Pod Excl: Did Canada Dump Armstrong?

0:00Baseball is back, and the first pitch is on Netflix. The New York Yankees, led by seven-time all-star Aaron Judge, head to the San Francisco Bay to take on Raphael Devar's San Francisco Giants. This season kicks off with one exclusive opening night game. Watch MLB Opening Night, the New York Yankees versus the San Francisco Giants live on Netflix, Wednesday, March 25th at 8 PM Eastern 5 PM Pacific. This episode is brought to you by Athletic Brewing Company, no matter how you do game day. On the couch, in the crowd, or manning the snack table, Athletic Brewing fits right in. With a full lineup of non-alcoholic beer styles, you can enjoy bold flavors all game-long. No hangovers, no buzz, no subbing out for water in the second half. Stuck the fridge for tip-off with a variety of non-alcoholic craft styles available at your local grocery store or online at AthleticBrewing.com. Here beer, fit for all times. In this special exclusive edition of the Jetsonune podcast, myself, Cam Poitrus, Jim Toath,

1:05and Tyson Ruicki discuss Doug Armstrong stepping down as the general manager of the men's national hockey team. Is this a necessary decision after the silver medal at the Winter Games in February? We get into it. Well, well, well, well, well, well, but isn't the guy that's a call-conner, isn't on, isn't, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, if it isn't the guy that's talking over me and I'm trying to do my intro and said that call-conner isn't projected right now to be one of the better American players of all time. And that's true. He actually is. Well, no shooter. Oh, well. No. Oh, well, he's too busy. He's in the guy who said, Mark Sheifli will never last. He can't even stay on his skates. He's got bamby legs. Yeah. And look at you now. That was a bad take. By the way, I was a really bad person. I got some shocking news the other day.

2:07What happened? My significant other listened to their program. No, she's not. No, she's not. Yeah, it was unlike, come on. Stop. We're lying to each other now. this this portion. No, no, no, no, no, no, thank God. You better not know this exists. But she said you and Cam talk over each other a lot. You and Cam in around. I said, stop talking. I want to say something. Yeah. Well, we're excited. You know what? We're talking. I said, I said, me more so than him. I said, I think I and she was like, again, I was interrupted. Again, mine you're going to do this again. Alexis, mine your own business. I was interrupted. I don't come down to your board meetings and say, hey, who's cutting who off? Anyway, to start throwing you know, okay. Well, thanks for listening. Doug Armstrong has announced that he has told hockey Canada that he is stepping down as he been dumped. Canada said, see you later, Army. I think this is Army going. Don't let the door

3:12hit you on the way out. I think Army's just like I'm stepping down from the blues job, stepping down from Team Canada. Without a doubt. I'm going to go for real loser. Yeah, would at the end of the day, Canada want to have a different general manager going into the World Cup and the Olympics in France. The next time it comes around likely. But I think that I don't think that there were any rush to make that decision. I think this is totally Armstrong's decision to step down. But he also made what I would consider some grave mistakes in the Olympic team. So let's along with his. So, or do you think that he's just like I've done it for for two in a row? Like the problem. I think yeah, Olympics is that that is those back-to-back tournaments for him means he has no summer whatsoever or downtime between his NHL team, those teams and everything else. He definitely has the same time off for three and a half four years. And we go and rough in each other again. Just cut it. And again. And again, I was interrupted. He just me, remember. And again, I was interrupted. But I don't interrupt.

4:22I wonder if it's that or if he's just walking away. But I mean, I don't know. I literally think that his decision on Mark Shifley cost him his job. No, I'm kidding. But I wonder if what played it in that I wonder if he's I what I'm asking is is that a hundred percent him like man, this has been three and a half four years of nonstop for me. And I got I'm going to take a break. Or somebody else's time I had I never as a plan to wait four more years. Or if there was some discussion going hey, Doc, how do you feel about like the team that you built and everything? I mean, at the end of the day, it's whether it's Doug or Armstrong or Steve Eisenman or whoever it's going to be Jim Toast. It's I guess I could put this team together. It's still. Well, that's what I'm. Jim Toast can put this team. They're still hockey Canada. You know, like they're hockey Canada is going to do hockey Canada things. And they have their their set requirements that they have for certain guys. And they're just always going to follow that. Like that's where like like I like Mark Shifley. It didn't matter unless it was Kevin shovel day off. And even then who knows he was never going to make the team. I didn't matter who is the GM or what like I just

5:23don't think he was going to make the team. And it's just kind of and I don't think that's ridiculous. I didn't think there's something where you're saying to Tyson. I also think that Doug Armstrong, even if they would have won gold at the Winter Olympics, would be still making the same decision. Yeah, I do too. That's my point. I don't think there was a lot of like, did you like the roster? I think they broke it down. Like I think that part of hockey Canada's process is whether you stay on or not as you have to break down each tournament. You have to sort of evaluate how everything works. Not only the result, but how it led up to it. How did we like the training camps and those work out? How are the players? You know, did they get all that stuff? But I think this is 100%. It's a lot of it's a lot of hockey like to build this team. But also like they start, you know, a year prior. And then they they have to go travel more, do more than the normal jam. So I think it's him back and down. But do you think it's Iserman who's next or probably. I hope not. I'll tell you what, like question Bill Garen when he was named. I'm like, good, good, good for Canada. And look what he did and look what he's doing in Minnesota. Well,

6:27then it's just, I mean, it's just the outcome is going to be what everyone looks at too, right? Like, I mean, if Canada ends up winning, and I know I don't like playing the what if game, but if Canada wins and over time is everyone going, well, look at what Bill Garen did. I mean, you made that crabby team that couldn't get it done. And it's like, well, yeah, but it's just like, you're just looking at the results. Like I'll throw this out there. Do you not look at the team regardless of winning the gold and go, we got it handed to us in that game. Yeah, totally. We're a gold tender away from being buried probably five one. Yeah, absolutely. And like, I don't think so. I think the Americans are the greatest ever. I was saying to Tyson earlier today, I said, I can't take that like this. This is it has to be 100% the rest of my life. They have to win every gold medal because I can't take this again. Yes. For sure. But like, I totally agree like guys like Shifle, but Dard, I mean, you can make arguments for a couple of other guys should have been on the team over some of the guys they took. But in the gold medal game, that line of dominated them. And like, you know, like, and for that was the one game, too, where they didn't have to double shift

7:30McDavid and McKinnon in the second period. Like everybody was contributing every all the, and I will say this to like, for every decision, I think they made it incorrect. Like the Shifle, maybe even the Drew Doudy, I think that there was decisions that I questioned that it worked out, like, Celebrini. Celebrini really, like everybody who I was questioning that move because of his age. And he didn't miss a beat. He was one of the top fours in the entire tournament. So Suzuki saves their tournament. Suzuki saved their tournament. So I mean, for every, look, I think that's every tournament. There's two or three decisions I would not have made. And there's two or three decisions I probably wouldn't have made that I should have. So here's, here's a list of potential successors. Okay, Kent Hughes, GM of the Montreal Canadiens. I don't want anything from Montreal. Don Sweeney. Goffold. Let's pray to God that never happens. He's probably already on the management team. Oh, he's assistant. Yeah, he was an assistant. Marshawn is a 58 year old. Yeah, he was, he was the,

8:30the, the, the number two guy at the four nations that he moved on to in assistant, in 2026. Jim Nill, associate GM. Jim Nill, four nations. And it's assistant in 2026. Yeah, Kyle Dubus is also on the list. Julian Breeze-Wah, who's assistant to Armstrong in 2026. Also Armstrong, specifically named Crosby is a potential future GM for Canada once he retires. Well, that's the trend, right? Like, look at Bill Garendt. Wayne Gratsky, I think, was involved for a couple of teams years ago. Like, yeah, this all soul like city team. Yeah, yeah, he Gratsky did. That's right. The crowd. That's a natural. Izeran is a natural fit there too. Long is it. Long is it. Long is it. Doug Sweeney. Thank. Please. Yeah. And he didn't. No, no, like the, none of the, I'm sorry. I, I think in the list of like poison-ass front office, the most poisonous front offices, Vancouver has to be number one. Oh, yeah. Boston is in the top three. Yeah. Well, just remember that when he came in instead of

9:31we traded Martian. And remember that video from the room? And they're like, it's a conditional second that could be a first. And they were like, even his own people were like, literally, because they thought they would be a social media video, right? And even his own people were like, that's all we got. Like, basically, you traded our lifelong captain for a second round pick potentially. To be fair, that Brad and Carlo trade was an absolute steel. Yes. I don't. And this is another guy that I want nowhere near the management team, but Brad you're living. You could not put that guy. I don't even know these Canadian, but he is. Yeah, he is Canadian. He's the heir to the Boston pizza franchise. Well, do you not watch? Do you know how do you not watch? When I was in Calgary, Brad, for living was the GM there. And I, I don't know why I have a soft spot for him. He did phenomenal. I think he did a great job with the final organization. He could result. He was forced into a real, I mean, the fact like

10:34Goudreau, where the jet, where the flames were that season, you're not going to trade Goudreau going into, I mean, that's it almost maybe should have been a situation dealt with in the summer. Maybe if he had to handle that situation differently, he would have dealt with it in the summer. Here's why I gave Trilivine a pass in Calgary. He had to make that trade with for Kachak. And I don't know, the Leafs is a tough gig, especially going into that situation. I'm a Trilivine guy. I'll give him slack, but we cannot argue that this Toronto 10 years has been a complete disaster now. He all bid the winners for Jacob Markstrom and Jacob Markstrom was like a, had a vessel like here. He brought in Chris Tanoff. The problem for Trilivine was of the Goudreau into Chucks, he could lose to Chuck. And that's weird to say because I think he was the better all-round player. But that guy could go, Johnny Goudreau was the heart and soul of the Calgary flames. And when he chose not to sign there, because that had nothing to do with

11:37Trilivine, that was Johnny's decision. So of the two players, they could lose, they could not lose the heart and soul. And that's weird because I still think to Chuck again was the better player, but you could get rid of Kachak if you could keep Goudreau. But when Goudreau laughed and then you had to trade to Chuck, that's what ended it for him. But if Goudreau would assign there and to Chuck left, I think their flames would have still been fine. And we always forgive the pond. We always flame GMs. Like there is, for every time we see a bad move by a GM that's on the GM, the owner is just as involved in why that happens. And what you're mentioning about the Goudreau situation is a prime example of flames owners going, I don't know if we want to pay all that, much money for Johnny Goudreau. That's a valid decision. That's a valid point because Goudreau was Jerome again. And the other gut punch to Calgary was, and they did it, they waited too long on

12:38again. They waited too long. And then the way he bounced around chasing it, it lost a lot of respect to the ownership in Calgary. And that has nothing to do with them. The way he bounced around it kept chasing it. But yeah, so but but you're right. Like the the owner, but to me that organized it, but his job in Toronto too, I don't what is he Toronto is the most handcuffed franchise ever because if there is ownership to blame, it's when it goes about past the board. Yeah. And Shanahan deserves a lot of this too. But Shanahan had the ear of the board so he could convince him of stuff. I know a well-known story that said that the the the the the brass in Toronto had a trade for Chris Pronger when you need an out of Edmonton. And it was a first round pick in Alex Steen. And the deal was done. And it went up to the school boards of Ontario who run the other Ontario. And they said at the time, no, we love Alex Steen. He's a great guy. He's going to be dynamic. And it's just ironic. I did see him in the press box and said hi to him the other day when saying Lewis was here, but you wouldn't come on. Can you imagine Prongers? Actually,

13:41the blues hate Jets a noon. I've tried to get so many guys from the blues on that. Well, they hate the Jets. They hate Winnipeg. Yeah. They hate the Manitoba Miracle. They hate the weather. Yeah, everything about it. They hate their dog lovers except for the ones in Manitoba. They hate puppies. They hate that we stole John Ham from them. They hate that John Ham loves us more now and that he wants to live here. Yeah. He wishes that he'd ever made madmen so he could have lived here longer. I guess what? The Golden Boy takes down the arch 10 times out of 10. Oh, it's the Golden Boy. Go on. Go on. Go the boy Golden showers at our trying to disrespect.