The Sheet with Jeff Marek - SCF Game 2, Bettman Speaks, and Cooper Finally Wins a Jack Adams ft. Greg Wyshynski & Jonny Lazarus

Episode Date: June 4, 2026

Jeff Marek and Greg Wyshynski are back for another edition of MVSW as the hockey world converges on two of the biggest events of the NHL calendar. Jeff checks in live from Just Dishin Headquarters in Buffalo ahead of the NHL Draft Combine while Greg joins from Raleigh, North Carolina, as the Carolina Hurricanes prepare for a pivotal Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights.The guys break down everything surrounding the NHL Draft Combine, what teams are looking for this week, the biggest storylines heading into the draft season, and what executives around the league are discussing behind the scenes. They also react to the latest NHL Awards announcements, including Jon Cooper finally capturing the Jack Adams Award as NHL Coach of the Year, and discuss the significance of some of this year's biggest award winners.Later, Jonny Lazarus joins the show to preview Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, examine how Vegas grabbed control of the series in Game 1, and discuss what Rod Brind'Amour's Hurricanes need to change before heading to Las Vegas. Can Carolina find a way to split the first two games at home, or are the Golden Knights already taking control of the Stanley Cup Final?Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for daily NHL coverage, breaking news, playoff analysis, trade rumors, draft coverage, and more from The Sheet with Jeff Marek.#TheSheet #JeffMarek #NHL #StanleyCupFinal #VegasGoldenKnights #CarolinaHurricanes #JonnyLazarus #GregWyshynski #NHLDraft #NHLDraftCombine #HockeySHOUTOUT TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼 Canadian Blood Services: https://www.blood.ca/👍🏼 Ninja: https://www.sharkninja.ca/ninja-crispi-pro-6-in-1-countertop-glass-air-fryer-rose-quartz/AS101CRS.html?utm_source=Meta&utm_medium=Paid+Social&utm_campaign=H1NinjaCrispi&utm_content=NinjaEN&dwvar_AS101CRS_color=cdb9b8Reach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@FNBarnBurner🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoffReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Okay, here we go. Welcome once again to the sheet for this Thursday, June the 4th, Greg Wyshinsky. I am for the second day in a row at Just Dishin, which as I was mentioning yesterday, is one of the coolest places in the hockey universe. It's a hockey lifestyle company. They do skate wraps. They do hats. You've probably seen the chaos gear. They do a lunch, a lot of collabs with teams, with players, leagues, you name it. Cool place to be more on them. And you see all the Nike. skates in the background behind me right now. They've done stick. They do stick wraps too.

It's like it's a, you know what? It's a cool time to be this company because they get to do a lot of really cool stuff. Anyhow, how are you today, Greg Wyshinsky? It's been an eventful 48 hours since we last spoke. I am definitely a little hungover.

Last night was the NHL media party. And that is always a time when everybody drinks on Gary's dime. and it was at an outdoor sort of brew pub which actually this place has a plaque on the wall that says they have the Guinness World Record

for the most available beer taps in one establishment or some such so kudos to them but this place was pretty dope because in the back of the place and it was quite a nice night in Raleigh last night they had games they had cornhole Really?

More importantly, they had 18 holes of miniature golf that I partook in while I was walking around with a Moscow mule in my hand, myself and my friend Ryan Kennedy of the hockey news played 18. Nice. Didn't shoot well, but also in a sign of maturity, didn't throw my club and yell at everybody for not shooting well in miniature. No way. So this is new for you then. This is a more wise intimate. mature Greg Wischinski that we're seeing now, not overreacting to losses in things like mini-put. Congratulations. There's one hole that you often see on miniature golf courses. It's almost like the top of the hole is, it's on top of an ant-hill, basically. It's just a, think of an ant-hill, the hole is on top of it.

And there was one time in my life when I could not get the ball in the hole so badly to the point where I threw a tantrum and my wife, Ruby, just declared she would never play miniature golf with me again because of how I was acting. So there was a hole like that last night. I handled it like a mature pro. I'm sure the mouse gum, you'll have something to do with that. I was going to say, who put on the lampshade last night? We're going to get to the show here, but last question. Who was the one man conga line? Who put on the lampshade? I don't think anybody did. I don't think anybody did. That means it was you. That means it was...

No, no, no, no, no. I was back in my room tucked in after eating cookout at two in the morning. Oh, boy. But what's cool is, though, like, the way that the playoffs sync up, it just becomes like an NBA finals watch party by the end of the night. Like, we were all sitting around watching Wemba Nama against the Knicks. And doing impressions of... Okay, we were all doing impressions of what Ray Ferraro would sound like

if he was covering the NBA final. Victor Wembenyama. That's fantastic. All right, enough of this. Let's get right to the show because we've got a lot to get to today. The blueprint is powered by Fandul. Download the app today and play your game on Fandle. Coming up on the program, you've already heard from them,

the slightly hungover discussed amongst yourselves. Greg Wischinski from ESPN and ESPN.com. Johnny Lazarus from Morning Cup of Hockey. We'll stop by as well. Game two tonight. We'll go over Gary Bettman, Bill Daley, in the press conference from a couple of days ago. Get Greg's thoughts on that. We'll talk about John Cooper, winning the Jack Adams,

maybe even get into Zachorenski, winning the Norris. And I got some things about the Combine coming up here in a couple of seconds. In the mean time, this segment is a presentation of Canadian blood services who invite you to experience what giving feels like, hey, man, I do it every three months. I love it. In a world that can feel isolating and divided, blood and plasma donation offers something rare and fulfilling, real connection, real purpose, and real impact. Every summer, people across Canada get swept up in the excitement of the season,

and donation routines can slip, but they don't need to. This is a moment to rally together as a nation for new donors to experience firsthand what you get when you give. At a moment when Canadians are looking for positive ways to show up for each other, Canadian Blood Services is issuing an invitation to new donors fill every donation share in the country this summer. You can book it blood.ca through the give blood app. That's what I do.

Or call 1-3-8-8-2-donate. That is 1-8-8-8-8-9-9-9-9-2 donate to do what I do, Greg Wyshki, every three months, because that's as much as I'm allowed to do and donate blood. It's not just sharing a positive experience with others. It's sharing an O-positive experience with others, Jeff. Oh, geez. Can you believe it? For me, it's an A-positive experience.

I don't know if you know what your blood type is. I actually don't know my blood type. It's always one of those things where every six months it occurs me, I don't know my blood type. I'm like, I'm going to learn it. And then I never figure out. A positive. Who knows what will happen. Yeah.

I'll take a pint. Who cares? So a couple of things. So was that, was that Harbor this morning and talked to a couple of people and talked to a couple of managers? as well. And something, like, I'm always interested in. We'll get to the Cains in a second in the Vegas Golden Knights, but I'm always interested in what the teams are asking the players.

Like last year, one of the interesting ones was one team, actually this might have been St. Louis. I'm not sure. One team had a picture, okay? And it was a picture of a kid sitting in a chair on a farm property. And they asked the players to give us the backstory of how that person came to sit on that chair in front of the farm. Wow. I'm not a psychological evaluator.

I have no idea what that means or what it does. But that was one of the weirder ones that I saw last year. This year, one of the questions from one of the teams, and we went over this with Berkey yesterday, different things that you asked players. Here was the question. Would you rather have a four-year career where you win a Stanley Cup or a 10-year career but no Stanley Cup? Wow. To a prospect.

Wow. How would you answer that, you? Well, so first of all, so if I was a prospect who's been coached on this or if I was coaching a prospect, all the teams want to hear is whatever to win the Stanley Cup, choose that answer. Because in this case, it's like, are you playing to win the Stanley Cup, even if it's only for four years, or are you playing hockey just to play? Which would account for playing 10 years, but no Stanley Cup. At the end of the day, all teams want to know is, will you do anything to win?

Like, I'll tell you what. You know, again, they don't ask, I want to preface it, I have not heard this question asked forever. But one of the questions that teams used to ask, or at least a couple of teams used to ask every year, prospects and again this is going back probably like 20 years if there was a pill that you could take that would make you win the Stanley Cup but it would shave 10 years off your life would you take it what a psycho question to ask a kid I remember here that I've got to be kidding you've got no I have not heard that one asked forever let me preface this haven't heard that one asked forever but

once upon a time there was the, would you take a pill that would help you win the Stanley Cup, but it would take 10 years off your life. Yep. And all the Russians were like, they gave us this pill already. I don't understand the question. They give us this pill before Russian National Team Camp. Then we went to the Black Sea for training and no one could lift up our sticks.

Let me, let me, the question you've posed is an interesting one because I do wonder if I was a GM, And the prospect that I've asked that 10 years without a cup, four years with a cup question, said, I would want to play 10 years because it's important to me to be able to support my family, given all that they do for me. Like if there was an answer like that, a real Jacob's slave and ass answer coming back my way, like, how would I react to that? Because it's not someone saying the cup is the most important. thing in my life. It's someone saying, I have the values

that you may be seeking from a prospect in that I will do whatever I can to help those that I love. What would you do? If you were on the other side of the table and heard that, what would you say? That's not an option. Take your choice. Ten year career

with no Stanley Cup or four year career with the Stanley Cup. What's it going to be, kid? What's most important to you? I I would say, I mean, ultimately you're going to say the cup because the cup's the most important. You are. But then again.

Because that's what you're coached to say. You're coached by your agent to say anything about the cup. The cup, the cup, the cup, the cup. I'm just saying I think there's an avenue where you could say 10 years without a cup and still come off as being someone that you want to draft is my thought of it. See, I would go back and say so you're saying that generational wealth is more important than a Stanley Cup, sir. Is that what we're getting at you? For my family, for the children that I've been.

bring into this world. Not for me. I'm not thinking about how much I want to have a Maserati instead of winning a Stanley Cup. You're asking a 17-year-old, this question. They're not going to talk about their family and they're, like, you're answering this like you're 30. This is a 17-year-old

where you want their focus They're not even thinking about a family. You're thinking about winning the Stanley Cup and that's it. That reminds me. So one of the storylines of the hurricanes in this playoff is the fact that three different players have welcomed children into the world. Sean Walker,

Keandre Miller, and Gellan Chaffield most recently. So I said to, I said to Seth Jarvis today, who is, of course, Sons children. I said to him, I said,

so have you, has anyone asked you to play Nanny yet? Jarvis looks at me and goes, no one would ever ask me to take care of their chocolates. I'm like, there you go. That's a perfect. A perfect dancer for a young man in his 20s.

That's definitely what he knows himself. There is, here's an interesting one. I kind of like this one. First of all, like the interviews have really changed with kids. Like the teams are much more thoughtful about how they go about talking to kids now. One of the teams is doing something interesting to help evaluate focus on a player. They're getting them to stack golf balls. stack golf balls on top of each other.

Now, if you ever try to stack golf balls, you know, it's really, really hard. But you can't do it. It just takes a long time. And the thought process, I think it's Nashville, it's doing this. The thought process behind it is, how long can you stay singularly focused on one task until it's actually completed?

Because I'm sure there are a few that are like, yeah, I can't do it. And then there are some other ones that are just like, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not leaving until I get this golf ball on top of the other golf ball. So that was an interesting one. That was my anthropology for the day. That's good.

Have there been any names that you've come across being at the combine as far as like the upcoming trade market that perked your ears up, Jeff Merritt? I asked one general manager today because we do this every year. I said, look, we do this every year. But in the sense that you're getting, is it going to be? a trade-filled draft. And he said, no. Oh, come on. But we just had all this speculation.

Other trade boys literally have the second overall pick in play. I get that. But, Greg, this is every year. And we always do this. And every year we say, I know we said this last year, but we really mean it this year, that there's going to be trades. And what San Jose going to do with number two?

actually there was one general manager I talked to today they're just like not like beside himself but just kind of like how much more luck can San Jose have holy smokes I'm like oh yeah no kidding no but he said like look we we go and we make our picks

and he said he didn't didn't expect that much that much trade but again it doesn't feel that way it doesn't feel that way at all that's you know that's a really good point like I there's been so much smoke around like teams trading away out of

trading out of the lottery for example to try to bolster their rosters whether it's San Jose or Chicago but I mean I can't fathom those teams not making their picks like I understand the value of a draft pick and

why the ability for a team to select their own player at a certain spot could be what builds in the inherent value in a pick but to me it's like there's to me there's so much more value in an actual player that's in a development process that you can understand whether or not

they're going to be a pro or not and becomes a blue chip prospect. There's so much more value in that than there is in the nebulous concept of a draft pick, in my opinion. The other thing is, too, I think the teams, because again, this is hockey, so it's very, very conservative,

and things move very slowly and it's not a very aggressive league. I think a lot of managers are scared to be the guy that trades a high first-round draft pick and he turns into an absolute superstar. And then that general manager gets tagged with, oh, that was the guy that traded Stenberg, who's now the NHL's leading score,

or the traded Carson Carl. Tom Kerrvers for a pick that eventually became Scott Niedermeyer, that kind of thing? You know, I'll tell you, that would have worked out fine if some team didn't draft Pat Falloon and then took Scott Niedermeyer instead, as many thought that he would.

Then the deal would have been for Pat Falloon. and not Scott Niedermeyer, but I digress on that. Interesting history on that one. Anyhow, you have a thought on the golf ball stacking? I thought that was neat. I thought you'd really enjoy that one. I'm like, oh, man, Greg's going to love hearing about this one. No, I've come a long way in the combine.

Stack golf balls. I've literally been dwelling on the child in the chair on the farm question because all I could think of is that if I was, if I was an NHL prospect and someone was like, here's a child in a chair on a farm, tell me how he got there. those guys would be in for basically the aristocrats like the most incredible tale of a child in a chair that you've ever heard and either this team is like either this team is like

we're drafted this sick F or we're never talking to this kid again but boy would I give them a show quick couple of things here we'll get more into with Johnny Lazarus coming over the bottom of the hour but quick couple of thoughts here on what we saw in game one and what you anticipate in game two and how much, just bluntly, how much of an issue are the goaltenders right now? Because both were pretty bad. Well, I wrote about that today, Jeff Merrick, on ESPN.com.

I asked Rod Brindamore, do sir, you have confidence in Freddie Anderson, despite the fact that he had like a 950 save percentage in the first two rounds to playoffs and a save percentage that has plummeted all the way down to the 800s in the subsequent six games that he's played. And he said, no, we're very confident in Freddie. But he did say, you know, in the past, we might have been concerned about fatigue. He believes the brevity of the series that they've played means that they should not be too concerned about Freddie Anderson's fatigue. But he said if Freddie needs a break, he knows himself and he'll tell us. I think if the Carolina Hurricanes lose tonight, then we're going to see Brandon Bussie in game three.

I agree with that. I agree with that. I agree with that. The other part about that, and I can't believe that Rod Brindamor said that with a straight face. I don't know many, if any, players who are saying during the Stanley Cup final, I need a break. This is what they dream about their whole lives. You know what? I'm a little tired.

I'm going to take a pass. This is not like February 4th. This is the Stanley Cup final. I can't say, oh, Freddie will tell us if he's fatigued. No, he won't. He will not tell you. Performance will tell you if he's fatigued or not. But he ain't going to come up until I need to break.

All concerned about a goaltender who has played one over the minimum number of games you can possibly play in the playoffs. Like, I don't know what to tell you. But look, I thought he was fine in game one. I thought his defense let him down. I thought Carter Hart was a sieve except for like the last 10 minutes of the game. And that was what Tortorella said today. and it was a very knowing comment by torts. When asked about Carter Hart's performance in game one,

he said he made some key saves at key times, and that's all he said, because he knows. He knows that Carter Hart allowed the hurricanes to hang in that game longer than they probably should have based on how well the Golden Knights were playing. But when needed, he did stop that Seth Jarvis shot in the third period.

He did everything they needed him to do when the goalie was pulled and didn't lose him the game, which is all you can ask for for a goaltender, as we've said, many times in these playoffs. I've kind of always admired. I remember talking to John Totorella about this when he was coaching the Tampa Bay Lightning,

and I was doing Leafs Lunch with the Waters. Because he had gone after Nikolai Habie Bullen, the Tampa Bay Lightning. And I remember asking him, I said, something along the lines of, pretty surprised,

hear you speak that way about your goaltender. Generally, coaches don't go after their goalies. And like right away, he's like, is the goalie not part of the team? I criticize defensemen. I criticize wingers. I criticize centers. Why should it feel any different about goaltenders? Now, the real answer to that is, well, because your job security is linked to how well

your goaltender plays. Find me the coach that has been fired while as goaltenders on fire. a clue it doesn't happen. But I always found that refreshing and consistent with John. Like he will treat goalies like he pretty much treats everybody, everybody else. And he'll support them when he thinks they need it, see the world's best non-goly pull in Columbus versus Tampa and the sweep with Tampa Bay Lightning. I just always found that refreshing about torts. It is refreshing because most times head coaches treat their goaltenders like, you know, they're playing a different.

sport and it's like oh i don't really talk to them i rely on my golden to coach to figure out the ins and out to this weird animal on our team uh so when you do get a coach to be candid about it uh it's pretty refreshing so here's here's the vibe on the ground here in raleigh for game go for it every writer who covers the vegas golden nights believe this is going to be a sweep and everybody else is like well let's let's see what carolina comes back with tonight i mean They clearly were rattled. They clearly didn't have never faced a team like this yet in the playoffs and made a number of really bad decisions and bad mistakes

that were uncharacteristic of the previous three rounds. And so we're going to find out tonight, you know, whether or not that was nerves, whether or not that was being unprepared for what the Golden Knights throw at you or whether or not they're just outmatched in this series. I tend to believe they aren't, and I really like the way they fought back and gave one. I still think we're going to have a long series. standing by Keynes and six because that was my pick. But that being said, if they lose this game, the series is over.

Let's be honest. I think, again, we're all on the same page. This does feel very much like must win. That game one was just so much fun to watch. Like you and I have been, I think, pretty consistent on this point, going back to the OG days of MBSW. Hockey's best one, it's not. Right?

Like when hockey's not good, it's awesome. It's so great. And that's what we saw in game one. We saw a team go up 2-0, and then it was 2-2, and then it was 3-3, and then it was 4-4. And then with three minutes left, Tomas Hurtle scores, and it's 5-4, and that's it. Like, we just saw a great hockey game, but find me any coach that's going to say that was a great hockey game. But, man, was that ever fun.

It was. It was. Hockey's best one. Hockey's best one, it's not. And there's a chance that this game could be a little bit more locked down and less offensive. But I said coming to this series, like, I know there's a lot of people that were sort of like, what are we going to? Why are we watching this final?

Like Carolina plays really boring games because they don't allow anything for the other team. Well, when they meet their match, you know, when they meet a team that tries to do the same thing, those two things can't each other out. And you get, you get offense. You get excitement. And I was trying to preach to the non-converted about how this series was going to be fun. Because I was telling people, like, the hurricanes are fun, man. They've got great offensive players now on this team.

Like Eilers late in the lamp twice in game one. Like he's a new addition to the old boring hurricane. that we all got sick of. And so that first game was really entertaining. Stankovin. Stankovin, yeah. But here's the thing. So Carolina has two basic problems right now

as they head into tonight's game. The first is their depth is matched by Vegas's depth and they might not be able to be better than Vegas from a depth perspective. Like when you look at game one, Merrick and it's hurdle making the big play at the end. That's a guy on their third line. And due respect to the hurricanes, their third line's great. It's stall in theilers, but there's so many different.

There's so many guys on Vegas who can make a play. It's astonishing, actually, how many of those guys they have. The second problem is that three guys that can make a play for the Carolina Hurricanes have not played a, have not been good for more than maybe three shifts in any game of these playoffs. Like Ajo Svetnikov-Jarvis, for them to be as mediocre and ordinary as they've been throughout this playoff run and have the Hurricanes still make the Stanley Cup final is a testament to the depth that they have. But it is now, we're in crisis mode right now with this line. Like, it is unbelievable because now it's gotten to the point, Merrick,

where it's not just that they're not producing on the scoreboard. Now it's, they don't even get one and duns when they come into the zone. Like, if you watch game one, the amount of times that they're bringing the pocket of the zone and then immediately turning back the other way to defend, we're legion. And that cannot happen with that line. If they don't get their act in order, if they don't get their ass in gear,

this is going to be a quick series. It feels like they have one more game before it gets split up. It feels like they have tonight, and maybe even we see it during the game tonight, like halfway. And again, like, I know what you're going to say, well, how do you do it? Because it's the other lines that are carrying it. It's almost like the first line has become,

the land of misfit toys. Where normally that's your fourth line. But it's flip because all the other three lines, you don't want to touch. So I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth here. On the one side, I'm like, okay, yeah, you know what? This isn't working. You've got to change it up. You got to switch it out.

You got to change. But you're just harming all the other lines that are actually getting stuff done if you change, if you swap out that first line. I think there's one move they can make. And again, you run the risk of hurting the best line in the playoffs by doing that, which is moving Jarvis down to the haul line and moving Blake. up to the top line. And again, now you're messing with success. What do you mean? No.

You can't touch that line. I can't touch again, but what are you going to do? You can't touch that line. William Carrier up? Like you've got to do something here to spark this line. Jordan Martinuk, save that top line. Come on, baby. That's the problem right now. And by the way, if we're being honest, it's Jarvis. Like Jarvis has been absolutely atrocious in these playoffs. And I love the the kid. And I think he's great. And there's nobody I like in that locker room to talk to more than Seth Jarvis. But I mean, let's just be honest. Like he has been a complete non-factor in these playoffs for the Carolina Hurricanes. And I think a direct reason why that top line is

malfunctioning. Okay. More with Johnny Lazarus on this one coming up here at the bottom of the hour. That's a couple of minutes away. I want to get your thoughts on the Gary Betman Betman Bill Daly Press conference talks about succession plan, all-star reformat. the Russian issue expansion playoff formats flames building and nothing about time zones in Alberta that was a time zones yeah that's a topic every time they change the all-star format

I love it like on paper it always looks great and then we watch it and we're like that could have been better I think this time it's intriguing just because you and I are obviously old enough to remember the North America versus the world all-star game format. That was always kind of a blast, I felt. And I think that we're in such a mode

where any form of international competition between the countries that encompass the NHL is such an easy sell that this was the obvious choice to make, and we'll see how it goes. I love the fact the skills competition is going to focus on younger players because they're the ones that actually give a shit

about the skills competition, I suppose to having a 39-year-old Eric Carlson slinging pucks at a tiny net. And so, like, on paper, all the changes are great. But let's talk about the Russian issue because it's still an issue. Like, I'm all due respect to our friends at the double IHF who are bending to the will of Russia, who are telling the NHL apparently when Bill Daly calls them that it won't be an issue for Finland and Sweden and Chechia if Russia is involved in these things. I don't believe it.

I don't know. I don't know about that one. Oh, I cannot buy that. Nothing, hang on. Nothing has changed, including those other countries' position on the issue. Nothing has changed whatsoever, no matter how much they want to gloss over it. Those feelings are deep. No way. I think they run the risk of, like, you know, David Pasternak being like, I don't want to share an international team with a Russian player. They do run the risk of that. But I kind of believe they'll be all right for the All-Star game

because they're going to kind of make it Team World, I guess. Team World, yes, correct. And if you don't have like Russian representation on Team World, you could probably fudge it and get away with it. But the idea that the double IHF bending a little bit on the Russia policy, the NHL has, I asked Betman this. Like you've explicitly said that you're following the lead of the international governing bodies on this.

Like if they bend to the will of Russia, then logically so should you. that being said, the reason we had the four nations face off is because Sweden and Finland refused to play in a World Cup with Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. And as Merrick said, they're still invading Ukraine. It hasn't changed. Again, nothing has changed on the ground in the boardroom, on the hockey rink. Nothing has changed except the double IHF saying, eh, maybe. Yeah.

So we'll see on that score. They struck a much more. optimistic tone about the Russia issue that I think is warranted because I think they're still in a pickle. Yeah, I don't disagree. Okay, let's get back to Carolina in Vegas here. Johnny Lazarus from Morning Cup of Hockey is a board to talk to us about, let me describe this. To talk about the series, first of all, you're looking, you're looking very tanned. I know.

It's like lighting in my room. It's a lighting in my room. I'm trying to figure that out, actually. There you go. Is that better? It's a little better. It's a little better. Your audio.

I'm like Adam Sandler and click. How's it going, buddy? How's life there? You hear me okay? I'm happy that we're going back to Keynes and Vegas. I'm not really one to speak on Russia and Ukraine and all that stuff. So I was praying that you weren't going to bring me in for that conversation. Well, you know, we brought in Johnny Lazarus to talk about.

So here to talk about the Strait of Hormuz is Johnny Lazarus and U.S. foreign policy expert. We all know that you've been. angling to get Putin on morning cup of hockey. Tell me about those shirtless horse pictures. We all know that that's the end game here. So I'm not going to put you in that kind of spot. Well, Greg, as you know, my cousin Jason is a huge fan of the two of you. And he'd be the perfect person to talk about this actually.

So he's probably listening to this later on today. And he's going to be thinking before we're talking right now, oh my God, is Johnny about to talk about Russia? So Jason, you can calm down. This is not going to happen. Okay, let's talk about Seth Jarvis. that top line with the Carolina Hurricanes. Now, Greg and I kind of talked ourselves into our corner here whereby,

yeah, you know what, it's probably time to do something with that line. But how do you do something with that line when all the other lines really should not be touched whatsoever? Are you just kind of stuck with this line right now and you hope that they figure it out? Yeah, I think after this game, you're going to have to do something, right? If it doesn't work in game two, your backs against the wall go back down to nothing. Like you don't really have a choice. Oh, no, Zach is showing that. I didn't make my bed.

But the three shots better, Zach. Go back to the three shots. But I do think if you're going to make one switch, if you're going to make one switch, you know, I know Greg said, who just, you wanted to swap Jarvis with Blake? Is that what you said, Greg? Jack, with Jackson Blake, yeah.

It's the only movie you could probably make. I think Eelers for Svetnikov actually makes sense, too. Like, Nikolai Eilers, you know, obviously he's done well on that line so far, and he's shown he can score, in a death position. But Svetnikov right now hasn't really done much. Like, he hasn't had the puck at all.

I would argue that he's been a little bit more invisible than Jarvis. Jarvis has at least had chances and has had the puck. Svetnikov, I didn't notice really at all on game one. Jarvis at least, you know, he had one shot that was stopped in the glove of heart. I think he had a couple opportunities where he passed up some shots on the slot and looked to make the extra pass. But Svetnikov, he can actually, Svecchnikov can play a third line role effectively. So I don't mind.

Yeah, he can. He's physical. He can't. He's physical. If you just go and bounce, bounce bodies, Festikov can do that. I agree with Johnny on that one. So I think, like, you can make that swap,

but it's not that big of a difference. I just think that to Merrick's point, like, if you tinker with either your second or your third line, like those are the two things that are going well for you right now. And there's a chance that you could pull apart one of those lines and all of a sudden you've completely screwed up your team. It's like when you're trying to solve a Rubik's cube when you managed to turn it the wrong way once

and then everything else is screwed up. It's like that kind of deal with these line combinations. So we were talking about before how all the Vegas writers believe this is going to be a sweep and all the other writers are kind of like, well, let's see how tonight goes. Where are you right now on Carolina, Vegas? Was game one proof of concept enough that Vegas is going to just roll over them in the series? No, I actually think it's beyond unpredictable.

So I think tonight, actually, my gut told me Vegas wins tonight and it's going to be two nothing. but I don't see this as Vegas wins series over. I think Carolina can easily go into Vegas and win both games. This could be one of those series where the road team wins every game up to game five, and then we see that pivotal game five. Who knows what happens there. You know, those things do happen.

You got to remember both teams have been so good on the road as well. Vegas is 702 on the road in the playoffs. Carolina is 6 and 0. They haven't lost the game on the road in the playoffs. So I don't think Carolina went into Vegas is like this whole, they can't win there. And John Tortorella said it the other day, like, whole mice doesn't matter in the playoffs.

It's not what it used to be. Yeah. You know, it's, um, historically there's been only one. Greg, you may know of another one here. It was Adirondack and St. John's, the American Hockey League, Calder Cup final where every road team won, every single game. I don't think that's ever happened before, at least not the NHL level, but at the American hockey league, but that's like the only freak that I could see.

But to Johnny's point, it makes sense that that could happen here between Carolina and Vegas. This could be Adirondack St. John's all over again. Well, so I have to go back. The Dallas-Vegas series in 2024, I believe Dallas dropped both games at home, and then they won both games on the road. Wyatt Johnson, I think, had an O.T. winner. And I believe Dallas ended up winning that series in seven on home ice,

but the road team won every game up until game seven. If my memory serves correct, I believe that's how that series went. down. So I need someone to fact check me on that, maybe in the chat, but I do think 2024 Dallas and Vegas, the road team won every game between one and six, and then Dallas took it in seven on home ice, I think. Almost positive. Do we think that Mitch Martyr intended to block that shot at the end of the game or he was leaping out of the world? 1,000%. No, a thousand percent. He was tied up. It was a good pick by Carolina. He actually

fought through the pick. John Tororello was pissed that the face off. went that way because he felt the forwards were holding up Marner. So the fact that Marner was able to dive through and get it, I mean, I don't know why the jump necessarily. But when you see it from that, when you see it from that first angle, he saves a goal. Like that looks like it's going in. Yeah.

Well, the jump is obvious. He's trying to, he's trying to create a template for someone to build the statue of him outside of the Vegas arena. I know, hang on. China, let me. put this way, if he didn't jump, I would have said, yes, deliberate. But does it not look like that's a screen move? The jump looks like he's trying out of the way.

Get out of the way or like instinctively, it's like, again, like it's on his own goaltender, so it's a mistake. But like it looks like a screen move to me, doesn't it? Well, it also is in slow-mo. Like, you do got to go back and look at like how the play developed because he was tied up and I'm forgetting who the forward was for Carolina, so maybe he's just trying to, like, maneuver outside of that pick. In slow mode definitely looks like he's jumping to avoid it,

but I don't see it that way. Mitch Martin, he's done this before, right? He had a massive block a couple years ago against Boston for the Leafs, right, where he saved a game, you know, on the dying seconds. Like, this is something he does. It's a part of his game. Yeah, exactly. Assist, huge block.

Con Smyth. Let's go, honestly. Who's your Konsmithe guy right now? We're going to do this every single game, by the way. Who's your Kahn Smyth guy right now? two-day. It's got to be Mitch. I mean, going in, it was Taylor Hall.

But obviously, you know, Mitch having a pretty big assist to give Vegas the lead, that block, you know, he's leading the playoffs and points. He's done it consistently throughout all three rounds. Like, how could you not go with him? What do you think, like, you're a consummate trophy guy, your trophy watch guy? I have a vote. I have a vote. Mitch for the Golden Knights and Taylor for the Hurricanes.

I think that's probably where I am on it right now. although again as i was saying to somebody this morning for all of the toxic assets that the vegas golden nights have on their roster give me give me three more games of thomas hurdle game winning goals and i'll happily crowned that delightful bunged of joy with a consmite trophy

how funny was that post game the other night also i i do want to just say i stand corrected zach and for me it was uh road teams won all four games then home home home uh in that Vegas tells. So I was wrong. But the first four games, that could happen here. But it was a good story, and you told it with gusto. Speaking of press conferences, my favorite

my favorite moment of today, by the way, was there was a Carolina reporter who noticed that Rod Brindamore was wearing a wolf pack hat from NC State. And he's like, just wanted to ask you, you know, like, what was the meaning behind wearing that hat today?

Yeah. And Brindamore takes off the hat and he looks at it, And he puts it back on. He said he goes, I don't know, he was in my car. So good. So good. He said, I like, he said, I like the colors. He's not, he's not quite the superstitious guy, I think.

No, he's, I know what the one story I haven't been able to crack here, Johnny. He apparently is a real big post game, I'm sorry, pregame speech guy. and it's and I talked to some of the players and they've indicated that his pregame speeches are like really well thought out he he makes movie references he makes references to like history and I asked him about it one day and Rod kind of talked about how he prepares for these speeches like he's got notes like he's not just going in blind and but I've yet I've yet to get from one of the guys like give me an example of your favorite Rod Brindamore speech no one's been able to give me one yet so I do That's my white well right now for the series. Tell me about the time he gave you the entire Bill Pullman's speech from Independence Day before playing Montreal in the conference final. You might have to go to a former player. I feel like a former guy would be able to give you that.

I don't know if the current guys are going to still right now. I probably don't want to rat out their guy, you know, and they want to do it. Current guys, well, does that really, because I kind of look at, like, by the time you get to the NHL, you don't need a big speech before a game. just like the coach that comes in and kicks the garbage can after a bad loss, there's more Snickers than frowns. Or like, oh, geez, the coach is really mad. Guys kind of laugh at stuff like that.

When you get to the NHL, do you need a big pregame speech? Like, you're in the Stanley Cup final. Like, do you need a win one for the Gipper? I mean, I never played in the NHL, but I was always one to, I loved a good pregame pump-up speech. Like, it always got me going. You know, I've had coaches that didn't really say a word, and I've had coaches that really kind of came in and fired it up,

and then I had coaches that were just strictly X's nose before the game. The one who fired you up, like, when you can tell it's genuine, you know, like I played, and I kind of think back to when I was in 11th grade, actually, he was playing junior B. You know, I played for this team called the Metro Moose. We were based out of Brooklyn, and it was like heavy Brooklyn accents. Like, you know, it was like real New Yorkers, and their pregame.

speeches were unreal and there was a lot of times like you know back then that was the introduction to twitter and the teams in our league like a lot of guys would like kind of tweet about each other and like you tweet about the team you're playing that night and our coach actually like like i remember the long island royals like their captain tweeted like we're going moose hunting tonight or something and our coach craigdramus printed out the tweets and put in all of our stalls for the game and it was awesome like it got us going so that that stuff was great so maybe there's a greg wishincki tweet saying if fagas wins tonight the series is over and and car Oh, that'll be all up on their...

That's... I think... Get Sebastian Aho going. Most of the times I've heard from, like, the players, it's not the coach that gives a memorable pregame speech that gets them going. It's usually like some old-ass guy

on the roster who, you know, has been playing for 13 years, he never had his shot at the cup, and he gives some heartfelt, this is your moment, don't let it pass you by, kind of speech, you know? That's the kind of shit that really gets them.

going, I think, more than anything the coach says, at least in my experiences. By the way, to your point, Merrick, like, whenever you talk about, like, pregame speeches and fired up coaches and all that stuff, like, I go back to our mutual friend Bruce Brudeau screaming, get your asses out of your heads to his superiors. That's still the best one. Like, would you hear that? How do you not, like, stifle a laugh? That's a best one.

It's like, that's the best one. That's good. I've never heard that. Oh, man. That's speech. Oh, it's so good. Yeah, from the HBO 24-7 series Road to the Winter Classic, still the best

or the best things the NHL's ever been. Get your ass, I'm out of your heads. They'll find that. Maybe I haven't heard it. So good. From the Vegas point of view here, emerging stars, players who have, like, look, the last game we saw, like, Braden McNabb, three assists, bam.

Yeah. We used to have Braden McNabb, like, postering guys on the boards. I know it's just that one, game, but we've seen a lot of the Vegas Golden Knights. Is there a player on that team that you think has quote unquote

raised the level of his game to playoff status the likes of which you haven't seen in the regular season? Because these things do happen regularly. I guess the guy I go with, I thought hurdle was the best player on the ice,

not to say that because he had the game winning goal. But he's a guy we've seen do it. The guy who I probably underestimated the most is Nick Dowd. And speaking with Jesse Granger today, like Nick Dowd coming in, like really rounded out that fourth line. The fourth line was super effective in game one. You know, he's a guy that you haven't seen play a whole lot of playoff hockey in Washington in the recent years. I know they played the Rangers around one a few years ago, but they got swept and you couldn't really get much out of them. But again, like when you see a guy, and we were talking about it a little bit this morning,

come from one organization that he's been with for so long and then be an instant fit with a new. team, that's rare. So Nick Dowd being a guy on the fourth line, I think is the one I would say is a big surprise for me. Or more appreciated. You could tell Torrella, you could tell Tortoella loves him. Like, through this play, like, there are been games where it's like, how much is Dowd going to play?

Like, holy smokes, like you're playing on him. Like, he's a second line center. Like, there have been a few times you're like, man, Torts has found his guy. Torts has found his guy and it's Nick Dow, Johnny, and it's Nick Dowdy. That's a great thing. Yeah. Again, like, I think seeing Brandon Saw and Riley Smith, like walking in the press box is

healthy scratches. Like that was something that I just like, I was like, oh my God, these guys are on this team. Like they can't get in the lineup. These guys both won cups. Like, you know, have been really good, really good third line players in the NHL and the playoffs.

And this team, like, you know, they're the ones getting healthy. Lasz, switching it up a little bit. What did you make of in the Betman press conference, them having the Golden Knights back on the Bruce Cassidy situation?

I thought it was explained perfectly. like the way Bill said some contracts have that written in them and others don't. So the Vegas Golden Knights, the fact that they had this little, I guess, caveat in Bruce Cassidy's contract that if he is let go, he'd have to fit or the contract would have to conclude before finding a new job. Like I think that just goes to show how much faith they had that it would have worked out with Bruce Cassidy and how much he probably wanted it to work out in Vegas and how much they value him that they wouldn't want him to get another job. So while it does technically suck optically, I think. think the league, it does. Like, you know, nobody wants to see a coach not be able to get a job, right? Like, especially when it's a coach that certainly can help a team win a Stanley Cup right now.

But, listen, Vegas finds a way to live by the rules, but go about it in a way that just rubs people the wrong way. I don't know. I don't think they're doing anything technically wrong, I guess. How could you argue against it? You know what? They are not. They're like technically, everything the Bill Daley talks about here, 100% correct. the Vegas Golden Knights are under no obligation

whatsoever to release him from this contract to talk to other teams specifically rivals. Having said that, this is something Greg and I were talking about the other day and that is, well, first of all, the guy won you a Stanley Cup. Like, let's not lose sight of this. However you feel about Bruce Cassidy, right,

he won you a Stanley Cup. And second of all, I've always believed you don't judge a company by how they bring you in. You judge a company by how they let you go. And Greg brought up a great point the other day. And that is, what are the Vegas Golden Knights alumni events going to be like one day?

Who's going to come back? I'll tell you what. The Stanley Cup winning coach ain't coming back. The star goaltender from the expansion draft. Who's coming back? Or the goalie that won them the cup might not come back based on what's going to happen in the summer to him. Goalie that won the cup, he may be the next one to get his strings cut here. Like at the end of it, too, like not that, you know, your alumni dinners 10 years from now should, you know,

it should be front and center when you're making your hockey decisions. But the thing I keep coming back to with Cassidy is he won them the cup. Like, is there not something, like, does that not by some type of understanding? landing here? I think there should be a way. There should be a way, like, if Edmonton wanted to get Bruce Cassidy, like, they should be able to, like, offer some sort of trade, right? Like a pick.

Yes, three, you know what? Three-way deal. Cassidy gets signed somewhere else. Edmonton sends a draft pick to that team. They fire Bruce Cassidy and allow him to talk to the Edmonton Oilers. A three-way trade involving a coach. That's what we mean right now. There should be something like that word.

If you give something up to Vegas that they can talk to him. I don't know. Well, they, I mean, they used to do that. And I think the change was, and you can correct me from wrong, Merrick, but because of the salary cap, the fact that you could trade cap-related assets for somebody who doesn't count against the cap was sort of the issue. Correct. So from that technical perspective, I get it.

I don't know. I'm kind of in the middle of both you guys. Like, I understand the idea that it's worked a certain way for, ever, you should have some deference to the guy that did win you a cup. And on the other hand, it's like, why on earth would you possibly give the Edmonton oil or somebody who could fix 60% of their problems in the last two years? You're going to have to worry about McDavid in the Western Conference. So it's like, I get it.

I get both sides of this. Plus, it is one year. If it was like two or three years, different story, but like they're going to pay him for one more year and then he's free to do everyone. You know what I mean? It's just one year. It's a bird. But, yeah.

tough situation maybe it's just we spend so much we spend so much time with this Cassidy thing I know that it's a topic that it's one of those rare ones where you can see like to Greg's point

like you can see both sides right like in both sides like there's enough on either side that both make sense all at the same time and it's kind of cast this like weird shadow over the Stanley Cup final here and did like look like Chris McFarling

makes it makes the jump from Colorado to Nashville and what's the way the first comment. No issues. Oh, you're, you're allowed to talk, you can grant permission, you're allowed to talk to other teams. And again, I'll remind everybody, he brought them a Stanley Cup as well.

Chris McBowland did. And he also has one year left on his contract. Nashville is in their division. They are a rival team. Yes, correct. Well, look, Vegas is whatever taste to win. Vegas does whatever taste to win. We've seen it.

We know it. You got to respect it. I'll say this one last thing because I remember listening to Kelly McCorm on Overdrive when they were asking about about Cassidy. And he did say at one point what I found kind of curious the idea that he is like paid to do what's right for the golden nights or something along those lines. And it was almost like I serve at the pleasure of the president kind of phrasing. It made me think about we never hear from Bill Foley. Like we never hear from Bill Foley. And you wonder how much of this is coming down from the 10.

Tippy top when it comes to Bruce Cassidy. First of all, I think all of it. I think all of it rested his feet because even if it wasn't his idea, this is his team and this is a reflection of his team. And I don't think for one second that Kelly McCriman goes out there and freestyles this move. I think this is done because this is like a brand perception issue for the Vegas Golden Knights. I don't think any of this is done without Bill Foley's blessing.

And I don't think Kelly McCriman will ever say that publicly. And I don't think George McPhee will either. But this one has owner written all over it. Plus to your point, like if Kelly was in this situation, if he builds a Stanley Cup champion and then they fire him because of some ineffectiveness to the roster, like he'd be apoplectic if they were like, you can't go work for another team until we tell you it's okay.

like I mean he he's it wouldn't have worked the same way if it was the GM but I don't know it's an interesting time I find it to be a fascinating topic only because it's the Golden Knights doing their bucking the system thing but doing so in a way that now impacts a direct rival

which is something we don't often see 100% Any final thoughts Johnny before we let you get back to your tastefully decorated and unkempt hotel room did you did you have the car for the horse buddy

No, I actually had Werenzki. I had Werenski. Yeah, not that I have a vote, but I would have gone with Werenski if I did have a vote. I just think Columbus this year had a lot of struggles. And when Zach Wrenski was not on the ice, they were a completely different team. When he was on the ice, they were unbelievable. And I saw it first hand at MSG, Werencki didn't play. Columbus blew a 4-0 lead in the third period.

And they ended up winning in overtime. But if Werencki's in that game, different game. Like, I just think he's that impactful. and I know I'm usually one of the guys who says, like you should make a playoff or your team should make the playoffs if you're going to win an award. But I will, I'll let this one be an exception just because how good

Wrenski was all year. Can we talk about how the NHL should probably not try to build viral video moments around public events in which the beat writers that cover the team are like there with cameras and phones? Because the whole point of the John Cooper thing is to get the video of him being surprised by the, by the Jack Adams and yet it's spoiled by literally

everyone covering it including the lightning who published a story about it. You know, it took them so long yesterday to actually send out the release with the results. The whole thing was... There's like what, like two hours? Yeah, it was like two hours after. Yeah, it was debacle. Yeah.

Not a fan. I was happy that John Cooper finally won it for whatever that means. It didn't feel like the year, though. I don't know. No, it was. No, no, you know what, hang on.

Let me push back on that because any of those years could have been the year. Because the way that the award is generally voted on is whoever makes the most sort of dynamic change with their team. And I think one of the hardest things to do is keep a superstar team at a superstar level. Because superstar teams have superstars. And stars are not easy to manage. And stars, you know, ultimately, you know, call a lot of shots. and to be able to keep these guys all in line and all motivated to continue to be a star team and not a peep about guys wanting to escape,

I think that's a testament to John Cooper. So I don't necessarily just, I have no problem if it's just like, we've got to catch up and this is getting embarrassing, and Cooper's got to have one. I think any of these years, you could have made a case for John Cooper. But we always like to do the, oh, the team was out of the playoffs last year, and now they just won the conference, so he gets the coach of the year. Yeah.

My question about Lindy Ruff. Like, Lindy Ruff obviously had a historic year and had the most compelling narrative for winning the Jack Adams. But can you give the Jack Adams to a coach who gets his team to coalesce and make the playoffs because they hate him? Like, is that part of being coached of the year? Is if you're such a guy that they hate that they win despite you? I mean, if so, he should have won the Jack Adams. But otherwise, I mean, I know a lot of guys who say bad things about Bruce Cassidy. As long as you win games, no matter how you do it.

Right. Scottie Bowman. Scottie Bowman. Scottie Bowman. It's the, I think Steve Schutt was the first one to say this. 364 days of the year. We all hated Scotty Bowman. On day 365, we got our rings.

There we go. And nothing more to say about that. Okay, Johnny, you go, enjoy the rest of your day. Enjoy game two and we'll circle back. Thanks, pal. See later, Greg. Say how did the wish audition guys for me, Jeff? Yeah, for sure.

Oh, it's awesome here. Speaking of which, hang on. Well, the Dishing guys are good. And I do want to mention that this episode is... Great job, Johnny. This episode is sponsored by Dishin. You know how most hockey gear and apparel all kind of look the same? That's true.

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That's JustD-I-S-H-I-N dot com. You got a thought there, Greg. I wanted to actually talk about Chris McFarland for a second. I had two reactions to his, his press availability in Nashville. The first is, again, one of my favorite moments in a press conference this week, somebody asked a question about how you acquire high-end talent

and said, like, how do the Predators, going to get there, Nathan McKinnon? And Chris McFarling goes, well, I wish we could have Nathan McKinnon here. I'm like, oh, great. So in your first move as general manager, you were going to get, fine for tampering. Hang on to say, didn't Jim Benning do that with Stephen Stamcoast?

Kind of. Around the end, I think he got, I'm pretty sure he got dinged for it, too. What are we to make of his time in Colorado? Like, obviously, Sackick goes upstairs and gives him the general manager job to retain him, to keep him from going somewhere else to take a GM job. And now he. And now he's leaving to become president of hockey operations and a general manager for the national predators. We are all under the understanding that he was never going to be the president of hockey operations with the Colorado Avalanche as long as Joe Sackick was there.

So this is obviously a moving up, moving on up type move for McFarlane. But like he kind of talked about it a little bit. But this also has to be a play for independence, doesn't it? like how much influence was Joe Sackick exerting in that front office? He talked about how it was all very collaborative. But being collaborative tells me that Joe Sackick was involved in a myriad of decisions for this team, maybe all of them. And so I don't think we were very cognizant of that as a hockey media and as hockey fans, that it really was a two-man show in Colorado.

And that one, at some point, McFarlane's going to be like, I'd like to build my own thing. I think that's part of it. I think the resume is also going to look tough when you're at the top of your winning cycle because you look at like, oh, look at all these prospects he traded. Look at all these high draft picks. Look, and the cupboards bear.

Well, generally when you're at the end of a winning cycle, you probably, A, want more than one Stanley Cup, but B, generally the cupboards are bare, right? And you've traded a lot of the prospects, and the picks are all gone and all of that. And that's like nothing exclusive to McFarland. And that's just the nature of hockey. And you want to keep going for it.

So I do understand that. Your psychic point is really interesting. And I'll spin it over to Nashville as well. I don't think it would be ridiculous to suggest that even though he was no longer the general manager of the Nashville Predators, that the shadow of and maybe one hand on the wheel was still there with David Boyle, even when Barry Trots took over. I don't think that that is beyond the realm of reality. So I do think that especially when there's someone who's been there,

as long as A, Sackick with Colorado, or B, Poyle with the National Predators. But yeah, of course this is a play for independence. This is a play for I'm going to make my own thing here. Colorado is one thing, and some of the heavy lifting was done before McFarland got there, understand, got it, and I understand all of it. Joe Sackick's a legend and put a number of the building blocks in place here. But yeah, I think a couple of things.

One, it's independence and two is probably a significant check at the end of the day here, which I don't think we should overlook. And, you know, it's well known that Bill Haslam went the expert this way, went the quote-unquote extra mile to get Christmas. Yeah. Oh, Alex already said that like, you know, Nashville stepped up with an offer. The avalanche tried to match it. and then the title and the money just became too much for them to try to retain him.

I wonder what happens with their goaltending. He's a used to Santerning guy. Well, he was, and then he wasn't. He traded him. But, I mean, he still drafted him. Yeah, that said, thanks, there's no room at the end. We need two new goaltenders. That's true.

So that's always interesting. I think, I just think, I've long thought that UC Soros would be someone that would have some real trade value. And if, you know, this team gets pointed into a, into a rebuild, they certainly don't need a golden nervous caliber there. So I don't know. Messing up the rebuilt. No, of course. Totally. Yeah.

I've, I've won't. But it would have been a lot easier, too, if you hadn't made the Ascarov deal. but if some bites candies and nuts. Interesting time. Interesting time with the National Party. Who do you mean by you? That certainly wasn't Chris McFarland. Anything else before we let you escape and enjoy game two?

No, that's about it. It's been fun being down here. I hope we come back for game five. I'm not convinced that we will, but I hope that we do. I could see what Johnny's saying. I could see this being the road team. takes the first two and then game five is the pivot. But, you know, they really didn't handle the pressure of both the moment and of the Golden

Knights four check very well in game one. And we'll see what they come back with in game two. It's a great game tonight because I have no feel for what's going to happen at all. I'm saying that's an exciting thing. I have no clue whatsoever what happens tonight. And that is the best way to go into a game. That's kind of the way I go into many games. But anyhow, okay, you enjoy yourself, enjoy game two,

and we will check back next week. You'll be good. Thanks, everybody. There he is. Greg Wachinsky from ESPN and ESPN.com. Again, we are live here at Justition in Buffalo, having a great time. And before we proceed with the conclusion of the thrilling podcast today,

a quick note from our friends at Airbnb. Hey, Zach, summer's on the horizon. And, you know, we've spent a lot. a lot of time on the road this year, but here's my question to you. Zach, what would your ultimate summer road trip be? Go. For me, summer's all about golfing, getting out on the course. So going back to places that we just went to and just visited like Banff and the Okinaugan. I think that would be the ultimate getaway with some of those incredible courses, beautiful weather, the scenery. It's some of the best that you can find. It's some of the best that this country has to offer. Now, for me,

it's easy. New Brunswick, specifically St. Stephen. Now, my background. When my family immigrated here to Canada in the 1800s from Ireland, that's where they settled. I went there earlier this year when you and I were in St. John and took a little side trip. It's gorgeous there. I spent the day. I could see myself actually living there one day. Now, after New Brunswick, Montreal. So here's the deal. For me, Montreal is the one place in Canada where You wake up, you decide what kind of day you want to have, and the city allows you to do it. The festivals, the concerts, the patios, the people, the cobblestone streets of old Montreal, street performers, you name it, it really is the best. And honestly, those kinds of trips are exactly why I love booking homes on Airbnb. You actually feel like you're part of the place instead of just passing through.

And that's when it hit me. While I'm busy blending in with the locals, why not let another traveler do the same? After all, while we're gone, our place back home is just sitting there. So hosting our place on Airbnb could be a way to make use of that space on our own schedule and maybe have a little extra coming in at the same time. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.ca.com slash host. Thanks for our friends, as always, at Airbnb for the support of the program.

One game tonight, game two, one game tonight. It's a Stanley Cup final, of course, one game tonight. Before we get there, anything from the program today that's tickling your chin, you have an opinion on or a thought on that you want to get off your chest. I just keep seeing a lot of people with backlash towards the John Cooper, Jack Adams. Why? I mean, I get people saying, hey, there's other options. but I'm with you why.

Why? Like, why? This guy deserves a Jack Adams at some point. He hadn't won one yet. Had an incredible year with a team that battled injuries. To your point is you brought up. You know, sustaining success with elite talent is something that should be commended as well. It's hard to do.

I don't know. I just, that was the only thing. It's kind of grinding my gears, reading people saying, you know, like Brandon in the chat here today says, I'd be embarrassed if I was John Cooper today. I can't see how that would be the case. I think that's ridiculous.

So I just wanted to bring that up because that's the one thing to me today that's sticking out. That just I can't wrap my head around the degree of backlash that there is, or frustration maybe is a better word than backlash towards John Cooper winning the Jack Adams. I think he deserved it and I think this is a perfect opportunity to give it to him. He could have won it every year for the last however, however many years, six years, five years, whatever, take your pick. He could have wanted any one of those years. And he's sustained this.

He's kept this going. Like, that ain't easy to spin that many plates and keep this thing going here with superstars. And along the way, losing superstar players. Like, that's the story of the Tampa Bay Lightning, like, harsh decisions, right? Like, take your pick of players that we've seen leave the Tampa Bay Lightning. And still, there is an expectation of, in a meeting of excellence and that kind of consistency with John Cooper through the regular seasons. over and over and over again. I don't know where that comes from.

I don't know where that comes from. But you are free to have your own opinions. Now then, to the game tonight, the sheet is powered by Fanduel. Play your game with Fandual. It's the NHL season, and Fanduel is your home for all the action on the ice. From Blue Line to Bet Slip,

have got you covered all season, with unique promos, live offerings, and more features to let you play your game. Miss Puck drop, no sweat, with a live same game parley. You can build your bets up until the final buzzer. Download Fan Duel Sportsbook today, and play your game.

Please play it responsibly. 19 plus and physically located in Ontario. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or the gambling of someone close to you, please contact Connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. Before we get to your parley, really quickly, if you're a prospect at the combine

and one of the teams asked you, would you rather have a four-year career and win one Stanley Cup or play 10 years without? What would you answer? The Stanley Cup. I think it's just the right answer. Like, I think that's what our team's looking for.

I'm not going to sugarcoat it, Jeff. I think that's what they're looking for. So that's the answer that I'm going to give them because I think that's what they want. What's your real answer? Is it four years? Because if you just want your name on a cup, go to Starbucks. Right? Like, go get your name on a cup every morning if you want.

Well, if I'm going to get an opportunity to start asking questions back, it's like, well, what kind of paycheck am I getting? What's my AV? You know, okay, four years at 12 mil, I could, I could deal with that. A year at 12 mil after my entry level and I got the max signing bonuses, okay, I could deal with that. I was going to say that's three years of entry level and then one year's second contract is what that is. I don't know. I think honestly, it's probably, it's probably still the Stanley Cup.

I think like that's the one thing you look at at the end of it and you say, I wish that I had won that. there's probably a lot of people who can walk away from a career and be happy with what they've done. But, you know, that the guys who walked away, Thornton, Marlow, they're going to be happy with the body of work that they put together. That's just two that come to my mind. But not winning a Stanley Cup is going to be something they think about forever. And when they go to the hockey, All of Fame ceremonies and reunions or whatever, and they're around everybody else, everyone around them is going to be wearing a ring and they're not. And I think that's something that kind of,

no matter how good of a career you had, no matter how much you enjoyed yourself, you always remember that. So you probably, I don't know. I'm also like, I would die to play in the NHL tomorrow. So like, yeah, four year career is probably pretty good.

Ten year career, either one of those is probably pretty good with me. Probably think about it when they're on their yacht. Think about it when they're in their mansion. Think about it when they're in their summer home, when they're on vacation through Europe. maybe Asia yeah

probably I understand I understand I understand I understand I understand but there are guys it's also dependent on the person and the personality those guys who probably don't give

a flying you know what about whether or not they want a Stanley Cup there are guys who probably like Sidney Crosby who puts up in his gym pictures of past captains holding the Stanley Cup and works out staring at them because that's his motivation

There's probably other guys who were just like that, and it eats away at them every single day that they don't win. Like, Sidney Crosby has three Stanley Cups, gold medals, and he just lost in the playoffs this year, lost the Olympics, and lost at the world championships. And it is probably tearing him apart every minute of every day, despite what he has in his collection already. Right? So it's, I get the whole sentiment about the yachts and the mansions. It's not missed on me, Jeff. I get it, but there are guys that it probably tears them apart every single day if they don't win.

You're saying that there aren't some guys out there that have pictures of like CEOs of banks on the wall in their gym as they work out? No. A guy who probably kills him every day, you know, a good question for that or a good like debate point for that would be Connor McDavid. What's that? Do you think that if he wrapped up his career, he would be okay if he didn't win a Stanley Cup because he had an unbelievable 12th? 14, 15 year career, whatever it ends up being. No. Nope.

He won't be able to accept that. He probably would be a guy who would have rather finished with three years and won a Stanley Cup because he wanted Stanley Cup. Totally agree. Zach, you're a million percent right. And that's the perfect example. All right. What's your parley?

Make them rich. Okay. So I'm kind of getting to meet some of my neighbors here in this place now more and more. You know, I found out the person the other day had a dog. But yeah, nice people. There's someone down the hall from me with a janky door. Yesterday I got out of the elevator. I ran into them.

They asked me if I could help them fix the door, to which I told them I doubt it. So we got Taylor Hall, Mark Jankowski, and Nick Dowd. Did I miss any? Yes, one. You missed one. Door, Ophia. The janky door.

Mark Jankowski. Yes, right. Pavaldorfev, Nick Dowd. $5. Look at this one, man. You hit this one. Forget it. $2,143.

$98. Philly, trying to weekend, make your weekend go smooth and hit this one. Taylor Hall, Mark Jankowski, Pavel Badoorfeyev, and Nick Dowd. $5 wins you just over $2,100 on Fanduel. Okay. I want to mention one more thing as well before we get going here. Hockey finals are on.

The Nation Network is all over it. Every game, every storyline, every big moment, from pregame breakdowns and post game reactions to exclusive interviews, expert analysis, and the conversations driving the hockey world. The Nation Network and Daily Faceoff

are delivering wall-to-wall coverage throughout the finals. This is hockey's biggest stage, folks, and we're bringing you closer to the action every day. Like, follow and subscribe to the Daily Faceoff YouTube and socials to stay connected to the finals from first puck drop to the last.

What do you expect tonight, Zacharoo? What are you thinking? I would expect a response from Carolina here, but the problem is I don't have that much faith in that first line for Carolina coming through tonight. What have they shown us here so far throughout the playoffs to suggest that it would be there? Yeah, exactly. A whole lot of nothing.

And unless they change somebody on that line, which to this point in time, I don't think is likely. I think it would maybe be a more in-game adjustment where Rod looks down after the first period and goes, uh-oh, something has to go now. Yeah. I just, I think they're a pivotal point in this and a key piece to changing the fortunes for Carolina.

And I really struggle to see that being the case, Jeff. Like, it's not like they're just not getting the bounces. They're not even making them. The puck's not even bouncing at all. It's all Vegas all the time when they're on the ace, and that's got to change. So unless some new guys show up wearing their uniforms, I hear for Carolina tonight.

I do. That line's got to get going. That line's got to get cracking. Absolutely. Or else it's going to be a long summer for all three of those players. And you know who it'll be really, really tough for? Seth Jarvis. Yeah.

Seth Jarvis. Because he goes home. He's asked about. the Stanley Cup every single day. Yeah. That line's got to get going for Carolina. But listen, Vegas is allowed to try. How is it? Vegas gets a vote.

The other team gets a vote. The other team gets a vote. Called the league. They still only give out one cup. Yeah, yeah. Burkey, Berkey, Berkey. How did you like Berkey on Thomas Vanek yesterday? I'm not good?

Yeah, that's good. You know anything about me, kid? You know that I trade up. I trade up. Yeah. Uh-oh. I just love the questions that he had asked, too. Did you eat breakfast?

What did you eat for breakfast? What kind of watch are you wearing? Like, all that kind of stuff. And the Spetchumov asking, what kind of dog do you have? Yeah. And asking Spetchnikov, where do you work out trying to get them in one there? I appreciate those. Those are good ones.

I remember that one. I remember asking, I'm like, why would you ask him that guy? He goes, because Barry's only junior hockey rink that doesn't have a gym. Like, oh, that's good, Brian. That's good. Anyway, it was always fun watching Brian going into GM mode. during the player interviews. Anyhow, on that, we'll wrap.

Thanks so much for joining us here today. Again, thanks to all our friends here at Dishon. Great place, justdition.com. Make sure to check it out, some really cool stuff there. Thanks to you for watching. Thanks to you for listening. Thanks to everybody in the chat. If you have already subscribed to our daily face-off YouTube channel,

thank you. If you haven't, please consider doing so. And ditto for subscribing to our podcast on Apple Paws or on Spotify. Thanks so much for this. We're back tomorrow from Buffalo at the Combine. and at Just Edition. Talk about game two. Enjoy the game tonight.

We'll talk to you tomorrow.