The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Winter Classic, Islanders, and World Jrs ft. Peter Baugh, Stefen Rosner, & Steven Ellis

Episode Date: January 1, 2026

Jeff Marek kicks off 2026 with a jam-packed New Year’s edition of The Sheet, diving into a massive day across the NHL and the World Juniors. Jeff opens with Peter Baugh to break down what’s really happening with the New York Rangers and to tee up today’s 2026 NHL Winter Classic between the Rangers and Florida Panthers in Florida. Then Stefen Rosner joins the show to assess the state of the New York Islanders, including Bo Horvat earning a spot on Team Canada’s Olympic roster and why Matthew Schaefer did not make the cut. To close things out, Steven Ellis stops by with full analysis of last night’s dramatic Canada vs. Finland showdown at the World Juniors, plus how the rest of the tournament is shaping up as we head toward the playoff round. A huge hockey day to start the new year.Reach 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.

Okay, the secret's out. Someone finally figured it out. Some wise American just figured it out and tweeted at me. Hey, Zach, I want you to react to this one. So it's January 1st, New Year's Day, and we're working. Do you know why we're working on New Year's Day? because the grind doesn't stop, no guys off. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

All the answers are in that room, 110%, blah, blah. By the way, when you hear coaches say, our athletes say 110%, is the extra 10% steroids? That's always what I just assume. We're going to give 110%. While you can only really give naturally 100%, is the extra 10% steroids. I'm dying for a reporter to ask that.

Next time you hear about 110%. The extra 10% that you're referring to, sir, is that steroids? Here's the reason why we're... I don't know how I got into that. Here's the reason why we're working on New Year's Day. Happy New Year, everybody. Because as Stephen Shorowski pointed out to me on Twitter,

is this because Canadian New Year's Day was a month ago? Sorry, Americans. We've tried to keep it quiet for a long time, and we did for a number of years and decades. But sorry. We've had you fooled this whole time. time, this isn't actually Canadian New Year. We should just start referring to it as American New Year.

Ours happened last month where there was so five minutes ago for Canada. Like, seriously, you guys celebrate. If you saw any of my descriptions and they said like December 2026 or something like that, it was just that we're ahead of you in Canada. So we started early and I just forgot to change it for our American friends. That's my bad. That's how we do things around here. It's a couple of arrogant Canadians.

Well, it's a good thing. We're going to have a couple of our. our American friends coming on the program today and a close friend of the program from Daily Faceoff who's a little bit under the weather so maybe Zach it's a good thing we didn't end up getting to

Minnesota and we should actually We should... No, that's not true. It's never been proven. Things just happen. Like that's it. There's a randomness to the universe. We have to imagine Sisyphus happy. Sorry for the pretentious reference.

I was reading some Albert Kimu over the holidays. Yeah, Stephen else is going to to drop by. And maybe it's a good thing that we did. And we should be thanking Air Canada for the three canceled flights in three days because now we wouldn't be sharing oxygen with the sick Stephen Ellis. But he's aboard as our number of other people here to celebrate New Year's Day around the NHL. Game starting right now. If you're watching or listening live, Edmonton or Edmonton, Ottawa facing off against the Washington Capitals.

Meanwhile, the blueprint is powered by Fanduel. Download the app today and play your game on Fan duel. Coming up on the program, we're going to try to be respectful of your time. We always say that and we always fail. Today will be no different. Peter Bauff and the Athletic, we'll stop by. I'll talk about the Rangers as they're now at the halfway point of their season and, of course, the Winter Classic, while they'll face off against the defending Stanley Cup champions, Florida Panthers. I'm going to wonder if I have a question about the Winter Classic and who should host a Winter Classic as opposed to Stadium Series, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Steph Rosner, if you don't subscribe to the

El Monters, shame on you. one of the best media properties going. I read the newslet and the newsletter comes out often and it's thick. Steph Rossner from the Elmontor, Steph Rosser from NHL.com, Steph Rosser from Hockey News. This guy is all over the New York Islanders.

Lives, eats, breathes, sleeps, Islanders hockey. Steph Rosner stops by. We'll talk about Horvatt. We should park some time to talk about Big Save Dave, Riddick right now, who is the solution in Nets for the island?

We'll get into that. And as I mentioned, poor Stephen Ellis was all excited. He got the Airbnb all to himself. That was going to be, it was going to have to deal with me and Zach and all of our nonsense and doing daily shows, et cetera.

And then he goes and he gets sick. But there's a flu bug going through some teams in Minneapolis, St. Paul, as well, at the World Junior Hockey Championships. And we'll talk about that with Stephen. And remember, do you remember at the beginning of the world juniors? when your buddy, Jeff Merrick, said, I find it interesting and inspiring as a Canadian

that for the first time in a long time, we're not heading into an international tournament and wondering about the goaltending. It's an area of little to no concern for Team Canada, whether it's Carter George or Jack Ivan Kovic, or maybe the best out of the three, Joff Sravensbergen, and here we are wondering if Canada has a goaltending issue. Because even though it wasn't all his fault yesterday and Canada still beat Finland,

there were times where we looked at Carter George and said, he's hard to hit. Anyway, that's coming up with Stephen Ellison a little bit. In the meantime, we'll kick it off with Peter Boff from The Athletic, our good friend, who along with Vince McCogliano and the Athletic just had this sort of halfway audit of the Rangers and where they're at and where he's at is the Winter Classic set this first of all

Peter, Happy New Year and Happy New Year. Secondly, set the scene right now. Like, I just may be like the old grumpy guy and I'm fully admit it. But Winter Classic as opposed to

stadium series, to me, Winter Classic is in my mind reserves for places where they can play hockey outdoors and it celebrates that history and that tradition of playing on the ponds and, you know, freezing the schoolyards or go and play hockey in the winter. And that ain't Florida. But nonetheless, set the scene for us.

Well, based on that, you won't be happy to know that the roof is currently closed at Lone Depot Park. But I have gotten confirmation. It will be open tomorrow and arrested it out. But yes, the Panthers are on the ice in front of me. I'm sitting kind of in the, what would be the really expensive seats behind home plate for a baseball game. watching the Panthers zip around out there. The Readers take ice in a few hours. It looks great.

It's pretty cool down here. I think they've been pumping in the AC and it's not too hot outside. I think this actually, I read somewhere, depending on what the temperature is, it might not even be the hottest outdoor game, the NHL has had or even close to it because they had, I believe in. Lake Tahoe. Well, Tahoe, I was there for that one, all that whole seven-hour delay. And that was, if I remember, it was the direct sunlight more than the temperature.

itself. Correct. That's true. But I think I think the one in Colorado, they had a stadium series game there that was pretty warm and then maybe one in Texas that was also pretty warm. So it's not necessarily unprecedented but I get what you're saying about the Winter Classic and what your ideals are

for that event. Like again, like one more old grumpy comment. I loved Buffalo and Pittsburgh, right? The Snow Globe game. Like that looked and felt like, oh yeah, they're battling the elements. The snow is piling up, like, all of it.

You can't stick handle. The game is actually crappy, but you're just there because it's an event. Anyhow, I digress, and I'll move on here. What's that? There was a blues wild game a few years ago, but I just remember Ryan O'Reilly's beard having icicles coming from.

Beautiful. And it was great. Yeah. Yeah, I don't think it's going to be. I like on the goalies, I have to wear the little hats. The Jose Tator look, which is, which is, by the way, I always looked at that. Like, you know, when you go about, and look at like throwback pictures from like the 1920s and John Ross Roach has like a little a little felt baseball cap on. I always looked at that. I've never asked Theodore, but it was probably

just more because of the cold. I always looked at that as a tribute to like the goaltenders in the 20s and 30s. You know, here comes Lester Patrick with a cap on before they, you know, put on, I don't know, masks to try to protect their faces and their heads. One of the things about the winter classic is as much as it might, it might be as far as a TV event goes kind of played like the novelty of it is worn off i do believe that every player should have the experience and every fan should have the experience of going to one of these things i think for players it's become a box to check and i think for fans it's one of those things where you know you try to add up however many outdoor games be they winter classics or stadium series what's the

buzz around this one give us the give us the local flare before we get into rangers issues here yeah i mean i think players are excited for it it's kind of a weird time though just with the way the season is gone they had a couple injuries last game so now they have they had to make recalls today so that we could see justin dowling could be making his rangers debut at the winter classic which by the way the last time a rangers player their team debut at an outdoor game was matt rempe when he fought us matt martin in the opening shift in the stadium series game so i don't know if we'll have that money fireworks with Justin Dowling, but it's sort of a

strange time. My colleague Vince was in D's so he can probably speak a little more for the more recent game. The last time I was around him was the Islanders game where they lost an husband game but another game in which they couldn't score. So definitely the

I'm sure the players are excited. I think this is a game you get up for like you said. You have different uniforms. You take team pictures. There's all the exciting things. But the team definitely is has kind of gone through it a little bit this year, though maybe not as much as last year in terms of emotional roller coasters.

Hey, just as a quick aside, I love that Rangers Islanders, stadium series game, like to the point where I wondered if they would ever consider making that an annual, right? Like, once upon a time, I said, oh, you know what, Winter Classic is great,

don't spoil it, don't do it, don't do it every year, do it every four years. I was 100% wrong. I'm glad they're doing it every single year. I originally said, ah, treat it like an Olympic cycle, make it really special. And I watched that Rangers Islanders.

And it wasn't just the game, but everything around it and Rangers fans and Islanders fans. And I said to myself, man, let's not try to overthink this. Just give the people what they want. And you know if there's been any conversation about doing that more regularly?

I don't know, but that's an interesting idea. And I remember some people and probably led by you saying that at the time. And I was on board with the idea. It was a great game. The atmosphere was great. The players were into it.

And it helped. that it was kind of a classic game for for the rangers that year and a really special season for them capped off by a multi-goal comeback and an overtime winner against a big rival but i think it's uh it's it's something that i'd be on board if i haven't heard any chatter of it and that would be interesting also there's uh some sort of indoor firework thing going on in center field now so i'm i'm a little distracted you'll have to forgive me i'm not i'm not as excited as i'm not as exciting as a as a fireworks display. I mean, it's like you're looking

at your buddy here that looks like a pink balloon in a suit versus like fireworks over center field. You've chosen wisely, Peter. You've chosen wisely. I really enjoyed your piece with Vince and the athletic and the sort of mid-season review. Who's doing what?

Who looks good? Who doesn't look good? The future, et cetera. Give us your snapshot right now of where you see, the New York Rangers. Like, I know it's the Rangers, so every tiny little thing is a big thing

and every big thing is a gigantic thing. But like, give us a sort of time and temp on where the Rangers are at for you. I mean, for me, they're in a somewhat precarious position. This is a team that's currently in last place by point percentage in the Eastern Conference. Yeah. It's a team that was built to be competitive this season.

You don't trade for JT. he Miller, he's in his 30s, or signed by Adislav Gavakov, who's 30, and have a core of Zabanajad, both 32, and Aaron, who's, I think, 34 now. Like, that, that is a team that's supposed to be in a win now window that you're competing for, especially if you're trading stuff or signing Gavikov to a long-term deal. And the fact that they're well out of a, I mean, they're not well out in terms of points because the Eastern Conference is so clumped and they've played more games than everyone. But they're in a tough spot in terms of the number of teams that they have to hop, the number of gains other teams having in, and just the number of, and just the way they're playing.

So I think when I look at the Rangers, I have some concern just based on the age of their best players, the way their best players are playing, and the fact to make the results haven't been good thus far this year. You know, one of the issues jumping off the Ranger page that involves the New York Ranger is the speculation and we'll find out. tomorrow, you know, Dallas is going through this right now with Jason Robertson, that Adam Fox, who didn't have the best of all possible Four Nations tournaments, we all know that, will be left off the U.S. roster. Do you have a thought on that? Yeah, I can confirm that he is off the U.S. roster. They didn't have him on the roster that they submitted.

I mean, personally, I think it's a mistake. I think you could make a case that maybe he's not one of the top six to, defensemen based on their needs just because they have cues to run the power play and Werenski can run the power play. But to me, I feel like having a guy like Adam Fox as an extra defenseman at the Olympics is the ultimate luxury. Like if you need someone to fill in who can run the power play, he can do that. He can play on the penalty kill. And he's not a guy who only takes sheltered minutes for the Rangers. He's playing against the toughest competition every night. A lot of the quality of competition metrics bear that out and you can see it just in the lines

solomon puts him on the ice against so i think team USA maybe outfought itself a little bit by looking at too small of a sample size to make that decision those four nations was only four games and i know fox had a rough final but that's a this is a really good player and i could see there being a scenario where team USA misses him and and it's kicking itself that they brought maybe Anafin or whoever they brought over him. You know, I was having this conversation with Brian Burke yesterday. One of the things, and Doug Armstrong wasn't going to admit that they're, you know, building a team just to compete against USA, even though this is the matchup that we all want

to see. And I do wonder if in the back of Bill Garron's mind here, he's thinking the same thing. We need to be to ice a roster that can beat Canada. Now, Doug Armstrong said, listen, we need to make a team that can beat up, you know, that can beat a lot of different teams. We can't just think about one. And Brian Burke brought up an interesting point. He said, no, Canada did build a roster that can beat the USA and because of that, it can also beat all the other teams in this tournament. When we look at the Olympics, like we're looking at Canada, USA, do you think this is what USA hockey is thinking?

if we build a team that can beat Canada, we can build a team that can beat anybody. That's a good question. I don't know if Garen has looked at it with that mindset, but I mean, it would make sense. If you can beat, on paper, Canada is going to have the most talented team at the Olympics. So if you're in the U.S. and you can beat that team, you probably can beat everybody.

But again, I don't know if that logic for me is isn't to leave Adam Fox off. Maybe it's a reason you don't. don't have him in the lineup in the gold medal game. But when I'm looking at, again, I think the versatility is a really valuable thing, the fact that he can play the power play if they get it. He's shown he go against players. He does it often. He's always out against top competition.

Isn't that the type of person you'd want against? Yeah, maybe potentially. Oh, I agree. I agree. Especially as a backup option. Like, it's not, if they want to, they can make a lineup of six defensemen that I would I wouldn't scoff that if Fox isn't in that just because of the way matchups work

and how they want to handle things. But I have a hard time seeing eight more deserving players than Adam Fox. Okay, let me close with one more, one more Ranger's specific question. We'll let you get on with your day of hockey and fireworks, apparently. What does the second half of the season look like for Chris Drury?

That's the person that I'm most curious about here. I know there's all kinds of questions and you and Vince talked about it in your most recent around Alexei Lafranier. And those questions are obvious. You know, Colby Cohen always brings up the point. At a certain point in your career, you are no longer the position where you are drafted.

So it's no longer Alexei Lafranier, former first overall draft pick. It's just Alexei Lafranier. We're at that point now. He's no longer the first overall pick. He's just Alexei Lafranier. But where's Drew at right now with this team? Yeah, I mean, that's the big question.

He's going to have some big decision. coming up in the in the next month, two months, three months as he evaluated the option because Panarin is a pending UFA. He has a lot of control if there's going to be a new because of his no movement clause, but that's something you have to consider with how the season's going, especially if you either don't think he can retain him or don't want to commit the money that he would take to re-sign. There's bigger questions and do you start to really, really sell and maybe trade some players with term. And given how ownership has operated in the past,

it doesn't necessarily feel like that's the most likely outcome. Like, it's hard to see James Dolan really being excited about another rebuild or putting out another letter like they did in the past. It's hard to imagine that happening. But we have to wonder if you're looking at getting this team out of the kind of funk but it's in, do you have to shake some pieces up and take a bit more of a long-term approach. And that's what Jury is really going to have to consider in these coming months.

And there's also the factor of either his own pressure he's putting on himself or from ownership of trying to make the team more of a competitor this season. Is there pressure to make the playoffs this year and maybe push some chips in and buy? I think that would be personally a little reckless. But, I mean, GMs do that sometimes, where they, they think their team has a chance and they and they are getting pressure from above and do that. So I don't know if that's possible, but I think we really could see the Rangers take any

approach, whether it's a hard sell, a bit of a buy or kind of a, Vince has used the term thread the needle a lot where last year we saw them both trade off pending UFAs but also get guys like YS. Parson and obviously they traded for J.T. Miller at the January, you were a a better month so maybe the last this year. But big December story, no doubt. Absolutely.

Okay, we'll let you get back to it. Peter, thanks as always. Happy New Year. Health and happiness to you and your family and we'll check back soon. Thanks, Bell. Thanks, Jeff. Appreciate it.

There he is. The great Peter Ball covers the New York Rangers for the Athletic at the Winter Classic as the Rangers will face off against the Florida Panthers. From there, and maybe I'll open up with the same question that I just asked Peter about getting the Rangers and the Allenders to do an annual outdoor game just because the one that we saw a couple of years ago is just so fantastic. He's Steph Rossner, no stranger to this program. You've read his writing at NHL.com or at the hockey news or if you haven't, you should subscribe to the Elmonters, which is elite, elite reading and is really thorough.

And I got to tell you, like, how timely it is, too. Like, the many you think of, like, any Islander's issue, it's like, boom, I get the email. I'm like, oh, I just consider that. I guess Rosner's brain is symbiote with the rest of us. You know, Steph, the thing that I was pointing out as we try to get you hooked up here is, like, what a difference. And not just a difference on the ice, but like the mood and the vibe around the Islanders just seems to be different. Let's kick it off there. Do you have a thought on that?

Yeah, I think the vibes are completely different. And I think you look at what Darts has done. First off, transparency. I think that's the biggest thing. We've talked about a lot in the show is he came in here and showed the fans that he cared. Number one, obviously getting Schaefer, and I think the young vibe that he brings it just barely 18 years old, in a rejuvenation with this group.

You have a lot of guys, Andrews Lees flying up the ice, right? Other veterans seem to be not following his lead, but just feel better about themselves. The energy is there. You know, I think a couple years, weekend last year, you saw it sometimes, like, didn't have that energy that create that determination. They have that this year, and they're a faster or more dynamic. team. The goaltending has been vastly

improved. Riddick's been a hell of the backup this year. But overall, I think they've bonded the Patrick-Wa system and they're flying up and down the ice. When you're playing that kind of hockey and getting wins, it's very fun. I think that the whole feels that. For sure. You know, when we started the interview, we were trying to get you hooked up, one of the points

that I was trying to make was, again, going back to the El Monsters, Bo Horvatt gets named to Team Canada yesterday, and I'm like just thrilled for this guy, like when he got left off Team Canada at the Four Nations, It, like, automatically became one of his focuses. Like, the thing about Horvatt, and you probably know this.

Like, when he sets his mind to do something, whether it's make Team Canada, whether it's improve his skating, whether it's face off. Like, it doesn't matter. Like, Horvatt, like, digs in. That's the kind of guy that he is. And it's the kind of guy he's always been. I was thrilled for him. And right away, the email came in.

You had the quick interview with Bo Horvatt. I'm like, man, Rosner's on this. Yeah. Do you have a sort of thought on Bo Horvat making Team Canada? Was it a surprise for you? You know, it seemed as if there was a, you know what, Tom Wilson and Boeravada are going to be on this team. One of the players who doesn't get to return is Sam Bennett.

Just give us a sort of a thought on all of that involving Boeravada, the Islanders, make it at the team Canada. Yeah, you mentioned it. I mean, this is a guy that's so determined, he's very consistent. And I think the injury bug made me scared him a little bit that you would have to miss, but this guy has so much pride for his country. You're talking about an overall 200-foot center who pariplier, Bumper spot. He's one of the best players in that spot.

Wins his face off, plays big minutes, two way forward. He plays top minutes on the penalty kill. I mean, this guy did it all to prove that he belongs there. And again, you know, it's not an all-star game. You're not getting the most talented player. You need players that play certain roles. And for Horvite, what's set on the side is that he can do everything. He even so he'll fill up the water bottle.

He doesn't care. He wants to be part of this at 30 years old. Who knows if he'd ever done an opportunity to represent his country again. So, yeah, obviously, you're going to leave serving guys off this roster that probably earn it. But Beau Harvette from the start of the season until now, has given Team Canada out of the means to choosing

and I'm really happy because you see the work he puts in you know work is way back from injury comes back and scores two goals

I mean he's just he's been a leader who's been impressive on the ice and he does everything he's if Canada's going to win gold he's going to be

a beach part wide but not Matthew Schaefer I want to talk about Todd Schaefer's father who to me gave one of the most refreshing quotes I may have ever seen

in hockey because you never hear hockey dads talk like this I'm going to paraphrase him, but something along the lines of when he's talking about his son going to play at the Olympics. Now he's left off the team, so he's not going to go, so it's all moot. Todd said something along the lines of. There's going to be plenty of time for that. Is there anything wrong with him just coming home for a couple of weeks and being an 18-year-old kid?

Oh, my God, knock me down with a feather. Like, what an amazing, and I'll be honest with this, staff, refreshing statement from a hockey parent. There's plenty of time for that. Other stuff? What's wrong with letting the 18-year-old son just go home and be a kid for a couple of weeks? Holy geez, Steph. I've never heard that before. I have a hockey dad. Yeah, we forget. I mean, you see it every day. He's just so matured, but he's played 17 games last year. As much as he probably deserved to get on this Olympic team, and he's 18, where he'll play in five other Olympics. If you beat a nap, and he's playing into his early 40s. But this is the first thing he's going through an NHL growing for a kid that barely played last day.

As Netsches, I think I want him to play and be there and learn from Crosby, whoever. It's going to be a monumental reading song for him to rest, mentally physically, go see his family. We talked him about going home for the Hyatt Age, and he was like, yeah, just want to go see my friends. I haven't seen anybody, you know, just to lack in NBA kid. I know living with the Mordance, he has those kids around and he gets to be that useful kid. But yeah, it's going to be so good for him, just to reps. I mean, he's taking the most hits in the NHL. It's just going to be really good for him to take up reader.

I think a lot of Islander friends were hoping that was the case. and obviously he's down to make it for himself, but it's a huge time off of him in his body. I know you've got to get to a Patrick Guressor here in a couple of moments, so one more question, then we'll let you go. When you're looking at the world juniors, I'm going to talk to Stephen Ellis here coming up, who's on scene in Minneapolis, St. Paul, for this one.

But it doesn't matter what team you watch. I mean, there's an Islander's prospect. Politin from Czechia, Aitchison from Canada, Eiserman, USA, Eklund, Sweden. Hey man, like this all happened really quickly. Like this all happened like really fast. And now Islanders fans have a team that's in a second place in the metropolitan and are looking at the future and saying like how fast can we get these kids involved?

Islanders depth, your thoughts, Steph Rosner. Yeah, absolute 360 from where it was or 180, whatever, from where it was a couple years ago. You have prospects everywhere and they're all performing pretty well. I know Cole Eisenman and maybe hasn't played a ton of minutes. and things like that. But there's an optimism for the future. And Darch understands that. He'd sign guys to short-term bills and freightage like Drew

and getting a tier ago because he knows he's going to have that room for these young guys to come in. So, yeah, having a prospect is important whether you keep them and have them part of your future or using as trade bait, things like that. But these prospects are shining. You have Quinn Finney as well playing in the Spangler Cup and absolutely dominating. So it's a really good prompt to have all these young players.

We'll see how many of them actually make a 10-inch a level. But look at this past graph, getting Echlin and Aitchison in that first round, getting Colton in the fourth arm. Colton might be the most surprising guy. He just knows it to put the popper in it. So, yeah, Prostick Pool is on the rise for the Islanders. And if you're an Islander fan, you've got to be excited about the future, but also enjoy the nap.

You have an exciting team second in the Metro. Enjoy this because you never know what the future is going to bring. I just talked to Peter Ball. Let me let you go on this one. And I put forward the idea of doing an outdoor game between the Rangers and the Islanders every year, because the last one was so great. Like, just give the people what they want.

How would you feel about making that? annual. Do it. I would do it. I mean, I owner and Reader fans got to protect them to other in the property lots of these Emmys to get the bit of all

but I see it depending on the stories. I don't win so I know Ironer fans took the same bus to that game. I'm sure on the way home that was torquered for iron under fans. Just separate buses, but yeah, I think I should do it out of either. I love it.

Okay, I enjoyed the Rob Wester and enjoy the game today. Allender is facing off against Utah Mammoth. Best in 2026, health and happiness to your family. Thanks for always stopping by. Really appreciate it, Steph. There is.

Steph Rosner. You can read them at the L Monters, which is a newsletter you should be subscribed to because it's awesome, quite frankly. And yeah, I don't know. Maybe it's just because I am a hockey dad too and I got a couple of kids at play that I found Todd Schaefer's comment about his son just taking time to be a kid, be a regular 18-year-old. I remember Matthew Barzal talked about that too. Like there was, this is years ago when he's playing minor slash youth hockey and he didn't

want to go to a tournament, a game, something like that. And his parents, instead of doing the traditional hockey parents of, you signed up to make a commitment and you can't let your team down, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, they just said, go. If you don't want to play, that's fine. I always wonder about that, too, about how many kids that could be, that could one day be NHLers, that just were never able to get there because just bluntly they burned out and at a certain point for a lot of

NHL guys like this is a reality at a certain point for NHL guys it starts to feel like a job okay like it always is a job the minute you get compensator for what you're doing it's a job but it doesn't really feel like that until maybe a few years into your career certainly by the end it really feels like okay this is my job when your kid it's it's just fun but I've always wondered how many potentially great players, the nature of minor slash youth hockey, has discouraged from finding out just how great they could be. Because it just felt like a job. If it feels like a job when you're 13 years old, why are you doing it?

You know, if it feels like a job when you're 12, why are you doing it? And more so, why are you doing it to your kids? You know, why are you putting them through this and we got to do these skates every morning and we got to go to this training and we got to go to this tournament? And we've got to go to this showcase and end up dragging your kid around and never bother asking your kid. Do you want to do this? You still want to do this? Are you having fun?

Are you still able to be a kid? You're an incredible hockey player, but are you enjoying your time as a human being on this planet as a young person sharing oxygen with the rest of us? Some kids might be shy about saying, yeah, you know what, mom, dad, I'm not really not really into it right now. Maybe I'll come back to it. But that's what made the Todd Schaefer comment just so refreshing. And maybe and just maybe. That's why we see Matthew Schaefer as the outstanding A person and B hockey player that Islanders can enjoy and Islanders fans absolutely love. What do we got going on here?

Let's get right. Let's get right to Stephen Ellis. Prospects reporter, lead prospect analyst for daily faceoff, on scene. in Minneapolis, St. Paul, where there's a flu bug running through teams and media as well. Maybe, maybe Zach and I

just dodged a bullet. Stephen, maybe we dodged one here. Yesterday, last night, through that can of the Finland game, I was on the verge of going home. I felt like I got hit by a tree. That take, hang on, let me, just for context, everybody,

Steven's the guy that gets up at 4 o'clock in the morning to watch hockey games in, like, Southeast Asia. Like for him to leave a rink, like that's massive. I woke up at 5 a.m. to watch the Span in the Cup final because I had to see AC Dablish win at all. But, oh, my, I, I, I, this morning I woke up, I basically nearly fell out of that. I was so out of it. But I'm feeling better now, feeling a lot more energized. Turns out Gator Powerade, whatever, it's very good for you.

All right. Well, that's good. Okay. We all have our homespun remedies. I, you know, I just like your, you know, standard, you know, lemon, lemon honey and hot water. That's still my go-to. Although Jason Greger keeps, Gregor's got a, Gregor's got an interesting one, too. I can't remember exactly what it is, but I think it might involve like drinking oregano and hot water.

And it really helps him. But nonetheless, I got to get back to him and find out what that is because it's only a matter of time before I started feeling like you. Meantime, this is going to sound harsh. But remember at the beginning of the tournament where we said, isn't it nice that for the first time and I don't know how long for a Canadian team internationally, we're not having questions about goaltending? And as I mentioned off the top and then Carter George was to be kind, hard to hit yesterday for Team Canada. Is there a goalie controversy at the World Juniors for Canada? I have a hard time thinking those switch goalies going into the quarterfinals when they use one guy for three games. But look, George is one of the guys at this age group that can bounce back better than most.

And I think, yeah, last night's game, probably not his best. I got to give a lot of credit to Netanen on that really nice well-nothing goal. I thought that was an unbelievable play. And there were some good, like the Finns aren't a bad team. They're a hardworking team. However, yeah, you look at that same percentage, 844, you look at the goal, you'll out against the Danes

and a lot of those tips against Czechia. It has not been great performances. But we've also seen that from him in the OHL, where a game or two that's bad and he'll absolutely steal the show in the next game. So I think they're still going to go to him. But it almost feels like they, I need to kind of, like, again, also give him a bit more credit.

Canada's defense has given up a lot of pucks this year. I don't know what is going on. They just need to be secret agents for every team they play against in their own zone sometimes. But, you know, as a goalie last night, that hurt to watch. Yeah, that was, that really, really was a tough one. So heading into the quarterfinals here, like what have, because the last time we talked, we were like, eh, I said, after the Denmark game, we said, I don't know if we're going to really learn anything yet. We don't really have any answers until we get to the Finland game.

So what kind of answers can now? I'm going to get to the U.S. here in a second. What kind of answers do we have now about who this team Canada squad is at WJC? They are going to grind you down. And I think part of that is you look at which line was the best last night. And it was that Sam O'Reilly, Caleb D'Neue and Cole Bowdo went mine, which I don't like, heading into this tournament, I was not sure what to expect from those guys. Like a Sam O'Reilly, so good a face-offs. So I'm not sure he's taking a single face off in this tournament.

Bodewin, returning guy, a really good season last year. But you really struggled with the pace in that really part of this tournament. And then you've got Danoia, who's just, that was his best game in term. I think he's been the best player out of line. So it feels like now they've kind of can rely on more than just one or two lines. They looked at that and said, okay, like our third line can do something. Our fourth line can do something. That's something the United States have kind of had to rely on a lot.

You look at that comeback win against Slovakia, the three best players in that game, as I said, maybe James Higgins, whereas Will Zellers, who's but unbelievable, you look at AJ Spellacy and Brandon McMorrow. That's their fourth line. Those are the guys going up there and also trying to kill penalties. And I think the fact is, at tournament like this, you need four lines that can grind you other teams down

and you can ride them without having to worry about one or two lines having to do all the work. And I think now that Canada really embraced that last night, I think they're in a better spot. You mentioned AJ Spellacy. TSN was showing shots of Kyle Davidson. I mean, a lot of managers are there, by showing shots of Kyle Davidson. General manager of the Blackhawks,

what does he have in AJ Spellacy as we sort of transition here to the U.S.? Outstanding penalty killer, loves to get in front of the pucks, blocks a lot of shots. He also just, he's very strong. He used to play football. So you look at that,

like that's a guy that goes out there and he doesn't lose a lot of battle. So I don't think he's going to probably play in the top six in the NHL. He's probably destined more for a four-flying role, but they still need guys like that. As you look at the Blackhawks, they've got a good pipeline.

They've got some guys who good score, but they're going to need guys that can go there, kill penalties and be difficult to play games. And that's what they have from him. And I know some people didn't think he should have been on this initial roster, but I've been 100% on him this whole time. Like, this is a guy that probably should have been there last year. Like, he's just a very physical guy that just gets in the way.

And I love guys like that. That was an interesting USA game yesterday. Yeah. Okay, let's discards on the table. How concerned are you about, like, listen, three peeting is really, really hard. How concerned would you be? if you're USA?

I could not rely any of that goal-tending right now. It was nice of the gate Brady-Nolling an opportunity, and if you told me that the Americans would be the first team to use three goalies and not be like, it wouldn't be like Denmark or something. I would have been very surprised heading into this tournament, but I don't know if I like any of the three coales they have on that team.

And it's too bad because Noling is probably going to be the starter next year, maybe the year after. Like, he's a very high-end goalie prospect. And it's just, right now it's just has not worked for him of this tournament. It hasn't worked for Nick Kemp for or Caleb Hyle, who I don't know if he'll play again. I think also got to keep in mind of that game is they didn't have their number one defenseman,

Col Hott's City. Like that's a blue line that isn't super deep and losing the guy like Hudson hurts. And then it looks like we're not going to have Max Plant for the rest of the tournament, too. So that would be a big loss team and how good he's been in the NCAA. But I think you're still kind of waiting for that American team to really come together. I don't know. The Finns are not a great team either, but I almost feel like Finland's kind of got that edge right now because they're playing out as a team that has shown they could score goals.

but also they're just, they're back checking really hard. That's the team that everyone's committed to that two-way game. The other side of the coin in that game yesterday, like let's not lose sight of another thing. Sweden's really good. Like Sweden, Sweden's a really,

really good team here. And, you know, I saw them live at the, the London game against Team Canada and came away from it and said, if they weren't wearing yellow, like they did the ketchup and mustard game,

right? Canada wore red, and Sweden wore yellow. I'm like, oh, it's a hot dog game. But, like, if you swap the jerseys, right? And Sweden was wearing red. I go, like, this looks like, this looks like a Canadian team. Like, they have that skill.

But also, they just work so hard on every single puck. Like, again, like, let's not lose sight of, like, this is a really good, this is a really good Swedish team. They could, I know Swedes always find a way to lose these tournaments, but they could win the gold, no? A hundred percent. I think, you know, they're going to be playing lab. in that first game in the quarterfinals tomorrow. I think they should be able to win that one, but Latvia almost beat them last year, so who knows?

I think when you look at this team, at the beginning, it felt like they were just kind of trying to get the puck to Anton Fundale. That was the whole game plan. But they've kind of evolved around that since then. Now they've been getting performances from Lucas Pederset, Liamson, and I've been sitting at those Swedish games with Simon Eid from Hockey Sferia and trying to get his opinion on the Swedish team.

He's saying how everyone in Sweden does, not like Liam Daniel said. They think he has not, he was not good enough to make this team. But once he had like four or five boys now, and it's been really fun to watch. And then the defense has been very good, but the key thing for me was how good was their goaltending going to be?

Because we've seen in the past that Herman Leve and Lueh-Harendstom have actually lost them a lot of games. That hasn't been the case. I would argue that Louvay-Harnstone has actually been the best goalie in this tournament so far. He's got three wins. And he's been very important in all those games because they were not easy games from the player.

So I think right now the Swedes, They just don't have a... It felt like getting quality shots outside of Anton Frundell early in the tournament was the issue, but now since that third game, I feel like that's not really a problem anymore. You know, when it comes to draft prospects

of this tournament, one of two things happens. Well, one of three, actually. In people's opinions, players can either rise, players can either fall or players can have, and it's different from every scout and every observer, have how they feel about the player cemented. When you look at Ivar Stenberg,

what goes through your mind seeing him play in this tournament? Now, he did score yesterday on that 5 on 3 after like fanning on like a million one timers too. But like every game that I watch, there's something that Stenberg does that I'm just like, how's this guy not going to go first overall? like how's the GM going to look at that and say yeah I don't want that it's funny because I don't even know if he's been a top five prospect

in this tournament a draft prospect and I think like Vio Bjork's been better than him but then you just see Stenberg when you start to doubt him then he goes and does something with his shell potter or where he just gets it like there's a reason he's basically putting up a point per game in the Swedish hobby league like that's extremely difficult to do it like I always look back as one of those the better Swedish hockey league players or draft prop prospects out of that league that's seen and that was Lucas Raymond He did so much, and yet he couldn't get ice time.

But it feels like in Stenberg's situation, they've given him those opportunities back home, and he's taken advantage of it. And then you see at this tournament, he is playing a lot of confidence. And he's been playing with some other young guys on the team, but he's doing a very good job. And I think the fact is very few players at his age

can take over a shift like he does. And those are the guys that you really want to build around. Those are the guys that I still get Gavin McKenna, I don't think the pure skill. I agree. But Stenberg, I feel like if you need a goal, like immediately, that's the guy I would choose right now. He's just the guy that just, if he doesn't go number two, I'll be shocked. Really, eh?

Do you think that's that's cemented number two? Number one or number two. One of those two. If he's three, four, five, I will be shocked. I don't see that happening. But I will say, the word around Minneapolis here, a lot of people think Albert Smith could go top three. And, you know, you see a voice either. I'd say

Listen, all it takes is one Steve Iserman out there to say, I don't care what everybody else thinks I'm taking more at cider. Whoa, just like when he took Brett Connolly, everyone went like, he hasn't played a game,

he's got the broken wrist. Albert Smith's like that is the one name for everyone that doesn't always a defenseman plays for Latvia. It's been outstanding for the Latvians. See, that would be the example of a player that just rockets right up to the top coming off of a world junior performance,

not unlike Eric Johnson. with the St. Louis Blues, Casey Middlestadt with the United States whose stock rose after that performance. Anyhow, I want to ask you about one final player. Just talking to Steph Rastard from the Elmachers and running down the list of these amazing

Islanders prospects that every single team seems to have. Tell us what you know about Thomas Paulitan. That's a guy that loves to get in front of the net and he might get knocked down. He might not always be standing on his feet, but he is making life difficult. for everyone around him and that's what I like

about a guy like that where he's always rush into that crease and the checks they play a game where they like to crowd space they like to make it really difficult for the goalie to see it he does a good job

of going there to the net in the dirty areas in winning battles I think probably he's been a top 15 player in this tournament I think he's also got a really good shot

good playmaker like I think he's equally good as that so I'm not totally sure he's going to be a top six player in the NFL maybe he's a third line guy but he's a third line guy that you can rely on to to play

the power play could kill some penalties if you need to and he's got some skill. He's just a nuisance out there. There's a lot of nuisances in this tournament and I, we need more hatred at the world juniors. That's true. We need more. Like you like last night was fun because those two teams kept going after each other after the whistle. But we need more of that. I want to see like a Canadian player skating by doing a flyby with the other team. I want like absolute hatred again. That's what makes this turn. More AJ Spellacy. Just like unleash AJ Spellacy and watch the hate just

flow. Oh, Sweden made it. I wish Sweden brought Gabriel Eliasin because that guy is the funniest prospect of all time. He'll go one-on-one with you and if he beats you even if eventually your goal he saves it, Eliasson will still come and punch you in the face. And it's so funny

because half the night and he's no sense what he's ever doing out there in the ice. But he is just chaos and I love chaos. Give me that all day long. Listen, you take care of yourself, get well, just we're on the same page. Sweden faces off against Latvia, Chequia takes on Switzerland, USA, and Finland, and Canada, Slovakia.

Those are your quarterfinal matchups. You'll be well. We'll check back in next week. Yeah, thanks so much, guys. There he is Stephen Ellis, our lead draft prospect analyst right here at DailyFaceoff and DailyFaceoff.com. Always good to have Stephen aboard. And I think we dodged one there, Zach. Yeah, I mean, if it's going to be minus 22, there are.

car crashes. I don't like the cold are taking place. I don't mind the temperature. I don't like the car crashes. The sickness is. I don't not a big fan of that one either. But I can do, I can do with the cold.

I'm good with that. I'm good with the cold. I don't mind it. You can deal with the colds. You grew up in, you grew up in arenas and you're complaining. That's the thing I get, I guess say this as a no,

no, no. We all grew up in rank. I'm not complaining about the cold specifically. I'm not complaining about the cold specifically. I'm saying the combination of stuff happening. Like, you just add that all up. just becomes a little bit less desirable like we we might have you know gotten out on the right side of everything happening for a reason here Jeff um yeah everything happens for a reason

sure it does it's not just all random and chaotic from the maternity ward to the crematorium it all happens for a reason there's a goal to all of this uh as we speak um caps are up to nothing on the Ottawa Senators. All right. First period is just, is just finishing up. And your goal scores are Dylan Strom from Ryan Leonard and Jacob Chikrin, the snubbed one. And Tom Wilson, with his 22nd goal of the season.

You know, I was thinking about it yesterday, watching that game and what you said about the decisions he could have made this season or decisions do not do things. And then he gets that call. It's officially announced. I'm fighting. You can't take it back. You know what? I'm getting a Gordy hat trick.

And I got to Sam, Sam Carrick, my neighbor. So Sam Carrick, the Carrick family. Now, that wasn't Tom. Like, and good on Sam Carrick for it. Like, he was not going to leave the ice until he got a fight with Tom Wilson. And Tom Wilson is a much bigger player. But nonetheless, yeah, there's Tom Wilson throwing down with Sam Carrick. The day that he gets a name is a member of tea in Canada.

And he gets the Gordy slash Harry Cameron Hattrick, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then at the other end of the evening, you see Colorado St. Louis? Are you, Jordan Bennington? Yeah. Yeah. We're not the night to have that game. Yeah. Of all names.

We have a month of conversations. Every St. Louis Blues game. You know what's coming. Yep. Yeah. All eyes. Hey, you know what all eyes are on tonight? The Misery Bowl.

What's on? The Misery Bowl. We'll call it that one. We'll call it the Misery Bowl. It's a Winnipeg Jets in the front of Maple Leafs. Mm. Winnipeg's about, Winnipeg's about to go up from winning the President's trophy to not making the playoffs.

It's only happened four other times in the playoffs. the history of the NHL, twice to the Rangers. Once the Rangers went from President's trophy, first place overall, to last in the NHL. Mind you, there were only six teams at that point. I would say misery more on the Winnipeg side. Oh, 100%. Dude, their last place.

It should be misery, but I think that after the week that has just happened here, Jeff, you are around it, you see it as much as I do. Yeah. Like producer Vic came on my show on Tuesday, and we got back and did that post game. and there was a quote that came out from Vic that we put clips out of that was something along the lines of, it gives me hope. So, yes, but yeah, a lot of misery on the Winnipeg side of things. I cannot believe they're in last place.

Sure, a drop off, sure, taking a step back. Okay, I can see all of that. Last place is not at all where I thought that they would be. And then you just... No, no one did. To that, shrefully not getting the nod onto Team Canada in a year

that probably thought he could have at Four Nations and on the Olympic roster, probably a pretty miserable time in that locker room right now. I'm not in that market, obviously, but I'm... And maybe it's just because Winnipeg

doesn't do this. At what point does the seat get hot under Scott or Neal? I know there was the Connor Hallibuck injury. I know that Nick Eelers walked away. but at a certain point do you not say like you still have like you should be doing a lot better with this team like at what point do we start what now again like paul maurice was a very specific situation i think paul really did win a peg a solid by the way that he exited that organization um but if they have

any hope right now of salvaging the season in the most competitive and toughest division in all of hockey the central is not one of your first considerations here do we have the right coach at this point but is there hope but no i don't disagree with you but is there hope that you can do this this season because you just laid out what the division looks like what the western conference looks like like so hard yeah i know yeah do you throwing in the towel then you throw in the towel and say like ah you know what we're going to take it we're The President's trophy winners last year, you know, we got by St. Louis, barely. We're out of the playoffs.

We have the first overall pick. Maybe it's not the worst thing to have Gavin McKenna. Well, why not? I don't know. But if you want to bounce. You've got the goaltender. You've got him on term. You've got Schifley.

You've got him on term. Kyle Conner's on term. Why not? They still consider themselves. The reason is for everything that you just laid out, like they still consider themselves. a competitive team in the Western Conference. Yeah. You're not getting that production-wise.

You're not getting that on standings. Like, you're out of the picture here right now at New Year's. Like, it's January 1st, and you are, you're not just outside looking in. You are at the bottom of the pit staring up. Like, it's a daunting task to be getting, trying to find your way into the playoffs right now. If you're the Jets, like, you have to have everything going right. I think if you're in Winnipeg, I don't disagree with you about the coach. And I think that's one of those situations where it's probably not entirely on him,

but it's also maybe time for just change for the same thing. Unless your name is John Cooper, like coaches don't have shelf lives with players. Yeah. Or Jared Badner as well. Betner too, yeah. Yeah, but outside of that, like bringing somebody new, take a look at what you've got on the team. I hate Jeff, by the way, the whole like, oh, well, you know, the coach needs some time to figure out

what the roster looks like or the GM and the buffer period. I get it. I understand why it's a real thing. It makes sense, but it just kind of sucks because you're like wasting time, it feels like. Get it in a coach now, see what you've got, see if you can try to find somebody who's not going to be in-term holdover and then make some changes.

As one person told me, the minute a general manager gets a new job, Do you know what his job becomes? What's that? Keep your job. Because there's only 32 of these. So that's why you do the, well, I need to get a handle on how things operate around here. Right.

You don't want to use a bullet right away and fire a coach or make a big trade. It's your job to keep your job. Because maybe the ultimate answer is if you want your team to go on a heater, just bring in a finished general manager. Buffalo Sabres 10 in a row, baby Talking proud WGR Irvine

Oh man No, what's that? Save that line They may never lose Another game again There you come It's dolly, It beat freaking Dallas

They beat the Dallas Fricin stars 4 to 1 Couple of goals by Tate's Did you see that rocket From the top of the slot from Thompson yesterday on the rush. Holy shit, man. What a shot. What a shot for Kate Thompson.

is something else. He's a fun player to watch. He's a fun player to watch. I mean, I've seen all this stuff about him. Probably getting the nod here for Team USA. That's exciting. Good. Good. Good for him. Good for Buffalo that they're like tapping into this and being able to harness this and actually use this for their team's success. Whereas it used to be like, you see what Thompson did. Yep, he scored three goals and they lost five three. Nice. Sorry, we move on. Like, yeah.

So for this to actually matter for them, it's nice. It's nice. He's fun to watch though. He is tied a team record. Ten wins in a row for the swords. I want to talk to you about Bauer and the Bauer Pro Sharp Advant Edge. This at-home sharpener gives you the ability to sharpen your skates with pro-level precision at the touch of a button. Leveraged by decades of progressive.

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Tournaments, yes, absolutely. Sundays. When it's like, I lost an edge, everything's closed. And they're not open. I got to skate at 10, but nothing's open until 12. Boom. That's good. Yeah, the place that I used to go to as a kid, it was open or like growing up to was open seven days a week.

So that was thankfully dodged that other than the holiday time. But that would also come in handy in the holiday time. where you're going to all these tournaments pre and post and everything shut down and you're trying to map out when you get the skate sharpened because how many practices you have. Okay, now dad's saying you can't go to the outdoor rink because you're going to blow your edges out there too. Just trying to time it for practices and everything.

Yeah, this would be a very, very handy thing to have. Well, what kids have now, I don't know if you had this too, because you're still pretty young. Did you have replacement blades? You never had replacement blades in your back? No. Just at the very end of my minor playing days was when replacement blades started to become more popular

And I never had it. For both my boys that play like they're mandatory. Like you have to have replacement blades in your back. Like it's just like you have that just like you have shin pads, neck guard. Yeah. It's it's mandatory. You have to have replacement blades. because blow an edge on the ice, like, sorry.

Yeah. It's smart, though. I do. You know what you don't have. Yeah, totally. Yeah. Yeah, so that's where those, the convenience. Oh, man, the convenience is so good.

You still get your skates sharpen the same place you did when you're a kid, right? You can you tell me that? Is it an Aurora? So you won't sharpen your skates until you, like, go visit your family and you bring your blades. You're that, that cycle path? Pretty much. Pretty much. Yes.

And you won't go see... Well, part of the problem, I'll say this. The downtown skate sharpening, like I live downtown Toronto. I'm not in the outer part. I'm right downtown. We hear the sirens every day on the show. We get the sirens every day on the show. We know who lives downtown here.

The skate sharpening options are not that great right around here. So I've got to drive outside of this area anyways to get them done. And if I'm driving 25 minutes, to go and get my skate sharpened outside of the city, I might as well go 40 minutes to the place and then see my parents as well. Exactly. Exactly. It's like dropping off laundry.

Just drop off a bag full of blades. Here, Mom, can you get the... I don't do that. Don't do that. My mom would kill me if I ever did that. Holy shit. Here's eight pairs of blades. Do I get this done?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, here's my laundry too. What's in that kitchen back there? You got a... Okay, that's good. The sheet is powered by Fanduel. Play your game with Fan Duel. It's the NHL season, and Fan Duel is your home for all the action on the ice.

From Blue Line to Bet Slip, we've got your covered all season with unique promos, live offerings, and more features to let you play your game. Miss Puck Drop, no sweat. With a live, same game parlay, you can build up your bets until the final buzzer. Or just listen to Zach here in a second. Download Fan Duel Sportsbook today and play your game. Please play responsibly, 19 plus, and physically located in Ontario. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or the gambling of someone close,

to you, please contact Connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. Make our day, Zach. Are you familiar with Credence Clearwater Revival? Otherwise known as CCR, yes, I am of that vintage, sir. Okay. You will like this one. Hopefully people will chat who are familiar with them will as well. All right.

Never leave me blue, Susie Q. Oh, wow. The Blue to win tonight. Nick Suzuki's and Quinton Byfields. Susie Q, Suzuki, Q, Q, Quinton Byfields, well known as Q. These are all things. We're just the only one I can do. First of all, very creative, Bravo.

All these things could happen. Like sometimes the ones you put together, you're like, oh, man, like Snowball's chance, you know, no way, never going to happen. But these things could all like legitimately turn. and $5 into $135. You could see it. Yeah. Right?

You could see it. Maybe I just need to see one to go through the uprights here. Last night, I got a text. Macklin scores. Now you just need your Vic said something along the lines of like Macklin scores your parlay is alive.

Now you just need Pariko and Harley. And then just don't. Yeah, the easy ones there. Yeah. Yeah, you're real, real easy ones there. No, this one, this one does have a shot. Maple Leaf's favorite, obviously, minus 130 on the money line against Winnipeg, as you said.

Nick Suzuki, maybe a little bump off the Team Canada announcement, anytime goal, and then Quentin Byfields plus $335 wins 135. But pretty good. If this wins, I'm pretty happy. That's a good way to start the new year. How many skate sharpings can you get for $135, Zach? Oof, that would be about where I'm at 10.5. I think is approximately where it would come out to.

So you couldn't get a full sharpening for the last one. You can only do like the left skate. Only one skate, which at that point, I just got to hope that I've got something wrong with the one and say, hey, just buff this out, fix this please. Don't worry about the other one. I just can't know what with it today. Pull some tree off the money, kid.

Just pull some money off the tree. Kid, just pull some money off the tree. Okay, you'd be good, Zach, enjoy the rest of your New Year's Day. to you, Zach, and health and happiness to you and your family, all for 2026. And to you as well, health and happiness, to everybody watching and listening.

Following the sheet here on a daily basis, much appreciated. I hope all of your families are well and healthy in this new year. Thanks to Peter Baugh for stepping by at the Winter Classic. Thanks to Steph Rosner from the Elmantres for stopping by

and you just heard from a little sniffly Stephen Ellis. So we appreciate all the contributions from those three gentlemen. Thanks for your attention today. We are back again tomorrow. Not like these other half-milers here who are just taking the day. But then as we found out at the beginning of the show, Canadian New Year's happened a month ago. So there we are. Talk to you in 23 hours. More of the sheet here at the Nation Network. Thanks for joining us on the YouTube, on the Spotify, on the Apple Pods, wherever. We appreciate all this to support and the

attention. Thank you. We're back to me. I slept 16 hours last night every day this week, every day this month. I can't get out my head, lifestyle ambitions day-to-day, because you can call it all right. I went to the dark man and tried to give me a little medicine. I'm like, no, man, that's fine. I'm not against those methods, but new. It's me and myself and how this is going to be. be fixing my mind.

I do on the bracket. I turned on the music. I do want to back in. I turn on the music. It's enough. I don't think you sometimes losing. I've been on the days that went wrong.