Ken Dryden Tribute, Vegas Goaltending & Flyers Identity ft. Rick Tocchet & Jesse Granger | The Sheet

Ken Dryden Tribute, Vegas Goaltending & Flyers Identity ft. Rick Tocchet & Jesse Granger | The Sheet

[Music] [Music] You’ve probably heard me say this one before. And after last night, I’m going to say it again. There are only two places in the world where they do ceremonies properly. One is Buckingham Palace and the other is the Bell Center. What we saw last night was absolutely gorgeous, fitting, perfect. Every single note was in its right place. We’re going to get to that here coming up in a couple of seconds. In the meantime, welcome to the program for today. This is the sheet for Wednesday, the October the 15th. Glad to have you aboard today. Uh all is bright in Zachville as his Toronto Maple Leafs uh won a game against the Nashville Predators last night and his captain scored two goals. So, there’s a jump in Zach’s steps. So much so that we have uh a little bit of hockey royalty on the program here today. Rick Tocket, who’s the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, will be aboard. Jesse Granger from the Athletic will be aboard as well. We have plenty to get to. Um whether it’s injuries, whether it’s games, uh whether it’s games coming up tonight. Going to try not to put too much of an accent on what may happen between the Buffalo Sabres and the Ottawa Senators, but you can kind of see this one coming a long way, right, with Dylan Cousins. I’m just saying. I’m just saying. Um, in the meantime, before we get to our guests and before we get to some of the topics and there’s a couple things I want to point out about last night, specifically at the Bell Center, let’s get uh right to what’s going on on the program today. This is the blueprint and it is powered by FanDuel. Make every moment more with North America’s number one sports book, FanDuel, and the two big guests for the program today or on the program today rather. Rick Tocket, the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, coming off um a very impressive victory over the defending Stanley Cup champions. Uh we’ll talk to Rick Tocket. We’ll also talk to Jesse Granger coming up here in a couple of moments. Jesse’s an interesting guy. He’s a double threat in that his beat job is to cover the Vegas Gold, the Knights, but he also um has a sharp focus on net minders uh around the NHL. So, we’ll get into both with Jesse coming up here in a couple of moments. We will talk about the Brady Kachchuck injury. Uh we find ourselves in an NHL where both Kachchuck brothers uh are injured. Feel free brothers to to do that when the Olympics roll around. I say as a proud Canadian. Uh we’ll talk about what happened at the Bell Center. We’ll talk about the Rangers uh and their inability to score at MSG now setting a record there. And we’ll talk about the Vegas Golden Knights with Jesse. No shortage of stories there. Whether it’s the outstanding play on the ice or the increasing and increasing speculation, rumors, discussion about Carter Hart um perhaps signing there perhaps as early as today, maybe by the time this show goes off the air. um he is now eligible to sign a contract um uh in the NHL. Uh in the meantime, really quickly before we get to Jesse Granger, and it’s appropriate because we’re going to be talking about a goalender here. Uh we’ve seen some wonderful tributes, some wonderful well, listen, we saw a wonderful tribute to Bernie Pant a couple of nights ago in Philadelphia, and the player of game gets a Bernie Pant mask, which is absolutely gorgeous and and really fitting and a was really touching. Um seeing Shan Coutureier present that to Dan Var. Perfect. uh a perfect moment for the Philadelphia Flyers as you know just quite bluntly as we’re talking about yesterday um with Kevin Kurs you know Bernie Pon one of if not perhaps the most popular Philadelphia Flyer of all time quibble about him or Bobby Clark all you want um Bernie Pon was the reason that team won those two Stanley Cups in 7475 last night in the uh in the home opener for the Montreal Canadians uh yet again another beautiful ceremony and fitting tribute um to literally one of the giants of the game in in Ken Dryen. And everything about this was was perfect. And I think that is going to be the image that we all take away from last night. You know, his former teammates on the bench with the applause. That was that was gorgeous as well. I mean, they do so well. What Montreal does really well is that no one does understatement better than the Montreal Canadians and and have a look at, you know, some of the legends, you know, and this is, you know, um on on one end it’s Ivon Cornway to the to the right, at the other end it’s Serge Savard and Dryden, other Dryen teammates mixed in there all along. Um, beautiful, understated, yet powerful. I mean, that’s what you get with the Montreal Canadians. And you know, my my my dear friend Nancy, who’s a Montreal Canadians fan, actually, she’s kind of a Nancy is interesting. She’s kind of a displaced Quebec Nordiks fan cuz she grew up a big fan of the Nords. Um, and she now lives down south and, uh, she’s a huge Montreal Canadians fan. And she knows how often I’ve used the phrase ghosts of the forum. You’ve probably used it, too, or at least uh heard it. I mean, the the tribute was uh was fantastic, beautiful for Habs fans. and she sent me this image of the Phantom of the Opera and she said, “The Phantom who lives in the catacombs of the Paris Opera House, Ken Dryden, the ghosts of the forum just look so beautiful, haunting, poetic, gorgeous together. The Phantom of the Opera and the Ghost of the Montreal Forum, a fitting tribute to the great Ken Dryden.” Um, sticking with Net Minders, we’re going to talk about someone who whenever you talk to him, you have to talk about Net Minders because that is one of the beats that he covers alongside covering the Vegas Golden Knights, uh, who many heroes included, have them going to the Stanley Cup final this year. He is Jesse Granger from The Athletic and he joins me now. First of all, you as I’ve said it for years and I’ll say it again. Buckingham Palace and the Bell Center, those are the two places in the world where they do ceremonies, right? And as a goalie enthusiast, I’m I’m sure you saw what they did yesterday in Montreal for Ken Dryden. Do you have a couple of thoughts, Jesse? First of all, welcome to the program. Do you have a couple of thoughts on on how Montreal saluted one of their own last night? Yeah, thanks for having me, Jeeoff. It was amazing. Um, you you put it perfectly. I don’t think anyone does tributes better than them. Um, Ken Dryden deserves it as much as anyone. I had the honor of writing the story when he when he tragically passed away a little bit ago. And just going back through his life, it’s what a character. Like what a goalie. But but the the person is almost more interesting. The story of like this guy was so good at the NHL that he almost got bored of it. I mean I mean all the cups and all the venas that he won in such a short time and he was like this is too easy for me. I’m going to go do something else. Maybe maybe the only person ever that uh goalending in the NHL was too easy for him. You know what? I’m going to go to law school. That’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to challenge myself and then I’m going to get into politics. I’m going to be the MP of of York Center in Toronto. Uh and then I’m going to go work as president of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Um fascinating. And you know, it was I mean at his time he was a physically literally a giant. I mean John Davidson was a large goalender too. Um but Ken was I he wasn’t the first large goalie uh in the NHL, but I mean that really sort of defines him as much as the mask and the pose, right? the the the pose as well. And you know, it’s a great history made when Montreal face off against Buffalo and it was brother versus brother Ken Dryden and Dave Dryden. I mean, everyone has their own memories. Um, you know, there was one I should have thought about this and grabbed the clip was a game against the Boston Bruins where after a flyby in the net like Ken’s mask comes off and he still stands in there to stop shots. The last time I saw that would have been Andre Pavick in an Ottawa Atlanta game and Pavick stood there and and took an Alex Kovalev shot up high. Um, but Dryen, you know, barefaced stood in front of Boston Bruins shots once upon a time. But anyhow, we’ve had a a week of of goalie tributes. I’m sure you saw what happened with Bernie Pant as well with the Philadelphia Flyers. Rick Tockets up at the bottom of the hour. I’m getting long-winded here, but it’s my way of transitioning from Dryen to Peron. And a first thought on the player of the game now in Philadelphia gets Bernie’s mask. One of the great masks of all time. Jesse, your thoughts on that one? Yeah, pretty amazing. And and you know what? Maybe it’ll it’ll turn things around for the goalending in Philadelphia because last year was obviously a disaster for them. And I think that just even even just that being in the locker room um and I and I do and I do like Samuel Lrison. I like the way his game’s trending. Um it’s it’s a great idea. that it’s a cool thing to have and and maybe a little bit of it’ll rub off and and they’ll get a few saves uh more more saves than last year just because of that alone. It’s it’s been I mean listen Ron Hex was brilliant in ‘ 87 winning the Consan losing cause before that. Py Lindberg was was poised for greatness um before his tragedy. But it’s it’s a long story with the Philadelphia Flyers and their net mining. Kind of like the story about how Flyers, you know, never draft and develop a defenseman. They only buy or trade for them. Um but I digress. Um, Vegas Golden tonight. Speaking of goalenders, uh, we will not be seeing Aiden Hill for a while. Akira Schmid comes on last night and really nice performance. Um, initially a couple of thoughts on on on what we expect here with well, I guess Vegas is without um, Aiden Hill in the Golden Knight in the Golden Knights net. Yeah, it’s kind of ironic you brought up Ken Dryden uh, the mask coming off and him still trying to make saves because the last time I saw it was last night. Um Hayden Hill, for those that weren’t watching, um he took a shot off the mask. It what typically happens when a goalie takes a shot off the mask, the buckles come off the back, his mask falls off. Uh it happened bang bang, so the officials weren’t able to blow it dead. He actually made a save without the mask on, and that’s kind of how he got hurt, it looks like. Um I I don’t have an update on how long he’s going to be out, how serious it is. The Golden Knights are going to be on the ice here in Vegas uh here in about an hour and a half, so I’ll be over there to get an update then. We’ll see what Bruce Cassidy says, but it appears that that’s where the injury occurred. He obviously didn’t leave the game until the first intermission, which was several minutes later. But on that play, he was kind of down in the butterfly and then he jumped up and it was a really awkward move. He was doing it because he wasn’t wearing a mask, so he didn’t he wanted to get as high as possible to try to avoid getting hit in the face. And when he did that, I it’s it’s hard to tell if the injury was a result of the puck hitting him somewhere vulnerable, which to be honest, if you’re a Golden Knights fan, that’s probably the preferred outcome, or if he tweaked something in his lower body. It was a lower body injury, or if he tweaked something in his leg making that awkward jump because then he did fall over and he was grimacing. So, um, it didn’t look good. He did play a few minutes of hockey afterwards, so I guess that’s a little encouraging. We’ll see what Bruce Cassidy has to say today. But if they’re without Aiden Hill, um it looks like Akira Schmidt’s going to be the guy. He’s played really well um in the preseason. He’s looked good in camp. He played well last night. He stopped every shot he faced after he came in. He’s a calm goalie who reads the play well. He’s not the most athletic guy, but um behind a solid defense can get the job done. You know, curious as well, just as a sort of philosophical note, although I can see teams, you know, using this tactically if we ever went down this route. Um, you know, there are some people that I’ve heard talk about the idea if a goalie takes a shot in the head, automatically they should go off and and go into some type of, you know, concussion check. I remember watching a game in Montreal. It was uh Montreal Chicago, and I I I I don’t for the life of me understand how Cory Crawford stayed in the game, but Corey Crawford took like right between the lookers, one from from Sheay Weber. and maybe you know the the shot that I’m thinking of and he goes back and he does the nest plunge and I’m like holy smokes and he just does the old school sort of you know shake the cobwebs out and lines up for the for the draw and I’m thinking to myself like who’s taking a Shay Weber shot off the head and and staying in the game. I don’t know if you have a thought on I mean it has been brought up before. It’s obviously going nowhere. You can see players you know if they want to get a goalie out of the game instead of running them just fire one at their head. Um the idea of if you take one off the mask, you have to go out often and get checked. You have a thought on that one? Yeah, my first thought was what you just said was like will it be abused by teams just shooting from holes heads if you’re playing against? Yes, it’s it’s Yeah, I mean because of that it would be tough to actually use the rule. I will say that like these helmets are incredible. When it hits you in the mask, that’s when when you get hit in the mask, that’s when you really feel the the ring of the power of the shot. When it hits above the mask that they’re they’re so good at deflecting the energy, like you don’t really feel much. Um I’m obviously not facing 100 mph Shayweber slap shots when I’m in deer league, but I’ I’ve had a couple clappers to the face that I so I I do know a little bit what it feels like. And yeah, those I mean those masks are great, but like you said, when when it hits you in the mat in the cage right between the eyes, you can feel kind of the full blunt force of that shot and and it is dangerous. And the more we learn about head trauma, like obviously we need to be more concerned with that. Like I said, I think the toughest thing is is would teams be now trying to just get the goalie out of the game by shooting one in the face? That would never happen because these guys are all honest and they have honor amongst one another and they would never knock their grandmothers down an icy road for a nickel. They would never do that, Jesse Granger. They’re all fine, upstanding athletes. Uh, one of the things that I’ve wondered about about Vegas, and this involves the uh, the Jack Eel contract. So, he comes in at 13 and a half on the heels of Connor’s 12 and a half. One of the things that I’ve wondered about is the loyalty factor to Vegas. We know he loves it there. We know the team’s a winning team and it’s, you know, always in the hunt for the Stanley Cup and and that’s those are great considerations. One of the things that I’ve wondered about is how much Vegas went out of their way to get him and allow him to have the ADR surgery. Not that I think that Kelly Mcrimman sort of not gently reminded him about that during the negotiations. I think that would be pretty tacky. But in the back of Eichel’s mind, Jesse, do you think that, you know what, when the Buffalo Savers were saying no and wanted to fuse, you know, fuse my spine together, all my ver a number of my vertebrae together, Vegas said, “You have bodily autonomy here, and you can have the surgery that you want?” I don’t know if it was a prime factor, but do you think that maybe in the back of Eichel’s mind, he’s thinking, “These guys really did me a solid here when all I heard from the Buffalo Sabres was, “No, you’re not going to be able we’re not going to allow you to do this.” I think it’d be hard for it not to enter his mind and and when you just look at I I think it’s a case of he he’s only played for two organizations in his life and the thought of hitting the open market and going to another organization where there’s there you don’t know how you’re going to be treated, how things are going to be handled. You don’t know if it’s going to be like it was in Buffalo or if it’s going to be more like it is in Vegas. And so I do think that you go from that organization where they’ve struggled to get the culture right. they’ve struggled to to put a winning team on the ice and that’s all you knew. Then you come to Vegas, you win a Stanley Cup, like you said, they they let you get your surgery. I think it does make it it enters your mind and it makes it a little easier to say, you know what, let’s just stay here where I know how things are run. I know how things work. Um, let’s not take that chance that I end up in an organization that like they’re going to put on their best face when they’re trying to attract me as a free agent, but we’ll see what happens when I’ve been there for a couple years. like you’re going to sign an 8year, sevenyear contract. I do think that knowing what you have in Vegas, know how this organization’s run and knowing how they’ve treated you um absolutely plays a factor. And I think that’s most NHL players. I think that’s part of the reason everyone resigns with their team is they just they know what they have here. They don’t want to risk the chance of it getting worse. So, we’re going to head into a summer where everybody’s got cap space and there’s no one to spend it on. Oh, lovely. We’ll all have we’ll all have the summer off. Um, one of my favorite things, Jesse, one of my favorite things to ask owners is if there was no salary cap, how much would you spend on your players? And Elliot and I when we had Bill Foley on a couple of years ago, I’m like, “All right, this is my my my big chance. I know the NHL is going to hate the answer, but here we go.” And I asked Bill Foley that, and I think he said something $150 million, which is like an outrageous number considering where the cap was at that point. But I think if you ask a lot of the larger market owners or teams that are wildly successful, they’ll probably say something similar. But Foley’s been like that from day one. I’m spending on this team. How is Bill Foley thought of amongst players, amongst fans, um, in Vegas? I mean, the reputation outside of Vegas is this guy is like singularly focused and will spend as much money as he needs to. Kind of like the late Ed Snyder with the Philadelphia Flyers. is like the new age version of Ed Snyder. He will do anything it takes to win the Stanley Cup and spend however much it costs to win the Stanley Cup. That’s the that’s the reputation outside of Vegas. What’s it in Vegas or is it the same? Yeah, the players love him. Um he he does whatever he can to make their like like you said, he he would spend more if the cap would let him. Um, they’ve got a they’ve got a genius salary cap guy, Andrew Lugerner, who does the math. And I’m sure every NHL fan listening knows very well that the Golden Knights do whatever they can to spend as much as they possibly can. And then he also goes above that like he makes sure the facility is exactly what they want if the players I I’ll never forget it was year one and the players like it was the first week of training camp or something and one of the players just mentioned to Bill like, “Oh man, we don’t have a ping pong table in here. At my old team, we had a ping-pong table.” And then the next day they go in and it’s like a brand new one. the nicest point possible. Like that’s that’s obviously a pretty small thing for Bill Foley to do, but like that’s an example of what he does to try. That’s it’s part of the reason the players like it here. So the players like him, the fans in Vegas love Bill Foley. And it it’s not really so much the the fact that he’s willing to spend. It’s that he brought pro sports to Vegas. And this is a city that has been starved for pro sports for basically its entire existence. And people in Vegas, natives that live here, wanted something to represent them that wasn’t the strip because obviously it’s one of the most famous cities in the world. Everybody knows Las Vegas. It’s not like it’s not represented. But yeah, there’s nothing that represents the people who live in Vegas until the Vegas Golden Knights come here. And now we look at it now almost like it’s just a normal thing that pro sports are in Vegas. You’ve got the Raiders, you’ve got the Aces, WNBA that have won three of the last four titles. You’ve got the A’s coming here soon. It seems like it’s kind of a normal thing. But before the Golden Knights came here, pro sports wanted nothing to do with this city. I remember covering fantasy football conventions in casinos before the Golden Knights were here. And the NFL wouldn’t let them have the logos on the players helmets. So there’d be a giant poster on the wall of Pton Manning, but his helmet would just be solid white because you couldn’t show a Colts logo. That’s how much the NFL did not want anything to do with Las Vegas in the gambling. Bill Holey was the first person who took a chance on this city and really convinced a league to to buy into this city and now it’s now it’s like one of the fastest growing sports markets in in the country. So, I think that people in Vegas love Bill Foley because they feel like he was the one who finally got them a team that that represents them. And it’s it’s why the Golden Knights are the most popular team in town, even more popular than the Raiders. As as popular as the NFL is, there aren’t as many dieards here for the Raiders as there are the Golden Knights. And I think it’s because they were first. Yeah. and they’re like and they’re not from somewhere else. Like they are a team that was born in Vegas. This isn’t like this isn’t an adoption. Like they this was these are these are the the the natural parents. Um last night uh the Calgary Flames go up two nothing and then Vegas gets rolling. Now I know it’s the Calgary Flames and I think we know what the season’s going to be like for for the Calgary Flames. It’s going to be tons of trade rumors. But when Vegas gets rolling, you know, Kobe Cohen this morning was, you know, talking about on Morning Cup of Hockey about this team like when the wheels get going on this team, like you can’t stop them. Like they just come in waves and you saw that you saw the the Vegas Golden Knights building all throughout that game last night. Um, how do you beat them when they’re playing like that? Like the the Vegas Golden Knights that we saw in the second and third period last night, how do you beat that team? I know it’s early, but man, this team looks good. Yeah, I think you beat them by pressuring them in their own zone the way Calgary did in the in the first period. Um, this this team is probably has the deepest forward group they’ve had in in eight years. And they’ve had good forwards for most of those eight years, but the forward group is just elite right now. And like you said, when they come at you wave after wave, and when you get hemmed in your end, and then at the end of every shift, you’re just dumping it into their end so they can come right back at you, it’s tough to defend. They’ve got so much skill, so much speed. They have good for checkers. There are very few holes in the forward group. To me, the weakness on this team is on defense. Alex Petrangelo obviously left a huge hole. Noah Hannifan’s out right now. The defense, as good as the forward group is, I think this might be the worst defensive group they’ve ever had. And they’re not terrible. This isn’t a bad blue line. They’re just not as elite as they once were. And I think that they the Golden Knights biggest struggle through four games has been breaking the puck out of their own zone. If you can make them play in their own end and force them to break out and put pressure on them, they will make mistakes. And that’s how Calgary got out to that two nothing lead was by pressuring them. Now, that’s easier said than done getting this team playing on its heels with that forward group. It’s not easy, but if you can do it and you can force them to break pucks out like in that second half of the game, the Golden Knights never had to break any pucks out because it was just dump it and go get a line change. And by the time the Flames have done their line change, you’re already over the red line and you’re you’re attacking. So, if you can flip that script and make them be the ones trying to break out of their zone, I do think that there are weaknesses um that you can you can take advantage of, but like I said, it’s much easier said than done. Okay, I’m going to take advantage of your goalie knowledge here in the couple of minutes I have left with you. Um, who should one week into the season, uh, for me the anther answer may be Thatcher Demco coming off the injury, but which goalender should we be most impressed by from your desk? That Demco is a great answer. Um if if I’m trying to think of someone else, I love the way Jeremy Swayman has looked in Boston. Like I shin the easy answer. He’s been Igor Shurken is the best goalie in the world. And I think the gap between him and like he is so good and that New York team has not been good and they’re still winning games because you just can’t score on him. But aside from him, to me, Jeremy Swayman after that down year, there was a lot of doubts after they gave him that contract. He loses that safety blanket in Lenus Olark. Swayman’s game looks sensational right now. He’s got such a good butterfly. He’s so under control. He He controls rebounds as well as any goalie in the world. Like, he just doesn’t give himself extra work. He He He doesn’t just make the save. He controls the puck. He either absorbs it, kicks it to the corner, makes life easy on his defense. And when he’s on, it just feels like there’s no scrambles around the net. There are no there’s no chaos around him because he just controls that puck so well. Um he’s, like I said, great butterfly. He’s always in position. He’s a big guy. He’s not the most athletic, but he reads the play incredibly well. So, he’s always in the right spots. He cuts off angles. I have been very very impressed with Swayman. And and based on the few games we’ve seen, it looks like he’s like I I kind of expected a bounceback year, but um the confidence level in that bounceback year is is much higher than it was a week ago after seeing him play these games. Okay. I’m going to ask like a really deep geeky question here. Like we’re going like deep deep with goal with goalies here. Uh, were you surprised that Colton Ellis got claimed on waiverss and Michael Dpietro didn’t? What’s the bigger shock? Honestly, the guy I thought was going to get claimed more than anyone was Klay Stevenson in Washington. Um, he he is a stud down in the AHL. All the goalie coaches I talked to rave about the guy. Um, they were telling me like all summer I was hearing like, man, he’s finally not waiver exempt. He’s they’re gonna either they’re going to have to keep three goalies or they’re going to risk losing him. and they waved him and I was stunned that that he didn’t get claimed. But DPro is right there, another young goalie with a lot of talent. There there are so many like this is again this I’m nerding out, but there are so many good young goalies. There are so many good young goalies that haven’t got the opportunity. There’s just no there there just so few spots in the NHL for these guys to get chances. Like at forward and defense, if you’re good enough, you’re going to get the chance quick. At goalie, it’s so easy to get. Joel Hoer is a perfect example. like he is one of the best 30 goalies in the world right now. Like he absolutely should be starting for a team, but he can’t because Jordan Bennington’s awesome and if you’re the Blues, why would you trade him? So, it’s like you’re just kind of stuck as the backup. And like Jet Greavves was in that situation in Columbus um behind Merleakans and Terasov and every time he’d get in the NHL for the last couple years, he’d look amazing. They finally trade Terasov. He gets in and he’s the number one goalie in Columbus. The kid’s awesome. Yeah, he is. And you know what it’s it’s interesting too because you know there’s there’s um like I think of the Buffalo Sabres with Deon Levi sitting there in Rochester and right now with the UPPL injury it’s ride or die with Alex Lion and Colton Ellis you’re Deon Levi. you’re saying to yourself, what’s going on here? You know, we’re talking about we’re saying like all these sabers, right? And there’s all be rumors of, you know, Tae Thompson, you know, might ask out and we’ll see what happens um with with Raasmus Dalene and Alex Tuck and all that. And part of me is sitting here going like, I think he might have a big problem in Rochester too with with this goal. He’s not feeling so great about his career right now with the Savers organization. Yeah. I mean, if you’re Dev and Levi, you’ve been waiting for an opportunity to and like UPPL goes down, it’s it’s Gorgiev and Lion, like they there’s not a lot there. And the fact that you aren’t getting the chance is telling. And like two third periods in the preseason. Yeah, it makes you wonder is is his development path like I I don’t talk to the the goalie coaches in Buffalo a ton, but it’s like it makes you wonder if they aren’t as convinced in his development path as maybe we are just from watching. Obviously, he was awesome in that that little stint we saw in the NHL, but yeah, it definitely makes you wonder where they where how they view his development at this point. All right, no more beating up the Buffalo Sabres. They got a game tonight against the Ottawa Senators, and we can all see the storyline there. Anyhow, uh Jesse, uh very generous with your time. I know you have to get to practice. Oh, by the way, really quick, um all kinds of rumors about Carter Hart and the Vegas Golden Knights. That’s been sort of everywhere. Um could happen as early as today. Are we looking at this as if it’s inevitable? It’s only a matter of when the the the the trigger gets pulled on this one. I mean, that’s certainly the way it feels from the outside. Yeah, it certainly does. And and all the credit to Chris Johnson at the Athletic. He’s been the one that’s on top of this the whole time. Um he’s basically figured it’s it’s going to be the Golden Knights that sign him. Everything I’ve heard basically goes along with that. I I would expect them to sign him. And for now, he’s a third goalie with with some potential um that they’re they’re hoping maybe can live up to that potential. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen him play hockey, so we’ll see how it plays out. We’ll stay tuned and uh and see how the day plays out. Jesse, full value as always. Thanks, pal. Much appreciated. Thanks for having me. Jesse Granger from The Athletic covering the biggest goal of the Knights and also covering goalending uh and goalenders at large uh not just in the NHL but uh but around the world uh as well. So, we thank Jesse for stopping by the program. Uh we’re standing by for the the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, Rick Tockett, who just I’m just warning you now, okay? like we’re going to talk a lot about the Flyers and we’re going to talk a lot about the big win against the uh the Florida Panthers defending Stanley Cup champions and we’re going to talk about we’ll talk about Mitchkoff and we’ll talk about Couture. Um but there’s one day in Rick Tockett’s history that I’m going to talk to him about and I’m really looking forward to it. And that day is April 16th, 1992. [Music] and it was the last game of the season. Should be a quote unquote meaningless game. Most of the best players were scratched. It’s the last game of the season. Meaningless, but some wild things happened in that game and one that I’m still stunned by to this day and I can’t stop watching the highlights of it and asking people about it. and Rick Tockett was part of that game. So at a certain point uh I am going to go back to April 16th, 1992 uh with Rick Tocket. This segment, by the way, a presentation or Prime Video and Monday Night Hockey, your exclusive home to the NHL streaming games nationally in Canada every Monday. Um always look forward to uh Prime Video’s faceoff inside the NHL now in season 2. Subscribe with a 30-day free trial to Prime Video to watch Monday Night Hockey and the new season of Faceoff. Download the app or go to primevideo.com. With that, we’ll welcome aboard the uh the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, former member of the Philadelphia Flyers, number 22 in orange, folks. He is Rick Tocket, and he joins me now on the sheet. Rick, good to see you again. How you been? Thanks for doing this. I like on the sheet. I like Yeah. Yeah. You’re you’re you’re right there with me. Well, listen. At a certain point, we’re going to go back to one of my a day that I still keep talking about, and you did something I’m going to just be honest that I still can’t believe in that game, April 16th, 1992. But hang on, pause on that one. That that one’s coming. First of all, congratulations uh on on the big win. Um, and there’s a lot out of that game that I want to get into, but before we get there, what I really loved is there was a Bernie Pont tribute the Philadelphia Flyers did in the preseason, and the Flyers also did one on opening night. I thought that was perfect for one of the giants of the game, one of the best goalenders to even ever do it. Uh the main reason why the Flyers won those two cups in 7475. Larger than life personality. Do you have a quick thought on on Bernie and the mask, you know, the player of the game like like everything Rick came together so perfect and a big win for your team? Yeah, when and when Coots brought them I didn’t know that I didn’t know about this mask, the presentation after the game, the player of the game. Yeah. But uh we didn’t know about it and when he did it and I saw the Bernie mask it it got you know you get a little emotional and the reason why is Bernie was such a obviously we all loved him. Um but I I know impact for me as a young kid you know he was always the guys come he’d come in and he would always smile. It didn’t matter if you lost the game if you’re minus three you played an awful game or you played a good game. He was the same guy and you know he had to say hey hey guy how you doing guy? Hey good game. And I’m like hey I was minus four. I don’t care. You still play well. I mean, that’s Bernie and, you know, he’s just a wonderful human being and uh the fabric, one of the big big fabrics of the uh the Flyers. Number one behind the net. It’s beautiful. Uh it’s just such a such a gorgeous touch. It’s it’s it’s it’s kind of perfect. Okay. Um to the to the game itself, and you mentioned Sean Couturier. Um no one’s ever going to confuse Shan Coutureier for Paval Bur, but still, man, he’s moving this year. And that game, four points, you know, a signature a signature game here for Shawn Coutureier. Uh, what does the coach see? I know this is your your first time handling him, but what does the coach see in in Shan Coutureier? I see I see a guy that’s moving well. I see a guy that’s uh didn’t like last year u and he did something about it this summer. Came in really good shape. Um, you know, after games he’s doing his recoveries like he’s doing all the right things. Um, I’m not saying he didn’t do that before. I don’t know. All I know he looks like a guy that’s possessed obviously even though the games two games before played him 20 minutes you know the hard minutes right he’s got to take face offs you know penalty killing he’s getting power play time so um I think he’s tired of losing and I think he wants to be a solution here on turning things around so that’s what I see so far how much does a guy like Shan Couturier mean for Jet Lechenko like I I don’t know how long he’s going to play this season he has to look good I like I like that line um you know had the mini audition last year I I know G from the OHL is hoping you guys send him back, but who who knows where it’s going to go, but I can’t help but thinking having Jet Lenenko in the same room as Sean Couturier is only going to benefit that young player. Yeah, Jeeoff, I’m really sensitive when it comes to the the young player and the the veteran player the relationship and Coots has taken it upon himself to really teach the young guys. I remember as a I remember it was my second or third year I thought I thought I made it. had the long hair in Philly. Had a good year before. And I was lucky. I had Brad Mcrimman, Mark How and Dave Puland, uh Timmy Kerr. I mean, I go down the list of teaching me the proper ways to become a pro, how to handle yourself in games, off the ice. Um, so I really believe it’s a you got to patch patch uh pass the torch um and help those guys. And I think I see that from Coots and it really excites me when I see veteran players take care of young players because I know it helped my career. You know, I I can’t help but thinking, you know, even with the the Pittsburgh Penguins and like how much the the Penguins want to get like a lot of those young kids in the room around Crosby, like have that experience, have that rub off, like this is the way, you know, to your point about, you know, with with Dave Puland and with with Beast and How and all those guys, like this is this is this is how we do it. Um, one of the things that I was laughing about and I I I I I’m I’m still like giggling to myself about the game. So, it’s four to two late in the game. The the Florida Panthers have pulled the goalender and there’s Christian D’vorak in front like he’s like he’s trying to screen Babroski. Babski’s out. Sanheim shoots it and he and he tips it in the net. Like I’m sure you I’m sure you’ve never chiseled a goal from a teammate before, Rick. But I’m I watch it and I’m like what is D’vorak? It’s great. I love it. I can’t stop laughing about it that he tipped in an empty net goal. Uh what did the coach think when he saw that? Because I have not stopped laughing about it. It’s great. Well, you know, I I’ve been preaching that front presence and all that all camp. I’ve been preaching last week game, right? So, I did a video I actually just did a a team video a couple hours a we do a game review. Yeah. My last clip I can’t believe you put that in. The last clip was, “Hey boys, we’re really getting better at this netfront presence. Here’s one of the best net I’ve seen all year.” When I showed it, the guys laughed. Debo Debo was laughing. He got a little red face, but uh yeah, I think uh he looked embarrassed after he did it, but maybe he didn’t know. I guess he didn’t know. I don’t know. Um it was awesome. Who who shot it from the point? I can’t remember. S shot it. Yeah. So, if Sandy uh if he’s one career short of uh you know, his all-time high goals, he’s gonna have to blame DVO. back back in the the old like gold bonus days like the you saw that all the time like guys chiseling goals like I’m two goals away from $20,000 here. I need to get a goal wherever I can. Oh, I you know what I remember I remember an old God this is like from the late7s Rick and it was I think Lanny had a Lanny McDonald had like a 10,000 bonus for for 20 or 30 goals. It was a twoon might have even been an empty net and Sillers got the yawning cage and instead of shooting it he passes to Land. You could just see Harold freaking out about having to spend like an extra 20 grand and he passed it to Annie. I look up to the bunker with him and King like, “Yeah, yeah, 20 grand. Let’s go.” Chaa. You’re right. That that that did happen all that happened all the time, Rick. Like in in in your era, too. Like, okay. Before a game, it’s like, okay, who’s who’s close to this milestone? Who’s close to that milestone? Yeah. I’ve seen guys go out of their way, try to get a guy a bonus. But also in the back then, too, Ed Snider did it. Uh he’d have a brown envelope with money. So if we say we were uh if we got six or seven points out of 10, you got more money, right? So it’s a SC segment of five. Uh if your power play was over a certain percentage of your penalty kill and then you get these bonuses and every month if you got these goals, you get a brown envelope of money cash. Uh and I remember back in the day we had, you know, we were, you know, we won the pres. We had a good team. So we made a lot of these bonuses. So I mean we’re grabbing, you know, back then like 1,100 bucks, 1,500 cash from the owner. He didn’t have to do that. So yeah, that’s the stuff they used to do back in the day. It’s it’s uh it’s remarkable that that must have been just so much so much fun as a player as well. Um let me get to what I thought was like the D’vorak play was like that’s the one that I’m always going to look back on and just and just laugh. But before that, like the the 3-2 goal, the Couture goal, and the play by Ziggress behind the net. So I’ll be honest with you, I see Ziggress behind the net with the puck. I’m thinking Michigan. And I think we’re all thinking he’s gonna do he’s gonna do something. And he takes a hit from like two beasts like Erin Neckblad and Sam Bennett and makes the play, gets it to Coutureier and he scores. And I’m thinking to myself like the guy in Anaheim’s going for a Michigan or he’s trying to flip it over the net or something. This guy takes a hit from two guys with Stanley Cup rings and makes a play to Caturier in the home opener. I’m like it seems like a different Trevor Ziggress. I know you didn’t have him before, but like what are the conversations with this young athlete like now? You know, he he’s honestly, Jeff, a pleasure to coach. He’s he’s a really nice kid. He knows he he wants to get his game back. Um he knows what he has to do. Uh and there’s going to be some bumps and bruises along the way. Uh you know, there’s some old habits that we’re trying to get him away with, but to me, that’s a great habit, right? He if you look at Couturi, he gets blown up by Bett. he gets up that all of a sudden Zenius gets it and he knows he’s going to get crunched and he just holds it for another second. If he doesn’t if he throws a puck early, it doesn’t go through the the Panthers defense, but because he waits. He knows he’s going to get hit a little bit and then he makes that play. So, that’s good stuff. I mean, that’s uh that’s willing to take a hit to make a play and it was obviously a high level a big moment, right? It’s a high level play with four minutes left against the Stanley Cup champs. It it’s huge. Um, listen, uh, a couple of other players I want to get your thoughts on. Nikita Grabbankin may not be a headline maker right now. Yeah. Um, but from, listen, from my perch in media, the guy’s gold. Uh, fantastic. Always a great quote, great great personality. What does the coach see in Grabbankin? Yeah, I’ll be honest. I I I you know, that’s a struggle right now is, you know, we’ve had five power five penalties every game. So, we’ve had fe penalties. So, if you know, if you do the math, I mean, that shortens the game up. I I I got to get him out there. He’s he’s he’s making things happen. Half wall. I mean, hashmark down coming up with loose pucks, holding on to pucks. He’s really good at um he’s a good hockey player that we’re going to, I think there’s another level for him. Um so, right now I, you know, he’s buying time, but I got to get him out there more because I agree what you’re saying. He’s a he’s a he’s a dynamic kid off the ice. He’s a funny kid. Uh the language bar a little bit. I think he’s starting to learn English, but uh the old universal hockey language he understands. How do you get to I mean that that that that’s one issue and and listen Mitchkov is like one of the elite skill skilled players. Like what are what are some of the issues you know getting through changing the game? I don’t want to say actually I don’t want to say changing the game because I don’t think you want to profoundly change the player. I think you want to sort of massage the player for like this is the way we need to play to be successful here. Like this is all about growth and and development here. Like as as you look at handling this player like what’s going through your mind as like okay I got to encourage here and I’ve got to dissuade there. Like it’s it’s and he’s such a skilled player and can be such a like how do you handle that Rick? It’s it’s got to be sensitive. Yeah it’s sensitive. You know first of all we all have to understand he’s a secondyear guy. He’s he’s he’s there’s a little bit of a language barrier. He’s coming over here trying to learn the culture and different things. So, right away he’s got that. Um, you know, I’m a big crest guy. Uh, you know, we’re a culture guy. We’re trying to turn things around here. How do you win? Uh, but also you got to allow this guy to be able to be creative and do his thing. You know, he’s he he can make mistakes because the riskreward is there, Jeff. Like, you know, we got to allow him to make some plays because he can make those zebras play or he can make a high level play with three minutes up, but it there has to be also the confines of the team. you know, um, you know, he’s got to make sure that, you know, when we don’t have the puck, you know, you cannot always leave the zone, things like that. Power play, you know, you got to be the guy back on, you know, after a faceoff loss, you can’t dive in. These are little things that we’re just going to have to stay on top of. You know, he listen, he he got off to uh behind the eightball a little bit with the fitness. I guess he had a little bit of an ankle problem this summer. He didn’t train like he was supposed to. So, you know, he’s he’s uh in practices we’re getting him up to speed like today. I I know it’s a corny thing, but his last two practices, he looks faster. Um, and there’s certain things that we could help him on to play faster, but in a long overall uh story of this, he’s a he’s a he’s a fabulous kid and the kid is wants to win and he’s creative and we got to allow that. I’m not stupid. I I don’t want him to dump the puck in. But there’s certain times when we tell him when there’s four guys around you and there’s no play, that puck has to go deep. I don’t care. Conor McDavid does that. I mean, uh, you know, so I think there’s things that we have to give and take with him, but like I said, he’s bought in. I mean, he’s in he’s in with the coaches every day watching video. So, what when I look at skilled players like Mitchkov, I always think of in terms of percentages and if he costs you three scoring chances, but he creates eight, I’m I’m good with like like do you have a number like in mind like yeah, he’s gonna cost us a couple but he’s also created x amount. Like do you is there a specific number or you just go based on on feel for that game? No, but there’s something just what you just said. There’s something to that. U you know there’s still situational hockey. You know there’s three minutes left, you’re up a goal. I’m not sure a high-risisk play is the right time. First period, you know, you got him against the fourth line um and you know he’s got a chance to make a highle play. It doesn’t work out. Yeah, no problem. That’s that’s an okay mistake. I think there’s there’s got to be situational hockey involved in that risk reward. But, uh, yeah, if he’s creating eight chances, four and three against, that’s a good thing. Um, when you took over the Flyers, what did you think they needed or like after being with them for a while to sort of come to you like what did this team need uh, as you’ve realized now? Well, I I think any anytime when you know they’ve had success over the years, right? And, you know, everybody knows it’s a rebuild, right? were trying to they’re trying to get they were trying to get draft picks and they’re trying to keep players here also and they’re trying to make the Foresters and the Kates and the Yorks and they’re in that age right that 24 you know how do you get them to lead and and be the foundational piece you know um you know to me it’s it’s it’s I’m it’s like I said it’s all about the culture and the crest and how do we you know what is it to become a flyer when we come to the rink every day you know what do we do every day to become you know first of all a good hockey player and a good team but what what do the flyers players do, you know, how do we handle stuff? How do we handle outside noise? I mean, you know, you know, if you read every day that, you know, Flyers are going to be last place or they’re not good and they lose every year. You read into that stuff, you know, you’re you’re dealing from a negative. My thing is I got some good young hockey players here uh that have a huge growth potential. Uh we just got to put them in a good environment every day that we’re doing the right things. Whether we win or lose, I don’t know. But we we have to go through and I know it’s the o, you know, most overused word in sports is process, but there has to be a process every day to get there uh for the results. And that’s kind of my goal right now. You know, when you when you mention um when you mention culture, I I think of the Philadelphia Flyers and we all have our stereotype of and listen, you played and you’re like we all our idea of like what a Philadelphia Flyer is and what a team is. Um I was a big fan of Fred Shiro. Like I love what Fred Shuri I don’t know if have you ever heard the bacon and egg story from Fred Shiro? You ever heard that one? So so the Flyers are the best team in the league in 75. They march into Pittsburgh who are a bad team and they get beaten. The guys are all dogging. I think they went out the night before. Anyhow, um next the next day of practice, not a single puck hits the ice. Fred comes into the room. The guy’s tongues are hanging out. And Fred comes in and goes, “I heard all you guys last night coming off the ice. I made a contribution. I made a contribution.” and he goes to the chalkboard and he draws like three strips of bacon and two eggs. And he goes, “This is what I had for breakfast. This tells me everything I expect out of you as a Philadelphia flyer.” And the guys are all looking at Fred like, “What’s what’s he going on about?” He goes, “I had bacon and eggs this morning. I heard you guys last night. I made a contribution. I made a he” He goes, “For breakfast on my plate, the chicken made a contribution, but the pig made a commitment. And that’s what I expect out of you as a Philadelphia.” and all the guys like, “Oh my god, I can’t believe we just heard that one from Fred.” So, I think of like Fred and establishing like what that culture is. And when I think of Philadelphia, it’s and we just started the conversation by talking about Bernie. It’s like sacrifice and this goes back to like Ed Snyder. You play like you played for Ed or you played for Ed Snider. You know, if you sacrifice and you lay out this team and this town will reward you handsomely. It’s uh it’s one of the best places to play. the the the rewards in this town. You go to an Eagle game or you go to a Phillies game. I mean, what the going to a Phillies game is one of the most intimidating places to play in. You know, I know they had a tough in the playoffs. They’re still a great it’s a great year for them and stuff like that. We want, you know, like the other night, um, you know, I was talking to Danny and Jones. They said the building is loud as they’ve heard in a couple years. Um, you know, this is what we’re trying to preach here is like when you come in here, it’s like like all teams. I’m not, you know, it’s not I’m preaching the choir here, but everybody wants to make it a comfortable place to play. That’s what the Flyers are known for. When you come here, they didn’t beat themselves. You had to earn it. And I think that’s what we’re trying to do here is create that identity. And the fans, if you work hard in this town, they’ll like it. If you’re a team, if you’re a team that I’m not saying dog it, but you know, if you’re you’re on your game some nights, there’s inconsistencies, they don’t know what they’re going to get from you, you’re gonna have a tough time here. So, I think that’s the one thing with the fans. They they drag you in the fight. You better be able to fight. That’s what they’re they want you to be able to fight and scratch and claw for every piece of, you know, ice there is out there. Okay, with that perfect segue. I’m going to take you back to ‘ 92. I’m going to close with this one. I’m curious your memories on this. April 16th, 1992. You’re playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins. You’re MSG. You’re playing the Rangers. Speaking of fighting, you fought Chris King, and you had a broken jaw. I don’t know what I don’t know what you’re thinking, Ray. And then I think you went after Messier after that, too. Like, holy smokes, Rick, it’s the last game of the season. So, but in that in that game, I am fascinated with this. So Scotty Bowman is your coach with the Penguins and he saw and it probably would have been I think to Blake or Dick Irvin Irvin who did this uh with Charlie Hodgej and Jock Plant. He changed goalies midplay while the play was going on. I’m really hoping you have a memory of this because Scotty Bowman, it was Wendell Young and and uh Ken Reggit in the third like Scotty had kept changing the goalenders all game long. There were eight changes. Seven of them were after whistles. And during the play, we got the video here. Puck is in your zone. It’s going to squirt out to the neutral zone. And we’re going to see the goal. I just You just miss it in the camera, but the but it’s I think it’s Wendell Young skating off for Ken Reggit or the other way around. The puck comes back up the ice and the goalies have changed. It’s Messi leading the rush and the goalender is different. Do you reme do you that’s Wendell Young. Do you remember Do you remember that? Because I had heard that that you guys you guys in the room before like guys you got to do it. You got to do it on the fly. It’s G it’s the last game of the season. You guys got blown out seven and one that game. It didn’t matter. Guys you got to do this. You got to change on the fly. Do you remember that moment watching goalie? I remember and those guys those guys were in cahoots. This was on a Scotty didn’t want that to happen. They just did. It was it was it was they were in cahoots on that. And let’s face it, I mean, we were going to the playoffs and I it was a fun moment and when they did it, we all kind of laughed about it later. But uh yeah, that was uh that was those guys doing it and I remember it. Yes, it was hilarious. What I I could just imagine like the bench going crazy like you know what it’s like. It’s like last game of the season. Let’s just get through it. But like the bench must have gone crazy see when you see goalies changing on the fly. Yeah. And Wendle was a Wendle was an unbelievable teammate. uh Wendell Young, he was a guy that kept the room loose and I think that was just his way of uh you know, his way of having a little bit of hijinks, but it was it was kind of funny and it was a nothing game. Uh okay, so let’s fast forward then. Let me just do this on the fly here. It’s uh the last game of the season. It’s April, it’s Tuesday the 14th. You’re playing the Montreal Canadians. Let’s say the Philadelphia Flyers have a playoff spot locked up and Sammy Ersen and Dan Vadara decide to change on the fly. What does Rick Tocket say? Are we Are we Are we Do we do we lock up a playoff? You’ve lock No, you That’s what I’m saying. You just just like that situation like with you and Pittsburgh, you’ve locked up a playoff spot this year. No, I’m saying like like if coming up this year, April, if it if it happens, you’ve locked up a playoff spot. Sammy Urs and Dan Lar can do it. Have at it. We just locked up a playoff spot. We’re trying to get the play. You got me on that one. Yes. I I’ll allow that to happen. I I I don’t care what anybody says. I’ll I’ll buck it right now. All right. Free pass for the goalenders. Change on the fly. We haven’t seen it since 1992. We didn’t have to lock up position, though. Of course. Yeah. Of course. Yeah, you locked it just like your Penguins had it locked. It was a blowout game, too. Any quick quick thought on like why you fighting Chris King with a broken jaw, Rick, back in ‘ 92. I know you were tough. You got nothing to prove, Rick. We always talk about the last game like the teams that don’t make the playoffs and the team that you know the team that makes the playoffs that last game playing a non-playoff team is probably the worst game in hockey, right? Yeah. And I remember back in the day I was playing for the Flyers. Craig Ruby was on my team, Keith Jones. And we were playing the Rangers. The Rangers weren’t going to make the playoffs that year. So they call up a guy Dale Puritan. Remember him? I remember Dale Puritan. Yeah. Tough tough player. He was a very tough guy. And you know, he’s trying to make an A at 500 minutes in the penalties in the miners and he’s skating around the warm-up and he’s uh Keith Jones is stretching and Keith Jones calls him the purifier. Hey purifier, why don’t you try this guy? And he’s put to Craig Barubi and Chief’s like going Chief’s going to Jonesy, I don’t want to fight. I’m going to the playoffs. Like I don’t want to fight. So they’re laughing. Well, so anyways, the first shift of the game, Puritans running around and he’s looking to fight something. He’s trying to press the Rangers, right? So Craig Ruby jumps off the bench and he goes to the Ranger bench. True story. And he goes to Brian Leech. Brian, you see that guy there? I will fight him, but I’m going to fight you first. That’s the rule right now. And so Brian Leech goes, “Guy, get it.” He jumps off the bench and Lee goes to Puritan and goes, “Cool it.” So anyways, the game went on and nothing happened. But the last shift of the game, I think Puritan went after Primo. But it’s just I just want to segue in the last game of the year sucks. I think when you’re when you’re a playoff team playing a non-playoff team, it’s like Marty Murley told me like he went by the Leaf Spans and said like Clark Wendell’s got to stop going at Wayne and Wendell did and he said all right it’s that’s Gilmore and that was the elbow that was the elbow that started that fight with Wendell. Um thanks for the insight Rick and uh thanks for the trip down memory lane back to 1992 and changing goalies on the fly. And Larara and Ersen, you guys got the green light from the coach. All you got to do is make the playoffs and have it wrapped up by the time April rolls around. Thanks Rick. Always appreciate it. Thanks pal. It’d be good. Nice. Great talking to you, Jeff. There he is. Uh Rick Tocket, the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. Um that game still and that moment still fascinating to me. And there we go, Zach. All we need is the Philadelphia Flyers to have the playoffs wrapped up for that final game so we can see Sam Ersen and Dan Vadar change on the fly. If that happens, it’s going to be the best ever. I’m going to be if they lock up the playoff spot, I will be watching every Flyers game like a hawk for the rest of the season until that moment happens. Now, we got to be awesome. We got save save that clip of the coach giving them the green light and just go for it because because that game like that like the Rangers blew out the seven to1 was the final. Like they did that as a goof in a in a in a blowout game. So, even if Montreal is just like scotching the Philadelphia Flyers, yeah, you got the green light from your coach, man. Like, yeah, you’re good. Go ahead, coach. Doesn’t matter. Have some fun. This one. I love that one. Um, thanks. Thanks to Rick Tocket and uh thanks to the Philadelphia Flyers uh for making their head coach uh available. All right, time now for our QOD. And I put in an alternate QOD as well. I kind of snuck one in there, Zach. I’m not sure if you uh saw that. In the meantime, this is our Ninja Krispy QD. But first, this meet the first of its kind, the Ninja Crispy portable cooking system. The power of a full-sized air fryer in the palm of your hand, so you can cook big or small batches. Just prep it, crisp it, serve it, and store it all in one. Meet the first of its kind, the Ninja Krispy portable cooking system. Now you have the power of a full-size air fryer in the palm of your hand. Just prep it, snap it, crisp it, serve it all in one container. Even I can do this. This glass air fryer is PFSA free. Trust me, like I’m I’m awful. Uh but I could do this. Thus, no harmful chemicals while cooking. It includes a small six cup and larger 4k QT tempware container. Uh whether you’re whipping up a quick single serving meal in 7 minutes, sharing crispy snacks on the go, or serving a crowd, the Ninja Krispy makes it easy. Clean up is simple. All accessories are dishwasher safe and designed to nest for easy storage. Check out the link in the episode description or go to sharkninja.ca. Six cup and larger 4Q tempar container to carry around your chow. All right, the Ninja Krispy QD. Um there’s a there’s a couple. One is what is the most surprising thing a weekend and what is the least surprising thing a week in? I kind of snuck that one in under the wire. Not sure if you noticed that one. Okay, I I missed that one. I missed that one. So that’s that’s on me. I do have responses here though for people from uh from the chat. Uh question of the day. Obviously most surprising things that we’ve seen so far through a week. Uh Big Willie, happy birthday by the way. Big Willie working all of our chat. Respect to the chat. Yeah, respect to the chat. Yes, he did comment and it’s kind of funny cuz he is right. One of the biggest conversations we’ve had through the first week has been contracts every day somebody new signing somebody new extending which I don’t know like it kind of hurts would get signed exact like these would get done during the year like I wouldn’t have been surprised by that at all but for them to all just like pile up at the beginning of the season it’s good point. I didn’t really think that that would be the case. That was kind of surprising. It is interesting. I I I again like I I come back to the you know players just want to get things done and I don’t think they want like when you consider like the the like the massive stories like how long have we been talking about oh you can’t wait for July. July 1st 2026 is going to be insane. Did you see the free So you just know and all the players know that this is a story that’s going to dog them all season long. I don’t think Ekeel wants this to follow him. I don’t think McDavid wanted this to follow that. I don’t think the Capri off like I don’t think Indy’s guys wanted them to follow them all season long. So there is an element of I don’t want to have like trust me like I think that was a big part of Lane Hudson getting hit because there was no pressure point. There was no pressure point for Lane Hudson. No pressure point for Cortex. The pressure point was next September for them to get a deal. There was no pressure point. But I just don’t think that Lane Hudson wanted that conversation around him. I think he just wanted that the conversation around him to be about his play and the Montreal Canadians play. I don’t think he wanted to make Yeah. it about his contract at all, which is fair. And especially like you hear co uh Colby talk about it on Morning Cup of Hockey. He was like, “This is a guy who would play Friday, Saturday, and be the only guy on the ice on Sunday morning. All he wants to do is play hockey. That’s it. Play all summer long or anything like that.” Yeah. Yeah, him and him and Devon off like they didn’t take their skates off. Like I don’t think their dry fits got dry all all summer long. Like they just stayed in wet clothes all summer cuz all they did was skate. They were just driving around from rink to rink, not taking their gear off. That’s what Lapier told us, right? He’s like, “Yeah, they were just playing with me in a tournament.” He’s looking around going, “What the hell are you doing here?” Just hockey nomads like just wandering around just like Quai Chang and Kane and Kung Fu. Snatch the pebble grasshopper. Only then may you leave the temple. Anyhow, uh yeah, that’s a good one. Fire some of these other ones here for you and you give your thoughts. Uh Jeffrey the biggest surprise is the Rangers can’t score at home. Can’t figure it out. Poor poor poor Johnny Poor Johnny Lazarus. I I I mean I feel for the Rangers. I feel for Vinnie Troek on LTI now. Geez, man. Um, and you know, Lazarus is, poor Laz, you know, pulling his hair out trying to figure out, you know, what’s what’s wrong with this team and who’s going to who’s going to who’s going to score goals. Meanwhile, you see who popped in two power play goals last night for the quack. Yeah. Crider, I know, I know, I know. Little salt in the wounds. Yeah. This is just a little bit there for the Rangers with love signed Chris. Anything else? You got Spencer Newton 992. Uh biggest surprise how Florida and Sergey Babrovski have been this good is definitely a surprise. Uh now I don’t know if you saw but Paul Maurice announced just before we went live uh that Kulakov is going to miss about five months with an upper body injury. So, you know, to that lineup, I I I I kind of thought and when Kulakov got injured, like right away, um, you saw who San Jose put on waiverss, Lucas Carlson. I thought that Florida was going to bring Lucas Carlson back to the Panthers knowing that the Kulakov injury was going to be, you know, more severe than two to four weeks. But once again, I was wrong. It just seemed like too coincidental. Cool. Cops injured. San Jose waves Carlson. Oh, you don’t say. Oh, really? Oh, okay. Very interesting. Um, yeah, I did. I I did see that. That’s a uh that that’s a tough one. Uh, anything else? Cuz I want to promote tomorrow’s morning cup of hockey. It should be a good one. Yeah. Uh, last one I’ll give to you because I saw them last night. But, uh, Portuguese walrus, biggest surprise, the pres have a pulse. Um, this one’s just an interesting one because I was watching last night. One of my roommates said to me, he’s like, “Wow, the PRs have a lot of names.” I’m like, “They do. Yeah, they do. They have a lot of names. None of they really didn’t piss a drop last year.” I know, but there’s a lot of recognizable names on the Nashville Predators and should have, you know, I was disappointed and I get it. I understand it. And I perhaps I suppose I understand why Andrew Brunett did it. Martin scratched last night. Yeah. Okay, I’ll say this. I think that that’s one of those ones you just have to play the kid. You play here once, right? You’re here once. I know that you don’t air quotes from. I know. I’m I’m of a couple of minds. One, like, yeah, like he’s a big piece of your future. He’s a first round pick. He’s made the team. Like, he’s been great living with Forsber and Forsber’s kid loves him. He’s charming. and PR’s fans are all excited. But I I do share that I mean it’s just a product of age. I do share a sensitivity about too much too soon for a kid and always sort of just putting enough cheese in the trap and and and like and by that by that I mean like reminding him that not everything’s going to be given to you. Like whatever you expect, don’t expect anything and don’t take anything for granted. It’s a he’s going to get his game in Toronto eventually. We all know we all know. and this saves him from playing free hockey on his entry level essentially like you’re buying a million tickets. I’m playing free hockey today. I’m not getting not getting paid. I spent my I spent my days check on on on tickets for a game. I don’t know. I don’t I’m not an NHL coach. I do understand the dynamics at play. Part of me would just say play the kid, give him the cookie. The other part of me would be, you know, I’m not just going to play a kid because he’s at home because I have a responsibility not just to Brady Martin, but I got a responsibility to this entire team. And I don’t think the entire team in a year is as as sensitive as it is for the Nashville Predators. I don’t want them to think that I’m being frivolous when my decision is the kid shouldn’t play this game and I’m not just going to do it just to do a solid for the kid who’s been here for five minutes. Yeah, I think that’s fair. I don’t I don’t I don’t have any hands on the wheel, so I’m saying play the kid. Rock and roll. Let’s go. Yeah, exactly. Something to say about jobs on the line. Oh, come on. I’m being frivolous about Andrew Brunettes. Play him, you dope. Oh, what’s brunette doing? Said the guy in the back seat. Feel good. Give him a chance. Yeah, I’m with you. Go for it. Uh, really quickly, you mentioned Morning Cup of Hockey. James Van Reamdikeke is going to be on every two weeks. So, I think Freriedman and Van Remdsteike are are swapping week to week. So, JVR of the Detroit Red Wings will be on Morning Cup of Hockey tomorrow. Look at that gorgeous promo at a boy Zack. Uh JVR every two weeks on Morning Cup of Hockey uh 9:00 a.m. on our Daily Face Off YouTube channel where you are watching this show right now if you are indeed watching. Lovely graphic. That’s how you do a promo. Thank you. That’s how That’s That’s how you’re You’re a professional. Yeah, you’re a professional. I try. I try. That’s how you do it. That’s how you do it. Um what Oh, you know what? We got um we got uh a number of games today. And I want to remind everybody what’s coming up here in about one hour’s time. But first, the sheet is powered by FanDuel. Our friends there, home of the same game parlay, make every moment more on FanDuel. FanDuel, proud to connect fans to the major sports moments that matter to them. What you got? Look, there’s four games on the schedule tonight and I will take a peek at all of them, but there is one I will not be able to take my eyes off of and I’m pretty sure it’s the same situation for Are you going to do it? Sends minus 110, Sabers minus 110. We are dead even in the odds for tonight’s game. Ottawa on the road. No Brady Kachchuck. We know uh Dylan Cousins has already played his uh air quotes revenge game against the Sabres. Last year he played in Buffalo, I believe it was. Yeah. But this kind of feels like one of those ones. It’s inevitable. Like I do not get the warm and fuzzies for the Sabres tonight, Jeff. I don’t. I’m sorry, Buffalo, but I don’t It feels like one of those ones where the sends come in and they’re like, “Ah, we don’t have Brady Kachchuck. We got to step up for our guy and just wamp the Sabres. I don’t know. I I kind of get that vibe going in. Dylan Cousins going to get a hat-tick tonight. What’s FanDuel doing with that? And then Sam Reinhardt again when they play the Panthers later on this week. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And then the Sabres are 0 and6. And then Oh, I know. That’s the one I’m keying in on tonight though. I don’t know. You look Florida their favorite against the Red Wings. Calgary. Uh big underdogs against Utah tonight. Uh and then the Blackhawks on the road at St. Louis. But all eyes on send Sabers for me. Quick thought on on on Chicago because I I got to get to your Remark show in a couple of seconds, but I I know they don’t have the points to show for it. And I know Colobby Cohen the other day was talking about, you know, pirick victories and empty calorie games. And I I understand that this is this team is playing a lot harder this year and all the games are competitive. And we didn’t always say that about the Blackhawks last year. I know the results aren’t there. Results oriented industry, Merrick. Results oriented. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Park it. Tough guy. Um they’ve taken they’ve taken they’ve taken I know they’ve taken a step. It’s all that’s all I’m going to say. Like they’re not going to get make the playoffs. I get it. But Bard looks better. Frank Nazar looks fantastic. Sam Renzel looks really good. They’ve t They’ve taken a step. They’ve taken a step. They’ve taken a step. They’ve taken a step. I’m just going to throw this out there. You brought it up and at this point because I’ve seen it, I can’t not do it. Uh Dylan Cousins to score a hat-tick. I knew you would do this. What does FanDuel have? $5 on this pays you $1,125. I don’t Look, let me put a disclaimer. I do not think that this happens. The odds indicate it’s unlikely, but I will not pass up an opportunity to be better than this tonight. And FanDuel has by far the best odds you could get. It’s Dylan Cousins hattrick for me. I can’t pass this up. Yeah. Thank you for bringing that to my attention. Okay. Yeah, no problem. We’ll uh we’ll I’ll be happy to get that text tonight whenever if it does uh happen at all. Hey, coming up in under an hour here, uh, if you’re watching or listening to us live, uh, DFO rundown, the insider edition, uh, with Dave Pyata and Fang Gafar. That comes up at 3:00 Eastern right here on our daily faceoff channel. So, if you are so inclined, and I encourage you to do so, uh, check out that show uh, in week two. Uh, in the meantime, thanks to Jesse Granger from The Athletic for, and talking about the Vegas Golden Knights and the goalending um, issues around the NHL and some nice thoughts about Ken Dryden and Bernie Pant as well. Um, speaking of Bernie PR and the Philadelphia Flyers, thanks to Flyers head coach Rick Tockett for stopping by to talk about this year’s edition of the Flyers so far coming off that win against the Panthers. Uh, and going back in history and indulging me with, um, you know, stories about Fred Shiro from 75 and then the goalie change on the fly in ‘ 92 and him saying he would let Dan Vadar and Sam Herson do it. So, we’re gonna keep pumping that video out as the Philadelphia Flyers get closer. Now all of a sudden I really want now. Now if you’re just like if you just cheer to see cool stuff happen in hockey now you’re invested in seeing the Philadelphia Flyers make the playoffs and have it wrapped up by game 81 because it’s green light for a goalie change on the fly in game 82 against the Montreal Canadians. That right fan firstaches Flyers fan two. You’re Flyers fan two. Just so you can see that whole season Flyers fan number. Yeah, that’s I need to see it after that after that promise from Rick Tocket. We are all Flyers fans just to see some more history made in the NHL. Um don’t forget morning cup of hockey tomorrow. James Van Remdsteike uh daily faceoff coming up here insider edition daily faceoff rundown that is insider editionar and uh excuse me and Dave Pota uh from the fourth period that coming up at 3:00 Eastern. Thanks for the buns and the use of the hall, they tell me. And tip your Zamboni driver on the way out. The sheet is off the air. We are back tomorrow 1:00 Eastern. Jeff Merrick along with you. Hope you enjoyed the program today. If you did, or maybe even if you didn’t, they can’t all be gems, folks. Uh, please hit the subscribe button. Also, a reminder, every morning 9:00 a.m. Eastern, Johnny Lazarus, Colobby Cohen, I call them the Impact Players. You might know them as a tandem that makes up the Morning Cup of Hockey. Also, DFO Live at noon Eastern this year. Your host, Tyler Yurchuk, alongside Carter Hutton. Full days worth of programming right here on Daily Face Off, your favorite YouTube hockey channel. And as a reminder as well, Zach Phillips, our producer here for The Sheet, said if you subscribe, he’ll buy you a puppy. It’s true.

The Sheet with Jeff Marek delivers another can’t-miss NHL deep dive, packed with elite guests and headline storylines from around the league. Jeff opens with a powerful reflection on the Montreal Canadiens’ moving tribute to Ken Dryden at the Bell Centre — calling it one of the most perfect ceremonies in hockey history. Then, Jesse Granger of The Athletic joins the show to break down the Vegas Golden Knights’ strong start, Adin Hill’s injury, Akira Schmid’s rise in goal, and the growing buzz surrounding Carter Hart possibly signing with Vegas. They also react to Jack Eichel’s $13.5 million AAV extension, Bill Foley’s aggressive spending, and how Vegas continues to set the gold standard for NHL franchises. Later, Philadelphia Flyers Head Coach Rick Tocchet joins to discuss Sean Couturier’s resurgence, Trevor Zegras’ maturity, Matvei Michkov’s development, and how he’s rebuilding Flyers identity and culture from the ground up.

Chapters:
00:00 – Jeff Marek on Montreal’s emotional Ken Dryden tribute
02:00 – The Blueprints powered by FanDuel
03:15 – Bernie Parent legacy and Flyers tradition
06:00 – Jesse Granger joins to discuss the Vegas Golden Knights
09:00 – Adin Hill injury update & Akira Schmid’s opportunity
13:00 – Goaltender safety and mask rule debate
14:00 – Jack Eichel’s $13.5M AAV extension breakdown
17:00 – Bill Foley’s spending and the Golden Knights’ winning culture
20:00 – How to beat Vegas when they’re rolling
22:00 – Early-season standout goalies: Shesterkin, Swayman, Demko
25:00 – Devin Levi and the Sabres’ goaltending dilemma
27:30 – Carter Hart to Vegas? The latest rumor mill
29:30 – Rick Tocchet joins The Sheet
30:00 – Flyers’ big win vs. Panthers & Sean Couturier’s 4-point night
33:00 – Trevor Zegras’ maturity and compete level
38:00 – Matvei Michkov’s skill, development, and growth
42:00 – How Tocchet is rebuilding Flyers culture and accountability
46:00 – Tocchet’s classic 1992 Penguins story with Scotty Bowman
49:00 – Coaching philosophy, process, and final thoughts

#TheSheet #JeffMarek #NHL #RickTocchet #JesseGranger #VegasGoldenKnights #PhiladelphiaFlyers #KenDryden #CarterHart #JackEichel #MatveiMichkov #TrevorZegras #SeanCouturier #DailyFaceoff #FanDuelCanada #HockeyPodcast #NHLHighlights #NHLAnalysis

Shout out to our sponsors!
👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/
👍🏼Simply Spiked: https://www.simplyspiked.ca/en-CA
👍🏼Shark Ninja: https://www.sharkninja.ca/ninja-crispi-4-in-1-portable-glass-air-fryer-cooking-system/FN101CGY.html?utm_source=Better+Collective&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=H2+Air+Fryer&utm_content=EN
👍🏼Uber Eats: https://www.ubereats.com/ca
👍🏼Prime Video: https://primevideo-row.pxf.io/c/5560083/3303015/20020

Reach out to sales@thenationnetwork.com 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/dailyfaceoff

Daily Faceoff Merch:
Daily Faceoff