The Sheet with Jeff Marek - The Dog is Barking ft. Shayna Goldman & Conor McGahey

Episode Date: March 17, 2025

Jeff Marek is joined by Shayna Goldman and Conor McGahey to kick off the week on The Sheet. Discussing the Atlantic playoff race, the difference between certain playoff formats, incorrect calls, big hits, and the Colorado Avalanche's incredible play post-deadlineShout out to our sponsors!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼 Tim Hortons: https://www.timhortons.ca/rollupReach 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.

I am laughing at the title of today's program. Welcome to another week on the sheet by the way. I'm laughing at the title of today's show which is always the exclusive domain Zach Phillips The dog is barking because we're talking to Conor McGeachy later on Play by play voice of the Colorado Avalanche Great game Sunday. Oh Colorado Dallas was so good. Give me that. Give me game seven of that. All day long. The dog is barking.

It's the title of today's show. It's almost as if young Philly was buckled this weekend. Hasn't shaken off the copy of maybe buckled at work. I don't know. I don't know. But all I know is if I were a Maple Leafs fan after that thing on Saturday whatever that thing was I cannot confirm or deny the allegations

regarding Saturday night's postgame stream how was it but I was zipping all over what watching a ton of other stuff I missed the postgame show you know I love to get in there and rattle it up in the chat give us the time and temp give us the nickel and dime tour. So here's how this started. Okay. Yeah. St. Patrick's Day celebrations. We're gonna try to stick the time today by the way. We're gonna try

to stick the time today. Okay. Yeah, we'll make it quick on this, but I got a text from our bosses. We've got an idea. We're close to 15,000 subscribers. It's St. Patrick's Day. It's game 66. How about You get two six packs and for every combination of like likes subscribers and then super chats Yeah, you chug a beer on stream. Oh, well, that's all fine and dandy until the Leafs lose to the Senators four to two In a sad sad effort. Yeah. The temperature was hot. Let's put it that way. Hot. At least you didn't have to leave your house. You'd probably just went right from your host chair to the bed, just crawled over. We're going to do some Leaf Talk a little bit later on with Shana Goldman from the Too Many Men podcast and the Athletic as well.

She's gonna stop by here in a couple of moments. Let's just tee up the show here and then go over a few things because I don't know what got into me this morning. If you're watching live, if you're listening, Archive are live. I don't know what got into me this morning, but I just started zipping off all these texts to Philly. Oh, we need this board. We need that board. We need this. I don't know why I was so horny for boards today. I have no idea.

I just woke up thinking Philly's gotta make all these boards. So damn it, because you put the work in, I'm gonna make sure we get to all these boards. Because most, I'm not gonna say all, most of them have a point attached to them. Okay, how about that? Let's get to the show here today. Daily Outlines presented by our friends

and partners at FanDuel, North America's number one sports book app provider. Trust me, we're gonna make it entertaining today for you. Don't worry. Won't just be as self-indulgent as we've been lately. Shayna Goldman, as I mentioned, from the Too Many Men podcast and the Athletic. We'll stop by here in about five or six,

maybe seven minutes time. Connor McGehee, Avalanche play-by-play voice. Colorado looks really good. There is just no denying it. Stay healthy and this team is gonna do some damage. Speaking of doing damage, the Montreal Canadiens can they do this? Huge game tomorrow against the Ottawa Senators who have been outstanding themselves. Montreal is buzzing. We'll talk about Nick Suzuki and that top line. Probably start us off by talking about that with Shana coming up in a couple of moments.

I'm sure she has a thought. Mention the Avs, they are indeed, yes Philly, they are a wagon right now. And that game against Dallas, man, give me all of that. And then we're going to talk about... Sticks! Specifically colored sticks. And a pretty cool idea that was foot of my way that I threw into the blog as well from one of our sheet heads. We'll get to that here

in a couple of moments. In the meantime, where do you want to start with boards and viz? Actually, you know what here I'm gonna call the aisle right away. Here's what I want to show. You watch the whole weekend's worth of stuff. A lot of things are amazing. Like that Buffalo Vegas game on Saturday was outstanding. It was awesome. I am happy for Buffalo. We're gonna get to that in a couple of seconds. I was happy for that brief moment in time

when the Buffalo Sabres looked like they were gonna lose at the hands of a Jack Eichel goal, salvage it, and end up winning and hand it to the Sabres fans that were there because it really did feel like the crowd was 50-50 split between the Sabres and the Vegas Golden Knights. But every time Eichel touched the puck, Sabres fans once again reminded him how they felt about him. And that smile on Eichel's face when he scored what thought was going to be the game-winning goal was a thing of beauty. A thing of hockey beauty. But you know the one thing that stood out to me this weekend was a brief moment yesterday and again this is another Vegas game. Vegas had a

tough weekend. Folks lost to Buffalo and they lost to Detroit. We've talked about the Red Wings and what's on the horizon and how they're building this and I understand that Red Wings fans are disappointed. I know Red Wings fans are frustrated. When is it gonna end? When is it gonna end? We gotta get back to the playoffs. We got a relatively brand new building here and we haven't seen a playoff game yet.

I understand and feel your pain. But something really cool happened on the weekend. Like, Braden McNabb hits like few others in the NHL. Like, you know you've been hit hard when Braden McNabb catches you. He is a large gentleman patrolling that blue line for the Vegas Golden Knights. And 99.99% of NHLers would have been completely wiped out with this attempted hit on Sunday, except for Elmer Soderblom. Watch him as he comes over the blue line and who goes down in that collision? I'm sure we're gonna see it again here.

Normally McNabb wipes out whoever he's running into. Elmer Soderblom. King Elmer as they call him in Detroit. Lord Elmer? Was that what it was? Lord Elmer, that's it, not King, not King quite yet. Lord Elmer, I apologize, just runs him over like it ain't no thing. Like that's Braden McNabb. Yeah. You know, I threw in the vlog that, you know, a coach texted me when he saw it and said, can you imagine when he gets angry or when he gets a mean streak?

Like that's just like Elmer Soderblom, like just having fun. I'm just out here playing hockey, this is a question. When he gets angry? You know, like just having fun. I'm just out here playing hockey. This is cause we get angry. You know, like I always make this sort of, you know, kind of halfway joke about Chara should have always won the lady Bing, not for what he did, but what he chose not to do, he could have laid waste to the NHL, but he was such a nice guy that he didn't that to me is what a lady binger should be. And that's why Chara should have won it every single year. You imagine if this guy ever gets a nasty streak in him.

Anyhow, that was like the moment of the, I'm a simple person. I get amused and tickled by tiny little simple things in hockey and that did it for me right away. Uh oh, this is gonna be bad. Oh, no it's not at all. Elmer Soderblom. Yeah.

My first star of the week. First star of the week, eh? Weekend. Yeah, I was gonna say, yeah. No, I saw you tweet about it and went to try to find it right away I just detailed Saturday night was a little bit of a hectic one for me. So Sunday was a little in and out Are you moving slow? Yeah a little bit so now are you a are you a get up and get in a good sweat Or are you a get up and bite the dog back kind of guy? I'm a sleep in and then get the sweat in usually.

Yeah. Gotcha. The other thing that I wanted to mention here is, and we got a lot of time to get into some of the great teams that are existing in the NHL right now and some of the disappointing teams, but there's always NHL right now and some of the disappointing teams. But there's always the hue and cry about changing the playoff format.

Oh, we gotta get away from this. Gotta go to the one versus eight. Gotta escape this. Can't keep doing this over and over again. So board number one today, maybe we'll do this weekly. Just had a look at what if you switch from the wild card format that we have now to a 1-8. 1 plays 8, 2 plays 7, you get the rhythm here.

This is what it would look like if the playoff started right now. We're starting which conference? Let's go east. Okay so we'll start with the east where pretty much nothing has changed. Under the current format it's capitals and Rangers 1v8 capitals Rangers. Under the current format Florida faces off against Ottawa in the 1v8 they face off against New Jersey. In the current Carolina faces off against the Devils, Carolina versus Ottawa, so New Jersey and Ottawa flip and Toronto still plays the

Tampa Bay Lightning. So not exactly a whole world of difference here if all of a sudden you switch from one from the for the wild card format to the 1v8. Now if we go to the Western Conference quickly we do see some movement, although we do see some similarity as well. You're still gonna get Winnipeg facing off against Vancouver.

The current format, this may be worth it right here, just to keep the current format. We got Dallas and Colorado at what should be their healthiest, round one. And I'm one of those guys, by the way, that says, I want the best teams to face off against each other early. I don't wanna wait till they're all banged up to then they're just coasting on fumes

in the Stanley Cup final or the conference final. I want Colorado at their healthiest and I want Dallas at their healthiest. The 1v8 format, Dallas faces off against Minnesota. There's one person out there that hates when I say this, but that's the reason I'm going to say it, we'll call it the norm green cup. Vegas faces off against Minnesota in the current format. If the playoff started today, Vegas faces off against the red hot Los Angeles

Kings in the current format, LA Kings face off against the Edmonton Oilers. The sound of yawns. Although I wonder if it'd be a different outcome. And in the 1v8 it is Avalanche versus Oilers. So you're either losing McKinnon or McDavid one way or the other in the 1v8 opening round. So not exactly as much difference as you would think if you change it.

You ever thought on that one, Phil? Yeah, that's why you just go one verse 16. I mean, it's the best way to do this, I think. Quebec League style. That's what I grew up with in the NHL, 1v16. Like, I know it's a ridiculous suggestion. Yeah? It's more expensive, it's a lot of travel,

but if we wanna actually get people to stop complaining and driving up these conversations, that's probably the way to eliminate it. The reality is you're gonna get very similar situations. Any way you shape these out, sure, maybe one year compared to another, it might be a little bit more drastic. The West is a bigger difference than the East there, but like you pointed out, by the way, Dallas, Colorado in one format, Colorado, Edmonton in the other.

But it's just like, you know, like pick your poison. Did you, as hungover as you may have been on Sunday, by the way, Randy Workman liked to know just how hungover you were. As hungover as you may have been, like you could still appreciate how great that game was. Yes, I could. It wasn't too bad, I will say that. It wasn't too bad. I'm pretty responsible. Make sure to hydrate. Mix in your waters here and there. But, no, yeah, yeah. I watched. I had to watch those. I had to watch the Johnny Laz game that he had hyped up

the most, leading into the weekends, the Oilers and Rangers, so checking in on those. It's unreal hockey, but yeah. It's just very, very good hockey. Right now, I mean, it is. One more point about that Dallas, Colorado game, and I wanna show this viz as well. There was a moment in the game

where Kale McCarter's going around the net, Devon Taves is tied up with Mason Marchman and You got the we got the viz cute up here Taves ends up getting tripped Now the officials think that it's Mason Marchman He's trying to make the play for the puck when really it's Devon Taves who trips his own player Mason Marchman gets the call He goes off to serve too. Now interesting with this one so got a DM from Todd Williams who's active in the chat listens watches the show the whole deal he submits this one rule of change Force, I always love that, force. Force stick manufacturers to make sticks

in team colors so it's easier for the officials tripping, high sticking, etc. deflection. So you can see which stick actually tripped Davon Tave, actually tripped Kael McCarr there because it's Tave's stick but the officials think because him and Marchmond are so close together that it's actually Mason Marchmond that trips him. Now, the way that it works right now with colored sticks, I know Bauer and I assume CCM is the exact same. The way that they've done, they've redone all their colors

for their personalized sticks, their signature series sticks. They have colors for every single team. So you could have, so if you play for the San Jose Sharks and the team mandated, I don't even know if that would need to be collectively bargained. Maybe it would. We're talking about players equipment. You could have like every player use a teal stick to make things easier.

And it might kind of look cooler too. If're Dallas or neon green right like take your if they're Philadelphia they're orange like it might be kind of cool like it might it might look interesting here um i don't believe though um just one little tangent on on colors um we'll use your team for example, Philly, the Toronto Maple Leafs. If you have black skates, you have a black stick for example, you're only allowed to use blue accents on it. You can't have like a yellow or an orange accent on your stick or your skates. I think that's pretty sure that's a team. That's a team color initiative. But what do you think of the idea here?

And we'll get Shayna on board. Maybe we'll waste her time with this question too. What do you think of the idea of mandatory colored sticks reflecting the team to make things like tripping calls and high sticking easier to call to say nothing of what it may just look like, which is probably pretty cool. So I have no issue with that. I don't think that the color of the sticks or anything detracts from the game, which is like the most important thing for me, just the viewing experience. The only pushback that I'm going to have on this

is I don't actually know how much this helps. Like you see that play develop in real time. I still... let's take that exact Marchment play. I still don't know how much that helps. I don't know if you have a neon green stick. It's pretty obvious who sticks in there. Like yes, it should be, but it also should have just been easy enough to see that that was not Marcin's stick in that original play, I thought. That's happening fast. Like, we're slowing this down and watching it. We're all going like, oh, look at, look at Dummy there eating space cake. Can't make that call. Come on, man. You gotta make, I make that call all day long. I can see from here. I can see it from my couch in slow motion.

Like, I mean, you can't make that call in real time. That's a tough one. That's a tough one. I don't know. I guess maybe a couple calls here and there. I don't know how much it changes in the picture, but maybe Shayna has a different perspective on it. Yeah, let me waste her time with this one to kick things off.

Yeah, she's gonna love me now. She's Shayna Goldman, no stranger to this property here from the Too Many Men podcast and the Athletic. She joins me now. You ready for stupid question to kick? Oh, by the way, that is a great sweater. Oh, I love that. Wow, thank you.

Speaking of style, did you hear our conversation about colored sticks making it easier for officials to make calls, i.e. the Mason Marchman call from Sunday's excellent Colorado Dallas game? Your thoughts? I did hear. I did hear. OK, I'm not opposed. You're never going to hear me argue about making things more colorful and interesting on the ice. But I have two two very strong

opinions about this. One, I don't think we need to make things easier for the officials. I think the officials need to get sharper and I think they need an eye in the sky To help calls before we start changing sticks to make life easier for them Second of all, if we're going to be adding more color onto the ice there are two other ways I think we should do this. I think everyone should get like that freedom to have like their own unique sticks I think when you see like a white stick, it looks really cool I know Alex Wemberg uses one and sometimes like fades into the ice or I think of Marty St. Louis and the yellow stick. I would rather see more detail on skates and more importantly on helmets like the Red Wings helmets I keep thinking about from the Stadium Series. Why is that not the norm to have the logo to have the stripes have something different? So before we get into the fun

of designing sticks, like I want unique skates, I want unique unique helmets and I want an eye in the sky official to help things. Okay so you've taken this to a whole new different place here that I I don't have time to address. The eye in the sky one I'm always hot and cold on because I don't know that we need any more stoppages or I don't know that we want stoppages to last any longer than they are. To me mistakes are baked into the pie when it comes to when it comes to hockey. Until I see the perfect hockey player, I don't expect the perfect official.

You know, I'll tell you once, I was having a, this is where, this is the genesis of that comes from Shane. I was playing in a beer league game and I got a penalty for something and I was like, oh man, I was like basically nothing. So I'm beaking at the referees, he's leading me to the box.

And as he puts me in the box, he goes, you want better officials? I go, yeah, I want better officials because you stink. And he says, if you want better officials, be a better hockey player. I'm the official you deserve. You're awful. You deserve me. So I was like, you know what? You got a really good point.

I really can't argue that. That's a really, I kind of laughed like was like, you know what? You got a really good point. That's perfect though. I really can't argue that. That's a really, I kind of laugh like, yeah, you know what? I got, I got, I got no comeback for that. You're, you're a hundred percent right. I do deserve you. I'm that bad.

So I get my, I get the level of officiating that I have. And so that's why I keep saying like, listen, I've not yet seen a perfect hockey player. So I can't expect the perfect official. Mistakes. I have, I have a gooddle for you. Okay, here come the feelings. First of all, beaking, very Canadian of you. Like, oh my god, was that a Canadian word? And the way you say it. Oh my god. Second of all, I don't expect perfect officiating. And I don't think this is, oh, add more video in. I think this is someone who can see plays something that's egregious and call down to an on ice official to

Be like that, you know, that's this kind of infraction Maybe it speeds up the game a little bit if they get it right in the first place instead of you know an offside play That continues and leads to a goal against maybe someone above will stop that play in the moment And then you don't have to have 40 seconds of the game go on a nine minute Review that gets no one anywhere. Like, what if this solves problems? It just helps. It adds more human element and it just adds another perspective into it with a different viewpoint. Which is why, again, we need an R&D summer camp every year to try out these rules to see if they work.

I would imagine that if you have the eye in the sky that fans might get frustrated. If all of a sudden, suddenly, there's a stoppage in play and there's a whistle from above or a horn from above and it just ends the play right there and you don't know. I think it would be weird. I think it would be very odd to have a whistle from above. I'm, we can't have that. So then you just- Who knows where the whistle will come from? Fans could have whistles then. You know what? I'll be honest with you. I'm kind of surprised that more fans don't do that that they don't bring whistles like thankfully they don't because oh here we go like what a distraction that

would be I've always wondered that why don't more fans bring whistles to game now I'm not advocating to do this folks I'm not saying bring no I'm not don't bring the sheet with no no no near. Do not bring whistles to games. We do not need that in hockey. I'm just surprised that more don't. Okay, so two hockey. First of all, that was an awesome game. I'm not sure how much of that Colorado Dallas game

you caught on Sunday, but I know we all, I know a lot of people gripe about the playoff format, the wild card format versus the one V8, et cetera. But if I can get guaranteed that in the first round, I'll take it. The players are at the height of their powers, their para energy hasn't been drained. Give me seven games of that in the opening round. And listen, we all go back to the 90s. Remember those Dallas-Colorado matchups, which were fantastic. Give me that era again, Shannon Goldman, your thoughts. I knew that was going to be your argument.

Like it's in my head before you even said, I'm like, he's going to say, this is when they're healthy is this when they can play the game? Yeah, yeah. Make a good point. However, I disagree with you. And I'm not even getting into my grapes with the playoff formatting. You can just stay tuned this week because there will probably be 1500 words coming to you on Thursday about this.

I am already writing about it with this matchup in mind. No, I mean, it sucks that this is going to be around one matchup because you want to see they it feels like these are the two best in the West. No offense, Winnipeg, I'm sorry. But after the deadline, I feel like these are the two to stack up against and the fact that one's going home in round one. It honestly sucks. It's going to be the same conversation in the East. If Florida and Tampa play each other around one, I would like to see it in round two, preferably, and then you go on for the best of the best of each division for round three.

That's my perfect world, but it's not about me. What, why, hang on, hang on, hang on. Why is, why does your perfect world consider the potential for injuries to the second round? Like no one's getting out clean from those series. Like no one's getting out like, ooh, that was, that was easy. Let's have a quick glass of ice water

and crack our knuckles and run to the second round. Like you're assuming that this is going to be, these teams are going to be fine. I want these teams at their healthiest, give it to me in the opening round. That's what I want. No, it just feels wrong to me.

I'm like, you played 82 games in a way too long season, potentially losing round one to a team that you should be playing later on. Like I'm fine with seeing teams when they're not at a hundred percent playing off against each other because now you're not at the height of your powers. Figure out a way to get there figure out a way to make up for what you're missing and I think that's where the coaching is going to come into play and where other guys get a chance to shine to which I think adds a really exciting element to the whole entire playoff picture and it's it goes both ways right like you're both say you're at 90% after round one you're at You know 75% after round one you probably both are All right, you have a secondary argument to that one before I cut you I already cut you off once were you finishing a thought there or are we going to move on?

Do you want to move on to the game itself? Yeah, I thought the game was awesome and holy smokes Like if you don't know it already spoiler spoiler, Kale McCarr is awesome. Kale McCarr is really good. Like, what a play. Like, shit. The entire game, the entire vibe, the fact that it's the abs dominating for two periods,

you're going, okay, stars, like I know you haven't had the best run since the deadline. And you know, I think there were one, one and two going into it that you're like, okay, like I want to see you do a little bit more here. And obviously they they do in the span of no time at all. I feel like we were so focused on the Miko Ranton and Marty Natures of it all, which is the biggest storyline that you forget about the other guys in it, too.

Like Matthew Shane, there's a spite there, too. That's a former player. You have Kibiranta on the other side. Like, I love how many ties there are between these two teams. And the fact that, you know, everything amped up in a span of 20, 30 seconds, I think that made for an even better result. And then going into the overtime, like the game was top notch. Like, there you go. It had a playoff vibe. And then I think the third period brought the energy we really needed into overtime.

And Kamelkar, like you said, he's incredible. And even that play with them, Nelson and McKinninnon like I want to know more like what's that Intentional because it didn't look like it. They almost collided and come a car just makes everything look easy around them He's like one of the best ways ever heard Kale McCart described is and maybe you can add to this one If Connor McDavid decided to be a defenseman, he'd be Kale McCarr Does that resonate with you? Yeah, yeah, I could see that because it's the finesse factor. But with Kale McCarr, like I don't even want to take away anything from him and compare him to someone else, you know,

a forward because I look at it and I go, he's someone that's redefined the position. And I think he's redefined the way we talk about defensemen. Finally, finally, somebody had to do it. And here it is in the modern era and it's not just him. It's that wave of younger defensemen that came in together. It's him. It's Queen Hughes. It's Adam Fox. And then you have someone like Charlie McAvoy who comes in at the same time and is still that throwbacky type. So I love thinking about the four of them together and obviously the group has expanded. You have guys like Hayskinen and Noodobson coming up and Thomas Harley like it's not just like oh there's one or two but Kamil Karr is like the premier defenseman at his position.

He is unbelievable on both ends of the ice. And I know, yes, he has Taves, who's incredible as a partner, and he shares the ice with McKinnon at Sun. And not everybody can say that they do, but he keeps up. He compliments, he drives play from the back end. He does a little bit of everything. The skating is so smooth. He's so creative, he's so quick.

And the way he anticipates the game, like every part of it, that you you if you want to build a perfect Player he's it he the the one area of his game that I don't think it's enough consideration Mainly because he doesn't always do it because he doesn't have to and he never chases it. He's a great hitter Because he can close so fast How many times you've seen Kailh McCarr and again like we don't put our premium this because we're always talking about the skating and the Edgework and look at this, it's effortless. Like what a glide, all of that.

Eichel is the king of glide, but my car's right there. Like all that stuff we always hear about him. That guy can hit, like first of all, he's physically strong. And when you have skating the way that he does and the way he rubs guys out and when he wants to just clobber someone, he can. Like when he wants it, Kel McCarzer is like a punishing hitter.

Real, and it's just because he's so fast. He can just get there so quickly and unexpectedly. He does everything. He literally does everything more. It's incredible that in year one, he was doing this. But for year one, he comes into the NHL and his transition to playoff hockey was as smooth as it could be.

And he was just incredible. And that, you know, it's funny when he was in the Norris conversation, what was it last year? And it's like, well, he wasn't at the height of his own power. He wasn't at the top of his game. That bar was still very high. He was one of the best in the league,

but he wasn't even the best version of himself. We saw it the year before, we're seeing it this year. And it just shows you, you know, just how amazing he is. I think he invented oxygen too. I'm gonna have to check that, but I think he may have invented the air that we breathe. Well, we'll check and get back to you on that one. Okay, so outside of that game,

here's what I wanna talk to you about. So like many, I just want like the coolest atmosphere for the playoffs. I want like cool buildings with cool fans and that changes sometimes from season to season, but there's always been one constant. I've always told people, hey, what should I do? Like I'm a hockey fan, I'm a new hockey fan.

What are the experiences I have to have? And I always say, you need to have Montreal, Saturday night, 7-0-1, lights come down, Coldplay hits, Ghosts of the Forum, Goosebumps on the Arms, all of it. Montreal Canadiens, when you watch that top line, Suzuki, Slavkovsky, Caulfield. Wonderful, because the three distinct personalities

that all do three different things, which is so cool. And then here's like the mini Bergeron in Nick Suzuki here. Like, what do you see? And then when you peek under the hood at the underlyings, what do you see there? Yeah, they are the drivers of that team 100%. And it's, it's so interesting to see over this last stretch, how much they've taken over games. And you know, it's kind of limited because they're only going to play so many minutes a night, right? They're going to get

power play opportunity. They're going to play on that top line, but they're not on the ice the entire time, but their impact is so strong when they are on the ice that it really helps carry things. And then obviously them paired with Sam Montembeau and that like you have a recipe for success. And you're seeing the cornerstones of this team come into place, which I think took for some longer than expected.

And it hasn't been perfect. Like Nick Suzuki went through a couple of years where I think he didn't hit his stride to the level that we know he can. But now you really see that two way development over the last two or three seasons where you're like, wow, this this is someone who is an elite one. See, and, you know, Cole Caulfield, everyone always knocks his game

because he's a shooter first. And I think that he brings a lot more to the table. And, you know, that shooting is an amazing strength to have because at the end of the day, like goal scores don't grow on trees and he is a damn good one. And Slavkovsky, too, like you're seeing him, you know, come into his own and be a key part of this line. They have a ton of chemistry

because they played together for so long. And I think they know, the coaches know when to put them together and when to get the team going with them. So all of it is nothing short of impressive. Three players that have been either criticized heavily or passed over like unleavened bread, whether it's for foreign nations or a Slavkovsky

hearing about, oh, dud, bad first overall pick, oh, look at him in the NHL, NHL's not a development league, get him to Laval, like for very different reasons, like these guys each have a reason to have a burr under their saddle. That's why I love it. Like they each have like their own fuel for all of this.

And for a pair of them, it's obviously foreign nations, but for Slavkovsky as well. Like he's, he's heard of the first few years in his, in his career for sure. And he's playing great. Everyone is so harsh about first overall picks and top draft picks. Like I could rant about this forever because yes, Conrad, David is incredible. And Austin Matthews is incredible. And they come in and make an instant impact, but not everybody can do it. Like there were years Jack Hughes had a bad first season. Nico Heesheer didn't make as much of an impact in his early years and there was a lot to

talk about that draft and you know how many busts are coming out of that draft as well. Like it happens every year. We are so spoiled by the very good players that sometimes you forget that not all first overall picks are built equally and you know they usually are drafted there for a reason because one they have the skill and two they have a higher percentage chance of getting to their potential sooner than later. But if it doesn't happen off the bat, it doesn't necessarily mean they're cooked. Also, if a team is drafting player first overall, sometimes they're really bad and they don't have the systems and foundations in place to support that first overall pick. So sometimes it doesn't just happen when you snap your fingers and in the COVID years and

now it's another shit storm to consider. So I think that we're all so, so, so spoiled. And sometimes it takes a player a little bit longer. And we're seeing it with other top picks like Quinton Byfield and Alexi Laffernier. Like those are two other players that took a minute to hit their stride. So at least it's happening now. And I think you go through that and maybe it adds a little sandpaper to their experience that, you know, wasn't perfect going in and you have to work a lot harder for this. So now you add that hardworking mentality that I'm sure he's gaining along the way

with the high end skills that he has and he could be a damn good player. You know, really quietly from that draft as well. Logan Cooley's had a really nice season for you guys. Yes, he has. He's really played great. Okay. A couple of things here and then we're going to let you get back on with your, well, with your day.

I do want to ask you about Vancouver, hearing footsteps from St. Louis, but I want you to finish this sentence for me. Shayna Goldman, the Toronto Maple Leafs are blank. Boring, boring. Oh my goodness. Okay, I love watching the Toronto Maple Leafs. Like let me make, like I watch them every year. They are probably one of the teams I focus on the most. It's like the Oilers and the Leafs are the two teams let me make like I I watch them every year. They are

probably one of the teams I focus on the most. It's like the Oilers and the Leafs are the two teams. It's like I want to catch everything. It seems like the Avs, they're exciting, they're interesting. And this year, I just I don't have the passion anymore. It's gone. And it's Craig Borubi's fault. And it's Bradtree Living's fault because, like, I get the defensive structure that they wanted in play is I think forever you heard it, the Maple Leafs need more defense. And I honestly disagree with that. And I disagree with the way they've gone about it this year. I think they've sucked out the life from this team.

But now that you have this structure, maybe get some secondary scores in place, and you could be a lot more interesting. You have the defensive foundation you've built. You have defensive defensemen. You brought in guys like Tenev. OK, you can make this work. And while I think Lawton and Carlo both answer what the Leafs needed, and you've built, you have defensive defensemen, you brought in guys like Tanev, like, okay, you can make this work. And while I think Lawton and Carlo both answer

what the Leafs needed, I still am looking for like a middle six score to add a little bit more pop behind the big guns, because now you're just adding to the pressure those big guns are already gonna have in the postseason, I hate it all. And that is the problem, well, one of, but the main problem for Toronto is right now, and when you look at how the money is allocated, it really shouldn't be.

It's kind of like the playoffs. They can't score. Like with all of this high powered, and again, we keep coming back to this idea of, you know, what's wrong with Austin Matthews, what's the, the injury, the illness, the, the, the, whatever. Um, but this, the, the, all of a sudden now the Maple Leafs have a pop gun. Offense. Like this is not the way it was supposed to, this is not the way it was supposed

to be for the Toronto Maple Leafs. And they're facing off against the Calgary Flames tonight. They've lost five of their last six Toronto has, and they're going to go up against a guy who, you know, if I had to, if you pressured me right now to vote for the Calder, I'd probably tell you it's the Calgary Netminder, Dustin Wolf, over all those other guys, including Lane Hudson and Macklin Celebrani, etc. All right, now then, if you're

the Vancouver Canucks, why should you be like not just scared, not just like oh this is an annoying little mosquito go away, but why should you be terrified of the St. Louis Blues right now? Maybe phrase this better, should you be terrified of the St. Louis Blues right now? How about that? Well, you have Quinn Hughes back. So that's huge right there because he is a difference maker among difference makers, right? He's as good as it gets. And the numbers, the on ice swings and like shots, scoring chances, goals when he's on the ice versus the bench, it's on, it's absolutely unbelievable. So you should feel a lot better. And if Elias Pedersen is back, which maybe he is, he had a really, really good game against Flames, you know, you have something that you could take

a little bit of solace in and say, okay, that wild card spot is going to be there's great and wonderful. But the Blues are right there. And it's really interesting, because that is not the team I expected to be disrupting them for a playoff spot. My eyes were on Utah a little bit more. But I thought they would have done something at the deadline to add to the fact that they are a healthy team, but they didn't. But the blues five on five game has been so good. If we use four nations as our benchmark feels like the right time to do it because that's a break in the season. They have a 58% expected goal rate.

The only team that's higher than them in that is Utah. The difference is that they're scoring more in those minutes. They're outscoring opponents, 33 to 20. So some of it is really good goaltending. Some of it's the fact that they're converting on their chances and you can't PDO your way into the playoffs sustainably and be a really good team. And that might be true, but also you have to make your own luck and you have to find ways to sustain

the really good goaltending in the shooting and that's by generating a lot of offensive five on five and playing good defense. And they're doing both of that. The issue for them is special teams. So if you're Vancouver, you can keep that in mind, like, you know, how deep are you really going to go down the stretch if your special teams on both ends of the ice are bad and they are completely and totally bad for the blues. But I like that they're making this more of a race than I think anyone saw coming.

Quick thought, I call the audible here before Connor McGehee from the Avalanche comes aboard. Quick thought on the Ottawa Senators, huge game tomorrow, Montreal and Ottawa. I never thought that we'd be here March 17th talking about how important this game is to the Eastern Conference, but here we are and we've talked about the Habs. You ever thought on the Sens going into tomorrow night? Yeah, they've been great. I think they're finally creating some offense to back up the defense. They've worked on that defense all year. We've seen them get better with their structure. But now the offense is finally starting to come along

because you could see their shooting percentage was really low earlier this season. But the fact was like their offensive creation below that also was really poor. So it's not like they were doing enough to even generate good looks. Now they're starting to do that. Pair that with Lena Solmark and that like you have a pretty good recipe for success And it feels like they are that Atlantic division You know up-and-coming team that finally is gonna make the playoffs and now we might even be having conversations about could they jump into The top three seeds which who saw that one coming?

Mm-hmm who's in the most trouble here like I know like the default is always okay. Look at the one the Maple Leafs I feel like the default is always, okay, look at the, when the Maple Leafs, Bryan Burke came up with, you know, the 18 Wheeler goes off the road, but it very much does feel like that. So maybe the answer is Toronto, but you're looking around the playoff teams here. Who's in the most trouble for you?

Are you saying teams are already in playoff spots or in a wild card picture? In playoff spots. Or maybe if you're like, Poisa completely fall out of the playoffs. And by the way, I don't know if they can do this, but can Pittsburgh do this? Are they just going to run out of runway? Am I just like leaving in Crosby too much?

Like I just look at that and I look at the games and I'm like, I don't know. Like give Crosby a challenge. You know what I mean? Yeah. The team I'm actually a little bit worried about right now is Columbus. And I was looking at their schedule and they play Ottawa, I think three more times, like they're going to be playing a lot of teams that have a lot invested in this So I think that's a tough look for them. But I think if they don't make it it's like, okay

Whatever, no one expected them to be here. So the pressure I think goes down a little bit for them So I guess I'm changing my answer already, you know what? I'm gonna say I'm gonna I'm gonna go with the Leafs because I think if you end up as first place in your division, you're in a little bit better shape to go against one of those wild card teams unless of course naturally it's Ottawa, which please let that happen. But I think it's tough because I know Florida is going through it at the same time. But you saw the Leafs against the Panthers and you go, you know, I don't think the Leafs should want to play Tampa in round one either.

I don't like the matchup for them against either Florida team to get into the playoffs, I think they need to get past round one against a worse opponent. And then maybe they can heat up as they go. But yeah, they're the easy one because I think they're the, the team with the most to lose at this point, right? So here, I'm glad you mentioned Columbus too. And like, that's the team that we would all been, all of us have been cheering for all season long, right?

It's, we're all like, you know, mourning the loss of the Godreux brothers and really want Columbus to do well, want Calgary to do well for the same reasons. And tonight they're going with an all Russian line. I'm not sure if you've seen this. So they've got Chinikov on the left, Voronkov in the middle and Khromarchenko on the right. Here's what I would put to everybody listening

and watching right now. Maybe you want to weigh in on this as well. Is there, it's going to sound harsh, but here I go. Is there another player in the NHL, other than Yegor Chinikov, who shoots as hard as he does and misses the net more than he does. There was a guy, I'm gonna really sound like an old here, Shaina,

and you're gonna go like, who's that old man? There was a guy when I was growing up by the name of Gaston Gingra, who was a defenseman for the Montreal Canadiens, and he could blast it. The problem is he would wind up and the season ticket holders would all duck. He just could hit the net but man did he have a hammer of a shot Chinikov is that guy too

Now I don't know, I don't know if you ever thought on this one, if there is a player who shoots it harder and misses the net more consistently Than Yegor Chinikov of the Columbus Blue Jackets It's always I always look for like the game within the game and the little things that amuse me. Just love watching them hammer it just wide, just over the crossbar. Know what I mean?

Yeah, I feel like guys like Mikas Vanajad were in that boat earlier this season or like an Alex Ovechkin, but like honestly it's giving like FIFA vibes because when I'm learning to play and like when you shoot in FIFA, it is unreal. It's like, don't press the button too hard or that is ripping over the net. And then the commentators absolutely roast you for it. They're like, wow, that was a

horrible opportunity. And you really had fun until they shot the puck and you're like, oh my God, I'm terrible. So that is what I'm thinking about now. Like when you're talking about it, he has a very hard shot, he misses enough. But I think with a good skills coach, that's something you can rein in and you know when to use that shot and if you can figure out how to shoot the puck maybe a little less hard and work on his accuracy, he'll have way more weapons at his disposal. No you can blow pucks past goaltenders in the NHL. I swear all the common logic goes out the way.

You can do it. Just keep, you're not shooting hard enough. Just try to shoot harder, Chinnikov. I just love watching them. It's just one of my favorite things to watch. Just hammer the puck, Shaina. It's more fun that way. It's like when a player goes in on a breakaway

and like rips a slap shot and people are like, why did they do that? Like that would be my move. Every time. I love that. There are, do you have a, Charo would do it. Hosa would do it host that would do it Old-schoolers will remind you about Brian Rolston would do that as well

Do you have a favorite come in and just wind up like back scratch and slap shot? I mean for me those are you doing it close. Yes And I I feel like he's not talked about enough Claude drew like I will not stand for this He is such a good player still and you look at the age distribution on Ottawa And now he is one of the oldest guys there or the oldest guy there and he's still one of the best players on The team and he's so good on both ends of the ice But for me like that is it you see him come in all alone whether it's a shootout or breakaway And I want to know what he's gonna do. I'm with you hundred percent. You're the best. Okay, great design, great fashion.

Thank you. Give me that all day. Did you make that one by the way? I know you're into that. Yeah it was like a kid sweatshirt so I added a zipper to it. Awesome, love it. Okay, you'll be good. Enjoy the rest of your day. We'll check back soon. Thanks for having me. There she is, the great Shana Goldman from the Athletic and the Too Many Men podcast. And you can listen slash see her regularly here on this program, kind of everywhere I've gone I've dragged Shana along with me, sometimes kicking and screaming. Although I keep winning hockey bets with Team Canada, so like shows me a lot of, we bet

dill pickle chips. She's lying to me and saying that the place that she buys them say that it's only a summer chip and that's only when it's available, but nonetheless. Uh, okay. Let's turn our attention now to Connor McGehee is the play-by-play voice of

the Colorado Avalanche coming off that. I got to say Connor, outstanding game, uh, that we saw on Sunday. And I know that as the play-by-play voice, you have certain responsibilities and duties and obligations, but when you're watching Kale McCarr and Valeriya Natchushkin or Terry Leckinen

and Nathan McKinnon, of course, like are there some points where you just say, I'm just gonna be a fan right now for a couple of moments and take this all in. I'm gonna get back to doing all the janitorial work of the play-by-play in a second. You know, if anyone classifies play-by-play work as janitorial work, they have more problems

than we know what to do with, yeah. But you're right, I mean, I think, and I speak for everybody at Altitude, both television and radio, we're fans for, and that's how we approach things. We don't take ourselves too seriously and we we ride the roller coaster with everybody and the roller coaster with Cale McCarr McKinnon and everybody that you

mentioned before it's always a fun one right it's a nightly basis of the greatest hockey on earth and so that's that's where we're we're extra fortunate and you know games like yesterday are a perfect example of that with some late heroics there, or early heroics, if you're talking about overtime from Gail McCarr. I'll tell you, it's clearly a candidate for the game of the year. It was so much fun to watch.

I can only imagine actually being there to document all of it. And one of the things that I was mentioning, Shannon Goldman from the athletic was just on me a couple of seconds ago on the Too Many Men podcast. And one of the, we were talking about Cale McCarr and like, we got to the point

where pretty much, okay, this guy also invented oxygen, but one of the things that, and, and let's say, listen, you've been there to document all of it. So this one comes no surprise to you. Like one of the things that, one of the, the, the sneaky good skills that he does have, and mainly because of his skating and how quickly he can get into position for it.

And he is strong. He's a really sneaky good hitter. Like I know we focused on the skating and all the effortless to the neutral zone and great shot. You saw that yesterday, but Connor, you know, this, that guy's a sneaky good hitter all day long. Well, and I've said this for years, Jeff is like, his technique is almost perfect. Right. and it's not every shift where he's

gonna go out there and try and let Atlanta guy up right but if the opportunity prevents itself I mean you're gonna get all that power from the legs right through your sternum and it's gonna throw you off balance and likely down to the ice and you know I've also said this for a long time him and his defensive partner Devon caves are two of if not the two best one-on-one defenders outside of Jacob's slave and in the National Hockey League they really are but but you're right nobody everyone always talks about Kielman Kars skating ability and how how does one's hips do that right you know how do you do that

quadruple joined or what's what's the what is your case but but no one ever talks about the physical nature that Kielmokar can provide maybe a because he's not the biggest body on the ice but two because he has all these rhinestones and the rest of his game and you forget that there's a hammer in there and and shows up from time to time and it's just a gentle or not so gentle reminder that there's a hammer in there and shows up from time to time. And it's just a gentle or not so gentle reminder that he's the complete hockey player.

So here's the how does it work question. Because we've seen managers tinker with their teams before, especially teams that have Stanley Cup aspirations. But this is an organization that swapped out both goaltenders, swapped out a future Hall of Famer, brought in Natures, brought in Nelson, brought in Coyle, brought in Drury, brought in Lindgren.

Like, this isn't just like tinkering all season long. And, you know, the organization got at it early as well, like identified and actively went out there and said, all right, this goaltending is not going to do it. We're not going to get undone by poor goaltending. We've seen that movie before and we're going to change it. You know, the common wisdom is always, you know, you have a good team, don't change it too much, but these are sizable moves here that the Avalanche have made and you watch them play and you say to yourself, this is like an Olympic diver into water, no ripple.

Can you explain this Connor McGee? Well, I think I can explain it by, you know, a general manager's job is to make the team the best that they can be. And I think, you know, over the past couple of years, post Stanley Cup win in 2022, I don't want to call them band-aids or bandages on things, but when you have

departures of key players and obviously everyone goes to the NOSM cadre number one in that regard, but you're trying to fill in unfillable holes. And I think it takes a season or two to sort of determine which route your team is taking with the core pieces intact. And I have to give Chris McFarland all the credit in the world for having all the courage in the world to identify points of weakness and being able to, you know,

not just fill them with mediocre. Cause I would not call McKenzie Blackwood a mediocre goaltender. I would not call Scott Wedgwood a mediocre goaltender. I would not call Scott Wedgwood a mediocre goaltender. I would call Scott Wedgwood the best backup goaltender in the National Hockey League for a myriad of reasons. And then you went from probably being one of the most questionable teams down the middle

of the National Hockey League to all of a sudden probably being the deepest team in the National Hockey League down the middle. With Drury, who at one point was your third line center. And now, you know, you have more centers, including Parker Kelly, than you know what to do with. Um, so, and the Brock Nelson, I think shocked a couple of people that the ads were able to get him. But then I think the real surprise was Charlie coil from Boston.

They really put it over the top. So again, it has to do with, um, stealth awareness, which the avalancheche had they weren't kidding themselves that I think the roster over the past two seasons Was okay, but I'm not sure it was good enough to win in the central division much less in the entire Western Conference So self awareness and courage were the two Attributes here and that's why for me Given all that's gone on, no matter what happens to the Avalanche and the Stanley Cup playoffs,

Chris McFarland should get the Jim Gregory Award this year. He's been exceptional. I think he's clearly a candidate. I'll tell you, I'll be honest with you, for me, the number one candidate for the Jim Gregory General manager of the year of the award is not even a general manager anymore. And that's Brian McClellan who peaced out after

he made all those moves and you know, Chris Patrick is there, you know, um, and he made a couple of moves himself, but listen, McFarland's right there as well. Um, that's that, that, that shouldn't be a secret. Um, let me, okay, let me ask you about one play. Shane and I were just talking about this a second ago as well.

McKinnon and Nelson. Is that a, what was that? Is that like a set play? Is that an accident? Is that like, what is that? What did we see? Kale was asked about it. Was that the set play afterwards?

Because you had the near, you know, it's the old George Carlin line. It's not a near miss. There was a near hit right there at the blue line. And then Brock Nelson almost fakes like he's going to the bench for a change, but then he stays on the ice and all this calamity allows him. And look, it didn't even completely catch Dallas by surprise because you look back, Kim, a car, but basically still beats three guys in order to score the overtime winner. But Kale was asked afterwards if it was a set play. He said no, it wasn't. It

just sort of worked out. But this all comes on the heels of the star's head possession after the opening face off of overtime. And then of all people, Miko Ranton is offside. So you get that neutral draw that Brock Nelson wins. And then the next charge of the ice is Kale McCarr in the back of the net and the game is over. But yeah, it ended fun, but it could have ended horribly. Much more horribly if you have two big bodies, and McKinnon and Nelson come together,

and then the Stars pretty much have a three on one the other way. Okay, a couple of minutes here left with you. I want to go over one of your tweets that we had a lot of fun with on the show last week. I just loved it. Oh, yeah. No, you're a smart guy.

I love, like, dude, like, I saw this tweet, and I'm like, this is catnip for me. This is fantastic. Connor, thank you so much. This is awesome. I feel like the spirit world sort of typed it with you in mind, Jeff. Bless you, Connor.

Bless you. Yes, we're right back. Because we've had this conversation for years in mind, Jeff. Bless you, Connor. Bless you. Our brain is right back, because we've had this conversation for years. Oh, yeah. Oh, I know. Our brains are symbiotes on this one. Trust me. So your tweet last week, March 12th, 11, 10. This is on the heels for Contacts, by the way, of the most boring overtime in the history, arguably, on three where Minnesota had possession on their side of the red line for four and a half out of five minutes. But go ahead.

Yeah, no, it's the four minutes of neutral zone regroups. Oh, we got nothing. We're going to regroup. Oh, it's a 72 Soviet Red Army all over again. Okay. Somebody picked the tanks very much. Yeah. Am I going to watch this over time?

Connor, am I going to go sort out my sock drawer? I'm not exactly sure. Oh, this is a sock. I wasn't able to do both somehow. Okay. Hockey, this is your tweet. H wasn't able to do it somehow. Okay. Hockey. This is your tweet. Hockey in the NHL is great. That's true.

Three changes to make it better. Number one, one to eight playoffs or one to 16. If you want to get crazy, they still do that in the Quebec league. Received number two, no shootout. Number three, can't go back across the red line in overtime. Now for the, for the one to eight playoffs,

I was talking about this earlier and like either way right now, it's a fun matchup for the avalanche in the first round. It's either Dallas, Colorado, give me seven, give me seven or Edmonton. Yeah. Take your pick. So from a Colorado point of view,

on point with that one. Let me share one with you that I, every year there's one that I just get fixated on. And I just, I just have this brain that I can't let go of it. Um, what I would like to see is outside of the, um, start of the period or after a goal, no face-offs in the neutral zone.

Yeah. If you go offside, it goes back to your zone. Keep the puck around the net. When the puck's being dropped in the neutral zone, there's no chance to score. Would you snuggle up here with Camp Merrick that get rid of neutral zone face-offs. Face-offs should always be around the net because we should always be in a position to score a goal, agree, disagree? I think agree because I mean, one of the talking points and the modus operandi of the league,

pretty much post-05 lockout was more offense, right? More offense, more offense. And it leads to another pet peeve of mine, the puck over glass is a power play. I think that we can achieve both things and not give that the same punishment as a slash or a hook, but that's maybe a discussion for another time.

One minute panel, one minute minor, one minute panel. How about that? I was saying treated like a nice thing. Again, defensive zone face-off, no change, and then you accomplish all your goals and you don't have to get a power play for something that was likely not in the 2025 game.

But to your point, anything, because an offensive, it's not a scoring chance in an offensive zone face off, but the odds are higher for scoring chances. Pucks around the net. With Pucks around the net absolutely so i can get i can set up my tent and camp merrick on that one okay you're uh you're aboard we'll send you your uh we'll send you your card shortly uh listen connor you're the best very

much always appreciate it uh you're one of the finest uh callers out there and you're one of the sharpest brains and not just because you agree with me on this nutritional face off idea. But glad to see you on the camp of the good side here. Connor, you be well. Enjoy the Avs down the stretch. Yes, Jeff, you do the same. Thanks for calling, appreciate it. Thanks.

Thanks. Thanks. Thanks. He's the best, he's Connor McGahey. He's the play-by-play voice of the... Can you imagine that, Philly? Like, what's your assignment? Like I always feel bad for...

I think one of the most underrated play-by-play voices in the NHL is Dan Dunleavy of the Buffalo Sabres. It's a tough gig, right? Like there's some really tough hockey that he's got to call. Like Buffalo's always been blessed with great play-by-play voices. Dan Darling the best, Rick Jennerette, Dan Dunleavy is an excellent play-by-play caller but he's got to watch a lot of tough games and call a lot of tough games. What a joy like Connor McGahey has calling AvsGames. Like seriously. So you get to watch that every night and you get to sit there and then like I'd be like every two weeks a paycheck would show up and someone would yell stop thief. Like really? You're gonna pay me? You're gonna pay me too? This is amazing. What did I do in a previous life to like pull a family out of a burning house and I would get there call abs games

This is amazing. Wow, man. This is great. What a what a what a Saint I was in a different life Good gig. I know I know I I've said it a few times like I think Connor McDavid's the best player in the league. My favorite player to watch is Car McKinnon. Oh, okay Nathan McKinnon for me I mean, I love Kim a car but it's Nathan McKinnon for me like just to be able to watch that and call that every single Night and then oh by the way throw in the guy you just mentioned. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah He's also on the team and then

Treats and our tree leckon is a treat like keep going insane insane Okay, we got to clean up a few things here. Let's get to a couple of, let's get to some of the games and then you can, oh, you know what we gotta do? We gotta do our new favorite team. We gotta rebalance our universe here on the sheet. But first, games tonight around the NHL. FanDuel, proud to connect fans to the major sports moments

that matter to them. These roster updates from Daily Face Off's fantasy Twitter feed. We got games, you like games, we got games, we got games tonight, let's just call this one up here. I got a dumb fact for you. So we got five games tonight. First one, Buffalo and Boston.

Okay, sneaky good, the olds will know this one, Adams division rivalry. Do you know what the Adams Division was, son? I've heard of it, yes. Oh, dagger, I've heard of it. Oh, my fainting couch. My fainting couch, where is it? Did you know, like, this was so much of a rivalry.

These teams really did not get along for so long. The first trade made between these two teams, keep in mind, Buffalo came into the NHL in 1970. These two teams didn't make a deal. And I know people are gonna say, well, Peter McNabb and Andre Savard, that was compensation for a free agent signing, everybody calm down. the first official trade

Didn't happen until 2009 Danny Paia, you know like teams that don't get along Yeah, just don't make trades. Hello Edmonton Calgary. Hello Montreal Quebec Like they're very very few and far between took until 2009 for the Sabres and the Boston Bruins to actually make a trade. And then they made a trade that became, you know, part of the Merlot line with Craig Reed Campbell and Sean Thornton and Stanley Cup and all that kind of stuff.

Anyhow, Uka Pekka Luganen starts tonight for the Buffalo Sabres. J.G. Peturka, Josh Norris, Yuri Kulich, out for the Buffalo Sabres. Jonas Corpusalo starts tonight. Dan, don't leave you with the call. Tonight for the Buffalo Sabres, one of the most underrated play by play callers. And also I should throw in Brian Duff,

one of the most underrated hosts for a team out there. Philadelphia Flyers face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight. The New Jersey Devils take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena Jake Allen starts Daniel sprong is out Eric Holla Holla fama is in for Daniel sprong Mentioned the all-russian line chinakoff Ron Kauff and Marchenko tonight the Jackets have lost three in a row

Do you have an answer or a thought on the idea of the player who shoots the hardest and misses the net more than Yegor Chinnikov? No, Laz said Rodzinski in there. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. Or are you going to say Dion Faneuf just upset all your... No. You know the one thing that sticks to my mind every time anybody ever talks about missing the net and it doesn't fit in this category of hardest shot. The Cody CC one timer when the Leafs were in the bubble playoffs like I will never ever forget that shot ever.

Let it go man. Let it go. It doesn't fit for this. No, it's not even being upset about it. It's so unbelievably like comedic, I guess is maybe the right word, but yeah, it doesn't fit in answer your question, but I always think about that. You asked me earlier and I was like,

that's all I could think of. What did Laz say? Johnny Brodzinski said. Really, eh? Yeah, that's what I think. Shoes hard and misses? All right. Yeah. Anybody remember Mark Mancari? I know I'm

really reaching on one here. Mark Mancari, Buffalo Sabres, Rochester Americans. I think you played a few games, more than a few games in the NHL, but that guy could just... God could have hammered. Okay anyway, how's your liver? By the way, did you give it a rinse yesterday? Yeah? Okay, cuz your leaves are playing the Calgary Flames tonight. Leaves are playing the Flames tonight. Who's that young whippersnapper Calgary's got net there who that young guy? That young whippersnapper. Who's that guy? Is he any good Dustin fella? Look I'm telling you if there's not a response here tonight

Like this is a nightmare fuel like We're talking about a goaltender who could potentially win the Calder here. Probably deserves to be higher in the odds than where he is against a team that cannot generate offense. And although management types, owners for maybe owners as well aren't allowed to put money on the board yeah between the Calgary Flames and Bradshaw Living I assure you oh well some extra envelope son for that game-winning goal you didn't get this from me yeah yeah look also quickly I just want to jump in and say you Shana said you know all this is thanks to Borubay and this is thanks to Tree Living.

Look, my pushback on this is, and you kind of brought it up, you're paying those guys, Marner, Matthews, Nylander, Tavares, Morgan Riley, that much money. Do you know how hard it is to fill in scoring throughout the remainder of the lineup? I hate that people blame the bottom.

And then the other thing I just want to say, and maybe this is me trying to give a pass to Borube and maybe I'm going to be proven wrong at some point here. But I think that regardless of if you like the structure and the defense and all that kind of stuff, I think that the style he wants them to play is at least a little bit more geared towards playoff hockey, just in terms of like, let's play a little bit heavier and stuff. I just think that the guys you have in that room can't play it. And by the guys I have in that room, I mean the guys are paying all the money too. I just wanted to say that because I disagreed a bit with what she was saying and I don't like that Brubais catching all this heat. I think

that the players in there are getting off, off the hook here a little bit. You know what's really hard to do as a coach in the NHL? Like really, really hard. Like almost impossible. Win the Stanley Cup because only one team does it as Brian Burke has reminded us. He checks with the league every morning, he calls. Still only one cup.

No, you know what's really hard to do if you're a coach in the NHL? Win a Stanley Cup with two different teams. You know how many times this you're a coach in the NHL? Win a Stanley Cup with two different teams. You know when times this happened in the history of the NHL? The history that goes back to 1917. I can't even think of... I can't think of any. Three? Scottie Bowman, Dick Irvin, Tommy Gorman. That's it. I know it's always Oh, we got a coach that's won

the Stanley Cup. That's a curse. Yeah. It's happened three times folks. Oh, we got a Stanley Cup coach. We got it. That's not how it works. It's only happened three times in the history of the NHL. I know you're going to go to the internet machine to try to prove that I'm wrong. No, I'm not. I'm gonna bank that note for later today and tell everybody in the East Nation after dark chat, just scrap it. It's over. Yeah, Vic in the chat. Thanks, Jeff. Yeah. Yeah, no problem there, Vic. Yeah, I feel so much better now. Hey, I'm just trying to spread some sunshine here. Just truthen on you, Philly. Just truthen on you. Also, the Los Angeles Kings, the Red Hot Winners are five in a row, Los Angeles Kings. You want to throw a little spice onto that one? Kemper and Gustafsson start. They'll face off against the Minnesota Wild

tonight. Here's a question that Colby Cohen posed today. I can't remember whether it was Morning cup of hockey or it was daily face off live. He was on both. And I'll be honest with you. There was a part of me that wanted to call him today and say, Hey, can you come on the show today just so we can hit the trifecta and I just really abused Colby today, just like, yeah, you're going to do, you're going to do the, you're going

to do the hat trick today. You're going to, you're going to do the gauntlet today. Yeah. You want to earn the job. This is how you earn the job. You do an all three shows. You're owning you're gonna do the gauntlet today. Yeah, you want to earn the job. This is how you earn the job You're doing all three shows you're owning two more He brought up a great point Really really good point and that is if the playoffs started today in the wild-card format and it's Edmonton facing off against the Los Angeles

Kings all season long. We've said oh, yeah Edmonton wins that one Still saying that Still saying Edmonton if it starts right now you still saying Edmonton wins that one. Still saying that? Still saying Edmonton, if it starts right now, you still saying Edmonton wins that series? No, I mean, I will be honest. I've had a little bit more doubt with Edmonton for a little bit longer, because I've been concerned about goaltending there, and just some of the defensive depth,

but yeah, it's really coming to bubble into the surface here now. You know who's won seven in a row? All's well in Canada. In those Canadian walking markets, Jeff. Who knows who's won seven in a row? The Sens? No, Sens or what?

Ceds won six in a row. Caroline Hurricanes. Yeah. Let's keep on trucking along. Did you see that stat? Remember the vibe. What said one six and wrong Carolina Hurricanes? Yeah trucking along Remember the vibe remember the vibe if we win people love will love us if we lose people will hate us everything in between is noise Yeah, everything in between is nice Did you see the stats since ranting and left Carolina? I think I can't remember who tweeted out

I think they're for oh and oh since he left and Dallas is like one two and two I believe that was the stat I might be wrong on that. So I mean I think that's You always say What's the say? If you want to pay if you want to get faxed right you gotta pay us more No, if you want like correct me, I'm sorry like you're gonna have to pay us more. If you want us to like prepare for the show

and bring proper information, I'm sorry. Like I'm gonna have to, we're gonna have to renegotiate our deal here, Philly. It's not the way it's gonna be. You need more money. All right, speaking of good deals. Here's an awesome one. Canada, your favorite contest is back.

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Visit the Tim's app for details. We need to realign the universe as we finish the program today. The interview that we did last week with Lance Lososki from the Buffalo News. I think afterwards we are looking for funeral curtains and cadaver gloves. You like the, or the purple cadaver gloves. Which one do you like better? Like it was,

man, like it was, it was awful. Like by the end of that conversation, like, how was your drive Mrs. Kennedy? Like it was bad. It was awful. It was terrible. Yeah. But, um, so we want to, so we wrap up the show here. We mentioned this on Friday, I think, maybe Thursday. We want to recalibrate the universe and give it some balance. So from here on in, we are going to document and follow and celebrate that which is the greatness of the Buffalo Sabres American Hockey League affiliate, the legendary Rochester Americans, who are amongst the top team in the American Hockey League.

Only one game on the weekend, Rochester over Providence. Took a shootout, Rochester four, Providence three. Eric Branstrom, his third goal in two games in the American Hockey League for Roch. Is Branstrom gonna be that guy who's too good for the American League and just not quite there? Not quite there.

For the NHL, Mason Jobes with his 15th, Asak Rossean with his 27th, Devin Levi, excellent, comma again for the Rochester Americans. They have the tough weekend. They have the dreaded American Hockey League weekend of 3-3. Can't do that in the NHL, it's against the CBA. They face off against Charlotte on Friday. They take on Syracuse in Syracuse.

Great old rank, part of Slapshot was filmed there by the way. Facing off against the Syracuse crunch on Saturday and then they'll take on the Utica Comets at home at Blue Cross on Sunday. Go Rochester, go rookie head coach, Michael Leone, help them turn players into stars. Noah Ostlund is going to be a household name. One of these days, great two-way player.

Um, as we try to make good with the Buffalo Sabres, cause we just trounced on them last week with, with Lance kind of felt bad a little bit. I mean, just saying, just pointing out what's there, but just try to balance the universe a little bit. If you're a Buffalo Sabres fan

Your American Hockey League team is awesome problem is you know division with Laval and they're a juggernaut It might be the best team in the American League, but then less Rochester's got a shot at this thing Philly Rochester's got a shot at this thing damn it Yep, I'm gonna have fun tracking this one obviously I get to make the boards of that so as this goes along and I'm gonna have fun tracking this one, obviously. I get to make the boards of that. So as this goes along and this three in three wraps up, updating this at the end, I'll put some standings in there. Maybe we'll get fancy with this stuff.

Yeah. Alright, Rochester Play of the Week. Do all of this. Oh, there you go. Alright, you down with that? Yeah, I like that. The Rochester Player of the Week. We'll be coming to an official Rochester Americans pod.

Which is a... Or unofficial. RochPod, right here. Here we go. RochPod. The RochPod. 3 to 4 Eastern on your daily face-off YouTube channel. Welcome to the RochPod. It's a shoot show. Yeah, that's a cool sound actually. Welcome to the RochPod. All right, speaking of boards, did we go over everything today? All of our fancy production?

Did we go over all of our video? Did we actually deliver on what we said we were going to talk about? We actually talked about? There was a lot today. We're good? You ready for tonight? You did an awesome job. Ready for tonight.

Whew. Solo to question. I don't know. Either way, you're on afterwards. You're on afterwards. Yes. Are you flying solo today? Are you dragging someone on with you?

I'm taking calls tonight, actually. I don't have anyone booked. So I'm going to take calls. That's what I wanted the show to be. That's how I started all of this. Was taking calls from listeners. I used to listen, like, you know, you do it with with your kids and I used to do it where I'd miss games so I would consume a lot of Leafs hockey by hearing the postgame shows and Andy Frost and those

guys and taking calls and hearing Lunatic Leafs fans call in and lose it. Michael Buffalo. I was like nobody does this anymore. An awesome reporter. Michael Buffalo has turned this into a career. Excellent reporter yeah. Yeah so I was like, nobody does this anymore. Why don't I try it? And I've been doing it for a while. I've been doing it for like three, four years. I take colors on the show. My favorite part of listening to Leaf Talk with Andy Frost.

I got to work with Andy of course for a number of years. I grew up like loving Psychedelic Sunday. I used to go to his events at the Phoenix concert theater. What was it called? Strange Paradise. Did these like crazy psychedelic nights. Was awesome.

Andy's a great guy. He's the father, by the way, folks, of Morgan Frost of the Calgary Flames, who you'll see in action tonight against Philly's Toronto Maple Leafs. But I got the chance to work with Andy for a number of years and it was so cool. Long time in-house announcer for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ken Dryden, who used to listen to Andy on the radio when he was president of the Toronto Maple Leafs. That was Ken Dryden's choice, I believe, as in-house announcer for the Maple Leafs. And like legend in, not just Toronto radio, but like a legend in Canadian radio. That psychedelic Sunday show that he did that was a mainstay of mine

I'm every Sunday morning Get up wash the car put on psychedelic Sunday every single Sunday And he was awesome my favorite part about leaf talk was the people that called with things like I think we can get yogurt for Ponica Rofsky in a second Yeah I think we can get Jagger for Ponikarovsky in a second. Yeah! That's what people do. That's what people do. That's what people do.

I know, it's true. It's fun. And people will be losing it after the last two games, but we'll see what happens tonight. I'm sure everybody will be level-headed tonight with you, Philly. Don't worry. Okay, give it a quick plug. Where can people listen and watch? What time?

On the Leafs Nation YouTube channel. Goes live immediately following the game tonight. I think 7.30 game for Prime, so probably about 10 o'clock. That's when we'll be on there. I'll start it off and then a link will be in the chat there. You can call into the show if you want to. Super chats get you what? I don't have anything planned here tonight, like special. I just read all of the comments

and the questions that come in. Saturday night was different. Money raised for? Money raised for SickKids? SickKids charity. Yeah, SickKids. Love it. $500 on Saturday night.

Watch Philly abuse himself to raise money for SickKids. His heart's in the right place, his head. Yeah. Your mother and I are very concerned about you. Very, very concerned about you. Alright, good luck Zach. Good luck young man.

Thanks. On behalf of Zach Phillips Merrick signing off here, thanks so much for joining us. Thanks to Shannon Goldman from The Athletic and the Too Many Men podcast. Thank you to Connor McGehee, the play-by-play voice of the Colorado Avalanche. Tomorrow is Tuesday and that means the return from vacation. Who takes vacation in hockey season? I've always found that weird. I have Greg Wyshinski from ESPN,

so very much looking forward to that. Enjoy the games tonight. We'll chat about them tomorrow right here on The Sheet. Talk to you in 23 hours. 16 hours last night, every day this week, every day this month I can't get out my head, lost all ambitions day to day Cause you can call it a ride 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 wanna break it I turned on the music I do wanna break it I turned on the music Thanks for watching!