The Sheet Blog: Is it time for a Canada, USA men’s hockey rivalry series?

Jeff Marek
Jeff Marek(JeffMarek)
The Sheet Blog: Is it time for a Canada, USA men’s hockey rivalry series?
Credit: KHL

Can we just be blunt about something?   

We all know the desired outcome for the Four Nations Faceoff is Canada vs. the United States, so if the NHL is going to put together some kind of ‘international calendar,’ just give the people what they want.

A best-of-five series between Canada and the U.S.

No tournament, just a series between two countries. Not unlike 1972, but this time, Canada faces off against their new best international rival – their neighbors. And not to get too political, but given the current climate between the two countries, this one sells itself.

You can even treat this like soccer, with fans separated into two sections: Canadian and American.  Canucks wear red, Yanks wear blue. And we’re off…. Tell me the atmosphere wouldn’t be hot.

The women do it with the Rivalry Series, so why can’t the men do the same?  

Biz speaks his mind

If you had any doubt about who the most powerful member of the hockey media is, last week gave you your answer – Paul Bissonnette.

The dust-up with the Hawks over Bissonette’s comments about Connor Bedard on TNT made headlines everywhere almost instantly for a few reasons. It’s seldom we see analysts dice up star players on a national broadcast and even more rare it was a former player doing it. Normally, ex-NHL’ers try to be a little more diplomatic and almost apologize that they’re pointing out flaws in a player’s game.

And this seldom, if ever, happens with stars, who are usually hands-off, or if they are criticized, it usually comes with a soft landing.

Not Bissonnette, who backed up his points with a video that matched the tone of an angry coach mixed in with a dash of a disappointed parent for good measure.

That Bissonnette felt comfortable going after a star player is a nod to how much TNT supports their talent.  They may not like Biz’s choice of targets, but they’ve created an environment where everybody on that panel is free to be themselves and share their honest opinions, knowing the higher-ups will defend and protect them. If you go to set knowing that you’ll get a great product. And that’s what TNT delivers.

And for the record, I had no problem with the Hawks shooting back and defending their player the way they did. Ultimately, this line of defense is shallow, but I embrace the pro wrestling meets online troll element to the whole thing.

But also notice there was also no firing back at the actual criticism Bissonnette leveled against Bedard, only a shot at his career.

Avalanche’s MacFarland deserves more love

There should probably be more discussion about the work of Colorado GM Chris MacFarland has done this season. He’s completely remodeled their crease, bringing in (and signing to a very nice deal) starter Mackenzie Blackwood, along with solid backup Scott Wedgewood. Realizing he wasn’t going to re-sign Mikko Rantanen, he moved him for Martin Necas (who’s been exceptional for the Avs), Jack Drury, picks, and cap space. He also took a flyer on someone I think has high upside in Juuso Parssinen. 

All of this pulled off in-season, and Colorado is still not done.

The Jim Gregory Award will be interesting this season with MacFarland, Eric Tulsky, Bill Zito, Kevin Cheveldayoff, and others in the running.

You could also make a case the GM of the year should go to someone who isn’t even a GM anymore – Brian MacLellan of the Washington Capitals. Before handing off GM duties to Chris Patrick, MacLellan’s made offseason deals for Logan Thompson (who should be a Vezina finalist), Pierre-Luc Dubois, Jakob Chychrun, Matt Roy and the sneaky good Taylor Raddysh. Together, they have helped keep the Caps around the top of the league all season. 

Can’t happen, you say? It has to be someone currently serving as a GM?

Don’t forget Dale Tallon got a vote for the GM of the Year award in 2010, the year he was demoted to an advisor role by the Chicago Blackhawks, but put in place many of the pieces that won the Hawks the Stanley Cup.

Fleury for Lady Byng?

And while we’re on the topic of off-the-wall thinking about NHL awards, how about something I tried to get going last season and have been banging the drum about this year as well, and that’s Marc-Andre Fleury for the Lady Byng Trophy? His level of play remains high, he’s loved by fans and players alike, he plays hard while keeping in mind this is just a game, and there’s nothing in the definition of the trophy that would preclude a goalie from winning the award. It would not only be a great sendoff to one of the best goalies of this generation, but it would also be a major first for an NHL award.

The Professional Hockey Writers Association vote on the Lady Byng.

Further on Fleury I was glad to see how many people just loved the video we shared on The Sheet last week from 2017 with Yvon Barrette (netminder Denis Lemieux from Slap Shot).

Former NHL goalie and Daily Faceoff teammate Carter Hutton texted me getting a video like that “could be the highlight of my career. I like to think how many times over my life I’ve quoted that movie.” 

Some interesting comments by Marcus Pettersson’s agent Peter Wallen on The Sheet this week about what they thought this season was going to be like for the new Canucks defenceman.

“If we go back to summer 2024, I thought we had a good case of resigning, but Dubas wanted to see how the team started up and how they were doing, whether they are you know, going deep into the playoffs and will be buying as the trade line, trade deadline or the opposite. So, I think once the season started my belief of resigning kind of disappeared. We did not speak at all, uh regarding that and no negotiation has been going on since the regular season started. It was obvious when you look in the mirror looked back here with the J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson thing and trading Miller made this happen earlier. 

“But we didn’t really know anything and actually, we came to a point where it really didn’t matter because we didn’t have a say in it anyway, so we just told him go there every day and play and do your best and we’ll see what comes out of it March 7, obviously, the first date in the calendar that you um kind of can look at, but other than that, no. We honestly felt a little bit like Guentzel a year ago where there was no conversation and the standings weren’t in their favour, so most likely there’s a trade coming out.”

Wallen also said there’s untapped offensive potential with his client who was a skilled scoring forward growing up in Sweden. 

“I still think that his Swedish team ruined his career as a center forward I say as a joke. In his under 17 year, they introduced him to defense and he liked it, he is a smart kid. He understood the play and came in here and played some power play, but, you know, look at the roster, look at the power play roster for the Penguins. Then you need to adjust to what’s in there for you and he has just developed the really steady two-way game is always the team first, obviously.  I also think if the Canucks would use him as a power play specialist, he would probably contribute there as well, but they have a pretty good power play blueline as well.”

Rink Fries – I imagine Chicago’s Pat Maroon will be on the move by NHL trade deadline with a few teams out there looking for toughness along with ‘rings in the room’. Maroon checks both those boxes. If you’re Tampa do you consider a reunion knowing you’ll probably have to go through the Florida Panthers at some point in the playoffs?…Jake Allen’s work with the New Jersey Devils  since the Jakob Markstrom injury deserves high praise. A .934sv% and according to Evolving Hockey Allen’s given the Devils a chance to win with quality starts in five of his last six games while saving a collective 11.4 goals above expected along the way…have to think all the injuries have caught up to Stars defenceman Matt Dumba. He’s played hard his whole career and there’s only so long you can play that way…Is it just me, or does Blue Jacket Adam Fantilli look like he’s trying to do everything as fast as possible out there all the time? Once he learns how to slow things down, as all the greats do, he is going to be lethal…if you’re the Seattle Kraken peeking at Coachella Valley Firebirds stats and see Daniel Sprong with 14 points in 12 games and Philipp Grubauer with a .933sv% in his two games, what are you thinking?

The Sheet is live! Hosted by Jeff Marek, this brand-new show is your daily deep dive into the biggest hockey stories, trends, and insights across the NHL, PWHL, junior hockey, and beyond. Streaming every weekday at 3 PM ET on the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel, The Sheet features exclusive interviews with top hockey figures, from industry executives to Olympic champions. Don’t miss out—subscribe to Daily Faceoff on YouTube and follow @TheSheetHockey on social media to stay up-to-date with all the latest from the world of hockey.

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