The Sheet with Jeff Marek - The Chase is Over ft. Zach Leonsis & Patrick Burke

Episode Date: April 7, 2025

Zach Leonsis and Patrick Burke join Jeff Marek to kick off the week on The Sheet. Discussing Alex Ovechkin's record-breaking goal, the ensuing celebration, lack of suspension for Jalen Chatfield for his takedown of Connor McMichael, the St. Louis Blues staying hot, 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=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.

A-Cast powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. It's the best time of the year to be a sports fan, and over at The Nation Network, we have you covered no matter the sport. Whether you're a hockey lover, a basketball head, or a baseball fanatic, our catalog of podcasts provide fans daily insights, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com So I was thinking of a couple of different ways here how to start the show and today we're going to talk a lot about Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and goal number 895. And by the time this show rolls around on Monday afternoon, a lot of the conversation

has already gone on. It started yesterday after Ovechkin beat Ilya Sorokin. Trivia question answer to set the record. And continues on to this day. So there's a couple of things that I wanna point out on the program here before we really get rolling with our guests. One, I want you to think about Alex Ovechkin for a second and players like him, specifically Sidney Crosby comes to mind as well.

There are some players that you look at and you say they mean more to the franchise than just what they do on the ice. And for the longest time, Alex Ovechkin has been in a very, very unique club and that is Ovechkin has been in a very very unique club and that is Ovechkin first of all probably has left maybe you can make the argument Crosby more money on the table than anybody else in the history of the game when you consider what Ovechkin has meant to this organization going back to that disastrous 2003 2004 season for the Washington Capitals the fortunes really

did turn around once they drafted Ovechkin and From there it was and we all remember, you know the certainly the goal chase that we've all been through now But the packed houses the sellout streaks the reinforcement of the Washington Capitals brand What that player and how he played defined this new era of the NHL. And I do want to get into one thing very specific about the goal scorers, the people that have set these records. Ovechkin, Gretzky, and before him Gordie Howe, and how in a lot of ways they're sort of indicative of the style of play of their time and

probably the perfect embodiment of them. We'll get there in a couple of seconds. But I've always made the point about Alex Ovechkin that no matter how much you paid Ovechkin, he was still underpaid. Like the salary cap within the salary cap is 20%. That's the max you can pay a player under the CBA. And Alex Ovechkin may have been the most underpaid player when you consider how much he has meant to the organization.

And to the point about how he scored this goal. Goal number 895. So first of all, we go back to Gretzky when he broke Gordie Howe's record. And I love things like this. And there's gonna be, you're gonna hear a million different things like this about Ovechkin as, you know, the goal will become folklore. And we'll all remember where we were when the goal was scored. I was at a Boston pizza in Brampton watching with a bunch of 2010s at a hockey tournament. The Gretzky goal to break Gordie Howe's record was assisted by

Marty McSorley, legendary tough guy, legendary enforcer, legendary protector for Wayne Gretzky both in Edmondson and then in Los Angeles and the Ovechkin goal assisted by Tom Wilson. So as we think about and celebrate Alexander Ovechkin, let's remember the tough guys rule in all of this as well with the good good hands and as someone Pointed out to me yesterday. This is very unique and specific to our listeners slash viewers in Toronto It was two gthl kids that got the assists Tom Wilson and and Dylan's from so congratulations there

But when you think about Gordie howe he was perfect for his era because that was what I like to call the table hockey Era of the NHL. Everything was done in straight lines, right? And it was a button down, wrist shot league. It was a crew cut league and that was led by Gordie Howe, who was the strongest at the time in that league in the NHL. And then we think about Wayne Gretzky and the high flying Edmonton Oilers and all those incredible seasons that Wayne Gretzky had. Now that was a reflection, that Oilers team was a reflection of the

Winnipeg Jets and the WHA. Glenn Sather, legendary coach manager of the Edmonton Oilers fell in love with that style and went about creating the Oilers in that image and that team and that player became indicative of his era. And for Alex Oveshkin, you know we live in the era right now in hockey that is dominated by, and the conversation has been won out by, the analytics and the analytics community. The fight is over. Everybody has the departments. Everybody understands the value. And one of the things, you know, early adopters, early people that noticed, talked a lot about how something we call slot line passes or

Royal Road passes were the call of the day. If you were going to score you needed to get goaltenders moving and shots after a slot line pass and that is a pass that goes in front of the net from east to west. Your percentage to score goes up significantly and think about how many times you saw Mike Green make that pass. Think about how many times you saw John Carlson make that pass. Think about how many times you saw Nick Baxter

make that pass. Think about how you just saw yesterday, Tom Wilson make that pass. And one of the things that I love about how Ovechkin has done this. And to me still the shooting between the legs of the defenseman is always to me the signature but the signature really is where he scored that goal yesterday the one thing I was always told we've all been all been told as

well and players have been told this as well by the time you get to the NHL you cannot blow pucks past goaltenders. You can't do it. 895 to the man who shows that yes you can still blow pucks past goaltenders. Time now for daily outlines presented and by our friends and partners at FanDuel powered by FanDuel as a matter of fact make every moment more with North America's number one sports book and number America North America's number one sportsbook app provider that is FanDuel. Coming up on the program, want to get right to our guests here. Zach Leonsis is stopping by in a couple of moments as the celebration of not just Alexander

Ovechkin but the entire Washington Capitals organization continues here on this Monday. Also coming up on the program, we'll talk with Patrick Burke of both the NHL's Department of Player Safety. Patrick also has a significant hand in the NHL All-Star, specifically, skulls competition events. We'll talk plenty about the great eight Alexander Ovechkin, where his place is in history. And we'll kick it all off with Zach Leonsis, who title is President of Media and New Enterprises for Monumental, but really when you think of the Leonsis family, we think about the Washington Capitol. Zach joins me now. Zach, thanks so much for stopping by today. I know it's a busy day, let me ask maybe the most obvious question here for you. How much did you sleep last night,

if at all, after that celebration? That's a good question. I'm exhausted. I think I got home at a little before 2 a.m. last night, but it was totally worth it. It's been a long day, but what a special moment. I mean, we just feel so proud right now. We feel so lucky. It's an incredible achievement on its own, but to do it all with one team is stunning. And so we feel so appreciative with the opportunity to be part of this historic moment with Alex,

just so special. You know, I was trying before you came on to sort of give contacts to some players that mean more to an organization than what they do on the ice. And Ovechkin's in a really unique class. I mean, there's only really a handful of people you can look at around the NHL and say, we all know what he does on the ice, but he means that much more to this organization. And listen, I remember 0304 and the tough times

for the Capitals and then the rise of Ovechkin and the Capitals and getting to the playoffs. I can still remember, I think it was a Sunday afternoon game against the Florida Panthers when you guys finally made it in. I think it was a three to one game. I was at the Tampa airport watching it. Yeah, we had to wait almost every single That's right.

That season, we won like 12 or 13 in a row. Yeah, it was great. It was so much fun to go along with. And you know, the rise of the Capitals and the Stanley Cup and this incredible chase. And I've always made the point that, you know that the rise of the capitals and the Stanley Cup and this incredible chase and I've always made the point that you know Alex Ovechkin, listen no one's no one's gonna belittle the money that he has made in the NHL this is significant but I'll always say like how do you even come close to compensating someone like Alex Ovechkin

for what he's actually meant to this organization let me bob this to you I'm not asking you to put a decimal point to this but like can you give us a sort of sense internally what this guy has meant to the Washington Capitals? I mean, it's immeasurable. Obviously, we always had intentions of building a winning team that could compete for a Stanley Cup, but you do have to have a little bit of luck to be drafting in a year where you have a generational player, a player who could ultimately become and did become the greatest goal scorer of all time. When you scout a player, it typically don't say the potential is the greatest goal scorer of all time. I mean, so much has to go right and it is truly amazing. But I remember even during Alex's

rookie year, there was just something different about Alex. The first time he played golf in the area, he had a hole in one. The first time we took him to a baseball game, he caught a foul ball with his bare hand. And you just have these moments with Alex where you just felt like this guy is touched by God. There's just something different about him. And throughout the years, there have been highs and lows and we've always stuck together. And I think that through it all, Alex has always maintained an incredible sense of authenticity. I think all the players feel that. He's the first one to pick up the call and pick up the phone and welcome you to the team or ask you how you're doing or check in on you or call you with a FaceTime during the off season. I think fans see that

in terms of his authenticity when he celebrates. People really got a sense of that. We won the Stanley Cup and he's the same guy today as the player that we drafted in 2004 in Carolina. That's unique and I think that's a testament to Alex and his character. People love watching great success, but they also really fall in love with the people who they really adore and and Alex is that kind of guy. We've got one of the fastest growing markets for youth hockey in DC. We've had basically a sellout streak for 20 years. When Alex was first drafted people said Washington you know can't be a hockey town. Now this is undisputedly a hockey town and you know we think one of the best hockey markets in all of North America.

You know there's a silly little story that I like to share every now and then. Maybe you've heard this one, maybe you haven't. You know once upon a time a little boy went up to his mom and said, mom when I grow up I want to be a hockey player. His mom looked down at her child and said, son that's great but you can't do both. When you look at Ovechkin and you mentioned the celebrations and I think this is why he resonates with a lot of people, even though he's deep into his 30s, my kids love Ovechkin, my kids just love Ovechkin. There's still, and I don't know, sometimes it's just, I mean, you know what hockey's like.

I mean, he can get cynical, he can get bitter, the whole deal. One of the most impressive things to me is that as much as he has aged through this game and you see it with his hair, he's still a kid. Like he still looks like he's a kid playing hockey. You know what I mean, Zach? He still enjoys it.

He still enjoys it. And you have to enjoy it if you're putting up the stats, but he does. I mean, for him to be in the top three of goal scoring at age 39 in the National Hockey League, and by the way, he broke his leg four months ago and came back from it. I mean, if you're not loving what you do,

that does not happen. So that unbridled joy is contagious in the best way possible. And it keeps the team loose. And I think it also gives our team great confidence. And we've had a lot of come from behind wins this season. And I think it comes from a place of mental fortitude and fun and wanting to compete because you love the game.

The congratulations video. I mean, my favorite Phelps is there, the decky, Federer, like Jordan. It's a who's who, right? It's the murderer's row to say nothing of all the hockey personalities. How did that one come together? Many hands make light work. My father and I actually were the ones who reached out to Michael Jordan to see if he would do it. We had somebody else who knew Tom Brady who reached out and got his. People were enthusiastic to do this though because they knew that this wasn't just a

hockey record or a Washington Capitals moment. This was an all time sports moment. This is one of the hardest records in all sports ever. Like the home run chase in Major League Baseball. And to be frank, I think everyone understands the likelihood of us seeing this again in our lifetimes is very, very, very low. This was a very special occasion. And how could you not want to be a part of this? So it wasn't hard to convince people to participate. And a lot of these folks have met Alex

and I know, you know, in Alex's case, he looks up to so many of these guys, MJ in particular. So I think it meant a lot to him too. You know, one of the questions now that we're all wondering about, okay, I don't think this is gonna be the example of the dog that finally caught the car. And it's like, okay, what do I do now?

I mean, there's still playoffs on the, on the horizon too, but like, well, so what's next? Well, what do you think's next? He's always driving away from 900. You never know. He could be the very first member of the 900. We'll have to see. Maybe next, maybe, hang on, maybe, maybe next week when you play the Islanders,

that'll be it again. Pourser Rokin will want to go in there. Um, it wasn't the other day day just like incredible how it was the same number of games that it took Gretzky to set the record. It was the anniversary of us winning the draft lottery to pick Alex Ovechkin first overall and didn't Gretzky also break his record against the New York Islanders? I mean like all those things coming to court. It felt like destiny. It felt like hockey destiny. How else can you exploit it?

It's remarkable too. And before you came on, you know, one of the things, I have a soft spot in my heart for tough guys. I always have, it's the hardest way to make a living. And I think of the McSorley pass to Gretzky and I'll always think of the Tom Wilson pass to Alex Ovechkin. Do you have a word or two for Tom Wilson

through all of this? Because when we think about, listen, when you think about Ovechkin, we're always gonna think or two for Tom Wilson through all of this? Because when we think about, listen, when you think about Ovechkin, we're always gonna think about, I mean, I will think about Mike Green, we'll think about John Carlson and Nick Baxter. Do you have a word about Tom Wilson through all of this? Oh, I mean, we love Tom Wilson.

He's a Washington capital through and through. We're so proud to have him on our team, but I saw all of our players yesterday, and I would say the word that would describe the entire room and every single man to a tee was grateful. Everyone felt grateful to be a part of this moment. They just understood that this was something special that they would have with them for the rest of their lives that they'll be explaining to their grandkids one day. And you know, the fact that they are sharing this moment with

Ovi and that Ovi just acts like one of the guys, it, it's awesome. And, um, you know, Alex didn't wait to break this record, right? This didn't drag along. Actually, we got there pretty quickly and, um, you know, it allowed us to. Achieve this moment and they got a couple of days off before their next game against Carolina on Thursday night. And we'll host the pregame ceremony and then we get 12 days, 10 days ahead of the playoffs and I think our team wants to make the most of the opportunity.

It's a good opportunity to reset and we'll focus on the next big team goal. What did you make of Edgecombe refusing to hit the ice, uh, with an unguarded net? It didn't surprise me. I knew he didn't want to score it on an empty net. So I was actually wondering if he'd be sending it. Of course he did. Um, however, that was probably the one circumstance where I thought maybe he'd think about it, you know, to end the game on a hat trick. And, um, you know,

the two goals that he scored earlier in the game, and particularly the tying one were unbelievably great goals. And so, uh, you know, it's not like he has to prove that he didn't score goals five on five or four, five on four. But, uh, I thought it was awesome that he wanted to wait. He is an ultimate competitor. He wanted to put it past the gold center and the record breaker, I thought it was perfect. I mean, a big sweeping wrist shot through multiple guys,

the jumping in the air celebration. I mean, I felt like it was exactly the kind of goal that you want for a moment like that. It was perfect. I'm gonna totally throw a dart here. I have no idea what the answer to this is. I don't even know if this conversation has been had, but is there any way that the Washington Capitals

could get special dispensation from the NHL to do something with the ovary spot on the home rank, the eight. That's in congested I heard someone say that and we haven't asked formally but his office is big though but I guess that's why it would make it special. You know the funny thing about that is as much as we focus on that one and those, all those one timers, to me, the thing that I still think about with Ovechkin, this goes back to the early years, the way that he would attack the blue line,

cut to the middle and shoot through the defender's legs using that defender as a screen. And he would wait until that defender was right in front of the goaltender and then, and then fire it. Like we make a lot about obviously, you know, the power of one timers and all that, but I don't know, that's that.

When I think of Ovechkin goals, maybe it's weird. That's the one I think, those are the goals I think about. Maybe just because like that, the early days were so exciting for Ovechkin. We hadn't seen anything like this before. Yeah, a lot of goaltenders comment on how some of Alex's shots sort of knuckleball on him too. And so it's hard to track, even though you see it coming,

you know he's shooting it from this one spot, you just can't quite catch it and the speed can change at times and whatnot. He's obviously known for his one timer, but I think Alex's sort of shot de jour is maybe his wrist shot. I think that's sort of your goal scorer's's what he, what he might prefer. Frankly. So, um, up until yesterday afternoon, whenever I thought about the Washington capitals and the New York Islanders, I always thought about the Easter epic. I always thought about the Easter epic and Pat Lafontaine. I remember exactly where I was for that one. Um, in the, the West end of Toronto at a house party watching till like two o'clock in the morning, I was too scared to leave in case I would have missed it.

And Pat LaFontaine spinning and score and scoring on Mason. And you know, now I'm going to say, hold on a second. Maybe it's not the Easter epic. It's 895 against, uh, against Sorokin. You know, there was a big debate on our morning show here about like, would a goaltender, you know, do you want to be known as the goaltender that surrendered goal 895? I did like the way that Ovechkin almost consoled Sorokin afterwards and after the game like, hey, there was gonna be someone buddy. Do you have a thought on the Islanders as

opponents and Sorokin as a victim? We'll end there, Zach. You know, it didn't cross my mind that maybe the Capitals, Islanders, and Rivoli were not who we thought of because of this moment, which I prefer over the Easter Epic, frankly. The Capitals didn't end up victorious in that one, even despite it being a great game. You know, I think Sorokin, from afar, it seemed like he was an incredible sportsman and just a great competitor. He gave Alex a stick afterwards and he came into the Capitol's locker room and greeted some of the

guys. I think he understood that this was bigger than him. It's just big for the game of hockey. He was incredibly gracious and humble. The Island know, the Islanders did win the game. And if you're gonna get beat by a single shot, you know, getting beat by a shot by the best goal scorer of all time through three or four guys into a slot that was like this big, you know. I guess you gotta give it to him. I guess he gets a pass.

Here on that one, sometimes just got to tip your cap or tip your wig. Exactly. I think that's how he felt. Hope you get more sleep tonight, Zach. But I think everybody, I think everybody understands if everyone's got the Louis Vuitton's under their eyes around the office today. It's, it's well learned. And it's a, I was saying this yesterday to some people, it's, it's great for Alex Ovechkin. It's great for the Washington Capitals organization as well. I know you'll defer and say, no, this is Ovechkin, but this is a big moment for the Cap.

So congratulations, Zach. Thank you so much. We feel so lucky. It's an amazing day for Alex. We're so happy to be part of it. Awesome. Thanks, Zach. Be well.

See you guys. the Nation Network, we have you covered no matter the sport. Whether you're a hockey lover, a basketball head, or a baseball fanatic, our catalog of podcasts provide fans daily insights, analysis, and a touch of lighthearted humor. As Canada's leading independent sports network, we give fans what they want to hear with some of the most respected voices in the game. Don't miss a minute and stream our shows now wherever you get your podcast. We want playoffs! We want playoffs! Acast helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere.

Acast.com. There he is. Zach Leonsis from the Washington Capitals, President of Media and New Enterprises for Monumental Sports. Okay, from there, we should probably get a couple of comments from our next guest about Alex Ovechkin as well, who had a really interesting, I think it was in Tampa, moment at the All-Star festivities some years ago. He is Patrick Burke from the NHL's Department of Player Safety.

He's been on the program before and it's a pleasure to welcome him back. First of all, Patrick, good afternoon. Thanks for stopping by again. I know you're a very busy person. I always appreciate you carving out some time. So the where were you moment. Where were you when Ovechkin scored? And I want to get to a couple of Ovechkin moments for you.

Where were you when you saw the goal? Well, I want to get to a couple of Ovechkin moments for you. Where were you when you saw the goal? Well, first, first good to be back as always. Appreciate you having me on. I was in the player safety room here in New York, I was supervising the room, where we monitor all the games in real time. So myself and one of our game watchers and one of our concussion spotters were sitting there keeping a close eye on the game and great moment moment for hockey, a great day for a great player and

really excited to be on the next day talking about them. So who was like the I'm always curious because where I was at I was at a restaurant in Brampton Ontario my kid was in a hockey tournament and everyone's gathered around the TV watching this thing and all the kids pop right away like the cork out of a champagne bottle. He did it, he did it, he did it. What were the notes in the room yesterday where you were? Well, here's the problem. Our game watchers don't have a TV delay, but the big screen that I watch on does. So from the front row, my buddy Nick, who was watching all of a sudden goes, Oh, there it is. And I had to wait like nine seconds to see what happened. So it was very anticlimactic. I knew it was coming as Nick, one of our game watchers called it out, but I had to wait for the TV delay until I could see it live. So the moment was a little

bit spoiled, but certainly exciting for him. Take me back to, this was a unique one. exciting for him. Take me back to, this was a unique one. All-star in Tampa with Ovechkin and, you know where I'm going, with Ovechkin and that kid. And did you have any idea who that was, how we got on the ice? It was kind of a bizarre one. We were getting ready for warmups and skills.

And for anyone who's watching, I don't, who doesn't know, one of the things that I do at the league is overseeing a lot of the skills competition. So I'm sitting on the bench and everyone's coming out for warmups and a little kid comes out with Olby. And in my ear, someone says, who's the kid with Olby? And I'm like, must be Olby's son. And you hear some chatter and people going back and forth. And somebody important goes, Olby doesn't have have any kids who the hell is that kid? And I hear Berkey did you approve this and I'm like taking the thing out of my ear like oh, no

I can't hear you guys. Sorry. We're breaking up here And I go no, no, I didn't approve it and they go well, you got to figure out who that kid is So I think I found Sergey the the the caps teams are PR and media guy No, and I'm like who is that OB's kid is that and they're like oh it's a son of a friend of his so someone's in my ear going you need to get the kid off the ice and I'm like I'm not stopping skills warm-ups to tell Alex O'Betchkin that he can't have this

guy on the ice but they have no idea who it is like you know people yelling in my ear about this did he sign a? Is he supposed to be there? I've got other players going, were we allowed to bring our kids? I'm going, no, you're not. And that's not his kid anyway. So you're certainly not allowed to bring random kids on the ice, but I'll be smart. He knew if he asked permission, someone would have tell them no. So he just got this kid dressed secretly, snuck him out onto the ice.

And at that point, what was I going to do? Forgiveness slash permission. You know, which one's easier to get. He came back afterwards and after the warmups And at that point, what was I going to do? Forgiveness slash permission. You know, which one's easier to get. He came back afterwards and after the warmups, I'm like, you know, he can't go back out like he's not doing fast as skater, right? It'll be like, we're good. We're good for the night. And that was it.

We were good. So a great memory for the kid. I'm sure. But, oh, a hundred percent. Uh, so when you, uh, you're just talking to Zach Leone, this was a second ago before he came on and thinking about some of the old highlights and great memories of Ovachkin in the game. We all remember the Coyotes goal,

which we're gonna watch for, you know, until we make our way to the crematorium. That one's gonna be on every season. But do you have like favorite moments from Ovachkin on the ice, off the ice? I mean, he's been so entertaining doing both. Anything come to mind for you? For me, it's the energy and the passion. You know, I love when our guys have personality. I think that's, you know, more fun for the fans. That's good for teammates. That's good for our broadcast.

Like when our players do have personalities that are authentic, I really like that. You know, being the guy who did a lot of skills assignments over the years, the thing I love about Ovi is you could put him in any event, which isn't true for a lot of guys. A lot of guys can't do hardest shot. A lot of guys can't do fastest skater. A lot of guys didn't want to do our old breakaway challenge, you know, the trick shot one. And if you had Ovi in an all-star game and in a skills competition, he could fill like four or five different events. He could have done everything by himself if he wanted and there's not many guys you can say that about. So I always appreciated the big personality, which was always authentic, never seemed forced to me. I always appreciated just how diverse his skill set is. He's big, he's powerful, he's fast,

he can rip the puck 100 miles an hour, or he can do accuracy shooting. He can dress up in a funny costume and laugh at himself, and then he can go out and cap in a team to the Stanley Cup. So he's got a legacy on and off the ice that I don't think many players will compare to, if any. You know, this may be a frivolous part of the conversation,

but like just his style too. Like he had like a sort of grunge look about him I mean the strings around the hips the yellow laces tongues out I always loved the tinted visor that made him look like you know Robocop and I found it pretty funny that you know Marty Boudreaux was in the in the tribute video yesterday and I'm pretty sure there was Marty that complained about that thing in the first place which forced the league's hand to ban those things. But like just his whole style was unique, Patrick. Ovi's always been Ovi.

And that's not always the case in any pro sports league. Not that we're unique, but you know, a lot of, you know, you get the fans, you get the social media, you get people in your face all the time. And it's real easy to just kind of buckle down and conform and keep your head down and just be like everyone else. And Ovi never did that. And there's something really special to be said about that, I think. Baggy pants, like the whole thing, man. Like it was such a cool look. Still is to this day.

You mentioned kids a second ago. One of the things that... I want to get to the DOPS stuff here in a second, but you got me thinking. Let's skip that. We don't have to do player save. Oh, no, no, no. We'll do the DOPS stuff. Let's just do the fun stuff. No, no, no. We're doing all the stuff that keeps you up at night when you think, oh, God, I'm going to sleep on this one and we'll see how I feel in the morning. We're going to get to that.

You mentioned kids a second ago. And listen, I'm around the rings all the time. So I see, you know, NHLers and their kids and every year at the OHL draft in the Western league in the queue, there's like, here's this guy's kid and that guy's kid and second generation players and all that. Have you ever thought about including, and this doesn't necessarily have to be players kids, but if you ever thought about including kids all-star skills? Before we changed the format this year to the one that everyone loved where you know

10 guys each to four of the five events, we were brainstorming what new events we might have if we went with the traditional system. And one of the things that a guy in our department suggested was to play sharks and minnows. And if anyone who hasn't played that, you have someone who's it, who's a shark in between the blue lines. Everyone has to skate the length of the ice. And if you get tagged by the shark, either you become a shark or you're out, however you play. So through that idea out there, and the initial reaction was like, we're not playing sharks and minnows with all stars. But then we started building on it. We're like, how many players, kids would we need to play sharks and minnows?

How many 10 year olds would it take to tag Connor Mcdabe? How many, you know, 13 year olds would it take to track down Mitch Marter? So we never really formally got to pitch it or try and work out what the rules might be because we, we changed the format entirely. But for a while there, we were discussing like, okay, the Atlantic division's on one blue line and you've got 10 Bantam players at center ice and they're just going back and forth. And the last guy to get tagged is the winner of this, this event. And we have a lot of ideas that are either brilliant or stupid and I can't tell half the time. And so we go in and we test them and you know the stuff

that makes it to skills has usually been heavily tested and vetted to see what translates well to TV and what doesn't. And I would have loved to test that one just because like okay what does it look like with six-year-olds? What does it look like with 15-year-olds? Like what's the window we hit for this to be competitive but also that we're not getting a six-year-old knocked unconscious on the ice by someone who's paying attention. Like I would have loved to test that one and see if it was viable. Would have been, I do wonder, like if you include the NHLers in that and like, Oh yeah, how many, how many 12 year olds is it going to take to tag Connor Mcgay?

What do you think the players would say about that? Like would they see the fun of that or would they just see like fraught with disaster? So that's the thing about all of our events. The first question we ask is would the players enjoy this and participate in it? Because when the players are engaged and energized and trying, we could do anything. We could have a staring contest. And if our players are competitive and really care, our fans will watch it and find the enjoyment in it. And when our players, uh, don't want to be there or they think the event is, is, is embarrassing for them or they don't like it, it's not going to be a good event, even if we've spent, you know, thousands of man hours putting it together.

So for something like that, the first level of testing would have been, okay, do we even like this idea? The second level of testing would have been talking to players and going, would you have had fun with this or would you, would you think it's stupid? So like the guys who have 12 year old sons and daughters might've been like, this is great. I would love for my daughter to chase me around the ISA to skills competition. That would be amazing. And other guys might be like, no, I'm a, a serious professional athlete. Please don't send an army of seven year olds after me. And we just have to figure out if it worked

or it did. My, my gut instinct is that one never would have gotten out of the box. That one never would have been been formally approved. But when you talk about the things that we consider but don't get into skills, that one was high on the list for me. You know, one of the things I like doing with your dad is the greatest trades that never happen. I do dealing with every, every general manager. It's always sort of like alternative universe in the NHL. Uh, in that spirit, what were the great, and maybe, you know, sharks and minnows is one of them. Uh, what were the great, the great events that never happened at All-Star Skills? The best moment we wanted to do that never got approved was we've had extended discussions over the years about bringing in players just to do skills.

And specifically hardest shot and fastest skater. We did bring Zegras in St. Louis, I heard through a mutual friend that Chara, who wasn't going to be an All-Star that year, was itching to try and break the all-time hardest shot record. And we're like, great, let's do it. We would love that. So we have to talk to the NHLPA, we have to talk to our executives, we have to talk to the people who book the players hotels and obviously we have to talk to Chara and see if everybody wants this, wants us to happen, wants it to go down. So we start thinking about what would it look like if Chara is there and the thing that I desperately wanted to do was to have the hardest shot competition with the players who were in it, have the announcer start to announce, you know, the winner of the 20, whatever

it was, 2019, uh, NHL hardest shot competition is, and then the lights go out and I don't know if you're not a WWE fan, you're not going to love this. I wanted the Undertaker's music to hit. Hi. And I wanted the Danao Char to come slowly out of the back in a black Bruins uniform and just come out and rip Pucks until he, until he set the record. So I wanted one of those big, you know, and then other guys started pitching, well, we should have Pareko come out to someone else's music. And

it's a, it's a good guy and a bad guy. And we have them do a face-off one-on-one for Artishott. I can't remember why Z ended up not wanting to go that year, but for a while there we thought we were going to have like a big WWE style special guest, which we were really excited about. You see, let me take that one step further with the idea of like, you know, it's almost like the Royal Rumble and here comes the next mystery entrant in this deal, as you have, you know, Chara already out there, whoever's the reigning hardest shot champion. Ringers, either from the past in the NHL, like can I afraid he still crank it up?

What's Al McKinnis going to do in a situation like this? Or some of the non-household names, the Martin Furks, who still holds the professional record for the hardest shot. Is there any idea about bringing in veterans from the, here comes Brian Rolston, let's see if he can still crank it up, you know what I mean? We've had discussions about bringing guys back, so I actually was in St. Louis where we had,

like Alan Magiddis came out and took a stage shot, but a lot of the veteran guys have said that they don't want to, you know, Mike Gartner doesn't want to do, doesn't want to try. He'll happily come out and do like a celebratory lap to celebrate how fast he was. But, you know, putting his helmet on and stretching and showing what his time is now isn't something he's super excited about. But we always try and flash back and honor the legends of the game. Um, outside players coming in, we've had a lot of resistance towards from, uh, a lot of different places, you know, this is our all star game. Um, it's our skills competition.

We never want a scenario where an NHL player who makes his first or maybe only all star game, um, didn't get to do something that he wanted because we brought in, uh, special guests or an AHL or a prospect. So, I mean, going back as far as like McDavid's draft year, which predates me at the league, but there were discussions about, should we let this kid come in and skate? Should we let, you know, should Macklin Celebrani have been there last year or Bedard a couple of years before?

And the answer has always been from pretty much everyone that with very limited exceptions, we've been very honored to have a lot of the great women's players in the game participate in various ways. But otherwise that we do want this to be a showcase of our players currently having fun making it a cool contest that celebrates the guys who made it

to the All-Star Game this year. Because some guys only make one or two and being able to say they did accuracy shooting fast as whatever. Um, some guys really take pride in that. Okay. Last question before I get to your favorite, uh, conversation piece. And that is a DOPS. Um, I don't know. I I don't know why I'm so fascinated with this. I've probably bothered you about it nonstop. And matter of fact, I'm pretty sure that I have.

Have there ever been, which one of your, which one of your bad skills ideas is this? I have Patrick, I have a thousand ideas and they're all great. Um, I've always been fascinated with who is the best backwards skater. Has there ever, I know it's potentially dangerous. I get it. I understand. But has there ever been conversation around trying to actually determine who can skate backwards the fastest?

It is one of the major skills in this game, which, you know, I believe the All-Star skills competition is supposed to put a shine on. It was discussed and the players do not want to do it because of the dangers of turning. And we felt that just a straight, like blue line to blue line, fastest backwards skater is not good television. Two guys skating backwards for, you know, 60 feet is not super compelling television. So you have to kind of do a full lap. And at that point, they're going, so you want me doing backwards crossovers on a course that I'm not familiar with on ice. That isn't my home ice, um, going full speed with, with cameras in front of me. So the response from players was like, we can do backwards in a straight line in a safe way. And our response was, well,

that's boring and not, not what we want to put on TV anyway. I'm still going to keep annoying you with it though. I know, and I don't want to put you in a grumpy mood before you start asking me about player safety stuff. So, I mean, yeah, Jeff, we're definitely going to do it one day. You and we're going to give you credit for it. It's going to be the Jeff Merrick event. It's going to be great. My signature event at All-Star Skills.

Okay, DOPS, I don't wanna belabor this one too much. I do wanna talk about other things here too. But Chadfield McMichael was an interesting one last week. Had Jay Rose hell on on Friday. He said didn't like the way it looked. We've got a lot of that. it didn't feel right, potentially dangerous. Connor McMichael's helmet was off, spun around, you know, the sort of a judo type throw, um, you know, what went in and I was trying to make the point Friday too.

Like if anyone's going to be sensitive to hitting their head on the ice, it's going to be your boss, like it's going to be George Barrows. Um, like how does that conversation go? I'm not going to ask you to defend what happened or what didn't happen and why the suspension or not, but like, I think what's more interesting is like, how do those conversations go?

I think that's what people would find most interesting here. Sure. So as soon as the, the event happened the other night, it was sent out into a video clip with every angle that's available to us, some of which don't make it to air, and was sent to our entire staff. So George then asked for thoughts on a play and we all respond individually. And then in this case, because there was a lot of attention going to it, the senior staff, which would be George, Damian at Cheverrieta, who's been at the lead for a long time and has been doing player safety, started the department.

Stephane Cantel, who played for a thousand games and has a number of fights under his belt. Ryan Getslap, who, you know, played for a thousand games and has a number of fights under his belt. And Ray Whitney, who played for a thousand games and may have accidentally fought once or twice, but certainly not on purpose all that often. Um, but we, we started discussing it and looking at it. And as I said, there's a lot of experience, um, with the mechanics of fighting in that group chat.

And there's, as you said, um, George who, um, knows the dangers of being taken down to the Isodota helmet, um, as it did put a significant damper on his career. So it's something that we're very sensitive to and that we're looking at very carefully. As these guys are all watching it, they're talking about you've got two guys who are big and strong, but aren't regular fighters. They maybe once a year for Chatfield and not that many for McMichael. So you see them as they're pushing and pulling on each other. While they're throwing punches, they're trying to get their balance. They're, they're kind of spinning as they go.

Um, and as they're going, going down, you know, we don't know is Chatfield pulling and expecting resistance from McMichael. Maybe he's trying to catch himself and pull himself back up. Is he expecting a punch to land? Um, is he expecting Mc, McMichael's going down and he's trying to get them to the ice more quickly in a safe fashion. There's so many variables in a fight with two big men moving quickly that it's really difficult for us. And I know there's one angle that looks bad and people sent still shots for some reason that are photographs of things that they say look bad.

There's a number of angles where as you're watching this play out, it's kind of a natural momentum of the fight itself. It's an ugly landing. It's scary. We don't like it. George reached out to both teams to talk about it so that Chatfield knows next time, Hey, if you're going to the ice, you got to make sure that you're protecting your opponent. You can't be taking them down. If this was intentional, if in the split half, not even half a second as you're going to the ice, you decided to pull him to you got to make a better decision next time. And if you're saying it was just kind of instinctive, then you got to do some practice to make sure

that that's not your instinct anymore, because we don't like it. We don't want to see it. Is there anything there that's expendable? No. And that's what our department does. Our says our department suspends players who break rules. There are regularly hits in a game that I don't like. Can I say, oh, that's cheap or that's unnecessary or, you know, he could have played the puck there. Plays that we don't like happen all the time, but they have to break a rule. They have to be illegal. And on this play, there's nothing there that we would necessarily step in and suspend for

as a first time offense. If Chatfield wants to try and make this a pattern, our department's ready to step in and speak with them and let them know that we're not going to see this regularly, but as a one-time thing, we can't step in and say, you definitely did that intentionally to drive a guy's head into the ice. Let me, let me, let me pick up on something you said there about making it a pattern, you know, bracket this fight completely, but you know, the idea of it being a pattern. One of the things that I wonder about, um, you remember Riley Cote, um, the

Philadelphia. We have in Philly. It was a assistant coach at the Sanctums when I was a scout there. So, I mean, listen, real tough hockey player. Um, to my knowledge, I believe he was the first NHL player to cross chain, maybe David Clarkson as well in MMA. Okay. And every summer, and I would imagine during Clarkson as well in MMA. Okay. And every summer, and I would imagine during the winter as well, he would,

you know, keep, keep his, his skills polished. But when you look at how much players now looking for a strength and balance edge have discovered that MMA is a great way to train. Like my, I got a 15 year old who was, you know, it's, it's that season now where you're getting recruited and part of the recruiting pitch for one team that he was talking to last week said, you know, one of the things we do different is after every skate, we do an hour and a half of jujitsu. Like it's one good to protect yourself and two it's great for strength, balance,

all these types of things with what I'm getting at here with more players training in MMA in the off season. And we had William Laggison and training an MMA in the off season. And we had, uh, William Lagas in and Adam Rasca in the American hockey league with that we're naked joke, um, situation. I think well, Lagas in just didn't want to get our injured jaw. Didn't want to make sure that he didn't do him. I get punched.

I don't know. I was wanted that to end up that way, but nonetheless, and that was a three game suspension is your department at all talking about like, now we're gonna start to see more players using MMA moves, holds, and fights? It's not just grab the jersey and throw anymore, because these guys train in different fighting arts in the off season.

I don't think we should look at this and say, it'll never make its way into the NHL. Even something like judo takedowns with a foot sweep. The, the, the first time we kind of had a discussion around this was with the Superman punch. And I think it was a BX juice who did it first. And through a Superman punch and our discussion with a number of people, not just our department,

cause when George wants to take the temperature of the league, he'll reach out to a lot of different people. Like, what do we feel about that? And everyone's response was there's nothing illegal about punching again. Well, there's a fighting major. Let me be clear. This whole discussion around fighting, fighting's illegal in the NHL and we penalize it and everything we're talking about for however long you let this go on is illegal at the NHL and we penalize it. And everything we're talking about for however long you let this go on

is illegal in the NHL. But you, there is no extra penalty for a particular technique. You are allowed to be good at fighting or practice things that might make you safer in a fight. Um, that said, there are definitely MMA techniques that are not permitted. You know, choke holds obviously being one of them. Um, uh, you know, you're not allowed to throw elbows or forearms intentionally into a guy. that are not permitted, chokeholds obviously being one of them. You're not allowed to throw elbows or forearms intentionally into a guy. Brad Staubitz. Remember Brad Staubitz would do that. Brad Staubitz. Yep. Dangerous takedowns of a type that are deliberate, intentional, and part of a strategy,

we would certainly be taking a look at as well. So again, it's a department with a lot of experience in this realm. And so, you know, we're going to keep looking at it. Anything we see out of the ordinary in a fight, which is already illegal, might merit extra punishment, you know, if it is something that is outside the bounds of what's kind of normal and accepted in terms of the fight. Let me ask you about Ryan Getsliff. I am curious about Getsliff in the DOPS here and as wildly skilled a player as he was, as you mentioned, like he wasn't shy. Like he was quite the opposite of a shy hockey player.

He would have a couple a year and can remember a couple of famous ones during the playoffs as well. I'm always curious about players, ex-players who joined the DOPS and have that, ooh, I didn't know it was like this moment. I'm sure Kintel had that, like, is there, Whitney, is there one of those, was there like one of those moments for Getz Laff as well?

Like, ooh, I didn't know it was like this. I have a great one of those about Riley Cody if we have time at the end, because you just whored him up when he transitioned to coaching, but I'm not sure Getzi's had a huge one of those moments. I, you know, I've known Getzi since he was, you know, 18, 19 on that, that Ducks team. Um, and I've always had a ton of respect for him, but now working together, um, he's smart man, like, you know, really, really smart process

is information incredibly well. Um, I, I think the, the transition part for him has been around kind of just what we talked about that. Even if you like, or don't like a hit, what we're doing is legal and illegal. So there have been times when he's kind of done the, like, I really don't like that play and more like, okay, but like, what would you call it? Or there have been times when he's saying like, you know, that that's a good hit. And we're saying, well, like, if you look here, this is the type of thing that we've suspended for in the past, he gets things quickly, you don't have to tell him twice.

His communication is really excellent. Like, I hope he's in player safety for a long time. But you're talking about a future if he wants it. GM, president of hockey ops, something like that. The combination of hockey mind, communication skills, character, and leadership. I'd be stunned if he was with us for very long, which is we'd love to keep him. But this guy's got future executive written all over him and a really good guy as well. So he's been a great addition. We already had a great group. We got Q and Ray, two great workers and great guys and really well respected during their playing careers.

It's a really awesome group, but Getzey's been an unbelievable addition to it. Okay. And since this is turning into the Riley Cote hour, Riley Cote. addition to it. Okay and since this is turning into the Riley Cote hour, Riley Cote. Riley Cote transitioned immediately to becoming an assistant coach. So retired and like two days later we announced that he was going to be the assistant coach of the Philadelphia Phantoms. And a lot of times you try to give guys a breather between playing and either coaching, scouting, or management because they're very close to the guys that they were with. But we had Riles in for training camp and a group of the scouts are sitting around and we're talking about players as we do, which is a lot of critique and a lot of criticism, a lot of like this guy's got to work

on this and he really sucks at this and I'm tired of watching this guy. But we're doing it about players like Claude Giroux and Scottie Hartnall and Kimo Team and we're doing it about players like, you know, Claude Giroux and Scotty Hartnall and Kimo team and it like, we're doing it about really excellent NHL players or guys on their way up and saying, you know, Giroux's really got to work on this or else he's never going to get there. And Riles was real quiet. The whole meeting listening has to go through and just carve NHL all-stars and first round picks and do all of that. And as we were leaving, he goes, Berkey, do I even want to know what you guys used to say about me?

And I went, oh, Riles, you know, we, we all knew, and we're, we all knew what you were there for. We all knew what you were good at. Like no one was sitting there going, wow, we got to get him better at, you know, breakaways or something. So a great guy, hard work, an honest player, fascinating post-playing career for Riley Cook.

Yes, absolutely. A real shock to the system when he learned how scouts and coaches talk about their players at times. It's funny too because I always thought that by the time a player gets to the NHL, you have to have alligator skin because you've heard so much about you. Even just going through the junior experience, the D1 experience, And now with social media, like you hear everything about your game. I've always just assumed that, you know, by the time players get to the NHL, their skin is tough because they've heard everything about their game.

I think they don't always know how their own team will talk about them in the context of improvement, to be clear. Like we weren't sitting there critiquing them and then going, oh, we're done with him. Like let's cut him or something like that. But like, Hey, here's what, you know, so-and-so needs to work on to get better. It's in, it's critique of what can make them better. But I do think that for, for a guy who was a career fourth line player sitting there, hearing how we spoke about first line players was a little bit of a wake up.

Okay, let me close on this one. Playoffs on the horizon. What should we know about the department of players safety to help keep our sanity? Because you know, this is when the nerves are the closest to the skin. It's only a problem when your bowl gets scored. It's the old saying, your problem is your problem.

My problem is our problem. Patrick, what should we know about the DOPS heading into the playoffs? I think the big one being that we are watching everything. There is one person assigned to every game and their entire job is just to sit there and watch for things related to player safety. There's a whole another person in Toronto whose job is to sit there and watch and watch for things related to officiating,

coaches challenge, goal reviews, that type of stuff. So we've got two sets of eyes at least on every game as they're going on. And we don't miss things. We don't, you know, even when we go back and do like year end audits, we're not missing plays. We are seeing everything. We, you might not agree with our conclusion. We might say that something was not going to be disciplined for, and you've

thought it should have been a suspension. Everything gets seen, everything gets reviewed. Multiple people are reviewing every single infraction to see if it's something that should elevate the supplemental discipline. We're on top of it. We appreciate your tweets, flagging stuff for us. But we definitely saw it in the time that you were composing that tweet. So we love our fans passion, we appreciate how much they care about their teams. We

hope the tweets never stop because that would mean people don't care anymore. So keep them coming, but we are seeing everything and enjoy your team's playoff run. And Svevon understands you hate every fan's team equally. Yes. Okay. We hate every team equally. We love every team equally. We hate every team equally.

And that's the fairness of it all. By the end of the playoffs, George has dealt with so many complaints from so many people that it's all just white noise to him at that point. Perfect. Thanks as always for stopping by. You're the best. Thanks for doing this. Good luck the rest of the way and into the postseason. We'll check back soon. Thanks, buddy. talk to you. There he is, Patrick Burke from the NHL's department of player safety with some interesting All-Star conversations there too. Zach, if you got a couple of seconds to hop on

here, what did you find most interesting? Either from Zach Leonson's or from Patrick Burke. I know we went and kind of went on a little bit about All-Star and the greatest skills competitions that never happened. I think it would have been funny watching 12 year olds chasing Conor Mcgabe around the ice, but I might just be in the minority on that one. Anything stand out to you from either the DOPS talk, the All-Star, anyone in the chat have anything to say about any of that? Well, the two things I wanted to see the most was little kids chasing people around.

I think that would have been exhilarating. I also thought it was hilarious because you start imagining what this could look like and then I feel like at first glance it's like, oh wow, this is a lot of fun. And then Patrick's like, yeah, you don't want a six-year-old kid like laying unconscious on the ice and it's like yeah that's a reality of something that could happen when an NHL player is skating full speed like I'm laughing about it but that it's just trying to go to those things yeah I know that's why smarter people are in those rooms than I I also did find it pretty funny the The Zdeno Chara, um, undertaker conversation.

So if you wanted to do ratings and have something that would have blown up, like the people involved in coming up with that idea, that's brilliant. I wish that Chara was able to fall through. Have him come out wearing like Eddie Shore, who is the most hated player in the NHL when he played with the Boston Bruins, one of the most violent players ever played the game, in visiting rinks, just because he would go and during warmup he would get booed mercilessly,

sometimes, oh god, this is so good, in warmup he would wear a black cape. During warmup, he'd put a black cape on, imagine that, now Tom Wilson going out there wearing a black cape or Jalen Chatfield when the caps and the hurricanes meet up again later on this week, if he goes out there wearing a black cape or Jalen Chatfield when the the caps and the and the Hurricanes meet up again later on this week if he goes out there with a black cape and warm-up that's what Eddie Shore used to do but that has the Dano Chara come out in a black cape. Tom Wilson comes out and he's not

wearing gloves and warm-up he's got foil on his hands he's skating around like that just standing at center ice staring well there was there was a guy that named Boris Fistrick. Kelly Rudy used to tell me this. When Kelly played in the Medicine Hat Tigers and Boris played on New West. New West was an older, really tough team and Medicine Hat was a really young squad. And what Boris would do in warm up, okay? No referees on there. In warm up, would skate into Medicine Hat zone and take shots on Kelly.

Rudy, during warm up, come in and blast the couple and then, and then, in the best, this is like insane. Imagine this happening now. What Fistrick would do is he'd skate into Medicine Hats end, take the net off the pegs, push it back to center ice and stand next to it, saying, come get your net. Yeah, what are you gonna do about it good luck i go what you guys doing he goes we skated off they're all older and big and tough we just left

the ice this is ridiculous it's so ridiculous just take the net to set our ice yeah do that i also like your scouting conversation yeah where he was talking about. I also like the scouting conversation. Yeah, where he's talking about how they're in the room. You know, it was the first I had heard about that, I thought it was funny, was Noodle's talking about coaches and he transitioned into the Calgary coaching room. And, you know, it was a coach, a camera was a couple years ago, I heard him explaining. It was a coach who went out in public and like called out a player. And he's like, you know what they say behind closed doors like the game finishes and they go into the coach's room and they mother-f the player

Oh down the wall private like without the guy even in the room Oh, yeah, they go in the room and they and they do it to the guy and he's like by the time you get out Into the media and what he says like it's been filtered down three times to get to that point. So if he gets there and he says what he says, he must have been real pissed about what happened with that guy in the game. I thought about Anthony Duclair and Patrick Wall when he was saying that.

Imagine how mad Wall might have been behind the scenes too before he even got to the podium and said that stuff. I do wonder if that one even goes back to the Quebec Ramparts days when Patrick Hoechdemann Jr. I think we're all wondering about that one. But yeah, that was, yeah. But yeah, you wonder if the guy's still hot about it and still talking about it after having

multiple conversations behind the scenes about it and then still just gotta get it gotta get it out no I'm still still not done yet it's like filtered already yeah and yeah I still have some more there's a great film and Godfather with Sonny beating up his brother-in-law he walks away and he comes back and grabs a garbage can lid and smacks him a couple more times like nope still not done yet still not done gotta grab the garbage can. All right, here's a hard transition.

Time now for the Crispy Inbox, presented by the Ninja Crispy 4-in-1 portable glass air fryer. Here we go. Meet the first of its kind. The Ninja Crispy portable cooking system. The power of a full-sized air fryer in the palm of your hand

so you can cook big or small batches. Just prep it, crisp it, serve it, and store it all in one. That's what players feel like when they hear their coaches roasting them to the media by the other side of the dressing room door and they hear their coaches just blasting them, getting put in the crispy. All right, it's an all-in-one system that includes four quart six cup

tempware glass containers and two storage lids. The Ninja Crispies is thermal shock resistant and can go from frozen to crispy in minutes. With the crispy power pod you get the power of a full-sized air fryer in the palm of your hands. The four quart container fits four pounds of chicken or veggies. Cook a personal-sized meal in seven minutes in the six-cup container. Max Crisp Bake Air Fry and re-crisp with the Ninja Crispy. You can prep, cook, and store anything

from crispy favorites to one-dish meals. Visit their website in the link in the description and stay tuned for a chance to win a free Ninja Crispy for one of our lucky fans Email the show the sheet at the nation network.com topics is always wide open and today's Crispy inbox question comes to us from whom young Zack Well, I'm just gonna preface this by saying I knew we were gonna have a happy positive day for you on the show We got to talk Ovi.

Oh yeah. We got to talk Zach Leonsis. Yeah. We have Patrick Burkhan who I enjoy hearing from. We got to ask your all-star questions and propose ideas. So I figure we might as well get to the end and needle you a little bit with a question that we had come in. Oh great.

Oh boy. Sheeters, I have a minor problem, maybe major. It's a longer one, but I need to read it all for context here for you. My son, who is almost two, is starting to get into hockey, loves playing with his mini sticks and net, enjoys going to the hockey store to shoot pucks, sees it on TV and screams hockey. Like any good parent grew up in the 1990s, he's watching the Mighty Ducks movies, but you see the problem is he is obsessed with the hockey song It's all he wants to listen to in the car in the bath before bed all the time if he's having a problem

Getting him to go into the bath. We play the hockey song and he will come running My question is is this okay? Is this who the song was meant for? Am I a bad parent? The good news is he's not gonna grow up a Leafs fan. That's a dagger. We didn't need that in there. Concerned winged wheel parent. You're not a bad parent. If that song... Listen, I've got kids. That's from Brad. I've got three kids and I was saying to Zach, sometimes you got to remind yourself when you dip the stick you got to pay for the oil. It's not gonna always be easy. You do whatever it takes. You do whatever it takes.

You like that one, hey, Zach? You do whatever it takes to be a good parent. Get your kids where you need them to be, whether you're coercing them with bribes or in this case, the hockey song, it doesn't make you a bad parent. Put it this way. It doesn't make you a bad parent

to use a horrible song to lure your kid into having a bath. That's fine. Hopefully your child will outgrow it. There'll be a sort of haze of nostalgia around the song and then it'll be over. But as far as using it as a device or a tool to help your child along when it's bath time at the end of the day, not a problem whatsoever. Like I always draw the line with kids. I actually mean, it doesn't matter to me.

Like if people wanna like the hockey song, go for it. I know a lot of people do. I'm not here to tell you not to like the hockey song. I just think it stinks. That's all, it's a bane of my existence. And you know why, Zach? I'll tell you another one. Whenever I go on different radio shows, they go, okay, we're talking to the hockey guy. We'll play some hockey music

before he comes on. Right, right. It's always that damn song, man. And sometimes I'm just too polite to say, can you please not play that when I come on? Like it really puts me in a foul mood. I just really don't enjoy it. Just come on in silence. How about that? How about no entrance music as well? Just come out like Tyson used to in his old fights when he was like 19 years old. Black trunks, black boots, white towel around his neck. No music, nothing, just here to do business. That's all.

That was it. Anyway, what am I talking about? Oh yeah, hockey song, yeah. No good, but concerned parent, that's fine if you can use it to help move your kid along and help him get through a day no or problem i don't know what with the hockey song

but i would agree with you or where where i would start to agree with you is that like by the time you get to like second period and i like okay let's say that that's when it's like enough and also i can kind of agree or kind of understand as well the point you're making about Hearing it all the time where after 2013 I think it was it's the zombie nation Kerncraft 400 song, you know that one. I do

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's flipped for me now where like I kind of embrace it and like it's it I am on the opposite side but there was a while where it would drive me a little haywire because that would be the Bruins goal song and I could Just vividly remember that goal game 7 Rymer laying on his stomach the Bruins sprinting away And I'm like so that song just playing get it off I'm done my kids team at his tournament yesterday. They were down for nothing My kid's team at his tournament yesterday, they were down four nothing to Oakville. And he came back and tied it to take it to overtime. And one of the parents behind me was yelling, any Leafs fans here today.

He's a big Bruins fan, Bobby's big Bruins fan. Any Leafs fans in the crowd today? Any Leafs fans? The fourth went in with like a buck twenty love. Anyway. Yeah, we don't need to go there. That's all we had for the inbox today. I had to bring that back up. Email us at the sheet at the nation network dot com.

Topics wide open. Crispy inbox. Thanks to our friends at Crispy. That is like, first of all, that thing looks really super cool. Like the Ninja Crispy looks awesome. Like that's one. Yeah, I've had numerous people ask me. Yeah.

Yeah. Like, oh, are you getting one? Can you get me one? Do you think you can get me one? I'm like, yeah. Link in the description. Yeah, that's what everyone's saying. I know it's super sweet.

Okay, what do we still have? We still have our games tonight. And there's a number of them, and a couple of really intriguing ones as well. Wanna remind you, our friends and partners here, our FanDuel, proud to connect fans to the major sports moments that matter to them. Our roster updates, you can find,

Daily Face Off, Fantasy, Twitter Feed. There's some beauties here tonight. And interestingly enough, only one Eastern Conference game on the board this evening. Faceoff Fantasy Twitter feed. There's some beauties here tonight and interestingly enough only one Eastern Conference game on the board this evening and that is the Tampa Bay Lightning facing off against the New York Rangers. Montreal has just taken this race and said see ya. It's done. Six games to make up six points if the New York Rangers. Shusterkin is starting. Okay, Matt Rampy's back, Keandri Miller game time with illness. Montreal, like,

ushered themselves into this playoff position and distinguished themselves as the only team of this bunch that wants a playoff spot. Like, they have been behaving as if they want this spot how good did they look this weekend and even in a game like yesterday against nashville you say okay they might they might be on fumes here still figure out a way to win on this one and again front and center is next to zuki who's coming on the program on wednesday So looking forward to that. Vasilevsky versus Shostrykin, this one. So the battle of Russian netminders, to which I will say, do these guys even have hips? Watch the post play, folks.

Watch the post play. Here's a biggie. The Blues are on a 12-game winning streak. St. Louis Blues, who over the course of this streak have beaten the Colorado Avalanche twice. God, that's impressive. Tonight face off against the Winnipeg Jets in Winnipeg, Canada Life Center. Hellebuck starts, Joel Hofer starts for the St. Louis Blues.

For any of you who doubt the St. Louis Blues, I always ask you what's it gonna take until you say like this team is legit? That this is more than just oh they're hot, they're riding a hot goalie. If they beat, and they already have beaten Colorado twice, and they beat Winnipeg tonight in Winnipeg, do you think that is enough to convince people that the St. Louis Blues are more than just a fluky hockey team late in the season? Yeah, I mean people should have already bought in honestly the way they're playing and what you know what they have in those guys who were there before like this isn't just guys who are oh they've been thrown together and they're

figuring out some stuff out. Like Braden Shen, Robert Thomas, Jordan Carter. Like they're all being there because they're gonna get Praetko back. You're looking at Fowler and Falk on the back end who are just veteran guys. It's like this is not a fluke. But tonight they beat the Jets.

I think two things happened here tonight, Jeff. One is people start to actually, if they haven haven't already they fully buy into the blues the other one which is the Gross ugly side of the coin is I feel like there is not panic in Winnipeg I don't think those people are gonna panic about a loss like this about Dallas eyebrows raised About Dallas potentially coming up on the Winnipeg's ass here yeah it's like oh like what what what's going on here with Winnipeg can they can they close this out can they went like what if they have to play

these wild cards like I think that people around start to go hmm if they lose this one tonight to st. Louis you know like where it's it's just one of those ones where you watch a wild card team beat them and you're kind of like, ah. So in three days, Winnipeg's got Dallas. Yeah. That game is massive, obviously. I'll tell you, there's a couple. Like there's, there's can Dallas catch Winnipeg and I just want, I just want to say this just to see the look on your face can Ottawa catch Florida oh we've had that conversation yeah well the other thing I'm like you brought it up Tampa there and their game against the Rangers like Rangers joke kind of jokingly I don't think any team is actually doing this but but you know,

it's like the Florida Panthers are trying to avoid the Tampa Bay Lightning. Are you saying the Florida Panthers are tanking? Right here, I'm saying the Florida Panthers are tanking. I made a thumbnail for the Morning Take boys this morning that literally said, is Florida tanking for Toronto? That's what the thumbnail said, Jeff. That's so good. This is a conversation being had. That's so good. Oh, this would be the most Toronto thing ever. The tank is on.

Just like the most Winnipeg thing ever to have to face Colorado in the first round after that season. Anaheim Fest is off against Edmonton. Listen, like, I don't know how to say this but like the Los Angeles Kings are just absolute killers at home they're playing Seattle tonight and if you're the Edmondson Oilers who just got shut out by Los Angeles even though Edmonton is just like completely dismantled with injuries right now Lucas Dostal gets the start tonight by the way for Anaheim Olivier Rodrique

gets a start tonight for the Edmonton Oilersim. Olivier Rodrigue gets a start tonight for the Edmonton Oilers. Trent Frederick out re-enduring his ankle on Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers. Again, like I've said this before, I know I'm in the minority but I want to see LA Edmonton again. I do. I want to see this matchup again because it is so different this time around. At least it feels different. LA's improved and if they get home ice, I don't know who you're picking in that one. LA Edmonton again, LA with home ice. I think I'm picking, I think it's going to be very hard to go gain Edmonton, but man it is real tight. Like that, I watched the game the other day and Jeff Malott scores the greatest

no goal. That's something, that's a segment we could probably do at some point. The greatest no goal of all time, like flips it up, does the Bobby Orr goal. Oh, offside. But yeah, the way the LA Kings play, they're going to make it tough for anybody, but I just, I have concerns in net for them into Oilers and then on the flip side, like the same conversation we've had before the depth scoring there outside of the big boys outside of the top six, can they have it consistently against the team that really, really gives you nothing. You have to fight for every opportunity that you're going to get the LA Kings and if you're not gonna get contributions, I mean

McDavid and Dreisel could just say we're not losing. But if it's tight, can you get contributions elsewhere? Like the Kings might just snuff that out and that's a good hockey team there. That is that's an impressive squad. Also Calgary faces off against San Jose tonight as well. Georgi Romanov starts for the Sharks Dustin Wolf goes for the Calgary Flames. Those two games this evening, four in the West one in the East. Anything before we wrap things up here today? Zacharu before we call it a ball game. Quick CHL. Oh yeah as we're following all this. Yeah yeah I was at uh CAA Center yesterday as Brampton bowed out against Oshawa. That's uh

ah that's tough for James Richmond's team. Richmond is such a great coach and general manager. I always want to see him do well. Okay what do we got here for uh for CHL? Teams on their way out. here for CHL teams on their way outs. Congratulations to the Hyman family. The Bulldogs taking care of North Bay 4-1. Barry advances, so do Kingston. That'll be a good matchup between those two. Oshawa facing off against Brantford. A blanking, the London Knights taking care of Owen Sound.

Spitz and Rangers will be a good one. They both advanced after beating their teams 4-1. The defending Memorial Cup champion, Saginaw Spirit, falling at the hands of the Matthew Schaeferless, Eerie Otters. QMJ playoff picture, like there's series that are still going here. And how about the five-period overtime Friday nights between Bay Bakamo and Cape Breton the Screamie Eagles that was the second longest game in the history of the queue we talked about Moncton before we talked about Wormuski they're both through add Chukwudmi into that mix, Schuwinnegan and what we got still going still got

Drummondville and Halifax and the Armada lose to Sherbrooke 4-1. Meanwhile in the Western Hockey League we got the Raiders and the Kings still deadlocked at threes. Hitmen swept the Saskatoon Blades. The Medicine Hat Tigers with the amazing Gavin McKenna are through. Lethbridge beating the Brandon Wheat Kings. PG and Portland still tied up at threes, that one goes to a game seven. Berkeley Caton scoring all the goals, Spoke over Vancouver. Victoria Royals over Tri-City and Everett and Seattle is a nice little series. 3-2 for Everett in that one. So the Western playoff picture still yet to fully be decided. Ditto for the cube with the Ontario League is all set and done

All right, I want to thank everyone for participating in the show today whether you're in the chat or whether your name exactly ounces of Monumental and the Washington Capitals. Thanks for for stopping by Zach one day after Alexander of Esken Sets the sets the goal scoring record in the history of the NHL. 895 by the way. Hey, Mara, can you make this about you somehow? Sure, watch this. Hey, Zach, you know why the number 895 is a really important one for me and my little career here?

Why is that? 895. Me and George Trompe-Lopoulos and Bob Mackwitz Jr. will still text this randomly to each other, 895, and me and George Trompe-Lopoulos and Bob Mackwitz Jr. will still text this randomly to each other, 895. You know why? No. That's when we started in the industry. August 1995.

Yes, I've been in this industry that long. 895. So how do you make the Ovechkin Goal race about me? That's 895. So how do you make the Ovechkin goal race about me? That's 895. August 1995 is when I started and I started in this industry. Yeah, I've earned these grey hairs folks. I've earned these grey hairs. Anyway, thanks to Zach Leontzis for stopping by the program today. Thanks to the great Patrick Perk for stopping by as well. Stories of all-star events that never happened and in defense of no non-suspensions and the Jalen Chatfield Connor McMichael fight from last week.

Always a great time with Patrick and we really appreciate Zach taking a couple of moments. Everyone in the organization is probably really tired today but the media requests keep on pouring in for everybody so thanks to Zach for stopping by thanks to Patrick as well thanks to you for listening or watching or both program back on tomorrow no wish tomorrow he's bumped till Thursday I think yeah Thursday Greg is coming on correct something to do tomorrow I did what is he doing tomorrow do you even know Zach did even tell you or just say we got a move okay the mysterious Greg Wyshinski will rejoin the program here on Thursday. Anyhow, enjoy the game tonight.

Congratulations to the Alexander Ovechkin. Congratulations to Alexander Ovechkin, rather, for setting the new goal score. You know, I do wonder when you look at how different hockey was when Gretzky set the record and how different it was when Korty Howe set the record. I don't know when this record is going to be broken, wherever Alex Ovechkin ends up here, but one day it will be. Just consider this. Go back and look at the era where Gretzky was scoring all those goals and how different hockey looks now. Or even go back to look at, you know, when Gordie Howe played and how profoundly different hockey look then that it does now and whether it takes 30 years for it to happen, 20 years for it to happen whenever,

just take a couple of moments and think about where this game is heading and how different it is going to be when someone finally beats Alex Ovechkin's record wherever that ends up. Alright? Thanks for joining me today. Back tomorrow 3 o'clock Eastern for the Sheet. Morning Cup of Hockey should start off your day every day. 9 o'clock Eastern with Colby and Laz at DFO Live tomorrow at noon as per usual. Thanks for joining me. Back tomorrow. 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 A ACAST powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. It's the best time of the year to be a sports fan and over at the Nation Network, we have you covered no matter the sport. Whether you're hockey lover a basketball head or a baseball fanatic our catalog of podcasts provide fans daily insights analysis and a touch of Light-hearted humor as Canada's leading independent sports network We give fans what they want to hear with some of the most respected voices in the game Don't miss a minute and stream our shows now wherever you get your podcast

our shows now wherever you get your podcast. We want Playoffs! We want Playoffs! Acast helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com.