The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Season Finale ft. Pierre McGuire

Episode Date: April 17, 2025

Pierre McGuire joins Jeff Marek for the final day of the NHL regular season. Discussing the Jason Robertson injury, the Montreal Canadiens making the playoffs, the playoff picture, and much more...Shout out to our sponsors!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼 Ninja Kitchen Canada: https://www.ninjakitchen.ca/products/ninja-crispi-4-in-1-portable-glass-air-fryer-cooking-system-zidFN101CGY?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=olv&utm_campaign=25Q2-Crispi&utm_content=en👍🏼 JP Wisers: http://www.jpwisers.comReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Flames_Nation🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoff Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Stylish selections and design assistance to help you every step of the way. Transform your living space today with Cozy. Visit Cozy.ca, Cozey.ca, the home of possibilities made easy. Now I know tonight is the season finale, last day of the regular season. And many of you might say, all right, you know what, it's a day ride. Don't have to go and watch a bunch of games.

Seven of them on the docket tonight. Take your pick. Some of the teams are going to the playoffs, some aren't. Here's what I'm curious about in a kind of freakish way. Maybe you're like me. You know there's an old saying and that is if you give a player a reason not to hit, he won't hit. I really do wonder how much the Jason Robertson injury last night for the Dallas Stars is going to have a chilling effect over everybody in the NHL this season. Now nobody obviously wants to get injured before playoffs.

For teams that don't have playoffs, nobody wants to start their offseason injured. So normally the last game of the season, you like to say is Nolan Ryan baseball no hit But I'm really curious to see what happens tonight by way of Superstar players and how much ice time they have and how they are treated out there And I really do wonder how much of a chilling effect the Robertson injury now where Zack I mean the the effects are being felt. Listen, uh, with our friends and partners at FanDuel as well,

you were pointing out before the program, all of a sudden last night, we're having like odds change really quickly after the Robertson, uh, Robertson injury. You want to fire up what you found last night? Yeah, I took a look what it was this morning compared to last night. And we saw the biggest change. Dallas was the favorite to come out of the West there courtesy of FanDuel yesterday was at plus 310 Robertson injury They drop behind Colorado Vegas, Winnipeg and Edmonton Wow to plus 500 to win Colorado launches themselves up to first their

Vegas Winnipeg and Edmonton obviously slotting in behind. But I thought that was crazy. I mean, it makes sense. It's a reactive move to a bet star player there, but massive shift, Jeff, after last night. Yeah. And, uh, massive, you know, potentially massive injury here for the, for the Dallas stars, um, and this is supposed to be one of the go for it years for Dallas as some of their veterans.

Like we've talked about this all season long. I want to get to Montreal here in a second trust me um congratulations to them and we'll get to Columbus but this was one of the years where Dallas said look we got to go for it this year because some of our older guys are really starting to age out here and we're not sure whether the the younger guys are ready to take over so that's why you saw the Dallas stars as aggressive in and around trade deadline, whether it's rant and whether it's grandland, um, or other, you know, before that with, with Cody Cece, that's why you saw Jim Nell really aggressive.

And you'd hate to say that one injury is going to scotch all of it, but this one's huge. You know, post foreign nations, Jason Robert Robert, like post post foreign nations snub, Jason Robertson became well, the Jason Robertson that we're used to really, um, really like, I know he's never going to have, you know, Pavel Burel like speed, but really responsible defensively. We all know how he drives play. We all know how we can finish, how we can score goals, you know, around the net,

get it on a stick and it's in there. You'd hate to see all of this undone because of one injury. And that's a massive one to Jason Robertson. Anyhow, more on that coming up in a couple of moments with Pierre Maguire, who's going to stop by the program. In the meantime, we have a lot to get to on today's program. So let's let's talk about what we're going to talk about. How about that?

Daily Outlines presented by our friends and partners at FanDuel Who shifted yesterday? No longer Dallas on top. Make every moment more with North America's number one sports book And coming up on the on the program today. We have a lot to get to. Pierre Maguire is gonna stop by We're gonna get into a couple of things here with Pierre There's all the series that are on the horizon here that gets underway this weekend on Saturday. We'll also talk about teams that are saying bye-bye and what's next for them. And perhaps most interestingly, and we'll get to Pierre on this one, the Boston Bruins. What happens in the off season by way of acquisition and what happens by way of who's coaching this

thing come next season. We'll also talk about the Montreal Canadiens getting in yesterday, Goulli with a pair of goals. That was a pretty exciting game. Good for Carolina too for not just wilting, like you know not not wilting in this one at all. They were not like soft serve ice cream. Like they fought right to the end. Good on Carolina. They didn't make it easy for the Montreal Canadiens. We will talk about load management, but we'll see tonight a bunch of game 82s. And as now the playoff picture gets into a little bit more of a sharper focus. So a couple of things here. At the beginning of the season,

we wondered, Zach, you know, who was going to distinguish themselves from a pack? And there's one pack in the Eastern Conference that we looked at and we said, there are three teams and then there's a trailing fourth. Montreal is not quite there yet. We think that Buffalo is ahead of them. We think that Detroit is ahead of them. We think that Ottawa is ahead of them. And we'll see what happens next season. But as of right now, it is Ottawa in the postseason. They'll face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens, who make

it in on their game 82. They'll face off against the Washington Capitals. Like I've been saying all week, like I'm of two minds on this one. I love seeing that logo, those fans, that rink involved in the postseason. It's always better when the most distinct and unique market in the entire NHL, also the oldest in the NHL, is involved in the postseason. But man, I wanted Columbus to get in. I really wanted to see all of that rewarded. I wanted to see Adam Fantilly and wanted to see Sean Monahan front and center And jet greaves to see how far he could take this team Good on Columbus

Good on Columbus like this was a season that that no one really looked at Columbus and said yeah This team's gonna make it into the into the postseason No chance even though we knew the Metropolitan was gonna be kind of of a jump ball here. Good on Columbus for this one. Disappointment all around that they didn't get in. A lot of us, if not all of us, were cheering for the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Calgary Flames with a soft spot in our heart for those two teams and Johnny Gaudreau, certainly. But Montreal is in, and park your leafiness to one side for a second and just like focus on the NHL. Like this could be really cool right? And again like there's a lot still there's still a lot of question marks around the Washington Capitals

with this team and the the postseason but still on paper this does kind of look like a mismatch not unlike what it did in 2010. And I know everything's changed outside of Ovechkin. But here we go again. Do you think Montreal has a shot at this one? Yes I do. Jeremiah, plug your ears. I'm sorry. I know you're a Cavs fan and some other Cavs fans in there. I apologize.

Look, it's not that I think Washington's fraudulent, Jeff. I think that's the wrong way to use it. But they've been tailing off and I don't I feel like they rode a high is more so the way I would like to put this this season, you know, everyone talked about hey, Ovi's gonna be chasing this. That's the entire focus. I don't think it was the entire focus, but I feel like that dragged excitement with the team up and it dragged the level of play up. And then it feels like they've been in a tailspin and they're not getting the goal attending the same.

I just feel like they are a vulnerable. That's the way I like to put this on draft. I'll put it as they are a vulnerable team in the first round going in here with the way that this thing is tailed off I don't really think one Montreal is like a threat to do damage further on in the playoffs But I just feel like the doors open enough that they could maybe put a scare in Washington I still think the caps win it. Let's be clear. I do think they win it, but I think it's open

It's not like shut and closed case So I look at I look at what happens like the week before the playoff start and I kind of throw it away. Kind of like how I throw away the idea of momentum within a series. I just don't see it and I just don't believe in it. Like every game in a series is distinct from any other game and I don't know that I see

on a consistent basis carry over from the regular season, especially a team like Washington. Like everything was wrapped up and done after that Sunday afternoon at UBS when Alexander Oveshkin broke the record. And don't forget, like they lost that game too, right? And I wonder how much of that was Washington, you know, had everything wrapped up, they're tucked away,

they've been burning, burning, burning, burning, burning, and they're like, look, we can take a week and a half off. We can, we can, we can chill here because with the playoffs coming, you don't want to burn all the way through to game 82 and have nothing left for the postseason. I wonder if this is just Washington saying, all right, mission accomplished, got the job done, got to this position, in this spot, now we're taking the foot off the pedal. Because that's what it felt like to me.

But is there not concern about team's ability to turn it on and just overnight flip a switch and be playoff ready? Maybe I'm saying that because I'm a scarred Leafs fan who has had dealt with 82 games of like, well, they'll turn it on in the playoffs and it doesn't happen but I do genuinely wonder that like the Florida Panthers the Tampa Bay Lightning I think they can do that I think that they could find a way to coast into the playoffs and say

we'll figure it out when we get there and game one all the sudden they're gonna be a great coming out dr. hook mccracken trying to take each other's eyes out like I don't I feel like that's very possible for them. Colorado gives me those vibes as well. I wonder if the guys in the room in Washington, because there's a lot of change from the teams that went on that cup run and had those experiences in years past, if they just have that ability.

I'm not trying to say they don't, but I mean look Jeff, the other thing too here is that I don't think that this is just a, oh look at the last week and a half for Washington. It's been a month and a half, two months of Washington's play spottering a little bit here and it really turned to the focus of getting OV here and it really turned to the focus of getting Ovi the goal record and with that team play did take a dip it's not like they went on like this Dallas seven game skid to end the season but it did falter a little bit and I wonder about an ability to just change mindset overnight and go into the playoffs with that we're ready to come and and kill you kind of mentality.

So here's a couple of names here on a totally different topic before Pierre joins us. So what do these players all have in common? Thomas Chabot, Brady Kachak, Zemges Gurgensens, and Jeff Skinner Played a long long time without getting to the playoffs is their first law at the postseason Thomas Shabat Yeah 512 games Brady Kachak 511 games Zemgas-Gurgenson's 769 games but It's finally gonna happen for Jeff Skinner. 1078 games later, Jeff Skinner's not going home.

With one of the most amazing hype songs about him as well, by the way. Yes, very true. And one of Terry Pagoulas' favorite players of all time. And with that we'll bring on Pierre Maguire, our good friend and noted hockey analyst who joins me on game 82 for a number of teams, Pierre. And one of the things, and listen, thanks for always being available and being with me today. One of the things that I wonder about

when I look at these games, like there's a number of games tonight around the NHL and I can't help but think into myself, like there's seven games and I can't help but think of myself. If you're Toronto, if you're Carolina, if you're Tampa, if you're Washington, if you're LA, how much did that Jason

Robertson injury last night throw a chill into everybody tonight. Like I was saying off the top, like you've heard the old cliche, if you give a player a reason or excuse not to hit, he won't hit. And I wonder tonight if like that's the excuse. Boys, bubble wrap yourself. We're going to nerf the world and we're going to get into the playoffs as healthy as we can. Let's, let's start there. Prior planning prevents potential problems. So you should have had this figured out if you were a playoff team a long time ago, like Rob Grindemore did last night. You know, I heard a lot of people complaining about, oh, Carolina's resting all these guys. You know

why Carolina had the ability to rest guys? Because they played a season well enough so that they had the wiggle to rest guys. So I have a lot of respect for that. I've been through this twice before in Pittsburgh and this best coach is prepared properly. And I watched Bob Johnson do it. I watched Scottie Bowman do it and they both won cups and we all know what Scottie's done over the course of his career. I think people get panicked and they don't realize that sometimes you got to save the players from themselves. Yeah. And that's means why I think you got to just and they don't realize it. Sometimes you gotta save the players from themselves. Yeah. And that's what means why I think you gotta just tell a guy,

sorry, you're not playing. And Rod Brynnamore, a Stanley Cup champion, as a player and a captain, realized that last night. Let me bracket the conversation about Jason Robertson in Dallas here for a second, because the headline is the Montreal Canadiens are in. Like I've talked a lot about that building, those fans, this team, that logo, the history, all of it. It is the most distinctive NHL market that exists. You know, I've always made the joke,

you've probably heard it. There's no original six, there's an original one. It's the Montreal Canadians and everybody else is an expansion team. Like that's the special place that the Montreal Canadians have in our hockey hearts. Your thoughts on Montreal, jumping in front of two teams specifically, which we thought were ahead of them, the Buffalo Sabres and the Detroit Red Wings. Your thoughts.

Marty St. Louis deserves a lot of credit. Jeff Gordon deserves a lot of credit. And I think Kent Hughes deserves a massive amount of credit. So do their amateur scouts and so do some of their pro scouts. I think they've done a masterful job. And the biggest thing to me is there were very few people thinking that Lane Hudson was going to be a franchise player when he was drafted in the second round. Lane Hudson's not a superstar player. He's a franchise player. Nick Suzuki, do you think Vegas would like a mulligan on the Nick Suzuki trade? I think they would. Mark Bergevin deserves credit on Cole Caulfield. He does. Slavkowski's a work in progress. But to me, the biggest thing

is the thing that changed this team around, Jeff, and it's a lot like what St. Louis did with Cam Fowler, if you think about it. St. Louis, a small trade, but a big trade for him. They started this season and got Cam Fowler. Alex Carrier comes from Nashville to Montreal, changes the whole dynamic of their back end, and they started to surge after they got him. Can you explain that one to me? That is one trade this year, like on a CP, that I cannot figure out. Like, first of all, Bravo for Montreal, Bravo for Kent Hughes. I can't figure that deal out. Like I'm with you. Like that was one of those like really quiet, this is changing the habs.

I can't, I can't figure, that's one of those like, he robbed the bank and didn't have to wear a mask. Kind of trades here for Ken Hughes. Like, can you explain this one to me, Pierre? I think that Nashville probably wanted to get younger. Somebody internally must have really liked Justin Barron. Obviously, Kerry was a player that Montreal really liked a lot. I can tell you, Jeff, and I have no problem saying this,

the guys who were in the meeting room will tell you, when I was in Ottawa, I pushed to try to acquire that player. This was three years ago because he was trending upwards. And I really salute the pro-scouts from Montreal Canadiens for recognizing that this guy was still climbing the ladder in a positive way. And that's why they went out and got him. But I think that trade helped this team so much in so many ways. It gave Mike Mathison a stable partner. It allowed Lane Hudson to play deeper in the lineup. It allowed Lane Hudson to run the first power play. It took some pressure off of David Savard on the first penalty kill. There are a lot of things that the acquisition of Carrier

did in Montreal, just like the acquisition of Cam Fowler did in St. Louis. It's virtually the same kind of move. So in our chat, Rich H says, Pierre was miles ahead of the curve on Lade Hudson's talent and instant impact. Kudos. When did it, like, when did it sort of dawn on you that this guy was going to be, well, this guy? Uh, I saw him practicing at BU as freshman year, so his first year.

I said, I haven't seen a young guy move the puck like that since Brian Leach. I saw Brian Leach play at Avon Old Farm for the legendary John Gartner. His partner was a guy named Rich Brasha that went to play at RPI. There was no comparable, no disrespect meant to Rich, but I can tell you, Brian was at another level. When I saw that, I'm saying, okay, I've drew up a lot of game plans to try to beat Brian Leach up and affect the way he has affected a game. And I'm watching Lane Hudson, his freshman year at BU, I'm going,

man, I've never seen a guy like this. And it wasn't so much about his shot. His shot's not overwhelming. It wasn't so much about how hard he passed the puck. It's how he processed the game. Jeff, he's at another level. Yeah, I know. And I'm a huge Queen Hughes guy. I think this Wayne Hutz is gonna be better than him. I do, I think he'll be better than him. He's changed the entire,

not that I wanna drill it down just to one person, but he's completely changed the outlook of that Montreal Canadians team. Um, you know, I mentioned off the top with you at the beginning of this conversation, and the Montreal Canadians have jumped over two teams here as far as development goes, and I don't think it's any coincidence that the ascension of Queen of, of, um, of Lane Hudson has taken him to that spot. But here, here becomes the question.

And you referenced Mark Bergevin a couple of seconds ago and Mark Bergevin used to have a, and probably still does, has a saying, there are players that get you there and there are players that get you through. Now we know that Montreal canines have players that got them there. Do they have the players though, that can get them through? I mean, Lula Amarillo used to always build his teams based on we're building guys that get us through. Sometimes crash line, Bobby O'Leby o leak ran you're right those guys get you through they get you

through they're like luso no i understand i know i was coaching them um i know exactly what you're talking about no great point and true i think lane hudson's a player that doesn't just get you there he can help get you through i think nick suz Hudson's a player that doesn't just get you there, he can help get you through. I think Nick Suzuki's a player that gets you there and help. Last night was vintage Nick Suzuki. He took that team on his back and said, I was no good against Chicago two nights ago, but I'm going to be good tonight. And he was.

Here's my biggest thing though with Montreal. They might not get through this year, but Jeff, their team and Laval, I know they lost last night two to one. They had some older guys take the night off. They had some older guys take the night off last night. They got a wealth of guys coming, Jeff. They're going to be a scary team in a couple of years. They really are. They might win the call there this year. They're good they're good, they love. I mean, they're, they got three guys. You got Connor Hughes, they got Wayne Primo and sorry, Primo.

Don Primo. Hey, Primo, thank you. Wayne's his uncle. And obviously Jacob Fowler. And you know, I talked to a bunch of friends of mine that are heavily involved in American hockey league. They're like, whoa, this guy's a lot better than we thought. No, he's a lot like Lane Hudson to me. And I'm very comfortable telling you this, Jeff, and I'm not trying to make noise on your show.

I tried to recruit Marty Burdur out of a midget triple-A team called Montreal Bodassa back in the late 1980s. He was 16 turning 17 years old. He was the guy. Like I'm telling you, if we got this guy, we would have won a national championship or two. We were pretty close without him. But if we had gotten him, probably we would have won. Jacob Fowler is not as good as Marty Bordur, but man, oh man, there are a lot of similarities. I'm just telling you, there are a lot of similarities. He's an interesting goal. First, he's an, he's an interesting goal to, first of all, I love the mask, could we just be frivolous for one second with the Coldplay lyric on the back?

Like this guy's, this guy's no, like I'm, I'm, uh, you know, goaltenders more than any other position, you know, you, you need to go to the American hockey league guys don't get drafted and then walk into the NHL. Buffalo tried it with Devin Levi and he's playing great for Rochester. And that's where he belongs. When you look at Fowler, the question is gonna become, how long does he need down there?

You watch this guy plenty. Like how, essentially what I'm asking you is, how close is Fowler? I would say if they could go on an extended run in the playoffs, he could be ready by the end of this playoff season, but he's got, it's gotta be an extended run. If not, he's got to start down there next year. You know, it's funny. People always want to knock commissioner Betman.

Think about this for one second. Here's a kid from Florida. There was a starting goalie at Boston college, won a championship in USHL in Youngstown, and now he's gonna compete for an American League Championship in Laval. I'm not saying they're gonna win it, but he's gonna compete for it. He's a product of non-traditional expansion

of hockey markets. That's what he is. It takes its own generation. California, all those kids coming from Arizona. Hey, Austin Matthews from Scottsdale, Arizona. Matthew Nizer from Scottsdale, Arizona. This is all on, like people don't want to acknowledge it. This is on Bepman.

All these players are because of non-traditional hockey markets. I think that there's a couple of things. I think the commissioner recognized it and saw the potential for it. But I mean, maybe I'm oversimplifying it, but the beginning of it was the Gretzky trade. The thing was like Gretzky's going to LA, Bruce

McNall, with all the baggage that Bruce McNall had. Like, but, but, but like the, the effects are still like, you're right. Like I look at, and I've always said about all these markets, it's going to take a generation. And the key is the minor hockey association. And the key is, and this is why I love what Ryan Smith is doing, um, in Utah, like donating money to help build ranks. You need sheets.

Like, I'll tell you, like my, my, obviously your, your, your son plays and I have kids that play it. And once upon a time, like the idea of playing a minor slash youth hockey tournament in Nashville, Nashville, I think it's like, you know, obviously your son plays and I have kids that play. And once upon a time, like the idea of playing a minor slash youth hockey tournament in Nashville, Nashville, now some of the best tournaments are in Nashville and some of the best teams, and there's two different rival associations now

in Nashville that are growing talent, but it takes a generation. Like it takes a generation to get those players in. You're so spot on. I gotta share this with you and your viewers. They'll love this. I used to have a lot of breakfast with the late Badger Bob Johnson. You know, we'd stay at the Vista Hotel in Pittsburgh, go down and have breakfast, and

it was really early in the morning and all it would be would be hockey talk. One day he said to me at breakfast, he said, Jared, do you imagine if somebody would have found Michael Jordan and got him on skates when he was eight years old or seven. It's a great point, it's a great point. And he said, one of my favorite teams, at that time anyways, the Denver Broncos, he just didn't say that very loud in Pittsburgh,

because they have played on Jordan Pittsburgh. And so Badger said, did you imagine if somebody would have got skates on John Elwood? Badger Bob's whole vision for growing the game was to get these great athletes from all these other sports when they were younger and trying to get them to play. And I think that's been the genius of these non-traditional hockey markets, getting expansion teams. All these kids think hockey's cool and they wanna play. And we're getting Oscar actors, we're getting Matthew Nyes,

we're getting Jacob Fowler, we're getting all these guys now all of a sudden where, wow, where'd this guy come? If I would've told you in the 1960s, the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs would be from Scottsdale, Arizona. He would've scored almost 70 goals in one season. And by the way, his left winger's gonna be from Scottsdale Arizona. He would have scored almost 70 goals in one season. And by the way, his left winger is going to be from Scottsdale Arizona too. Are you out of your mind?

Yeah. Are you crazy? You're nuts. Listen, it was crazy enough when the Toronto Toros went to Birmingham. And they're like, what? Who's going to play hockey? Who's going to play hockey there? Anyway, we're getting side with the point of this, and Badger's point is the right one.

And now, pay attention rest of the world, because now the elite of the elite young athletes in the United States, it used to be football and track and field and basketball and baseball and hockey somewhere down near the bottom. Now you're starting to see some of those elite athletes pick up hockey first. That's where it gets scary for everybody.

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How do you see this one playing out? What are the curiosities for you in this one? Well, Ottawa's had success against Toronto all regular season, but that doesn't translate to playoff hockey. I don't think there's a roster in the East that's bigger, better, or more proficient than Toronto's on paper. Doesn't mean that you're going to win because it's on paper. I think the key is going to be if they can get to Venus-Almark early in the series, that's a problem for Ottawa.

The other problem for Ottawa is the lack of depth they have on the right side of their defense and the size of Toronto's left wingers. If they put situational dump in, so let's just say you're Toronto and you say, okay, all your guys, we're going to direct all our shootings to the right side of their ice, our left side. And you got Matthew Nyes, you got Bobby McMahon, whether you have Max Domer or not, it's center or wing, it doesn't matter. You got Pontus Holmberg. All our left guys are big, they're strong, they're fast. We're going to just pulverize the right defense model. I think if they game plan like that and they probably understand that, that's going to be a problem for Ottawa. But the Kachuk factor has to be weighed.

There's a huge factor for them. The Pinto factor in terms of matchup, does he get Tavares or does he get Mathews? That's going to be a big issue too. And I hope Ty is watching this. When I was coaching Pittsburgh, we played Rangers in the playoffs. And we used to tell our guys, don't even waste your time with Domi. We don't want to waste their time with Domi. Get you off your game and drive you nuts. And he used to play on line with Chris King and Darren Turcott. So you say, we'll take our chance with the other two guys, but don't mess around with Bowling. I'm, I would just say this with, uh, with Ridley Gregg, he could be that guy.

And you better not get off your game because of Ridley Gregg. So there's certain situational things that I think Toronto's coaches staff has to pay attention to. But Ottawa, they're playing with house money. They really are this year. Um, I think next year is going to be a better year. I just don't think they have enough experience this year. I think in L with Lena Salomarque, to me, the whole series revolves around him.

If he can finally drag a team into deep water here and not just stay in the, in the kiddy end of the pool, then I think we have a real series like Timmy, this is the big test of, of, of Lena Salmark. Uh, let me ask you about Colorado and Dallas. Now this one took a major negative turn last night with Jason Robertson. I mentioned off the top, like the chill I would imagine around like, boys, nobody hit.

Like this is, this is Randy Johnson baseball here, no one touches, no, no one hits. No one hits That one's there's there's no way to underscore how massive a loss that could be for that for the Dallas Stars who are already gonna start Without Miro Hayskinen, is there still enough there for Dallas? to beat Colorado I think the fact that for them is going to be kept at the center ice position. When you look at the Colorado center ice position, starting with Nathan McKinnon, and then you go to Brock Nelson, then you go to Charlie Coyle, and then you go to Jack Drury.

I even talked about Ross Colton, he's a natural center iceman when he played at the TAF school and also at the University of Vermont. I mean, they're deeper at center. And that's no disrespect meant to Rukai Hanson. It's no disrespect meant to Tyler Sen. It's no disrespect meant to Matty Duchenne. They're just not as deep. So that's a problem for Dallas. And the other thing I think is a big problem for Dallas is no Muriel Hayskinen. Thomas Harley had a nice little breakout party at the four nations. I get it. Yeah. But he's not really wasting it.

They don't have anybody like, no, I just didn't. They don't. Um, Edmonton and Los Angeles, the beginning of the season. Home games. So like, LA just win all four of your games at home. It doesn't matter that you're just, but that's it. Like what, one of them this year. When Hiller gets his matchups, like he can't lose.

When he gets his matchups at home, like LA, like they may not be able to play the most exciting brand of hockey. They might not score a lot of goals, but they don't ask how you won. At the beginning of the season, if we would have said like, oh yeah, here we go,

it's gonna be LA and Edmonton again. Okay, here's the layup, the two foot pod. It's gonna be Edmonton and five, maybe LA takes one. I don't think anyone's feeling like that now. I think a lot of it is about the performance of the Kings, but also the injuries and Matthias Ekholm is just, like you just wonder if that's like the one, the bridge too far.

You just wonder if like that's the one player Edmonton can't afford to lose outside of obviously McDavid and Dreisle. Thoughts on that? So, yeah, you're so on it. And here, can I just throw one more thing at you, Jeff? Cause I think you'll appreciate this. Philip Roeberg's playing in San Luis and Dylan Holloway's playing in San Luis and Cody Cece's not there anymore.

I, you know, you go around and you start, now you don't have a TSAAC home, it's not the same team as last year, Jeff, it's not. And so I think there was a miscalculation last summer. Obviously St. Louis took advantage of it and it's benefited them unbelievably and I think it's really hurt them. Before I let you, I wanna get a couple more serious here.

One thing I did wanna ask you about, I don't wanna stir up a controversy where there's not one, but you know, Jonas Kroprasalo, a clear out day for the Boston Bruins talking about, look, I gotta push for more games here, 25, is it doing anything for me here? He's got three more years on his contract with the Boston Bruins.

We know that Jeremy Swainman is a top dog there. What are your big questions heading into this off season, which will be a crucial one for the Boston Bruins if they're going to get back into this thing? Like, look, Montreal is here. That gets tougher in the Atlantic. Ottawa is here. That gets tougher in the Atlantic.

We think that the Detroit Red Wings with all their cap space will do something sizable. That's gonna mean more in the Atlantic as well. It'll probably all start with the bench boss situation. I do wonder about Joel Quenville with the Boston Bruins. But when you look at Beantown, what are your questions here, Pierre? Center ice play.

I don't think they ever addressed losing Bergeron Creech. I know they tried, but I don't think they did a good job of it. Here's the thing. I think you're going to see where their mindset is in organization and a management team if they do not go out and try to get, whether it's through trade or free agency, a center iceman, a legitimate center iceman. I think they miscalculated on a couple other things too. When they let Matt Grizzly go, I think they thought they were probably going to get a better replacement for Mason Mulry. He showed spots, but he still hasn't gotten to where he needs to be.

So there's a lack of depth and defense. And I would say that there's a lot of work that has to be done there. The biggest thing that I thought hurt them last year, Jeff, was the Swainman contract negotiation, how long it lasted, and he was not nearly the goalie that he needed to be for that team. So they got some fixing to do there. They got to mend some fences. But I'm very comfortable telling this. If you don't see the Bruins go out and get a center iceman, a legit top end guy who traded for the agency, then I think it's all for nothing. They'll be floundering again next year. Uh, yeah, you know, if I can't help, but looking at this and saying, okay, so they already have players at, you know, outside of, uh, outside of the center

position and you might make the argument that's the most important, like they've got elite level players in net, elite level players on the backend and they have David Pasternak, one of the best goal scorers of this generation. Like it's a good place to start a rebuild on the fly here, if you're the Boston Roans. That's why I say, if you don't get a center man. Yeah. Well, they're growing on trees, right?

You just get one of those from the center tree in the backyard, you just go and pluck one up. I don't worry, I make fans upset, but you'll appreciate this. We made a trade a few years ago. I believe it was 2006. There was a guy named Joe Thornton that went to San Jose. Yeah.

Marko Sturm, Wayne Primo, and a guy named Brent Holt Stewart, who was a very good junior player for the Calgary Hitman back in the day, went to a Moria Cup final in 1999, but they traded Joe Thornton out of Boston, Jeff. I mean, so yeah, it's been done before. They seem to have traded number one centers before Gretzky got traded. Nessie got traded. So, maybe. So look around the league and find me that number. Well, listen, I think, listen, I, I, I don't want to go down

the McDavid road conversation again, but July 1st is going to be really interesting. And I think that listen, I, I, I don't want to go down the McDavid road conversation again, but July 1st is going to be really interesting because I think there'll be a lot of teams that if this is the end for McDavid with Edmonton, there'll be a lot of teams that clear the deck. Like Boston would be one of those teams. Philadelphia would be one of those teams.

The Rangers will be one of those teams. Like again one of those teams. The Rangers will be one of those teams. Again, a lot of hockey before then. I know that hoping is not a plan, but I don't know. The Thornton thing was specific though. The Thornton thing was very specific with a very certain owner, with a Boston Bruin. So find the owner who's sour on his first-line center and there is perhaps the key for Sweeney and Neely. Do you remember where you were when Joe Thornton got traded? Where was I when I knew where I was when Gretzky got traded? I was scouting at the New York State Games in Syracuse, New York when Gretzky got traded in 1988.

I was scouting there. So I remember where I was when Joe Thornton got traded and I still couldn't believe it. I was like, what? I was in Colorado. I was in the lobby of the hotel. I was like, what? They just traded Joe Thornton the same. Well, it's funny too, because there was like,

and I always love to play the sort of alternative universe in the NHL, you know, there was a one for one deal, but the Florida owner didn't wanna take money back for Thornton for Luongo. Now, how different are the Boston Bruins if it's Thornton goes to Florida at that point and Roberto Luongo goes to the Boston Bruins. This is all of course, pre tooth.

I, I, again, like you play the ifs and buts where candies and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas game. And how different is the NHL landscape if Thornton is a Florida Panther then, and Roberto Luongo is a Boston Bruin then. And dare we say Roberto Luongo and Tim Thomas are sharing a crease.

That changed the sharing a crease. That changed the landscape a lot. How relevant would San Jose had been for all these years? They were unbelievably relevant when he was there. Absolutely. No, hang on. Let, let, let me, you know, I'm glad you

mentioned San Jose and Joe Thornton here because, uh, I always love, I think we've forgotten just how good Logan Couture was. and Logan Couture calls it a career. Was it just that he was like regular season good, Pierre, but you saw what this guy was like in the playoffs. I did a lot of their games, Jeff. I did a lot of their playoff. I mean, this guy was an outstanding, but like first time I ever saw him play

was playing for the Ottawa 67. I was like, yeah, this guy's really good. And, uh, and I just watched him grow. And back then people forget when Dougie Wilson was running San Jose, he had the pike line because he played for Brian. So they, they, they had a tie into the Ottawa 67 and it was really strong. So they, when they took players from there, they got the right guys and boy, Logan was good. Oh man, wasn't good. He wasn't the fastest guy. He wasn't the right guys. And boy, Logan was good. Oh man, wasn't he good. He wasn't the fastest guy. He wasn't the biggest guy. Wasn't the strongest guy. He just peed it.

You know, so I always wondered too, because I mean, you can remember when he, when he was playing at Ottawa, I always, and you cross your fingers and thankfully it, it, it wasn't a deterrent for him, but like he had a couple of big concussions. I always wonder like, Ooh, like now you're, you're getting in there and it's the Western conference and you just crossed your fingers. He never played like he had concussion issues. Ever. Never. Fearless player. I, he was one, he was absolutely one of my favorites. Okay. Okay, a couple more here quickly.

Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers. I don't care if I see this every season, I love it. I wanna see battle of Florida every single season. And here we go again, and I can't help but getting that soap and warm water feeling for Tampa. Like here again, we're saying like Tampa could do it all one more time. Your thoughts on this series. I'm with you. First of all, Basilevski is back. Yeah. That's not going to

be a favorite for Lebrowski in Florida. I think Florida is going to miss Brandon Monter, obviously signed with Seattle. I think they're going to miss Oliver Eknemar. Obviously signed with Toronto. They obviously don't have Aaron Eklund to start the series. I think that's a bit of a problem. So three of their top six are out. I think there's a fatigue factor that comes out of the four nations, especially for Florida, because they had so many guys involved. And obviously Matthew Pichuk's not going to be a hundred percent even if he plays. So I think it's a big problem for Florida. And you look at Tampa Bay right now, one of the things that happened last off season, getting Ryan McDonough back, Jeff,

that's a huge gift for them. It's a leader, it's a player, it's a guy that's revered in the room. Just watch when they presented him with his 1000th game stick in Tampa, what Mr. Vinick did there, that ceremony was off the charts, Jeff. And that just showed the respect they have for Ryan as a human and as a player. So I think

it's a tough series for Florida to win. You know, someone told me once, it was a great point, said no defenseman in the NHL gets back to position quicker than Ryan McDonough. It's one of those things that like players recognize like, oh yeah, fans may miss it, but players recognize that guy gets back to position so fast. Okay, last one for you, Pierre. We'll let you get on with your afternoon. The Winnipeg Jets.

Make it in. All expectation and big question. Can Connor Hellebuck do this? Pick your storyline. It's four nations, goaltenderender versus Four Nations Goaltender. It's Shen versus Shen. Pick your storyline in this one, Pierre. What are you looking for in St. Louis and Winnipeg?

Adam Lowry's gonna have to play a big role in this thing. He's gonna have to shut, I think he's gonna have to shut down and beat up on Robert Thomas. Size-wise, it shouldn't be a problem. Thomas is such a crafty player. It's going to be interesting. The coaching matchup's going to be good too. Montgomery's a real good coach. We all know that. Arneal has been a tremendous coach. You know, there's a reason. It's not just, it's not because of Hellebuck that they had the best defensive record in the league this year. Hmm. That team played unbelievably well and their checking line is so good.

You know, obviously it all centers around no punter, fennel, Adam Mowry, but I just think this is one of those. Thanks for finishing first. We got to play St. Louis. They couldn't get a better matchup or an easier match. And they got to play St. Louis like that

Think about but the thing is like don't you kind of feel about about that for all the teams in the West? Like there's like I know that I know that Minnesota might look like okay So they still have that salary cap black hole this week, but like that's team that plays hard and you look at I think Zeb Williams gonna run their first power play. He was playing first power play at the skate this morning. There's Eve Williams out there, the first unit. That's what I'm saying. So I mean, they already got a guy and they trade that line to been a couple months ago.

Yeah. Like they added a guy. I think Minnesota is gonna cause some problems for Vegas. And I'll tell you one of the reasons why, team speed. Minnesota's fast. Yeah. Minnesota's fast. Good team.

Listen, always appreciate it when you stop by. Always good conversation. So here we go. So do we see no hit hockey tonight is my final question for you. Do we see no hit hockey? I think so. I would hope so.

There's a respect factor that has to go into it too. If you are one of those teams not in the playoffs, you know. In the wrist you are getting. Players know. You got, you got, there's a respect factor too. You know, they always talk about this code. That is one thing in the code that I think does exist. It's a great point. I think it does exist. Really great point. Pierre, you be well. Well, listen, we're checking back regularly throughout the playoff. Thanks, Pat, we'll talk soon. Can't wait, thanks a lot, Jeff. Take care, enjoy the playoffs.

There he is. There he is, the great Pierre McGuire, who joins us regularly here on the sheet. And I want to remind you, speaking of playoff hockey, celebrating playoff hockey with Canadian whiskey that's wisely done. Get your limited edition JP Weiser's Stanley Cup bottle at your local retailer today. JP Weiser's expertly crafted and aged to perfection is known for its smooth, refined taste and the premium whiskey experience it delivers for Canadians. Grab the new limited edition Stanley Cup bottle and enjoy the quality that matches the intensity

of playoff hockey. Which will be the opposite, I think, of what we see tonight, Zach. I don't know that we're going to have the intensity of playoff hockey tonight. You know how in the... I look at it this way. You know in the exhibition or sorry preseason, the exhibition season, it's really frowned upon for kids that take runs at vets. Like it just doesn't... even on your own team you get pulled aside. So like hey Let's put a leash on this puppy here. Like calm it down. You don't do that It's one of the sort of unwritten rules the protocols like your kid. You're not taking a run at a vet

During an exhibition game a preseason game I think we're getting the same thing tonight. And I, you know, I'll tell you what, I do feel bad for people that have paid a lot of money to go buy tickets to watch these games. I get it. Trust me, I'm a dad. I buy hockey tickets. I take my kids to games. I know you want like, you want to see your stars competing as hard as possible. I don't know the answer for this but if I'm any team that's going to the playoffs, not only am I scratching my best players, I don't want any of these guys to do anything

dangerous. No scrums, you get out. No fights, not a chance. The boards are not your friend, maybe stay away. You know what I'm talking about? Like you play as safe as possible. You dump it in and we turn into the 1990s New Jersey Devils. It's, you know how there's dump and chase? This is like dump and retreat. It's like tennis, just lob it in, lob it out.

That's what it is tonight. I don't know the way around it. I do feel bad for people that are going expecting to see like legitimate hard hockey. But as we saw yesterday with the Dallas Stars, the risk for just too great, they are, sorry, hockey's a sport where you can get hurt really easily and it doesn't discriminate.

Oh, star players don't get hurt yes they do all the time so I yeah I mean I think this is one of those ones where the captains walk down the hall before the game they both just shake each other's hands are like nothing tonight let's get in let's get out hey you know I talked to Hudson about it on Tuesday about rest versus rust and these teams down the stretch and not playing guys. He said, he told me that his first game, it was in the 2013 year with Chicago.

He got called up from Rockford. He goes and plays with the guys. He's like all pumped up. He goes out there and no Kane, no Taves, no Seabrook, no Keith, like they just went down the list and he's like, yeah, there's a lot of pissed off Blackhawks fans in the crowd that night. You pay a lot of money for tickets, man. I get it, trust me, NHL tickets are not cheap. And you want to see the stars. I guess that's the risk if you're buying your tickets at

the beginning of the season. You think like, okay, this could be a meaningful game. That's what I said to you. I wanted at least the Habs to lose so that we could get the Jackets game tonight. That would mean something. Even if they didn't win in reg and then the Habs still got in, it would have meant something. And we would have had a game that meant something. One game tonight that has some consequence attached to it?

Just anything. Anything. This is when you look at the TV ratings after Jeff, and it's like, whoa, what happened that day? Ooh. Nothing mattered. No consequence. Just stay safe and enjoy your summer, boys.

Speaking of games, the sheet is powered by FanDuel, our friends and our partners here. Home of the same game, Parlay. Make every moment more on FanDuel. FanDuel, proud to connect fans to the major sports moments that matter to them. Speaking of mattering. Does this matter? Is this a sports moment that's going to matter to you tonight? No. Flyers and Sabres, Maple Leafs hosting the Detroit Red Wings, you still have responsibilities

for this one? I'm taking callers tonight. You're taking callers? I want to put that out. I don't do a lot of self promo here. You should. I do want to put this out. I take callers on the post game show.

Tonight, I'm going to be playing a game show. I'm going to be playing a game show. I'm going to be playing a game show. I'm going to be playing a game show. I just want to I don't do a lot of self promo here I do want to put this out. I take callers on the postgame show tonight given the lack of stakes Let's put it that way. I want to fill the show with callers So if people want to call in and give predictions and stuff for the playoffs whether it's Battle of Ontario If it's other stuff Eastern Conference Western Conference, I don't care Join me on the Leafs Nation tonight. Call into the show. The link will be there.

Just call in. I want to hear from people tonight. Just hockey fans in general, Leafs fans, call into the show. I just wanted to open that up and let people know that that's out there. That's a possibility. Smelling salts still happening? I'm assuming a lot because it feels like people might just pile in for the last game of the year. Every 50 likes on my show I do the smelling salts. I got the

bottle here. I got new bottles for the playoffs too, Jeff. So how many do you have? What kind of stash do you have? I got two on my desk right here in front of me and I kind of tried to rotate through to keep them fresher and then I have two Here under my bed, all right Within reach there they're under under there I have a bottle for Vic so I got to give him a bottle to start off the playoffs as well because he calls Into the postgame show a bunch too. Excellent. I look forward to that. Also Carolina, Ottawa At the Canadian Tire Center Ottawa is gonna have some playoff action at least two games The Rangers facing off against the Tampa Bay Lightning and MSG

As you mentioned Columbus and the Islanders at nationwide arena in a game We were hoping was going to mean something the flames face off against the Los Angeles Kings Pittsburgh plays, Washington One thing I want wanna mention here is, and I really, really enjoyed this. We saw Matt Martin the other night come out and do the wave to the crowd, and his pregame was pretty emotional. Like, this is probably the end of the road here

for Matt Martin in the NHL, who has earned his living the hardest way you can. You know what I thought was really great after that Washington Islanders game the other day? Seeing Tom Wilson go over to him to congratulate him on the career. I don't know how many times those two guys fought, but those two guys fought. And those two guys were front and center on, you know, very quietly, a very good rivalry in the NHL, and it has been going back to the old Patrick Division days

and things like the Easter Epic in 1987, the Islanders and the Washington Capitals. I just thought it was a real nice touch of Tom Wilson to go over and congratulate Matt Martin on a really wonderful career. I just thought it was a nice touch. I just liked it. I just really enjoyed that.

I like that stuff too. It was really good. What else? I wanna throw something out, Jeff. Yeah, what do you got? For you and for people in the chat to be aware of, and we're talking about Fendal, rarely do this as well, like talk about actual like betting things.

I do bet a bunch. There's some opportunities here tonight. That call out by you on the Shane Wright goal, which unfortunately doesn't happen, was a good one, it was an important one. Like people don't know about a lot of these things. 250, 250,000. There's a couple of opportunities tonight.

Matty Buneers got his 20th by the way. Matty Buneers got his 20th that night. Anyhow. Couple of opportunities tonight. They're not really tied to bonuses, but I'm sure these players would like to get some of these and there's some good numbers, especially on FanDuel. Matthew Nice is at 29. He needs one for 30. Again, I don't think some of these teams are really gonna like, ooh, we gotta get that goal, but it's there. If there's an opportunity, those ones might get overpassed or something like that to try.

Future Penguin, Matthew Nye, is that guy? And show's over. Ha ha ha ha ha. Anders Lee is at 29. Brady Kachuk, who returns to action tonight, is at 29. There was one more I had on my list. Sebastian Ajo is one goal away I think here as well. Brenham Rust is at 29.

So some of these guys are just right there on the brink of getting to that 30 mark or the 20 goal mark. And some of those, they're just available. They're teams not making the playoffs. They're playing in a game where neither team's making the playoffs. They're playing in a game where neither team is making the playoffs I'm eyeing a bunch of those down because I feel like some of those They're kind of important for the guys around them as well

I don't know like it feels like you're looking at a guy and you're like, hey, you're at 29 We get you to 30 that feels better than finishing with 29 or 19 and you get to 20. So yeah, those are ones I'm looking at tonight myself. You want to end your season with a round number. Yeah. 30 not 29. 40 not 30. By the way, did I mention this the other day? I can't recall the most unlikeliest 30 goals or surprising 30 goals. Is it Alexey Proz or is it Pavel Dorofeev? Is it Alexey Prolet or is it Pavel Dorofyev? You know, I Thought about it because I had done up a graphic a couple weeks ago. We were gonna talk about it. I

almost feel like one of the most surprising ones is Nazim Qadri not surprising because he got 30 but just because we don't talk about it. It's not something that's out there. You listen to Barnburner sometimes. Might want to listen to Barnburner every now and then. I just mean like in general, it's not like a big media conversation. Oh well there he is, Nazem Qadri, another 30-goal season. it just got swept under the rug. If you're looking the other way, you had a good year. You had a really good year. Protus is the most surprising 30 of the two that you just mentioned,

because that one, I think, came out of nowhere. And when you look at the skill set, you look at him and his brother who's playing in Windsor with the Spitfires. Man, that team is big, oh my god, winter Spitfires are huge. But like, I can see Protus going 30 goals every year. Like, he has that skill, that size, that go to the net, like all of it, I can see Protus continuing to score 30. Every single year, and maybe 40, who knows.

Anything else, or anything chat wise we need to go over? Is there anything on our rundown? We missed out on the program here today. You know after that Michigan goal by Gavin McKenna last night and a lot of people saying somehow he's going to Pittsburgh. By hook or by crook, somehow the NHL is gonna get this. Oh yeah, the cold envelope.

Somehow he's getting. The heavy ping pong ball. Somehow Gavin McKenna is getting to Pittsburgh. Somehow, somehow. I did have one thing. I wanna know. What's up? I wanna know if you have any idea or if something we could figure out going forward,

why this is the case, but strongly believe because I bring this up because I saw it on social media that Winnipeg Jets put out a very good video to promote their Winnipeg whiteout. I strongly believe the Jets should wear white jerseys when they do the whiteout. I agree. I agree. Why would you wear blue when you're doing that? The other team's wearing the white jerseys. You gotta wear the white. You can ask the NHL, like for sort of special dispensation to reverse it. So you can put in that request. I mean, for that one, yes, I'm generally not a fan of white jersey socks and helmets.

I think between the ice and the boards that there's enough white on your screen to make your eyes go, oh man, that's too harsh. But for something like that, yeah, like the polar bear game, yeah, 100%. Just white, complete white out. Yeah, it's a good look. The building looks so cool and then you just look and it's like oh the Jets are wearing blue Although the contrast is kind of cool I Will I will give them that? The other teams were in white. I don't know. I don't that's it makes also

Team makes it look at supporting this morning the visiting team Yeah, I wouldn't say supporting the other team is just kind of like What are we doing? Like we could just we could just have them with the same as the home team? Yeah, I wouldn't say supporting the other team. It's just kind of like, what are we doing? Like we could just, we could just have them with the same as the home team. I don't, whatever. Anyways, the other thing I want to throw out there, my brain comes up with some of these things that are just really dumb sometimes. But if the NHL wanted to make a billion dollars going into this weekend, a billion.

That's half of an expansion franchise. You got it exactly you got a re launch those old Leafs Sen's jerseys for both teams ahead of this rivalry To not like the day that that series was finalized You should have had this prepared and ready to go and both teams Wear the og jerseys from the series back in the day Whatever ones I think they were pretty much the same ones throughout the entire

Like stretch that they played against each other But you come over the top king daddy topper by the NHL you release the old-school jerseys The new players are wearing them the new names are on the jerseys, I guarantee you those things would have flown off the shelves. I probably would have bought four myself. I probably would have just been buying them left right. Hey it wouldn't have mattered. So I think we should have brought them back. Missed opportunity. When you think of the Battle of Alberta, or Battle of Ontario, I apologize. When you think of the Battle of, when I think of Battle of Alberta, or Battle of Ontario, I apologize. When you think of the Battle of, when I think of Battle of Alberta, I think of Tim Hunter. When you think of the Battle of Ontario,

what, who's the one player or two players that you think of? Sondin and Tucker. Okay, no, okay. Sondin is just because. One from, one from maybe maybe more specific one from each side there are leaf blinders Alfie and Chris Neil Chris Neil a yeah I think spezza I think Alfredson spezza and I honestly I think Tucker and Tucker and other Sunday in a new and I

And that might be just because I came seven senators head coach Travis green That'll be there was that great troika in that room was Travis green Shane Corson and Darcy Tucker That was an interesting room. One day we'll talk about the history of that room with those players. Like there was like the Sandin Domi, and there was like Roberts, Nuen Dyke, and then there was the three that I just mentioned. It was a really intriguing room.

It was one of the more interesting rooms in the NHL at that point. Yes, Travis Green was a huge part of it. We tend to forget how fierce a competitor Travis. I don't maybe you remember how fierce a competitor Travis green was He was awesome. I just leave everything on the ice kind of guy. No wonder players love him as a coach Yeah, Jonas. Hoagland was on leaves morning take this morning. He said at Quinn used to have to You used to have to like reel in the team and be like, let's calm down here a little bit, which is kind of funny, a little contrasting to what you see today,

but you know, fun to hear at least. You know what I love, one of the things that I always, there's a lot of things, reasons that I loved Pat Quinn, but was one of my favorite little tiny little things. Pat Quinn, like you would, Pat Quinn. But this is one of my favorite little tiny little things. Pat Quinn, like you would, Pat Quinn would lose it on guys on the bench. But he would only do it when the play was on. You know why? You didn't want to get caught by cameras, right?

Bingo. He would be blasting someone, and the minute the whistle blew, whoop! Not a word. And just looking stately behind the bench and the fuck drop of the game would be on and he'd just like, get back into ripping someone, but it's hilarious. The play would stop and Quinn would just button up.

Did you want to be caught on camera? Just ripping into somebody. That's funny. The best story I heard of Pat Quinn this is Jeff O'Neill tells some good ones but my favorite one of him was he said one time they were in the room before a game and Pat Quinn was like nobody get on the officials tonight let them be blah blah blah and he says the puck dropped he said literally the opening puck dropped and Pat was pissed off by the way the puck was dropped and he started lying into the official and telling him he was a

joke, he was an amateur and he'd keep lying to us all night. The weather not puck was dropped. Yeah Pat didn't like officials. Pat didn't like officials. They were like, Pat you just told us to calm down. I don't think Rick Lee liked officials very much. Like the whole book, keep acting. I don't think the whole bench liked officials. But Pat really didn't have a lot of time.

Didn't really have a lot of time for officials. Did I ever tell you the, I remember having a conversation once about the idea of getting rid of morning skates and doing your practices in the evening so you train your body to play to practice when you play so your body athletically is trained to peak at the time when your event begins like fighters do this right they'll train to they'll they'll like have their bodies

so finely tuned they'll do all their heavy training when their fight is going to occur so their body peaks athletically. Pat Quinn wanted to do that. Matt Nichol told me that Pat Quinn wanted to do that but he knew he would lose the room. He said this makes a lot more sense. I don't want to do morning skates. We don't have to worry about the guys like going out and getting buckled at night. Like it's a responsible group of guys like I want to do our practices at night but he goes I know if I do it I'll lose everybody in the room because they want their they want their evenings they want their evenings

so I'm telling you somewhere down the road there is going to be a coach in the NHL that does this that says your mornings are for recovery, practices we do in the evening because that's when we play games. There is going to be that coach in the end. Other sports have realized it. Hockey still has it. We're still married to this idea. Like, you know the origins of the morning skate,

I'm gonna do a little sidebar here. You know the origins of the morning skate? You know where it come from? That was their way of making sure the guys didn't get drunk the night before. Had a morning skate. And then, I remember Colby Armstrong would tell me the secret was always if you over-served the next day,

you just rub Vicks Vapo rub all over your chest. Just lathered so you couldn't smell vodka on your breath or gin or beer or whatever on your breath. And that was a dead giveaway. Someone was hammered the night before I was like, oh you got the Vicks on your chest Okay, buddy. He was a good night, I guess but Somewhere some coach is gonna finally take the plunge and say your mornings are for you to recover Your evenings is when we work out and train because that's when we play. I Don't know who that coach is gonna be.

I saw that Ucio Hocus was the coach of the year in the OHL, Kitchener-Rangers head coach. I think he's gonna coach the NHL one day. Anyone who's ever played for him will tell you the same thing. Really progressive guy. I wonder if it's him or someone like him. That says, this is what we're doing. Enough of them morning skates.

Makes no sense. We're giving ourselves an advantage. Kind of like Mike Gillis with Vancouver. Remember when Gillis came in with the sleep studies in Vancouver and everybody laughed at him. Everybody laughed at him about oh here comes the pillow. Make sure all the guys have the right pillows and oh here he comes in with his sleeping studies and what it means for hockey players and blah blah blah blah blah. What do they all do now? What are they all obsessed with? Your players getting enough sleep or your player Mike Gillis was Years ahead of everybody on that one. They all laughed at him There's gonna be a coach that says we practice at night

It makes a lot of sense. And they'll all laugh at them. Yeah. It's gonna be interesting to get the players on board. Players will hate it. But we will have a revolt. It makes sense. It makes sense. The players and anyway Matt Nichols point was Pat Quinn. Pat Quinn talked about that years ago But didn't do it because he didn't want to lose his room. Anyhow Thanks to Pierre Maguire for for stopping by we have one more night of NHL lowercase a

action Enjoy you like that one enjoy it. Yeah, if you can we We'll be watching because that's what we do. Every single day. Tomorrow there's the reprieve. But enjoy the game tonight. Playoffs on the horizon all gets underway on Saturday. We'll have full coverage here on the Sheet, full coverage on Morning Cup of Hockey, full coverage on daily Face Off Live and all of our other regional properties as well. And also you know discussion of what's next you know our Calgary crew, our Vancouver crew, all over what's next for those really hot like I can't wait to hear Sicarison Price tomorrow. Tomorrow is close out day for the Vancouver Connex. I can't wait to hear what Matt and Blake have to say about it. So check out what we're offering. We will give you thorough wall-to-wall 360 whatever however you want to describe it. Coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs and I mentioned before if it weren't

already co-opted by the Disney Corporation we would say it's the most wonderful time of the year. Enjoy your day. The sheet returns tomorrow 3 o'clock Eastern. Talk to you later. I went to the dark man, he tried to give me a little medicine I'm like, nah man, that's fine I'm not against those methods, but I knew It's me, myself and how this gon' be fixing my mind I do want a record I turned on the music I do want a record I turned on the music I do want to back it up

I turned on the music It's turned up, up, out Don't you sometimes lose it? Helping on the days that went wrong