Capitals are Rolling, Hockey Nicknames, and Olympics ft. Greg Wyshynski & Mollie Walker | The Sheet

Capitals are Rolling, Hockey Nicknames, and Olympics ft. Greg Wyshynski & Mollie Walker | The Sheet

[Music] So, Greg, as we uh kick off another edition of uh MB VW Thursdays here on the sheet. We just let you groove to the music a little bit. A little bit hypnotic for a Thursday. It’s been a long week. Maybe you’re a little undercaffeinated. Let the music just sort of hypnotize you like a metronome. Undercaffeinated. I’m caffeinated enough. Are you? Are you? Yeah. It’s It’s been bad for me lately. And now I wonder why I can’t sleep. I drink a cajillion coffees a day. Why? I’m waking up at two o’clock in the morning. Anyhow, um, so welcome to the program. Thursday, December the 4th. There you go. Time stamp for the show today. Do you want to just kick off with the nickname or do you want to build towards it? No, go ahead. No, this is yours. You threw this in our chat today and I think it’s quite brilliant. Like, one thing that we’ve mourned over the last few years is the sort of the death of the good nickname in the NHL. But boy, do we have a good one now. And by the way, for those of you who think that like George Vzna was actually called the Shakudami cucumber, like I assure you the players didn’t refer to George as hey shakurami cucumber. No, that’s just like as he was referred to as a nickname in print back then. But nonetheless, I digress. There are no cool nicknames anymore except this latest one. Greg Washinski, the floor is yours before we intro the show. So Dan Daniel uh Here’s the thing. It’s boot. No, it’s pronounced boot. Yeah. Yeah. But you look at it and it’s and it’s butt. It’s spelled but U T. But we’ve come to realize courtesy of the reporting out of Utah. Yeah. That uh his nickname is Cheeks, courtesy of Ian Cole. Yeah. Uh there you go. Broen broke it down for us that it’s Cheeks. Ian Cole has either Ian Cole or someone else has nicknamed uh Daniel Boot uh Cheeks. Yeah. Which is amazing. Which gives us Merrick two um spectacular player nicknames in the same season after, as you mentioned, a pretty substantial drought. Uh we’ve got Cheeks. Yep. In Utah and we have the Wall of St. Paul. Wall of St. Paul is really good like that that is in the spirit of the shudami cucumber that that is very much like oh the pemrook peach like like that that is very much in that spirit. I do like the wall and what what what makes the Yesper Walstad uh nickname so fascinating and spectacular is the sense that you know not only does it describe a rookie that has four shut outs in his first 10 games this season, but it also puts some some shine and some love on St. Paul, which is the the city of the Twin Cities that no one gives a about. No one talks about which I think is like this is I think that’s that’s as much community service as anything else in this nickname. I think it’s great. I’ll be there for the World Juniors uh for 10 days or so. Me and me and Zach are heading down so I’ll get a a full eyeball uh of uh of of St. Paul. Um, so I loved I’ve I’ve only been to Minneapolis once because I’ve never really had to go there for like a conference final or anything because the Wild don’t usually make it there, but I went there for the the draft that one year and um I love that city. Like I love I love that city as an art city. I love that city as a music city. My best friend has gone there multiple times for various Prince related things. But, you know, the one thing I do remember about that city is, of course, food and and having my first official Juicy Lucy in uh in Minneapolis. The Juicy Lucy is a cheeseburger. Okay. In which they take the patty and they form it around the cheese. So, when they cook it, the cheese melts inside the burger. Now, there are much like you got to go to like the official cheese steak places in Philadelphia to get the real McCoy, there are a few bars in uh Minneapolis that claim to have originated the Juicy Lucy, of course. And so I remember um me and me me and Ley went to one and I was like dressed in my my you know fancy reporter clothes and they’re like they give you the burger and they’re just like, “Hey, let it rest for a little bit. you know, it’s it’s better if you let it rest for a little bit. I’m like, come on, hungry. Yeah. So, I bit into the Juicy Lucy with the cheese that’s that’s melted inside. And this thing spit at me like an asp. It just spat melted cheese and grease. Like, I remember it went all the way up my as I took a bite of this burger. And uh but it was delicious. Highly recommend if anyone’s going to World Juniors to find Yeah. the uh the juicy list in Minneapolis. You want to hear a uh a Minnesota draft story from 1988. Yeah. Which involves a very unruly owner. Oh, Bill Waters told me this story when we used to work together. So, this is the Met Center draft in 1988. There’s a lot of stuff that we’re going to talk about like as far as hockey goes like today, but just indulge me with this one story cuz as I like to remind people, this this used to be the NHL, folks. This used to be what happened in the NHL. I know that you’re tuning in and hearing Jeff Merrick tell a story from before 1990 and you’re saying to yourself, “What’s happened here? This never happens on a Jeff Merrick show. Is something wrong? Did he have a an aneurysm or something?” So, here I think I think you’ll even like this one. So, Bill Waters, who I used to do a show with a million years ago called Leaf’s Lunch on on 640 local radio in Toronto, told me the story. So, he was working at TSN. They were covering the draft. And back then, the draft wasn’t as big a deal as it is now. Back then, it was a twoperson uh twoperson affair. It was John Wells who was uh hosting who was the one of the original anchors at TSN and Bill Waters. And so they do the opening the opening shot. They have a shot of the the Met Center and here we are in Bloomington, Minnesota. And they get inside and here’s the host Minnesota Nurse Stars and here’s the Quebec Nordics. They have the first overall pick and here’s the LA Kings and here’s the Montreal Canadians and blah blah blah blah blah. And the camera is panning and they’re going all through the tables and they get to the Toronto Maple Leafs and everybody has their feet up on the table. And so John Wells says to Bill Waters like, “Why do all the Maple Leafs have their like scouts and everything around the have their feet up on the table?” And so Bill like BSes goes, “Oh, it’s a cocky bunch. They probably uh have some secret pick third overall they’re going to take that nobody’s ever heard of. They took Scott Thornton from the Belleville Bulls.” So I mean that was just like complete malarkey. So the draft goes on and Sundine goes first and Dave Chazowski and then Scott Thornton and Stu Barnes goes fourth and then Bill Garin goes fifth overall now the architect of USA hockey but I digress or the team USA anyhow and so Billy goes up to Tom Watt who was one of the scouts for the Maple Leafs at that point after the draft and goes like Jesus Tom like what was that like our cameras are coming by you guys all have your feet up on the table I got to some answer about what you guys are thinking he goes oh Billy it was so bad it was so bad it was so bad. And Bill goes, “What?” He says, “Well, we get in there and Harold Ballard, you know, the owner, who is a, you know, pretty old by that point, you in in a in a wheelchair sitting at the head of the table. And apparently apparently Ballard was really pissed off at Looney Nanny that they put the Toronto Maple Leafs table way at the back and the washrooms were at the other end of the floor and he had to go and he goes, “I’m not wheeling myself all the way down there, boys. Get your loafers up.” And he pulls out his rope and has a squirt on the floor as the camera’s coming by. And here’s the owner of the Maple Leafs. And his wheelchair is a This is the NHL draft. [Laughter] There’s all the loafers up on the table. And there’s the owner. I’ll show you, Lou. Oh my god. That is that’s a hell of a story. Listen, it’s a much more disciplined NHL now than it was back then. But folks, things like this used to happen sort of on the semi-regular in the NHL. But uh I digress. How about we use that as a jump off point uh to let everybody know what’s on the program today. Uh how about that? Uh the blueprint is powered by FanDuel. Download the app today. Have your giggles. Download the app today and play your game on FanDuel. Coming up on the show, it is Thursday. That means Greg Washinsky from ESPN and ESPN.com. So, we are talking Awards Watch with Greg Washinsky and uh spoiler, Nathan McKinnon looks like he’s cruising to the heart, but there are other some other really interesting ones there as well. We’ve already kind of talked about nicknames. Maybe we’ll bat that around a little bit more. Molly Walker will join us from the New York Post. Um we may talk Rangers, but we’ll definitely talk um USA and the Olympics and Mike Sullivan and we’ll see if we can squeeze in any Ranger talk as well. But what I want to kick off with today before we get to awards watch Mhm. I know that the NHL and the salary cap era and we see it a lot this year. The toilet seat at the stag and do up and down up and down streak streak streak streak streaks. And the Washington Capitals right now are on the proverbial heater taking care of the San Jose Sharks 7 to1. Alexanderkin finding the back of the net a couple of times. He’s now trending towards 40 or 41 goals. all of the sudden. Uh Ryan Leonard should probably be making some Calder noise maybe in your watch as well. The the CER trophy NHL Awards watch of course was uh uh tabulated and sent out to the potential voters before last night’s game and and to surprise no one a few Washington Capitals fans have chimed in to say where’s Ryan Leonard? What the future? I know I know I get it. They’re there. Every fan base is a proud bunch and very protective of their children. So, you can understand why they’d be uh a little bit miffed that Ryan Leonard wasn’t more represented. But nonetheless, like I remember asking someone last year in the analytics community, let’s just say. I said, “Give me the top three smartest teams in the NHL in your opinion.” and he said this is just like you know ones that like are very strict about following the numbers um interpreting the numbers making um making moves based on the number highly intelligent uh NHL teams and he said number one are the Carolina Hurricanes and they’ve been that way for a long time. Number two, even though everyone thinks that they’re just old school hockey and vibes and feel and it are the Florida Panthers. And I said, “Who’s number three?” He goes, “This one might surprise you.” I said, “Who’s that?” goes Washington Capitals. So, the Washington Capitals are one of the smartest organizations in the and this is from someone, let’s just say, in the analytics community who carries a lot of weight. Anyhow, what do you make of the caps right now? I’m just I’m trying to figure out why you were surprised by the Capitals front office being They don’t have that. No, they don’t they don’t have the same rep that the Carolina Hurricanes do or the Maple Leafs under Dubis did or the Florida Panthers perspective, but from a league perspective they might not. But I mean like Tim Barnes is their assistant general. I know. Oh, I know. Oh, I know. Todd Fish been there forever. Like Chris Patrick is forward thinking. They they just they just don’t have the same rep that the Hurricanes do, right? With the uh oh, it’s a first period. Let’s warm up our Corsy. Haha. Like they don’t have that vibe about them. They they don’t have their that vibe about them analytically, but I think that they should have I I think that the moves that they’ve made like this. So, the the moves the Capitals have made have been very smart and they they’ve they’ve they’ve invested in players that were maybe not at the uh apex of their careers at the time and then they go and get them and and then and then it turns out great. Dubois was the example last year where they buy as low as they possibly can. Yes. On a player and he turns out to to resurrect his career and then obviously like Jacob Chicken was good for them last year and now he’s probably a Norris finalist at this point. And so, yeah, you know, the way that they approach their player acquisition, I think, is very analy an analytically driven. And um and the people that they have in their front office, I think have all have in in the case of at least a guy like Tim Barnes pedigrees in that in that um in that genre. Um what do I think of them? I I marvel at the fact that they’ve been this good. um considering a couple of the injuries that they’ve had this year. I marvel at the fact that Logan Thompson has been this good throughout the year. Um and I and I think that what we’re going to start seeing is Spencer Carbury getting mentioned in that group of of coaches that have established track records of now making their team better than it maybe should be on paper. I think they’re great. I think he’s great and I think that the way they play is is advantageous to them being a contender and uh and and they’ve shown it. Um I mentioned Ryan Leonard a couple of seconds ago. That’s one. Um Cole Hudson is on the horizon too. Like still like like they’re they’ve they’ve killed it at the draft. They’ve killed it with development. Uh I’ll throw another name at you. Russ Mahoney has done a lot of great work and repopulating the uh the pipeline here uh for the Washington Capitals. But what did you make what did you make of last night? Like this is like this is the Sharks, baby. High-flying Sharks. Here you go. Mlin Celerini’s filling the net. Will Smith right there in the the vapor trail behind the bullet for for Min Cabrini. he’s going to fill and just just like snuffed and Ascar off chased and like every now and then like the big dogs remind the little dogs like okay like you’re it’s cute but you’re not you’re not there yet like watching this game and also that’s that was there are also times when the little dogs play like little dogs too and that can get in the way. I I I wanna I last night’s whatever, but like the thing that I find most interesting about the Capitals is that on occasion in this league, you get teams that become the models um for other teams. And um I think in the case of the Washington Capitals, for better or for worse, the reload on the fly, the retool on the fly, what they were able to do to go from the Backstrom Oshi Ovetkin team to now what they have here with Ovetkin um has sort of created its own template. Now, sometimes that template can can work. Um, you know, Sydney Crosby told me before the season like he want he basically wanted the Penguins to be the these Capitals in the sense of like the veteran core is in place. They’re in their their twilight years, but you repopulate the roster and become relevant again with smart acquisitions and younger players. I don’t think the Penguins have necessarily done it to the level of the Capitals, but you know, clearly what they’ve done and also hiring, you know, the right coach has enabled them to be relevant in a way that we all wish they wouldn’t be because that means that Malcolin and Crosby would be traded. Um, but I do think though, Merrick, the the Capitals and what they’ve accomplished can be the northstar for some teams that maybe shouldn’t be chasing that or maybe aren’t talented enough or smart enough to accomplish that. And and it’ll be interesting to see like what effect the capital success has on some teams that have veteran cores that maybe should break them up otherwise. Uh because I I I do think they’ve created a new path. in this league with veteran player acquisition, smart player development, patience with your young guys, and then, you know, in the in the case of Oshi and Backrom, obviously some uh advantageous salary cap relief. So, here’s um here’s what I wonder and I just did as as you were talking just a quick search and I couldn’t find it. You might be more deaf at this than I am or certainly people in the chat or maybe you Zach lurking behind the scenes. So Avetchkin right now is trending towards 41 goals for this season and it’s a season that we all look at and say it’s probably the last season for for Ovetkin here. Lot of lot of jersey trades for big big O this year. Take take a lot of sticks on the road. Take a lot of jerseys on the road. Um yeah. How how’ you how’d you like to be like the uh how’d you like to be like the the equipment staff for the Los Angeles Kings lugging around all these extra sticks for Copitar all season long? Oh, that’s so thoughtful. Oh, Copitar giving away all these How about the guys that are lugging them all over? Okay, but I I digress. So, he’s trending towards 41. Do you happen to know the most goals a player has scored in his final year? Wow. Like, is there one where you’re like, “Holy smokes, this guy had like 46 goals and then he pieced out.” Like, I’ll look at like someone like Nick Liddstrom who was still getting Norris Trophy votes when he finally pieced out uh on on the NHL and just kind of said like, “I’m I’m not I’m not coming back. I can’t come back.” Zach, did you find this? Well, let me let me let me say this, Zack, before you say this. Like, go ahead. you are are we dealing are we are we including players for whom their careers were cut short by injury because Mike Bossi had 38 goals in his last NHL season. Yeah, but that was that’s the answer I have by the way. That’s his that’s his back injury. He if he didn’t have the bad back and like that that like flat out that’s that’s what cost him his career. If he didn’t have that he probably would have had 60 that year too because look at the last few years where his back was healthy. It’s a string of 60s. It’s insane what Bossi did. So, was that it 36 with Bad Back Bossy? Uh, it’s 38. Um, the other ones that I have that that were listed is Joe Sackic 25, Bellivo 25, Stasny 24, and then it’s a little bit of a dip down. You can find guys like Laf Fontaine 23, um, Rocket Rashard 21. So, it’s in that range, but yeah, it was 38 with Bossy. Does anybody doubt that a veteran is going to get 39 goals this year? No, by the way, the guy I thought it could be and I forgot how much his career really petered out towards the end was Salani when he But his he was 43 playing for the Ducks and he only had nine goals in 64 games in his final season. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. So, but but here’s the thing though, like you and I both assume this is Ovetkin’s final season just by by virtue of of how he’s behaving. and and uh you know what I mean? So, but like the thing that he said before this season and the thing that Capital said before this season is that if he could show that he is still scoring goals at a at a at a clip that he is uh content with and his body hasn’t broken down that there’s every chance he could play another season in the NHL. I I I’m skeptical about that. I I think it’s going to be one of these things where come, you know, April 2nd or April 1st, uh, you know, there’s an announcement that this is his final season and then, you know, there’s a mad rush to see the last games of Alex Ovuchkin, much in the same way it happened with Gretzky. But I mean, taking them at their word, if this guy hits 40 again, 917 plus 917 plus 20, 937. You know, he could end this with around 940 goals. I So, the the thousand goal mark would be something to shoot for obviously for him, but I don’t know if he’s got enough in the tank to do it. But that that would be the carrot. Be the first guy ever scored a thousand goals in the NFL. If Gretzky’s record was closer to a thousand, I would say he would he’d still be going for it. But after you get the record, doesn’t part of your motive motivation just kind of drop like, okay, I’ve got it. And that next threshold just seems so far. The the other thing about him too is besides can he score goals and and has has his body broken down, he also really wants to be a guy who plays well at five on five. Like one of the things about Obie is always like I don’t want the end of my career to be a guy who stands in the in the in the Ov spot of the power play and just pops in 20 goals. Like he wants to be a relevant as well-rounded player as Alex Ovuchkin can be at this age. So he doesn’t want to be he doesn’t want to be Paul Korea in St. Louis where the whole power play has to go through me taking one-times on the half wall. He doesn’t want it doesn’t want it. So again like I I I’ll take them at their word that it might not be his last season. I mean I I I do think that in talking to Alex before the season that he hadn’t made up his mind yet. Um maybe he’s leaning a certain way now after the first couple months. I don’t know. But hey, listen man. Like they’re a relevant team. They’re a playoff team. They’re playing well. they’ve surrounded him with really good talent. He may he may not, you know, there’s something to be said for the joy of life of being an NHL player and how you’re not necessarily ready to go, you know, be the grand dam of the KHL or or call it quits and spend time with your kids. I could still see him playing I don’t know about a full season, but some games with Damo, of course, by the end by I don’t know about a full season, though. No, but and again like you know he could do that when he’s 45. Like he could be Joerger. I mean we’ve we’ve both seen KHL games. It’s not it’s not as if a 45-year-old Alex Ovetkin couldn’t pop 25 in that league. I say as I remember Kevin Dolman being the Bobby or of the KHL some years ago. Oh wow. Big defenseman Kevin Dolman. Yeah, he was he was like he was the combination of like Bobby or Nick Lindstrom, Dennis Pot fan, Chris Pronger. He was all of it rolled into a rolled into one little bundle of of KHL Allstar. Kevin Dolph I don’t mean to denigrate the KHL. The KHL is is is a is a professional league. It does well for itself. Um, I’m just saying that that Alex could probably go there at any age and and and do okay and probably get the P and probably get the Putin treatment where they just like, you know, lay off defensively and let him score a bunch of goals because Alex Ovuchetkin, it’s Russian Russian tradition treatment, man. Look at how he split that D. How does he do it? I don’t know. These guys are the Hall of Fame and this guy’s going for his 25 goals in exhibition game for uh for Russia. and then trips on the rug. Anywh who, uh what do you speaking of, um you mentioned Kevin Dolman, speaking of defenseman, what do you make of Ryan Mcdana’s deal? I because I’ll be honest with you, I thought at this point in his career, Ryan, just so we know, it’s a three-year contract extension, 4.1 is the AAV, I thought that at this point in his career, because he’s 36 years old, I really thought that Ryan Mcdana, even though he’s incredibly important to Tampa, he loves it there, he wants to be there, they want him there, they want him to be there. I just kind of thought that at that age you just go on evergreen deals just one year, one year, one year, one year. 36 years old, the team wants to mitigate risk more than anything else, knowing that he doesn’t want to go anywhere. He goes anywhere else, he’s miserable. He just wants to come back. We like him here. Defensively, he’s still amongst the the elite in the NHL at having the nerve to to defend in his own zone. I’m kind of surprised at term on this one. I’ll be honest with you. Yeah, he I mean, he asked to come back. He basically asked Barry Trotz and the Predators to trade it back to to Tampa. Um I you know did the term get them to the AEV? I mean is that I I haven’t heard what what what Julian Breezwa had to say about it today to be honest with you, but um but maybe the term is is what gets you the AEV. Look, like it’s pretty apparent that there is a uh a very successful marriage of player and team in this situation when he when when when he was no longer on the lightning, they missed him something crazy like what whatever it is that he does that fits into their system and whatever he does that fits into their room is part of the special sauce for that team. What I what I was told about Ryan Mcdana about why it works there so much cuz you’ll remember they thought Sergeev was going to go into that spot, right? Cuz don’t forget Sergeev was playing third pair at that point. Like, okay, we can afford to move Mcdana. Sergeev comes in. Here we go. That left side is solid and you know we’re not we’re not going to regress at all. and then they realize uh oh the thing that people told me about why Mcdana works so well in Tampa with that system is the it might sound weird because you don’t necessarily think of Ryan Mcdana as being speedy or anything but people there told me that there’s nobody better in the NHL on the blue line at getting back to their position quicker than Ryan Mcdana like when he gets dragged out a little bit he gets back to his spot this these people a couple of people told he gets back to his spot faster than any other defender in the NHL. I think a part of that too is he just knows where to go because he knows where he knows how to defend. Like his defense numbers are just tremendous. And that’s why like we always wondered, okay, what is the one what’s the one piece that Tampa couldn’t afford to lose, right? Like every year they would have a successful season, they win the Stanley Cup, and then bam, Andre Palot gone, Tyler Johnson. Every year it was like another player, who can’t we af and turns out the answer was Ryan Mcdana. Yeah. They almost survived the entire the checking line dissolving before their eyes, but they couldn’t they couldn’t handle Mcdana uh going. It’s true. He’s a good player. He’s nice. Um Molly Walker’s coming up here in a couple of moments. We’ll we’ll stand by for Molly. Uh Jets are in trouble, but Jets were in a lot of trouble because they’re going one way and the rest of the division is going the other. Yeah. Holy smokes. That was a I know they picked up, but do you think if it was a different market, Connor Hellbuck piecing out for a month uh to get an injury uh fixed might have gotten more scrutiny and and more derision because people would frame it as you’re just trying to make sure that you’re healthy for the Olympics. I didn’t honestly, Greg, I didn’t think about that for one second. And normally I’m really skeptical of stuff like that just as a Canad Oh, look at this. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Stick it to Winnipeg and so you’re good for the Olympics and come back with the gold medal. I didn’t think that for one second. I didn’t I I really I’m not saying that rational human beings like me or you would think that. I’m saying that if he was the Leafs goalie that Steve Simmons would have already written three pieces about how Connor Halabuk is selfish to make sure his body is ready for the Olympics versus helping his team invey. Is that what you’re suggesting here? I’m just saying I mean in a different market I I wonder if he would have gotten a little bit more grief for that. Uh, I don’t know. Um, I I honestly about Hella Buck. I I never thought about that for a sec. I don’t know what Mark I don’t even know that because listen, it’s not as if like Austin Matthews hasn’t taken time off and there hasn’t been anything announced about what the nature of the injury is and no one’s saying that he’s, you know, dogging it. So, he’s going to be ready for Milan. And his participation in international tournaments has never been an issue, right? As far as his health. Okay. So, we could do this with Molly Walker because I want to save international hockey with with with with with Molly and we’ll by the way before before Molly hops on the the the Jets are 19th right now in in goals per game. Um, as much as we’re talking about Hella Buck not being there, like how much they miss Nick Eers. It’s not just Nick Eers, but whenever you have a whenever you have someone that your entire team relies upon the way that Winnipeg relies on Connor Halabuk, everything else gets exposed. Can it be even more obvious now that they need a another puckmoving defenseman and b a real second line center? I think we all wanted Jonathan Taves to be that guy. A lot of people really want Adam Lowry to be that guy, but they’re not. They need they need a second line center, man. Talk about stories that would have gotten a hell of a lot more attention out of their market. Like I I checked in on on Taves. Those numbers are ghastly. Uh both, by the way, both he and uh and Patrick Kane earlier this week were both a minus 12. I felt I felt like it was a warm blanket. Like even though they’re apart, they’re still together in a certain way. Yeah, they’re in uh they’re they’re in a real tough slog here. Um, anything else jump out at you from uh from last night? Other than than the Devils could really use a Jack Husner lineup. No. Yeah, they got they got smacked there. Okay, a couple of things here from your uh Do we have time before Molly gets here? I think we do. Um, awards watch ESPN.com your latest. Yes. So, Nathan McKinnon heart trophy. Seriously? Yeah, I know. Shocker. Shocker. Mar Norris. What? McKinnon’s got the majority of the support. Mar did receive a vote basically. Um, but there is, you know, a lane here for Mlin Celbrini and Connor Baddard to inhabit. Uh again, like if the Colorado Avalanche end up being the air apparent to the Boston Bruins for regular season superiority and are breaking records left and right and McKinnon is continues to do what he’s done, um it’s hard to imagine he won’t be the MVP, but yeah, you know, some of the MVP discourse is about the impact that you have on your team and Macar is on his team and and Blackwood and Wedgewood are on his team. They’ve both been great, even though Wedgwood’s a little little banged up right now. Um, they’re still the Avalanche. And at the end of the day, if it’s April and either the Blackhawks or the Sharks are in a playoff position and Bedard and or Celibbrini have the a more sizable or the same gap between themselves and the second leading scorer on their teams. I think there’s going to be some MVP cases built for those guys later in the season. Bedard over if he keeps it up, Spencer Knight. To me, that’s the massive story in Chicago. I know we’re all in love with Baddard. I want to get to Molly here, but I know we’re all in love with Baddard, but the Spencer Knight story is fantastic. It’s fantastic. Tremendous, but I don’t I think Bernard probably gets to shine on that one if they are a playoff team. Okay, let’s get to Molly. um one of our favorites around these or any parts. Uh you read her at the New York Post as she joins us now to talk about the Rangers and Mike Sullivan and Team USA. There she is. Molly Walker. How are you, Molly? I’m good. Jeff, how are you? Uh doing very well. We’re thinking about you the other night as well. All of us were. I know. I I know it was a tough one. Uh we thank you for joining us here today. Uh before before we get to um the Olympics and before we get to the Rangers, do you have a thought on we’re just going through like awards watch here with Wish. He’s latest at ESPN espn.com. Um do you have a thought on who your heart trophy slash I want to throw in Norris as well here. Uh heart slashnor trophy winners would be right now if you voted today. I hate Spicy. Be spicy. Be spicy. Don’t just Don’t just say Nathan McKinnon. Don’t just say Nathan McKinnon. Heat it up, Molly. Nathan McKinnon. I’m not going to say Nathan McKinnon, but I mean he always puts forth a valiant effort every single year. I I I respectfully decline. Like I respectfully I can’t like I It’s too early. There’s so many different things that you know, who the hell knows? Who knows? I would do I would do it I would do it every morning. Like honestly, if I ran like NHL.com, there’d be like an awards watch every single morning. They almost do. They almost do. Molly, Molly, let me let me let me spin let me spin Merrick’s intrusive question to you into something a little bit different. Now, sure. Give me more specifics. If you want me to go specifics, Adam Fox is banged up, but before he left the lineup, I think like he’s had a resurgent season. I think a lot of the 100% of the grief that he was getting for his his overall game, he had cleaned up and he was he was killing it. Um do you do you think like that played on his mind at all? The fact that he came out of Four Nations last year with people being like, should this guy even be on the Olympic team? 100%. I think that when you think about the big picture of the Rangers season, the whole Rangers team took took a punch to the face, so to say, but nobody’s reputation took a harder hit than Adam Fox. And that is no doubt about that, especially with the fornation stage. So, I heard that he was in the gym a lot this summer. So, I think that that was something that he took with him into the off season. And you know, he’s such a cerebral guy. He’ll never lead on that. That was a fueling thing for him, but he acknowledged it 100%. And I think that the results are what we’re seeing on the ice. I think that he has 100% bounced back and the way that he’s racked up points obviously before this injury has been huge for the Rangers uh more than anything, but also his pairing with Gabricov has been one of the best top pairings in the entire league. Their numbers amongst other top D pairs who have the same amount of minutes as them, they are near the top in most statistical categories. they have really forged a special top pair for them and that was a huge thing for them to happen by signing Gabricov to that long-term deal in the offseason. So, it is paying off. The the the sneaky good pair over the last couple of years around the NHL that didn’t get a lot of fanfare was Gabricov and Mikey Anderson in in Los Angeles. Like in their own zone, like pucks did not go to the net. It was it was it was it was a freak show in in their own zone. Um, do you have a quick thought on the on the early return? Well, not so early now, but the returns on Gabricov so far this season for the Rangers. I I mean, I I I think it’s it’s it’s been self-explanatory. Truly, I feel like he has been so important to them on the back end. Their defensive game is so much different than it was last season. the way that the Rangers play in the DZone, the way that they’re defending the rush, it’s completely different than what we saw from this Rangers team last season. And I think that Gabberov’s defense first mindset, his predictability, as Mike Sullivan likes to point out all the time, is has just been such a key part of what’s made them so steady back there, uh, in the games that they have been, at least, because, as we know, it’s been a little bit all over the place. But um I I’ve been impressed. So the size of the Olympic ice is this week’s big story. Yes, it is. Keith Debor talked about it on SportsNet and then and then uh other uh uh outlets discovered the story even though they said they knew about it since September. And uh Doug Armstrong mentioned it in September. It’s been out for a while. Mentioned it on John Shannon’s podcast. And I loved I know you and Shannon are boys. I loved him getting so pissed off. He’s like, “We were talking about this. We had this. Listen to our goddamn podcast.” Yeah. Uh but Molly, you talked to Mike Sullivan about it today. I was curious what his thoughts are about about trying to ice or coach a uh an Olympic team on on with NHL players on smaller ice. Yeah. I mean, first of all, fascinating conversation with Mike Sullivan this morning just in general. um once the Olympics were brought up because you know he was asked if he can look at the opponents at the other end of the ice and be evaluating them for how they would possibly fit in Team USA. Tonight’s example being Shane Pinto on the other end of the ice. So, um, he gave such a great answer about how, you know, yes, yes, he does, but that takes place the next day when he’s breaking down the footage, of course, when he’s behind the bench, he rangers and Okay. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. All right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know. But yes, he said that he does, you know, take the time to look at other players and and take all that into consideration. And you know, then he was asked about Pinto in particular, and he talked about Pinto. And then I was like, while we’re here, um, what are your thoughts about the projected ice size being smaller than NHL? And he just was like, I don’t know if I have any thoughts. Honestly, I really hope that’s not the case. He just kept say I was like, it sounds like it is, Mike. I hate to I hate to break it to you. So, what you know, what are your thoughts? and he just not only does he think that, you know, that’s not great for the game and it shouldn’t be that way in Milan, but he feels like the NHL standard is too small to begin with because they’re playing on the same sheet of ice that they did in the 50s and the guy the average height of the players nowadays is astronomical compared to what it was back then. So, he thinks that it should be expanded to begin with. Molly to accommodate the the evolution of humanity, guys. Oh, okay. So, this is Oh, Molly, thank you for opening this door for this show right now. Uh, so I I still maintain and maybe this started with I think maybe Nationwide Arena would have been the first one in this sort of like the wave of the quote unquote newer arenas. I thought one of the things that the NHL should have done, they should have insisted on any new arena that is built should have the option built in that in case they need to expand the ice surface that it’s able to be done easily. Now it’s like multi-million rip rip out seats and make it like it’s almost like you it’s so hard to do in the off season that it’s kind of prohibitive. But I thought that when they started to build all the new rinks that was one of the contingencies that should be built in. Now, I don’t disagree with Mike at all, but I don’t want the double IHF size. I don’t want the the 200 by 100. Way too many places to hide. A lot of empty calories. Becomes like soccer at that point. Oh, it’s it’s so I remember asking Eigor Laranov about this once. I’m like, “What do you like better, the big sheet or the small sheet?” I thought like, you know, he’s a he’s creative player. He wants a bigger the the bigger sheet of ice. And he said, “No, I like the small.” He goes, “I step over the blue line. I’m in position for a scoring chance. I’m on the big ice. I step over the blue line. I still need a GPS to find the net. It’s just it’s just slower, boring hockey. So defensive. But I’m with you, Molly. And I’m with Mike. A little bit more room to the outside. Maybe like 200 by 92. You know, maybe you bump up 85 to maybe seven more. A little bit more room to the outside. I know. The best thing about Mike Sullivan is then he starts talking about where on the ice it’s going to be shorter. Like it just things that you know who is thinking about that? Obviously he is. And then he starts talking about how you know uh creating scoring chances off the rush are going to be a lot more difficult if it’s a little bit more compact. You know it just it was really fascinating and I was so loving the Olympic talk, you know, on game day morning. I think now have both of you heard the same thing that I I think what where they’re going to take the the take the ice from is the neutral zone like the the neutral the neutral zone will will be smaller the offensive/defensive zones are are essentially going to be the same but it does sort of open up the door for I mean listen smaller ice surface physical players become that much more important which is why you know up north here in Kuckstan we’re all talking about Tom Wilson is there an equivalent player that you know the that that Americans are talking about, hey, if the rink is smaller, maybe we should have this bruiser on the team. Is there something? Well, Greg, do you have someone in mind? Well, I I was going to say I think it’s less about the the the Tom Wilson bruisers than it is that factoring into the debate that we’ve been all having about Cole Coughfield and about, you know, some of the more dimminionative uh you know, Clayton Keller, like player play players that were left off for nations um despite their their offensive talents and goalc scoring ability. Like the argument was always like, let’s put them on this national team. Hey, we lost an overtime game to Canada because we couldn’t score a goal. Let’s put the guys who score goals on the team. But now, if the rink is if the ice sheet is smaller, it almost seems like it would play into more of the Bill Garin philosophy of 200 foot dig your heels in defensive players or more necessary than guys that are just go go go offensively. I mean, that’s just my my my, you know, surface area or super superficial read on it. Just think just listening to Mike Sullivan, I don’t know if he personally is taking so much of the approach of a player that would fit better in a smaller rink because my guy was gone on some miracle on ice talks about about about putting to about no seriously about putting together, you know, not a team of all stars, but a team in every true sense of the word. And I was like, I’m about to run through a wall, Mike Sullivan. got to run through a wall straight to Milan. Like it was just just so perfect. But like that’s those are the types I mean he went on this whole thing. He’s like who’s going to be first over the boards in a 3-2 game. Canada just pulled their goalie, you know, who’s going to be, you know, the first PK shift? Who’s going to be first over the boards, you know, to defend Crosby? McKinn and they’re thinking about Canada. Let me tell you about Canada. Was he so let me let me get I would love to have been a a fly on the wall for this. Was he going like so good? Was he going full herby on you? Like do I have this right? Like is he doing the full herby? It was a thing of beauty for a member of I’m just really I looked at him he talked to you guys about it because he didn’t it wasn’t the next day and he didn’t have his team USA hat on where he could think about such 100% 100%. But what I will say is it has happened in Canada. when we’re in Canada, it I think today it was it was Colin from News Day who is a Ranger reporter. He was the one who brought up the Olympics. Um but usually in the past when we’ve been to Canada a bunch already. Um it’s the Canadians who are bringing it up and that’s how it kind of becomes more of a conversation. So, it was funny that it happened today in Ottawa, but yeah, he was going full Her Brooks a little bit and we really got him going. And like I said, I was like, “Well, while we’re here, I’m just going to keep going with what everybody’s talking about.” So, and he was great. So, so, so here here’s the there’s a couple things that I wonder about here. I was joking the other day. Were you on with me when we were talking about Jason Robertson? Yeah. Yeah. Because he he play he was trying to put on a show in front of Sullivan and I made the joke. Like I don’t know what his shot total is, but I’d probably take the over. And then he had one shot on goal that night. Jason Robertson. Here’s the whole thing. Like let’s do the whole thing. And it wasn’t Maxine and Ganov by the way. It was Mir Slav Chitan. So Mirl Slav Chitan famously in a Buffalo Toronto Maple Leafs game after he scored a goal sort of reached into his into his hockey pants and you know m the the call me with the phone. And I’m just wondering like how awesome would it have been if like Jason Robertson snipes two, skates by the Rangers bench and gives Mike Sullivan uh the the the call me here. But do you find Molly, this is very unscientific, but do you find that like candidates are playing that much differently in front of Mike Sullivan? Has Mike Sullivan said anything? I know that there was that there was a Buffalo game a couple of weeks ago where and and Bill Garin was there and like Tae Thompson like you could tell like he he knew and Alex Tuck knew that that Bill Garin was there. Does has Sullivan commented or said anything or have you noticed any American players just a little bit extra spice in the chili when they’re playing in front of the Rangers? Well, Sullivan won’t say anything um unless he’s directly asked about a certain player like he was Shane Pinto today. um he’s not going to offer it up um in any way like that. Like like I said, he’s really trying to make it clear that he is that his focus is on the New York Rangers. Um but I think just uh being at the Four Nations and you know, Adam Fox in particular, who is obviously in the running and gets to play not not for the foreseeable future, but was playing in front of Mike Sullivan every night as a try out. Um of course it is on everybody’s minds. It’s I mean I Four Nations was awesome because it really was I called it the appetizer to the Olympics because to see how much these guys care and how invested they are. Of course, I mean each of the rosters, you know, there’s there’s competition. There really is. you know, they’re they’re players that are really in the running here that this start of the season here is going to dictate who is going to be on these rosters. So, when you know that your possible head coach is on the other bench, of course, you’re going to see 10 times the effort and it is in the back of their minds. They all care. They’re all thinking about it. We’re we’re ready for the Olympics. Let’s let’s go. Let’s let’s let’s speed it up. I’m ready. Well, Milan’s not ready, but we’re ready. Yeah. Yeah, they’re still building it. They’re still trying to figure out if they can make ice, but uh but we’re ready. Last thing I wanted to ask you is about going back to the Rangers is the JT Miller of it all. Um what what do you what do you make of JT Miller and the Rangers at this point? I have so many thoughts. Um because I have so many thoughts because it’s hard not to have so many thoughts about JT Miller. truly. Um he is such a presence in the locker room in so many different ways. He’s actually been so good at keeping it light for a guy that is so intense, right? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Like is this like when Liam N does comedy where it’s just kind of like the juxiposition of it? You guys are all you guys you guys are like what are you saying? But it’s true. like whether it’s a funny comment or just the way he walks into the locker room after a morning skater after whatever, he he he doesn’t take it too seriously, you know, and it’s his his vibe is is very easy to to catch on to and and it’s contagious, but at the same time, especially in his postgame interviews, you know, he is also not afraid to let them hear it when they need to hear it and be blunt in his assessment of things and you know we all know that bluntness that JT Miller can have and it’s effective. It gets the point across. Um and I just feel like just the way he’s carried himself around the room and things like that, it’s it’s been good for them. It’s it’s it’s a different kind of player um than they’ve had in the past. And it gives them it gives them a different kind of attitude. And I think it’s still settling and figuring out what it is, what their identity is, who they want to be, but he’s been right in the middle of it, doing what he can to steer the team in the right direction while also, you know, being himself, which he told me he really came into this trying to be unapologetically himself. Yeah. Let me let me close with this one. And I listen, we still have a lot of hockey to play, but if it if it if it stays this way for the Rangers this season, what does the off season look like? It depends. If they if they really fall off and they don’t make the playoffs again, that’s what I mean. Like if it if it’s like we’re we’re underneath the cut line here. Yeah, I I definitely think that there’s going to be more movement. I mean our if they’re not within uh you know any reasonable distance of the playoffs by the trade deadline I mean it would be negligent on Chris Jury not to use our Tammy Paneran you know and and see what kind of hall that they can get for him obviously. Um, so I would expect, you know, the next few weeks, especially leading up to the trade deadline, to kind of dictate where they’re going to go, but I mean, two two years in a row not making the playoffs is is not going to be uh wellreceived, so to say. And uh I expect movement if that’s the case. Yes. Uh listen, um this is so kind of you to hop on with us. always appreciate uh everything you do uh and always making yourself available and sharing your expertise on Mike Sullivan not paying attention to any American players when they’re playing the Rangers. He just cares about those two points, damn it. And guys, this is going to be the last time he’s ever going to talk to us about the Olympics. Now they’re going to be like, “Molly didn’t shut up about the Olympic talk this morning and now we can’t do it anymore.” I still think it’s the funniest thing to like the childlike innocence of Mike Sullivan wishing that the ice is is is going to be a normal size when it’s obvious to everyone involved that it’s just going to be smaller. It’s like I hope that’s not the case. I hope that’s not the case. I’m like it’s built like it’s it’s it’s in the ground. Why Jeff signed off on it? Yeah. Like it’s it’s happen. I said to him I said it sounds like it’s happening, Mike. Oh, that’s so funny. No, but he was great. He was great. I love it. I love it. Molly, you’re the best. Thanks as always for stopping by. Be good. Of course. Thanks for having me, guys. Take care. There she is. The great Molly Walker from the New York Post uh joining us here. Uh such a delight she is. And you know what? I’ll um you know, it’s it’s still stunning, too. And I don’t even know what the We heard the comments from Bill Daly yesterday, like, you know, if if if the rank’s not ready, we’re not playing. So, what does that mean then? the NHL is gonna be dark. Do they have like do they have like do they have an alternative plan? A backup schedule like if okay NHLers aren’t going because the spring’s not ready and it’s too much of a risk for us to take with these you know millions billions dollars worth of of athletes here they’re just going to like oh peace out for a couple of weeks I guess so because they’ve also said there’s no plan B. I do love the idea though that as as we’re speaking you like Steve Mayor and them are are are designing the uh winter hockey festival at UBS Arena on Long Island uh wherein the players do not leave from Milan and we get ourselves like multiple days of skills competitions and all I don’t know what happens honestly and honest and honestly the other part of this too is that if guys I just got to interrupt for one second you two are the biggest like WWE like dramatized, dramatic, like think about the biggest way to make a scene and have like a hero come in. How have you How has this not crossed either of your minds that like they pull the plug on Milan, they’re not doing it, and then like a week before the break and everyone’s all pissed off, there’s no hockey for a month, we’re going dark, Gary Bman and Bill Dailyy come out on some, you know, some big stage on the NHL network and they’re like, “We’re playing international hockey and we’re doing it in North America.” And they are launching this at UBS Arena in Toronto, Boston, New York, Montreal, and they play this across everywhere. And the hockey teams play in North America. I’m sorry to interrupt, but this seems like this is like the easiest like the easiest thing to do. They would come off as heroes. I will say to young Zack, there’s a concept called arena availability. Um that I think comes into play when you tell a building that you don’t need it for 2 weeks. Chances are concerts, they’ve filled it with other things. Yeah. But I mean there’s ways around that. No, I I don’t Zach, I don’t think that you’re wrong. And actually, I I hope that you’re okay. I hope you’re not there’s no assassination attempts made on your life after this Pelican brief you’ve written uh comes out that the NHL has been maybe planning this and and you’ve you’ve exposed it to the world. Um, that’s an old Julia Roberts movie for those who don’t know in the audience uh from a John Gisham novel. It’s quite good. Um, no, I could see it happening, but I mean they’ve they’ve said there’s no plan B and and more to the point though, um, if the NHL doesn’t play in the Olympics because of the arena, is there just no men’s ice hockey in the Olympics? because that’s like a pretty important sport in the winter games in so far as interest, attendance, revenues, things of that nature. The IOC goes back to the IHF and says, “Can your member countries all have to cobble together a team here somehow?” Yeah. There’s like there’s is there like a giant bat signal in this guy and Brian Gianto races out of his recliner and and he’s like, “I’m there.” Like Ian White has returned on the defense on the blue line for Team Canada. Last scene of the Spangler Cup. Here comes Ian. I I think Zach is interested. Zach is the one who evoked professional wrestling. SL will fall that that through line to say that, you know, there’s a little kayfabape here in the sense that the NHL is trying to light a fire under the asses of a bunch of Italian brick layers to get this thing done and uh and and making some threats about or at least kind of speaking to the idea of not going uh certainly does that. Just two things I want to say about what we just talked about with Molly um that I didn’t want to bring up because I don’t I know we had limited time with her. First is that let me put this out in the world. If the Rangers don’t make the playoffs and it’s apparent that what Chris Drury is doing isn’t working, could you see a situation in which a New York area resident currently consulting with the National Hockey League by the name of Brendan Shanahan gets involved with the New York Rangers on a hockey operation side? Uh, I think it’s possible. I I’ve sort of in my own mind just assumed that he’s going to be the next Colon Campbell in the in the in the NHL. Well, that that’s kind of where he is now. I think he’s like he’s like um advising on hockey ops and that could be to learn the ropes and prepare himself for like but I don’t I don’t know for sure that that Brandon Shanahan doesn’t want to get back involved with a team. I I you know obviously the leaf situation with the leaf situation but I don’t think for a second that means he’s he’s done it as an NHL executive or that he no longer has the desire to to serve in that role. Could so I don’t know could I could I see it given how important the New York Rangers are to the entire enterprise of the NHL? Yeah, of course. 100%. I could totally see it. The second thing is now you um of course know Eric that there was a time in the National Hockey League where rink size uniformity was not the norm. There were certain buildings that were a little bit different and a plank in the Greg Washinsky platform. And I’ve been thinking a lot about this this week as we have all of this Mishagas with the sizes of the rink in Italy and all this nonsense is um I want to go back to there being differently sized rinks in this thing. I agree. I I love in baseball that you have to think about the Green Monster. You have to think about the short porch at Yankee Stadium. I I love I love the idea of there being rinks in this league that are either too big or too small and teams have designed themselves to play in that rink a certain way. You have to think about the players that you put in your lineup because you’re going to be playing that rink certain way. I’m not talking about some circus where you know there’s no boards on one side of the ice or something like that on one side. Yeah. I’m just talking about the dimensions of the ice and how cool it would be to have uh certain buildings that you have to think about who you’re putting into your lineup versus other buildings. I think that’d be a lot of fun. That is real home ice advantage. I’ve maintained this. I’m I’m in 100% agreement with you. I’ve maintained this for a long time. And this the ranks we’re thinking of is the old Chicago Stadium, the old Boston Garden, and God bless it, the odd in Buffalo. The odd small rinks. Um, everything is uniform right now. So, all the players are more similar than they are different. And what’s the one thing that, you know, we we look at hockey and we say, you know, everything just kind of looks and feels the same. Teams are constructed the same. Everybody tries to do the same thing with the same collection of players. Some players um like you you make it to the NHL if you can if you can um if you can if you can if you can knock off a couple of different boxes. Can you do this? Can you do this? Can you do this? Yes. Then you can play in the NHL. But what about players that would excel in a smaller uh in a smaller environment or dare we say it in a bigger environment as well or an environment where the boards around the corners are a little bit tighter. And so those teams get constructed based on what the geography of their ice surface is. So every single team is a little bit different and there’s there’s character to these buildings and and there’s concern and and you discuss the the dynamics involved into into what your lineup’s going to be like. It it just adds another layer of of of interest and indiv individuality into this game. I agree. But the problem is it’ll never happen because every building there are no there are no buildings that are just for hockey. There are no buildings that that are just for hockey. If there are buildings that were just for hockey, you could be funky with them, but you got 41 dates plus playoffs and that’s it. That’s a whole lot of other dates to fill. We’re just talking about this with Molly or like was with with Zack and Arena a availabilities. Like that’s not how you make money with your with your building. So it has to they all have to be uniform. Well, I think ultimately it sucks, but I like I like differentiz venues 100%. To your point that of agreement with Mike Sullivan about the the rinks being too small right now, I’m surprised you didn’t bring up the biggest change besides the size of the players, which is another official skating out there with three of his friends like that. the the minute you add the minute they formalized there being four on ice officials on every game, that’s the minute they should have said, “We’re making the ice bigger because, you know, you just can’t add another body like that onto the ice and and have it not affect things.” But you know what? You know what’s interesting about that? I I really thought because I’m old enough to remember, folks, when they introduced this, my first thought was this is a disaster because everyone’s going to be bumping into officials now. Yeah, they’re not. I think that’s a real what’s pucks do hit them. That that’s gonna happen anyhow. That’s just the reality of the I thought it was going to be like non-stop. Ah, stripes get out of the way. Ah, stripes get out of the way. Stripes get out of the way. I think one of the things we take for granted is and again here I go like biging up the officials how much they get out of the way. How good how good they are at it. How great they are at getting out of the way. Like you you know it’s good when you don’t think about it and you don’t notice it. Like we saw about that with defensive defenseman. you don’t real realize how great a defenseman is if you know if they’re sort of sight unseen. Um the officials in the NHL are awesome at turning themselves invisible and not getting not getting in the middle of play. But you’re right though, like it becomes glaring when they don’t though. Like when there’s a mistake made and they break up a a a you know a chance along the boards by just being in the way. You see that in the NFL a lot too where like there’s a passing play across the middle and the the uh the umpire doesn’t know how to get out of the way and all of a sudden he’s affecting play and then everybody booze. Um the thing I the thing I thought when they when they made the other on Ice official a permanent part of the of the crew was um obviously they would never again miss a call on the ice. And I was right. The officiating is completely perfect. There’s never any mistakes made and they call everything. It’s amazing. Yes. Yes. And and nothing and they call it right down the middle and they call every infraction right by the book and go over this debate over and over and over. There you go. That’s that’s my message to the NHL. Make your rinks weirder. Give us a little bit more personality from from building to building. Like Vegas is the great example. Like Vegas’s rink should have been something really weird and and make that whole thing like make make it make make it like you know uh you know five six the size of an NHL rink and and so now you’re surrounded by a sellout crowd of of complete knuckleheads and the ice is smaller. The offensive zone the offensive zones are pyramid shaped [Laughter] all goes into a point. That’s all right. Okay. Well, it’s it’s it’s it’s different. I was trying to be radical about it, but I I I listen, there’s always going to be a part of me that’s like, “Yeah, we should do more of that, too.” You know, make the blue lines gold. It’s Vegas after all. Why did it have to be blue lines? Did you see the game? Did you see the game? Um I think it was before American Thanksgiving where it was a minor league team that was doing a the green. Yeah. They were doing they were doing a promo for the movie for the Wicked sequel and so one half of the rink was was green like the Wicked Witch of the West and one half of it was pink like Ariana Grande. So here here’s I I kind of look at this because I haven’t seen it. To me it hasn’t been done properly yet because no one’s figured out how to do it right. It feels right in my head, but just in execution I haven’t seen it done right. But philosophically, I love the idea. I just haven’t seen it done right where it actually looks good. It still kind of looks clunky and and tough to watch. But I do really like the idea of making the biggest thing on your screen more inviting to your eyes. Just like the baseball diamond with the lush greens or golf is probably the best example with with the lush greens or the Browns and basketball the court instead of just like, “Oh god, there’s white white white. the boards, the socks, the jerseys, the helmets, the the ice, the players, like everything is just like it’s just like a huge splash of white, which is, as we all know, the worst possible color for television. But nonetheless, um, yeah, it it pains me to say it because I’ve I’ve always been a big proponent of it. I haven’t seen it done right yet, but that doesn’t mean that you should scrap it. I think we should still try to make this look better. kind of like I still think the Fox puck was a good idea, but the technology at the time was awful, but the spirit of it was great and the idea behind it was fantastic. By the way, you know what Brian Burke told me about the Fox puck? Uh, each puck cost like hundreds of dollars. And so when they went up into the stands, Bricky cuz he was working for the NHL at that point, he said they used to have someone and sometimes it would be him that would go up into the stands with like a handful of cash to buy the pucks away from the fans so they could bring so they could put them back into use. Like here, how much you want for that puck? You want 500 bucks? Here’s 500 bucks. Give us the puck back. Yeah. I mean, you you’re you’re right. The technology wasn’t there yet. The technology eventually got there to be applied to NASCAR in a pretty spectacular way. So you can see the drivers, which driver is where, and then obviously it also got repurposed to the first down marker in the NFL. We could do an entire show about my thoughts on the NHL and its television presentation. I think the real issue is that every other sport makes you feel like you’re on the field now. Uh, and the NHL still feels like you are watching someone made a diarama of a sport. That’s the real issue for me. Um, the I do want to mention though as we’re talking about minor league gimmicks, the Orlando Solar Bears recently did they have an annual game where they wear uniforms where the hockey pants look like they’re wearing tighty whies. Oh yeah. And they have the fans during the game instead of throwing teddy bears, another great minor league tradition. Yes. They throw underwear on the ice. It’s the underwear game in Orlando and all of the underwear thrown on the ice is donated to the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida. It’s a great cause. Yeah, it’s awesome. I understand why the underwear needs to be packaged. Yes, please. Sanitary sakes, right? Yes, please. It’s going to be used by people. Yes, it’s being donated. Yes. That being said, that deprivives us of the same sort of vistas that we get in the teddy bear toss of players in the Solar Bear Bears uh diving into piles of underwear, which is really the the aesthetic that I’m looking for from the underwear toss game, but I understand why we can’t have it. PW the PWL on um I don’t know if it was leaguewide or if it was just one team, might have been leaguewide. Um did essentially a a teddy bear toss but with bras. Was it breast cancer breast cancer? I think it might have been the first season or maybe it was last year. I thought that one was that one was really great, too. Um, all right. Listen, the other part is that you you’d have people removing their own underwear. I understand that. I understand all of the problems that are fraught. Fraught with problems. That’s a problem. I just a picture of somebody diving into underwear at the end of the game. No, you just want like you know those guys like in Buffalo that drink out of the beer swords. Have you seen those things? The beer the the the the Buffalo Saber beer swords filled with beer. That’s awesome. A guy you want like someone drinking like eight of those and then trying to tear off his own underwear to throw it on the ice. That’s right. So Tage Thompson and Jack Quinn can dive in it. Dive into it. Yeah. Yeah. That that’s that’s what you’re saying you you want in the NH. I’m just saying that there are some only Only fans that probably make a good chunk of change recreating the thing I’m talking about right now. That’s actually quite quite true. Quite true. Um, excellent as always. You passed the test. You can come back on Tuesday. Oh, thank you. Congratulations. I really appreciate that. I I I didn’t I didn’t know that. Um this this feels like the end of Willy Wonka in the Chocolate Factory where all of a sudden Charlie realizes he’s he’s been trying out to become the new Willy Wonka. I’m not saying that I’m taking over your show or anything. I’m just saying I didn’t realize there was a test that Well, you didn’t know that it was a test. Uh but as we like to point out, we used to do on the old show. Every show could be the last one. One day it will be the last one. Maybe I really thought I really thought that getting a goon into the All-Star game was going to be the last one, but it turned out not to be. You want to talk about what happened to me cuz I could do it more freely now. Maybe we’ll do that next show about the conversations how I thought I was getting fired. Let’s Let’s tease Let’s do an a good classic uh sports talk radio thing. We’ll tease it for Tuesday. Okay. Uh because we are over as I as I Yeah. Yeah. We’ll tease it for Tuesday. Jeff Jeff Merrick tells all about the John Scott aftermath on Tuesday’s episode. Was not good. No, it wasn’t. Was not good for your boy. I remember many phone calls about it. Was was not good for your boy, especially that first day when uh USA Today had the uh had the vote. Mhm. Was not a good day for your boy. Let’s talk about on Tuesday. Let’s do it. All right. Thanks, Wish. You’ll be good. by Tuesday. That one that that fun story is uh is is uh is coming up. It’s funny. Someone reminded me about that saying my my best tweet ever was at the end of that All-Star game Nashville. I remember sitting there with my dog just being a jerk on Twitter and putting up sured the All-Star game everybody. Hey, Zach. [Music] Well, that was not a good time for your guy. But you live and you learn. You made it out. I made many mistakes. Didn’t learn a thing. I didn’t like live and learn. No, I just kind of lived through it. That’s all. Okay. Well, that’s good enough. You’re here. Endure threats. Uh anyh who, um you’re good today? Everything cool? I got to hustle here in a couple of seconds. Uh but uh everything good in your world now. The wife and kids are okay. me and uh having a barbecue on the weekend. You want to come by? Everything all right with you? Everyone together. Okay, good. Very good. Here we go. Uh The Sheet is powered by FanDuel. Enough of the small talk. The Sheet is powered by FanDuel. Play your game with FanDuel. It’s the NHL season, and FanDuel is your home for all the action on the ice. From Blue Line to bet slip, we’ve got you covered all season with unique promos, live offerings, and more features to let you play your game. Miss Puck Drop? No sweat. With a live game parlay, you can build your bets up until the final buzzer. Download the FanDuel sports book today and play your game. Please play responsibly, 19 plus and physically located in Ontario. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or the gambling of someone close to you, please contact Ontario at 1866531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. Zach, keeping it simple. Um, I’m not going with a parlay today because I’ve just been terrible, but I’m just going to choose these three. How did you choose these three? goal scores that I like here today. We’re going depth matters. This is not parlaying them. This is just all separate. You bet these separately. You only have to win one and effectively you’ll pro if you lose the other two, you still come out profitable on the night. And it’s fun for some long shots. So, I call this one uh today’s theme depth matters. Grab some third and fourth liners here tonight that I think could potentially score based on uh chances generated over the last little while, inability to score, or guys heating up, i.e. EA Scott Lton who’s looked a lot better over the last little while and did find the back of the net against the Panthers. So the three I have Scott Lton plus,00 um just to kind of break it down for people if you bet 10 on that one you’d win 110 profit. Connor Sheiri same thing $10 uh plus 1100 110 profit. And Colton Dock plus 900 10 would profit you 90 there. Those are three. Not saying bet them all together by the way. Let’s be clear on that. But those are the three. Okay. Um I I like I like when you do the parlays cuz I like just how grumpy you are afterwards. Well, there there was some there was a couple that was like, “Oh, it was close.” And was like, “I’ve not won any of these.” Like, but one day it’s going to hit and we’re not going to hear the end about it. This is your fishing trip story. Do you remember remember that day where you laughed at me looking at my slip and Yeah. You’ll never you’ll never let us live it down. You’ll never let us forget. Yeah. That’ll be the one where I come on and it’s like the day after. Last night we won $500 bucks and then 3 months later, remember that one we won like $10,000 and then a year later you and I are talking about that million dollar win that we had. It was not really that much. All right. Uh, I got to hustle here and we’ve been really rude with your time. Um, but we’ll end that now. Uh, thanks for joining us today. Thanks for uh for Thanks to Molly Walker for stopping by and putting up with our nonsense. Thanks Molly for for classing up the show uh the way you always do when you pop by. Uh, thanks as always to Greg Washinsky who pops by twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays here on the old MVSW uh on the sheet. And thanks to you for being in the chat, letting us in your ears, letting us uh in your eyeballs, and wherever else you allow us. That sounded weird. We’re back tomorrow 1:00 for more of the sheet. We’ll talk to you then. 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, Kobby 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.

Jeff Marek and Greg Wyshynski go full MvsW mode as they break down Daniil But’s new nickname and where it ranks among the best in hockey, before turning their attention to the scorching Washington Capitals, fresh off their sixth straight win and a dominant takedown of the San Jose Sharks. With the Eastern Conference turning into a weekly musical-chairs sprint for playoff positioning, the guys dive into who’s real, who’s fading, and how early NHL awards frontrunners are separating from the pack. Later, Mollie Walker joins the show to share her recent sit-down with Mike Sullivan, covering Olympic prep, small-arena dynamics, Team USA construction, and a full check-in across New York: the Rangers’ staying power, the Devils’ inconsistencies, and the Islanders’ latest identity crisis.

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