On this week's show, the crew previews a lot of things that are going to take place in the next few weeks: The inaugural PWHL season, the Winter Classic, and the World Junior Championships. But first, the crew discusses DJ Smith, the latest NHL head coach to be fired this season. The episode also includes the usual off-topic digressions, including some fun facts about Pierre McGuire and Benjamin's Don Cherry impression.

0:00 Benjamin welcomes Jess, SJ, and John to their shift on staff at the Neutral Zone Hotel. They immediately go off on a tangent about Benjamin's beer advent calendar.

4:08 The Ottawa Senators have fired head coach DJ Smith and assistant coach Davis Payne and replaced them with two people who were waiting in the wings for this moment: former Senators head coach Jacques Martin and former Senators great Daniel Alfredsson. The crew discuss why this happened and talk a little about Jacques Martin's last three head coaching jobs in Ottawa, Florida, and Montreal.

16:02 Next up, it's a PWHL season preview. It's almost time for the start of the PWHL season and the crew has the latest updates, including news about the Canadian broadcasts, the state of ticket sales, and Cassie Campbell's move from broadcasting to the PWHL front office.

31:10 The crew embarks on a quick digression about how awful Pierre McGuire is and Benjamin gives a beer update.

33:54 It's World Junior Championships preview time! The crew discuss the Punch Up in Piestany, the United States and Canada rosters, some all-time name havers, and which of the teams the we follow that have prospects in the tournament.

48:21 It's time to bash Pierre McGuire some more as the crew discusses just how creepy he is.

49:13 Finally, the crew previews the upcoming NHL Winter Classic Presented by some gambling site, probably. The Winter Classic will be in Seattle this year and SJ will be there.

Neutral Zone Hotel is a production of the Neutral Zone Hotel Team
You can find more information at https://neutralzonehotel.com
Logo design by Emily Mowbray
You can follow us on social media if you're so inclined:
Instagram: @neutralzonehotel
Bluesky: @neutralzonehotel.bsky.social


Neutral Zone Hotel is a production of the Neutral Zone Hotel Team.
More information is available at https://neutralzonehotel.com
Logo design by Emily Mowbray.
We're available on YouTube and all the major podcast platforms.
You can follow us on social media if you're so inclined: 
Bluesky: @neutralzonehotel.bsky.social
You can join our Discord server at https://neutralzonehotel.com/discord