Darren Dreger

You know, it's the final insider trading this season until, I believe, the Stanley Cup final.

So I don't know if you get the constant dings on my phone that come through when we're doing shows like this, but there's another one.

My phone is just dinging off the hook, and I wish it was breaking news that could spice things up.

But it's actually one of my cousins.

My sister was texting.

I got a text from some guy named Jeff O'Neill.

Chris Johnson's been all over me.

So that's the day it's been.

That's the kind of day it's been.

Yeah, same for me, same for me.

You know, I think for those of us who are invested in the Toronto Maple Leafs as deeply as we are and have to talk about it on a day-by-day basis, was there shock or surprise in all of the sourcing that was done there and the information that was provided?

I don't think there was.

Very telling because it pulled the curtain back, but

You know, I remember there was a little bit of pushback when we initially reported that, hey, Keith Belly was more or less involved in hockey operations, right?

You know, and then Keith made the comment at his media availability that said, you know, I'm not a scout, I'm not a coach, and I'm not involved in hockey operations.

But, you know...

You know, whether or not it was his place, traditionally speaking, in hockey operations, he felt at that point that he obviously needed to be, if not hands-on, at least witness firsthand what was going on.

And he spent the better part of two days in the war room around the trade deadline.

So that got...

some eyebrows raised, I would say, around the National Hockey League.