Do The Habs Have The Best 1st Line In The NHL? | The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro March 23 2026

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Craig, how are you? I am good. I will start with this.

Bolsoir LA party.

Paying tribute to the great Roger Broulotte, of course. He was awesome. You know,

all of us to grow up in Montreal following the expose. Whether you were listening to Roger,

listening to Dave Anhorn, you were listening to the voices of great baseball announcers.

Yeah, you're right about that. You know what? I have a couple of stories about Roger,

some of which I've shared already. And on French radio or or TVA sports television or earlier

today on Lissic podcast a france. Jeremy Filosa is going to join me later on in the podcast. Craig

and Roger Broulotte inspired Jeremy to pursue a career in the media and to talk about baseball

and to cover baseball as well as other sports. So I look forward to that conversation. We'll

relive some great Roger Broulotte memories. But thank you for that, Craig. Thank you very much.

Quick question for you, Tony. Back when we were much younger, the TV wasn't as prevalent as it is

now. So radio played a huge part in terms of our followers. So who was an influence for you to

get into media? And who did you listen to these subsidies? You know, one day I'd like to do that.

Without a doubt, the great late Ted Teven. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, the late great Ted Teven. Yep.

Oh, he was a beauty. Yeah. He gave me the machine guns a couple of times.

And then he said, don't worry about it. They're chocolate bullets.

If you didn't get the machine guns from Ted Teven, then you weren't doing your part. You weren't

going to get back on the Ted Teven show. Yeah. At one point in time if you didn't get the machine guns.

I mean, Ted was, he had the toilet flusher. He had everything going on that show.

But I had, you know, growing up, I used to love calling into sports radio. Yeah.

And there's a few shows I called into. I used to be a frequent caller on Mitch Melnik show as

well. And obviously I had the privilege of working with Mitch for almost 20 years at TSN radio

and Montreal. Mitch Garber used to have a show on Sunday nights as a matter of fact. And I used

to call him to that show for about a year or two, Pierre McGuire used to have a show on Sunday

nights. I used to call him to that show as well. But the show that I really, that I connected with

the best and that I enjoyed the most. And for me, the biggest showperson that Montreal English

radio has ever seen was Ted Teven. And so he inspired me quite a bit. And I used to, it's

funny his show used to play on, on different radio stations. But one of which was a CICUC AM600.

And Ted used to be on from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. And it's pretty ironic because in the last 15 years,

a sports radio that I did in English, I was on from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. instead of 10 p.m. to 1 p.m.

And I used to call in frequently and they didn't keep me on hold very long. And they used to take

my call pretty much right away. And my call would never last 30 seconds or a minute. But last five,

six, seven, eight, sometimes nine, 10 minutes, which is always a good sign. And I used to tape all

my calls and go back and listen to them and listen to his show, fall asleep, listen to his show

at nights with my Sony, my yellow Sony Walkman in my bed. And one night, one night, just before Ted

signed off, I had called him earlier that night. And he signed off by saying this to Tony from

LaSalle, you have the goods to be in this business. And then I started knocking on doors. And I

knew I always wanted to do it, but not everyone believed that I could. I did. But I was pretty

discouraged by everyone around me not believing. And then I said, well, if Ted even believes in me,

then you know what, it's going to happen. And so he, those words really inspired me. So, you know what,

if he's somewhere listening right now upstairs, I thank him for obviously inspiring me and for

motivating me to pursue it. I think it was, he was awesome. Yeah, he was. The day will come, Tony,

when there will be young people that are working in the young people today, they'll be working in

the business. And they'll say, the Tony man, it all was an influence for them. So, yeah, no,

we, we, we get, we get motivated by by listening to others. And then we pay it forward by inspiring

others. So, and I don't have any doubt that some young person today will be saying that about you

in the future. Don't get me wrong. Listening to the great late Danny Gallivan and listening to

Dicker and growing up was a treat. But I just kind of knew that my place was doing sports radio

instead of doing play by player color. I just kind of knew it. And that's why I, I gravitated

towards Ted Tiven as much as I did. But what a treat we had in Montreal and we had the great

René Le Caballé as well. Unbelievable. Well, you know, all famous. I mean, we're talking the,

we're talking the greats. And yeah, you know, you worked with Elliott Price and Elliott,

brother Jeff as a dear friend of mine to this day. And when Elliott, he was, it was a, was a DJ. I

mean, we thought that was the coolest thing that could ever happen. Yeah. And we were trying to

listen in to hear Elliott spin the disc, spin it, spin it for us and everything. And hear

him talk and peppermint patty who ended up moving out to Calgary got to meet her. And it was just

a lot, a lot of fun. I think about how the radio played such a big part in our lives. Yeah. You know,

if cancer ended up

putting an end to Roger's time with us,

cancer did not get the better of Roger Grillo. And this is an amazing story because

he was diagnosed with cancer earlier in the season had to leave the team. And then we saw

at the end of the night in images in the Canadians locker room if we can bring up the picture.

Look at that. According to the players, Roger Grillo was the man of the match at the end of the

game. And his speech was something like, guys, I kind of feel guilty wearing this hat, which goes

to the player of the game, of course. But, you know, Nick Cole, Slav combined for 13 points. Thanks.

They all got in group, group hub, group hug, took a picture. But look at Cole. Look at the

expression and the applause they gave Roger Grillo was amazing. I think this is something that is

going to, you know, the Canadians are going to be a lot better off with Roger Grillo with them

helping them out. Yeah. Well, Roger has so much experience. And one of the things that Marty

St. Louis recognized when he became the coach of the Montreal Canadians is that his experiences

were different. It wasn't that he wasn't coaching, but he hadn't coached at the college level like

Roger Grillo had. He hadn't coached at junior levels like Trevor Latowski and been part of the

NHL and minor leagues like Trevor Latowski. And the respect that Marty has for the people that have

done it and knowing that he needed their help. I think again, it just speaks, I don't know how many

times we talk about Marty St. Louis, the person and how intelligent he is and surrounding himself

and understanding. I know I've told this story before, but you know, Trevor Latowski, when Marty

started coaching in the NHL, Trevor was standing right next to him. And the reason for that was

Marty said, well, he's coached. I need somebody that can tell me what not to do. He didn't come in

there pretending that he knew everything. And we talk about authenticity and being who you are.

I mean, Marty is that guy. He brings people in. He makes people part of things. And I think that

Saturday night with Roger Grillo being recognized by Brendan Gallagher. And I mean, it was

a special, like when you watch the video and then Roger humbly saying, wait a sec here, and he named

he named a whole bunch of players. He said, it's not for me and everything, but it speaks to

and you learn this when you're part of a team and you and you feel it. And I don't know if you

saw the quote the other day by Matt Barzel. Matt Barzel made a comment that I thought was really,

really telling and important. He said, you always think you're in a good locker room until you're

in a good locker room. And the Montreal Canadiens have a great locker room. They have a great organization.

They have people that pull together. People are all valued for further contributions.

You know, you talk about Josh Anderson being in a non-contact uniform today in practice.

Trying to get back into being an important cog in the wheel. But isn't he just one example of

not being cast aside, but finding value in a different way? And what Josh does and how he gets

invested, it's because Marty and the coaching staff and management said, no, we value you.

And we're going to use you in different ways. They're going to really help the team.

Roger Grillo is no different. And we could go to the next hour, just name it all the people.

We don't have an hour to do that, but Canadiens have a really, really tight organization and a great

locker room. Let's hear from Marty Sanleway on Roger Grillo's return to the team.

But, you know, and I wasn't even the dressing room for that. You know, the boys brought Roger

in after the game. I don't always go in after wins or after loss. And I stayed away.

You know, sometimes you just want to give him that moment. It's a big game. I don't need to be

in part of every moment, but they brought Roger in. You know, and to me, that's...

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That's important. It's not forced. I think it's just the

you know, the quality of people that we have, and you know, you talk about galley, and you know,

he's been a big part of helping these young guys and the culture and the environment.

And I did see a picture of Cole next to Roger. I don't know if I'm sure you guys

get something there. And it was so gratifying for me because I came off like the presser after

the game saying what I admire most about Cole is that he celebrates everyone. You know, so when I

saw that picture, I was like, well, you know, I proved my point. Yeah. So we have a great group

and I'm happy that Roger is back. And I'm happy that, you know, the boy's been supporting him

through his, you know, the last five months. And you know, the acknowledges is what he's gone

through and his return. There you have it. I don't always go into the room after every

way or every loss as Marty said in the way. Sometimes I just like to give them their space. They

brought Roger in. I'm glad they did. Stuff like that is important. He says, again,

they're a moment. We got a good group. They've been supporting him for the last five months.

Yeah, I don't need to add anything to what Marty just said, you know, it is. And like I said,

like when I quote my part, when I quote what my part is all said, there it is on display.

Yeah. Okay. We have so much room we need to talk about. I mean, the decision to go with Jacob

Fowler on Saturday night after Dolbesh was very good in a win versus the Bruins on Tuesday.

Thursday, he lost in Detroit, but obviously no blame on him. Two goals,

beat him and hidden the chance on either of those goals. I guess we shouldn't be surprised

knowing that Fowler was already put in four-point games versus Buffalo versus Detroit and versus

Ottawa this season. But having said that, did you think they were going to go with Fowler on Saturday

night versus the Anders? I'd be lying if I said yes or I said no, Tony. But what I do see

is that there's a confidence in playing Jacob in these types of games. There's confidence

in playing Jacob in these types of games. And I said this earlier about Jacob. I think Jacob

is a real top-notch young gold tender. I think Jacob Dolbesh is a really good young gold tender.

And if I think that Jacob Fowler should be the starting gold tender come playoff time,

I also need to say that I think that Jacob Dolbesh can be a part of the playoff rotation as well.

I don't see this right now as clear cut with respect to one guy just taking the ball and running

with it. But what I do see is you try to build the confidence in yourself. And I'm talking about

the coaches now to say he can handle it. And they're tests. And it's not easy. A lot of times what

you do is you put somebody in the neck, okay, Jacob just one will put them in there. But you can do

that. But you also are trying to build your confidence and the players confidence in each of the

gold tender. And I think that from a coaching perspective, and we talk about taking steps forward

in the growth of this team, I think that that's really important. And I think Jacob has shown

that he can handle the task and handle the pressures. Does it mean he's going to win every game?

No, it isn't. Like I'll be straight forward with you. I thought the AML Hanuman gold was a

terrible goal. Like no gold tender league should be letting that goal in. No, it was too much in his

neck. Oh, and he was down. But Jacob Fowler, what you look for is how do you rebound? You can't

do anything of all one win in, but how do you rebound? And how do you find a way to get your

game back in order? Because that's what the playoffs are about. There's going to be goals going in.

You're going to be behind you. And so I see it more as progress for everybody. Progress for the team,

progress for the individual gold tenders, progress for the confidence of the coaches to feel that,

hey, this is what we need to do. And if you didn't have a level of confidence, you wouldn't play

Jacob Fowler, but they do have a level of confidence. And he's earned that. And how much

how much more he earns is going to be up to how much like how well he plays. And that's that

that's the same with any player. And it's certainly the same for Jakob Dolish. But right now,

I see the Montreal Canadiens with a real stable tandem in there with Jacob and Jakob.

Let's speaking of Jacob Fowler, let's hear from him on not playing his best game on Saturday night.

My sharpest game by any means. And I've had games that maybe I've been a lot sharper than that.

And maybe the bounces don't go our way. But it's part of this game. You know, some might take it lucky

and you don't have your best night. And it's fortunate to get fortunate to get picked up by the boys.

Those big goals. I mean, anytime your team scores seven goals, if you're not winning those games,

I think there's a big problem. So just try to do my job. You know, every time one went in, it was

you get a little bit, you know, more confident in the team. But, um, you know, seriously, it's,

I can play with a lot of confidence when, you know, anytime, anybody,

or any lines on the ice. So we can score and we can score pretty quickly.

We can score. We can score pretty quickly. He says, huh?

Well, and well, they can and boy did they ever. The other thing I wanted to say too about

goaltening, you know, it's and I equated to pitching. It's really easy when you go out to pitch

your B or to play net. When you're feeling 100% and the pot looks as big as a beach ball and

your breaking balls working and your and your fast balls working, it's really easy to go out there

and perform at a high level. The good ones, the great ones, they find a way to perform when they

don't have their best stuff. They find different ways to be successful. And that's what to me good

pitchers do and what good goal tenders do. And I think that Jacob put that on display on Saturday night

because he was being a little deferential to himself. He made a couple of really big saves.

It's like that we're really important when the game was close. You know, when it gets a little

bit out a little bit, the spread becomes a little bit wider, but he made some really good saves.

When you can find a way to grind it out and then and try to deliver, when you can give 100%

of your 80%, that's a quality that matters. All right, so I totally agree with you on that.

Now you brought up a Mill Heinemann's name who obviously scored a goal for the New York

Islanders. There are top corner glove side, but Jacob Fowler, we agree, should have come out and

challenged a little bit more. Stay too much in his net. I think we have a pretty big sample size

now, right, about 65, 66 games into the season to actually talk about how that trade worked out

for both teams. Noah Dobson on Saturday night played 21 minutes and 27 seconds had an assist,

three shots on goal, one attempt blocked, five missed shots, five blocked shots, a couple of

takeaways, a Mill Heinemann once again scored a big goal for the New York Islanders. Heinemann

has actually scored 20 goals this year for the New York Islanders. It's a trade that's worked

out for both teams. Well, it has and it will continue to work out for the Islanders, because

with those two draft picks, they draft the two really good prospects, Victor Aclet and Keishan

who are, to me, great competitors, really good players, and they're going to need a little bit of

time before they're going to come in and make an impact. But I think that all and all that when

you set, when you start those discussions and you try to understand what it's going to take

to acquire Noah Dobson, and I think it also is good, Tony, to talk about it in the light of

can't use his comments about the trade deadline and working on something a little bit bigger.

And the Noah Dobson trade, I think, is something that is a great example. Yeah, it happens

right prior to the draft, but that didn't start two days before the draft. The New York Islanders

are talking, they're trying to understand what it's going to cost to sign Noah Dobson.

A new manager comes in, so all those conversations go in a new direction, maybe not a new direction,

but with a new tone or the new manager and how he sees things. So when Kent talks about the

trade deadline and trying to work on things and we're not able to get something done, that doesn't

mean, I mean, he could have been talking about the Noah Dobson trade last year that people tried to

guess who could the player be and then come draft that time, he makes the big deal. And I think

it just illustrates that a bigger deal takes some time and even though you work at it,

doesn't mean it's over, doesn't mean that it will happen, but it takes some time.

When we talk about Noah, Noah is a really good player. I've watched Noah for a long, long time,

and Noah has that, you just went through the stat line, but Noah has an efficiency to his game,

an efficiency where he can carry those minutes over 20 and 22 minutes and 23 minutes and

against hard players and contributes in so many different ways and balances out your blue line and

takes the stress off of coaches and takes some of the burden off of other defenders. These are not

easy players to acquire and there's a cost to acquire in them and you have to assess as a manager

what that cost is and is it worth it? And I think where the Montreal Canadians found themselves

last summer or last spring and into the summer and into the draft, Noah Dobson's name becomes

available? Kent got serious. How do you acquire these guys? So when you do have a sense that you can

acquire them, you got to go in both feet. You cannot be fiddling around, you got to be saying,

and trust me, it might not be comfortable when you start, well, it's going to take at least

the 16th and 17th pick. Well, and what else? Well, you're waiting to hear the names and Dave Pooleyn

told me this a few years ago about Amel Heinemann when he was still with us at CSM. He said,

this kid has an underrated shot. Like, you know, I could see him one day scoring 20 in the league.

Well, Kudos to Dave Pooleyn. Like, Dave Pooleyn identified that saw that. So for the New York

founders making this trade in terms of what they were trying to do, pretty significant, but also

for the Montreal Canadians. And I'll be straightforward. I really like Noah and Mikey Matheson together.

I really, really like that pair together. I think they can do the heavy lifting of a top

pairing defense group. What do you say when you hear the criticism that Noah Dobson

is big, but he doesn't play big. That he's big, but he doesn't play physical. That he's big,

but he doesn't use his size. And you know what? He's probably not the most physical

defenseman in the league, but playing big is blocking shots. Playing big is breaking a place.

Playing big is being able to lock 23, 24, 25 minutes. Playing big is being able to have

such a good stick to shut down the opposition. He does all of that, doesn't he?

Well, I mean, again, to find big. I mean, bottom line is he's in the one-on-one battles.

He's winning one-on-one battles. The game is very different now with respect to physicality.

It's in tight. It's in close. It's along the boards. It's in those tight spaces. And Noah Dobson

is a, let me put it this way, is a big player for the Montreal canadian. So, you know what I would say,

damn the critics. And I think that Noah would say exactly the same thing.

All right. So what a game, though, on Saturday night, the game's tied at three

in the third period. And the Canadians explode with four third period goals.

A couple of goals for Cocoafield in that third who already had won. He scores a hat trick

to assist five points. He's at 43. Seven goals away from the 50 mark with 13 games to go.

Seven goals away from the 50 mark with 13 games to go. He has scored more goals than any other

player in the national hockey league this year. And zero of them are in an empty net.

The first goal that he scored when he was just in close and he just put it up and over

a Sirokin shoulder. I've seen him do that. I don't know how many times this year. He's kind of

like he's mastered it from in close. He can go over any goalie shoulder in the league.

We've got precision in his game. I've said this before about Cole. Cole makes

goal tenders defend the entire net because he can put it wherever there's an opening. And

Ilya Sirokin is a really good goal tender. Listen, Ilya Sirokin that goal, now that's an elite

goal score. And all Sirokin did was give him the opening. Sirokin gave him the opening. And

Cole coffee. Most players aren't going to be able to take advantage of that, but Cole will.

And he made Sirokin pay for a poor decision on his positioning. But when you're a goal tender

that can that can open up the goal tender and make him think about every area of the net.

Now you got the goal tender back on his heels. Like Ken Dryden told me that Reggie Leech could do that.

Reggie Leech could make you think. And I remember Ken very clearly telling me,

Reggie Leech could make you think that he could take, he could clip your earlobe. And he said,

forget about scoring goals. Like if he wanted to, he would have clipped my earlobe. He goes,

that's how good Reggie Leech was as a goal score. And I mean, we're talking one of the great

goal tenders of all time. It can dry. So when I see Cole and what he's capable of doing, I mean,

the whole net's available to him. The whole net is available to him. And because he's got his eyes

up all the time, and he can see what's open. And then with the flick of his hands, it's in the net.

I mean, the second goal he scored, I mean, that puck is coming to him. It gets deflected.

It's a little bit wobbly. And not only does he adjust to it, but he gets his hands in this,

and boom, it's right on to the net. And Sirokin doesn't even have a chance to get set.

The great Mike Bossy, who we talked a little bit about last week,

Mike Bossy said, I never wanted to give a goal tender a chance to get set.

Because if I gave him a chance to get set, that means he gained an advantage on me. He said,

the quicker I got my shot off with the release, the less chance he got he was able to get set.

I think Cole has very, he, he, Cole has patience, but he also gets the puck off a stick pretty

bloody quick as well. He really does. And by the way, I saw that's that the other day,

since learning that he was not going to be on team USA at the Olympics, which was back on January

the second. He's got more goals than any player in the national hockey league. That's a,

that's a pretty good response. Oh, and there's no question about it, Tony. And, you know,

the response and knowing Cole for as long as I've known him, and still well, I mean,

when you think about the Montreal fans, and he comes out on the ice with Renault-Lavoie

post game to do an interview, and he's got to stand there and listen to the, the adoring fans

applaud him. And much like when he scored the winning goal against Bossy in overtime, I mean,

this is somebody that loves being a Montreal Canadian. And the Montreal Canadians, the fans of

the Montreal kids love him being a Montreal Canadian. It isn't it, Tony, just a, just a perfect

partnership, isn't it? And the smile that he has, joy that he has playing, it's special,

it really is special. You're pretty good with trivia in the history of the Montreal Canadians.

How many players would you guess have scored 50? President Barack Obama.

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Paula Flur. I know the Flur did. Risha did. Boom boom did. The rocket did. So rocket,

blah, blah, blah, that was easy. Boom boom. Geel Flur. You're missing that Risha.

You're just missing one. You're just missing one. And you're going to tell me and it's probably

so obvious that it's not that obvious. Oh, I know who it is. I know who it was. It was

Pierre LaRouche. You're right about that. Let's bring it up. There you have it. Geel Flur

six times. Stefan Risha twice. Pierre LaRouche, Steve Shutt, Bernie Jeffriot, and the rocket.

Morris, Richard. Isn't that something though? That goes to show you how tough it is to score 50

goals and not only to score 50, but to do it as a Montreal Canadian, but the flower did it six

times and the coca field is on his way. I don't know if he's going to do it this year. I'll tell you

this. I wouldn't bet against him this year, and I wouldn't bet against him for years to come. But

what's really amazing is, look, Stefan Risha, especially early on in his career, was a blue line

in player. There are a lot of players in national hockey league that put up a lot of numbers,

and they're blue line in players. Patrick Ligny plays for the case right now. Mind you

hasn't played for most of the season. He's a blue line in player. Cocafield has become a very good

200 foot player, and take a look at these stats that show you. There's a graphic here. Do we have

that? Offense, a score of 98 on 100. Defense, a score of 96 on 100. There's a bunch of advanced stats

put together on ronohockey.com. This was Marty Sundley's man that a couple of years ago. It takes

the willingness and the work ethic and the determination and the commitment of the player, Craig.

But Marty Sandley, Cocafield, Adam Nicholas, the player development department, and there are

others. What a joint effort. Cocafield is a 200 foot player, Craig Button.

You remember the goalie scored in the third period? The play started below the Montreal goal one,

and Cocafield was in the left. It was in the right wing corner. He came behind the net,

and he reversed it. He reversed it, which allowed them to come right out of their zone,

and then who finished it off? You want to see a 200 foot play? Go back and look at that goal.

The goal to complete the contract is he picks it off at the blue line.

That was the great play by Hudson, lifting the stick. Hudson doesn't even get an assist. He lifts

the stick, which allows it cold to come in. But the second goal, Tony, was the one where he

all the way up to, like it's unbelievable. It's unbelievable that that play starts.

We use 200 foot player. Just watch the play. He's below the goal line in the Montreal

defensive zone, reverses it, so aware of where the outlet was, and now they come right out of their

zone. Yeah, by the way, his centerman, Nick Suzuki, not too shabby, who had a four assist night.

What is Domlicician of the Athletics, say, about Nick Suzuki? Let's bring it up.

He ranks Suzuki as the favorite to win the Selkie trophy this season.

He plays the toughest matchups, takes on a heavy load, and churns out elite defensive results

anyway. Your thoughts, Greg? Well, that's, Tony, I think I had Nick Suzuki number two on my

Selkie ballot last year. I can look it up, but I'm pretty sure I had Nick number two on my Selkie

ballot. I had bark off number one, because bark off was the best. But I'm pretty sure I had

Suzuki number two. So, you know, it comes as no surprise when I see that. And, you know, it wasn't

too long ago when I would say, you know, Nick Suzuki reminds me a lot of Patrice Persiron. People

don't say Patrice Persiron. Listen, don't tell me what to say, okay? I know what I see.

And I saw it a long time ago at Nick Suzuki, okay? And because I watched Patrice Persiron play

for Akiti Bathurst in the Quebec League years ago, and I saw Nick Suzuki play all the way through,

I'm not saying he's going to be Patrice Persiron. Patrice Persiron is going into the hall of

fame. He was a great player. But when I watched Nick Suzuki play, it was hard for me not to conjure

up images of Patrice Persiron. And those images are right there. And when we talk about, I mean,

people always say, number one center. Give me a break, you see, number one center. Everybody that

questioned him being a number one center should just stop talking about number one centers.

Because you obviously haven't seen one. If you don't know that Nick Suzuki could be one.

That's so well put. We're going to get back to Suzuki Koffield and their line,

May Slefkowski, just a second. The sick podcast is brought to you apart by energy transportation

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Montreal Acadades number one line. Let's hear from Uri Slavkowski. Do we have Slavkowski?

Fighting for every pug. He's going to corners with much bigger guys and winning all his battles.

And you just loud we loud all his compete level and he's a gamer.

Suzuki on the teams last three games played three really good games three really good teams

all teams that are around us in the standing so you know it's take a lot of lessons and

you know just kept playing the right way and trying to do the right things and you're

awarded all your time. Let's hear Nick Suzuki on his consistent offensive production.

I don't know I think I've just grown as a player and you know our team has grown in our offensive

structures help me for sure and be able to produce and you know it's just going to be a year

that I don't put us as more points it's obviously going to happen but you know it's just

try to do my job out there and help the team win as many games as possible.

Our offensive structure has definitely helped me. There's a guy who's pretty happy that his

team is coach for Marty San Luis huh? There's no question and you know Marty's so cerebral was

cerebral as a player and is cerebral as a coach you talk about Cole and you know I think that

you know we talk I gush about Marty and deservedly so because because Marty wants to take every

player and not just get them to do what they do well but also to allow them to expand the

game into other areas it's what you talked about with Cole it's Nick talking about that and

you when you think about Nick and you think about Cole and you're right Slav Koskina and

no you and we talked about it like you know he took your eye and he put him in a responsible spot

playing him with captain and demi-daw for earlier just just to give them a little bit of a boost

which tells you you know what's helps players and now you watch that line with with 2014 or

13 14 and 20 I mean it's one of the best lines in hockey right now Tony and you think about

Nick Suzuki I think you asked me this last week do I think Nick Suzuki can get 100 points

and I said to these 100s hard long gonna answer it differently this week I'm gonna say yes

and do I think the Cole Coffield can and we'll get 50 I think yes I think he will so that I mean

can I mean you got a 50 goal score and a hundred point guy it's not like and we look at the numbers

and everything but yeah based on the way they're playing and how dangerous they are they're not lucky

they're not benefiting from a they're benefiting from such intelligent competitive like you talk about

playing and getting opportunities in the way you play they're earning everything they get so yeah

I'm gonna say now I think I think a hundred points and 50 goals will happen for Nick and for Cole

50 goals Cole Coffield is seven goals away 100 points Nick Suzuki's 15 points away will you

rise left Kowski get 30 goals and 70 points he's three goals away and from getting that and he needs

to add what five more assists yeah or six more six more assists as a matter of fact he's got 61

he needs to add nine more points so three goals and six more assists speaking of Slough Kowski I have

something look at this it's a graphic the good folks over at TV sports put it up for me and his last

35 games Craig Button since the 20th of December Urias Slough Kowski's got 18 goals and 41 points

he's ranked 14th in National Hockey League at 1.17 points per game

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yeah and again I'm the point say less and that's a that's really impressive and it's really

important and he would be only two goals short of getting to 30 if he would have if he would have

finished that one off when he deep yeah he deep soroking right out you know and I'm sure he's

going to he's that that's one when he come to the iPad it was it was it wasn't it was blocked by

the defense window but you're right I think he could have shot before that yeah but but you come

to the bench and you look at the iPad you kind of go oh geez like what did I do how could that not

go in anyway I mean Uri is that player that is so influential in the game and influences the

outcomes in so many different ways big and powerful and assertive and you know Tony last year at

this time you you were talking about him working on a shot and just another example of the players

that they're they're not just happy being in a certain spot and staying there they want to continue

to grow their game mix azuki just talked about it you're I slept koski cold coffee I'll take you

goole I mean we can go on about so many different players growing their games and expanding their

games and I mean Uri's unique he's a unique player with respect to that power skill

competitive fire blend and we talk about loving playing for the Montreal Canadians and the

Montreal Canadians fans love him playing I mean Uri fits that that that that's so well and yeah

yeah you know I just wanted to say this a little bit quickly about Nick and you think about

Montreal could the great captains that the Montreal Canadians have had the elegance that they

performed with the quiet efficiency and Nick and bodies all of that Nick and bodies all of that

right like so you you get the you you get different elements from different players but as the

captain of the Montreal Canadians the there is kind of a template there and Nick fits it perfectly

he fits it perfectly you're right about that and you know when we talked the most left

koski you talked about how big how strong how talented he is a taged Thompson is opening a lot of

ISIS season he has done over the last couple of seasons he had he's a big time player was having

a big time season yeah Slavkoski's at a pace superior to Thompson in the last 35 games since the

20th of December because Thompson has only one point more than Slavkoski during that span but

has played three games more than Slavkoski so isn't that something it's the sick podcast and a

shutter of course to you know the spot the giant orange glowing over the carries is 1932 yeah you

know exactly what I'm talking about jibbo orange julep it's all about the legendary orange drink and

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can order online to your door now on uber eats use code sick putin when you order for 30% off a

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play responsibly kaden goole also spoke earlier today what did he have to say

I think for sure just a part of my game that felt like maybe slipped a little bit and

was trying to find find that piece and kind of knew that that's what I had to be and

just to feel like since the bossing in just my mindset has shifted a little bit to try to

be more like that yeah just I gotta keep trying to do that every game you said you said you

said you thought your game slipped a bit what was that in your opinion I think in that sense I think

I just wasn't playing like that I think when when you play like that you kind of get more into

the game mentally and and all the other team doesn't like it and you know the other team's

pissed off you kind of have your head on your head over head on swivel a little bit more and kind

of just mentally gets you into the game a little bit more so I think that's just part of the game

he didn't come back and just when I went and played like that like us Craig it's a couple of weeks

now he's been put on the third pairing with Alex Carrier and he's been in beast mode ever since

on Saturday night 16 minutes 21 seconds one goal to assist three points plus three three shots

on goal one attempt blocked one missed three hits in the hockey game Kate and Gouli was a monster

for the Canadians on Saturday Craig how about that pass he made to Alex Newhawk for the goal I mean

stepping in there just a beautiful pass obviously the shot his goal goes off I got come stick but

you know he he was he was engaged Tony you and me have talked about it I like him better on the

left side I think because of the injuries trying to get him back into those areas of what I

call muscle memory and now getting him comfortable doing the things that make him really effective but

Tony I mentioned earlier about the locker room and about the team and how tight they are

Matt Barzel takes a run at Nick Suzuki yeah Kate and Gouli goes not happening and I don't care

if you're Matt Barzel you're not happening right here Mr. Barzel and it's a message to everybody

you're not messing with our captain you're not messing with him and don't even dare try to do it

so Kaden talking about being engaged and he's also engaged right there in the moments of the game

and in the time of a game where you know you might go oh it's Matt Barzel no for Kaden Gouli it was

about so might take a run at Kaden you're gonna deal with it and Kaden Gouli is a really good player

and he's a competitive player he's a hard player but you talk about the bonds that form and that

that that create a real real sense of of what I call a spritical or that's there for the Montreal

canays and it was on display right there when Matt Barzel now you know Matt Barzel is not

somebody that's taking your two to shots but that's not the way that came to it and that was another

for me another real sign about how how how this locker room operates and how good it is

that's amazing stuff by you tonight Craig Bunn thanks so much hey listen I know you're the

director of scouting at TSN they're a hockey analyst but you know what a scout I figure a scout

and hockey can identify talents from an athlete who does other sports I just like to get your

opinion because there's a great story going around in Montreal there's some great athletic

ability that was seen here in NDG if we can bring it up a great video Shane we have it look at

this technique look look look at this look at what do you what do you think of the the game shape

here what do you think of the technique the talent well the first thing you look at is is like

the skills so I'm looking at the hands and I'm looking at the feetwork so right now you can tell

you're you're trying to get your form into place and be disciplined but but the hands look pretty

decent the feetwork you're getting turned around nicely right so what I would call what I would

say Tony is there's what we call room for improvement there's room for improvement and you've got

some potential there so it looks good you got to start from a base and now I need to see the video

in a month I need to see the month see it in three months and then maybe when I'm in Montreal we're

going to get on the on the pickleball court and we'll test out those skills do you play

yeah I play I play I play pickleball I play paddle oh really you know what I'm going to send

you a picture later yeah I think it was 21 when I have to go on trade deadline and I've had a

pickleball injury I'll send you all the details I'll talk about it another day hey listen I picked

up pickleball a couple of weeks ago I played five games since then I fall in love with it I'm crazy

about it and I'm you know what I'm moving around I want to play paddle as well but it looks like

a much more rigorous workout than pickle so I will see what happens that'll be the next phase

but I want to give a shout out to Pangashu owns a 90,000 square foot facility in NDG on

Dilly Seymour right off of of St. Jacques it's called Maison at Le Cic if we can there you have it you

can go via the app which is playtomic and they have eight paddle courts and they have three pickleball

they're set to add another four them and a beach tennis as well a 3444 is the number it's a nice

place I played there last night I liked it so decided to give them a shout out Craig button fantastic

stuff as always I'll talk to you soon we're playing we're playing you better you better just get

get ready for a match we're gonna have a lot of fun and then we'll go to Silzaki Authentic for lunch

I look forward to it thank you Craig button we'll talk to you soon thanks as a promise I want it

to finish off the show with a tribute to Roger Boulot you know Roger was it was a good friend

and and I shared a couple of stories and I'm gonna share one with you right now why don't I

bring in my colleague Jeremy Fallosa from Kojiko of course 98.5 FM in Montreal can you hear me

you can't hear me right now okay let's let's bring Jeremy backstage then let's see if you can

hear us and then we'll bring him back on but um so Roger gave me a call when I was working English

radio and he would tell me you know he talked about the expose you said that it was this you said

this I was there it was this it was that and all that stuff and he would always try and correct

your it always add a little bit and he wanted to do it because he wanted to help out and it was

always very much appreciated and Roger used to tell me it's just 21 day you're gonna work in

French radio French television and I said oh Roger I don't think so I don't think I'm good

enough for that and I don't think I'd be able to do a show and maybe as old collaborator here

and there but nothing major and he says no no trust me and he says you got the goods to do it

you're good enough to do it and by the way French media needs someone like you um there have been times

where there's been a huge division between French media and English media sometimes there was

some even animosity in the past Roger was always a friend to both and I would always take someone

from the English side and try and bring them into the mix them with the French and someone for

the French and try and mix them in the English and so he's a guy who brought people together

and that's a I think an amazing quality that he had he's also a guy that obviously uh

commanded a lot of respect and if he could put a smile on your face he would um I remember

Roger saw me at a wrestling event back in 2015 and I was there with my uh my sons

who were at the time I think 12 and 10 or something like that and my cousin's son Janney

and we're sitting front row at the WWE and he came by and he was with Minick the sports barber

and they'd better be the sportsiff and he had his code act in hand and said what are you doing here

I said well we love wrestling he says why don't you bring the the kids downstairs to see the

wrestlers I said I can't do that it's privileged to access down there and even though I have my

accreditation I can't do that they're going to stop me at the elevators nah come on me come on

me come on me and it brings me to the elevator I go in I'm like oh my god we're going to get

stopped I'm going to get my media accreditation revolt get downstairs elevator opens up first

person he sees Pat Patterson Pat my buddy 20 marnault Tony Pat Patterson and then my kids are

freaking out because the wrestlers are going through their choreography some of them on a teleprompter

and and they're basically reading their lines and other ones cutting a promo the other ones are

doing makeup or and that we it's where it all went down and bread heart passes by and he says

why don't you ask him for a picture I said no no I don't want to bother him my buddy's here take a

picture with the kids and there you have it so Roger Brilott there's a couple of Roger Brilott

stories for you but Jeremy Filosa knows them well Jeremy I read the beautiful tribute that you

put on your social media about Roger Brilott and I said this is so good reading it I want to have

Jeremy come on my podcast to talk about Roger Brilott these next minutes are yours listen Roger

Brilott had a lot in common with you because he understood one thing is that sports and sports

media is not only about statistics and stories sports is also about putting on a show he understood

that from A to Z and he loved that team he loved the expose just as much as you love the Montreal

Canadians and every time they do something great on the field especially when they hit home runs

he found a way to make sure that if you're in your car and you're driving your car you're anywhere

listening to the game on the radio that you knew that at that moment something big just happened

the expose hit a home run they come they came back into the game and so it was very hard not to

fall in love with that team although they had many difficult years but listening to Roger Brilott

on the radio it was just it was masterful he was absolutely masterful in getting people's attention

and I remember there was a one specific game and somebody found this actually on social media

and sent it to me it was 1997 as I was telling the story is it's May 1997 and I'm working a part-time

job for Bel Canada customer service and I hate my job and I got a I got a break and I'm going to go

in my car which is parked in the lane in a residential area and I'm going to listen to a couple of

expo innings you know until I go back to start my shift again and the expose mount this crazy

comeback they're down by nine runs and they finally win the game 14 to 13 they're alive in San Francisco

I'm listening to this in my car and I never went back I never went back to my position the rest of

the day I stayed in my car I listened to the rest of the game and you could just imagine how crazy

Roger was at the end of that one I think it was Barkey's Christmas that day I'll hit a home run

and help the expose you know come back and win that game and I sent to myself I got to find

I got to find a way to get there I got I got to find a way to get myself in that studio and you

know I kept studying went to school I was at Concordia I then went to the Montreal Radio School

and two years later a little bit less than two years later I get a job with the Montreal Expose

writing advertisement for radio and also for the giant screen and for the home announcer

and I get to work right next to Roger Boulette in my head it was like you know I can't believe I made

it here even though all I was doing was writing commercials for radio but you know I transitioned

into radio I was working at CCMS back then we managed to get a handful of expo games

in I think it was 2000 or something so I was able to work hand in hand with Roger Boulette

on the radio and you know doing pre-game show post-game show I mean I had I was I had to pinch myself

I couldn't believe I was working with Roger Boulette this icon of you know sports radio

in Montreal and you know he was just so generous he called me after the shows late at night

he knew I'd be coming back from Olympic Stadium and to be like

Jair I listen to you tonight because that's the way he called me called me Jair I called him

Roger and he's like I listen to you tonight one little piece of advice when you're thinking of

what you want to say don't say just take a second or two pause leave silence and I said to myself

it's a fantastic trick how come they never taught me this that's cool yeah and I said you know

this this is great advice and you know I passed it along to all the young people that follow

after me young reporters and everything but I mean this guy loved this job and it was so hard

breaking when the expose left Tony so hard breaking for guys like him that were there from day one

and love this team they just wanted to see this team thrive they wanted to see a championship

it never happened and now he's gone and you know the team never came back it's sad man it's it's

sad but what is 16 May 16 1997 there you go 365 the giants are up five nothing at Olympic Stadium

after one inning expose get two in the second the giant score six more runs in the third

they're up eleven two after three innings four expose runs in the fourth three in the fifth

three in the sixth one in the eighth one in the ninth when by a score fourteen thirteen you're

winning picture on the night is you geth urbina oh yeah yeah Craig button asked me who inspired you

when you were younger and I said Ted Tevin the late great Ted Tevin inspired me to do sports radio

and now you share this story that Roger Brilut is the guy who inspired you

absolutely a career in media and to talk about baseball and to analyze baseball and to

report on baseball and to cover baseball yeah and and he's gone way too soon but that's that's

a great story they just shared Jeremy yeah thank you very much and I just I feel so privileged to

be able to have worked you know side by side with him he also hosted a show called Bonsoir et

on 98.5 on Friday nights for many many years so you know what an inspiration and then you know

obviously when the expose left he had to sort of transition and he became the the one man

chauffeur Jean-Anne de Montréal he was everywhere all the time I don't know how many people

picture he took and put into the newspaper I mean he ran into me with my son my little boy it

was a baseball player asked him about you know how his season was going what position he played

et cetera et cetera at night we're watching the game on TV Roger Brilut in the middle of

the third inning he starts talking about my son and his team and my son's like oh my god I can't

he's talking about me in the middle of the game and he did that for so many people because he

knew that that little that just that little thing made people remember you know how important it

was how specially was made them feel special so Roger had back pain went into the hospital

memory serves me well back in the news in the hospital for about six months it was tumor

on his back it was cancers got operated went to the rehab right after that to try and get better

ended up getting back there was a setback ended up back in the hospital and was never able to

recover unfortunately he left us Friday late afternoon and it's been a really really bad

couple of days and of course I think we all woke up to the news for those who went the better

early last night but last night of course there was also a terrible crash an air Canada plane

I want to talk about this as well very very quickly just send my condolences of course

that was going from Montreal to to New York landing a La Guardia airport landed at around

11.40 pm and when it did at about 130 miles an hour it ended up colliding with a fire truck

that was on the ground as well and unfortunately the whole nose of the plane came off

and the pilot and co-pilot ended up losing their life there's been a ton of injuries

over 40 people in hospital most of which were released but there are a couple of significant

injuries but once again the pilot and co-pilot have lost their lives so sympathies go out to

their families obviously thoughts and prayers with everyone and Jeremy thank you for paying

tribute to the great Roger Broulotte I'll be back tomorrow morning off Rasseh with the sick

podcast Zizal Limatay and I'll be back tomorrow night immediately after the Canadians and the

Carolina Hurricanes immediately right after what the haps post game show in English

but Jeremy Filosa thank you very much why don't we bring up Roger's picture and we'll go out the

way Roger asked everyone to go out when talking about him respectfully

and that's a wrap hope you don't miss us too much until next time follow the sick podcast with

Tony Maranero on YouTube Instagram Facebook Google Play and Apple podcasts the sick podcast

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