The Sheet with Jeff Marek - The Rotten Apple ft. Peter Baugh

Episode Date: April 8, 2025

Peter Baugh joins Jeff Marek for the Tuesday edition of The Sheet. Dissecting the New York Rangers' terrible season, reacting to Quentin Byfield's goal, the slumping Edmonton Oilers, remembering Greg Millen, 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. A-Cast.com. Peterborough is a hockey word. That's one of my favorite hockey sayings from noted hockey historian, Stephen Smith. I would encourage all of you to read the book, Puckstruck. Peterborough is a hockey word.

And when I think about Peterborough and I think about hockey, Greg Millen comes to mind almost right away. We lost Greg at the age of 67, who passed away suddenly. Right away we wanna offer our condolences and all of our thoughts to his family, his friends as well. Boy, I spent so much time with with Melzi talking about his son Charlie, who was a goaltender as well. In the times where he was trying to get into the OHL with Hussein Marie or the Quebec League. And boy, his dad was so proud of everything that he did.

I watched Greg growing up. He played on a lot of teams in the Norris division. St. Louis, whether it was Chicago, we saw Millsy all around various NHL stops. Many of you, older listeners and viewers, will remember him as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Even older, we'll remember him as a member for one season with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds that featured Wayne Gretzky.

And before that, the Peterborough Peets featuring legendary head coach Roger Nielsen. More on him in a couple of moments here. But I got to know Greg after watching him for so many years when I joined Hockey Night in Canada in 2007. Now I used to do a radio show called Hockey Night in Canada Radio on Sirius Satellite Radio and Greg was a mainstay. We hit it off right away. Had a love of hockey history and tiny little minutia about hockey history.

A lot of it revolving around his career. And although, you know, Millen never had like the playoff success that I'm sure that he wanted, he just didn't play on teams that were going far in the playoffs. He had a fascinating career that involved a lot of really interesting people and his time in hockey, even before he got to the then OHA, now OHL, when he played junior B with the Marlies, and let's not

forget too, Greg Millen was a small goaltender even by the standards of his day. Like there are numerous people, you know, all growing up. I mean, Greg learned to skate. He told me when he was like one and a half, two years old, his dad Ted built a rink in the backyard. Stop me if you've heard that Canadian story before, but he was always told too small to play goal, too small to play goal. But Greg played on this 1973 or 74 Marlies junior B team and the height of that success was not only playing at Maple Leaf Gardens against a traveling Soviet team but beating them. And we ended up having this conversation, I mean it it must've been interesting only to me and Greg,

maybe none of our listeners, but nonetheless we went on and on and on as we tried to figure out how many Soviet teams ever beat a Toronto team, professional or otherwise, at Maple Leaf Gardens. And every now and then I'd get a note from Greg, found another one, it was like University of British Columbia loses the Soviet national team in 1974 or

the Canadian national team in like 1976 against the touring Soviets loses loses again. I think we narrowed it down to like four times that the Soviet team had beaten a Canadian team. But his junior B squad beat the Soviets. And if you knew anything about the late Maple Leafs owner, Ballard you can imagine how proud and happy that made him and I believe he won the dressing room afterwards to congratulate the kids. As I mentioned he's from Peterborough and we think about Peterborough we think about a lot of people in hockey we'll think about Bob Ganey, certainly we'll

think about Colin Campbell. I put Melzi, you know, right in there as far as Peterborough Laura goes. But the one name that will always circle back to when it comes to Peterborough is Roger Nielsen. And Roger was Melzi's coach when he played with the Peterborough Peets. And whenever I would do rinkside for hockey night, generally I worked with Greg Millen and Bob Cole and Greg would always you know tell me what the protocol was around around Bob He warned me don't sit in the front seat in the car on the way to the on the way to the rink That's where Bob sat many people have made that mistake and Bob Cole gave him a stern tongue-lashing Because that's where Coley sat, thank you very much.

So he warned me about that protocol and helped me from rink to rink. I remember one of my first ones was in Florida for the Leafs Panthers game. And he sort of ushered me through, he was a really welcoming guy to anyone who joined the industry. That was Greg.

And a lot of those lessons, I think, were learned from Roger Nelson. We would go out for dinner on the Friday night before a Saturday night in Montreal. And I would just pick his brain about Roger Nelson. He'll tell me all the stories. Uh, he was the first one that told me the legendary Roger Nelson story about Ron Stackhouse, who would have been in Peterborough a couple of years before Mills,

he got there about how Roger and every league had to change their rules because of this on penalty shots would pull the goaltender out and put defenseman Ron Stackhouse in net. The player would grab the puck at center ice and Ron Stackhouse would come charging out, poke check the, the, the attacking player at the blue line and the, and the, the, the penalty shot was over. Millsy was the first one to tell me that story later found out that there was that one season Ron Stackhouse who later went on to play with Millsy with the Pittsburgh Penguins, went

7-for-7 with the Peter Burrow-Pete's. Millsy also told me stories about Roger when he needed a timeout because he would always use his timeouts early in the game knowing that he had a couple of students up in the stands that were ready to lob a couple of eggs on the ice to delay the game in case their teacher or in this case coach Roger Nelson needed an extra time out or a pause. And if you ever met Greg, you know that it was always impossible for Greg to tell a story and not laugh. Like Greg Millen was an excellent broadcaster, a tremendous broadcaster. He could notice a lot of things

that a lot of other people would miss on, but the moments that I'll always remember when it came to Greg were the moments where it was just pure emotion and it was specifically laughter. Just think about it for one second. If you've ever seen or heard a Greg Millen game, how many times did he laugh?

It was always, it was often. It was every couple of plays. He was able to find the joy in hockey, the funny side of hockey, and he would just reflect that. Like the best broadcasters are there to reflect, not just document what's going on, but reflect the mood and reflect the tastes and reflect the atmosphere of what's going on at that time.

And sometimes, Millsie, he would just abandon analysis and laugh. He would just have a good belly laugh about what just happened. Or he would punctuate his points by just laughing. He was such a likable person. Everybody misses him. I miss him.

I just spoke to him not too long ago. When I went through all of my drama in the summer, he was one of the first people that called me right away. And we had wonderful conversations. And I just talked to him not that long ago before he just passed away suddenly. I'll think of the laughter. I'll think of, you know,

that guy that I enjoyed long conversations with. You know, Elliot and I, when we did 32 together, we did a number of live events. And we went to Peterborough, Millsy came out and he brought Steve Larmer along with him, another member of the Peterborough mafia, all these guys up around Jack's Lake. And there was a few things that Greg liked more than just sitting around and telling old hockey stories. Uh, we are all poorer for his absence. He was a tremendous broadcaster, a friend to all of us. And really,

tremendous broadcaster, a friend to all of us, and really, Peterborough is a hockey word, Millen is a hockey word. Condolences to the family and friends of Greg Millen. You know what else I loved about Greg? I used to always bug him about this. He was the only goalie in the history of hockey that I saw who made me laugh during warm up. You know what Millsy would do during warm up? It was hilarious. Anyone of my vintage who watched him play knows exactly what I'm talking about here.

Guys would be coming in and taking shots for warm-up. He would stand there stationary and just move his arms. He would not move his feet. His feet were locked in and he'd just kind of go through the motions and then get off the ice. It was never not funny to me. If I'm just thinking about it now, Millsy taking warm up,

just flapping his arms back and forth. You can see the smile behind the mask of Greg Millen. You know, it's interesting. One final note here on Millsy, Peter Baw is gonna be stopping by at a couple of moments. One final thought too. Right up to when he passed, Greg Millen was always in excellent shape.

Like Greg Millen always went out of his way to take care of himself. And I remember we were at a sushi restaurant near the Bell Centre in one of the Montreal games that we did together. And we were talking about that. I'm like, you know, no offense, Millsie, but like you're an older guy, man.

You're in great shape. He's like, that came from Roger Nielsen because anyone that knows Roger knows how much that physical fitness meant to him and taking care of yourself, not just taking care of your body, but taking care of your brain as well, was really important to Roger. And he said that that always stuck with him. He said that, you know, for my entire life, going back to I'm 18 years old playing with the Peter Burrell-Pete's, and here's a guy that's having us run up and down hills.

For many, he said, it was like for the first time in their lives. And he said that really set me on the path all through my junior career, brief stints in minor pro hockey, but he basically played 14 years straight in the NHL, and all through his NHL career. And this was the era, let's not forget too, that off-season training for players was fishing and drinking. And Greg always kept himself in really good shape. And he

told me once when Roger Nilsson was leaving the Peterborough Peets to go join the Toronto Maple Leafs organization to coach in Dallas or Tulsa, I can't remember, that he wrote a personal note to all the players on the Peterborough Peets. And I knew that I had read it somewhere. So this morning I'm going through a couple of different books here on the Peterborough Pete's. And I knew that I had read it somewhere. So this morning I'm going through a couple of different books here

that document Peterborough and Peterborough Pete's hockey history and I found it. And it's in a great book called Hockey Town Life Before the Pros by Ed Arnold. And this was the note that Roger Nelson wrote to all the players, including Greg Mellon. This from, oh, it was Dallas. He went to Dallas in the Central Hockey League

as coach and general manager. So what Roger Nilsson wrote to all the kids, including Millsie. It has always been our policy to urge each player to do his best at school. It is my hope you will continue your education in order to keep alternative options open to you. It is not in your best interest

to become completely dependent on hockey dictating your future." Let me say that again for some of the hockey parents in the crowd. It is not in your best interests to become completely dependent on hockey dictating your future. Also, it is my sincere hope that you will maintain the highest degree of moral character in the years ahead. Your friend Roger. Miss you, Millsie. All right. It's coming up on the program today.

Daily Outlines presented by our friends and partners at FanDuel, North America's number one sportsbook app provider. Make every moment more with North America's number one sports book. And coming up on the program today, we have a lot to get to and a lot of it is gonna revolve around everybody's favorite topic, the New York Rangers. No, he didn't get enough on morning cup of hockey,

afternoon cup of hockey, he's gonna dissect the New York Rangers as well, Peter Boff and the Athletic. I encourage you to read his latest. Before he comes on on here if you have time. He is gonna come on here in a couple of seconds so maybe leave it for after the interview. The great Peter Boff and the Athletic will stop by. We will talk about the New York Rangers. That was a real tough one last night. Like there were moments where the Rangers looked really good specifically early but then there were those three

goals and that pretty much ended it and as many people have pointed out, man when a Peter LaVille that team fades it fades hard. On a positive note around the NHL last night y'all see the Quinton Bifield deflection slash goal if you thought he was already in the running for a goal of the year from one earlier on the season he may have just taken the title from himself. We'll show that one coming up a little bit later on and running for a goal of the year from one earlier on the season, he may have just taken the title from himself. We'll show that one coming up a little bit later on and don't look now, but it looks like the Montreal Canadiens just got stronger. There's a Demidoff on the horizon. We'll talk to you about that coming up in a couple of moments as well. In the meantime,

the focus of the majority of the program today will be the New York Rangers dropping Dropping a tough one last night to the Tampa Bay Lightning kind of in spectacularly negative fashion. Peter Baw from the Athletic joins me on the program here. One of my favorites to talk to you when it comes to the New York Rangers. Always stylish. You know when we looked at the Probo pictures, lovely bow tie that you're wearing. So half of me was expecting to see the bow tie but nonetheless the always dapper and mustached, I should mention now. Peter Baw, how are you, sir?

Good to talk to you again. I'm doing well, yeah. We're trying out the mustache for a little bit. Not sure how long it's gonna last, but figured I'd give it a whirl. Well, at least he can do it, right? Like, you know, I fake the funk every now and then, and then I just get frustrated,

like, ah, too much salt and pepper. And then I punt it, but you still have a chance here, Peter. You still have a shot at this thing. Um, let's do reverse pyramid here. Big picture and then narrow it down. New York Rangers. Uh, it felt very much like last night's game, just watching this. And there was a good push early by the New York Rangers, but it felt very much like by the end of it,

this was the end of it. And that was it for the Rangers season. Did it feel that way to you? Like, was it after those three quickies by Tampa, like, well, that's it, time to fold up the tent, we're done. Yeah, I mean, I think the thing with this Rangers team is throughout the year, they've not once shown the ability to kind of respond

when they get punched in the mouth like that. You look at last year's team with as many comeback wins as it had. I believe they led the league last year. They would score six on five goals with the net empty this year. The team hasn't scored a six on five goal to tie the game all season long. The. They they give up kind of they go into these spurts where they give up a bunch of goals really quickly and then just don't know how to respond.

So to answer your question, yeah, when when Tampa scored three times, I was like, all right, that's the game they've played. They had played well up until the first goal that night and they played decently well after, but the problem was they have this two minute stretch where as has so often been the case this season, they completely folded. And if you do that too much, if you do that in a game, it can cost you the game. And if you do that too much in a season, it can cost you the season. And that's kind of the story of the Rangers season

You know, I mean outside of the Washington Capitals who have you know turned themselves in one of the best stories in the entire NHL Punctuated by the OV chase. I mean, it's not as if you know, the the Metropolitan Division Was really gonna push back that hard on a team that wanted to make it in I mean the the devils have had their issues but they're gonna be fine and tucked away here. Carolina's had their issues this season but they're gonna be fine. I mean we're looking at we're looking at five coming out of the Atlantic now but I mean it wasn't as if the Metropolitan division you know we're putting up roadblocks at the beginning

of the season like I don't think you needed to let me let me say it this way. I don't think that the Rangers needed to be an elite team to make the playoffs in the metropolitan division. Agree or disagree? A hundred percent agree. And what's crazy is if you look at where they they were to start the season, what their record was through mid November, they were in a perfectly fine spot. They just had to play okay hockey the rest of the way. But this team hasn't had the ability to to string together good hockey consistently. It's been since November that they've won three games in a row. And that is how you get back into races when you dig a hole is you go on streaks.

And this team can't go on streaks. They've shown it time and time again. And like you said, this was up for the taking. Montreal is a fun story and an OK team, but I think that most people thought going into the season that they were a year away. Maybe they could hang around. But the fact of the matter is one of these teams, whether it's the Rangers or the Red Wings or someone else, one of those teams probably should have been able to take that spot and go and grab it, especially given what the Rangers did last year as President's Trophy winners.

But that's not kind of who they are this year. They haven't been a team that's been able to be opportunistic, that's been able to capitalize. And now you look at it and the math is pretty much against them. Even if they win out, if Montreal just goes 2-2-1, Montreal's in the playoffs and the Rangers are at home. Yeah. I'm told by someone whose name rhymes with Johnny Lazarus to ask you about Nikita Kucherov on the bench before the opening draw yesterday.

Oh, that was a mean, a mean joke I had. I turned to Dan Rosen, who sits next to me and I said, I said, wait, did you, did you see that on the bench? Did you see what Kuturov did? And he said, what's that? And I said, oh, he was just licking his chops. Yeah. which is mean of me, but also not unfair. I don't think. No, like there are some nights where everybody knows like, all right, cookies, here we go.

Like this is going to be one of those nights. And now Nikita Kutura finds himself tied to the league leading points with Nathan McKinnon. And that's another race we'll watch somewhere down the road here. Here's an interesting one. Here's a, well, I think it's interesting what part of me is telling me that, my brain. Here's an interesting one for you, courtesy of my brain. If the Rangers could do it all over again, would they have still made the JT Miller deal or do you think they would have tried to address a different position? You know, I think that they probably still would have done the Miller deal. I think that

that's a player Chris Drury liked for a long time and really wanted to get in the building. I think when I look at the Rangers, the decisions that I kind of have questions about, I look at what they've done with their decor. So they have Jacob Truba, who was, had an $8 million cap it, and it got really messy, but they got off of the entire cap it. So whether you like how they did it or not,

they have $8 million freed up. And then they kind of, they bring in Will Borgen for Capo Caco, they get Vakkanine and back in the Truba deal and they extend him for two more years after this one at 1.5 million. They extend Borgen at over 4 million and then they trade for Carson Sousi who makes over 3 million through next year. And to me, where I kind of struggle is I understand each of those

decisions individually. When you put all of them together, it just leaves you with it feels like a bunch of number four, number five, number six defensemen making that have kind of sucked away all the flexibility that you opened up by getting true off the books and doesn't really sizeably raise the ceiling or the floor of your defensive floor. ACAS 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, 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. We want playoffs! We want playoffs! Acast helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com I look at this range, like I look at any team that underperforms. And I always ask myself the exact same question.

I'll probably never change. Is this coaching or is this composition? Peter Baw, the New York Rangers, is the issue coaching or composition? You know, I don't know if it's a cop out, but I really think it's both. I think there are deep flaws, both on the ice with how these players play and also mentally like clearly this has not been a very tough team this year. They last night, for example, they play well, give up one goal and then suddenly it's three nothing because they they don't push back or they're in their own heads or they they just haven't found a way to push through when things don't go their way.

So the players themselves wear that. But I also don't think you look at this team and see an extremely talented group, especially with how they're playing defensively. Some players are starting to show their age with Ryder. And and and so I think that composition plays into it there. You can look at the lack of centers that they've drafted and developed in recent years. I think every center now in their lineup is over 30. They don't have any kind of real pipeline. They have a few guys who maybe best case scenario can be fourth line, maybe third line centers, but it's not like they have reinforcements coming up the middle. So there's clear composition issues.

But then I think you have to look at Peter Lavulette and the coaching staff too. I think he was dealt a difficult hand this year with the memo that Chris Drury sent out in November clearly altered the chemistry of the room. It was a bomb and the team responded terribly. They won five of their next 19 games. And to me, there were maybe some decisions I would quibble with Lavillette on during

that stretch, but to me that was kind of on the management for how they handled it and on the players for how they reacted to it. I think though that if you look at this Rangers team in the second half, the lack of defensive structure and cohesion is really alarming. And I think you see kind of players like Keandre Miller, who was a 40 something point player in 2022, 23, he's kind of taken a step back, hasn't been as productive. You look at

Ryan Lindgren, who was pretty good a couple years ago and has really struggled the past couple years and now seems to have bounced back a little bit in Colorado. You look at Adam Fox, who was a Norris trophy winner not too long ago, and now there's discussions about if he's even going to be on the Olympic team next summer. It feels like all of these guys have kind of taken steps back. And to me, that is a bit of a it raises some red flags that that point to coaching. And so I don't think that Peter Lavillette is is kind of immune to all this criticism. I think it's truly an entire organizational failure what has happened this season. It goes, everyone holds blame except Will Cooley. Will Cooley has been a lot, listen, Will Cooley has been a fun story.

He's, I'm with you. I was hoping, I don't think it's going to be on my list. I don't think we're running out of time before we got to Will Cooley, but like, I'm glad you brought him up because he is one bright spot here. Now, I'm glad you mentioned Adam Foxx a second ago because we always wondered about, okay, which player or players were going to get the Four Nations bump? And, you know, whether it was, you know, Thomas Harley or Dylan Larkin, now everybody knows how great Jacob Slavin is. Do you think that Adam Fox was the most damaged player coming out of Four Nations?

It certainly seems that way. And I don't know if all of that is fair. Like I think Adam Fox, we had to do our team MVP ballots and I still had him third on my Rangers MVP ballot for this season. He has had, he is a, he is still a very good hockey player who does a lot of things really well. But I think what hurts him going into kind of

the next international cycle is that there are, like what role would Team USA want to use him in? He's not gonna run their power play because they have Quinn Hughes. He's not gonna run their second power play because they have Zach Wierenski. He's not gonna be their shutdown guy because they have Slaven because they have Zach Warren ski. He's not going to be there shut down guy because they have slave in and they have favor. Um, so, so what is his role on the team?

He's kind of a, a jack of all trades player in a really good way for an NHL team. But when you get to the Olympics and you kind of have these all star level players who, who you have in really specific roles, um, he kind of, it feels like there's a chance he could get lost in, in translation, lost in the shuffle. I don't necessarily think that's totally fair. Um, but I think that it's, I am sure that the people with the USA hockey brass, uh, probably weren't thrilled with how he played in the final against New

Canada. And I think that those performances can color decisions whether it's fair or not. You know, one of the things that I've always wondered about when it comes to building teams and you can make the argument, we've seen this with the Islanders, with Lula Amorello. Maybe the best example of what I'm about to say here, Peter, are the Los Angeles Kings when they won their pair of Stanley Cups. You know, Mark Bergevin would always have the great line,

there are players that get you there and there are players that get you through. There are just some teams that are built to do better in the postseason. The problem is you have to get there first. So there's kind of that balance, that weird sort of balancing act that you have to get there first. So there's kind of that balance, that weird sort of balancing act that you have to do. A, you have to get there, and then B,

because we all know how the game changes, you have to have a team that can accommodate a heavier style of play. This was clearly not a good regular season team for the New York Rangers. But let's pretend for a second here that the New York Rangers somehow made the playoffs. Do you think that as constructed,

this Ranger team would do better in the playoffs as we see a lot of veteran teams do, than they would than this team that fell short in the regular season? Do you know what I'm getting at? Like, is it a team that's more constructed for a postseason style of play? I know there hasn't been that push, but I just look at teams that are loaded up with veteran guys

or stick with veteran guys, have the goaltender. I don't know. I keep going, I watched this last night and I'm saying, nah, nah. But then it's like, well, you know, Dallas always the first, like it's the veteran guys that get you there. Listen to all the Lus and the Jim Nils and the Sutters, like they'll all tell you the exact same thing. Is there anything there? I think that Igor Shosturkin alone

would make them a scary team. If I was the Washington Capitals and I had the number one seed and then the Rangers snuck in and Igor Shosturkin's in net, I'm not feeling, like that's not a treat. I'd be I'd be a little nervous solely because of that. But I think that the the reason I wouldn't think that. This team could do much better in the play from the regular season

is kind of coming back to their defense because good playoff teams are really strong and structured defensively. And the Rangers can have veteran players, but they don't have players who are playing good sound defensive hockey. If like, if you look at the high danger chances, they give up, it's among it's, it's that is why they are where they are in the standings is because they just give up really loud chances. I think if you look at Igor Shosturkin his on the surface numbers this year are pretty pedestrian.

He's at, I think before last game was a 904 save percentage but he's among the league leaders in goals saved above expected. And that's because the Rangers give up a ton of chances. The fact that he is that high in goals saved above expected and that low in save percentage is a pretty damning, I guess, statement on the way the Rangers play defense. And to me, that's why you can look at them having veterans. You can look at all of that.

But if you can't play good structured defense, you're not going to go far in the playoffs. And they haven't shown an ability to do that this year. Okay, the future of the coach, the future of the general manager, you know, in maybe a different era, the feeling around New York would be, you know what, they're just waiting to see if McDavid doesn't resign and then they're gonna clear the decks and they're gonna pounce. It's the Rangers move, like that's what they do. But like what happens next year? Like I know officially they're not eliminated, but like, you know, five games, six points. What happens here?

What's the first decision? Yeah, I mean, I think every sense I've gotten is that Chris Jerry's job is safe. Obviously that can change with, I mean, the owner just has to make a decision once and things can change, but that's kind of what that's everything I've. I've kind of gotten the sense of, um, I think la violette it's, it's probably a little dicier to, to kind of be super confident about bringing him back. I don't, I don't know if any decisions have been made or anything, but I think that's definitely worth monitoring

They went from a president's trophy winning team to a team. That's almost certainly gonna miss the playoffs So that reflects poorly on just about everyone and often the coaches take the fall and that's the case Yeah, you mentioned like the kind of like what about McDavid or whatever I I think it's the Rangers are a team that would probably love to make big moves. But I sometimes struggle to see what big moves would be out there like. Connor McDavid to me. I really this is not like source or anything, this is just me talking, but I.

I really. Shoot in the breeze on a Tuesday afternoon. Don't do this. Don't do this to Peter, people. Don't just let him talk. Don't do this to him. I'm just saying I really would be shocked if he doesn't resign in Edmonton. Like how, like if to me it's like Leon Dreisaitl doesn't resign in Edmonton unless he knows

Connor McDavid's. I've been told not to draw a straight line between the two. Okay. I'm not saying that it's not going to happen, but I don't think, you know, this is because that is I've been told don't draw that straight line. Okay. Well, you I'm not well sourced with the Oilers. I have no connections there, but I was perhaps guilty of drawing that straight line. Regardless, I

think the Rangers haven't put themselves in a great position to land a huge star because they haven't exactly made themselves the most appealing destination. I mean, I mean, but it's New York. It is New York. But like part of the part of the draw is like, man, you get to play in New York. You get to play in New York. Madison Square Garden's great. There's history with the Rangers, but there's not a whole lot of history of success with the Rangers since 94. But I hear you.

And so I guess you can never rule out them trying to make a big swing. What I'm saying is that it would be very hard because a lot of these guys don't reach free agency. Whether McDavid or Eichel does, we'll, we'll see. But like you look at Mika Rantanen, it seemed like, Oh, this guy's going to reach free agency. Nope. He didn't. Like all these star players. Taki. Yeah. Yeah. They don't, they don't reach free agency or if they,

or if they change teams, it's because they get traded first. It's the Matthew Kachuk where he gets traded to Florida and then resigns. So I think it's much easier said than done to reel in a big fish, even if you're a team like the Rangers that have money and have kind of some appeal. They also don't have a ton of cap space.

Like their cap flexibility is incredible. Last one for you, Alexi Lafreniere, thoughts on the season, thoughts on what's next? Yeah, I mean, I think it's a pretty disappointing season for him. Like, this is a guy who it really seemed was kind of starting to make some leaps. Last season he had, I think, 57 think 57 58 points almost all at even strength this year that numbers way down He hasn't always been responsible defensively, but if man if you looked at him in the playoffs last year He looked so good like he really I know like he he was kind of on his way up and he started this year pretty strong Like he was kind of on his way up and he started this year pretty strong.

So I think it's been massively disappointing, but they extended him. I would imagine he'll be back next year. You don't extend someone like that and then trade him very often. You never know, but to me that doesn't seem like the most likely scenario. You know the talent is there. You've seen it. And now it's just kind of like, can they figure out a way to unlock it? Because you still see the flashes, but this year I think has to be, he has to be one of the biggest disappointments for the team this year.

Going into the year, people were talking about him making team Canada. Like they were wondering, could this guy sneak one of the four nations roster? Now it's like, you could probably make two lines of players of Canadian forwards that didn't make the team that would make it ahead of Lafreniere. Yeah. Do you have any idea what he said to Rooney last night? I do not. He wasn't in the room. Did not appear Rooney appreciated it. Yeah, no, I don't think so. He got checked pretty fast. You're the best. Love the hat, by the way. Thanks, as always, for stopping by. You be well, and we'll touch base soon as this

Rangers season winds down. You be good. Oh, by the way, I know it was your old beat, but I'm sure you still have an eye on it. You have a thought on Colorado? Yeah, I think they're really good. I think this is a team that is equipped to make a deep run. I think you look at their their center depth. The fact that they can roll out McKinnon Nelson coil is pretty lethal. Nature's has been a pretty good fit. I think it'll come down to health. And then it's the tough thing is they're going to get a Dallas team in the first round. That's really, really good. Those might be the two best rosters in the Western Conference. I think the, the Hayskinnon element of it all is really interesting. If

I think Dallas is, I mean, obviously they're more vulnerable without Hayskinnon, but I think you really look at their D-Cord, they lean on him so heavily in the playoffs. Last year he was playing, I think 27, 28 minutes a night and they're going to have to lean on some unproven guys against, uh, against a really good Colorado team if he's not able to go. So that matchup is really interesting, but I think Colorado is in a very good position. Is it important? I keep trying to tell people this. Is it important you think for Colorado? Listen, tonight's Colorado and Vegas.

And I keep telling people that psychologically, just like when the Washington Capitals won the cup, they had to get through Pittsburgh. Like they had to beat Pittsburgh on route. When Colorado won the cup, they avoided Vegas. But we all know what happened in 2021, up two nothing, and then Vegas ran the table. I remember talking to someone in Vegas after the second game, it was two nothing Colorado.

And this person said, we are not gonna lose another game. We know exactly what we need to do here, and this is gonna be clinical watch. And it was, I was like stunned. I'm like, holy smokes. He goes, we saw what we needed to see in two games, and we knew what to do.

Do you think it's important? I'll end on this. Do you think it's important that in the process it's important for Colorado to beat Vegas if they're going to do something? Psychologically, do they need it? Do they need it? It's funny. I think you could almost look at Dallas as more of the boogeyman than Vegas. Like Dallas is the team that beat him in the 2020 playoffs. Yoel Kiviranta now on the avalanche, had a game seven hat trick and an overtime winner. And then the stars are the team that beat him last year. They scored an overtime winner in game six.

The Avs had a chance to force a game seven. Obviously we're down Valnichushkin. So I think the Vegas series, because of the nature in which it happened, where the Avs had this two-nothing lead and then blew it, I think that obviously lingers because of the dramatic nature of it, but I don't necessarily see that as quite the bogeyman that maybe people make it out to be.

You look at the Vegas team that beat Colorado, you look at both those teams, they're completely different. That team was Max Patcheretti, Alex Tuck, Jonathan Marsha. So like those were kind of the guys driving the bus. So Mark Andre Fleury was in that for most of that series. Like it's just, I see what you're saying, but I think we've seen Colorado win a Stanley Cup without having to play Vegas. And I think Vegas, they didn't have to play Colorado when they won. And we don't know if either of those teams are still going to be around in the

Western Conference final when they would play. So I'm sure it would be a nice story if the Avs had to get through Dallas in the first round Avs had to get through Dallas in the first round and then had to get through Vegas in the conference final. But I don't, I'm sure it would give them confidence, but I don't necessarily think it's essential because we've seen them do it without it before. Fair, fair. I've kept you way too long. Thanks as always, bud.

We'll touch base soon. Enjoy the rest of your day. Sounds great. Great chatting with you. There he is, the great Peter Baugh from the rest of your day. Sounds great. Great chatting with you. There he is. The great Peter Baw from the Athletic covering the New York Rangers. Listen, he was so great during that avalanche run to their Stanley Cup as well. I throw in an avalanche question here for the great Peter Baw.

Okay, a lot of things to get to here. By the way, I saw a couple of people in the chat. Yes, I was still paying attention to my guest, but I was also having an eyeball on the chat wondering about Joel Quenville With the New York Rangers not exactly a secret that you know, he would love to be in a large market and are there bigger Than New York. I really do wonder about Quenville in Boston that is the one place that I look at and I say I could see Quenville

there look at and I say I could see Quenville there and because that's a team that has all the pieces in the right places to turn around quickly that is not gonna be a lengthy bottom out tear it down build it back up again type scenario I really wonder if at the end of the season, one of the big headlines is is Cuenville with Boston that that's the team that I'm that I'm looking at there. And listen, last year when Cuenville was on with Andy Strickland, he was you know, strict asked him, you know, which which teams would he

be interested in? And essentially, he read down the list of the teams from the Atlantic. So I could, I could, I could see that happening again. We're it's a Tuesday afternoon. We're throwing it around. We're wondering. I wonder about Quenville to Boston. Anyhow, uh, Hey Zach, haven't talked to you yet. This program.

How's it going? It's a good show so far. I've been enjoying it. Oh yeah. How's the, how's the chat been? A lot of people want to know about Ivan Demidoff, by the way, on his way to Montreal. Did you know that he terminated contract? Were you aware of that? If you weren't, you could have read the chat. Just a little bit. Chat's pretty excited about that. I know, that's catnip. That's catnip for Habs fans. I get it.

Like they need any more good news. We're going to get to what's next here for the Montreal Canadiens in a second. Like they need any more good news but like I don't know like I'm of a couple of minds here. One, he's an awesome young player. Two, I don't know that if I'm Montreal, I don't know if I'm Marty St. Louis, if I want to budge this thing an inch to the left or the right. You know there still is as much as you want to give your team a shot in the arm when they deserve it. And make no mistake about it, like the Montreal Canadiens deserve a shot in the arm here. Usually you get that around trade deadline from your general manager, but if you can

add someone like Demidoff, like don't forget too there are still going to be growing pains. But when you get this close to the playoffs and you're there and you've performed like this, is there not an element of dance with who brung you? You know, like this is the team that got you here. Demidoff comes in, we all understand how hockey, sports, life works, but like that's going bump someone out and there's gonna be a growing pain here because as we saw even with Montefi Michikov coming over here from Russia is different like with Michikov there was a pace issue right

away that it took him a while to work through considering you know this is the Montreal Canadiens as Peter Bob mentioned like this is them arriving a year early you don't have a lot of time to break someone in at this point you're relying on those that brung you I might be way off here and Demidoff might just join and like shatter you know rookie playoff record and I'll look like a dope again but still welcome and see like there you go right Kale McCarroll walks in and and Kale McCarroll looks like you know the best player best defenseman we've seen this side of Nick Lindstrom

for crying out loud so I don't know I think it's exciting if you're a Montreal Canadiens fan that you're not gonna have to wait too long to see and get demed off I just always maybe it's just a byproduct of age. Like, I don't know, are you like of the mind as a younger hockey person, like, just get him in there. It's gonna be fun, like rock and roll. Let's score some goals. Cause I'm more in the, I'm more the,

go in the waiting, go in the shallow end first. Don't go off like the 15 meter diving tower. Don't just jump right in, like wade into the pool here with Ivan Demidov. If it was the beginning of the season, no, I'm on the same page. If it's the beginning of the season, I'm fine with throwing him in. I've got no issue with that. I think it makes a lot of sense. And you're kind of saying, Hey, let's figure out what we've got here. Like a guy like Mitchkov you're going to put in because you know he's not, it's not a put him in the AHL scenario and try to develop that way he's gonna learn trial by fire.

But it is interesting right like you bring up that exam or the thought of hey you've got these guys that got you to this point. I always think of in scenarios like this with Miracle on Ice when they bring in Timmy at the end and they brought the guys outside on the bus. Now, it's a different situation because I think these guys are very excited, but they're like, you know, we're a family. This is the family you want to go to Lake Placid with. Yeah, we're a family. But it's also kind of a weird situation because it burns a year of his ELC. I read the article yesterday, I think it came out from Marco, I'm going to say his last name wrong,

so please correct me when I do, but Damico, I think that's how you say it right. He put out the article talking about the Demidov situation before any of this was known. The source he had in SKA that he wrote from was basically saying, Oh, it's unlikely he would go because he's not going to fit in the top six spot on a team that's pushing to make the playoffs. And then you know, has thin margins here. But it's again, it's your point, I don't know how he fits into that top six, because these are the guys you've got to this point,

everybody's rolling like it's a weird situation from that standpoint although there could be that little bit of element especially that first game he plays in Montreal in the Bell Centre where it's just so much excitement it might just it might just erase all of this you know what I mean like they're gonna hear that guy's name announced and it's just who cares. Crazy. I know. Yeah. Absolutely crazy. It's the best place. Best place for a hockey game. Okay. What else do

we have? Oh, can we do that, that, that byfield, the byfield goal from last night? Yeah. We've seen some amazing goals this year and like we've seen some amazing goals from, from byfield in his career. I remember like, like watch this shot from the point. He's being held by Shane Wright's the game last night against Seattle and Like he's essentially being held by Shane Wright and he's holding Shane Wright's stick A gives it the tap boom take that I'm gonna bunt it to myself and Tuck it in sorry Joey DeCord, you're not gonna beat that. Like that is gonna be the goal of the year, right? That's gonna be the goal of the year, isn't it?

Like that is. Yeah, I believe so. That's like one of those goals that you saw like 20 years ago where guys score with other players draped all over them. You don't see those goals. Rick Nash used to score goals like that. Like how many times would you see Rick Nash score a goal either with Columbus or at the World Championships and he'd have like two finished defensemen on his back or two Chicago Blackhawks or the Detroit Red Wings or Nashville Predators players on his back as he goes to the net hard to score goals. Like you don't necessarily see goals anymore with players on each other's

backs. That's why I like that one too. Because Shane Wright is just draped all over him. And again, this fits our theme of you bringing on players from your Simcoe Express. I'll tell you what, man. I, if I can be that guy, if I can be that guy, I remember watching him play with YSE. Did you ever watch him play with YSE? Yeah, I did a few times. Did you not get Lindros, I mean I know you're too young for him, but like did you not get Lindros vibes? He was huge, guys would bounce off of him and he was skilled and could move his feet and he used like I don't know when they changed it but man he was such a short stick. Remember how short

his stick was? And even when he got to the NHL and somewhere along the way they changed, like go back and look at old video of Quinton Byfield or old pictures. It was like, I think Adam Oates would refer to him as like concussion sticks. Like so short so you always leaned over and lent. Yeah it's true! Leaning forward. Like there's a way that you know your sticks are either too long or too short which are just going to like either like probably lead you into someone's shoulder. Like I remember who was making the point about Connor Bedard's stick when he got his injury last year and the point, god who was I talking to, is that it's because his stick naturally leads his momentum into the other player

and he's in the process of leaning forward as he might have been out of oats who as he enters the zone. You know we should have oats onana talk about concussion sticks. Concussion sticks. Yeah. The nature of your stick, and I think a lot of it has to do with the lie of the stick, can either help prevent you from being in a situation where you get concussions or encourage you to be in situations where you're going to get concussions. But I always looked at that stick and I said, man, listen, I don't wanna tell a player what to use,

whether it's skates or helmet or chin pads or whatever, but you can do whatever you want in minor hockey, and he could, man, Bifield was incredible. But I was thinking to myself, like somewhere along the way, he's gonna have to change that stick. Because he's gonna get slouched over. I never noticed the short stick. It's kind of funny you bring that up. But I remember the first

time I was introduced to Quinton Byfield. He was playing a year up. I was playing Markham midget hockey at the village there. That was Dan Dau? Yes, with Daou. And that age group would play before us every time. So, Byfield was playing, and I remember a year up in this, they were beating Markham in the one game that we were watching. I think it was like eight to one. And Byfield had seven goals and an assist. Yeah, you were so good.

And we were like doing our warmup around the arena watching this, and every time you look up it's like Byfield across the blue line and short from the point scores. Yeah, Byfield. Byfield like, oh my God, who is this kid? That was the first time I ever, I mean, was aware of who he was. And then after that we got to watch him a couple more times either at SAC there or at the Village against the Waxers.

Like unbelievable from the first time we saw him. For those of you that aren't hockey hipsters, when Zach says SAC, that means St. Andrew's College. Which is kind of like Ontario's Shaddock St. Mary's. How about that? We'll put it that way. I don't know if Dave Manning, who heads the program there, will like me saying that, but yeah,

it's kind of like the Shaddock St. Mary's. Tucked into Aurora. Nice, you know some about Aurora, I believe. Hey listen, we're just talking about Alexi Lafreniere a second ago with Peter Baw. Again, I know managers hate when you do this, but here we go. You do that draft again,

and the Rangers are picking first overall, and it's Stutzla available, Spyfield available, Sanderson's available,. It's by field available. Sanderson's available. Lucas Raymond's available. P the Rangers, where do you go? Some of those, it's tough because we always do the revisionist history.

Yeah, because we're smarter than everybody. Or as Rod Brindlemore likes to call us morons. Like, oh, Stootsla was there, Raymond was there. Those are the ones that's kinda like, okay, yeah, okay. Yeah, the guy was there. Could've picked him, but that's hard to look back and say. The one that always did stick out to me was the byfield one, especially the immediately after,

where it was just like big, big, powerful, center man. You knew he was gonna grow into it. Like that one doesn't seem too difficult to say, hey, that that potential was there for him to step into that role. But who knows, maybe the Raiders, I almost said the Lazaruses.

Maybe the Rangers would've called him. I swear to you, you almost came right off my New York class I Said the last and then I changed it the Rangers. Maybe they would have botched the development, you know, I Was a I was part with your saying the Lazaruses and then I stopped myself That's really awesome. That's really that's really great I was partway through saying the Lazaruses, and then I stopped myself. Yeah. That's really awesome. That's really great.

I wanna show one thing here real quickly cause I just love this as a celebration and I'm guilty of something. As a hockey dad, I've tried to encourage my kids to do this as goal celebrations. And I got it from the Ontario Hockey League. But over the weekend, just mentioning the Los Angeles Kings for a second here,

I think you know which way I'm going here and which direction here, Zach. Trevor Lewis with the handshake after a goal. We've seen all kinds of celebrations. I love this one. Just the handout. Yes, gentlemen, well done. Yes, okay, a little closing business.

I'm a sucker for a let's do lunch. My secretary will call your secretary and we'll book something together. I think it's a very professional way to celebrate a goal. The first time I saw that, and I believe the first time the celebration was done, was London Nights and I was working this game. And it was London, I think it might've been against Flint.

There's Cliff Poo and Max Jones, now of the Edmonton Oilers with the glove off and the handshake the gentlemen's Celebration to me. It's still the best hockey celly of all time actually That's not true That's not true Because I saw something last year Here in Stouffville. I think this girl must have been eight years old and I don't think she meant it to come

across the way that it did to parents or anyone that's been around hockey for a while, the celebration is brilliant because it's just youthful innocence, but Zach is effing cold. So this girl, I'm watching this before to my kids practice, like a U9 or U10, and she scores and she she doesn't go to her, you know, she doesn't do the circle celebration she doesn't go to her you know she doesn't do the circle celebration doesn't do the train nothing she skates down to the other end of the rink where the scoreboard is stops looks up at the scoreboard doesn't move until they put one up on the scoreboard and then hands go up and so it's the best thing I ever saw. Like that's such a cool celebration.

You're just there staring at the board until they put the goal up and then you saw it. Yeah, that's innocence at its finest. But she's just like, this is going to be cool. I'm like, that's so cold. She's just like, this is going to be cool. I'm like, that's so cold. She's my hero. That's hard to beat. Honestly, that's hard to beat.

I just saw the coolest Sally ever. Although Cliff Poo's handshake. Cliffy and Max. Now mind you, One of my favorites That sticks out all the time and will never be forgotten is Neil Yakupov knee slide into the neutral zone But that's for more comical purposes as that's sometimes how I view the game Another one would be the Ovechkin belly flop that he just did. I think that that's. He says he toe picked. No chance.

That was the fountain. No shot. That was the fountain. There's no shot. It's totally the fountain. There was no shot. This is the fountain. Like that's what we're referring to this one.

He just lays out. Yeah, that is the fountain. That's not a toe pick. Yeah, that's no toe pick there. That was intentional full intentional and then the other one which is just like the cockiest stuff ever but Z-Buy'em when he goes Look at this Denver Z-Buy'em goes by the Boston bench and just yeah peace out Go home.

Yeah. Oh, that's so good. I was a fan, now, mind you, when I played, especially as I got older, I was a bit of a dickhead, but I was a fan of the stare down. I love the stare down. You score the goalie, stare down the goalie, stare down the bench. You did that one, eh? Loved the stare down. I love the stare down. You score the goalie, stare down the goalie, stare down the bench. You did that one eh? Loved the stare down. What about you ever see Sean Avery bust out the push-ups after he scored? I probably have but I can't remember it off the top of my head.

I want to say it was against Los Angeles. I want to say it was a preseason game. Yes. He scores a goal and beside the net starts doing pushups. Yeah. I mean, honestly, like, the OV hot stick, too. That's Terry Ryan's move. That's Terry Ryan from Tri-City Americans. Like, when I was a little kid doing that, you score playing road hockey or mini sticks.

How many times have little kids done that? Like I used to do that all the time, but never in a game. Never in a game I never did that. But that one was. Was it, didn't, oh who was it? Was it Max Afina Genov with the Buffalo Sabres scored a goal, might have been against Toronto, and then mimicked going into his hockey pants, pulling out a phone and calling his agent. No, that's so good.

Did you ever see that one? That's good. I think it was Afinoganoff, someone in the chat, someone listening, someone watching, or maybe we just, when the show's over, we can find it. It was Max Afinoganoff with the cell phone celebration, goes in like he's calling his agent to get himself traded.

Yeah, just score it again. Score it again, Pat. Get me out of here. I'm trying to see. You, Philly, if you haven't seen it, you will love it. I think it was Max Afinoganoff. I'm not, wouldn't have been Miroslav Shatan. I'm pretty sure it was Afinoganoff.

I'll try to find it. I'll try to find it. Vic pointing out also the Patrick Kane doing the ear, the Hulk Hogan ear after Matthews did it. Like that set the tone of that one. Yeah, that's a really good tone. I mean, obviously, you know what other one I liked actually was the Matthews, the good goal

after he had just had his goal called off right before that. Do you know how many kids including my 2012 did that like the weeks following that goal they would score and point it became a thing in my mind I'm telling you all of a sudden oh that's a wall so and the coaches fights at our gets and I put a leash on that puppy let's just yeah you score a dear Sally into your line and then go to the bench. Yeah. Jack Hughes, the first time he threw the stick

into the crowd too. Though that one was cool though, I will say that one was cool once. I've, I lost this lust after that. Like it was just, I, okay. Oh, you mean kind of like the Michigan for me Yeah, fair enough fair enough the high wrap around High wrap yeah, it's posted a little wrap. I still okay Matthew nice almost did it the other day someone said in the chat

Kyle Dubas offers sheet Matthew nice. Yeah, John. Oh John, I love you. Oh John. Fight him in a barn. No, Paul Berkey. No, you know what the great one was? In the early days of the shootout, Merrick Malik, when he ends it in like the millionth round and he goes by the bench.

Statue of Liberty. Statue of Liberty, like that. Yeah. Yeah, it was. Yes, we've had some good ones. We've had some good ones. Okay, a couple of things. Oh, really quickly, CHL update from from last night. A couple of things to throw your way. Some eliminations and a couple of things to pay attention to here. In the Western Hockey League, so Portland beats Prince George, eliminates the Cougars in seven games, 4-2 is the final. Ridley Height, his WHL career is over, he's a Minnesota pick.

Colton Davies, who like knows more about junior hockey than like everybody, especially in the West, reminds us he retires as the franchise leader in points with 370 in 281 games 116 goals I would imagine he's off to the AHL affiliate of the wild in Iowa run by Matt Hendricks. Tarek Parasek as well we wonder about Washington Capitals pick six points in seven games I do wonder if the Capitals take him because they need more prospects Zach Take him for the remainder of the season with the with the Hershey Bears Landon Dupont said to look incredible as Everett eliminates Seattle in six games one nothing in double overtime Lucas Kaplan with the goal there silver tips will meet the Winterhawks in the second round Bakemo Beating Cape Breton six to one they will advance Drummondville forcing a game 7

with Halifax. This was not supposed to be like this. That one goes tonight. Both tonight. So Edmonton's going tonight as well with PA? Yeah. Okay so we're gonna get on to the second round here in all three leagues in the CHL. The Western League, the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League, and the Ontario Hockey League. Still to come as well, before you go off the air, games tonight. I'd like to remind you once again, FanDuel, proud to connect fans to the major sports moments that matter to them. Our good friends at FanDuel would like to remind you that they are North America's number one sportsbook app provider. April the 8th we have 10 games and we have a whole bunch of what ifs. Carolina Buffalo, Carolina loses in regulation, the Washington Capitals get first in the Metro. Kachetkov versus James Reimer, Detroit and Montreal, Toronto and Florida. Barcov is back. Reinhardt

is back. Forsling is back. Bobrovsky starts. Sam Bennett taking the pause. Shut down for the remainder of the season. Boston and New Jersey. Devils need a point to get a playoff spot. Jacob Marksman starts there. Jamie Swainman goes for the Boston Bruins. The Ottawa Senators can lock up a playoff spot for the first time since 2017. That was when the Penguins eliminated them in overtime game seven. Who scored the goal? Of course you know it's Chris Kunitz. First time since then. Wow. Ottawa-Columbus nationwide arena. Elvis Merzlikens gets the start there. Chicago and Pittsburgh.

The Allenders and Nashville Predators. Vancouver and Dallas at American Airlines Center lose to Dallas in any fashion. The Vancouver Canucks are eliminated and if you understand the dynamic between the ownership groups of the Vancouver Canucks and the Dallas Stars you know there is... I don't know if it's legal to put money on the board so there probably won't be money on the board. But this is a very important game. These games are these games are personal. There are a couple of people involved here. Seattle, Utah, Karel Vemelka, you see this?

Vemelka is starting tonight for Utah for the 21st straight game. It is riding him hard right to the end. Try to keep a flicker of hope alive. Vegas and Colorado might be the game of the night. Love the matchup, talked about 2021 with Peter Baw, Colorado up 2 Cobb, Vegas we're in a great spot, win the next four. That's last game on the schedule and that might be the best one on the board later on tonight. Anything we leave on the

table? Magic getting in in just over an hour. Be aware. I see the people in the chat saying do we like Toronto Moneyline tonight let me just put this out there. So the St. Louis Blues went into Winnipeg last night with a massive winning streak and yesterday on morning cup of hockey Johnny Lazarus bet on the St. Louis Blues. So what happened? The Winnipeg Jets win last night. Now I looked at the Leafs and what was going on with them ahead of their game against Florida tonight. They have won against LA, Anaheim, Florida,

Columbus coming into this one. They're 8-1-1 in their last 10. So what did Johnny Lazarus do? He bet on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Be aware, people. That's all I'm gonna say. Be aware. The guys were right about Edmonton this morning,

by the way on morning cup of hockey like they look just awful. They made a good point it's they played clips of the goals that were scored against them the best way to describe it is pawn hockey. They get loose, they get sloppy. I don't know if you did you have to watch this thing like I was it was a bad hockey game like both sides. I didn't watch the whole thing but it's sides. There was a sideshow of Goudas and Perry. Like Goudas caught him with a shoulder and everybody went banana sandwich about it. And I don't know,

like Anaheim, again, everything's about expectations. I think Anaheim is finishing the season here and people are going like, this is this is a team that's all right, we're going to start to see a turning of the corner even if those style and McTavish get offer-sheeted who said that you said that this is a team that's that that that's gonna be good pretty soon it looks like but like Edmonton I know they're banged up like at all the positions goalie back and the two nuclear missiles they have but still

Especially that first period I'm like am I gonna hang in there for three I did but holy geez That was a rough game from the others. That was tough. Yeah The thing too, by the way Jeff like we've had this conversation a few times this year like oh well They spotted last year. Yeah, you got trust the goaltending last year. This year, it's felt, I don't know, different. It's felt like strange. You know what? You know what? I, I.

For so long, I keep saying, don't worry, it's fine. This is how Edmonton does it. It stops and starts, and then they turn it on. There was like a month this season where they cranked it up and they're awesome. But other than that, I don't know, it's just flat. Like nothing. Push off to no power this team. I don't know man. I don't like him in the opening round against the Los Angeles Kings at all Especially the way the Kings are at home

77 abs it's I don't know they look they look really bad Yes, just also by the way around it in the Atlantic They're also pointed out like the meaning behind some of these games are the importance not only for Toronto's important spot Yeah, but if Toronto wins in regs, that's home ice for them. And you know what else it does? Simultaneous, if they win in regs, excuse me, and Ottawa wins, that's tie for Florida and Ottawa. Who's Toronto going to get the first round? That's a tie. This is a fun race for the first time in a long time here. Not necessarily about who makes it and who misses, but where does everybody finish?

It's exciting now. And the one team that might just come out of all of it, as we focus on Florida, Toronto, and the surging Ottawa Senators,. Tampa whose looks unbelievable. Vasilevsky's numbers are just below what hella people are seeing right now. He's healthy. Whenever goalies have that surgery I always like wipe out a year. I say the next year after that type of surgery wipe it out doesn't matter like they're a write-off and then they'll be fine. Vasilevsky looks so good. Brandon Hegel has like 35 goals and none of them, just a heads up, are on the power play. None.

Five on five is for 10 goals. I know he's sick. That's unbelievable. These guys need to, for lack of a better word, fuck off. Like as someone who's trying to go through this yeast. Like I've had enough of you John Cooper Vasilevski you lose you get rid of Sergei Cheb and Stamkos. I'm McDonough. Come on in Gensel Come on in Kuturov heart Vasilevski back to best

I have had enough of you Tampa Is this finally it's not gonna be because Carberry's gonna get is this finally gonna be the Johnny you that John Cooper gets a Jack Adams or should gets a Jack Adams Or should get the Jack Adams Like they've been like Dave every year like this is like this team is like an Agatha Christie novel I know I'm dating myself here, but I love reading Agatha Christie mystery novels and like every time there's a new chapter another character dies Right and this is what Tampa is like a new player leaves all salary cap gotta let go of plat Oh salary cap gotta let go of McDonough, oh Salary Cap, we gotta like, every single year,

they do this. And there's still like a team that go in the Stanley Cup. It's like, you know the meme, Jeff? It killed the Blackhawks, it killed the Kings, like all of it, it's like, I don't get it. Unbelievable, unbelievable. The meme of the old guy, he's like, call the ambulance and then he pulls out out the gun or the knife or whatever

He's like but not for me. That's the lightning every year Not for me Yeah, well It'll be a fun one. So my death is really exaggerated Mark Twain. Very good. Okay Thank you, Zachary. You got a busy one tonight break it down the Florida Panthers and your Trimeys and the soon to be offer sheet of Matthew Nyes from your former general manager.

Oh yeah, we tried to trade them for Mark Andre Fleury once upon a time. Don't forget about that. Yeah, I'm going to bring that up and that's going to be in my videos all season. After the first round I'm gonna have a lot of air to fill here. All I'm saying is like if you go to the agents say like what I do is sign this piece of paper and put the Maple Leafs in a tough situation if they don't you know if they can't match your player gets this amount of money and gets to play with checks notes. Sidney Crosby, does that interest your client at all? They've got about four weeks,

I think the playoffs start in about two, so then about two weeks after that, then they can focus on that contract. We have a lot of time until we get there, a lot of time. Listen, thanks so much for joining us today. We really appreciate it as always, whether you're watching live on YouTube, part of the chat, listening to your favorite podcast platform. We really appreciate it as always whether you're watching live on YouTube, part of the chat, listening to your favorite podcast

platform. We appreciate the attention. There's a number of places you could be listening to people stammer on about hockey and you choose this one so thank you for that. Once again to the friends and family of Greg Millen, we offer our deepest condolences. This has been a tough season for the side of the microphone, whether it's Al Troutweg, whether it's Mike Lang, or now Greg Millen. Peace to all of those families. The show returns tomorrow at 3 o'clock Eastern. Don't forget, Morning Kappa Hockey tomorrow at 9 o'clock Eastern Daily.

Face-off Live calls at noon. Enjoy the games tonight. 10 of them. We'll be 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 right against those methods, but no It's me, myself and Alice gonna be fixing my mind I do wanna break it I turned on the music I do wanna break it I turned on the music I do wanna break it

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