The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Saint John Sea Dogs Home Opener ft. Trevor Georgie & Alexis Joseph

Episode Date: September 19, 2025

Join Jeff Marek for a special edition of The Sheet, live from TD Station at center ice ahead of the Saint John Sea Dogs' highly anticipated home opener against the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles! In this exciting episode, Jeff is joined by Trevor Georgie, the CEO and President of JSM Sports Entertainment, who shares insights into his time as the Sea Dogs' General Manager, including their Memorial Cup victory, and the transition to his current leadership role. Later, Jeff sits down with Alexis Joseph, the first overall pick in the 2025 QMJHL Draft and a top projected pick in the 2027 NHL Draft. Alexis opens up about the excitement of being selected first overall, preparing for life in the QMJHL, and the pressure of living up to such high expectations. Tune in for an inside look at the future of junior hockey from two influential figures in the game!#TheSheet #JeffMarek #SaintJohnSeaDogs #QMJHL #Hockey #MemorialCup #TrevorGeorgie #AlexisJoseph #FirstOverallPick #FutureStars #HockeyTalk #JuniorHockey #CapeBretonScreamingEagles #2025QMJHLDraft #2027NHLDraft #HockeyProspects #SeaDogs #JSMsports #HockeyNews #TDStation #HomeOpenerReach 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.

And as our producer Zach Phillips likes to see, we are back like a vertebrae. Actually, speaking of Zach Phillips, it's going to be a very interesting night for our producers, Zach Phillips. We're here in lovely St. John, New Brunswick, where it is gorgeous. I spent the day yesterday in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, gorgeous. Tonight we're here for the St. John Seedog season opener against the Cape Breton Eagles. But it is going to be a fantastic thought it would never happen moment later on tonight when producer Zach Phillips of this show meets hockey player Zach Phillips,

who producer Zach Phillips is always confused with the two shall meet this evening. I never thought it would happen. I don't think Zach, like my Zach, thought that it would ever. happened, but tonight it will be double Zach here at TD Station in lovely St. John, New Brunswick. Thanks so much for being aboard today. I'm glad to be here in St.

John at TD Station in advance of tonight's big game, and we have a couple of really special people to talk to who have some great stories, and one name specifically that you're going to want to remember for the 2027

NHL draft. That's coming up in a couple of moments. Meanwhile, we remind you as always, The sheet is powered by Fanduel, home of the same game parlay, make every moment more on Fanduel. Daily Outline, powered by Fandul, make every moment more with North America's number one sports book. And coming up on the program today, he is the president of the St. John Seedogs, long-time general manager of the St. John Seedogs as well. He is Trevor Georgie. You've heard us talk about Trevor before you're going to meet him. Some great Seedogs and QMJHL stories coming up here in a couple of moments.

and then Alexei Joseph will stop by all 6'4, 215 pounds of him, and he's not done growing. Maybe the first overall draft pick in the 27 NHL draft, and that's coming up here in a couple of moments. In the meantime, I'll give him the Royal Wave and welcome him to the broadcast. No stranger to these parts or anywhere around junior hockey or NHL for that matter. He sent a lot of players to the show. He is Trevor Georgie.

He is the longtime general manager, now president of the St. John Seedogs. He joins me now. Are you nervous before game one? Tonight is the home opener, the curtain, razor, et cetera. Newfoundland had there a big one yesterday. Today, eyes on the Seedogues. They face off against the Eagles. Are you nervous now, or have you done too many of these?

Good question. I'm not nervous. I'm just excited. Really excited. This is the same location where the boxes were during the Memorial Cup. And I can tell you that those games, I was probably. and probably definitely a lot more nervous

but now for this season so much work goes into it just excited yeah I want to ask you about the week too and I do want to get to Memorial Cup 2022 and the coaching decision and the people that stuck their

hand up to coach a team that ended up winning the Memorial Cup but before we get there like walk us through a week like walk us through this week leading up to tonight like right now as we do this interview

live. In your mind, is everything put to bed? Is everything on the trolley tracks and everything is ready to go smoothly? Or are there still some things to do? Like, give me a snapshot of your week here, Trevor. And the week's been very, very busy. The team, the business team, the hockey team, everyone's been working really, really hard to get everything ready for home opener. In matter how much you prepare over the course of a full summer and we had a long summer and unfortunately long summer. We never want summers to be that long. It kind of got a big reward who's going to be joining us here in a couple of moments because of it, though.

We definitely did, but there's always a lot of things to do right till the last second. This week has really been, just keeping everyone focused on, we always talked about the purpose, like why we're all here, and just getting everyone focused on the purpose, and whether that be, you know, hockey ops staff, players, our business staff, it's just getting everyone, okay, let's just focus on why we're all here and the purpose of the whole, the whole season. and let's now, yeah, let's just make sure we're dialed in. You'll talk to the kids before the game or you've already talked to the kids?

I spoke to them yesterday. Yeah, I spoke to them yesterday. I usually, I try not to, in terms of a group setting, I don't like to have too many, too many of those. I leave that to Travis, and I've always been like that. I'd rather our coach and Travis, our coach and general manager have that conversation with them. But certainly, like, once a year, year at the start and then probably a couple times throughout.

But we had a really good conversation yesterday. The group's dialed in. They're focused. And our message is always that we're all in this together. It's a process. The goal is to win a championship. Not everyone is willing to do what it takes to win one. You have to do today what others aren't willing to do to have what others won't one day.

And we talked about this earlier. Every franchise says they want to win. Oh, yeah. It takes a lot to do. Do you know how? And so, yeah, we had a really good conversation yesterday, and, and, and, and, uh, but on game day, uh, no, that's, that's, uh, that's not my place. And, uh, let them do their thing. Um, I mentioned, um, the reward that you got this year. And that's, uh, Alexei Joseph, who's six foot four to 15, six foot three, two, two, I mean, we're sort of fudging

numbers. I said he's a large center and a highly skilled. Then as much as, you know, the early conversation about 2027, you know, revolved around Landon DuPont, here's Alexia Joseph saying, hold on a second year. I know we're a ways away from 2027, but already people are getting excited about Alexi Joseph. I'm excited to watch him play tonight for you guys. What should we know? He's going to come on the program here in about 30 minutes or so. What do you think we should know about Alexi Joseph? And when did you first get eyes on him? Yeah, I mean, Alexi Joseph has been a name within this region for a long time. He is a true. six foot four because i remember on draft day when he came up on stage and he got his hat very few people

to scott mccain stare at eye level yeah scott's a big guy he's a big guy the owner of st john seedog from the legendary mccain family uh and so he was staring at him right right right in the eye and you know you see those lists we've all seen the list when the guys listed at six four and they're actually six one and a half or six two he's a true six four um and muscle like all all muscle i i think all the fans can google and look up alexi and see that he had nine points and whatever or it was three games at the U-17 camp and read all about him. A few things people won't know, I think, are important to the story of Alexei Joseph. You know, he could have most thought that last year in the Q draft,

he could have got exceptional status and gone first overall. And they opted not to do that. They didn't want to do that. They want to take their time. Why was? I just pause on that, too, because I'm curious now with, you know, between the NCAA situation, we're going to get to that and potentially what's happening here with 19-year-olds.

and the American Hockey League, we're all wondering, is junior hockey going to start to skew younger? Is it going to be more of a 16 to 18 leagues? All three leagues are going to be 16 to 18 with more 15-year-olds? If there's anyone that looks both physically and mentally, because he's a very mature young man, ready for it, it would be him. Because a curious decision not to apply for it. Yeah, I think it's a player from the bit of Got to Know Alexei and his family.

They are very process-oriented, take our time, do it the right way. Let's not make waves. Like, they're a very easy family. And I think Alexi, I know Alexi had grown up on values of hard work, you know, do the right thing and be patient. And I give another, I give an example on, you know, players in their contracts. Everyone has like stick exemptions and things like that. And, you know, Alexi kind of early on was like, just because I have whatever it is in my contract that allows me whatever it is that little extra is, you know, I don't want it. I don't want it.

I want to make sure it goes to the, you know, whatever. I don't want to be different. I just want the other guys to get. I want to get the same. And, yeah, I think those are a few things on character and on the way he was raised that have to be underlined. You're not going to find that on lead prospects. You're not going to find that online, but I think to understand Alexei Joseph is to understand the confidence he's got, but also the humility. You know, it's, and listen, he's one of the main reasons why fans are going to watch the Sea Dogs this season,

and everyone's going to be following him for a couple of years here. You know, this has turned into, over the years, a real Cadillac Cadillac franchise in the QMJL. It's a destination place for players. It's one of my favorite ranks to be at. I think it's my fourth or fifth time here. And just before the program, today wandering around and looking at the, what do you call them,

the pillars of fame. And just reminded about, you know, sure, like, the Hubert O's will be there and Shabbat will be there, and Hoffman will be there, et cetera. But like Thomas Yirko, I haven't thought about Thomas Yirko in years.

Stanislav Ghaliev. I haven't thought about Stenislav Galev. Brett Galant, like there's a lot of other players that were significant contributors to the scene. That went on to some, you know, some fame.

in the NHL as well. From your tenure here, and I believe you started in 2013 or 2014. I started a bit later. I started in 2016. Oh, 2016. Okay, so then one year after that, you went to the Memorial Cup.

But since you've been here, like when I say, who are the names that pop for Trevor Georgie? Either headliners or other players that you thought, maybe, yeah, I thought this kid was going to make it. Who comes to your mind? Because there's a real long list of sea dogs that made their way to the NHL.

Yeah, it's a long list. And even the guys that before I wasn't privileged enough to be here when they were here, we've built great relationships over the years, and we have our alumni weekends. Memorial Cup in 22, I remember Gilles Coteau, the commissioner at the time commenting how we do alumni, like, right? We had, I think, 50 alumni here. Really?

Yeah, 50 alumni here, and they all came to take part in it and enjoy it. And when we were, I remember after we beat Schoenigan in that game to punch our ticket. you know, Shabbat and Boko and all of them are down in the locker room, you know, high-fiving the guys. And I think that's really special when you see that lineage and that the generations carry over. I think that's really cool. Oh, I mean, there's a lot of memorable guys over the years. I think of Boko and Mama, you know, who could have forecasted him at whatever it was,

41 goals as a 20-year-old in the league. And, you know, even in the pro, he's faced such adversity and he's done such a great job of it. It just brings such intimidation. I think intimidation is still very much a part of it. Especially in the Metropolitan Division. Yeah, right? That's like the old Norris Division. We always make the joke with the Chuck Norris Division.

Now that's the Metropolitan. And everybody has a gunslinger. You need a little bit. You feel a little bit more confident with guys like that. And Boko, I mean, obviously, Matthew Joseph and Thomas Shabbat and Joe Valeno. Matthew Heimor, who undrafted so many times, finds a way to have a nice career in the NHL. Lots of guys, I think, of the 2022 group that we had, you know, five guys that we drafted. and we stuck with all through the cycle until they won.

It was rocky. It's tough to win and it's tough to go through those growing pains. But, yeah, there's a lot of guys. There's a lot of guys over the years that have added a lot to the organization. And I always tell our players, and it's the truth. Just because you aren't on that, you know, your name's not engraved on one of those cups doesn't mean you didn't help us get there because they leave so much behind. We have veterans.

We have guys last year, a guy like Nativity that's in Quinnific. Piac this year. Nate didn't have a chance to raise a banner behind us. He didn't have a chance to have his name in Gravenly Cup. But one day when it does happen, those that were here during his time here will have gone, you know, little pearls of wisdom that are going to help us achieve that. You know, I spoke to Kyle Dubas earlier on this week. And one of the things that I sort of glibly brought up with him just to make him feel old

was that his first client when he worked at Uptown as an agent, Kyle Clifford had just retired. to Stanley Cops, like a really successful career. Like Kyle Clifford got like the most out of his career. And I'm walking around. I'm looking at the pillars of fame. And Nathan Bolliou is one, who is a defenseman here for the St. John Seedogues. His nephew, Ryan, is a 2010. My 2010s played against him for years.

Probably going to be a top 10 kid in the OHL draft this year. Are you at the point of your career? now where every single season, something happens and you're like, oh, I'm not 29 anymore. Yeah, yes. Absolutely. You know, when I first joined the team, I was 27. My wife, Devin, at that time, was 22. Like, we were pretty close to the players' ages that first year.

And then further and further, you know, you feel a lot more like, you feel a lot more like mom and dad as the years go by. But, yeah, I didn't know that about Nathan's... Nephew. Yeah, Ryan, nice defenseman. Plays London Junior Knights. Great for him. Great for him. Really, really good player.

Great. Well, maybe with all the different transfers between leagues, maybe one day he's a St. John Seedog. Don't find me for tampering. I don't know that. I don't think he's going to be waived through the Ohio. Yeah, I don't think so. I don't think anyone's going to do that. All right, can we do some junior hockey catnip?

Sure. Yeah, let's do it. Junior hockey catnip. Okay, so these are, like, I've always, I think all of us are fascinated in the trades that never happened in the NHL. I always feel that it is a general manager's obligation when they are done in the NHL to tell the stories of the sort of, you know, alternative narrative of the NHL. Trades that we were close almost happened, you know, Pollock and Torrey are taking

the Denny Pot fan trade while they already have, have taken that to their grave and we'll never know who the players involved were in that conversation. But are there any names that you can share with us? players that were almost sea dogs. You know, once upon a time, I can still remember everyone thinking that Jack Eichol was leaving BU to go to St. John. That was the year the Prospects game was in Niagara and everyone thought it was going to be McDavid versus Eichol. Obviously, it didn't work out that way. But are there some names that we would recognize that you almost closed on as GM of the Seedogogs?

Catnip for junior hockey fans. Let's go, Trevor. Sure. 2016, 2017, that run. We had a Julian Goetia and Callum Booth and Simon Bork. There was a European player in Gatineau that was having a great year. It was Yakov Trennan. Oh, yeah.

He's in Nashville. Tough player. Tough, thick. I thought that, that was one that I thought that we were going to be able to do. And it just never came. They had really good imports that year. They had him and Abramov, Vitali Abrov, together. Oh, wow, yeah, yeah.

Couldn't get that one done. I thought that we had. something. It was those weeks and months of talking about it. More recently, in 2022, I think even cycles, just like we were talking about earlier, we talked about like eight years of birth. Zach Balduk, who was in Rumski and ended up going to the ramparts and boarding with them.

And I thought that we had something. We did a lot of deals with him a lot. I think, honestly, I think that sneaky, that was one of the best moves of the the summer by any general manager. Nice player. It's a great, great player. Yeah, really great player. It was exceptional in junior. And the other one I think of that 22. Actually, I have a sheet. So at home when we think of roster composition, actually, I have a big board with just sheets and sheets and sheets. And it's all when it's all different possibilities of roster composition for trades and all that. Yeah, I keep them from the cycles. So actually,

I have the one from 2017. I have the one from 2022. And it's in storage. And some of the go back and go, boy was I right or boy was I wrong on that. Oh my God, I thought we were going to get this, I thought was going to be our top line and that wasn't the case. But Hendricks LaPierre was one too. He was in Shakutomi. He was in Shakutomi and Washington First Rounder. Washington First Rounder. I thought that we'd have him, him and I know William Dufour were very good friends too. We acquired Dufour that summer. I thought that Hendricks, I thought we had a really good offer and made a lot of conversations on him. And I was, I was, I thought I thought him too.

Those would be the three. Trennan and then Hendricks and Baldook. Hendricks Laupier, hands down, the best, like the best interview that I've ever been part of at the Combine. I remember when he left, we all looked around the room and said, someone's getting a media star. Like, just get this guy to the end. Like, one of the best personalities delivered well, funny, engaging. Like, good player, too, of course. but hands down

all the interviews that I ever did at the Combine Hendricks Lapier is number one really nice young man oh yeah really really nice young man and did everything right to junior like really really great young man

but it all worked out but yeah those are three guys those are three guys for sure I thought you know let's get the jersey pressed okay the elephant in the room the NCAA situation

I noticed this past week that you announced on your social media that Olivier Duan is going to clerks. Yep. So you're not running from this. I know that there are some people in junior hockey that want to pretend that this fight is still happening and it's not.

Where are you at right now with this new relationship? We're not even beginning, really, the first season yet. So we don't know what it's going to look like. But where's Trevor Georgie's mind on it? Yeah. We're player first. So if a player wants to, like Olivier, that wants to pursue that, wants to go to the NCAA then that's what he wants to do one day we'll support him like

who are we to tell a player that the decision that they're making is not the right move for them like it might very well be the right move for them we we're we're player first so if that's if that's what they want to do we're happy to support them through it we're happy to work with them on that we'll in conversation with NCAA teams frequently we have a number of players that we signed over the summer too that you know one who's at Tampa Bay Camps committed to Providence, Ryan Donovan, Alex Donovan,

Ryan's dad, is committed to Denver. Great. Yeah, great. Open-minded to it, good with it. We want players to achieve their goals. And if part of that,

part of their journey is the NCAA, then great. Is it complicated? Does it change? You know, we follow the cycle. If you look at 2011, 2012, tear it down, rebuild.

Five years later, 2017, Moro Cup. Tear it down, rebuild. 2022. Memorial Cup. So now, you know, in terms of the cycles, definitely complicates it. You know, the math is a bit different.

You can't forecast. We're going to have that guy at 19 and then we'll trade that guy at 20 and we'll restock the picks. Definitely changes the formula. And Trave and I talk about this all the time, but how it's changed. However, it's great. Great players have great options. We've set it out. And I think you've got to work with them.

You know, you've got to work with these programs. They're great programs. And we have a great program. And both things can be true. You know, we can be a great development. option, and they also can be a great developmental option. You know, both things can be true, and we rather be partners than adversaries. Is it, and you sort of winked at this already in your conversation with Travis,

like one of my thoughts here is how, if you're, because you've gone through this process before here at St. John, when you're bidding for the Memorial Cup, one of the, things you have to demonstrate is we will have a team that is Memorial Cup worthy. This year the Memorial Cup is in Colonna. Next year, it will either be in Kitchener or in Guelph. How can you make that promise of performance when kids now can go? And now there's the sort of looming specter of maybe 19-year-olds going to the American League. When you asked that question, I had flashbacks to our bid presentation, Coley Campbell, just absolutely shredding our plan of... Oh, he did? But he was asking all the right questions.

He was poking holes and looking and we were prepared. Clearly he liked it enough because they ended up awarding it to us. But, you know, it makes it a lot tougher. It makes it a lot tougher to forecast. Like, you know, we have, you can't just pencil in or put in pen. Hey, a guy, if he's not playing in the NHL, he's going to be here at 18 or 19, you can't do that. And it makes it a lot more complicated. I think that when your window is there, even if it's a bit early, I think you've got to go.

I think you're going to have to go. And, and, um, and, um, but what if you, the, the interesting thing about that is, what if you find yourself in a winning window, but the following season, Saskatoon kind of found themselves in this, a number of years ago at Brayton Chen. Um, you find yourself in a winning window, but the next season, you're hosting the Memorial Cup. Yeah, that's not a good spot to be in. Well, in one sense it is because you have that window, but then you know, like, uh, the big

prize, the next season is, this is going to complicate all of it. It's tough. I'm a strong, strong, strong belief. Philosophically, we've always had the real lows and the real highs. And you're going to stack the deck to make sure you give yourself the best chance to win the Moral Cup. Yes, it's nice making the third round. Yes, it's nice making the finals. We don't raise banners for third rounds.

We don't raise banners for making the finals. You don't have lifetime memories and you don't have rings and cups for being competitive. It's boom or bust has been our model. This really complicates it. And I think if you're planning to host a Memorial Cup, you're probably planning around players that are going to be key pieces at 17 years of age and 18 years of age. And not the 19s and 20-year-olds,

because it just gets murkier and murkier the older they get. Right. Did you ever think they were going to get to this place? I never did. Not as quick as we did. Definitely not as quick as we did. There were whispers, but 18 months ago in some circles in junior of, this is

I think this is coming I remember Elliot and I talking about it on the old pod and we were ridiculed by people like colleagues in the media who have now had to eat their word but I remember it was like

and we kept saying like it's not coaches that are going to make this decision as lawyers that are making these decisions and this is going to happen oh yeah absolutely ridiculed like on like in front of the camera

and behind the camera openly mocked I think you should name all of them right now. How long do you have? Get the names. Get the, put the names out there. How long do you have? Show the list. But I was, we had, we had, I think it's unfair for a player at 15 years old and their family have to make a decision like that. And it's interesting. It's changed the landscape completely. And I know that even there's a few agents that over the last, you know,

again, 18 months had kind of given us a wink of, hey, I think this is coming, which, which is interesting. Like they clearly knew something that the rest of the world didn't, and you clearly knew something that the rest of the role didn't. Broken clock, right twice a day. That's all that was, blind squirrel,

all those cliches you always hear. Everything is changing really quickly right now. Like this is the most interesting time in junior hockey. This is the most interesting time. If you're someone that follows, I'll maintain this for a while now, if you're someone that's interested in, you know, the draft and development and young players

and next wave of, This is the most interesting time in the history of organized hockey, hands down. And things seem to be happening really quickly. Since you've been with the Seedogs, which as you mentioned goes back to 2016, what are some of the more profound changes that we may have all missed? Like in your role as a manager, whether it's relationships with, fellow general managers, with players, with agents. Like, is there something you can point at and say it's profoundly different than when it was

when I started? Yeah, there'll be a few things. So I'll start with what has not changed. Agents have major, major influence on everything that happens in hockey. When I joined the league, I remember a few GMs, whether they're trying to actually help me or give me, you know, hey, got a little advice for you, kid. But when I started, I remember a few of them saying, you know, agents are the devil. They ruin the business.

This is other jams. Other jams. Like, you know, here, if I give you a piece of advice, they're selfish, they're the devil, they ruin the business, just do what you want to do. And having come from a background of working in other professional sports organizations, it's like agents actually have a lot of influence. I quite like working with them. Oh, you're at Wasterman.

I was a Wasterman. And I quite like them. They're obviously, your goals are aligned. you want your client to do well. And so we decided to build relationships versus burn them down. I think that's been really helpful for us. And I think most of the agents we deal with are considered friends after all the years of doing deals together. What has changed?

Players have changed in their dynamic. You know, our group in 2017 that went to the M-Cup in Windsor, you know, they were a lot to handle, make sure they were home and, you know, at home and bed in time. Sure. And, like, get to really rein them in. They were social. a long grade, they're out all together. And there's always the whole group going out. In recent years, whether it be COVID or just the kind of changes of taste of that age group,

you almost would be like, hey, like, spend time together, go do things, socialize. That's changed for sure. Like you're much less frequently having to rein a team in. You're actually kind of trying to encourage them like, hey, like go hang out together, go do stuff. So that's changed a lot. I think the Maritimes Division is going to be the toughest division in the CA over the next 10 years.

And the reason I say that is... Why do you say that? So I think if you look at the influx of players from the United States, which is great. You have so many, you know, if they go into the Western Hockey League or the OHL, I mean, they're all English markets. And I think those players will want to, you know, markets are different in terms of size and low geography and all that. But generally, they'll go to one of those teams. In the QMJL, there's, call it, if there's 20 players coming from the U.S. in the QMJL, I think that there's, you know, the Maritimes are all like English markets that I think

that are more similar to some of those U.S. cities where we get them from. So I don't, I think that the teams, you know, if 20 are coming, I'm making up a number. But if 20 are coming, I think that 15 are sprinkled across the Maritimes and five, the rest. I think we'll see. That's my thoughts on it. Further to that, the name that pops out to me when you talk like this is Noah Hanofin. So Noah Hannafin in his draft year, the Quebec ramparts had his rights. And I remember talking to his representatives at the time.

I said, is he going to go? Is he going to go to the Quebec ramparts? And the answer back was, if it were a different team in a different location, no knock against the ramparts, but this is his draft year, he'll have enough stress on him to begin with. You don't want to throw another issue, like a language barrier and a culture, rock issue on top of all of it, it's just too risky a decision for our client to make. So he's not going to go.

You think the Maritime Division has an advantage there, the American players? So I think it has an advantage with a very specific audience. But I also think that there's geographies of interest for Francophone players of playing in areas within Quebec. So I think that, I think it works both ways, but I do think with this new change and this influx of players from the U.S. I think that I think will be in a very interesting division to watch

for the next 10 years or so. Memorial Cup 2022, Gardner McDougal, the legend, the winner, comes in behind the bench after an early exit by the C-Dogs to guide the team to a Memorial Cup win. How many other

people put up their hand? I seem to remember, like, there were a number of names that are like so there are a lot that put up their hand. This is juicy. There were a lot that put up their hand, and I would say there was probably a half dozen of really qualified, like really impressive candidates. Garner, in terms of the ones we really honed in on, Garner was the only one that had not

coached in the National Hockey League, and that was ultimately what we landed on. But I asked some really impressive names, and we had, we had, yeah, we had reached out to Bob Hartley. We reached out to and spoken with Dom Dusharm, who we had a, we done the Valeno trade back when he was in Drummond, yeah, yeah, yeah. So we did that deal. At the time, it worked out great for both. We got three first and two seconds, and those players, most of them that we use of those

picks were actually on that Memorial Cup team, and it was like, Dom, what a roundabout way. You had Joe and you're getting the benefit of these players. and so I had known Dom and I reached out to Travis Green and engaged interest on that. Ultimately, Gardner was, you know, a great motivator was all in on. Was it a fragile group? Like you need like someone to come in and lift the guys up? Was that an issue?

At that point, they had been beat up in the media. Oh, yeah. They've been beat up. Blame us. You know. I have the list too. I have a list too. You got a list as well.

Okay, great. You know, they're beat up in the media. media. They were beat up even like locally. You know, there's a lot of disappointment around it. And rightfully so. We were really disappointed with that outcome. It was an unacceptable outcome. And the group needed a motivator and Gardner

came in and did that. And he could fire up any of us to go through a wall and perform and he's able to do that with that group. And he gave him confidence and we had a really good hockey team. If you look at our second half, I think we had a 15 game and a 13 game stretch. We didn't lose a game.

We were just, we were really, really good. We had just, and part of that, you have to lose, you have to climb a mountain. You have to, you know, start small and keep going. Of course. With the COVID season, when our group was 17 and 18 coming into their own, we never got those years because the season was can't, the end was canceled. Then the next year was like a shortened kind of COVID bubble thing. And then the guys are 19 going, well, win now.

What do you mean win now? So they, I think, in retrospect, it was the best thing and the worst thing for us. they had to feel what it meant to lose before they could really understand what it was going to mean to them to win. That's interesting. I mean, that was such a, that was such a cool moment as well. Like, I'll remember Windsor in 2017, and the Spitfires beat the Erie Otters. I know, sorry, it brings up a sort of moment I get it.

But you guys are great that year, won the President's Cup. If I hear Isley Brothers shout one more time. I can't go to a wedding now and hear Isley Brothers and not twitch at a little. I remember watching Warren Reichel, you know, sort of count down the seconds on the clock. And, you know, Bundy's pacing and these nervous, these anime, like that's Warren Reichel, right? What were you like? So what I did, so every day I would listen to, to open up the Moral Cup, one of the songs that was used was spirits.

I got guns in my head And I listened to that song On repeat the entire tournament And it just kept me calm I remember my wife come in And she's like, is everything okay? Like you're taking a 20 minute shower And it's just spirits on loop

And what I would do is I So that game day I remember coming in We sat exactly actually in this spot It was actually right here Where our GM boxes were And I remember drinking water bottles And just sipping and just counting down

minute by minute. And I'm like, I need to get through 21 minute intervals here in the last period just to get through it. And just one minute and then I'd look like, okay, 19 more. Okay, 18 more. I always took a bathroom break between the second and the third. I was going to say, holy smokes. Yeah, I was like a bathroom break. And at that point, I didn't even need to at one point, but I'm like, I always take it at this time, I'm going to do it. But I'm also someone that believes, and I told me the team this

the other day, like, I never believe. People, you know, fans are like, well, you did all you can you know like now it's up to the group nothing you can do now i don't believe that i never believe that and what i mean by that is i remember saying to one of the fans that said that's not true i can still influence the outcome and they're like what what do you mean like well by drinking 20 waters by playing songs in the shower for 20 minutes uh Trevor i was losing my mind for sure but i said i'm like well if we needed a time out you can always control help influence an outcome so say we've you know we need a time out i'm like i could throw a waterball on the else Guess like team of

Listen, the late Roger Nelson when he coached Peterborough What Roger would use his timeout early And he always had a couple of students Behind the bench with eggs in their pocket And if he needed another timeout He sort of give the nod And sure enough, a couple of eggs would hit the ice

And all of a sudden the Peterborough Pete's had another timeout Come on, see Travis will give the nod from across the ice Some eggs going out tonight All that's to say It never came down to that I would never do that But I think that you're I think always in my mind

Even when you're close to winning You're like, can I do more. Did I do enough? You know, can we, what else can we do to make sure there's a positive outcome? I think too much too, too often in life and in anything, you go like, ah, I can't do anything else. But that definitely was playing, playing on my mind, like, what else can we do in this moment to make sure we, we raise the cup? I love it. Okay, so Alexei Joseph is standing by here a couple of seconds. One more question for you. And it involves Joe Valeno. I've always been a fan. I look at like the breakdown of how you look at hockey players and the skating and the shooting.

and the puck sense and all those like sigh he has all of it can't do you think montreal is the team to unlock joe valeno i think so because i believe in joe and uh i've always believed in joe one of the nicest young men you'd ever meet um i think in montreal obviously he's not going to find a gm that knows him more his uh kent was his agent and and he was excellent to deal with uh when he was a g when he was an agent he's doing a great job in montreal's gm i think he's going to a team uh it's his hometown and he's got the GM of the team that, um, you know, knows him super, super well from a young age and believes in him and believes in him when he was a junior. And I think, uh, I believe in Joe and, and Joe's going to figure it out. I love it. Okay. Um, who is his billet family?

The same as Alexie Joseph. My next guest. How about that for transition? Unbelievable. We transition with the, with the billet family. Traff, thanks. Good luck tonight. Good luck to season. And, uh, best of luck with this spectacular young man who's going to be joining us now here on the program. It's a name that you're going to hear all season long. It's a name you're going to hear next season as well leading up to the 2027, yes, 2027 NHL draft. He is Alexei Joseph and he joins me on the program. Alexi, salo, so it's all.

It's all, yeah, it's good, you? Yes, it's a good. So my French, I can talk a little bit, but I'll do it in English. Perfect. It's so good for me. So this is great. First of all, how excited are you tonight? opening night

St. John Sea Dogs Cape Bret and Eagles right over there how did you sleep last night are you excited about today what do you think I don't sleep a lot last night to be honest with you

I'm pretty excited and I'm very excited to see how the team gonna respond to a great matchup tonight yeah I mean you're such I mean Trevor would just say like people have had their eyes on you for a long time

I'm curious at a certain point in your life growing up. When did you realize that hockey was going to be something more than just a hobby? A hockey was going to be something you could pursue and look at the NHL and that could be a reality. And there's a steps certainly with junior hockey here in St. John. But at what point in your life did you say, I think I can really be a hockey player? I will say my first year in me, at AAA. Yeah, I did well. And I was 14.

So I was a good hockey player before, but got the chance to play at 14 in the mid-jet. I say, like, oh, I might need to put, like, all my 100, like, focus and forget the other sport and go all in with the hockey. Because you played soccer? I do when I was young, yeah. Because there were a couple of other sports that you played that you just said, okay, enough, I'm just going all in on hockey. Soccer was one of them. Did you do, was it fencing? Fencing?

With the sword? Someone mentioned that to me, no? No. What other sports did you do when you were a kid? I do mountain biking. That was mountain biking too, yeah, yeah. Soccer, lacrosse. Okay.

Were you always the biggest kid? I was, actually. Yeah, I was. So you must have loved lacrosse. Yeah, but I played with two old, like, player. I was like eight and I played with 10, 10 years old guys. So I was too young to play with them. So I just focused on hockey.

And right now in the summer I play a lot of golf. Right. I heard you're really good. Are you a better golfer than your agent? I was told to ask that question. Me, I will say yes. You will say no, but it's a good competition for sure. A couple of interesting things about you as well.

Listen, I know we're getting ahead of ourselves here, but when your name is brought up, when people say your name, now they're saying, watch him for first overall in the draft in 2027. I know Landon Dupon is an excellent player in the Western Hock, you get that. But when you read things like that and you see, like, you go to elite prospects or you go to various people commenting on you, and they say, this guy might go first overall.

What do you think? I think that I have to play one game in the QMGHL before. That's what I think. That's the night against Cape Redden. Yeah, it will be tonight, but I have to play a game, prove myself. It's very nice to hear that. I try to don't pay much attention to this and just focus on my game and do my best every day.

and after that it's very nice and it would just be a dream for me to be draft first overall maybe but just to be in the NHL it will be a dream drafted first overall in the Q draft what was that day like for you it was awesome it was awesome it was incredible I will remember this this day all my life was awesome what was so I mean obviously getting drafted first overall is is special but like take us through that day like what was that day like the whole day like for you uh the day of the draft yeah when you went first uh i was like just enjoying the day with my family uh think uh i i didn't sleep well night before so in the morning i was like very uh tired but just being with my family uh like do go to the restaurant having fun uh call my friend uh and all my most of my friend were at the draft

so just being with them and having fun and after My name was called, and I was just very happy to be a part of the St. John Seedogs. Favorite hockey player? Favorite NHL hockey player? Nathan McKinnon. Yeah. What is it about Nathan McKinnon? I mean, you're big like him. He's, like, so powerful.

He's powerful. He's like, what do you like about his game? Why Nathan McKinnon? I think he is the new, not the new, but he looks like the new St. Nick Rosby. Cindy Crosby was a two-way player. He is a two-way player. I want to be a two-way player. So that's what I'm looking at him.

And he's a Stanley Cup winner. So you cannot, like, have better than Nathan McKinnon to look up. You know, it's so interesting to watch Nathan McKinnon. Like when he gets a couple of steps and he starts going. Yeah, he's so fast. And guys, and he's so strong, guys just bounce off of him. it must be like the coolest feeling in the world and this is where I'll take it back to you

I mean you've always you know six you're six four I'm six four six four two hundred and five six two hundred five you saw some some growing here to do like what's that feeling like of kids trying to hit you and just bounce off of you like Nathan McKinnon like Nathan McKinnon

well like watch Nathan McKinnon play and guys try to hit him when he gets ahead of steam and they bounce off Nathan McKin you've had the same experience when guys try to hit you and they're like oh geez he's really strong maybe before but tonight tonight's going to be interesting are you going to go for it tonight

like get into the game early yeah I want to be physical speed and take control of the game that's my goal what do you still need to work on I mean your skill set is so advanced what do you think you need to work on still I need to work on my

defensive side that's for sure my speed as a 16 years old some guys are four years older than me so they're more fast maybe not more big than me but they're more fast so i have to work on this and just like getting adapt to the game uh favorite hockey team growing up montreal canadian okay so who do you have a favorite like favorite players from the montreal canadians any did you ever go to watch the montreal canadians yeah i do i do actually not not in the last few years kind of be kind of busy with your own hockey exactly so i watch it

on TV, like every game. Yep. Oh, wow. But I will say my favorite player from the Canadian right now is Slain Hudson. Maybe Dimidov next year. He looks so good. Like, I'm curious, like, what do you, like, as a player when you watch Demadov, because it's so spectacular, the feet, the hands, like, all of it.

Yeah. Like, from a hockey player's point of view, what do you see in Demadoff as a player? Like, what impresses you about him? I'm, I cannot say, like, how I am impressed at what he's doing. I didn't try to do what he's doing because he's so good at it. I just, it's, like, his move are so, like, smooth. So I can try and practice, but they're in games. Nobody in games do this, so just unbelievable.

Do you see the, when, like, he goes around the net and put it, like, and the guy just fall? That was awesome. It's the first time in my life, I see this. I see some ankle, like, break, but near this, the guy just, like, jump on the air. So, I mean, you mentioned Lane Hudson there, too. I mean, you think of Hudson, you think of the skating is just incredible. You know, the stories of all the Hudson boys and, you know, their father, you know,

taking the skate laces out and saying, all right, boys, you're going to skate without laces to help you improve your edge work and improve your ankle strength. Did you ever do anything like that? No, no, I didn't do this. You've never tried to skate without laces? No, I... Just to the Hudson's? No, but I like, not the last two...

Islets? Yeah. Don't attach them. Oh, really? Not right now, but before. Yeah. Just can, like, work on... Gives you a better ankle bend?

Yeah, exactly, yeah. Just work with my ankles more. Like, in practice, not in game, never in game. Yeah. But in practice, work on, like, ankle strain. Okay. what's going to go through your head tonight? So during the anthem,

and you're standing there. This is before your first game in the QMJHL. What will you be thinking of? Maybe who will you be thinking of? What's going to happen between your ears tonight? My family. I will think about my family, that's for sure. All the sacrifice that my parents do since I'm like three years old.

I started archaicry. So since 13 years. I'm going to think about this, and I'm going to think about what I have to do to have the best game I can have. I spoke to your mom and dad last night at dinner, and your mom was telling a great story about how, you know, at a certain point in your life, it was, you know, friends would come over, and if it wasn't going to be hockey, then they couldn't play with you. Because you play floor hockey, or you're playing all different versions of hockey. Like, it was just 24-7. Yeah. Do you remember that?

Yeah, mini hockey and EA sports were an HL were pretty high in my list. Yeah, they were. Okay, I think that's fantastic. Let me close with this. I'm going to kind of put you on the spot here. Yeah. But your mom told me that you have a hidden talent. What?

A hidden talent. I'm not as good in English to tell you what it is. She told us last night at dinner that you can juggle. Juggle. Is that true? I can, yeah. Do you think you can do it? Can you show it to us?

We stand up behind the chair? She said, if you ask him to juggle, he can juggle for you. You want me to juggle? Yep. Normal juggle. Do it however you want. Okay, it's kind of stressful. If I miss.

You got this. Look at that. Yeah, but it's not easy with the lights. I think you're doing great. You do one hand, too. You do one hand. Look at this. Yeah.

So if hockey doesn't work out, Maybe a career as a juggler. That's fantastic. Ah, it's really fantastic. It's really fantastic. That's all right. Congratulations. Thanks for putting up with us.

Thanks, so, this has been delightful. Thank you so much for this. Good luck tonight. Good luck to the rest of the season. It's been a pleasure. Thank you so much. It's been a pleasure. Thank you.

There he is, Alexi Joseph. How about that, Zach? We've never had anyone juggle here on the program before, but there it was. Alexi Joseph juggling. I want to thank the staff at the C-Dogs as well for rushing out to buy some Clementimes. This supporting. That was really cool.

And again, like, this is going to be exciting here at TD Station tonight. Not just watching the Seedogs and the home opener, but also watching Alexi Joseph, who is, as you could just see, so physically imposing and there's still growing to be done. Like, he's 16 years old, right? He's 16 years old, and he's 6 foot 4-205. and it's at this age where you start to see kids putting on muscle and putting on size really, really quickly. And when you think about, and I'm glad that he mentioned Nathan McKinnon,

when you think about big guys that can move their feet and you think about the nature of power forwards in the NHL right now, and again, tonight is game one, but you're probably looking at one of the future power forwards in the National Hockey League. in Alexei Joseph. Got a couple of moments left here in the program. I want to remind you as well that

the sheet is powered by Fanduel, home of the same game parlay. Make every moment more on Fandual. Fan Duel, proud to connect fans to the major sports moments that matter to them. I don't know if you have something planned for this segment.

Zach, you do? You got a microphone? Yeah. Okay, what do you got? By the way, how excited are you to meet the other Zach Phillips tonight here We had to dinner last night with Trevor Georgie, and he said, like,

Zach Phillips is going to be here tomorrow. Yeah, that's pretty cool. You get to meet, like, the legit Zach Phillips. All my life, you talked about it. My buddies used to make fun of me because, or like, bring it up because we had the same name, we wore the same number, and he was drastically better. Hang on, say it, he wore my number.

Yeah, I'm not saying that. I was about to say, last night, I was about to say, we wore the same number. And then I was like, I think I wore the same number. the same number as him rather than us just wearing that deliberately by the way yeah i was saying it i was like oh i got to stop saying that i'm not oh no no i didn't wear the same number yeah coincidence coincidence coincidence um and like when he got traded in the brent burns trade my buddies were all sending it to me and stuff so it will be pretty cool um but yes i do have a fanduel segment for us

all right so we'll be uh i i have something that i was thinking was interesting it just popped up on Fanduil and I didn't necessarily expect the odds to reflect this and I'm kind of curious what you think about it but it's the GM of the year market is up. Bill Zito's the favorite. I love this award. Yeah. I love this award. Boy, this is and by the way, I always, I'll always go out of my way to point out the one person who going back to the early 90s would always lobby for this award at managers meetings or would lobby Colin Campbell about it all the time was Brian Burke's. Now, it's the Jim Gregory. The Jim Gregory Award is the general manager of the year. I miss Jim Gregory. We all do. Like one of the most delightful people that the game has ever seen.

And this award is rightly named. The Jim Gregory Award. But if it wasn't Jim Gregory, it probably should be the Brian Burke because he was a sort of conceptual genius behind the idea of a general manager of the year award. look man this one's dominated by jim nil right now he's not in the top five according to fando i don't have a monitor in front of me what do you got what he got for top five bill zito is going to be there for sure yeah tulski two ericelsky yeah okay kelly mccrimmon three yeah stan bowman four yeah chris mcfarland five and then i believe jim nil was in a tie for six what about kent hughes

So there were three that I thought should have been the leaders. Okay. McCriman. Yep. Hughes. Yep. And then I thought, Nill, would have been in the top three. Kind of, like, just dragging from what he did last year, more so than what happened in the summer.

So this one's voted out by general managers and a select few media members as well. But by and large, this is general managers voting for the, their, for their colleagues. What about Bill Zito? Yeah. I mean, I guess you could use his team. I know there's still a little bit of Dale Tallon there with, you know, players like Alexander Barkoff, but what about Zito?

Okay. So you tell me if this is a stupid thought of why I was like, no. Oh, I'm an expert at stupid thoughts. Well, he brought back the same team, which I guess there's. and art to being able to bring them back? Oh, I mean, for this season. For this season? Yeah, yeah.

Because I'm talking about this upcoming year of who would win it. I don't know. Let's see, man. If all of a sudden, like, Sylvain Lafave can turn Jeff Petrie into another Oliver Reckham and Larson, Brandon Montour or whatever, like that guy on that staff, I don't know. They seem, Lafave seems to have the magic hand for rejuvenating defenseman's careers. Well, the stupid thought was, I thought there was an art to the fact that he brought them all back and was able to fit everybody. Yeah.

But I thought that Marchand's comments, I think it was two days ago, was the one that would have put in like a bullet through that and ended that narrative because he's like, yeah, the state tax helped us all come back. If it wasn't for that, we wouldn't all be here. Wait a minute. I was told that it had nothing to do with it. No, I was told it didn't happen. Players don't care about what's in their genes.

But you know what I mean? I was like, oh, yeah, he brought them all back. He found a way. Like, that in itself is amazing. But at the same time, like, that's fine. but I still remember the days where the Florida Panthers were anything but a competitive team. And those tax advantages were still there. I'm not saying that it's not a factor.

It is a factor. And when you're winning and the bonus fries are that you don't have to pay the state tax, like people in New York, Pennsylvania, et cetera, it very much is a factor. I'll be curious to see about Kent Hughes. I really, I think we all do like really like what he's done with this much. Montreal Canadiens organization. What do the HABs have to do, though, for him to get that? Well, one, they've got to get into the playoffs. Is there anything they have to do beyond that, that does it?

And when is this award voted? I think they have to go, I think they go into the, if they go into the playoffs as a seed and not a wild card. Yeah, I think that's fair. I think that's appropriate, yeah. And then, if that happens, do we talk about Marty St. Louis for coach of the year? Like, to me, like, the ascension of the Montreal Canadiens this year, it winks at two awards. it winks at the GM and it wings to the coach. And then if that happens, do we talk about San Montembo-Vezna?

And then do we talk about Demodagh for the Calder? We're just handing, Montreal hasn't played a game. We're all bought in on the Montreal Canadiens. Because why not, man, they look fantastic. And by the way, I want to point out on something. Did you see that interview Enfranc that Nick Suzuki did? Yes. You know what?

Someone pointed out something to me really interesting. Hey, let me grab it. So a Quebecois friend of mine, I sent her the interview and she sent back, she sent back Nick Singh, LNH instead of NH is a small detail that means a lot to Francophones. And then adds, if Nick ever uses a classic French swear word, we all know what it is, he will reach St. Hood level for francophones. Yeah, I'm familiar with the French swear words. My coach in midget hockey, Dan Dao. Dan Dao. Oh, we. Play Montreal in Toronto.

Yeah, he used to stand behind the bench and would get down off the bench and pace back and forth at the Markham Village there so you could kind of like hide. And he would swear thinking that because he was hidden behind the players, he couldn't hear him, but he would just yell the most known French swear word really loud. Oh, yeah. All right, Nick Suzuki, that's your next challenge. to reach sainthood in quebec you got to drop one the next time you do a uh a french base interview but i thought that was such a wonderful touch and yeah suzuki's a smart guy who comes

from a very educated and brilliant family so no surprise there um okay listen thanks so much for joining us here today from td station in lovely st john new brunswick uh the qmj hl season opened up yesterday uh with newfoundland where the play by play voice's mom won the 50 50 30 37000 smackers What a great story to kick off the season here in the queue. Tonight, the St. John Seedogs face off against the Cape Bret and Eagles. Very much looking forward to that and looking very much forward to seeing Alexi Joseph. Thanks to the entire staff here at the Seedogs for always being so accommodating. And that starts right at the top with the owner Scott McCain, through the team president, Trevor Georgie, and all the way down.

So thanks to everybody here with the Seedogs. Thanks to Alexi Joseph for stopping by. And thanks to Trevor Georgie for hopping by the program as well. and providing some catnip the trades that never happened in St. John Seedog's history. Thanks so much for joining us. We are back on Monday. I'm told our tech issues are a thing of the past, are a rear-view mirror. Doing the eyeballs emoji thing.

Have a great weekend. Enjoy the junior hockey now that it's in full swing. And we'll talk to you again on Monday here on the show. every day this week every day this month I can't get out my head lost all ambitions day to day because you can call it all right I went to the dark man

and tried to give me a little medicine I'm like now and that's fine I'm not against those methods but new it's me and myself and how this is going to be fixing my mind to all the bad. I turned on the music I do want to back

I turn on the music that you stand up there I don't get you sometimes losing I have been on the days that we're wrong