The Sheet with Jeff Marek - World Juniors Day 5 ft. Steven Ellis, Pierre McGuire, and Brent Wallace

Episode Date: December 30, 2024

In a jam-packed Monday show, Jeff Marek is joined by Steven Ellis, Brent Wallace, and Pierre McGuire to break down everything that has happened in the first few days of the World Juniors, discuss the remaining few days of round-robin play, and touch on some of the hot topics happening in the NHL right now...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.

If you're looking for flexible workouts, Peloton's got you covered. Summer runs or playoff season meditations, whatever your vibe, Peloton has thousands of classes built to push you. We know how life goes. New father, new routines, new locations. What matters is that you have something there to adapt with you, whether you need a challenge or rest. And Peloton has everything you need, whenever you need it.

Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at one you need, whenever you need it. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. Once again, the She live in Ottawa, Aberdeen pavilion, world junior hockey championships continue last night, Canada over Germany yesterday afternoon, Finland over USA. We have a tournament USA hockey fans, Canadian hockey fans are nervous heading into the New Year's Eve

game. Jeff Merrick along with you. Coming up in about 15 minutes, Pierre Maguire will stop by NHL News and Notes after a very busy weekend and what could prove to be a very moosey evening. New York Rangers, I think we all have you circled in the game tonight against the Florida Panthers. More on

that coming up in a couple of moments. Brent Wallace, host of the Coming In Hot podcast with Jason York. He will be aboard to talk about an interesting weekend for the Sens. They dropped a tough one in the Winnipeg Jets after going up 2-0. And then steam right back the next day and beat the Minnesota Wilds. What's up with the Sens? What's up with Stephen Ellis, who's kicking it off today, and talking about what we've seen so far. Now, first

of all, before we get to Team Canada, Stephen and USA, and I do want to ask you about your tweets and I want to ask about the drawings. I want to ask initially though about Vladimir Nikitin. So we had his billet family from the BCHL sitting right where you are on Friday.

We're hoping for big things from Nikitin and he's a goaltender for Kazakhstan. He's the only Ottawa Senators draft pick in this tournament, and it hasn't gone well for him. And it hasn't gone well for Kazakhstan. You just came from the second period. I think you left at the end of the second. Slovakia versus Kazakhstan.

What is the update with Nikitin? I really want him to have a good tournament. He's playing his best game of the tournament, and I know it is Slovakia, not the best team for sure. The St. Louis Slovaks. Yes, the St. Louis Slovaks. That's a one-line Slovak team. They've been generating a lot of good offense.

Keaton's looked really good. He's allowed four goals up to this point, but goals that he couldn't really do much on, those two guys were just looking great. And Dele Bordavorsky and John Blinken, the other one. But Karachuk, when those two guys are together, it's hard to beat them. Not much you can do, but he's playing his best hockey right now. How many St. Louis Blues prospects on that team?

It feels like half of Czechia, half of Slovakia. It's like you combine them together, make Czechoslovakia, and you can bring back the St. Louis Blues. Bring back the St. Louis Blues. We'll see them in the Wizard Classic. Facing off against the Chicago Blackhawks. We were having a conversation with someone earlier today saying, does the Blues Winter Classic gear look a little too close to the Toronto Scepters of the PWHL?

Discuss amongst yourselves. Okay. Let's talk about Team Canada. Let's talk about Team USA. Two teams we'll see in the much-anticipated New Year's game again. Starting with Canada. I don't know what to make of that win against Germany. I don't think that it answered any questions that we had going into it.

And much like if I'm a USA hockey fan, I'm looking at the New Year's Eve game and I have questions and I'm probably a little bit nervous as well. How do you see, first of all, how did you see Canada's weekend? Because the Latvian game on Friday was stunning. And then the game against Germany, I think, left everybody still with a bunch of questions. How did you see their two games this weekend? Kind of the same thing.

They were struggling to get opportunities and closely net there. The goaltending still clearly not a problem. Carter George, two shutouts now to start the tournament. Very fantastic start, but they still can't score. Their power play was good, still not great. There are still some questions about the lines. There are still some questions on whether or not they should fire their coach. Oh, my.

Yeah, I haven't said that before. Their defense is looking good. Like, that's the thing. They have been holding these teams to the outside for the most part, but, like, you know, Easton Cowan had a great, great pre-tournament. He's not really producing right now. Gavin McKenna's not producing. They, you know, it would have been great

to see Carson Rakoff come to the lineup and immediately score. He didn't, so there's still... He didn't see in his defense, though. It's not like he saw a regular time in the game. No, like... Or power play. Like, with Canada, again, it's just...

Like, the biggest thing for me was just the missed passes over and over and over again. It didn't matter what line was out there. I swear the puck had corners. I'm watching this yesterday, and I'm like, are they using round pucks in this game, or are they using square pucks? Because Canada can't make a pass. And the Americans had a very similar issue earlier in the day, same ice.

Who knows? But Germany didn't seem to have the issue getting the puck where they wanted to get it the last night. But Canada's faster than these teams, and that's where you see the skill disparity. But then they're just not doing anything around the net, which is typically where you score goals. Is it a lack of creativity? I don't know how you're seeing this, but I'm watching specifically on the power play. Everything looks like a regular power play.

But in a tournament like this, I don't know that you want a regular power play. I'm waiting for something to be different. And it's not. When you've got the skill that you could put a guy like Gavin McKenna on your second power play unit, you should be able to put up a lot of points. And they're not. For me,

before Rakoff showed up, and again, he didn't play on the top power play unit, but for me, it was no one-shot shooter that they had out there. A guy who could just rip the shots, like we saw Easton Cowan do during the pre-tournament, like we saw Kyle Richie near the end of that Latvian game, but we needed to see that on a more consistent basis. As much as I was really excited to see Sam Dickinson in the power play, I felt like he was out of position a lot.

He was missing passes, doubling up with people. Oliver Bonk was in the right spot. Dickinson hit a post, though. He did. That doesn't count as a shot, so it doesn't matter, does it? It's in his defense. But for a guy who can go out there and score like he can, I would like to see him in better scoring angles,

and he wasn't there yesterday. Listen, the big story of the weekend was upsets, whether it was Finland over USA, Latvia over Canada. Give us some context for that Latvian upset of Team Canada on Friday night. Leaving the building, leaving the Canadian Tire Centre on Friday, it was like this stunned silence as everybody squired their way out of the rink. I don't think that anybody thought, even when Canada was trailing or into the overtime or into the shootouts, that Canada was actually going to lose.

It was obvious it was going to be close. But the idea of Latvia beating Canada was such a baffling concept, I think, for everybody. First of all, good on the Latvians. Great for that program. Again, I always talk about capital H hockey as opposed to lowercase hockey. We just cheer for your local team or or in this case, your home country. Great for capital-age hockey. Great for Latvian hockey.

But what did you make of what we saw on Friday at the CTC? I watched probably too much international hockey, and that will go down as one of my favorite international hockey moments ever, just seeing a team like that. I think that was their third or fourth win in the top division ever. I remember I was there in Edmonton when they beat the Czechs, and the celebration was incredible. They were losing their minds.

They were doing media interviews, and they all just came in. There was like 10 or 15 guys just jumping in and jumping on each other while players were giving interviews because they were just so happy about winning that game. And this was even bigger, going out there and beating Canada. Yeah. On Canadian ice, you look at the shot difference. That should have never been a close game.

I remember back watching Canada beat them 16-0 at the World Juniors one time. Sure. And thinking, like, you know, like, no way this Latvian team ever catches up. Two of Latvia's biggest wins in hockey history at any level has come against Canada. I remember that 2021 World Championship team where Canada started 0-3 and basically needed a lot of help to even get into the playoff round. Canada did win gold that year, which is why I'm looking at this and saying, all right, there's still time for Canada to figure this out.

But for Latvia, they celebrated all night long. I heard they were still celebrating yesterday. They had already played another game since then. The fan base at home was still celebrating. Here's what I do wonder about the Latvian team. We all know about Latvia. I've always made the point there are no better hockey fans in the world than Latvian hockey fans.

They cheer everything. Win, lose, draw, male, female, animal, vegetable. They they don't care they are there to cheer and have a good time and they're just happy to be at a hockey game and are supporting whatever is wearing a Latvian jersey nobody celebrates like the Latvians but the team itself now one thing that I do wonder is if there was a day off between Latvia's first two games what could that second game of the tournament for them against USA have looked like because you could tell by the end of that game against the states they were going on fumes I mean they're physically exhausted emotionally exhausted as well I mean trying to ramp that up the very next day after knocking off Canada when

maybe the biggest upset in the history of this tournament. That's a really tall order. Did part of you think, you know what, if this game is played on Sunday, I'm wondering if Latvia is actually 2-0? No, I don't think that at all. But then you saw what Finland did to the USA. It shocked, I think it shocked the Americans. The team that was out there able to do the things they did against Germany with the skilled guys they have, they probably thought, just like Canada,

we can take advantage and this won't be too difficult. No. We saw that they were stuck to the outside as well. Lennart Feldberg's played great, but I think it would have been a little closer. It looks like maybe we got another goal here going behind us. It is a... Oh no, it's called off.

Well, that's no fun. Still 4-2 Slovakia. We have this over your shoulder. Not sure why that one was called off, but a tough one for Vladimir Nikitin's squad. Tough one for him. So how do we feel about Team USA right now? How do we feel about the Americans? I know how we feel about Trey Augustine's glove hand right now, but how do we feel about Team USA right now?

I wrote early before the tournament started that the X factor for the Americans was going to be Trey Augustine and that his glove hand was going to serve him well and they were going to do great. It's been the complete opposite. He's allowed eight goals in two games. My biggest concern though, has been that blue line and they're really missing EJ Emery right now. A guy who could just steady things down,

slow things down, make it very difficult for our players to rush chin and, and create offense. And his built-in chemistry with cole hudson would have been great you know z bulliam hasn't been as good as we were hoping drew fortescue's been just fine hudson's made a lot of mistakes um and asheon's not that great like the blue lines was the biggest concern for me heading into the tournament and it remains the biggest concern because they just don't look cohesive right now they look like they're making

mistakes they're trying to be too fancy too too creative, and it's not working. Is Czechia as good as their record says? I'm still not convinced. I don't think anybody is. We all love Michael Horovil, and we talked about him and how much he needs to have a good tour. Is 3-0 legit? I thought they'd go 3-0 and then lose to Sweden,

so we still have that opportunity to happen. So, like, when you look at it, they have more skill than Slovakia. I was just thinking maybe the Slovaks would do what we've seen with the U18s and just come together. Unfortunately, they're looking just like a one-line team. But the Czechs, you know, they are going to have the good goaltending they need. Edward Schala is still looking good.

That whole top line is looking good, but again, they need to get that scoring depth. They need guys to go out there and be a consistent threat because the first line is great, second line is good, third and fourth are just kind of more being defensive at that point. They need four lines that can attack because they're going to go out there and beat Sweden, especially the way Axel Sandin Pelika is playing from the point and Wielander and all those guys, but they are legit.

You mentioned Axel Sandin Pelika. Has he been, for you, the best player in this tournament? He was the best defenseman for the tournament last year. Has he been the best player overall this year in the tournament? Detroit Red Wings prospect, by the way. I think so, because he didn't have, I don't think he had any points in that second game, but he was still really good.

And then watching him there yesterday, when he's confident, whether it be against Slovakia or Switzerland, when he's confident, the puck, he makes some great plays, he generates a lot of offense. They needed some goals yesterday, especially when the Swiss were attacking late, and he was still looking good defensively, playing all situations.

He was my pick for top defenseman at the start of the tournament. He's a legit MVP candidate right now. He's lived up to all of it. Okay, before I let you go, are you going to go up to the Latvia-Germany game? I'm not. I'm just going to watch it from back here, actually. Okay, very good. I've got you for a couple more minutes here. I want to ask you about something. This might be a little bit

frivolous, but I think anyone that follows you on Twitter, and if you don't follow on Twitter, do yourself the favor. Stephen Ellis' Twitter is informative and at times hilarious. What's with the drawings? What's the genesis of the stick figure drawings, which I just love.

Like, look at this one that Zach just fired up here. Oh, yeah, Doug Armstrong. Nice touch. Okay, so Slovakia scores. It's a smiley face of Doug Armstrong. Man, this is fun. Let's keep scoring. Yeah.

One of those two is Stalabord Dvorsky. Yeah. And Petr Csik is the other one. So, what is behind the drawings? I know there's a story there. Well, a couple years ago, I used to post a lot of video clips on Twitter of the goals. And after getting a lot of DMCA complaints, I'm like, you know what? Let's just have some

fun. And this was after I think it was Nils Holglander scored a lacrosse goal in 2019 for the 2019 tournament if i'm correct and i i got so mad about having all these clips taken off twitter that i ended up just drawing the goal from there i just kept going and just started doing it became a thing i i've had companies reach out about like turning it into like a book like selling the drawings and uh you know you know, if there's any publishers, let's do it. Let's raise some money for charity here.

But, you know, it's... The Stephen Ellis by Levelland fund. It's become a lot of fun. Like it's been great. I've done some... I've actually... Someone asked for me to do like a signing of a picture that they printed of mine. That's awesome.

Earlier in this tournament. And it's like, that's cool. It's just like, it's just for fun. It's just to try to make people smile. Hockey's fun, right? You know, that's funny you mention that because I've always wondered how many people have printed off copies

of Bob McKenzie's The Trade is One for One and asked him to sign it. Like, printed off someone's, like, best tweet of all time and had them sign it. Like, I remember one time I was at an event and the Nashville, the John Scott All-Star Game, someone had printed out one of my tweets which was, sorry for ruining

the All-Star Game and wanted me to sign it. I'm like, okay, that's pretty creative. You know what, maybe you should print out tweets and give it to Bob McKenzie, certainly. So I'm not surprised that people would want to print out your pictures on Twitter and get you to sign them. It's pretty cool. I signed

a Team Kenya jersey yesterday and and I think that ruined – A Team Kenya jersey? Yeah, because there was a person who – Nice. I sent a link to a Kenyan jersey a few years ago, and someone bought it off of that, and they wanted me to sign it. I'm like, I'm sorry I just ruined the value of this rare artifact you have, but, you know, the drawings are fun, man.

So there's the very first one. That's the nice find. Zach Phillips finds There's the very first one. That's the nice find. Zach Phillips. The very first one. As you can see, it's like when the double-check needs to review a goal, they call me up when they're on the headsets to ask for my opinion based off of these replays. 4K TVs can't handle it.

Listen, Pierre Maguire is going to come up here in a couple of moments. We're just getting him on the line. In the meantime, last one for you. How do you see the rest of this tournament? Like Finland opened a door. Latvia opened the first door. Finland opened the second door and made this tournament spicy. What do you think happens now?

It doesn't matter what happens until the quarterfinals, right? And anything can happen to that. We've seen that year after year where the beast Switzerland make it to the quarterfinals, Slovakia, all these teams. I think the four teams I expected to go to the far list, Canada, Sweden, USA, and Czechia, are going to be the four teams going to the far list still. I'm not convinced totally about the Finns yet. They took advantage of an American team that was struggling.

Canada and USA, I can't see them not figuring it out. So I still think they're going to go for the final. We shall see. Tomorrow should be fascinating. Stephen, okay, you're released. Enjoy the rest of Kazakhstan versus St. Louis Blues. Yes, yeah, I might go back into the rink to watch the end. Okay, thanks, bud.

You'll be good. Thank you. Stephen Ellis, ladies and gentlemen, with us at Daily Faceoff, covering everything here at the World Juniors. And in the meantime, Zach Phillips tells me to shuffle court closer to the middle. Yes, I know, Zach. Okay, thanks, pal. Pleased to welcome aboard once again someone who's no stranger to this tournament

and no stranger to talking about the National Hockey League. He's Pierre Maguire, and he joins me now. Pierre, how are you, sir? Do we have Pierre up? There we go. We got you. Yeah, can you turn Pierre up a little bit? There we go.

Good to speak to you. You know, just talking really quickly on the tournament. I'm not sure how much you've seen of it. I mean, I think we all have some fan – you have? Okay, great. Because I was hoping that – I was going to ask you sort of historically what some of your favorite moments are. Like we can recall like some great calls.

Double Dion is great. You would have been there when Fnuf caught Wenceslav Oles in that body check from hell in the Florida Panthers prospect once upon a time. But when you think World Juniors, Pierre, like what comes to your mind right away? 2009, John Tavares and Pat Quinn against Ron Ralston and Ryan McDonough in Team USA.

And the undressing. Pat Quinn put on aston and Ryan McDonough in Team USA and the undressing. Pat Quinn put on a coaching display in that tournament, taking advantage of his experience versus Ronnie Ralston, who did not have as much experience. And I also think about Johnny Tavares-Walk and Ryan McDonough. I think back to 2004 in Helsinki, Sidney Crosby, the youngest Canadian to ever score a goal in the tournament, 16 years of age. I think back to the 2011 World Junior in Buffalo, where the Canes had a lead going into the final period.

And all of a sudden, Kuznetsov started to amp it up, and a guy named Panarin started to amp it up. And all of a sudden, a guy named Tarasenko started to amp it up, and all of a sudden, guy named Tarasenko started to amp it up, and all of a sudden the Canadiens lost the game. So I got a lot of good memories. Most of it positive for Canada. Nine straight years I broadcast the event. Jeff, in nine straight years, Canada played in the gold medal game. No coincidence.

No coincidence. You were the good luck charm. You were the lucky loony for those. The interesting thing about it, cause you mentioned most of, most of it all positive, you know, we've seen players that have had, had uncomfortable moments, disastrous moments,

and it's really affected them. It's funny. You mentioned that you mentioned that 2011, that Buffalo tournament, Mark Byzantine, the net minor was never the same. It was a first round of the, the,

the, the then Phoenix coyotes. Like how many times you'll maybe max Contwell might be another one. How many times you look at this tournament and say, It was never the same. It was a first-round traffic of the then Phoenix Coyotes. Like, how many times, maybe Max Contwell might be another one, how many times do you look at this tournament and say, sure, this can help propel a lot of these kids, but I also do wonder, considering how big the stage for this thing is now, how much, just to be blunt, damage can it do if a kid has a bad performance?

I mean, you've seen it all, Pierre. No, it can do some damage mentally, for sure. It can scar kids. There's no question about it. I think we all sometimes, not always, but sometimes we overhype the players that are at the World Junior because a good story sells. So it's better to have a good story than a bad story. But the other part, too, is, and you make the point about Byzantine, that wasn't just about him.

That was a total team collapse and if you look at the three players I talked about with Kuznetsov and with Tarasenko and with Panarin like think about what those guys have done in the NHL you know since that tournament it's pretty spectacular they were all on one line so you know I have

really fond memories I also have some that people never saw on TV like I remember being at the airport in Regina before the 2010 World Junior and Tyler Sagan got cut. And being at the airport with him and seeing how emotional it was for him, I can tell you right now that was painful to watch. You know, here's a guy that everybody says, is it going to be Taylor or Tyler, you know, first round, first overall.

And Sagan got cut. And I'll never forget the pain that he endured mentally from being – I guarantee you he'd never been cut from any team in his life. You know, I remember when Ryan Newton Hopkins got cut from a team. It was painful to watch. It really was. Yeah. And Sagan, it's interesting you bring up Tyler Sagan because I think,

like, correct me if I'm wrong here, your memory on this would be better than mine. Was that also Dave Cameron it was 2010 Dave Cameron was 2011 Dave Cameron was 2011 Sagan was in Boston 2010 was um trying to think now oh Willie Desjardins it was Willie Desjardins in 2010 in Saskatoon Regina okay I have my my my coaches mixed up there. You were pretty close. Horseshoes and hand grenades, Pierre. Horseshoes and hand grenades. That's the only thing you can be close with. How do you see the tournament so far?

Just talking to Steve and Ellis a couple of seconds ago. Listen, Latvia opened a door on Friday. Finland opened a door on Sunday. So what does this all mean now for Pierre Maguire in this tournament? Canada's got to get their mojo back this is you know everybody's pointing their finger at the players and I heard what Steven said about you know David Cameron his coaching staff this is where the coach has to reel it in you heard me talk about 2009 Pat Quinn and Guy Boucher reeled that team in they did a

heck of a job they ran a 1-3-1 power play. They maintained their composure when they were down 3-0 to the Americans. They came back and won that game. They never looked back. That Swedish team they beat in the gold medal game was phenomenal. They maintained their composure against the Russians, obviously, with the great plays by Jordan Eberle

and Ryan Ellis and John Tavares. Coaching made a difference. This is when Dave Cameron has to make a difference with his team they're a younger team their team that's lost arguably their best player I think uh and Matthew Schaefer and I don't think enough people Jeff to be fair are talking about Matthew Schaefer and the reaction of the players after they saw that injury I watched that whole game and and you could see the team wasn't right after that. I know they lost the game in a shootout, but the team wasn't

right after that. And you could see Dave Cameron was trying to get their attention during the game and he just couldn't get them. He just couldn't get their attention. If you're looking for flexible workouts, Peloton's got you covered. Summer runs or playoff season meditations, whatever your vibe, Peloton has thousands of classes built to push you.

We know how life goes. New father, new routines, new locations. What matters is that you have something there to adapt with you, whether you need a challenge or rest. And Peloton has everything you need, whenever you need it. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. I'm glad you brought up Schaefer, and here's why.

A couple of things. One, all I could think about during that three-on-three in the overtime was, man, could Team Canada use Matthew Schaefer here? Like, this is a moment for Matthew Schaefer. Two, and I don't know whether I'm just reaching for something, but elite-level player, many of us, myself included, would have him going first overall at the NHL draft, elite skater, like all of it, like all the

boxes you checked with Matthew Schaefer. How he goes that hard right into the goalpost. The only thing I can think of, I mean, maybe it's just over exuberance of making a play and he's young and it's second game of the tournament, et cetera. But do you think that, and again, I might just be grabbing at something that's not there. Do you think wearing a cage could have messed up his vision going around the net? He's used to wearing a quarter visor in the OHL with the Erie Otters. I don't, is it a cage issue?

I mean, he's done that a million times. I mean, you saw it. He just went clean, straight line line right into the post and cracked his collarbone you know jeff what i did is i looked at the tape numerous times i was running it back and forth and the one thing i did notice he looks to his left as soon as he's trying to make a hard play on goal and i think he loses because going so quick at that point i think he loses perspective of actually where he is on the ice and i think think the cage may have done that. I'm not saying it did for sure. I think you're raising a very good point. But you know,

you were talking about all his characteristics as a player. And I talked to you were talking about, you were talking about Bob McKenzie before and you know, Bob's a real special friend and a former teammate and partner for a lot of years, 12 of them. And, and I can tell you right now, I'd said to Bob yesterday when we were talking about this young player, Matthew Schaefer, I said, I was part of the group that drafted Christopher Pronger

and I was his first ever pro coach. There's so many characteristics that Schaefer has that are similar to Pronger. Ability to look off the check, ability to go tape to tape with traffic on him, ability to skate his way out of trouble. He's actually a quicker skater than Chris ever was. Yeah. You know, I know that he can log big minutes.

Chris could play left, right defense, right defense. It didn't matter when he was 19 years old in the NHL. I can tell you, I was coaching him. So I see so much that's similar, and I'm going, this kid's got a chance to be really special. Really, really special. Oh yeah. I don't know how, if you're selecting first overall, how you would look at Matthew Schaefer

and not say, I want that on my blue line for 10 or 12 years. Yeah, I'll take that all day long. Okay, so we'll see what happens with the rest of the world. Juniors here. In the meantime, to the National Hockey League and a couple of things. Starting with the New York Rangers I always come shy of leading too hard with the Rangers because we talked so much about them

we used to just be the Buffalo Sabres now they've won three in a row so they're boring now but the Rangers continue to have a hard time here I'm sure you saw the Larry Brooks feast in the post Larry doesn't pull that out of the air. That's what we like to refer to as an informed opinion. What has happened to the New York Rangers, Pierre? I mean, they're what, one point away from being the basement of the Eastern Conference? This is not the way the season was supposed to have gone. No, they alienated their team last summer when they decided to make it public about the Jacob Truba move. And you know what happens in dressing rooms. You've been around them just like I have.

Sure. And once you lose credibility with your players, especially with the leadership group, you've got a problem. And I don't think they're blaming the coaches, but they're blaming somebody in management on that one. And then you talked about Larry. Larry definitely has sources inside that team. There's no question.

The leakage in New York right now is unlike any I've ever seen. And they've been known as an organization that leaked for a long time just because that's the market they're in. If you ever try to pull that one off working in Pittsburgh, you'd have been out of a job. I'm just telling you right now. And so something's gone on there. They're going to have to get some standards back within the confines of the team.

I feel terrible for Peter Laviolette. You can just see him every day that is standing behind that bench, Jeff. I don't know if you agree or not. He looks like he's in pain. He looks like he's in pain coaching that team, and I feel terrible for him. I've known Peter a long time since he was a kid playing at Westfield State, and I was a young coach at Babson College. I've known him since 1985, a long time and uh he's a heck of a coach he's a real good person and I

feel badly for him for Michael Pekka for obviously uh Phil Housley for the coaching staff there it's tough to watch and I think it's because they lost credibility as an organization when they started leaking stuff about players so that then the question becomes what next like i understand if the if the players are upset at management for how they handled truba for how they handle barclay gaudreau with the san jose situation we all understand that at a certain point though you have to say okay we have to get past this or we're all going to crumble right now they're crumbling i'm with you on peter laviolette he does look he looks pained out there and as a coach

you've coached you know what it's like when the players don't have any faith in you and they're taking it out on you i don't think they're taking it out on peter laviolette i'm with you on that one i think this is i think this is higher but at certain point, don't the players need to say, okay, we need, as a team here, to get better. We need to play to our potential, or we're going to see more suitcases. I salute you. I salute you for saying that because I agree with you 100%. I'll tell you what. Here's what I see.

Their defense isn't getting any better. So they lose Trouba, one of their better stoppers. Adam Fox, you would agree, has had a tough year. Keiondre Miller, before he got hurt, was not having a real good year. We'll see what he does coming back. Ryan Lindgren looks like he lost a lot because of injuries. An undersized guy that's tried to play big his whole career. He looks like he lost a lot.

Braden Snyder's not the same player from a year ago. Part of it's because they got him playing on the left side sometimes. Part of it's because they got him playing on the right side, but he's not the same player. So you look at that defense, is it structured right now? Jeff, I got to tell you, that's a big part of their problem. It's nowhere near as good as what it was when the season ended last year after they lost to the Florida Panthers.

So then maybe were we miscalculating just how good the Rangers were? Maybe we should just look at this team and say, you know what? The team's okay. They just happen to have one of the best goaltenders in the world that can cover up a lot of mistakes. And they had an amazing power player, and they were one of the top three teams in the league in face-offs. And, you know, one guy that doesn't get nearly enough credit,

and Trochek's a big part of their face-off game, obviously. Michael Pekka went there as an assistant coach, and I'm just telling you, Michael Pekka's made a massive difference with that team in terms of their face-off play in particular. And I don't think he gets enough credit for that. But we weren't miscalculating. I think what happened was these guys lost their edge. For whatever reason, after the Florida series, they lost their edge.

And I think it all started with, as you correctly say, Barkley, Figueroa, and then I'll take it a step further with how Jacob Figueroa was dealt with in the media. Okay, off the New York Rangers page, let me ask you about speaking to coaches. Todd McClellan. If I'm Steve Eisenman, I'm stunned at those first couple of periods against the Toronto Maple Leafs, pretty much the entire game. I know it's the first game behind the bench, but no bounce whatsoever.

Much better against the Washington Capitals in game two, and that's certainly reassuring. How did you see the entire Detroit situation playing itself out? Derek Lalonde fired on Boxing Day. Todd McClellan, the new head coach there, one and one with the Wings. I think they went back to 2008. There are a lot of people internally that were very familiar with Todd and the work that he did coaching with Mike Babcock when they won the cup in 08. Chris Draper would have been part of that team.

Kirk Maltby would have been part of that team. Obviously, Steve was there in a management role at the time working for Kenny Holland and Jimmy DeVolano. So there was a lot of familiarity with what Todd could do. And then he went away and did some unbelievable stuff in San Jose and Edmonton and L.A. And I think that helped them. And I think they want to go back to their roots. I think they want to go back to the Red Wing way.

And they've gotten away from that. And I think they want to get back to it. So I'm not surprised by it. I thought that there might be some communication with Joel Quindle. Whether there was or not, I don't know. I just don't know. But I can understand why they brought Todd in. Not a knock on Coach Lalonde at all.

It's not a knock on him. But this team has not done what they needed it to do. They're better on paper than what their record is. You know, interesting, and maybe I shouldn't be so historically steeped in this kind of things and just say, like, look, it's a new year, it's a new team, it's a new part of the Illich family. But this is a, like, the Detroit Red Wings, Mike Illich bought this team in 1982. And since then, the Illich family has only fired one coach midseason,

and that was Harry Neal after an absolutely horrible start to the Detroit Red Wings season. But they haven't done that now. I know they've had some high-level coaches along the way, and so you're not doing that midseason when you're making that decision. But this generally isn't a family that punts on coaches midseason. Was there not part of you, because there was for me, that thought, you know what, the Wings are going to go through with this, with Derek alone, and then make up their minds at the end of the season,

because that's always been the Red Wings way. True and fair and here's why I think they didn't do that. Mr. Illich has passed away. Mrs. Illich isn't getting any younger. Chris Illich runs the team along with Jimmy Develano but to me the one thing that really stands out and is apparent they haven't been a playoff team in eight years Jeff. eight years it's not one or two it's eight it's hockey town that's millions and millions and millions of dollars of revenue that's lost they're fortunate the detroit red or detroit tigers had a real good year last year uh for their sports empire but i i think that they got to the point where they're like we can't underachieve anymore our fan base is starting to turn on us they don't want to see empty seats in Little Caesars Arena.

I completely understand that. And I think they said, you know what? We're running out of racetrack here. We better do something and do something quickly. And that's why I think they hearkened back to the past when they went out and brought in a coach that was part of the Stanley Cup winning team in 2008, the last time they won the Stanley Cup. Yeah.

Does that seem to suggest then that perhaps in Steve Eiserman's mind, this season is not lost? Like that there is a chance that the Red Wings could turn things around? Do you think that's possible? Yeah, I think 100%. Okay, I'll throw this at you. The Montreal Canadiens are one of the best feel-good stories going right now. They are.

They're an amazing story. They're five points out of a playoff spot. I don't know why Detroit can't see themselves in the same. I know they lost two games recently to Montreal in a home-and-home and a back-to-back. I get it. And they're not coming to get me. Those sirens aren't for me.

Just saying. That's the bad hockey take cops. Yeah, exactly, exactly. But no, Jeff, I think the biggest thing in Detroit right now is I think they do see themselves as a competitive group. You're getting a chance to see Trey Augustine play. You're getting a chance to see him. He's a real good prospect. I know you've seen Sebastian Casa play a lot.

He's a legitimate prospect. Yeah, so, I mean, they've got some depth coming through their organization that's pretty promising. And you just – I heard you graphically talk about Axel Sandin Pelika. He ain't going to the American Hockey League. He's not going to Grand Rapids. He's going to Detroit. I mean, so you start looking at some of the guys they got coming.

They got some guys coming. I know. And Grand Rapids, by the way, for the fans that don't follow it, Jeff, Grand Rapids are in first place in the American Hockey League. I mean, in their division. They're a good team. Yeah. And very quietly by the name, I always want to throw this one out there

when you're talking about Red Wings prospects, Amadeus Lombardi, the standout from Flint. Yes. He's been a real find, an absolute real find for the Detroit Red Wings. Interesting with Pelican, though, I always just assume that everybody goes to GR. It doesn't matter who you are. We just saw Simon Edmondson for a couple of years kind of go back. Everybody, especially defensemen.

That is, we talk about the Detroit Wave here. Isn't that just the way? The temptation might be there when he's ready to come overseas and play in north america he's going to the nhl isn't it the detroit way though to stick him in the american league at least to start the kenny holland had the best line i ever heard we were having dinner to eb greens in buffalo remember that steakhouse down at the hyatt hotel i know you've been there many times and i was there with gordon and Kenny Holland and Neil Smith and we're having dinner and uh Kenny said I'd rather have them overripe than underdeveloped yeah and you know he couldn't have been more right so that's to your point it used to be Adirondack with the late great

Billy Dineen and then all of a sudden they moved their farm team out to Grand Rapids and same kind of stuff so you so you're not wrong in that I just see Axel Sandin Pelica as being a prospect that's a little bit different. You know, I think about the New Jersey Devils were the same way, Jeff, and you'll remember this. Marty Brodeur, the great Marty Brodeur, he played in the American Hockey League in Utica. Scotty Niedermeyer never played a game in the American Hockey League. He never did when New Jersey drafted him out of Camden.

And Scotty Gomez, those are the only two that I can think of that were drafted by the great Lou Lamorello that never did Lou Yu, time in the American Hockey League. But you're right. I think Detroit's very similar to that, very similar. Okay, I'm glad you mentioned New Jersey because something that I want to bring up with you, and I thought we were going to have more of this coming out of COVID, but it didn't happen.

And that is the home and homes. We just saw a great home and home with Florida and Tampa. Over the weekend, we saw a great home and home with New Jersey and Carolina. I don't know about you, Pierre, but I'm dying to see that in the playoffs now. Do you know why the NHL is, it seems like, actively trying to move away from home and homes? Like, that New Jersey-Carolina two-game set over the weekend was fantastic.

The week previous, Florida and Tampa was outrageously good. Do you have any idea why there's such a hesitation to do this? I don't know why, except I can say this. The schedule's kind of freaky this year because of the Four Nations. You see how everything's so compressed. So I think this might be just a one-off. I don't know, but I haven't heard anything about doing away with the home-and-home or the back-to-backs.

I think it's great drama. You know, Sam Flood, who was my boss for 16 years at NBC, when NBC really had hockey cooking on the national stage, the biggest thing was creating rivalries. And nothing creates rivalries more than playoff series and home and home and back-to-backs. Nothing creates rivalries more than that. I mentioned Buffalo earlier.

Don't look now, but break up the Sabres. Three wins in a row before the break. 7-1 against the Islanders and then 6-2 against the Hawks. And 4-2, they break up the sabers three wins in a row before the break seven one against the islanders and then six two against the hawks and four two they double up the st louis blues are you ready to say that buffalo is back or is this fool's gold here um let's give them a little bit more runway to work with i i'm not prepared to say that they're out of the woods but the one thing i can tell you just as as I told you about LaViolette, I am so tired of some of the media people saying Lindy Ruff doesn't understand the new game. Lindy Ruff understands the new game real well.

I talked to a 91-year-old gentleman in Sarasota, Florida, three to four times a week. His name is Scotty Bowman. I can tell you right now, he could still coach in the NHL. He couldn't go on the ice and run practice, but he could still coach. Lindy Ruff can still coach. If I made a call to Ken Hitchcock tomorrow, Ken Hitchcock could still coach. So I don't buy that at all, people taking those gratuitous cheap shots at Lindy. Lindy's a really good coach, really good coach.

The way I look at it with Lindy, it seems as if there was a moment two weeks ago where Lindy Ruff started talking about if you know there was a moment two weeks ago where where lindy ruff started talking about you know after 25 games you know what's under the hood you know what you have to me that's code for i'm doing it my way now and if i'm lindy ruff here's how i'm feeling about the buffalo sabers and you know lindy ruff agree or disagree if i'm lindy ruff i'm probably saying to myself we have everybody here playing one level higher than they should. We have first liners who'd be second liners. We have first-pairing defensemen who should be second-pairing defensemen

and all the way down the line. If you're Lindy Ruff, is that how you're feeling about the Buffalo Sabres? There's a reason why I love working with you, Jeff. That's nailed. That's way more eloquent than I could ever say it. I completely agree. I'm not going to put words in Lindy's mouth, but when you evaluate the roster, the

answer is yes. The answer is yes to what you just presented. 100%. Okay, so across Canada on Hockey Night in Canada Saturday, everybody had a glimpse at Macklin Celebrini. Now, the Calgary Flames won. Dustin Wolfe was fantastic, but every time Celebrini either touches the puck or is around it,

something happens. Even in the postgame with Scott Oak when he found out that his parents met in an infamous nightclub in Vancouver. Every time he's on television, whether he's playing or whether he's being interviewed, it's amazing. Your thoughts on what we're seeing from Macklin Celebrini right now. And boy, could they ever use him in Ottawa here at the Juniors. Oh boy.

Well, he'd make a difference. So here's what I'd tell you. I had the privilege of watching him practice a lot last year at Boston University. Lane Hudson was running the power play. Luke Tuck was on the power play. He was playing for Laval now. Obviously, Lane's doing a great job with the Montreal Canadiens.

When you watch Macklin Celebrini play on the right side as a left-hand shot and get those beautiful passes like pillows from Lane Hudson and watch him one time, the puck, whether it was in practice, whether it was in games, in hockey, as a freshman winning the Hobie Baker, it was magical.

I said it at the time, and I'll say it again. I don't want people mad at me. I'm good friends with Jonathan Taves. Very good friends. I respect the heck out of him. Macklin Celebrini is Jonathan Taves defensively, offensively, but with way more finishing power and a way better shot. That's what he is.

That's a heck of a player. That's a heck of a player. He also has upper teeth which we didn't see from Jonathan Taves, I think, until he won his first Stanley Cup. Although you could probably say the same thing about Nathan McKinnon. Like, Brady just has fun out there, Pierre. He just flat out has a good time playing hockey. He does.

And you know what? Jonathan Taves did for a long time, too. He really did. But, no, you're right. It's a fair point. What I enjoy is he clearly comes from a family that's been around pro sports, what his father does. So he's seen athletes in all these different venues.

I think that gives kids like that a huge advantage. I really do. I agree. Okay, let me close on this one. The San Jose Sharks have lost seven games in a row right now. They're still one of my favorite teams to watch. It doesn't matter. I can't think of the last time

I was so excited to watch this bad of a team. They lost seven games in a row. But there's so many players on this team, and there's a scare-off again on Saturday. There's so many players on this team that do something, that give you the glimpse, that show you a hint of what's coming,

that I can't stop watching San Jose Sharks games. What do you see when you see this team that may draft first overall again, Pierre? Well, and if they do, I know who they should take. And you know who they should take. Matthew Schaefer. Correct. Matthew Schaefer. Correct.

All day. It's pretty simple. Matthew Schaefer all day long. You know, it's not going to be like when you had Tavares and Hedman and Duchesne. Those were the three. Do I take the defenseman? Do I take the centerman? Or do I take the slick player?

The Islanders took Tavares. It wasn't a bad pick. You know, it reminds me, do I take Drew Dowdy or do I take Stephen Stamkos? Well, Stamkos, right? So you know what I'm talking about. This is where we are. But for San Jose, if they ever added defensemen like Matthew Schaefer with what they have up front starting to grow right now,

they're going to turn this wheel pretty quick, and they're going to be good. But I have a ton of fun watching San Jose. I love how they're playing. They're up-tempo style. They're getting after it. They're playing to their organizational strengths. And good on Worsowski, the young coach, doing a very good job out there. Very good job.

Ryan Worsowski's been excellent. Pierre, we'll let you get on with your day. Enjoy the rest of the World Juniors. We will catch up soon, my friend. You're the best, Jeff Merrick. Thank you so much for having me. Take care. Enjoy the World Junior.

Happy New Year. To you as well. All the best to your family. The great Pierre Maguire joining me here on the sheet. A couple of games on the go around the NHL this evening, and I know we all have eyes on one big one, and that is the New York Rangers in Sunrise facing off against the defending Stanley Cup champion, Florida Panthers.

What happens to Peter Laviolette after this game? Question mark, question mark, question mark, question mark. National Predators facing off against the Winnipeg Jets and Utah Hockey Club. Oh, man, I can't wait till they get a name officially so we can stop saying Utah Hockey Club. I can't believe there are people that actually like that, by the way. I'm going to ask Brent Wallace that in a couple of seconds. Utah Hockey Club facing off against the Seattle Kraken. In the meantime, we are in Ottawa.

So we wanted to make sure we got a lot of representation for the Coming In Hot podcast. And Brent Wallace is the face and the voice, along with Jason York, of the Coming In Hot podcast. So we're going to slide Wally in here in a couple of seconds. Come on, slide in, bud. He is the host of the Coming In Hot podcast. He is Brent Wallace. A really interesting conversation today with Jason York about the weekend that was for the Ottawa Senators. And before we start there, first of all, Wally, thanks so much for stopping by.

Much appreciated. So before we get on the Ottawa Sen's page, you're a host. So sometimes you read things and you say, I can't wait to stop saying this. Utah Hockey Club. Can you wait to be done with Utah Hockey Club? It just is Utah. And I want to say the Utes all the time. The Utes, yeah, for sure.

It's frustrating. I agree. Although I do like the jersetes all the time. The Utes, yeah, for sure. It's frustrating. I agree. Although I do like the jerseys. Hang on, let's bring this mic on. I think I know how to work this. I do like the jerseys. Yeah, I like the colors. I just can't, I think we're all on the same page. It's probably going to be the Yeti. I'm curious of what motif they go with here and so what

characteristics and sort of what they do. But I do like the colors and I do like the minimalism of the Utah Hockey Club jersey. I do like that Well, you always have to wonder too and this has always been my beef with Minnesota Like the Minnesota logo when I look at it up close it looks great But then you think to yourself you gotta look you gotta go back because what it when you go back Further into the stadium, which is like a smudge, but I do like the green as you can give me the North Stars logo Oh, dude, oh no, no, right there blue without the green with the yellow and the white you never appreciated it until it was gone

And then you saw the exact Parisi when he wore his dad's old gloves and the old North Stars like that I know I'm with you on that one Anyway getting this out. Yes in here by the way. Yeah, just watch the end of the Kazakhstan game with what was the final? Slovakia won it in overtime. But they scored. Kazakhstan tied it up. So they tied it up. They were on a five-minute major. They scored two shorthanded goals to tie it up. How was Nikitin? I know

everyone in Ottawa was hoping for a great performance and so Nikitin had the good one? I didn't see all of it. I just saw the end, but that's phenomenal for that. Anyway, Mike Johnston, assistant coach of Team Canada. He's over here somewhere. Oh, yeah. Little, assistant coach of Team Canada, is over here somewhere. Oh, yeah. Little known fact.

Yes. He taught me at university. Really? So he coached at UNB. Yeah, yeah, yeah. At the time, because it's 1992, he had to teach. And he taught me. I was taking phys ed.

I think he taught me weightlifting or something. By the way, I didn't graduate from UNB. How was he as a coach? How was he as a – we know how good he is as a coach. How was he as a teacher? From what I remember, he was good, although I didn't attend every class I should have. You're the same kind of high school student that I was, Wally. Let me ask you about the Ottawa Senators weekend. So I'm watching the game on Saturday night, and the Ottawa Senators go up to Cobb, and I'm like, all right, this is awesome.

You know, getting out of town for the Royal Juniors, starting off on it, and then Matt Sogarts has a really, really tough remainder of the game. I'm not sure what the future is there. And then they spin around the next day and beat the Minnesota Wild. Yeah. Explain this weekend. So I don't want to dump on goaltending

and just blame it to goaltending, because I don't think that's the case. I also think Winnipeg is in a different class in the NHL. They're so good. I think when they wanted to turn it up, they turned it up. They scored two goals really quick. And I think they just kind of took control of the game. People argue about the score and the sense they hung around.

I don't think they really did. I just think Winnipeg really controlled that game in the end. The Minnesota game, I think Levy-Marilinen looked pretty good. I thought so too. Hey, they didn't go in, so can we not just go, oh, you got lucky? You got to be in the right spot sometimes.

I think they really buckled down. You can see Travis Green's details in this game where it's just stay committed in your own end. It'll take care of itself. And they got a couple of goals, and they hung around. What do you make of Travis Green as a coach? I'm biased because I remember, and I always got along great with him when he was playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

And I'm biased the other way because he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs. I understand that. I get it. I've got to go back to knuckleballs between Patrick Lilleem. I get it. I get it. But I've always liked him. He's probably, by the way, I'm sure you've talked about,

the best poker player in the NHL. There is no one, reputationally, no one better than Travis Green. It's funny you say that. Are you serious? I am. Apparently, he's the one that nobody wants to go near. Really? He is the finest.

Have you watched him on the bench this year? There is no there you know exactly what he's thinking the okay so you're going like okay his facial expressions tell you exactly what he thinks ask anyone who's played poker against him because i was gonna ask shark oh because i was like travis are you a terrible poker player that's so funny no it's the opposite. The legend about Travis Green in poker, he sits down at your table, stand up. Just get up? Yeah, okay. Who would win between him and Phil Kessel? I just know, I mean, I'm not a poker guy myself, so I don't know.

I just know that from a reputation point of view, anytime you bring up Travis Green's name, everyone's like, ooh, stay away. I wonder if they've played. I'm going to try and get to the bottom of this. I'm going to ask. All right, so there's a new white whale i'll have to i'm gonna try and get to the bottom of this i'm gonna ask all right there's a there's a new white whale for you that's when you have to get to the bottom of here doing the doing the journalism um how do you see the ottawa senators this year as a team like i think a lot of people i know listen i live in southwestern ontario i'm hoping for i'm just talking about florida and

tampa a couple of seconds ago and things you want to see in the playoffs and i think now after this weekend we want to see new jersey and carolina yeah like that was a great home and home this weekend and i've always wanted again every year just want to see ottawa and toronto in the opening round again the key to it all though is ottawa has to win to really make this arrival yes that has to happen so you've been around hockey long enough to know that you get a new coach. It takes time to put in a system. And everybody was getting a little antsy in November because of all their terrible starts recently.

And so everybody was like, here we go again. The underlying metrics said that they were playing a much better game, and they are defensively. They're down like three-quarters of a goal compared to this time last year. Huge. And I think their penalty kill is much better than it was. Just defensively, they're committed to playing, and that's the biggest difference.

Linus Allmark helps. You can get goaltending. You show me a good team, you say a good goalie. Sure. You see, Linus Allmark to me, I've talked about him a bunch on this show. To me, Linus Allmark is fascinating. I cheer for about him a bunch on this show. To me, Linus Allmark is fascinating. I cheer for players, not teams,

and I really want him to be good. Like, outside of, like, there was that one year in the American Hockey League where I would get texts

from someone I know in Rochester who would say, you have to be here to see this. And it would be Utica versus Rochester and Linus Allmark

staring down Thatcher Demko and it would be a clinic. And this person would say tous Allmark staring down Thatcher Demko, and it would be a clinic. And this person would say to me, he's toying with Demko. Like, you don't understand. He is toying with Demko. The talent is there.

The skill is there. I love his personality. Like, it's just someone that you want to cheer for. To me, that's Linus Allmark. But I've just never seen him grab a high pressure situation and and run i agree we just haven't seen that i agree and i think it's a big part of can he be that guy it's easy when you're no one's counting on you to win if you're in buffalo i understand that business season he had in boston was a whole different world yeah but now that you have to maybe carry a team as opposed to boston being so good yep we're gonna find out what he's really made of. And he showed that for like a stretch of six, eight games.

I think he can be. I think he wants to be. Now can he settle in, stay healthy, and guide this team to a playoff spot, which I, by the way, didn't necessarily believe in until they got to December. And now they're, without Artem Zub in the lineup, they're 11-4-1, I think it is, over the last 15 games, 16 games. You know this team well. Would it be fair to say that recent history,

this is a team that's had too many passengers? Oh, yeah, without question. Everybody was happy with each other. No one understood how to win. Nobody really pushed each other. They just were like, I don't want to – there's been the term country club has been used. happy with each other. No one understood how to win. Nobody really pushed each other. They just were like, I don't want to – there's been the term country club has been used. There have been players to say it.

It was just too easy, and no one really understood what it took to be a pro. Look, I know Pierre Dorian tried to bring in guys that had been there. There were some veterans. Whether they were right mix or not, I'm not sure. Steve Stahels went in and got Stanley Cup winner Mike Amadio, Stanley Cup winner David Perron. Brought in Linus Allmark, who was a Vesna Trophy winner.

He made key acquisitions, Nick Jensen. Just real senior guys that can play a part. And I know David Perron hasn't played except for four games. He's apparently been invaluable in the locker room. I'm biased. I love Perron. I think Perron is an outstanding hockey player.

He's just, he's a good person. If you don't really know him, you think like it's, oh, he's a jerk, whatever. Because on the ice, he's a bit of a, he's a miserable to play. Right. But that's great. Yes. And so we were hoping to see that this year. And it may be a while before we do.

His back is really bothering him. But those guys have come in and kind of said, listen, this is what it's going to take for you guys to win. Travis Green has no time for nonsense. And I think you see it. You know, it's interesting because you throw Nick Cousins into that conversation as well. I can still recall Bill Zito goes to Florida, takes over the Florida Panthers. His first move is to bring in Patrick Hornquist. And it's a message to everybody else we need to be

miserable to play against we need to be hard to play against we need we need like we need pricks here that's what we need and it seems like steve steve's day also has no shrinking violet when he played he's gone out there and he said like look we need to be miserable to play against then they're not there yet without question they're still i think they're still too soft to play against but they're getting there i think they're going too soft to play against, but they're getting there. I think they're going to have to add somebody at the deadline that's, again, a little more ornery to play against. Nick Cousins has played much better of late.

So now you've got Ridley Gregg, Nick Cousins, and we're hoping David Perron, who was supposed to have been the most annoying team in the NHL to play against. We haven't seen it yet. I think they can get there, but they're going to need to add somebody else. Is this the best you've seen Ridley Gregg play? No. He's really good.

The last couple of games, I think the last two games, he's played over 19 and a half minutes, which I'm not sure if it's the highest this season for sure. This year has been slow for him. I don't know why. I'm just talking recently with Ridley Gregg. So the last couple of games, he's got three goals the last five games. He's certainly at a different place than he was at the beginning of year but i think last year he was people were like that's that can be a

top six guy if he really wants to be and we haven't seen it this year in the last couple of games it's come around a bit um off the nhl page are you world juniors guy i was yeah like i did i did ufa i did like i've I think, five World Juniors. It's just lost a little bit for me, only because maybe I'm tired of it. But yeah, I like the Latvia win. There's no right or wrong answer. It's an opinion. I like the Latvia game over Canada because it puts attention on it. Now Latvian players are like, maybe we can do this.

Now they're thinking, we're not just going to get kicked around. I like it. I like to see the Kazakhstan game today. So I like watching junior players, the game at the junior level. One, they're really super skilled. They also make mistakes, which makes it more fun to watch. I was saying this the other day. You know, I was having, this is like 15 years ago,

I was having a conversation with Dave Cameron, 67, head coach and coach of Team Canada. And we were talking about the NHL and at that time, probably the OHL. And he said, you like junior hockey, Jeff? I'm like, yeah, I really just first love. You know, my dad used to take me to Marlboro's games. You buy a Maple Leaf ticket and you get a Marlboro's ticket. So afternoons with the Marlboros, go to Mother's Pizza for dinner and then go see the Maple Leafs game at night.

And I said to him, it's always been my first love. Always loved junior hockey. He goes, I'm going to tell you why you like it. And I said, what? He said, in the NHL, you're going to get five bad decisions made by a player that's going to lead to a big thing. In junior hockey, you get about 35. That's what makes it so good.

And it's going to be great. And that's why. Bigger hits, more turnovers, more odd man rushes, goalie errors. I do like the game for that reason. Little known fact, I covered the Halifax Moose Heads very first season. Did you really? It was in Halifax that year. Clermont-Jodwin.

Oh, wow. So he and I used to. At the Metro Center. Yeah, it's great. So we had a relationship throughout the entire NHL. When he was in Montreal, he was like, oh, take me in the back and show me the Montreal Canadiens locker room. He was so good.

Anyway, yeah, there was a lot of good people. How has this tournament been for Ottawa? How has it been for the city? I think it's great. I'm surprised that there's this many people hanging out here for a night. There's no more hockey left this afternoon. It's hopping. Well, yeah, there's Germany and Latvia.

Oh, is there? The Canadiens Tire Centre. But not here. And so a lot of that's going on. I remember in 2009, that great tournament. Well, yeah, there's Germany and Latvia at the Canadian Tire Centre. But not here, not here. And so a lot of that's going on. I remember in 2009, that great tournament, if I'm not mistaken, they set the world junior attendance record that year. And so Ottawa loves junior hockey. They've been huge supporters of the world juniors whenever they've been here.

Okay, back to the Ottawa Senators. They used to play hockey in this building, by the way. In this building? They played NHL. Give me the history of the Aberdeen here. Yeah. So they played hockey in this building? Yeah.

Who played here? It's a way of the original Senators, if I'm not mistaken. And there was another team. You should look it up someday, the Ottawa Civics, if you're into history. Yeah, just a little bit. But they moved from one night. They folded and moved and played three games here. Former.

There's one guy left, I think, still played on that team that's living in Colorado right now. Anyway, I can't think of who it is. There's some great history. The Ottawa Civics. Love it. Real quick, what's it like, because I worked with York Chop, Jason York, for a number of years at Sportsnet.

What is it like working with the Chop? By the way, the stories on the air are great, and I know the stories off the air are even better, but how has it been working with the Chop? By the way, the stories on the air are great, and I know the stories off the air are even better. But how has it been working with the Chop? He's been fantastic. He shows up every day. He works like he's always ready. I'm shocked at how ready he is and prepared he is. I know.

Because I worked with him in Sweden in 2017 for the World Feed and stuff. And it's like, York, you want to do this? He's like, yeah, absolutely. So he's been phenomenal to me. Yeah, he's been outstanding. Although he won't let me into the good guy club. I saw that. I saw that.

What's it going to take? I don't know. I don't know. We'll find out. Well, the band's getting set here. So that's usually our cue to knock it off. He is the host of the Coming In Hot podcast, All About Your Ottawa Senators.

If you haven't already, we really recommend you check this one out. Brent, thanks so much for stopping by. Congrats on the show, by the way. Thanks, man. Peace working for a living. If only they'd give me some promo around here. On behalf of everybody here, listen, there's another game right now going on in Germany facing off against Latvia.

And then New Year's Eve, and we'll be here for the show tomorrow, 3 o'clock Eastern, the New Year's Eve game, USA facing off against Team Canada. Two very nervous fan bases right now, Brent Wallace. It's a little uncomfortable on both ends of the rink. We'll see what happens. On behalf of Zach Phillips, the entire crew here, thanks so much for stopping by and watching slash listening again. We're back tomorrow, 3 o'clock Eastern with The Sheep. We me a little medicine. I'm like, nah, man, that's fine.

I'm not against those methods, but I knew. It's me, myself, and others going to be fixing my mind. I do want to break it. I turned on the music. I do want to break it. I turn on the music. It's enough, enough, enough. That you're sometimes losing.

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