The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Women's Recap, McDavid's Legacy, and Coffey Returns ft. Julia Tocheri & Jason Gregor

Episode Date: February 24, 2026

Jeff Marek is back with a loaded edition of The Sheet, beginning with a deep dive into the women’s Olympic tournament alongside Julia Tocheri of the Jocks in Jills podcast. The two break down the sheer dominance of Team USA, what separated them from the field, and where the gap between the Americans and the rest of the world truly stands. From there, the conversation turns to Hockey Canada’s next steps after falling short, how the program recalibrates, and what meaningful growth from countries like Czechia, Switzerland, and Finland means for the global game. They also react to the viral moment surrounding the Donald Trump phone call to the men’s team — and the pointed message that “he has to invite the women now.”Later, Jason Gregor joins to unpack the men’s Olympic tournament, what ultimately went wrong for Canada, and how this event shapes the legacy conversation around Connor McDavid. The show then pivots to the Edmonton Oilers, Paul Coffey’s return to the bench, and what it signals about the organization’s direction moving forward. A full Olympic recap with big-picture NHL implications — all on today’s episode of The Sheet.#TheSheet #JeffMarek #JuliaTocheri #JasonGregor #Olympics #WomensHockey #MensHockey #TeamUSA #HockeyCanada #ConnorMcDavid #EdmontonOilers #PaulCoffey #NHL #InternationalHockey #OlympicHockey #HockeyPodcast #DailyFaceoffLeave a voicemail: https://www.speakpipe.com/TheSheetEmail us: [e-mail] TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼Uber Eats: https://www.ubereats.com/caReach 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/@FNBarnBurner🚨 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-faceoffReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Okay, here we go. Once again, welcome back to the program. The sheet for this Tuesday, February 24th, glad to have you aboard today. I know hockey seems a little insufferable right now. I know politics is all over it, and it might just happen again tonight at the state of the Union. We'll see what happens anyhow. But there's nothing like focusing hockey fans' attention away from drama quite like more drama. And that is a big trade. Well, a medium-sized trade, I suppose.

A defenseman trade. Let's fire this up here before we get going with the show today. So there's a trade today between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Colorado Avalanche, Samuel Gerard. Remember all those years where we thought Matt Dumbo was getting traded and it never happened? Well, Sam Gerard is kind of like that player as well. Sam Gerard finally, after years and years of rumors, finally gets traded. Left-hand shot defenseman goes for a left-hand shot defenseman here. Sam Girard, now a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Kyle Dubus gets another puck moving defenseman. Also a second round pick. More on that in a couple of seconds. Brett Kulak, who was, of course, picked up in the Tristan Jari trade earlier this season, goes to the Colorado Avalanche. Now, a particular note here, and this is where, you know, the second round pick comes in for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Penn's kind of doing Colorado a solid here.

I don't think anyone thinks that Colorado was done. They're not. But Dubus here is helping Colorado pick up some cap space in the process. Brett Kulak is 2.75 on an expiring deal. Sam Gerard, $5 million and one more year on term as well. And a quick little glance. I want to hustle here because we had a lot to get to you on today's program. The Pittsburgh Penguin was just racking up draft picks.

Two seconds this year, two seconds next year, three seconds in 2020. two-thirds this year, two-thirds next year, and two-thirds in 2028 as well, and they've still protected all their first round picks. So the rebuild continues and Dubus picks up a left-shot puck moving defender in the process. We'll get more on this coming up towards the bottom of the hour, but Colorado and Pittsburgh as the trays freeze, as we know now, has lifted. The Olympic Trays Freeze. And Colorado and Pittsburgh are the first two.

to get together on a significant deal. I know there was a Julian Goce trade earlier on today, but that's not to this extreme. Okay, let's get right into the program today. Welcome to it. Glad to have you board whether you're watching, whether you're listening, whether you're in the chat as well.

The blueprint is powered by Fanduel. Download the app today and play your game on Fanduel. Lots to get to on the program today, both with the cascade from the Olympics and also the look forward to the NHL resuming tomorrow. Our good friend Julia Turcheri is, is back from Italy. And I can't wait to hear the stories of an Italian in Italy for the Olympic Games.

Of course, one half of the powerhouse duo, that is the Jax and Jail's podcast, alongside Tessa Bonum. So we'll do a women's recap and we'll talk about the Trump call because you have to. Jason Greger will stop by as well. And PWHL season getting fired up again too. And who sort of carries that momentum into the back end of the season? Jason Greger from the DFO rundown and Jason Greger show on Sports 1440 will stop by. We'll talk about McDavid and we'll talk about Paul Coffey returning to the bench for the Edminton Oilers and then a look around the NHL and we should spend some time talking about

the Penguins Avalanche Trade, which we saw consummated not too long ago, actually just before we went on the air. In the meantime, she is the co-host of the excellent Jocelyn Jill's podcast. One of my favorite, it's got great information and a cool vibe, and she's all of those things as well. She's Julia Torsieri and she joins me now. First of all, how was it being an Italian back in Italy? It was amazing. First, I just have to note the fact that you said trade consummated. I've never heard of a trade officially being consummated and I need to know what it entails. I try to, as I get older, I try to sexualize everything. I'm just going to be blunt.

I try to just make everything a little more sexual as I get older. That's all that is. Tell me, do they kiss when they get there? I know. This is like the heated rivalry trade between Colorado and Pittsburgh. Who made the first move? Who made the first call? I love it. Anyway, trade consummated. Yeah, there you go.

It's good. Okay. Italy was the whole thing. Before we get to everything women's hockey here and the PWHL and the call to the guys and I know everyone wants to downplate us to not heat things up but at the same time, and it's an issue. Give me your experience. The Italian in Italy.

Go for it. An Italian in Italy. And you know what? I will have to tell you that at one point, I looked at Tessa. We were at Santa Julia Arena, which I joked on jocks and jills that they named after me, but I didn't want to start publicizing that until it was actually done and completed. Tess and I were walking around the bowels of Santa Julia,

and there's this one stairwell up the back that clearly the workers were using, like the day before when they completed the work on the place. And it was just littered with cigarette butts. And I looked at Tessa and I was like, you know what, Tessa, I just don't think that my people were meant to organize. We were meant to relax. We were meant to have smoke breaks. We were meant to, you know, have one o'clock afternoon siesta's and then espresso after. However, it was truly amazing.

Your words not mine. Your words not mine. Your words not mine. We can own it. We're relaxed people. I actually felt the ease around me, Jeff. Like I'm the kind of person that gets overly stressed about work. Like Zoom out.

We work in hockey. I make silly videos. We, like I should under no circumstances ever be stressed out of work. But sometimes, you know, we get there. You're running around and you start to get stressed. But in that environment, I actually felt ease around me from the Italian people. The volunteers were so nice. And genuinely, at points, I felt like boots on the ground advertising for the PWHL

because I was very, I wasn't surprised because I feel like anyone who lays eyes on hockey and gets to watch it live, women's or men's, ends up falling in love with the speed of the game and the physicality of the game and the personality of the players. and there were just so many Italian volunteers who were enamored by hockey and women's hockey specifically. And we had these great pins. Pin trading gets you a lot of cloud at the Olympics. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I will say some of our photographers got better positions.

Like, I was given free meals. Really? Yeah. If you have a big bag of pins at the Olympics, and again, Italian people, I'm an Italian person. I love knickknacks. So you pull out the bag of pins for the volunteers and basically you have free reign on Antigua or Rita. Pin bribes.

A little car pins. We had a little espresso pin. I was collecting pins. My favorite one that I got was from Sarah Spain. I got a pin of Tina playing hockey. Hang on. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I love Sarah Spain.

What did you get from Sarah Spain? She made, I got to go get my land yard for it's in my other room. I wasn't thinking before that. But she made good game specific pins. And I was like, why did we not make Jocks and Jill's pins? Every show needs a pin. And like pins, I know pins are always the thing at the Olympics, but I felt like somehow in Italy, again, if you go to my mother's house or my grandmother's house, absolutely covered in knickknacks, Italian people lover of knickknacks. And I think pin trading reached a, reached a new level of hype in Italy.

It's not just for the Quebec peewey tournament anymore, folks. Right? Or the Elks Tompheam Adam tournament in Thunder Bay, Ontario. My dad would always have us trading pins around. I don't know if you're familiar with that one, but it was always cool when the Mississauga teams and stuff came down to. I know it by legend. I know it by legend. I want to ask you about the games,

but I want to get the white elephant out of the way. And I know that, you know, whether it's Ellen Hughes, who is, you know, very diplomatic. And I understand that nobody wants to throw any kerosene on this. And I understand it. This has the potential to be an absolute powder keg. And I think that, let me say this.

Again, these are my words. I think the women, the women's side of hockey right now is being very responsible and very understated and understanding that they're sitting on a powder keg right now and they don't want this to distract from what just happened on their side of the hockey puck and I just want to say that I recognize that and I respect that and I know that there are a lot of people that are probably biting their tongues and not saying what they want to say.

But what are your... thoughts on on everything that we saw post men's victory and the now infamous phone call. Yeah, it was just like when that puck went in the net for Megan Keller and we saw the star spangled dangle and two nations absolutely erupted like one in dismay and one just absolute elation that the woman got to the top of the mountain for the first time since they won in that shootout in 2018. Like it just felt like a really great moment for hockey. in general. And like we see the difference in in numbers on the Canadian side and the US side and the PWHL. Like it's great for women's hockey to be growing on the US side and we need that.

The PWHL needs that. Woman's hockey needs that. To see Hillary Knight and Megan Keller be the ones to get those goals and the veteran presence leading the way on a team that was like so led by their youth and the youth was starring the show all tournament. Like I'm talking about hockey right now, Jeff. And I think that's because I'm so disappointed that anything took away from that moment. I'm so disappointed that in a moment of what should have been celebration, like there was an unnecessary shot taken at a woman's team who just have worked so hard and never say an ill word about anyone. And we saw that there was camaraderie between the U.S. men's and women's teams in the Olympic cafeteria and stuff like that.

I saw Megan Keller post a picture with Jack Hughes. That's all great. But to me, my genuine overall thought was just disappointed that a moment of such great celebration. And that's why I don't want to give it. And that's why nobody wants to give it so much airtime because this is a moment about women's hockey. And it shouldn't be about anything else other than the success of this U.S. team and how hard they've worked to get to that point.

And if you feel like getting pissed off about something, because sometimes I wake up that way, If you check out Taylor Hise's Instagram story right now, she started her journey back from Milan 24 hours ago. She left the Olympic Village. And we've all seen how the men's team is traveling. So, yeah, if we wanted to be annoyed and rattled in women's sports, Jeff, like we could be annoyed and rattled every single second of the day. We choose not to.

And really what I want to say is like it was never about impressing men. Like, do you think that Megan Keller and Hillary Knight, do you think all those girls worked their whole life to win a gold medal in order to, like, get props from the U.S. men's team? If women's sports were about impressing men, like, nobody would be doing it anymore because we know the way that it gets talked about when the doors get closed.

And honestly, Jeff, I'm going to, I can give you a little tire pump too, like not to commend men on a day like this, but, like, thank you for having a show that talks about women's hockey with so much new onsen, so much, so much, this is, this is nothing. Like, we appreciate it very much. Listen, a lot of, a lot of better people do a lot of better things for women's hockey than I do. I just do it from my tiny little corner from my tiny little microphone here.

And listen, you know how I feel about the athletes and the PWHL and the future of women's hockey. I've maintained, like just even objectively looking at women's hockey. And I've said this, you know, I've had conversations with owners of NHL teams that have been curious about, you know, what goes into, you know, the purchase of a PWHL team. for example. And the point that I've always made is this is the growth area in hockey period. If you're looking for something to invest in that can give you a high ROI, women's hockey is it and women's sports is it. Like remove like all of the like doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do. And girls should have the same types of dreams that boys have when they grab hockey sticks, all of that.

but if we just look at it from a cold hard business point of view, if you're looking at investments and if you're looking at ROI and just like flat out cold hard capitalism and like, where can I get like the biggest return on an investment here? The future of hockey is on the women's side. And the thing that I keep saying on my male counterparts too, even if you're not a fan, I can, okay, you don't like it. Okay, it's not a few.

That's fine. But please understand that if women's hockey gets, bigger. Sorry, when women's hockey gets bigger and when more girls pick up hockey sticks and middle age moms say, I've always wanted to try this and I'm going to join a league or learn to play program, please understand that the men benefit too because that means there's going to be stronger equipment manufacturers. There's going to be more jobs for trainers. There's going to be more arenas that need to get built because they're going to need more pads. Like the whole hockey industry grows now because on the male side it's tapped out it's tapped out if you're going to grow it it's on the women's side and please understand that the cascade is going to start from the women's side and go to the men's side and you will benefit from it so if you don't want anything to do with it that's fine but don't get in its way because selfishly it's going to help them too does that make sense exactly exactly like every like

Herald Hockey grows the game. Blind hockey grows the game. Every different way that hockey's played grows the game, but you're right in saying, I think that at the forefront of that is women's hockey. And I think a lot of it has to do with the way the players market themselves as well. Like, I don't know if you spent any time on social media during the Olympics. I don't know if it was just my algorithm and my addiction to women's hockey, but I saw way more of the women than I saw of the men.

They're willing to put themselves out there. put themselves out there way, way more. I think there's still a sort of like, I'm not sure if I should do this on the guy's side. Is it fair to say there's a little bit more to put out there too? These women that have had to, had to be educated, most of them at a very high level,

women who have had to work other jobs in order to put themselves through hockey. Like there's a little bit more perspective, I think, from the women's players and a little bit more relatability. And I think that has to do with like a lot of things. I think we're going to start to see a little bit of a different and how we develop the men's side as well.

Like we're identifying our elite players when they're like seven years old on the men's side and we're not developing anyone else after that. So I think there's pages to be taken out of the woman's book on the men's side too. So what we saw on the women's side, you know, it's interesting whenever I talk to, because I'm close with Cassie,

and she's on the program all throughout the Olympics as well and was dying. She did their first hit from the chair getting her hair did. She's insane. Cass, the best. Her and. Yeah, Cheryl just worked so hard all tournament long. Like, shout it to them.

Like, who else? I know Julie Stewart Banks made a joke about it on Twitter that like everybody got there. Everyone's stop. Everybody's so offended. Everybody's so offended now. Like, everybody's so offended. But seriously, tell me, you're the only one that could do it, Jeff. Honestly, I can't think of a male broadcaster that would be able to hop on the women's broadcast

and be able to speak about it with nuance. That's not true. There are some. There are some. There are some. I just like doing it because I like, I like the players and I like the game. Like, sorry.

Like, I enjoy it. But here's the thing. Whenever I talk to Cassie, and we always come to the same thing. It's like, I remember watching that Salt Lake gold medal game. It's one of the best games I ever saw. Phenomenal. Like the emotion of it, every single shift. Yeah.

Like that drama built into it. I'm like, the part of the drama just made that game so great. And I remember saying, like, you know, I look at the women's game now and I look at your game. And I remember thinking like, wow, how fast that game was in 2002. Just like I'll watch on the game. the men's side in 2002. And I'll look at the game now and go like, this is slow. Yeah.

We focus so much like how much faster the men's game has gotten. You look at even just look at like go look at all the PWH games. You know, it's so different, so fast. And it's like the hot house effect of the PWHL is now turning over into the Olympics and international events that we see like the game just growing. almost exponentially. Is that safe to say? I'm so curious to see what it's going to look like in four years in the French Alps because women are being inspired, young players are being inspired.

We were talking to a couple coaches when we were in Milan. And the European players like want to come over to North America. Their goal is to play in the PWHL. And if you think about like the NHL and when it started to gain traction and when it started to be regarded as a legitimate league where players didn't have to work second jobs, it was when European players started to come over. And the game started to grow that way. So we've already seen a few.

And like, have you seen the young Swedish players, Jeff? They're just on a different level right now. Hang on, hang on, Julie. Did you see their power play? Do you see how they fired the puck around on the power play, the Swedes? Seven and eight on Sweden, like my, my fiancé Liam, I hate that I use him as an anecdote all the time, but he's kind of one of our official scouts at Jocs and Jills.

he watched two minutes of warm-ups, and he was like, who is that number seven on Sweden? Like, it pops off the page that much. Think about how much college she has to play still before she can come into the PWHL. So it's just going to keep getting faster. Like, we've seen it get faster and faster and faster. You see the way Caroline Harvey's feet move along the blue line?

Best skaters in the tournament. I love Renata fast, and man, she is speedy, but I look at Caroline Harvey, and I'm like, that's the fastest player in the tournament. It's the best skater in the tournament. Am I wrong about that? No, you're 100% correct. The way that she's skating is on a different level.

Like her edge work, how deceptive she is with her feet on the blue line. Like she is doing stuff at a level that I don't think that we've seen before in women's hockey. And she is not even in the PWHL yet. Like there is four or five franchise players coming into the league next year. And, you know, there's a lot of, like, we already touched on it. There's so much discourse right now around, like, there's a lot of eyeballs on women's hockey with what's happened in the last couple days here. And a lot of, a lot of that's positive.

And maybe, again, it's the way I've tailored my algorithm. And there's just a lot of support out there for the U.S. woman. But, man, I want to see all those people watching PWHL games. I want to see all 7.7 million those NBC viewers at its peak in overtime, tune into PWHL games now. Well, and I think, again, like I mentioned, I can only be good for the entire hockey world if that did happen now, too.

And I wonder, too, because the thing about the PWHL is, Right now, like the next goal, as I see it for the league, is make your own stars. Because right now, stars are made through tournaments like the Olympics and then they play in the PWHL. It's the other way around on the men's side. And that, like, I know, like I'm talking about a league that's a couple of years old here. I'm not going to place expectations on that, like another league that's, you know, over 100 years old and had that momentum all the way and billions of dollars behind it. Totally. But that's like the next stage to make.

make the stars in the league that then you showcase on the international stage best on best. Yeah. And I wonder if it'll be this Olympics that it happens because it's hard for me. Like we're going to see, I picture Hillary Knight in a Seattle Torrent jersey, but it's hard like when she comes to my brain first. I see her as Captain America and Marie Philippe Palin, of course, too. She's so iconic in her Montreal Victoire jersey. But if I close my eyes and I picture her, she does come to my head.

We're in the sea for Team Canada. So that's a good question, Jeff. Like I'm interested to see. But does Caroline Harvey, Caroline Harvey comes into my head as a Wisconsin badger. Is that fair? Who's Abby Murphy then to you? Abby Murphy is such a golden gopher.

Or do I watch too much college hockey? You might. Depends what you watch, but that's where we see her right now mainly, right? Yeah, exactly. So I think now that you say that, maybe there's potential. And I'd imagine, like we've heard Amy Shear talk about it.

Expansion is imminent. We don't know how many teams. We don't know, like, we don't know exactly what that looks like, but odds are a couple of these players or one of these players at least is going to go to a new team. Like, I think it's a, that's a great point, Jeff. I'm interested to see if we know these players as PWHL stars by the next Olympics as opposed to just international hockey stars. We'll be fascinating. It sounds like the plan is to get this thing to 12 teams. And again, like this is just from, you know, conversations that I've been around, get this thing, get this thing to 12 teams as quick as possible.

Well, the thing that I wonder about too is, you know, there's a lot of, as I've mentioned on the program here, plenty of times. Like there are different career issues that women face that men don't. And so for some, this is going to be their last Olympic cycle. And probably some big names here. Like Hillary Knight has already said. Dude, but did you hear her post game? Hillary's being shady. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. Oh, we'll see. I love Hillary. and Hillary could create some hype. I wouldn't be surprised if she came for one last dance. She gets the ring at this Olympics and the gold medal. I know what you're saying, though.

I wouldn't be surprised. I know Hillary said it's her last one. I wouldn't see her go for one last ride. I wouldn't be surprised to see her go for one last ride. And I just, at this point, going out on a silver, like, I haven't spoken to anyone. No one's told me this. I just, I personally cannot see Marie-Philippe, retiring from Olympic play on a silver medal.

I went into the Olympics thinking this was Poulin's last. I did not. Like last last cycle and then Cassie keeps telling me, not so sure about that. He's 38. Poulan will be the same age at her at 2030. I just, she loves the game, man.

I don't think you could rip that girl away from it. And especially maybe if they would have gotten gold and it would have been that whole veteran core for Team Canada deciding to retire together. But again, I don't even know who that... Yeah, I don't know. Where does? Where does? Because listen, one of the stories coming out of the Olympics was, like,

look at the young players on the United States. Like you already mentioned Harvey and Murphy, Leila Edwards, four, it's going to be a force for the next 15 years. And Susan didn't even play in the gold medal game. And she's, she had the biggest viral moment of everyone in the past year. Who wants it? Mark Johnson moment. The question then becomes, okay, so we all, I think people who follow,

even just casual, will know, like, the name, Chloe Primarano. Like, does Canada have enough young players at that level to offset the Murphys and the Harvys and the Edwards? Or are we looking at going into a cycle here where it's going to be, get used to the second stage of the podium, Canada? You know what? I think that the cycle, this quad is going to be more about identifying exactly who

those players are. Because it's not like Canada has just like randomly gone devoid of superstar talent. I think it was that there was almost a wealth of riches in that age group that was just ahead. You mentioned Chloe Primerano. I still think that she should have been on that roster. I don't know how you feel about it. Like when you go to three on three overtime and you lose like that and you think about Chloe Primarano, you're kind of like, oh gosh. She would have been someone great to have out there?

Would she have seen any eyes? I don't really know. I know it's hard with a young player. And it's always easy to make rosters in hindsight. right away I thought Chloe Pramarano, even to just get her to this Olympics, like I thought it was very cool that they brought Katie Tape into this Olympics. I thought everyone was given them their props for bringing a, a veteran stay-at-home defenseman and saying,

oh, like, this is so saucy for Canada, so different for Canada, really mix it up and bring this very reliable stay-at-home D that just hasn't been with the program for very long. But then she didn't see any ice in the gold medal game. She saw like four minutes maximum a game all tournament. So I didn't really understand. I understood bringing her in the first place if you were going to use her, but I didn't understand bringing her and not using her and leaving Chloe Primranor at home,

someone that presumably is going to be part of leading this team at the next Olympics and probably could have used a little bit of a, it's a big stage. Like, as we all saw, like getting your feet wet at the Olympic stage could be really helpful. Like we saw what it did for Caroline Harvey. Last Olympic, she averaged like three minutes a game or something to that effect. And oh my gosh, I'm such a Caroline Harvey fan girl, aren't I? I've mentioned her like three times unprompted. It's so hard, though.

How do you know? It's like you see someone skate like that. It's seductive. Like she's gorgeous to watch. It's insane. Like that stride is phenomenal. So let me ask you about this one. I got a couple left for you.

Sorry, just like you used seductive there. And it's just all your sexual. I get it. Hockey's romantic. How could you not be romantic about that? That's what we figured out this year, right? We fell of a sudden like hockey is somehow. Anyhow.

Yeah. I'm just going to throw a name out there and I'm curious what your reaction is. Claire Thompson. Oh, Claire Thompson. Claire Thompson, break my heart, rip it out, stomp on it. Like, I will never be over that photo of her. A lot of people, again, like, it's always cool to have all the eyeballs in the world on women's hockey, but then sometimes it invites like commentary that that anybody within the game would know is just like not totally relevant. I saw some people saying, oh, number. 42 will never recover from this. Number 42 is going to be an orthopedic surgeon. She'll be fine. She's going to continue to start for team Canada. She's going to continue to play hockey professionally. Claire Thompson is just going to be absolutely fine. And I can't imagine anyone with more mental resilience to manage a situation like that. She got put on a poster. It is what it is. You know who else got put on a poster on the men's side? Nathan McKinnon and Connor McDavid.

and guys, yeah. So she's going to be absolutely fine. Yeah, exactly. She's going to be absolutely fine. I'm glad you asked me that because I've been thinking of Claire Thompson and those moments, those moments right after would have been absolutely gut-wrenching. But honestly, I don't know. She has so much character, Jeff.

I can't imagine many people that would have managed that really hard situation better. Ice water in the veins. Ice water in the veins. Absolutely. Okay, so last one for you here. And you're always generous with your time. So who's the next country? Like we talked about the Swedish power play.

Switzerland, I've always wondered about Finland as well. When do we start to see like a big Finnish invasion? The PWHL might be a sidebar question to this too. Finland and Switzerland are countries that have circled as like, I need to see more investment in youth from you. I was very happy to see Switzerland get the bronze at this tournament. Alina Mueller is such a star in the PWHL. She's an amazing person.

They're goalie, brandly, best goalie. best goalie in the tournament. I'm hoping, I think she's declared for the PWHL draft in the past. I'm hoping to see her in the PWHL next season because she is just absolutely excellent. But I just don't see the youth on the Swiss side as much. And I'm hoping that a bronze at this tournament can inspire a youth movement for Swiss hockey. And we know that Laris Stalder has like sacrificed her career and opted to stay behind in Switzerland and get a million points a season and help grow the game in her home country. so I'm hoping that pays off. I feel the same way about Finland, honestly, Jeff. I don't see as much youth coming up there as we'd like to.

So I'd love to see a little bit more investment from the Finnish Hockey Federation in their youth on the women's side and just their women's program in general because Yenai Hirokoski again injured at this Olympics. I love Yenai Hirokoski, but she cannot continue to be like, I know she's not. Technically the backbone, but in my mind she is. She's still there and she still leads that team. And they do have like Susanna Tappany. He's an awesome player in the PWHL.

Yep. Carvin of course for the Golden Eyes. But again, I don't see that youth for Finland. That's scary. Cheki is an interesting one to me. Chequieu really underwhelmed me at this Olympics. It almost feels like they've hit their wall with the success that they've had in the past five or so years. And now they need a little bit more structure or they need a little bit more something.

They had this kind of like Cinderella underdog. vibe to them. And now at this Olympics in Italy, when they were expected to medal, and Colton COVID told us they wanted to challenge for silver, like it just, yeah, it just felt a little underwhelming.

It feels like they've hit a wall. I thought coaching. I thought coaching was going to put them over the top. I really did. I really thought coaching was going to put them over the top. And Carla's so inspiring and she's so excellent. Like, she's like the success that the Czech program has had

over the last five or so years is largely thanks to Carla. So I'm interested to see what happens there going forward because I know this result would have been really disappointing for them. I honestly like is it dramatic to say Sweden could challenge for a silver medal in 2030? They have that much youth that is that talented and now got their heart ripped out on the biggest stage at the Olympics. Like they were they were nipping at Switzerland's ankles. I thought that they were a better team for a lot of that game. They got a bad matchup in OT. Like they definitely did not want that.

matchup that happened when Alina Mueller came wheeling down and got that goal and had the awesome sally. So I'm excited about Sweden, especially with what that federation's been through in the past years. Like they had players walk away, players boycott because they weren't given anything essentially. And now with some investment, like we've seen a huge improvement, which which is great. Like news flash, if you invest, you get success. R.O. I return out. We talked about this earlier. And if only Kim Martin were born like 15 years later. If

only Kim Martin were born like 10 to 15 years later, anyhow. You're the best. Always making yourself available. Really appreciate it. Have fun with the remainder of the PWHL season. Jax and Jills is must listen to and must watch on YouTube. All the best. Please say a little to Tesla. It was great with us a couple

of weeks ago here on the program and you'd be well. Welcome back home from Italy. Can I drop some drama before I go? If you guys women's hockey drama Montreal Bituar, New York Sirens, first game back Thursday. I know a lot of your listeners

would have seen the check. Oh, yes. The checks take out Sidney Crosby, but it was Colton Cova first overall pick this year in the PWH on Team Chequette that took out Marie Fili-Poulin.

Not sure if Marie-Fili-Pul-Li-Lan, her status for Thursday night, but if it's Colty and Poulin going head-to-head, there's going to be drama. Okay, now I've talked a lot. Thank you very much. I'm waiting to see Ambrose

get back on the here and go after you know who. Add some drama there too. So we'll see what happens here. PWHL season getting spicy. You're the best, Julia. Thanks as always for stopping by. Thank you. Julia Theriori. One half of the power duo that is jocks in Jills. All right, from the PWHL to the NHL and returning players front and center, Connor McDavid. For comment on McDavid, all things, Oilers, the return of Paul Coffee as well. We go to Jason Greger from the Jason Greger's show on Sports 1440 and the DFO Rundown. how are you today, sir?

I'm good, man, you? I'm well. Too much politics in your hockey lately or just enough or not too much? How are you feeling about the political mix now with hockey? Well, I don't think you can be immune to it unless you think sexual abuse is okay. Let's just call a spade a spade here. That's anybody, that's the, I don't care about right or left. That should have nothing to do with rape and sexual abuse.

and pedophilia. Like, what are we doing? This should be the easiest thing for people to agree on. And you've got a government doing everything in their power to hold back ebcene files. Like, I'm sorry, that's, you know what, if it requires the sports people to stand up and do the right thing, then great. But I do think it's a bad decision to want to be used as a pawn, because make no mistake,

that's all that is, to be used as a pawn, to try to get excitement. you won the gold medal and that's great. But the person who's honoring you is a person who has been convicted of it, has paid, you know, in a civil court, $5 million, has had multiple, multiple charges. His name was all over the Epstein files. This is all public knowledge. And people just act like, well, it's okay. And it illustrates societal's viewpoint on how, how they all say that they think pedophilia is bad,

but actions speak louder than words. not a left people that are saying, no thanks. That's the problem. The one thing that Wyshinsky and I were talking about in the program yesterday, it's one thing, and maybe there probably, maybe there shouldn't even be a distinction with this anymore. Maybe this is just where we're at. And we all remember like Tim Thomas with the Boston Bruins, we're freezing to go to the White

House because he wasn't a fan of Barack Obama. Okay. Do you create a distinction between going as a team, as a tradition when you win a Stanley Cup, for example, as a person? opposed to going to something like the state of the union, which is just so overtly political to begin with. It's one thing that's, if you squint, you can make the argument that celebrating your championship with your team at the White House is ceremonial, but the state of the union is a different kettle of fish altogether, and that is purely, to your point, political propaganda.

Well, I'll be honest. I don't know the history. Does the state of the union happen after the Winter Olympics every time. And four years ago, were winter Olympians going to celebrate? If not, then it's clear that this is just a distraction. So you should at least, I'm not American. I don't know the history of the State of the Union, but I would think Americans do. And if this is something that happens all the time, then I'm mistaken. If it isn't, then it's clear to me what the goal is. Returning players. I want to get to this with you. And we talked a little bit about this on the on the Sunday show. Connor McDavid.

I look at Connor McDavid on Sunday in that overtime because he's done it so many different times in the NHL on the three-on-three. Just grab the puck and go. And he's looking at right in front of him is Jack Hughes and he's saying to himself, you know, it's not as if I have Zach Werencky in front of me here. This is Jack Hughes of Forward.

I can do this. And, you know, we're only a couple of days removed from Mitch Marner, dancing three players and going in an end. ending it for Canada and on a solo mission. Yet here's Connor McDavid trying to do something that he's done on a consistent basis since the three-on-three was introduced in the NHL. How do you look at that play now?

And what do you think this does for McDavid, if anything, as he returns to the NHL? Well, it's three-on-three. That play is the play you do all the time. It's no different than plays he's done in any other time, especially when you're going up against the forward. Are you kidding me? You're licking your chops if you're a skilled forward going up against the forward who's

trying to play defense. You're going to take that matchup all day long. And it's literally, you know, Kail McCar misses the puck by what, an inch? If he gets the puck, no one's talking about it. And then even Nathan McKinnon, right, he had a slight hesitation in the defensive zone. If he just goes after the puck, he probably bangs it off the boss. No one's talking about it. So I think we can overanalyze at times trying to find a scapegoat.

it's three on three. Now, and I said this before the Olympics, I think it's a disservice to the players that there's no other sport who when you get to the gold medal changes the rules in how the game is played. So just play if you, and if you want to limit time, just play 20 minutes of five on five and then go to a shootout. That's fine, right? World Cup of soccer does it, right? You play shorter halves and then you go to a shootout. But the game, it's doesn't change. Everybody accepts that it can't go on forever, so you play to a shootout. That's fine. It's an easy fix. I even said it after 2010. I didn't like the four on four then. That's not. You're playing the whole thing and then you don't do it then. So in the gold medal game,

if you want to do it when you've got four games in the quarterfinals and you're limited in an ice time, okay, because five on five lasting longer than three on three normally is the case. but I would prefer that a gold medal doesn't change how the game is played. And it's an easy fix for 2030 because it's better for everybody involved. And then you go to a shootout and hey, you got to end it at some point. Hey, we've had some World Juniors that were electrifying shootouts. You know, you've had Olympics or electrifying shootouts. I don't have a problem with that.

But I don't love three on three in the Olympic gold medal game. What do you think this does with Connor coming back here? Is this a, listen, he's not going to play the first couple of games. games coming back, but is this, is this a re-ignited now, Connor McDavid? Like, no one, like always, I've always said this. Nobody likes getting the silver medal. You appreciate it years later. Like, you're retired and then 15 years later, you look back and you say, you know what? I am proud of that accomplishment. But at that time, you don't want it. Like, that thing burns on your chest the minute the ribbon goes around your neck. You hate it. You don't want it. You can understand,

and, you know, Leas Anderson, throwing it off into the, into the crowd in Buffalo with the world juniors. You get it, right? But what do you think this does? I mean, you're right there in Edmonton. Like, you know McDavid. What do you think this does to him? Well, it's a good question because when they wanted four nations, he admitted after the fact that there was a little bit of an emotional letdown. And, you know, now there's an emotional letdown, but you're frustrated.

Is it easy? It's funny. As humans, we seem to get motivated more for anger than we do for positivity. Like, people would rather rip someone apart than applaud them. It's a really sad state when you think about the psychology of human being. And the truth of the matters, it doesn't necessarily help you. But, you know, maybe he's going to decide to go to the Michael Jordan. I'm offended.

And so this is what is going to be his motivation, right? I don't know. It's hard to say. Obviously, there'll be some big disappointment. I know Connor puts a lot of pressure on himself. But once you get back, you know what, he'll have time to refocus. and hey, the orders are not in an easy street to the playoffs. No.

Now they've got a favorable schedule, but they got to win some games. And you got Anaheim chased them. You got L.A. chased them. Even San Jose technically three games back, six points back. You could do the math. They're technically, they could catch them if they want all three. So you know what? These are big games for Eminton.

And now, Eminton only has 12 healthy forwards, Jeff. So I know Chris Knoblock and we'll see. I don't expect McDavid to practice today, but I still won't be shocked if McDavid plays one, if not both of the games here, and maybe just has a, you know, a limited amount of ice time. But he's the captain of the team. They only have 12 healthy forwards.

And I could see him finding a way to get in the line. You know, it's interesting, too. Because I can see that too. I can see him playing one of the games. And Knoblox saying, yeah, we're going to limit his ice time. And then when the game gets going and then you know what McDavid's going to be like and the game juices get going. And then you look at the game sheet at the end of the game.

it's like 23 minutes for Conner McDavid. So so much for limiting minutes. And that's just the way that this thing is going to go. What's the Paul Coffey effect here? You and I talked about this on Rundown as well. You know, he's a great motivator, a great cheerleader, great for your mental well-being and confidence, etc. What does this do for the Edminton Oilers this deep into the season?

Well, it's all going to be penned on. I think all parties. Like if you put Chris Noblock, Paul Coffey, on a on a lie detector with their first choice of being yes this is what we want no i don't think that's the case i think the owner had some influence here um i know chris no obug did tell me that you know he could have vetoed this um he did admit that there's kind of being something a little bit missing on their staff i think that um they've got a pretty quiet staff um maybe not as much experience as a guy like paul coffee's had so nope now paul coffee's not an ex and o guy he's not running

over tons of video where, and I've talked to players in the past about this, his biggest strength is in-game and just how he manages the emotions of the players. If they make a bad play, he's not, he's just saying, hey, you're good, go back out there and make a good play, right? He, you know, now obviously if you keep making the same bad play, he'll come down on you, but he's more so challenges guys like before games, right, or on a practice day to say, hey, you're capable of being better. But in the game, he's all about positive reinforcement. enforcement on players, which we just talked about earlier, Jeff, and the difference it has. And like, I remember Vinnie DeHarnay telling me, the thing that shocked him was, you know,

DeHarnay being in the NHL for a few years, it was like their first or second video review. And usually the video of review is, here's Evan Bouchard going back and here's him making a play. And this is how we outlet the puck, right? And it was, and he always seemed to be those guys because he does it a lot. Well, coffee's in there. And he's showing Vinny Dayharnay coming back to get a puck. And he's like, look at that, right on the tape. See, Vinny, you can do it.

And then he shows Bushard. And he shows everybody. And the guy left there saying, yeah, I can do it. Right. Like there's ways to remind people of their capabilities. And I think that's what coffee strength is going to be here. And, you know, they'll need it because Eminton, again, at the end of the day, they need to limit their goals against.

And you know what? They actually were on a pretty good run until their final six games before the break. And then the wheels fell off. Their penalty kill went from 10th to 27th. They allowed nine goals on 14 kills in a five-game stretch. It's unbelievable. So their penalty kills should get back to normal. They need some saves from their goalie on the PK.

They need some better reads from their defensemen. And they need more investment on fewer turnovers at the offensive blue line by the force. Before I let you go, I do want to get a couple of thoughts here from you on the other trade of the day, the Pittsburgh Penguins. So Kulak is off to the Avalanche. You and I talked about the Aves wanting some a little bit more size on the back end. So Colorado picks up Kulak. Sam Gerard finally, finally gets traded after years of rumors. Goes to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The second round pick goes there. and not lost on a lot of people is the penguins and this is probably where the second round pick comes in here too. The penguins doing the avalanche is solid here. 2.75 is Kulaq's salary 5 million this year and next year for Sam Gerard. I refuse to believe that Colorado is done.

Colorado still has moves here and the penguins helping them out to create some cap space. What do you think of this move from both sides? Well, I love it for Colorado. I'd said this for months. There's no way Colorado's going to playoffs with Gerard and Malinsky and their bottom four.

He can't do it. All you got to do is watch the games, man. You need some size. And those two guys are both too small. And Sammy Gerard, you know what? Hell of a player. But size matters when everything's equal in the playoffs. And it's all good teams.

And you're 5'9 with probably the shortest stick in the NHL. There's just certain things you cannot do. That's true. And, you know, you got Malinski, who's also, I think, you know, 5-11, maybe, probably means he's 5-10. But he's a hell of a player. So you can have one, but you can't have both. And so Brett Kulak, from his days back in Montreal,

this guy has shown he plays well in the playoffs. He elevates his game. And I think this is a really good move for Colorado. But more importantly, as you said, the cap space. So now they've gained an additional two and a half, which at the trade deadline is worth much more. So I think they're open for business. I think they'll probably go out and try to get another defenseman,

I think in Colorado. So the Aves got a really good team. I think they feel like this is the year you've got to go for it. So I won't be surprised if they had another D-Men and another fort. I think they still would be looking for a center. To that end, there is one defenseman that had a really good Olympics that I wonder about. And I kind of wonder about them a little bit. Like if the Oilers are still like frisky for a right-hand shot defenseman with some snarl.

I wonder about Rasmus Rostelainen, the Philadelphia Flyers, with either the avalanche, Or maybe, and again, like, look, I was making the point off the top of the show, like Stan Bowman was there. He saw all of this, like on display. Ristelaina has one more year on term too. So it's not as if you're just getting a rental. I wonder about Ristelainen. As you talk about the avalanche,

and I really do in a lower key, wonder about the Edminton & all that is with him too. Well, I think Eminson's number one need right now is the second pair right shot defenseman. Like Jake Walman can play his offside. I think their team's better if he's playing left side. Yep. So they need a right.

And I looked at the guys, you know, like Colton Pereca would be unreal. I just don't think they have the cap space or lack of cap space to make it work right now. Then Connor Murphy in Chicago is a definite option. Stan Bowman knows him very well. Yep. The owner's penalty kill needs help. Who plays basically on their top penalty kill unit in Chicago all the time? The number one penalty kill unit in the NHL, I should say, Connor Murphy.

I think he's a big option, 4.4. I think that Zach White Cloud in Calgary hasn't been there long enough to have any sort of emotional connections to the fans and say, oh my God, we can't change a trade a lifelong flame to Evanton. Look, the Rangers just traded Susky to the Islanders, right? Because he wasn't there that long. So it's different. And there's even Kovicevich in New Jersey. So there's some right shot defenseman available for sure. And, you know, right in there is Reese the line. And I know that, you know, his name's been out there for a while with Emmett. I know people will look at his numbers. He's never been on a lot.

good team. Buffalo was never good. Billy hasn't been really good. And when you play more of a defensive defenseman on bad teams, your analytics are never good, Jeff. They just aren't. So you've got to dig deeper than that to look at it. And I think my concern for him, unfortunately, is injuries. You know what? Like two triceps injuries.

So is, you know, third time of charm? That's where, would I acquire him, yes. But I'm not giving up as much as maybe the Flyers want because I've got a little concern about health. Yeah. So here's my thing about Edmondson, and this is such a tiny little note, but this goes back to because he mentioned Ristelina with his Buffalo Sabres days as well. And I'll go back to the Toronto Maple Leafs when Nazim Kodry was there as well. Every single time these two teams met,

Cadre and Ristelan fought. When you look at like two players who like legitimately hate each other in the league, we've slept on this for a while, not because they've been apart, but Cadre and Ristelanin. So if Calgary doesn't move Cadre, and I still kind of think that they do. Like Dallas and their other teams all over Cadry.

I would love to see Ristelaine and Edmonton just to renew that. Just to renew the hatred between those two right next to each other down highway. I think the NHL needs to pay attention to what fans like. Everybody who wasn't a hockey fan was talking about the four nations

because the rivalry. So they need more rivalry games. In the COVID lockout, Jeff, we had teams would travel and they play two games in one city, sometimes three. I know. And I get why, but do more of that in the regular season. You don't have to do a ton of it, but every team should have five of those a year. Every team in the league should have five.

It creates a little bit more animosity, more rivalries. And if you have more emotion in an 82 or 84 game regular season starting next year, it's better for the whole league. It's better on travel. Guys aren't moving from, you're going a four-game road trip. And maybe once you go to L.A. two games, and then you go to San Jose for two games. guess what? You're not traveling. You're still playing your four games, but you're not traveling night tonight. So there's options I think you could do. And hey, if Reser Aligning and Cadre get back

and they hate each other, I'm awful. You need rivalries in all of the teams. I think it's way better. Amen, brother. Okay, I know every day for you is busy doing a million hours of radio and podcast every day. We'll let you get to it. Greg's, thanks as always for stopping by, pal. Anytime, man. Have a great day. There is the great Jason Greger from the Jason Greger show on Sports, 1440 and DFO Rundown recordings on Sunday and Thursday. Yours truly on the weekend podcast. And then Mike Rupp, who's always excellent,

comes up on the Thursday recording as well. Have not heard from you yet, Zach. Do you have a thought on today's trade? Colorado, Pittsburgh, getting together. Your old general manager, Caldubis, helping out his blue line and also helping out the avalanche in the process. I just checked while the show was going on. You guys were talking about it.

I think it opens up. I believe it's 8.7 mil in cap space for the abs, which would fit Nazam-Caudry. They're looking for another center. Like McKinnon, Nelson, and Cadry looks great down the middle. It really, really feels. But I still wonder, of course it's going to come down to, I got sirens.

Your ride is here, Zach. It's going to come down to obviously who gives Craig Conroy the best offer. And I just know that Dallas is, because I think that Dallas, that's probably their major swing if they can do it. But Dallas won't be the only one in the, in the, in the adjunct. By the way, speaking of Dallas, I was having a conversation with someone. We were kind of joking about this on the, on the weekend. You know, every time they did the cutaway to the manager's box with Canada, there's Doug and there's Kyle and there's Jim Nill. Jim Nill was in the same pose, in the same chair and didn't move every single time the cut the cutaway was made.

Like, is Jim Nill a statue? Like he was this, it was like a statue. Like he didn't move. It was uncanny. Like Jim Nill was just like, here's my chair. here's how I'm sitting and I'm not going to move. It almost became the point where it's like, hilarious. It's like, do the cutaway to the manager's box.

Do the cutaway to the manager's box. And there was Jim Nell, not budged. Like, I don't know, was he there the full two weeks? Was he in that chair for two weeks? He never left the spot. Never left. Every game, everything that was happening. He just stayed in the box.

I was laughing too because they would show the kale McCargo, and they showed the celebration in the box. And Gats laugh is fist, pumping, turning around, uh, dubous, like everybody's celebrating and reacting. Jim,

Hill just, is like, kind of like the most nonchalant. Yeah. Yeah. We just tied it in the gold medal game. One one. Yeah.

And all business. So, all business. And here to do a job. Yep. There we go. Okay. Good.

Have one. Yeah, exactly. So good. Uh, you could fist pump. You're good. You can fist pump for something.

You can show some emotion. It's okay. I love them. I love them. I love them. It just became like one of the sidebar funny things to come out of the Olympics. Anyway, it made me laugh. On DFO Live, Tyler and Carter were talking about players that improved their standing in the NHL.

That probably can take this into the back end of the season here. The name that I threw out there was Simon Nemich for the New Jersey Devils. him and Martin Favari as a pair were probably one of and maybe at times the best defensive pair in the tournament. Faber and Slavin, awesome. Quinn Hughes, Charlie McAvoy, awesome. I get all that. But I really did that. I thought that Nemich was outstanding.

Was there someone that jumped off the page for you? Like I mentioned Ristelainen here a couple of seconds ago as well with Finland. But is there anyone that really jumped off? off the page for you at the Olympics that you maybe didn't expect. Well, it's going to be like a cop out now because he did what he did. Macklin Celebrating. No, it was Jack Hughes. And I think part of it might have been because of what he was dealing with during the regular

season going into it. Again, I know that me saying Jack Hughes after he just scored the golden goal is going to be like, look at this guy's just cherry picking the most obvious one. But I didn't expect that. He struggled at Four Nations. I think that physicality and pace seemed like something that was too daunting for him at that tournament. I think part of that was just being miscast where he was. And then obviously he was hurt this season with the claw that he played with all year.

But going into the gold medal game, all I could talk about was Jack Hughes. And the Hughes brothers, as a matter of fact, because the Four Nations, it was about the Kachuk brothers. And they stole the show and they were the talk of the town. and coming out of the Olympics, it was all Hugheses. Even if he doesn't score the golden goal, it's still all Hughes is coming out of that one, because the two of them were unbelievable, but yeah, I guess that's kind of a cop out.

The other one, I guess, to throw in somebody else, and he also had a pretty awesome tournament, but was Slavkovsky, and not because I don't think he's a very good player in Montreal, but just to see the level of maturity playing amongst men in that type of tournament, where he's got to be the only guy. Yeah.

It was just, yeah, he has done it before. But it was just another step to do it with the NHL players there at the Olympics. 100% true. We'll be talking about these games for a long time. Like, you know, sometimes there are Olympics where it's like, okay, it's over and it's done with him. We just sort of move along. We'll be talking about this one for a while. The sheet, meanwhile, is powered by Fandul as you well know.

Play your game with Fandul. It's the NHL season. And Fandul is your home for all the action on the ice. From Blue Line to Bet Slip, we've got you covered all season with unique promos, live offerings, and more features to let you play your game. Missed Puck Drop, not a sweat there. With the live same game parlay, you can build your bets up until the final buzzer. Download Fan Dual 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 additional. advisor free of charge. Attila the pun, what do you have for us today? Yeah, and today's not as exciting, obviously. Yesterday was great. We'll get back at the parlays. Yesterday was awesome.

Well, unfortunately, I don't have one quite as good as yesterday's. I mean, I just kind of kept this one basic. It's an opportunity for people to reset. There haven't been games for a little while. We're watching some trades take place. So over on Fandwell, they still have these markets up and they adjust them throughout the entire season. Kudos to them and the team that they have there who's staying on top of this. But I'm going to pick my division winners for the rest of the season and you're going to make fun of me.

I know that it's okay. You can make fun of me. May it's in the Atlantic. I have picked four. Maple Leafs in the Atlantic. Oh, okay. Sorry. The Edmonton Oilers, the Colorado Island, the Carolina Hurricanes, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

So keeping this up. the favorites with the lightning, the hurricanes, and the aves, I think the abs have just created too much distance and kind of keeping with the theme of like Cooper comes back, he's all pissed off, he didn't get the goals, you're going to get point back in the lineup, so Raleigh back in the lineup at some point here.

They're pissed off, they didn't get to go, the lightning go on a tear and they finish the season. Same with what you're going to have for McKinnon with the abs like we talked about yesterday. The hurricanes, I just think they're just going to take that one, so I just left it at the hurricanes. But I'm putting that same

stamp the same standard on mckininin and kind of what i'm putting on cooper what he does in tampa on connor macdavid and like what you talked about and him coming back hungry for edmonton the rest of the way and i think they win their division plus 500 and they jump over the vegas golden night so you parlay those four together plus five 87 ten dollars will win 588 for the rest of the year i know i know it's a lot of favorites but you don't think you don't think Vegas eh you don't think Vegas I go gold medal jack coming back no i still just think i still just think yeah it's goal tending which obviously they could make a change here you know you i know you said san ozay and very obviously i'm not saying this from anybody said anything to me but the team i just was like we're going to

get that god damn bob mackenzie thomas hurdle to the vegas golden nights that's going to be sergey bobobovsky to the vegas golden nights and i'm just going to go we should have known it was sitting there the whole time they wanted goaltenders Bob's name was out there there he goes and it's going to be right the last minute I've just wondered about Brobowski if he's not going to resign with the Florida Panthers and both goaltenders both Sergey Bobovsky and Danil Tarasov are both UFAs at the end of the season like if hebrowski's not coming back a team that can absorb a big cap hit and needs a veteran goaltender with Yaroslav Askarov who is also Russian

San Jose makes a lot of sense to me. I could see that happening and him signing an extension at relatively inflated money, perhaps, based on his age and his performances season. Mind you, he's got Vesnos and Stanley Cups in his hip pocket. That one, to me, just makes a lot of sense.

See if they get there. But you're right. Yours is logical. It wouldn't surprise. It wouldn't surprise it. No, but that's just the thing. It's like Vegas. It's just like they're underwater,

water, underwater, and then all of a sudden, boom, this, like some of my shark's analogy, is this fin just appears, and they pull off something spectacular that nobody saw coming. That is very much killing a criminal style. We'll be doing that trade deadline show here on Daily Faceoff, and we're going to be like, well,

Vegas hasn't really done anything today, and then all of a sudden it's like, whoa, Bob tweeted. Oh, Bob tweeted Bob to Vegas, and then details will follow, and we're all going to go, holy shit, they've done it. They've done it again. Mark Andre Fleury back to Vitt. I don't know but what.

Mark Andre Fleury back. Exactly. And then we see a picture tweeted out on social media of the sword being removed from his back. The big dollar sign. Speaking of which, it's one of the most exciting days on the hockey calendar. Where there's money, there's understanding. Teams are setting up their rosters for the playoff push, freeing up cap space and adding future assets.

We saw a deal today. Well, we saw two deals, but the big one was between Colorado and Pittsburgh. Adding future assets. Join the DFO crew on Friday, March 6th, starting at 11 o'clock Eastern for the Daily Faceoff Trade Deadline Special. Very much looking forward to that specific show. Again, 11 a.m. Eastern Daily Face Off Trade Deadline Special, don't you dare miss it. All right, on behalf of Zach Phillips, Merrick, signing off here. I want to thank our guests for the program today, Julia Thrasheri, who stopped by from the Joxon Jills podcast,

and also Jason Greger from the Jason Greger show and the DFO rundown. All right, that's it for us. Morning Cup of Hockey coming up as usual in the morning tomorrow. DFO live at noon eastern and then our little act here tomorrow. I think Berkey's on tomorrow. I'll be curious what he thinks of waves, hand, all of this. That's happening in hockey right now. And who knows, maybe hockey will make an appearance tonight at the State of the Union.

We shall see. I can't believe that those words just came out of my mouth. but here we are February 24th, 2026. We'll talk to tomorrow, back here on the sheet. Tomorrow, 1 o'clock Eastern. Join me.