The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Sunday Sunrise ft. Nick Alberga & Greg Wyshynski

Episode Date: May 11, 2025

Nick Alberga and Greg Wyshynski join Jeff Marek on The Sheet live from Sunrise, Florida. Teeing up Game 4 of the Maple Leafs vs Panthers series, reacting to the Vegas Golden Knights cutting the Oilers series lead in half off of an own goal by Leon Draisaitl, gearing up for Game 3 of Dallas vs Winnipeg, and main takeaways from the Washington vs Carolina series.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👍🏼RVezy: https://www.rvezy.com/owner?utm_source=cross-channel&utm_medium=multi-media&utm_campaign=canadian+hosts👍🏼Budweiser: https://www.budweiser.ca/ca_enReach 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, C-O-Z-E-Y.ca, the home of possibilities made easy. Welcome to Sunrise. What do we call the bank here? What do we call the rink here? Amaranth Bank Arena. What is it?

Amaranth Bank Arena. Amaranth Bank Arena. It's kind of been a running joke here since Friday when we got here. Michael Berger is important for the first 10 minutes. Then we give way to Greg Wyshinski for MBSW on a rare Sunday in advance of Nervous Game 4. Trying to make police facing off against the Florida Panthers. Dallas taking on Winnipeg.

Greg is in Dallas. He'll check in in a couple of minutes. We have a lot to get to. So let's get right to what's on the program today. As always, this program, the Daily Outline powered by FanDuel. Make every moment more with North America's number one sports book. Those are our friends. Those were our partners. Those were our pals. The great FanDuel. Coming up on the program today, Greg Wyshinski stops by in about 10 minutes time Nick Albrega as well to tee up game four.

Matthew's on the ice this morning. More on that in a couple of moments. Carolina Hurricanes leading a series that a lot of people aren't very interested in, but they probably should be. Also Vegas, or should we say Leon Dreisaitl, steals one last night for the goal of the Knights, and will tee up tonight's games. Two of them on the board, and that's coming up in a couple of moments.

In the meantime, before we get to the Maple Leafs here, I know we got a precious 10 minutes with you, Nick. I want to ask you. Nine now. When, now for me, every time I see a goal scored in the post season, I ask myself one question. How would I feel if that was a Stanley Cup winner? How would you feel if that Riley Smith,

and for some reason, Vegas is the only team that knows how to get the most out of Riley Smith, but I digress. How would you feel about that Riley Smith goal and the Leon Dreisle tip being a Stanley Cup winning goal? That would stink. Why? Lack of celebration, man. Like it's the best part about it. You talk about it so often, like the the the the jeer in the crowd if it's a road goal and it's delayed yesterday. Like is that in? Like oh and then Jack Michaels is losing his mind. It's like Everything in a one. That's the feel

Okay more on that game last night in a couple of moments here with Greg Washington See in the meantime, I wanted to keep you around after leaves morning take for a couple of moments Just to you know, go over for our audience here either on YouTube in the chat favorite pod platform Just like what are you looking for tonight? Like coming off that game here on Friday, I think most of it walked, once was walked away from this one saying, I don't think the Leafs are in trouble. Every game has been close. Why should we have expect anything different in game three?

Well, what are you looking for in game four? Well, I was going to ask you, do I look nervous? You talked about nerves off the top. I know I'm not playing the game, but it's, it's confidence. It's, it's weird confidence. Fans are more nervous than players. Yeah. Always.

I work with producer Vic and Zach Phillips. So I know exactly what you're saying. Fair. But no, I think there's a general calmness to the fan base. I know you're playing the defending Stanley Cup champions. The Panthers were dialed in for the most part in game three, but I think for the Maple Leafs perspective, the process is what's really impressed me and the preparation, even starting that game the

way they did going up two nothing, three ones. So I look for the Leafs to just continue to play their game. I think they're onto something here with the Florida Panthers. I like the fact that they're getting in the dirty areas, they're scoring the right type of way. The power play, I think is going to be a big story in this game. But I don't know if you concur. I think the better of the two teams through three games has definitively been the Toronto Maple Leafs. Do you agree? I do, but that's a pretty low bar considering neither team has really played a complete game. Like I know exactly what you mean.

And the Maple Leafs and outside of that second period on Friday where the that was probably the best period either team has played in all three games. Florida was incredible in that second period, but the Maple Leafs have been, I would say by a slight margin, the better team so far in the series. But again, having said that, we haven't seen the best from either team yet. Yeah, and I think from the Leafs perspective, that's probably a good thing. I will say there isn't a drop off from line to line. Like, for the first time, maybe in this core four era, if you want to call it, there's

a consistency to their game. The way they're playing, how physical they're playing, the attention to detail defensively. Again, it's so easy to look at the series and be, well, they're up 2-1, they had a chance to go up 3-0, but like you didn't expect like a punch back from defending Stanley cup champions. Like I came down here thinking Florida would win at least one of these games. If not both of them, I think it's going to be a longer type series. Wouldn't be shocked if it goes seven games, but there's hope there. There's certainly hope in this fan base that maybe wasn't there even a week ago.

Merrick Joseph wall. I'm not going to bias this conversation with a question. I'm just going to throw the name out there. Got to be better. Got to be better. And again, I just think you look at goaltending. You look at the respective series. I mean, there's a question that seems like in every series right now, but the Greece. But this one specifically because Anthony Stolarz pretty much had become the number one goaltender for this team.

And it was an it was an afterthought like who's starting this game It was gonna be Anthony Stolar's but doesn't sound like he's returning anytime soon. I think from the Maple Leafs perspective They've been really sheltered Craig Ruby has in the way he's sort of broken down the game for Joseph Wall so far But he hasn't been the guy we've seen for the majority of the season I think he needs to elevate the timeliness of the saves I think is what really has set Stolar's apart from Wall this season. I think you probably count on one hand how many goals he probably

wants to have back or ugly ones where I think we've seen three or four of those already in the series. The, I mean, the obvious point I suspect to make about the difference in the two goaltenders is puck handling. Yeah. Like you have a puck handling goaltender, It's a lot of pressure off your blue line and right now Every time Joseph Wall leaves his crease to play the puck Maple Leafs fans hold their breath They should like it seems to be a game plan though and Paul Maurice is one of the best coaches in the league

But I sort of zoned in on that in game three How often the Panthers just gained the line and put it in deep behind wool. And he goes to play it. And I feel like he's preoccupied with playing the puck and that's what's going through his mind and not just reacting as a goalie. And that's why I think he's getting in trouble a bit and overplaying situations because I do think the Panthers are in his head. Like that's the unique thing about this is like Joseph Wall, you think of him, how calm,

cool and collected he is, but he hasn't looked that way at all in this series. And maybe it's the rust, maybe he gets stronger. Ella, like Max Patcheretti, who missed two and a half months and game by game, we see more and more out of wall. But that's the one thing my major takeaway, aside from the puck handling and the drop off, significant drop off from Stoller's to wall is he doesn't look wall-like and in stoic which kind of concerns me. I do wonder if you know considering the gaffes that we see on a consistent basis handling the puck I do wonder if he just stops and says like this isn't my game I'm not gonna play this I know that there's an expectation because of how many games

Stolar's play that the goaltenders play the pucks and take the pressure off the D. But I really do wonder if Joe Wall just says like, look, I'm not Anthony Stolar's. You can't expect me to play this way. Yeah. And, but I wonder what the direction is from the coaching staff, right? Um, do they want him to play the puck, look for his options? Do they want him to let it go? It looks like they do, no?

I know. I know. It really does like say, look, we're not going to change how our blue line plays, so you're going to change the way you play. Because I think the key in it, you'd agree, Florida's four check is just, it's unbelievable. And they come at you so heavy. And the Leafs, I think, for the most part, I give them credit, have been really, really efficient in the way they've gathered, got the puck and got it out of the zone as quickly as possible. One more before I give way to Wish, and we'll let you get on with your afternoon and getting ready for the game tonight. Austin Matthews didn't skate this morning. Um, we talked in a least morning take yesterday about Austin Matthews and what's up with Austin Matthews.

And we're all playing, you know, point to where the injury is or try out playing amateur doctors here, trying to figure out what's happening with Austin Matthews. Clearly something is, but nobody outside of Austin Matthews, his family and people in the organization know what it is. But when you watch them right now, what are you seeing? Or maybe more specifically, what aren't you seeing? Put it this way, I'm very happy and I think we're fortunate we have two washrooms in I think we're fortunate. We have two washrooms in the suite we're in right now because the underpants

cam and Leafs nation has to be through the roof. Merrick, uh, the, what, what I see is a guy and again, we're joking. We're calling him Austin Deno, Philippe Deno. He is like, I don't want to talk anymore about Austin Matthews being a stud defensively, this guy's the highest paid player in the NHL to score goals and you don't score 69 goals by fluke I think it's quite clear. There's something cooking Rosie thinks it's a risk. It could be a back issue Like nobody seems to have an answer but it's so clear in the one-timer like he is mr. Precision

That's what makes Austin Matthews tick. When he shoots the puck, it ripples twine. And as soon as you start to see him miss the net, you know, something's up. Like it's plain and simple. And it's not like this is the first time we've seen it a couple of years back when he had the wrist issue, an official wrist issue, it was the same thing. He was missing the net a lot. So I think it just something in the one time or something in the sort of the snap and his shot is just not there.

And that's why he's missing the net so much. He's clearly injured to me. Uh, before I let you go, tomorrow you guys are on the air from here. Not this ring, but still in Fort Lauderdale. Yes. We'll be at the hotel tomorrow. Carter Hutton will be in the mix to a cohost. We'll recap game four and hopefully it's a three one series lead for the Maple Leafs

here. We shall see how it goes. Awesome. Thanks bud. My pleasure. Take care. See you. Here is Nick Elbergah, the host of Leafs Morning Take alongside Jay Rossell. Again, show is on tomorrow from the hotel, not from Amarant Bank Arena. So that is one less thing that Nick Elbergah has to worry about pronouncing. Kind of get a day off that way, bud.

Okay, a couple of things here in advance of Greg Wachanski, the sheet powered by FanDuel, 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. And a couple of games on the go around the NHL this evening. Of course, we've just been talking about the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers.

No Matthews at this gate this morning, but he will play David Camp in his spot of practice. Matt Murray is over the illness. He will back up. It was nice seeing a very tan Dennis Hildeby on the bench wearing the baseball cap, but he will not be there. It will be Matt Murray who is sick on Friday. Sergei Bobrovsky starts, and it sounds like,

although there weren't any specific line rushes today, it'll most likely be the same lineup for the Florida Panthers as Friday. We're going to get a full time attempt on the Dallas Winnipeg series from Greg Wyshinski in a couple of moments here. Connor Hellebuck with a command performance in game three for nothing. Massive shutout. We know that Dallas already did their damage and now the venue shifts to American Airlines center. We look forward to that game later on this evening. Meanwhile, your motor home or travel trailer isn't just for getaways, it's a moneymaker on wheels.

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with our good friend, Greg Wyshinski on Tuesdays, but because it's a special Sunday edition of the She Here, we thought we'd bring him aboard again. So here he is, our good friend from espn.com and ESPN, Greg Wyshinski. Wysh, how are you on this Sunday in Dallas? I'm good, man. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there.

It is temperate in Dallas. It is not man. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. It is temperate in Dallas. It is not scorching, which is nice because I am wearing the penguin, you know, quarter zip, as is my want. And you know, I think, listen, I've been to a lot of playoff games in this building in recent years. It is a great scene. I mean, they are hyper-steamed. Obviously, they've had a ton of success. They're easy to, yeah, the music is awesome. Elite, yeah. So that brings me to my point, which is that for all of the laudatory comments

about the play of Connor Hellebuck in game two of this series, as you noted, that game was played in Winnipeg. And when Connor Hellebuck has not been in Winnipeg over the last three post-seasons, he is one in seven. He gave up 16 goals and 66 shots in St. Louis getting pulled at all three games. An 838th save percentage in his last eight road games.

He has to show it here, here in Dallas, before anyone is allowed to write Helleback, the Hellessence. You've got to do it here. It doesn't matter. They have all the nice you have to do here. So what you're getting at then, if I can try to couch this in some clever kind of way, Hellebuck is American for playoff Luongo circa 2011 against the Boston Bruins. Insert tire pumping jokes here, but you're not wrong. Like you're not wrong. Like the evidence has been laid before us

when we saw that in the St. Louis Blues series. I wanna circle back to this Dallas Winnipeg matchup in a couple of seconds, but I wanna rewind to last night, Vegas and Edmonton. A couple of things on that last goal. First of all, incredible rush by William Carlson to set the whole thing up. It's eight seconds left. Like there's still enough time for an NHLer to get from one end of the ice to the other end of the ice and set something up and get a chance. And everybody on the ice you would think would know that,

but it looked like as Carlson with gathering speed, everybody was kind of saying to themselves, nah, this ain't gonna happen. The clock's gonna run out and we saw straight legs. And the next thing we know, we saw Riley Smith going around Stewart Skinner who was out there swimming and Leon Dreisaitl tapping the puck in on his own. This is completely unscientific and I don't have any context for it, but does it not seem to you

like this year in the playoffs more than any other playoff season we've seen more players put the puck in their own net than ever before? Yes, but also I thought you were going to say we saw we've seen more goals scored with like a couple of it. I found it. So I have two thoughts about the Oilers in that last play. The first is, you know, it's one of those deals where you can train for an entire season. You can, you know, game plan all of these different scenarios. And then the great thing about hockey is that a key

to the game is that you can play the game and you can play the game. And that's the key to the game. And train for an entire season, you can game plan all of these different scenarios. And then the great thing about hockey is that occasionally something is thrown at you that you're not prepared for. And everybody changing on that play,

with six seconds left, everyone is thinking over time, hell, the ESPN app had the game going to overtime when the buzzer sounded. And so and so like Carlson stakes it in and starts to kind of wheel around. You could see that there there's panic because they didn't anticipate this being the way it should play out.

And now you've got, you know, two oilers defenders flopping down in the slot to present a shot. Skinner doesn't know what the slot to present a shot. Skinner doesn't know what the hell to do. And the only guy that should have hit the deck was dry side, right? Like shouldn't he slide behind Skinner at that point to try to protect the net at all costs instead of trying to play the puck with a stick? And I know, hang on, pause on pause in that for one second.

I know what he's doing because in his mind, he's protecting from a backdoor pass. He's watching. He's watching. Riley, Riley. Yeah, he's seeing Riley go wide and he's protecting a backdoor pass. And I don't think he wants like, I don't think he wants to slide because Riley Smith could bounce it off of him in the net. I think he's take a look. If I protect the back door, protect the back door pass, we're going to be.

Which happened anyway. It's happened anyway. Which happened anyway. Which happened anyway. So I know that our reaction to that is, what a disaster for the Whalers. But I mean, that really is kind of, there's no drill you run in that situation to figure out what to do.

They went with instincts and Riley made it, Smith made a great play the other thing too Is that you know I've been trying to figure out what that loss means You know some losses that are just punches in the gut that you get stagger you I Think the oilers know they didn't play well last night dry subtle in particular didn't play well at all The first goal was definitely on Skinner But you knew that was gonna happen when Picker didn't play.

And so because you didn't have the goalie that you relied on to be your foundational player for the last several wins, and because you laid an egg at home, I don't think they're gonna be devastated by this loss. They're bummed, it sucks, but it's not a loss that should stagger them, I don't think. I know, I don't think this is one that changes the series, but listen, you mentioned Stuart Skinner a couple of seconds ago.

Calvert Pickard has been one of the key stories here for Edmonton. You know what you're getting with McDavid, you know what you're getting with Tricell, those stories are well told. The reemergence of John Klingberg has been excellent. That fourth line had been really good as well. But to me, the concern here if you're the Edmonton Oilers is, do you think now you can win with Stuart Skinner in net? Like I'm with you. I don't think the loss is devastating unless it's Stuart Skinner back in net again and he surrenders, I don't know, the first two goals on three shots in

game four. Then all of a sudden we got problems. I think the problem is that you go from a goaltender in Pickert where you're like, okay, maybe we get that replacement level goaltending that we need to win in the playoffs to a goaltender in Skinner where it's undeniable at this point in his relationship with the Edmunds Oilers that they know they have to outscore their goalie. And that's the change in mindset is that when Stuart Skinner is back there, you have to outscore your goalie because he's not going to pitch a shutout. He's not going to be the reason you win. He could be the reason you lose. And so now all of a sudden you might be pressing a little bit more because you know you have to maximize every

offensive chance because this is going to inevitably become a four, three game. If that, if it were any other team other than the Edmonton Oilers, I would say as a philosophy, that's problems. But the one team in the playoffs that can outscore the other team and can outscore any bad performance by a goaltender are the Edmonton Oilers. That's the saving grace for Edmonton. If there's one team that can score its way out of problems, it's a, it's not

Bloch's team. Um, quit park a couple of seconds and talk about Corey Perry, two more goals last night, he's just one goal shy of a 20 goal campaign. He's turning 40. You know, he doesn't get around the ice quickly, but he's really a highly intelligent hockey player who gets to the places that he needs to get to. He's violent when he needs to be.

He's skilled when he needs to be. He's clutching the playoffs. How would you describe what we're seeing here from this future Hall of Famer that everybody has always hated, Corey Perry? It's the top line performance that really shocks me because I think that Corey had sort of carved out that niche on several teams in the last few years

of being a bottom six savvy veteran agitator, or maybe he contributes in the power play now and again. And just to be, to do everything type veteran down the line, but also at one point was an MVP in this league. I'm shocked that he's been this effective playing on the top line. I think the goal, the thing for me last night with Perry

that makes him such a valuable player and his veteran savvy was up full display, being in front of the net as an art, I've had long conversations with Zach Hyman about what it is like to be net front and the tricks, the trade, and how you have to learn how to do it. Perry's screen last night on Aiden Hill,

like you could take a caterpillar and lay it down on the ice and that's how far away Perry was from the goal fender. And to do that and not interfere is such an art and Hill had absolutely no chance on the goal because Perry's screen was so good. And yeah, you could make the argument that at that point, he'll should absolutely no chance on the goal because Perry's screen was so good And yeah, you could make the argument that at that point he'll should push him out or whatever It's still he's still a hard guy to move

And probably the McNabb injury probably played a bit too But that play itself just like man that is that someone who has done this so many times in his career now That he knows exactly where he needs to be in order to to not do anything That's gonna impact the goal and result in a review. Very disappointed in you that you chose Caterpillar and not Worm. Oh, Worm? Well, you know, Worms can be long. Worms can be quite long, you know. Don't cut, no, no, no, no, no. Stop digging. Stop digging. Maybe it's a sandworm from Dune, Merrick, and then you're talking about a quite large worm, aren't you?

Oh, oh, hang on a second. Before we go anyune, Merrick. And then you're talking about a quite large worm, aren't you? Oh, oh, hang on a second. Before we go any further. Ace update. Yes. Got to do ace update. Do you want, do you want to start? I'll start. I want to use this platform for good.

I think one of the reasons why that Merrick versus Wachinsky was such a huge success and a lasting thing in this world is that we had fun and we embigged the tent and we were not about rivalries. We were not about calling out people outside of Jeremy Roenick's impiel. You weren't about that. And that one uncomfortable conversation that you had about Rayem rigging the first star in a game one night.

Now listen, I understand. I understand that there are other people who have discussed the ace issue. I understand that Heat Daddy has done it in Hockey Night Scottsdale. I understand that Cam and Strick have done it on their podcast. We've done it for a few weeks. I've done it on Puck Soup. I think the important thing to know here as I call for a truce in the entire

who talked about the ace nickname first war is that anyone who's watched TNT for a single millisecond since they got the rights back has been wondering did this guy give himself the nickname? Okay, so let's just all agree that this has been an in the ether. It's been in the air and hockey fandom for longer than any of us have been discussing it. That being said, I will give you the latest Ace update I get because once again the minute we talked about this on

the sheet, people have been reaching out to you and reaching out to me about this nickname thing. I got a text from somebody who never played with Anson Carter but has been summarily obsessed with him calling himself ace on TNT. And I quote, I have checked with numerous teammates from every team that Anson Carter played with, and no one has ever called him that until he coined it himself. So this is somebody who has now decided to put on the Sherlock Holmes cap, get out the magnifying glass,

do some investigation himself. And he believes through his interaction with former anti-Carter teammates that Ace named himself Ace. What do you have, sir? Okay, so after we were on together when MVSW, which day were you on with me last week? Tuesday, weren't you on Tuesday? Yeah, Tuesday or Wednesday.

Oh, I had you on and then Jobin and Adi joined me right after. Long time playboy, play voice to the Washington Capitals. And somehow, maybe I just brought it up or maybe he had heard our conversation because I think it was the tail end of our talk. He heard and his theory about it is when he joined the Washington Capitals,

people called him AC, Anson Carter. And if you watch TNT last night, that's how Rick Tauke referred to Anson Carter, AC, AC. And Benanati's thought is maybe AC evolved into ACE. So, I think that's the thing about the game. I think that's the thing about the game. I think that's the thing about the game. I think that's the thing about the game. I think that's the thing about the game.

I think that's the thing about the game. I think that's the thing about the game. I think that's the thing about the game. I think that's the thing about the game. I think that's the thing about the game. I think that's the thing about the game. I think that's the thing about the game. I think that's the thing about the game. I think that's the thing about the game. So then it becomes an interesting hockey kind of conversion because the hockey nickname naming convention

is to add a Y to the end of any name. You know, Sutsi and whatever. You know what I'm talking about. And so now you get an interesting thing where if his nickname was AC, and then people keep saying it over and over again until it becomes AC, right? Then if you take the Y off of that, then it just becomes ace. So if you D hockey

nickname AC said quickly, then it's just ace. Okay, so we're getting there. I don't think we're quite there yet. The pieces are coming together. The easiest thing for us to do is just to ask this and that to ask him. But I don't want to know for sure. Like I kind of want this to be a mystery of the universe that's never solved. But like we can easily just find out from the guy who gave me the nickname or where the nickname came from.

In our midst of that, again, the whole point of it is the hubris of just like, obviously, Biz has been Biz for as long as we've known him and talk has been, you know, talk has been talk and Hank is Henry, Henry, one question for Hank. It was the hubris of just being like, ace here. And then assuming the person, the very famous hockey player on the other end knew who the hell that was is the impetus of all of this. But now it's morphed into this wonderful hockey urban legend mystery of how did Anson Carter become ace and did he name himself?

And I don't know. I don't know. This has been your answer seems plausible as anything. It's been just, I gotta say that's Joe Benenati's theory. That's, that's what Joe put before because that's what they called him in Washington when he was there. Look, regardless of how it began, who had it for, what this has been, if Anson gave it to himself, this has been a masterclass at getting your nickname over. Like Ace here, Ace here has become part of the hockey vernacular, has become completely part of the hockey lexicon. There's, you know, he shoots, he scores, and there's Ace here.

Ace here. I love it. I love it. So, so, so AC might have been his stunning Steve Austin, and then Ace is his stone cold Steve Austin. All right. Right. That's the bottom line. We called stones, stone cold said so ace here. It's the catchphrase that helps get the nickname over. OK, we're getting somewhere. We're getting somewhere. Let's get to Dallas where you are right now. We got a couple of minutes left here with you. Let's get to Dallas.

It is Dallas facing off against the Winnipeg Jets. How do you handicap this one right now? And are you buying into the, this is USA Hockey's first glimpse into who their netminder will be in Italy next year? Ottinger or Carter Hallebuck? Oh, it's a good question. I still think that might be determined in pool play, to be honest with you.

I don't think Hallbuck played poorly at all in four nations. I thought he was quite good. And if that's the audition for him or from other people for the national team, I think he passed it. Like I said, my question for USA management is do you consider the games in Italy to be road games?

Or are they all home games because everyone will be living in Italy at that point? Because that's the question you have to answer if you go and shit the bed again out of here today. For me, this is a really big pushback game for Dallas. They're 3-0 in the playoffs after losses. They would average close to five goals a game in those games after losses.

And here's a stat for you. Jake Ottinger, 16 career playoff wins following a loss, which is the most for any goalie since 2022. Now, he's had the advantage of playing deeper into the playoffs than a lot of goalies. And obviously all that tells you is that Dallas tends to lose some games during series and push them late. But when they lose, he's been there to kind of pick up

pieces and play really well the next game. So, expecting big things out of Otter today and expecting this crowd to be the wind in the sails for the Stars team. And then we'll see what, what Hellebuck gives us. I mean, look, man, this is a real plant your flag moment for the Winnipeg Jets. Like there's a chance that they could come out of this game fully confident that Hellebuck is at home, on the road.

And if that's the case, then then they're they're in business because this as the one thing that has me a little concerned about somebody who is Dallas in the series is, is that this is the healthiest that Winnipeg has been in a in a while. This is something that Scott Arneal pointed out after the win in game two is, you know, with Morrissey back and Shifely back and Ehlers back, like they haven't had full capacity on this roster in quite a long time. And the one time they got it, they looked really good in that win against Dallas. Um, let's back up to Ottinger here for a quick second, because I have a hard

time evaluating him sometimes. Like early when he, when he first started started and I think about, I think about that series against the Calgary flames, um, even in the losing cause where he was phenomenal, it was in one of the best goaltending performances we've seen this generation in the playoffs. I remember saying to myself, I wonder if we're seeing the next Kerry Price in, in Jay Gottinger. I wonder if like that's, that's what, that's what Jake Ottinger is going to turn into.

He's the next carry price at times. He's looked like he could be the next carry price. Other times he's looked like he's not the next carry price. The talent is all there. The potential is all there. The ceiling is there. How do you, the competitiveness is there. Like that's another thing about Jake Ottinger.

Like we talk about, you know, guys selling out and guys, you know, giving up their bodies in the playoffs. Ottinger competes hard. Like, you know, there are just some goaltenders that just surf on the scale and this is how I play. And this is how I'm going to play in this situation. That situation, I'm not going to change. And if you beat me, oh, well, I just, I'm not going to evolve the way I

played because it's postseason. And there are some guys that'll abandon everything just to make a save. Like that's Ottinger. He competes hard. How do you see him? Like I, at times I just completely adore him. And other times I'm like, what's happening here? I think the Calgary series poisoned the well because it said it set him up to be a guy that can win a playoff series on his own.

And I think he's a guy that shows up in big moments in playoff series. Like I thought he was terrific in game seven against against Colorado, for example, especially late. But I don't think that he's won a series on his own. And the other thing about it that's interesting too, like if we are to put him on a pedestal as a great postseason goaltender, and I think his numbers in some cases indicate that he is one of the better postseason goalers

we have in the league right now, all the other guys that have been in that category have also had exemplary regular seasons in a way that he has. You think about Jonathan Quick with the Jennings. You think about Vasileski. You think about Bobr with the Jennings. You think about Vasileski. You think about Bobrowski. These are guys that have won Bezinas.

Like, like, Ottinger's never reached that point in the regular season of being that level of goal-tender who then does the same thing in the playoffs. He's always been someone who I think has been sort of maybe punching under his weight in the regular season, but then you get to the post-season and yeah, there's a little bit of inconsistency there, but in the big moments, it's never really on Otter.

And it's never really his fault. And in some cases, he's the reason they win. He's kind of in that really weird purgatory between elite goalie and great postseason goalie, if that makes sense. I like them. I just flat out like them too. Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers.

I wanna get to some other non game issues here in the time that we have with you, but I wanna get your thoughts on this. When I talked to Al Berga about this, off the top of the show, was on Leafs morning take with him yesterday from Amaranth here as well. How are you seeing this?

Like I'm right here involved in it, in the mix in and around it. I'm around Alberta every day here. So it's a lot of Maple Leafs talk. How does someone from Dallas look at this series? Usually, usually in Brooklyn, about a date of Dallas. So, you know, I, I, I, you knew they were gonna push back in the series. Like, I don't think that going back to Toronto 2-2 would be disastrous, even though it'll be framed

as them blowing the lead. And, you know, maybe now you're worried about Wall and you're clearly worried about Matthews. But, you know, this was gonna always be a marathon and not a sprint based on what you have on the other side of the ice. And so what Worried me a little bit in in in game three

He didn't have a lot to do But I thought the work that Bobrowski did in overtime was really good and and he he made some saves on on these chances that could have ended the game and so if he heats up now things get real interesting because I think he was terrible in the first two games of the series. So that's the one kind of thing that I'm a little bit concerned about for the Leafs now is if maybe he's getting to where he needs to be in the postseason which usually happens as we get later and later for Bob but overall like if they go back to turned about for the Leafs now, as if maybe he's getting to where he needs to be in the postseason, which usually happens

as we get later and later for Bob. But overall, like if they go back to two, I don't think it's a disaster. I think it's kind of the expected result. Okay, I want to kind of circle back to Anson Carter here, not the nickname, but the businessman in a couple of seconds. But I am curious because listen, the commissioner was asked about it on Friday.

Yeah, I know why he wants, because I wrote about it on Friday. Yeah, I know why he wants it because I wrote about it on Twitter. Expressions of interest from Atlanta. You know, the one thing we've seen with with with Vernon Krause, who's been a part of part of one, part of one ownership group, and then quite notably, Anson Carter is part of another, is Krause's group is being very loud about this. And the one thing that we learned from Gary Batman over the years in and around expansion specifically, or relocation, he wants things quiet. He does not like things noisy. He does not want symbols and tubas.

He wants it quiet. That's the way they like to do business. That's why I kind of look at how Krause is conducting his affairs here, trying to bring this team to Northern Atlanta. I say to myself, I'm not so sure that this is what the NHL is looking for. How do you see it?

I think you're wrong. And I'll tell you why, because I think that the volume of Krauss, in particular, doing sort of these interviews along the way, this was this interview was done with local TV station a couple days ago. And it was because it was sort of a year anniversary of them putting the wheels in motion for NHL expansion. The reason he's being loud is because he has other ownership groups trying to do the same thing that he's doing in Atlanta. And he's trying to express to them how far along they are at the gathering in Forst County and, you know, how there's going to be shovels in the ground or how they're preparing to go to New York this summer and present to Gary Bettman. All of this is to communicate to the other groups, you know, hey, if you aren't where you think you are on this, you might as well just stand down because we're so far ahead of the field right now of what we're doing. I also think the difference is that the NHL is not exactly been shy in discussing wanting to go back to Atlanta for a third time. Like Bill Daley told us at ESPN a couple of years ago that he's very bullish on Atlanta being an NHL city.

Again, he thinks that having the arena where Kraus wants to build it, much like how the Braves moves to the suburbs is gonna change the demographics and change the appeal of that team. The demographics themselves in Atlanta and all around Georgia have changed since the Thraxers were there as well. So I don't think he's doing anything out of turn here

insofar as banging the drum too loud that's gonna scare away the NHL from Atlanta because they wanna go back. And I think what he's doing is for the benefit of his own bid versus the other ones in, in, in that state. That's interesting. The idea that he's trying to get other ownership groups to stand down because he's farther ahead, even though there's no plan for formal, you

know, uh, application for expansion yet. No, but so his whole thing is he's going to go up there this summer with, with everything that they've done with shovels ready to be in the ground. And his expectation is that Gary Bettman will then take that to the executive committee and then get the wheels turning for expansion. He, he, the interesting thing he said about that interview though, is he, he's put up a timestamp on expansion, which is after the CBA, which I know is kind of an obvious thing since we're probably, you

know, two months away or a month away from having the thing put to bed. But you know, there had been some talk about the Houston bit being a far and off along where they might announce it before the CBA. Um, it sounds, I mean, he, he seemed to indicate that expansion is going to be post CBA, which I thought was interesting. I do wonder though, like the other part of this about Vernon Krauss that's interesting, for those that don't know, he's like a guy who owns a lot of car dealerships down in

the Atlanta area. Is, we are hearing a lot from him, but we are not hearing anything from the consortium of other people that will have to put their money into the pot to make this thing a reality. I don't think this is Bill Foley. I don't think Vernon Krauss is going to be the guy who is, I mean, I think that he's going to be part of an ownership group, which is being the guy who is solely responsible for owning a team and bringing it to the ladder, is the sense of it. But I don't know. I don't know anybody else involved in the bit, but that's the sense I've gotten talking to people. Uh, you mentioned the CBA.

Let's, let's, let's finish up our conversation here on this Sunday before the games and talk about the CBA. I know people tend to glaze over sometimes with CBA talk, but don't worry. Uh, Gregor and I are not going to pretend to be actuaries and tell you sophisticated things about pensions. So don't worry about that more philosophically. Maybe I'm just so cynical because I've grown up, you know, in hockey specifically since 93, when, when Gary Bettman took over from Gil Stein, I associate new CBAs with lockouts,

with stoppages of play, sometimes short, like 94, sometimes long, like 20405. I don't know about you, but I'm stunned at how, again, we're not there yet, but I'm stunned at how easily this one seems to be on the horizon and getting done, and none of it is public. There doesn't seem to be any the horizon and getting done. And none of it is public. There doesn't seem to be any acrimony. I can't, like, I do not recall a day

where there were more smiles than growls from across the table. From the PA to the NHL, the NHL to the Players Association. Greg, like, we're not used to this. Like, this is a completely new territory that we're entering here. A peacetime and pleasant CBA? What gives? First of all, I want to just put this out there.

I don't know if other podcasts have talked about it, but I'll put this out there. We should rename it the Commissioner's Cup. The President's Trophy should be done. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that.

I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that.

I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that.

I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. I'm not gonna go into that. we get rid of all the bad juju rename rename it the commissioners cup and give it to the team with the best regular season record Second of all not against um, I think I think the reason things are going well is because things are going well I mean everyone is pretty fat and happy right now Yeah, but the generation of players hold on hold on the generation of players that are that are in this league right now have known um A decent amount of contractual money. They have seen the salary cap rise.

I saw Gary Vettman at the draft lottery last Monday and I said to him, I said, look, one of the genius things that you guys did was spelling out where the salary cap is going for the next three years. So if you're a player with an inkling of dissatisfaction about the current financial system, now you know where the cap is in three years. So if you're a player with an inkling of dissatisfaction about the current financial system, now you know where the cap is in three years and you're probably thinking to yourself, you know, what a good point. Let's not ruin a good thing. That's not ruin a good thing. I told them, I said, you know, that was a pretty brilliant bit of negotiation. So everyone's fat and happy. Everyone's getting their money. There's no revolutionary on the Chris Chelyos level to be like, you know what,

actually we should be taking more money and this sucks and we should get rid of the cap. Like no one wants to mess with a system where everyone is benefiting right now. And the arguments for people like Alan Walsh who I really respect that we should be doing even better, I kind of agree with, but you're not gonna be able to rally people to that cause

when the cap is going as high as they predicted to be in three years, don't you think? Yeah, but my whole thing is I always come back to it. Maybe I'm just looking at this too cynically. You know, it's the old Monty Burns line. Yeah, sure, I have wealth and money beyond my wildest dreams, but I'd give it all up for just a little bit more.

Like that always seems to be my default setting. Is everything going great? Yeah, and here's our chance maybe, squeeze the PA a little bit more and get more concessions out of them by removing games and paychecks. But it doesn't seem as if anybody on the ownership side, on the league side wants to do this.

I wonder, I really, I really wonder as, as Gary Bettman, you know, is, is in the process now of writing his legacy. Um, and I know that there was one done, albeit during COVID in a very challenging situation, I really wonder how much this is the commissioner wants to do one CBA before he leaves clean without a hammer, just by just what they want to do. And not be the guy that scares you where the league shuts down every time they try to go into a labor depreciation room. I think that's an interesting theory and I'll buy it.

I think the other part of it too though is you need pressure points for the owners to want to claw back from the players. And right now there isn't one because they're making so much money on media rights deals and they're making so much money off of future expansion, which is going to be two more teams in the next like three or four or five years, right? So those are the things that are kind of satiating the owners who otherwise might be nervous about how much the players are making. Now the two things we've got to worry about here, Merrick, are international economic relations and their impact on the National Hockey League, which is

something Betman has nodded at, that the tariffs and the economic warfare between the US and Canada isn't an issue now but certainly is on their radar and might become one. The strength of the Canadian dollar obviously is another. And, and, and when we get to year four or five, six of this new CBA, I mean, the cap ain't going down anytime soon. So then we might get to a point where player salaries are starting to outstrip revenue. And then that's when you start to have to get into the trenches again, with these guys and try to claw back from what the players are making. We're

not there's no pressure point right now where they can't get a CBA done. The players are fat and happy, the owners are satisfied financially, but you can see way in the distance, way in the distance, a few storm clouds for the one after this one. I really do like your idea of putting out the salary cap, upper range and the upper limits for the next three years as a negotiating tactic for the CBA. Oh, if you're thinking about, you know, not being happy with this CBA, like there's big money on that. That's a really, really smart take, Wish.

Good for you. Well done, sir. It's basically, it's a bribe. It's like, it's basically like, if you think this is bad and you want to raise a stink and create a problem for what should be a very smooth labor negotiation between the players and the owners for once, here is the thing that you'd be giving up

and putting at risk. Here is the money on the table for you to get. It's a great guy whose contract is up in two years. Take the rest of the week off. That's a good job. Well done, Gregor. I got Dallas Winnipeg today. Then I'm here for another day.

I'm back in DC for CAPS hurricanes next Thursday. You and I got to see each other at game two. That was really exciting. We had some pops at the old Irish channel and And it's just fun. It's fun. It's fun to say hi to people It's fun to see some faces I haven't seen in a while It's fun when you pop into it arena and they're happy to see you by the way The only reason I think that I'm in this radio booth right now is because I was holding an ESPN mic flag earlier And they assumed I was gonna be on television, which is a great thing to have it's a it's a skeleton when I start you know going around to these arenas

and waving this thing around and being like oh what what access can I get in these rooms they're usually locked it's a fantastic thing so anyways it was a fun Sunday again happy Mother's Day happy Mother's Day to my mom in Jersey to my beautiful wife Ruby who is there at home with kiddos. And so it's, you know, it's a nice Sunday. Special place in heaven for hockey moms. We always say it and it's true, special place in heaven. Thanks Wish, enjoy the game tonight.

Absolutely. There he is, the Sherlock Holmes of the Ace story, of the Ace controversy as we bring in Zach Phillips here. No Greta for you tonight in downtown Toronto on Kings Street, but After Dark is on the horizon. I hope for your mental health is a happy one. A couple of things I do want to point out here at leafsnation.com. Sorry about why staying the course has never been more important for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Stephen Ellis on the Maple Leafs not being concerned about Austin Matthews

lack of scoring. You can see that one on theleafsnation.com and the other one about consistency and stay in the course. Watch, read that at leafsnation.com as well. Pickard is out for tomorrow as well. So the Stuart Skinner show continues that from our friend Elliot Friedman, Kristobloch confirming that and announcing that we will not play game four tomorrow night. What are you looking for tonight? You're going to be wrapping this thing up afterwards online at the Leafs Nation after dark. What are you looking for this evening, Zachary?

Yeah, joined by Stephen Ellis and Jay Rose Hill in tonight's post game as well. Stephen will be in the arena. I'm going to give you a boring answer that you have heard from Alberga on Morning Tech. You heard from Alberga on the show with you. Probably heard from a bit there from Wish as well. It's stay the course. And Stephen wrote the article about it, it's stay the course.

Like I've listened to a lot of people talk about it and you know, I listened to Pierre and one of the things he was bringing up is that the Leafs also haven't played their best hockey. And I think that that's a good point. You know, the Panthers are going to push the Leafs have found a way here for the first time in the Matthews era to push back. You know, they go down in that game for three after blowing a three one lead.

Yours passed Jeff. That game probably ends five, three, six, three, seven, three for the Panthers. It's over. And then maybe that's this series is over. Wasn't the case. Tied the game, go to OT, push back. I just think they have to just keep playing that same way. There's other things I would like, you know, you'd want to get into the nitty gritty Bobby McMahon.

We haven't really seen them yet in these playoffs. Austin Matthews. Let me, let me, let me ask you a question. Just pause for one second, whether it's McMahon, maybe it's Homburg. Would you put Nick Robertson in? No. No. I don't think so. Because I think that what what McMahon and what Homburg offer you is more so what you need in this series right now than what Nick Robertson offers you. And I think that Barube also has a trust factor in McMahon and Homeberg regardless of lack

of offensive production that he does not have in Nick Robertson. So one point, we're mentioning this, I think it was Stephen Ellis and I on Friday about Pontus Homeberg. Like I know the Chris Tanev leads the NHL this postseason on taking the most hits. Like he's getting hammered out there every time he's on the ice. But every time Holmberg is on, like he absorbs so many huge hits and he just gets back up and he keeps going. Like, I don't know what the guy's

made of. I have no idea, but he takes punishment out there and it doesn't phase him. He doesn't stop. He just gets up and keeps going. It's pretty remarkable. I think it was game one. He got hit by Kulikov. Like you would have had to scrape me off the ice. If I got hit like that, like they would have been finding me in the concrete when the ice melted at the end of the year. And he just snapped up and got back the other way, gets engaged in a scrum. I think that's part of it here. Uh, Nick Robertson actually impressed me down the stretch in terms of like adapting his game to being like, I got to get a way in this lineup in a way that's not just scoring goals here. I need to find other ways to impact

things, but I still think he just lacks that ability that McMahon and Humbert can bring that he doesn't. I understand it. I just look at the first three games and they're all one goal games and then it was the overtime game with Brad Marshann on Friday. And I say, if the games are this close, if the games are this tight, do you not want someone, one other stick that can score? Like the point that Albregha and I were talking about yesterday on Leaps Morning Take was, you know, you look at the four nations. Did USA need Matthew Kachuk with his injury trying to gut it out with no power in any stride.

And he just ended up sitting on the bench the rest of the game, or did they need Kalecona that could score a goal coming down the wing and snapping it in real easy? That's a close final. That's what I wonder about here with the Maple Leafs. Okay. So my counterpoint to that- One goal game. Like you will not want as many goal sticks in your lineup as possible.

I understand that point. And my discussion about Nick Robertson has always has been scratch and score. That's kind of what he's been labeled here in Toronto. Sits in the press box for a couple of games, comes back, he scores two, he scores one, he scores one. And it's like, wow, why did we leave this guy out? And then his game tails off and he goes back to the press box. But my art, my counterpoint to that would be.

Is Nick Robertson the type of player who can find a way to score in this type of game? Can he find a way to get into that space and get those opportunities in this tight checking of a game in this physical physicality? Like, I don't know what the what word I was just looking for there Jeff so I'm just gonna pause on that and just move on because I started saying something and don't know what I was trying to say anymore can he score when the game is this tight and this physical I don't know and I think that's where you kind of look at those guys who where you watch Pontus Humberg who gets obliterated and it's just like bounce right back up. He's right where I think like okay I want that and that's what I want in the lineup whereas I'm like

Nick Robertson I know he can do that but I don't know if he can find a way in this type of a game. Seriously he's like a video game character you know we're watching on Friday and he's getting smashed and he just pops right up like nothing phases him. It's remarkable when you watch it live because it's like he's getting hit hard. Panthers do everything four keeps, unfazed. No problem. Not even a limp. Not even a limper. Not even one of those like, oh yeah, my shoulder like waving to the, no. Just gets right back in the plane. It's remarkable. Yeah. It's remarkable.

Okay, so after dark tonight, immediately following, Jay Rose Hill on the program today. Sorry, who else is on the program? Jay Rose Hill and- Steven Ellis. Steven Ellis from the rink, of course. From the Amarant Bank, the way to where we are now. Listen, thanks to everybody who joined us here.

Special Sunday edition, we're here. Might as well do a show of the sheet, whether you're watching live on YouTube, whether you're participating in the chat, which we always respect and enjoy and love and smile at every time we peek down. Thank you so much for being part of it. Thanks for listening on your favorite podcast platform.

The program, this program, so I'm not gonna make it back in time. And I was really trying to get a flight that would get me back in time. Not gonna be able to do the show tomorrow at three o'clock. So we'll be back on Tuesday, which means Wish. That's a lot of Wyszynski, eh Vic? Holy smokes. Just when I thought I got rid of that guy a couple of years ago. He's back. It's Godfather. They keep bringing me back. So the show comes back on Wednesday at three o'clock, but tomorrow morning nine o'clock right Vic 9 a.m

Morning cuppa. That's right morning cuppa wrapping up the weekend DFO live at noon, and I don't know what we're gonna run in the afternoon Zack once you just take the show tomorrow Do we really want that I don't know let me check with the boss Stand by our socials. We'll see what we get to tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy the game tonight. Maple Leaf facing off against the Florida Panthers here. The Dallas Stars taking on the Winnipeg Jets there. And by there, I mean Dallas and American Airlines Center. The Winnipeg Jets facing off against the Dallas Stars. Enjoy the games. I'll talk to you again on Tuesday. Thanks for being

part of the Sunday edition. Appreciate it. 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 Alice gonna be fixing my mind I turned on the music I turned on the music I turned on the music I turned on the music I turned on the music It's enough that I'm better than you sometimes losing

It's enough that I'm better than you sometimes losing Helping on the days that went wrong Helping on the days that went wrong Helping on the days that went wrong