but is not having a hard time

as a number one in Utah? That's the freak thing. That's the freak thing. That's the freak thing about me with Sergeyev. Now, I remember watching, I'm going to be that guy. I'm sorry, I'm going to be that guy. I remember watching him in junior with Windsor. Oh, boy. All right.

It was a stack. Jalen Chatfield, Sean Day was on that. Anyway, it was a really, really good blue line, and Sergeyev was the class of it. I always thought that there was a first pairing defenseman in there but then when Tampa let go of Ryan McDonough thinking that oh Sergeyev can just take that spot he couldn't no I'm trying to scratch my head you're saying why is this working in Utah I don't know but but they made the right call and getting them and you know I think that the the fact that they've overcome the injuries that they've suffered the jerseysey one i thought was going to knock him out and for a while

they've kind of lost their way a little bit when he got hurt but um you know having having uh conor ingram fall apart and having the melko rebound to become the great value goal center that he was two years ago like it's there's a lot of really cool things happening with this utah team that plays a pretty exciting brand of hockey to begin with. 73% chance of making the playoffs, obviously, probably through the wild card. And I thought that was higher than I expected for them. I'm glad you mentioned Vemelka specifically

because last year you couldn't give him away. You couldn't. You could not give him away. And now, I don't want to say he's saving their season, but he's keeping them in games. He's giving them saves. No, it's really hard to steal a game. I was mentioning this last week.

In a salary cap, I don't think you can expect goaltenders to steal games, but you can expect them to steal periods. And he's stolen enough periods to keep Utah in games. I disagree. I think, I disagree. I think you could say he's their MVP. Like, I mean, with the way that Ingram played, and his record is actually pretty okay, but his underlying numbers are,

and his traditional stats are also garbage. Like, they would have been up the creek without having the Melka play as well as he has this season. Like, they don't have another option, really. I think he's been fantastic for them. Okay, real quick, because we're gonna park time with this game show thingy here in about five or six minutes uh what else caught your eye and by the way i really i really really wanted columbus to be good this year i think we all did we all wanted col wanted Columbus to be good. 82 games is a real tough way to remind you how good you are

or how bad you are. Yeah. Yeah. Should we be worried about Fantilli? I was having that conversation with someone the other day. From a skill point of view, no. But are we seeing that high-end hockey sense is what this person, this is an NHL person, because we're talking about him

and other people from his draft class. From a skill point of view, guy's loaded with skill. Does he have the hockey sense to go with it? I always kick myself when I say that because kids so young, but I'm not ready to have that conversation about Fantilli yet. Put it this way. It's noteworthy, but not alarming.

How about that? Is the, is the difference between him and Macklin, the Celebrini hockey sense then would you say? Oh man. Honestly, like right now Celebrini, like he's, he's come in

and not that he's like i'm trying to think like who is who is the last first overall pick that's better than celebrini hold up wait a second are you saying that he's better than bedard yeah no all right oh, this is spicy. Don't you think so? Why do you think he's better than Bedard? Because he plays a good game? It's a tiny, tiny sample. And right now, the recency bias is, you know,

we've watched Conor Bedard struggle to kick off his second campaign. So let me see, you know, let me see Macklin Celebrini get through a season and get through that grind and then wind it up again for a second season. But who's been the more impressive player to you this season? Macklin Celebrini. This season, Celebrini.

Easy. Yeah. I think easy. But I also think that his team is better than Chicago's. I agree with that. I agree with that. Yeah. Boy, that's a, that's a, you know, I, I don't think it's outlandish to say that celebrini could be better than bedard

so i just find it real but hold on i just find it really interesting that we can pass that verdict after the way that the the league approached both of those guys like bedard was clearly like you know tank hard for bedard like he was on that level of a of a mcdavid where you felt like you had to get this guy in order to resurrect your franchise i don't think celeb celebrity was certainly a prize at the end of the rainbow for sure but not necessarily in the we've got to restructure our roster to make sure we get this guy although mike reared a hell of a job of doing it i just think the approach and the and the pre-draft notions of both of these players was very different. But I don't disagree with the fact that

when you watch Celebrini, he's a lot closer to a Matthews type than Conor Bedard is to, say, a McDavid type. I can hear people already saying he's not better than Jack Hughes. From the question I threw out there, which first overall pick is better than Jack Hughes. From the question I threw out there, which first overall pick is better than, like the last first overall pick

who wasn't as good as, or who was better than Macklin Celebrini? I know a lot are going to say 2019 Jack Hughes. Very good. I see you. I get it. I know that. Austin Matthews in the Buffalo draft, certainly.

But really, and again, we're doing this like 25 games into this guy's career, but honestly, I love watching San Jose Sharks games. I can't believe that here I am saying this, but I love watching San Jose Sharks games, and the biggest reason is Macklin Celebrini. The thing I'll say about Jack is

Jack has gotten so much better defensively since his early years, and I give Lindy Ruff a lot of credit for that to make him a fully formed player. You can give some Nico Heischer some credit any time now, Greg. I'm barking at him since Halifax. But I also give Sheldon Keefe credit too.

I mean, trotting out Jack Hughes on the penalty kill did not start happening until Sheldon got there. And you know who's a really good penalty killer? Jack Hughes. So I guess in Celebrini's case case like he's on the way i do think that hughes from if they both actualize at their apex i think i i'd probably take hughes to be honest with you but and that means i probably take him over bedard too man you really knocked me on the ass about that but our comment because i like like like i've been thinking very

much about who's had the better who's had the better, who's had the better season. But like, when you think about Bedard and oh, the Bedard of it all, Bedard hoisting the Chicago Blackhawks on his shoulders, like Atlas and resurrecting the franchise versus Celebrini. Like you don't, it didn't even occur to me that one, that,

that Celebrini could be better than Bedard because Bedard's been built up so much. Yep. A hundred percent. But again, like I'm, I'm, I'm doing this after 30 games,

25, 30 games. 25-30 games. So I'm just like, every single night, every single night, I'm impressed at Macklin Celebrini. I think we all are. Anyone who stays up and watches San Jose games. Okay, give me a couple more so we can get in this game show thingy. It's going to be as big a disaster as my

hair right now. Holy smokes. I wanted to just mention one more team. Which is... by the way i i actually think my hair is on point today like i'm wearing your hair looks good the cans minor mine's kind of like spiked up it almost looks like almost looks like devil horns devilish my i'll take you look you look devilish i look like the craft peanut butter bear that's what my hair looks like right now. I kind of like a little bit comic, comic,

accurate Wolverine too. The New York Islanders are one I struggled with because like I felt, you know, based on their playoff probabilities. And again, these are generated by the staff leads model 5.8% chance of making the playoffs. But that being said,

I can't call them a long shot because they're just becoming their Islanders now, like to be where they are without Barzell, to have Miss Pellick for as long as they have, to have Miss Duclair for as long as they have. I don't think that we can give the Islanders really anything insofar as finality on what they're going to be this season without seeing what they are with all these guys healthy. And when they're all healthy, Merrick, do you think the Islanders are a playoff team? and when they're all healthy Merrick do you think the Islanders are a playoff team if they get uh if they have the elite tandem of Sorokin and Varlamov otherwise

he's been awful here's my question yeah I think we've been wondering this for maybe a couple of How do they do it with Lou? And by that, I mean, how do they move away and move someone into that spot? Hmm. If you're looking for flexible workouts, Peloton's got you covered. Summer runs or playoff season meditations, whatever your vibe, Peloton has thousands of classes built to push you. We know how life goes. New father, new routines, new locations. What matters is that you have something there to adapt with you, whether you need a challenge or rest. And Peloton has everything you need, whenever you need it. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at one peloton.ca

well obviously my thought he's gonna make the decision right i don't know i don't know about that but i'm saying if you've made that decision on lou how do you approach him about it and then how do you put together a plan to do it first of all it's the islanders and it's lou so everything will be done quietly but at what point do you say okay we're at the end here with this team construction and this team, we need to start changing things and we need to start to bring in new ideas. Here's my question.

How do you do that? Well, yeah. Normally it's other GMs, it's like punt. But with Lou, this one, considering his place in the game and the history of hockey, et cetera, et cetera, has to be done a little more careful. Oh, do you mean do you mean they might have trouble getting rid of the general manager who helped design their new arena? You know that, Eric? arena you know that eric like like lou had input on the blueprints for this place insofar as what he wanted the the the locker room area to look like like he he helped build not like brick by brick although i wouldn't put it past him but he had input on what he wanted that the ubs arena

looked like now here's the question chris lamarillo is still the assistant general manager there, I imagine, right? I think he's still with the Islanders. If so, and correct me if I'm wrong, but if so, does this become a Belichickian deal when Lou was hired? Like, do you have to, does he pass the torch to Chris? I don't know. To be the general manager? Is that what the Islanders had to do to get him to run the team? I don't know.

It is the most, like, like buttoned down locked up organization so all we'd be doing is throwing darts i don't know like pick sure i guess i mean pick your theories about anything um your conspiracy theories did they put a contract in a drawer for john devars for giving up the seat i don't know they have an agreement with i i don't know okay a couple things really quick really quick yeah um kishore harry by the way our old friend from the old pod you approach lou with a mustache to get his attention and he's like i shave that and the minute he's looking the other way you just move his desk into the hallway i like it um pull pull by the way at our uh at our at our chat who's a better player celebrini bedard what do you think the chat's saying

bedard right celebrini 67 bedard%. I'm telling you, man. You really tapped a vein here. The people aren't talking about this. This is why you are who you are. You are leading the charge on the conversation and the sport that no one has had. No. No, I expect a 2,500 word think piece on ESPN.com. First thing Friday morning from G. Wyshynski on Macklin Celebrity versus Conor Bernard.

Oh, that's cute. This is just show prep for you. Just like how the morning show with Colby and Laz is my show prep for this program. This program is just going to be article prep for you. It's cute that you don't think it's going to be Mark Lazarus at the Athletic refuting the fact that it's Ben Salabri. Or confirming it and then using that as a takeout piece on Bedard. Real quick, I wanted to mention the Leafs. Anthony Stolarz has played 28 games in a season.

That's his career high. And Joseph Wall has played 25. Stolarz is the MVP. 25 games. Okay, but here's my point. 28 games is his career high for a season. And Joseph Wall's career high for aedy. 25 games. Okay, but here's my point. He's their Vimalica. 28 games is his career high for a season. Joseph Wall's career high for a season is 25 games. Are you asking if he should get the Vesna? No, I'm saying both have already been on IR

and that the fear that we all had about this being a house of cards for the Toronto Maple Leafs, their goaltending, is still a creeping fear and maybe even a more prominent one. Again, if both those guys are healthy, I agree with Sheldon Keefe. They might have the best goaltending in the league. They're both great, but the issue has always been keeping those guys in the lineup. And right now, Stoller is out four to six weeks.

I hope that it's not a sign of things to come for our beautiful Leaf boys. Yes. They've enjoyed legitimate goaltending for a little while now. That's not something that Maple Leafs fans are accustomed to. That's why this one really stings for them. Okay.

We've got about a dixie left. Ten minutes. Here we go. So what is this game show you're proposing and does, and does Zach have any fancy music prepared for it? Well, here we go. It's Game Show Friday on Tuesday. As you know, we used to play a game for Friday all the time. It's a game

that I invent and then usually would have the callers play the game, but this time it's going to be you, Jeff Merrick. And I would be grumpy while you did it. I would be grouchy. That's right. You're very grumpy. Oh, who likes you? I don't like people. The game we're going to play today is called,

it's a game called Real Team or Fake Scheme. It is a game, Jeff Merrick, in which I will give you the name of a hockey team, courtesy of Hockey Database in some cases. Okay. And you tell me if this hockey team that I'm telling you about ever existed. So it's either a real team, one that actually played hockey on a professional or minor league level,

or it is a fake scheme, a team that I've invented to torment you. Yes. Okay. Here we go. All right. Give it a shot. So let's start with an easy one, okay? These are going to be five questions.

You get three questions, and you win the prize, which we've already established, will never be sent to you because neither one of us ever go to the post office. That's right. Okay. Are the Philadelphia knockouts a real team or a fake scheme? Jeff Merrick. I'm going to say the Philadelphia knockouts are a fake scheme. You are correct.

The Philadelphia knockouts are in fact a fake scheme. Thought I could get you with the Rocky reference. There was a team called the Philadelphia sting of major league roller hockey from 1996 to 1998. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. That's the closest we came to a Philadelphia team with a boxing reference. So you are one for one. Can I retire on top? Do I have to do it?

Can I just retire on top? JD Salinger writes Catcher in the Rye and then that's it? Like I'm done? Like that's it? No more? I wrote my beautiful book. He did write a few other things besides Catcher. Did he write more?

Oh, Franny and Zooey. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, Franny and Zooey. I's right yeah yeah yeah franny and zoe yeah people do okay okay very well number two are the Duluth puffins a real team or a fake scheme Jeff Merrick I really want

it to be real so I'm gonna say it's real the Duluth puffins yeah I'll go with real because I want it to be real well you know once Puffins? Yeah, I'll go with real because I want it to be real. Well, you know, wants are a good thing to have in life. Unfortunately, in this case, it is a fake scheme. I asked my wife, Ruby, to come up with a city name and an absurd mascot.

She pulled out Duluth, Minnesota, and the Puffin, a seabird that feeds primarily by diving into the water. She will be delighted, Ruby will be, will be that she has fooled Jeff Merrick I saw last time I was at Clackwood Sound in BC we took a little Zodiac saw this amazing 80 foot grey whale but about

a bajillion puffins along the way too so whenever I hear puffins I think of Clackwood Sound and the hot Springs and 80 foot whales and BC and the island. And as, as Jeff mentioned, he's taking ketamine. Number three,

I've only did it once. It was once. And it was for a cut. Your honor. Number three, are the, are the Idaho falls, spud Kings, a real team or a fake scheme, Jeff Merrick? The Idaho Falls Spud Kings.

Spud is in potatoes. It's found in Idaho in the United States. Everyone from PEI's nickname was always Spud, except for Rick Vive, whose nickname was always spud except for rick vive whose nickname was squid because john brophy his coach forgot that everyone from pei's nickname is spud and thought it was squid and so that's how rick vive got his nickname because there it is potatoes i'm gonna say no fake scheme that's a real team they currently play play in the United States Premier Hockey League in the National Collegiate Development Conference. The Idaho Spud Kings are a real team.

For how long? Hang on. How much do we know about these Spud Kings, Greg Wyshynski? Well, they're playing currently. They might only be around for a couple of years, but that doesn't mean that they're fake. A couple of years is, in fact, a real team. Okay, so you're one. I'm already getting a text from the marketing director now,

the communications director from the Spud Kings. You know what? All I got to do is get them wrong, and then I'm going to get, like, T-shirts and hats. I'm going to have to wear them on the show in shame, and I probably will. Now, I want to point out. I expect my Spud King to watch a show first thing Monday.

That'd be fantastic. For those of you who remember game show Friday, this is what we like to call the spiral. He's gotten two in a wrong in a row. This is usually where people kind of fall off a cliff playing these games. You have to run the table in order to win the game. Let's see if you can do it. Okay.

Jeff Merrick question for are the Hollywood cheeks, a real team or a fake scheme. Hollywood used to have um because bill borilko played there i want to say it's a real team wow you are correct the hollywood sheiks are a real team that played in the california intercity hockey league in 1934, 1935. But Merrick, you might know them better as the Hollywood Millionaires, which was their name before becoming the Hollywood Sheiks. There were, I guess like before there were specific affiliations with other teams. There were a lot of, and I mentioned Bill Borilko a second ago. There were a lot of players that Toronto had that ended up playing in Hollywood.

That's why, and trust me, I didn't know that. I just threw a dart at that one and said, yeah, it sounds good enough. So now this is it. This is it. I don't know. I'm losing it. It's coming right down to the end. It's game show karma that we come down to game seven.

Merrick is literally the Edmonton Oilers rallying from a hole that it looks like we've got to climb out of. We've got to game seven. Might flame out here, folks. Okay. He's either going to be hoisting the cup or crying in the locker room and refusing to accept the consummate trophy. Jeff Merrick, question five.

Question five. Are the Toronto Torontos a real team or a fake scheme? I almost thought it said Toronto Tontos and you were just going with a Max Webster reference. The Toronto Toros famously were the WHL team. These are the Toronto Torontos. Toronto Torontos.

I have never heard of the Toronto Torontos. I'm going to go fake scheme on that one. That can indicate a lot of things. The Toronto Torontos fake scheme. Jeff Merrick. The Toronto going to go for Toronto Toronto's fake scheme. Jeff Merrick, the Toronto Torontos are in fact a real team. They were an Ontario Hockey Association senior a team from 1932 to 2007. According to Hockey TV again, if they're in Hockey TV, they are eligible to be part of this game.

The Toronto Torontos. Who played for them? Who played for game. The Toronto Torontos. Who played for them? Who played for them? The Toronto Torontos? Who played for them? And who came up with the name? Give me one name of anybody who may have glanced by the Toronto Torontos. It says here Bobby Orr played for the Toronto Torontos in 1960.

Did not play for the Toronto Torontos. Think about the beauty of that name. You know what? When you think about the beauty of that name. You know what? When you think about the center of the hockey universe, the abject hubris that people in Toronto have about their hockey, to name a team the Toronto Torontos is the apex of the Toronto hockey hubris. Do you remember Chipwich?

Remember Chipwich sandwiches? Of course I do. Like those cookies with the ice cream? You know what always bugged me? What? Chocolate chip witch. It was so smug. How much more chocolatey could I be? Well, there you go.

That's the smuggest snack of all time. That's like the Toronto snack. That's like chocolate chip witch to me. The smuggest ice cream treat of all time. Well, bravo. You know what I thought? You know what I thought you were going to hit me with for sure? I'm like, okay, so he's going to do teams. I'm getting the

making whoopies for sure. And I'm going to nail it. I know you and I know exactly where to go with this stuff. I will just say this. There's a lot of expansion money out there. We could certainly support two teams in Toronto. I'm saying if we do decide to put one in the Western Conference, the Toronto

Torontos, rally people to the cause. You are not a Leafs fan. You're a citizen of Toronto. What better team to support than the Toronto Torontos if you're a citizen of Toronto? What a great way to end. Thank you, Greg. I'm glad that I lost on Game Show Friday, which is the same

as winning on Game Show Friday because the prize is identical. It's nothing. You get on this show. Now, write this down, everybody. You get two thirds of the square root of sweet F all. That's what we're offering you here on this program. Two thirds of the square

root of FSA. Of SFA, rather. Okay. Done with you for the week. Again, thank you for the kind words earlier with the Toronto Star piece with Bruce Arthur. Oh, my pleasure. And we will talk to you in seven days, my good friend. Check out Greg's latest, by by the way at ESPN

it's a bubble watch projecting or projecting playoff hopes for all 32 teams yeah when you see by the way when when you see the Capitals jersey by the way who is that in the middle looks like John Erskine looks like an old picture John Carlson but it looks like

John Erskine doesn't it I know it's John Carlson but it looks like John Erskine, doesn't it? I know it's John Carlson, but it looks like John Erskine. The face, no? Big old tough defenseman? He's slowly morphing into John Erskine. Slowly morphing into John Erskine. When I see those Capitals jerseys, I say to myself that I could use a rebrand. I'm more of a Screaming Eagle guy

to be honest with you than the Capitals. One of their outdoor jerseys they've had in recent years was one of my favorites. But 50th anniversary for the Caps this year. What a better way to cap it, Merrick, than not only with Ovechkin breaking the Gretzky record, but with the Capitals winning the Stanley Cup. Wouldn't that be amazing for their 50th anniversary season?

Playing against the Dallas Stars. We'll get that dream matchup that you and I fantasized about back in 2015. We'll get it sometime later. All right, off with you. You be good. We'll talk to you in seven days, Wish. There he is from ESPN.com, the one and only Greg Grushinsky.

I want to remind you as well as we sign off today, first of all, thanks for everyone in the chat today. It was exceptional as always. I want to mention Up Close with Stephen Brunt. That dropped today, the first show.

Stephen's six-part podcast series. I don't know that I'm allowed to say who the other interviews are, but if you know anything about my broadcasting background and what I used to be really interested in and still sort of interested in from a historical point of view, you're going to find one of his guests fascinating. That's on the horizon. But the latest one, a fascinating interview with MLSE CEO Keith Pelley,

one of the people that hired me back in 2011. Thanks, Keith. On behalf of Zach Phillips, everybody here at the Nation Network and The Sheet and Daily Faceoff. Thanks for checking out the program today. Thanks for being as lively as you are in the chat. It is very, very much appreciated. And as Zach always reminds me, ask them to hit the like button.

So it's important if you hit the like button and we'll really appreciate it and we'll give you the same prize that we give out here for Game Show Tuesdays. Again, two thirds of the square root of SFA. That's what we offer you here. Back tomorrow. Good rest of your day.

I spent 16 hours last night Every day this week Every day this month I can't get out my head Lost all ambitions day to day. Cause you can call it a run. I went to the doc, man. He tried to give me a little medicine.

I'm like, no, man, that's fine. I'm not against those methods, but it's new. It's me, myself, and how that's going to be fixed in my mind. I turned on the record mind I turned on the music I turned on the music I turned on the music I turned on the music I don't get you sometimes losing

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