32 Thoughts: The Podcast - 32 Happy Little Thoughts

Episode Date: November 1, 2024

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte 'Bob Ross' Friedman kick off the podcast by focusing on the McDavid-less Oilers as they stomped all over the Nashville Predators. The fellas then focus on the Boston Bruins, who were beat-down by the Carolina Hurricanes 8-2 (7:16), talk about Sidney Crosby and the struggling Pittsburgh Penguins (17:48), and analyze the Matt Benning for Timothy Liljegren trade between the Leafs and Sharks (26:00). Kyle and Elliotte shoutout Will Smith for scoring his first NHL goal (32:28). The fellas discuss the Buffalo Sabres being one of the most active teams in the trade market (33:44), and they talk about the hobbled Colorado Avalanche (35:00). The Calgary Flames take main stage as they lose four in a row while also recalling Matthew Coronato (40:40) and The Final Thought focuses on the Montreal Canadiens, who as Martin St. Louis put it, "threw up on themselves" on Thursday night against the Washington Capitals (43:00).Kyle and Elliotte answer your questions in the Thought Line (53:03).In the final segment of the podcast the guys give props to Kevin Fiala of the LA Kings for his public accountability following tech accident that left him late for a team meeting (1:14:57).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailThis podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.  

would you see brady kachuk in the group did the uh the anchorman yeah it was good good yeah it was good i'm going as bob ross tonight now right up in here we'll make a happy little cloud use just the corner of the brush oh nice nice you got the hair for it yeah yeah bob ross yeah and you're painting hot takes that's right happy little thoughts all right welcome Happy little thoughts. All right. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra AT4X, Shramadi, Bukaskis, Bob Ross, Friedman, all with you on this Friday. Elliot, this is the podcast. We live by these words. We don't make mistakes.

We just have happy accidents. A dynamite Halloween costume for costume for yourself my friend to wrap up the month of october last one a very emotional very emotional night for me i have to say my son max is 13 now so we said this is the final time that he is going trick-or-treating and so as you know kyle i am i it's like the playoffs for me. I am playing hurt. I screwed up my ankle this week. I've been in bed most of the week.

But, you know, you've got to play hurt. You take the shot. You take whatever pain suppressants work. And you go out there and you do your kids last Halloween. So the Bob Ross costume was Steph's idea. She liked it. She loves Bob Ross. So I decided to do it. was Steph's idea she liked it she loves Bob Ross so I decided to do it I'm glad that people liked it and Max went as an inflatable Cookie Monster and it was an even bigger hit like there were parents

at the houses who were doing selfies with Max's costume so so it was it was a great night you know big game you got to play hurt, just like the playoffs. Halloween, your kids last Halloween, that qualifies as a big game for non-athletes like myself. Big game, you delivered big, a la Freddie Friedman playing on a bad ankle. That's right. And great work with the Bob Ross look. What text did you send me tonight? Well, I couldn't help but notice.

We were all thinking. Who did I want to get to in this episode? Yes, we were all thinking it. As the Edmonton Oilers piled it on in Nashville, it was only natural to wonder, is that have they finally got rid of the problem that is 97 and has allowed this team to blossom? Zach Hyman's off the schneid. Leon Dreisaitl.

Clearly, what did you say? Clearly, McDavid was holding him back. Was that me or was that you? God, the texts were flying. Don't be a chicken. Don't be a chicken. Don't be a chicken.'t be a chicken don't be a chicken you know who sent that tax now maybe maybe in a laughing manner some of us were thinking it but who was the guy who actually

put it down in writing oh you know what i'm gonna pull up the receipts right here elliot friedman you do it's all 97's fault Hyman couldn't score. You're such a liar. Now, I'll admit that I responded, finally rid of the dead weight. So we're both guilty. If I did it, I would admit it. I think you did it.

It's unbelievable how your memory escapes you at just the most incredible times. Whatever you're taking for that bad ankle of yours I think it's doing some damage here you need to scale it back yeah I think we were equally guilty on this one no you know what though like that's that's a huge night for Edmonton like the worst thing for the Predators the worst thing for the Predators is that Nashville was on Edmonton's schedule when Edmonton was going badly. The Oilers own the Predators when things are going badly for them, generally.

They do very well against them. Dry Seidel's numbers against them are fantastic. And, you know, I was, you know, the Oilers, we've talked about how they just don't look quick and they're really not a quick team, especially withoutDavid like the NHL's own advanced stats their edge stats they show it like they you can look at their team speed even with McDavid in the lineup and they're not that quick but Nashville shows up on the schedule and it's like the magic potion for anything that ails the Oilers they have just had their way with the Predators,

especially the top players over the last years. But that was a big night for Hyman, and it was a big night for the Oilers. Noah Philp, first career NHL game, first career NHL point. And to your point, Elliot, that was the Oil Oilers 13th win in their last 16 meetings against Nashville that Noah Phillip is a great story it is a great story you and I both have covered university hockey over the years in Canada it kind of gets overlooked a bit but it's great hockey in the University of Alberta is a huge program. Both Phil brothers played there, you know, Noah, in a lot of ways, probably deserve to

make the Oilers opening night lineup, but he finally gets a chance in his first point in his first game. Like that's a guy who took a little bit of time off. That is an awesome, awesome story. And every year you get five to 10 stories like that in the national hockey league. And there's some of the best notes of the season. And also, Pod Colson. I was going to say.

Boy, did he send a message. We've got a fight. Lozon can throw. He can really throw. Oh, my goodness. Look at Pod Colson dropping Lozon. I did not see that coming. He didn't pick the softest guy in the NHL, that's for sure.

If he was going to pick someone, he picked the hit record holder. He picked the guy, Lozon. And that makes it doubly impressive that the guy he fought and the guy he knocked down was no shrinking violet. So that was a big blow for the Predators for a multitude of reasons there on thursday elliot and before we get too much ahead and covering all we want to talk about here today um you want to mention anything just about uh elias petterson not the on ice stuff in

particular we talked a lot about that the last little while but something on petterson in vancouver yeah you know there like there was some stuff on his uh some on his Instagram I don't want to get into it too much but those are losers like you know I like to say it once a year don't be a loser um fans are fans they're the reason we have jobs I don't like lecturing fans on what to say and do you you you buy your ticket you're the reason we are employed but don't be a loser. Those aren't fans. Those are losers.

Don't be losers. Okay. Well said. Elliot, last season in the month of October, there were 57 games that had a goal differential or a margin of victory of three goals or more. This month of October there have been 70 games with a margin of victory of three or more one of the beatdowns we saw on Thursday night was Carolina over Boston eight to two Jim Montgomery afterwards saying flatly nobody's happy with

what's going on but we're going to get out of it. Hopefully that they're, the one other thing that they've talked about here, the Bruins have, because they've been coming out like gangbusters the last two seasons. They're really leaning into, well, being great in October,

November, hasn't really guaranteed much success, the kind of success we want in the springtime. So they're playing that card and Montgomery's saying, hopefully what they're going through right now creates a better result come playoff time for them. But man, this right now, the current iteration of the Bruins seems a far cry from one that's been contending in the playoffs

for the last number of years. First of all, I agree with the tactic he's using. Like he's been tough on them at times. Like Montgomery is not a wimp you know and not only is he not a wimp but he also has gone as he's shown after his best players Pasternak last year in the playoffs and Pasternak was like I understood Marchand a couple weeks ago and Marchand's reaction was I understood everybody including some people in particular get off our backs so

I don't think you can ever look at Montgomery and say this is a guy who's afraid to tell his team what it needs to hear sometimes however you've got to go with the velvet glove and you know I'll say this I was really curious to see which way he was going to go after the game because they didn't have a good game against Philadelphia the other night. And tonight, it wasn't even a game. Carolina just blew them out of the building from start to finish and never let up. That was the thing I actually liked the most about Carolina in this game. I think teams that win, when they have you down down they don't let you up they'll let you

up after the 60th minute they'll say tough one tonight but while the clock is still running they're like no no you're going to stay down there and we're going to keep pounding you and we're going to keep pouring you pouring it on and clearly what Montgomery says sees right now and nobody knows his team better is and and I think this is important it's it's we're all in this together and I'm not gonna bury these guys because I'm still here with them I think when you're losing and things are going as badly as it goes for Boston one of the things you really have to do even though sometimes you want to hold your tongue, is you've got to sell your players on, we're still in this together, especially if you don't think they've quit on you.

And so that's what Montgomery is doing right now. The thing about this is I look at Boston and I look at Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh got a big win tonight. But teams try to hang on for the first month you don't want to and we'll talk specifically about Montreal later you don't you don't want to make a move too soon you want to give your players a chance to climb their way out of it. But you know that we're starting to get to a situation in some of these places where like management's going to start to say, and ownership is going to start to say, all right, we've given you your window. We've given you a little bit of time when does it become time's up or ownership or management

starts saying what are we gonna do about this and like the one thing I'll say about Don Sweeney is Don Sweeney he's a thinker he's an Ivy League guy he's a thinker he's an ivy league guy he's a thinker like someone told me that there's no general manager in the league who has more meetings than don sweeney because he wants to plan out everything as much as he can he doesn't like and i actually think like i hate meetings kyle like i cannot stand them and there's a reason sportsnet doesn't invite and I actually think like I hate meetings Kyle like I cannot stand them And there's a reason Sportsnet doesn't invite me to them because they know I hate meetings However, I think if you're in charge and you're setting the tone for a big organization The more predictable you can be the better now

There's always gonna be wild stuff that happens There's always gonna be crazy stuff that happens and There's always going to be crazy stuff that happens. And right now, Sweeney and the Bruins are looking at this and they are going, what on earth is going on here? Because I think between landing Lindholm and landing Zdorov, I think they really thought they plugged some big problem holes for them and they were going to be better. So, like, for me, you're looking at a guy who tries to be prepared, always tries to have a plan, always try, like he always tries to be three or four steps ahead. Like I think Sweeney is a very good leader in that way. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but he always tries to do that. I think the now though, the reality is smacking you in the face

and you're not out of it, but Kyle, you know my numbers. If you're out four points out November 1st in full seasons during the cap era, it's I think

10 of 70 teams that have made the playoffs. And it's also it's Boston and they're not patient like the Bruins like they demand a lot and if something's going wrong their mantra is this isn't working let's fix it so that to me is the biggest question is how long is you know before that stick of dynamite blows up how long is the wick and that's I think what we're all wondering in Boston I think it's a little different in Pittsburgh because I think the Bruins feel that their players have bought more time. And you know that thing he says about it hasn't helped us to be good at the beginning? Like, did he say that in a vacuum?

Or is that the organizational mantra right now? Is that what they're selling internally? That we will figure this out. Swayman didn't have a training camp. Marchand was hurt three surgeries and was sick during the preseason. Are they looking at this and saying these guys need a little bit more time? The guy to me who, and I think he's a great player, but he really hasn't been himself and I don't have an answer for this, is McAvoy. Like I am a big McAvoy guy and he just hasn't looked right and I don't

have a good answer for it the other thing too is like so finally this week the lines really went in a blender for Boston and Montgomery split up Pasternak and Lindholm who had been together that was a duo for much of the year and he was even kind of beside himself going like, I don't know why it hasn't worked yet. Like in theory, it should. Those two players should complement each other, but it hasn't. I wonder too, and I was thinking this doing the game there last weekend. I know it wasn't always a perfect marriage at times, but I wonder through as this new season has begun,

new players are part of the mix. If, you know, replacing a guy like Jake DeBrusque is proving to be a little more trickier than they had thought. Because as I say, it wasn't always a perfect marriage, but that guy scored goals. He also went through dry spells as well, but he scored some big goals there. And that's one thing, of course, that this team's missing right now. You know, I have a theory on on Lindholm just a little bit I think he's a really good player but I think he's sort of like your b-plus guy right in Vancouver those guys really wanted to keep Lindholm like I heard the

players there it's like you know the Yankees lose the World Series the other night and the first thing all those players are doing is telling Juan Soto, hey, don't go anywhere. Don't go anywhere. Stay here. Now, Juan Soto is a superstar, but it's the kind of idea. Last year, I heard during the playoffs that some of the Canucks players were telling Lindholm, like, you're perfect here. You're perfect here. You slot into a role.

You don't have to be the A-plus guy. They've got Miller. They've got Hughes. They've got Pedersen. You can have to be the A-plus guy. They've got Miller. They've got Hughes. They've got Pedersen. You can sort of be our B-plus guy. You're perfect here. And when Lindholm was at his best, obviously, Goudreau and Kachuk were the A guys, and he was the B-plus guys, and he was the perfect complementary player.

I'm just wondering, and people are going to say that this is an insult. It's not an insult. I don't think it's an insult. Like, you need people to understand what their roles are. Who are the superstars, the A-levels, and who are the great complementary players? And I wonder if that's just what Lindholm is, is a great complementary player, but not necessarily your biggest driver. And, like, I understand, like, he's shown he can play with great players. Like, he did it in Vancouver.

He did it in Calgary. And I understand where Montgomery's coming from. I just wonder if the key for Lindholm is maybe he's not your second best player. He's your fourth best player or something like that. Like, some – and he could prove prove me wrong and he could hear this and come looking for me with a two by four, which would make a couple of different Bruins who are doing that right now.

But that's what I wonder watching Lindholm, if he's the perfect complimentary guy, but he's not your top guy. I don't know. It could prove me wrong, but I know the Vancouver guys really felt that way I know I know they felt he was the perfect like number four best player on the team for the Canucks they really they really thought if he would have stayed there and maybe Lindholm doesn't want that

maybe he wants a bigger role but I know the Canucks players really felt that I heard that they expressed that like if he stayed there as, like, in that role, they really thought it made them a great team. They thought he was perfect for that. Just quickly, anything you wanted to add? You mentioned Pittsburgh earlier. I mean, I thought it took overtime to beat Anaheim there on Thursday. It was like they threw absolutely everything they had to finally get that thing.

That guy's a stud, that Dostal. Dostal, yes. He was terrific. 44 saves. But how about Sidney Crosby at the start of this week? I mean, it's been a rough go for Pittsburgh for a little while now, but the disastrous trip out west,

he says after that, don't feel like my game's where it needs to be. On me to put in the work and find it. And he's been in on all five Pittsburgh goals since saying that, including scoring both on Thursday. You know, first of all, I heard a funny thing on Dostal. I heard he's like the most publicity-shy NHL player in the league.

Like, he does not like attention the least bit. He got so much attention. Yeah, so he won the gold this year for Czechia at the Worlds. He was their great, he was the number one goalie andia at the, at the worlds. He was, you know, he was there. Great. It was a number one goal and he played great. And the players loved him.

He's got a long history with Finland. Cause he played there when he couldn't find a place to play in Czech. He has a younger player, but like someone told me a funny story that like all the, all the attention he got, he was like, I got to get out of here. Like, I don't like any of this. So he went to Finland for the summer. But also he was in their video. They have that great tradition of the fan that they recognized every year

and they put out the video every year. And he did it with the fan this year. But I heard like he just does not like attention. But he's a hell of a goalie. Pittsburgh, did you watch that Fleury-Minnesota game this week? Yeah, I caught most of it. What did you think watching that? It was, I mean, I feel like the last couple of years

we're seeing the falling of the empire in Pittsburgh in a couple of different ways. And it just felt like a big closing of something there. Not only, I mean, the picture of Fleury with the mainstays there in Pittsburgh, Crosby, Malkin, Letang there before the game. But did you see the video afterwards there where Jen Bolano with the organization

hands him the scissors and says, you know, take the net with you it just felt like like there was a massive door being closed on on an era there at Pittsburgh Hockey even though it's been years since Fleury last suited up for the Penguins it was it was almost I mean it was a really neat moment but kind of sad to watch at the same time I I am totally with you on this Kyle we are on the same wavelength I can feel the brain beams going together between you and I right now like I'm watching that game Pittsburgh gets up two to nothing and they can't hold it like they just can't stop them and the and and you can tell the wild like they're down early couple goals and they're not even phased they're like we can come back against this team and they did and they and they won the

game and it was all handled so beautifully like the video they put out during the day of his pranks and then Max Talbot doing one last prank and then post game Crosby and Letang on the ice and the interview with Fleury like it was all from like just a fan emotion narrative point of view it was a it was a fifth deck home run it was Freddie Freeman in the world series but I thought the same thing I thought it was like we're starting to close the book on this group because even though Fleury wasn't the starter the last two you know Murray was he was still such a big presence right like he was still such a huge part of their personality and you know now he's gone and eventually or he's going this is his last season and eventually it'll happen for

Letang and and Malkin and Crosby too there's's a great book I have. It's about the Yankees dynasty of the late 20th century. And one of the games I covered, I covered the 2001 World Series between the Yankees and the Diamondbacks, which the Diamondbacks won in seven games. You covered that? Oh, yeah. It was awesome. It was one of the greatest things i've ever been at that whole series but um uh buster olney the great espn baseball writer he wrote a book called the last night of the yankee dynasty and and he was referring to that loss game seven in 2001 luis gonzalez winning it in the bottom of the ninth in game seven for arizona and i like i thought about that. It was almost like the last night of the Pittsburgh dynasty or the beginning of the end of the Pittsburgh dynasty.

And one of the things that's going around, and they dominated Anaheim, as you said. They were the better team, and they deserve the win. But they have not been very good at the start of the season. And one of the things going on right now is you know last year pittsburgh they weren't happy about the whole gansel thing they were upset he got traded and they they wanted him to come back and you know like kyle dubas basically said like we have to start this here at some point the changing of the guard at some point and the thing is the challenge was the

way this season has started this year for the penguins kyle is that they have not in any way proved dubas wrong like if they came out like a house on fire this year and and they were and and they were like winning games or locking it down um You could say, boy, Dubas was really wrong about that, about the idea of trading him. And they haven't done that. And, you know, especially one of the worst places to struggle is when you're going through Canada because everybody's watching you and you could really see the trouble.

Like in their defensive zone, they couldn't stop anybody. Like we said with Minnesota, they were like, we can score on this team. I don't care that we're down two goals early. We can score on this team, and you can see it. Like Calgary felt it. Edmonton felt it. Vancouver felt it. Like these teams, they didn't feel like they were out.

And, you know, Pittsburgh has got to put a run together, and they've got to get things going. But, you know, someone said to me, you can feel the stress there, you know, because, you know, you know you've got to prove something and your season starts like this. And then, you know, your manager has already kind of said, look, guys, I had to trade Gensel because the path we were going on, it didn't make any sense.

And so far this year, nothing has happened that has said Dubas was wrong for thinking that way. So I'm looking at that game and I'm saying, where's this going from here? Like, obviously, none of the big guys are going anywhere. But you look at some of the players on that team, like Patterson, Marcus Patterson, like there is a guy. And you're wondering, like, okay, you know,

they're trying to figure out Jari right now and get him back to an NHL level. I don't know. Like that's the one thing I look at with the Penguins. They have to send a message that Dubas, you know, shouldn't change it anymore. And they're not sending that message. By the way, that was good research on the blowouts.

Really good research because... Thank you, Steve Fallon. A few of us were sitting there. Steve Fallon isn't paid enough, by the way. I hope he's not listening to this because it's going to go right to his head. Scott Lennox, the producer, did a great piece on the weekend by the way i hope he's not listening to this because it's going to go right to his head scott lennox the producer did a great piece on the weekend with uh

with uh sean mckenzie running up and down the stairs with yeah one of our producers in the trucks yeah scott lennox and i was afraid of giving him credit for it running up and down the stairs the martin on the week because that would go right to lennox's head like he would be unbearable to deal with after hearing such a compliment but he deserves it and felon does too because on my chat with um a couple of producers brian spearing kathy broderick and also dave amber we were talking about like it seems there's a lot of blowouts this year but you have proven that there are more blowouts this year yeah it's been just a bizarre start to the season in that sense. And as you pointed out a couple of times, already temperatures are rising in more than a handful of markets.

Things seem to have settled a little bit in Toronto with a couple of winds here this week. But there was the trade a few days ago, Elliot. Timothy Lilligren off to san jose matt benning coming back the other way along with a couple of draft picks so i understand the lilligren move going to san jose i mean he clearly he wasn't much of an opportunity it was time it was time yeah it was time time but with Benning coming back to Toronto I mean Craig Brewe was saying Yanni Hockenpah is getting close there's already a number of other defensemen

in the organization at the NHL level right now as well so what does the future hold for Benning and the Maple Leafs I think it's very possible that the Leafs will try to flip Benning I heard he was on a flight to Toronto today but I think it's possible possible that the Leafs will try to flip Benning. I heard he was on a flight to Toronto today, but I think it's possible Toronto tries to flip him because right now they're full roster and somebody's going to have to get moved. And also they still have Jarnkrok at some point that needs to come back too. So it doesn't end their roster problems. You know, I heard some interesting things about Lilligren.

You know, number one, it was time. And, you you know the one thing I'll give Lilligren credit on is that he did say you know that he didn't do a good enough job to impress Berube this this fall like he didn't go out saying oh the least the least blew, like it was all their fault, I wasn't treated well here. He at least had the self-awareness to say, some of this is on me too. And I like that about him. I think that's honest. It's rarely always someone else's fault. Like when we screw up in life life there's generally a part of

it where we should look into the mirror and say yeah I kind of contributed to this here and so I like that about him I thought that was really well done but look like you know when when when I saw that and we remember when we called you I remember we're talking on the eve of the season by phone not on the pod and you were like I think Myers is ahead of Lilligren on the death chart you know you're kind of like you know what like it's not gonna work when you're a number one pick and you fall that low on the death chart like it's just time and it was but it's interesting like they had a stacked team they went to game seven they beat Texas six to one.

I always remember Mike McKenna for Texas. He played out of his mind in those playoffs. But Toronto was too good and they won the Calder Cup. And someone said to me, like, Timothy Lilligren showed up that year. It was, you know, he was a first-year pro, and he played big minutes for the Marlies on a championship team. And they said they would have bet me, and this is a guy who Toronto was kind of in his coverage zone,

and he said, look, this guy is 6'1", he's a right-hand shot, he could make a pass. He just said, like, there's no way this guy's not gonna make it. Like I was talking to him the other day and he was like I cannot believe it didn't work out. Like you know we're right about some guys, we're wrong about some guys and he says boy like I was wrong about that guy. The other guy I thought was a stud from that team was Andreas Janssen. He was the MVP the playoffs he had 24 points in 16 games I think he had four points in the game seven but concussions you know got him as much as anybody else Mason Marchman and Trevor Moore were on that team and they've turned out to be really good NHLers but it's kind of unbelievable how like no one from that Calder

Cup team is on the is in the Leaf organization anymore like you would think looking at those players that somebody would still be there and somebody would be making an impact but nobody is and I mentioned this with Marchese and Fuda on their show. And I said, someone said to me, there is a story to do about the Maple Leafs in the 2017 draft. Because they drafted Lilligren in the first round. And three picks later went Robert Thomas. And this person said to me, and Robert Thomas was a London Knight. And remember all the connections that the Maple Leafs had to the London Knights at the time and someone said to me you've got to get to

the bottom of that story and I said what was there like a battle over how many London Knights were being taken or just all the London Knight connections and he paused and he said that's for me to know and you to find out yeah he's like thanks a lot and then Kyle it all became about Sault Ste. Marie and not London but this guy strongly hinted to me that all the London ties became an issue with that pick wow that would be an incredible one to unearth. And I mean, I'm sure there's always stories of the draft. There's always stories like that. Look who went two picks later that this team could have had,

but ended up with another player instead. Or you had someone at the top of your list, and they went, the famous one is Joe Neuendijk. I've told that story on this pod before. Calgary wanted a goalie. There were three picks left before Neuendijk. They've told that story on this pod before. Calgary wanted a goalie. There were three picks left before Neuendijk. They had three goalies on their list. They're like, we're getting one of them. And all three goalies went right before them. And they were like, are you kidding

me? We just lost our three top picks. It was Sean Burke, Troy Gamble, and Kay Whitmore. And they're like, all right, who's next on our our list Joe Neuendijk yeah you know that happened with two Jim Brown the hall of fame football player oh yeah I think they wanted to take Len Dawson who's in the hall of fame as a quarterback but he got taken one pick before and they were devastated and uh they were like oh who's next on our list Jim Brown like only one of the greatest football players ever that'd be another good documentary series you know like we've got there's the Boston Red Sox one out now I believe you were part of that game seven one that was just released on Amazon not too long ago if there was one I know there's a movie called draft day but

if it was like a Draft Day documentary series and all those little behind the scenes of almost had this guy, wanted this player, ended up with this guy, the backroom dealings right before things get going, that would be phenomenal television. Yeah. And Elliot, before we go anywhere else, we should shout out Will Smith of the San Jose Sharks,

an organization that hasn't had a ton to cheer about early on this year, but what a neat evening for the rookie, Will Smith. I'm happy for him for obvious reasons. It's your first NHL goal. It's a big deal. And the smile on his face, it was, I don't know which one you want to pick. It was Kirkland-esque. It was Baines-esque

we've had a month of good smiles here in the national hockey league but i'm really happy for him too because it's been it's been a hard month um i don't have a problem with what san jose's doing in the sense of he's not playing every game uh you know it there was a bit of a blueprint last year with leo carlson that Anaheim used that makes a lot of sense, but these guys are competitive. Like they know which young players are doing well. They know which young players are struggling to make the jump.

And you want to feel like you're accomplishing something. And it's, it's a, it's a great night for him night. He'll never forget. And I'm really happy for him. All right. Reading through your latest 32

thoughts blog this week, Elliot, one of the things that caught my eye, Kevin Adams, the Buffalo Sabres, so the team has won three of their last four. You're saying the Sabres GM is among the most active early on in the season, so what does that mean? Just making calls around the league,

saying what's going on? Is there anything really to it at this point? What's your read? I think he's just trying, you know, you always call around who league saying, what's going on? Is there anything really to it at this point? What's your read? I think he's just trying, you know, you always call around who's busy, who's busy. You know, everybody knew Utah was busy because their D was falling apart. They needed bodies. People know that Colorado's busy because they're looking for forwards.

They're losing so many bodies. But, you know, a few people said Buffalo. But the one thing that he said is he's not he's not tearing it down like he's not looking to move guys out he's got cap room it's a controversy in Buffalo about some of the fans and media saying got to use that cap room and I think he's trying to add to their team. I think they want to win this year. And Buffalo, after kind of cratering a little bit, they've kind of pulled themselves out, at least into the battle.

So he's trying to add. He made it very clear he's not trying to tear his team down. He's trying to add and help them. The Colorado Avalanche, Shelly. I mean, I was watching a lot of that game against Tampa there on Wednesday night, and, like, the lightning blitzed them right out of the gate. I mean, the way Kucherov started that game was incredible. But there was also periods, too, where even though the thin lineup that the Avalanche do have,

I mean, they had the lightning caved in and trying to make things interesting. The lightning ended up pulling away in the end. But the amount of injuries we talked about a few times, but now it's added. The list has grown now with Ross Colton out six to eight weeks, they're saying here. So could they be another one of those teams active and trying to find some help?

Yeah, they're looking for a forward just to get by. Like, you know, we talked a little bit about Carcone from Utah. I kind of wondered if he might make sense for them. He's not playing for the Utahns, and he scored 21 goals last year. So we'll see where that one goes. But they are looking for guys to help them get through. You know, they kind of said they're hoping Lackanen will play next week. Natchushkin's about two weeks away from being cleared. We'll see what his schedule is. You know speaking of Kucharov, I'm glad you mentioned him. It was really interesting to watch him

during the Stamkos celebration in Tampa. You know obviously they did a really good job. I wondered if Stamkos was going to lose it there for a second it kind of looked like for a couple seconds there that he was he was getting a bit glassy and I thought like to me Sundin if you read his book and his book is really good he admits that he had no idea if the Leaf fans were going to cheer him and I think that's why he lost it in that game against Vancouver because he honestly didn't know what to expect. He actually legitimately thought they were going to boo him and I would say that with Stamkos he knew it wasn't going to be like that and but he was still a bit glassy but it was it was really impressive for me watching Kucherov and Cooper.

Like Cooper was really glued to the screen and Cooper and Stamkos had their battles. And, you know, that's what Cooper's job is to do, to push his players. And him and Stamkos always didn't see eye to eye. But to me in the moment, it was Cooper saying, look, you know, maybe we didn't always agree, but I really appreciated everything that you did for us and Kucherov who's like he plays the heel he loves being the villain he's always got this like kind of dour sneer on his face which like remember him at the all-star game last year is like he couldn't have been more obvious with his contempt for the whole thing but in the moment like he's he's got his sleeves rolled up he's glued to it he's giving the big ovation like that was really what struck me about that whole thing

was not the fan reaction i thought for sure that was going to be the case but the just I thought Kucherov it was so genuine the way that and players understand business is business but like just the appreciation like people always said Stamkos ran that room he was the guy who took care of everybody was always the first guy new player came in what do you need I'm always here for you like like that to me it was no it was it was a seller from the Tampa organization like the players on the bench that was about not the plays not the great goal where he barely could last after and in the bubble it was about the person and you could tell they really loved that guy I loved it I thought it was so good well I was thinking about I want to say

this was during the 22 stanley cup final when we were all on the road together for it and at one point our group was was discussing that idea that you know the the thought that maybe stephen stamkos and john cooper didn't always see eye to eye at times i remember kevin bx is saying that those two when it's all said and done they are going to be thankful that they had one another for the time that they did. That's what I thought of watching the way Cooper reacted, too. That was really cool. This is a non-credit BX podcast, though.

You have to remember that. Yeah, we'll make sure to rip him at the end. That's a very true and very, very good point. The other thing I would just say about Colorado is there's a lot of teams that are a lot healthier than Colorado who don't compete as hard as they do. Oh, man. At one point in that game, they had a power play going,

like trying to get something. They had so many chances. Lightning penalty killers were gassed. And you know how it often is with the four-forward, one-defense system. As the time winds down defense system as the time winds down one of the forwards peel off and a second defenseman comes on because you're five on five like they just stayed like they were like that we're gonna score here like we're the with

the five on the ice we're gonna get a goal they didn't but I just thought like gosh yeah to your point you cannot fault them for their effort get your licks in early on the avalanche like to me the avalanche depending on how long it takes them to get healthy that's going to be like vegas last year you're gonna they're gonna go in the playoffs maybe they go in the playoffs as an eight seed and someone's gonna say oh my god are you kidding like dallas last year got vegas the first round incredible seven game series and you're sitting there wait a sec, we just won the Western Conference and this is our reward? Like the Vegas Golden Knights?

I could see that happening with Colorado this year. If they don't get healthy and just start blitzing people, they get in, they finish eighth, and someone goes, some reward, first round. The Calgary Flames, Elliot, they were one of the darlings of the league the first couple weeks

of the season but they have now lost four in a row they host the new jersey devils tonight but the news on thursday that they recalled matthew coronado he was somebody that we had talked about on the last pod after he was sent down to the american league What was your read on Calgary bringing them back up? Like when we talked about it on the pod the other day, I had some people who reached out to me and said, you made a big deal out of nothing. And I had some other people who reached out to me and said, you know what?

You were right to bring that up because some of the tweets reference specific players like one of them referenced mantha and you know you're not supposed to do that so it was interesting the reaction to it and but i think in this case the flames had the power to determine how big a controversy this really was or was not and by calling them up they're saying it's dealt with and so like that's like you know as you know on this pot i always talk about in canada don't pour gasoline on the fire you have a choice of how many things you want to be a problem. And the Calgary Flames have looked at this and they have said, this is not a problem.

And I'm good with that. Me too. All right. That'll take us to the final thought, which is brought to you by GMC. And Elliot, we're going to go to Montreal for this one, who, okay, gave up seven to the Rangers last week, followed it up with a couple of wins. They gave up eight to Seattle earlier this week.

And that was a night where goaltending had a tough outing, but some other things that Martin St. Louis wasn't happy about either. And then they fall 6-3 to the Washington Capitals on the road on Thursday. And St. Louis after the game saying, we were in good spots. We gave ourselves a chance through two periods. And then, as he put it, we threw up on ourselves in the third. I've done that before. Yeah, I can picture it as

disgusting as that is to do have you it's been a long while that's a yes that's a yes yeah that's a yes but i had a really good run of not vomiting from anything i had a good streak going i was sad when it ended it's it's the iron man streak ended it was like uh it was it was like cal it was like cal ripken pulling himself from the lineup it was like yeah 2008 to like 2019 that's a pretty good run it's a great run 11 years i'm not gonna ask for the circumstances nobody needs to know that um the thing that Montreal can control is how they play um and I think they have to take a a long look at that and there's no question that they are as we've talked about they've they've looked for like a top four right hand d like good luck

with that like every who isn't looking for that and they're also looking for a four with some edge although the one thing that went well for them on Thursday night was Josh Anderson really showed some edge he took on one of the toughest guys in the NHL and and gave it to Tom Wilson um but I I think Montreal like there's a there's a Canadians fan who emails me almost every day, almost every day with another complaint. It's now that I think about it, it's probably a suit in them. Oh my God. That is so funny. That's some of your best work yet. Um, he, he emails me almost every day with the, with a complaint about the Canadians. But I think this is going to be tough for the Montreal fans to hear,

but this goes back to what we were talking about the last pod. And by the way, I don't know if I've had more feedback about anything we've talked about this year than our conversation about rebuilding and how hard it is, particularly if you're not a destination. Really? Yes. What were some of the things you were told a lot of people uh really agreed with it that it that it comes like the two hardest things are like they some people disagreed with some small points of it but they generally agreed that you have to be honest about are you a destination or not?

Like one of the teams, you know, not everybody loves Vegas, obviously, because they've been so successful so quickly. But one of the things that they recognize that Vegas has done quickly, along with teams like Tampa and Florida, now that they've sort of figured it out, is that they have used their status as a destination to mold situations to their best interests. It's like they find ways to get contracts done, they know that you know that they will have a larger percentage of players willing to go there than other places and they really mold their situations into that and that's big and

the other thing they talked about is the toughest decision is when you've been hanging on too long and they say that that is like they all know said they all know and whether it's you know the players you've got or you or you get seduced by winning or you're worried about selling tickets or you're not a destination and you're afraid to rebuild, that you sit there and you say, it's probably not what we want to do, but we're going to keep going. And so it was just interesting. I got a lot of, it was a lot of good feedback to it.

But I think Montreal, we have to be honest here. Number one, is Montreal a destination? If you're wired a certain way, absolutely. Okay, so like I've talked about this, I would love to play there if I was good enough to play. But I think right now it's not, okay? The taxes are high. Not everybody's built for the attention and the team is still not there yet. But when they get better, it's going to be one. Okay. Because the rewards, the risks are high, but the rewards are high.

way to build up your strength as a destination is to do it through drafting and developing. And Montreal has a lot of players. Like I look at them and I see a lot of guys who could be good players on a good team, but it doesn't happen fast. And now your fans are starting to get a bit restless. You're losing games in a pretty lopsided way and that is to some degree fixable. You have to change the way you play and I'm sure they're gonna work on that but Montreal's in the danger zone now where you're worried about making a deal that you regret. This is not a process that you can unless like unless a pin like the one change the one difference is Panarin. Panarin dropped on the Rangers laps. He said hey guys I want to come here and they're like rebuilds over. So unless someone drops on your lap and you can say rebuilds over, you have to go through

this. And the biggest mistake you can make is to accelerate the process and you make a deal that you look back at in five years and you look and say, boy, that one's going to be on my tombstone forever and I think Gorton and Hughes are completely aware of that. I don't think it's easy. I don't think they like like the way they're losing right now is a problem and they're gonna have to address that but I think if people believe that the Canadians can really accelerate this now i think you're probably as the kids say now delulu show me the deal that makes sense show me the deal that makes sense

and i accept all submissions what's our email thought line 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca i accept all submissions do you think i'm wrong no i don't i i said just letting it all sink in i agree with you that i don't see kent hughes and jeff gordon as the type of people that would want to hit the fast forward button because things have gotten a little rocky here at times to come out of the gate this season. I don't see them doing that at all. And I believe that this is now like you're entering the next phase of, okay, Martin St. Louis, first opportunity as a head coach

in the National Hockey League. The first phase is one thing. You come in. There's no pressure or real expectation. His natural ability to empower players because he has been every single one of those guys in the dressing room at certain points of his career, and he can relate to them that way. And now, as he's talked about, going to coach him a little differently. Certain things that he was able to accept at times in the past, not going to be able to accept anymore. So I think there's a different

stage of growth as a group that they are entering through here right now. And it's all part of the growing pains in the process for both players and the coaching staff. And the other thing I'd say too, Elliot, when you mentioned, okay, maybe Montreal is not a destination right now because of the on-ice success that they're having. But the more and more, you mentioned high taxes. Yes, I hear all of that. The more and more I learn a little bit about that stuff like if you got the right people in place for managing your finances you can work around the tax stuff in a legal way it depends but there that one case that the Tavares case and for

those people who aren't familiar with this John Tavares used something that is legal under Canadian taxes to help with the percentage he would have to pay. And now that is being challenged by Canada Revenue. Same thing happened with Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays. They challenged his ability to use it too so while you're right it does have some people nervous and still depending on where your primary residence is you can still do even better than that particular setup. You're not wrong, but I know people are really nervous about what could happen with this particular ruling.

It's not a good thing for the Canadian sports teams that compete in U.S. leagues if this goes the other way. Gotcha. I understand. All a good point. You're not wrong. You're not wrong to bring it up. No. All right. Well, I'm glad I did then.

All of that, Elliot, was the final thought brought to you by GMC. We'll take a break. When we come back, it's the thought line and plenty more. You're listening to 32 Thoughts, the podcast. podcast listen to the 32 thoughts podcast ad free on amazon music included with prime Okay, time now for the thought line. The number to call, 1-833-311-3232. Email 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca. Elliot, are you ready for whatever the good listeners have for us on this edition?

I was born ready. And they keep us on our toes week in and week out, which is great. And I hope today is no different. We're going to kick things off with a voicemail. Nick in Denver. Just had a quick question regarding songs and teams. When a team chooses a new goal song, does the artist have to approve it or does the team have to give financial compensation to the artist?

Is there a licensing agreement? Similarly with things with the Avalanche Cup run, they won the cup and Blink-182, all the small things was really associated with them. St. Louis Blues with Gloria. Do those artists get any compensation from that? I'm sure they'd want a piece of the action with it being so popular. So thanks so much in advance, guys.

Keep up the great work, guys. So Nick, that's a really good question. I did some asking around today and at least up here in Canada, there are a couple of what are considered not-for-profit music licensing companies that the Canadian teams are in touch with. One of them is called SoCan.

The other one is ReSound. And so there are a ton of music artists, songwriters that are part of these organizations. And so when a team enters an agreement with these companies, it allows them to use the catalog of music of those that are part of them. And it's actually a fee that is based on ticket sales when it comes to hockey games, how many people are in the building on a given night. And with everything digitized nowadays, it's quite easy to keep a log of how many different songs that are played throughout a game, whether it's a goal song or just music that's going on between the whistles during the period or the intermission or what's being played before the game starts,

all of those things. If it's something where, you know, teams, Elliot, as you know, they'll have like an opening video that they'll play on their video board before every home game. And there's typically a music, a track set to that for the season. That's a different thing altogether because there's a video component to it, but for music just played over the PA, that's how it gets sorted. And I'm not entirely sure of how much money it does cost,

but clearly it is not enough of an expense that the teams are turning away from it it's it's just part of doing business and um as i was learning today i mean that would uh to an extent you know whether you're a restaurant uh you know a hotel that's uh hosting weddings and you have a dj coming in and playing music um you know those types of licensing agreements coming in and playing music, you know, those types of licensing agreements all factor into that as well. So, yeah, certainly now in this digital era where music is so easily accessible, it's now become something where, you know, as Nick referenced, you know, artists want a piece of the pie and this is one of the ways that they can get it.

Right. And the same thing goes for, you know, our situation. We have what's called the tease which is the montage that airs at the beginning of the broadcast whatever music we go for we have to license it and in most cases you can work out a deal with the artist or the production company there are situations where the artist or the production company won't bend as is their right and you know it'll be up to cbc before or Sportsnet now to say do we want to pay that and I know there have been situations where both companies have

said sorry that's just above what we you know are willing to do and they've walked away from songs because of it but most of the times you do reach a deal now I will say this Kyle I had one team tell me once that there's what's called fair use like you can use something as long as you're not trying to profit from it and what it's it I believe there are some teams who think that or at least in the past this was a few years ago considered a goal song fair use but you know what they say about a lawyer you can get one to argue one thing and one to argue the

other thing and you're gonna see who's ends up being right. So I actually thought a lot of that would be fair use, but maybe that's not the case. Yeah. I think for a lot of time it probably was Elliot, but what I was told today was, you know, once YouTube came around about 20 years ago now, it totally changed the whole economy when it comes to music use in these types of settings so it's a good question from nick thank you for submitting that one next one brandon from saint catherine's just wanted to ask about the calder eligibility of goalie eustace anan he's obviously had a good few games and while it's a small sample size he may have a

legitimate shot of keeping the starter's job in Colorado. He played 14 games last year and two games in each of the two years prior to that. But the Calder rules are a little oddly worded. Is he still eligible? Also, are the rules different for goalies? 10 games for a goalie are a lot different than 10 games for a regular skater. Thanks guys. The easiest way to settle this argument is to go to the NHL website and see, is he still considered a rookie? And if you look at it and you go on to the goalie section and you look for is someone qualified as a rookie because you can use the filters rookie and veteran rookie apply the filter Anunan comes up as a rookie so the NHL considers him a rookie that's the right answer and if you look at his stats, he hasn't played

enough. Last year, first of all, he's under 26. He turns 25 in March. Secondly, he's only played 24 NHL games in total so he hasn't hit the 25 threshold and until this year, you know, this would be the only the second year he's played at least six. He played two, two and then 14 and now six. So he's still qualified under the threshold heading into this season. He is still a rookie. And if you want to stuff the ballot box for a noon in his rookie of the year, start emailing the media because he's eligible. Yes.

And just to read the league's eligibility for a rookie as they have written it, that as you referenced, a player cannot have played more than 25 games in any single preceding season, nor in six or more games in each of any two preceding seasons in any major professional league. And I, cause I I I reached out just to double check because sometimes I read that and I think well is that six games combined in the previous two preceding seasons or is it six in each of them and it's in each of them so as you say the fact that it was 14 last year two and two makes them still eligible do you remember when they changed the age rule yes that was really young was

it in 90 91 yeah i think you're i'll check the exact year but it was sergey makarov you are right about the era sergey makarov won the rookie of the year and he's in the hockey hall of fame he's in the Hockey Hall of Fame and he won the Rookie of the Year in 1989-90 when he was 31 years old. And he was a great player and under the criteria at the time, he was absolutely 100% eligible and a deserving winner, but he'd already played for a decade at the highest level of competition. So it was felt at that time that it was time to change, especially as the world was changing and more players from the Iron Curtain were coming over.

So it was dropped to 26. John from Georgetown. Hey guys, first time emailer. Sounds odd compared to first time caller. Nobody uses the phone anymore, Kyle. Nobody uses the phone. Your generation has totally ruined the phone anymore, Kyle. Nobody uses the phone. Your generation has totally ruined the phone. Pure anxiety.

The idea of having to dial 10 digits. Horrifying. Talk to someone. Oh, no. I might have to speak to somebody. Take cover. So Seattle scored eight against the Canadians the other night. Inside the eight, Brandon Montour had a natural hat trick.

Yes, he did. I was wondering. wondering oh congrats to him and his partner by the way oh yeah you remember the family coming yeah i was wondering how many defensemen have had natural hat tricks and who had the most i would guess bobby orr maybe paul coffee anyway great show well thank you do you have a guess Anyway, great show. Well, thank you. Do you have a guess?

By the way. Oh, my gosh. Yes. Do you hear my dog? Yeah, that's okay. I don't mind if you're... Maybe your dog wants to answer the question. Maybe your dog knows the answer. He's sleeping behind me there.

He's snoring. He's trying to chime in. What's your dog's name? Barry. Hey, Barry, do you know the answer to the question? Which defenseman had the most natural hat tricks yeah not getting an answer his motionless response suggests he does not oh good one tom no by the way tom i actually that was pretty good dom i actually thought that was the dog

by the way i'll just point out bob Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey, neither of them had a natural hat trick in their careers. See, the biggest defenseman natural hat trick I can think of, I don't even remember if it was natural or not. I don't think it was. But whenever I think about a defenseman getting a hat trick, you know who I think about? Who's that?

I hope Kelly Rudy does not listen to this podcast. Eric Desjardins. Oh, nice. In the Stanley Cup final. But I don't know off the top of my head if that was a natural hat trick. It's just the first defenseman hat trick that jumps into my head in 1993 between the Montreal Canadiens and the Los Angeles Kings. I can't wait to when Kelly gets to the studio Saturday and he sees you.

He's not working this weekend. Oh, he's off. No wonder why you took a shot at him. That's right. I wouldn't do it if he was coming in. And you know what? Being an old man now in his 60s, he probably forgets things in a day anyway. So I'm really lucky here.

So that's the first one that jumps into my head. I remember Kale McCarr had a hat trick, but I don't know if that one was a natural either. It was not. No. Okay. Neither one. I'm wrong on both yes okay tell me about when are we talking about here okay we're mid to late 90s

there's a lot like there are 14 natural hat tricks uh by defensemen in NHL history but there's one player that has more than one and they both occurred in like under a two-year span in the mid to late 90s okay let me think my first guess I'm trying to think about defensemen who scored my first guess is Al McInnes. Nice. Well done. It is, right? You're right. Oh, man.

I was just thinking late 90s defenseman who could score. I wondered if you were going to go maybe Chris Pronger as the first guess, but brilliant work. No, Chris Pronger wouldn't have been late 80s, though. He's early 90s. I would have guessed Pronger. But I said wouldn't have been late 80s though he's he's not he's early 90s i would have guessed it was mid to late 90s he was in the league then oh i was i thought you said 80s no so i got the right answer even though i was going to you heard the info wrong i i have to tell you kyle and for everybody listening this this is very typical of my work i completely

misunderstand something and still end up in the right spot that's very on brand for me very on brand for me that's like the uh do you remember the episode of family guy where he's on wheel of fortune and he's doing the the bonus round at the end and just has the most comically bad guesses for the letters gets no help and then still gets the puzzle yes yes is it alex karish in webster i don't believe it oh my god i just took a shot in the deck holy crap he's guessing like a batman symbol for like that was pretty much i thought you said late 80s so i was thinking who scored the late 80s and like, why is he bringing up Chris Pronger? Oh my God.

What a desire. Not, I got to tell you though, nothing embodies this podcast more than the last five minutes. I just have to say. Al McInnes did it twice. Once in December of 96 and then in October of 98, both with the St. Louis Blues. Because you know who else I was thinking of? Who's that? October of 98, both with the St. Louis Blues. Because you know who else I was thinking of? Who's that?

Just as a guy, another guy who scored a lot in the late 80s, which was totally wrong, was Phil Housley. Nice. The guy who was traded for Al McInnes. Right. He was not on the list for natural hat tricks. Denny Potvin has one. Paul Reinhardt has one. Oh, Paul Reinhardt has one.

Oh, Paul Reinhardt was a big score. Yeah, he was a good score. One of the more recent ones that I forgot about, Nikita Zdorov had one with the Flames. Oh, that's right. Like last, not last season, but the season before. I totally forgot about that. Anyway, great question, John.

That was a great question. All right, we got another voicemail. Connor from Vancouver. I'm curious about how former players like Daniel Breer or Joe Sackett transition to becoming general managers. Is there a formal process or training they go through to kind of learn the in and outs of managing a team, especially when it comes to navigating like the cap, contract negotiations, and just the complexity of hockey ops? Or do they just learn on the job and kind of lean on the assistant GMs and hockey ops teams any uh any insight would be much appreciated and go canucks

go boy they could use some go canucks go after thursday night there connor that was a rough night um wednesday i i would uh oh right wednesday night close enough um i would say that the question is are you willing to there's not a specific course or anything like that, but are you willing to put in the work? I think that's what a lot of what it comes down to. I think there's a lot of players who, when they, when they retire and they, and they want to follow that path, like a lot of them have young families. Do they want to spend more time with their families? Like it's to do that job well, it's a lot of work. You know, Daniel Breer, it's good you mentioned him because Daniel Breer, he did it a bit differently. He learned the business. He started working for Maine

in the ECHL and he worked as much on the business side, if not more on the business side than he did on the hockey side, just to learn how the business worked. And that really helped him. He worked, he obviously knew hockey, he knew a lot about it, but he learned about the business. And I know in the Comcast Spectacore company they really were he was gonna there was a point where they said eventually he's gonna be our guy because we like the path he followed you know I think I think for a lot of the other GMs is are you willing to put in the time you know very few players get handed these GM jobs. You've got to work your way up things like player development, scouting. You know, I remember one grizzled, grizzled scout who told me that he thought a lot of the players would take shortcuts.

And I remember he told me he showed up once in like some freezing rink, I think in Czech Republic, as it was called at the time. And he saw Steve Iserman. And that's when he said, holy smokes, like this guy is serious. So, you know, I don't know if there's training or anything like that. But the question really becomes is, are you willing to put in the work? Like these jobs, they're long hours, lots of travel, lots of time. There's no shortcuts to being a good GM. And like, you know, Joe Sackick, like he's a pretty private guy. And, you know, I think a lot of people joke that like Chris McFarland is kind of his brain. But the one thing about Joe Sackick is he hasn't been afraid to go against the grain and make hard decisions like the pressure on him was to trade Matt Duchene was

intense and he held on for a lot longer than a lot of managers were because he said I'm going to hold on for the right deal and when Jared Bednar and the Avalanche had a disastrous first season he's like I'm not firing that guy. We didn't give him a chance. And so I think that's a big thing, too. Like Colorado's not the most intense hockey market. But anytime you're making difficult decisions, you have to be willing to handle the scrutiny of it. And I think Sakic was a guy that proved that he had a thick enough skin to handle the scrutiny

of it and I think between all of that are you willing to put in the work? Are you willing to learn all of the things about the business? Are you willing to handle the scrutiny? And the other thing that Jim Nill told me once is that one of the hardest things about GM is the hockey is the smallest part of it. Like hockey is the thing you love the most. It's the reason you play. It's the reason you stay in the business. It's the reason you chase the Stanley Cup. But really when you're in that position,

there's so many other things you have to deal with. Your owner, the business of the organization. It's not always about hockey. And are you willing to handle that? And do you learn how to handle that? I think those are all very important things. Really good. Connor, thank you for that question. We will wrap up this edition of the Thought Line with a question from Allison in Boston. about how classic old-time hockey names had a certain charm and charisma and how some are even downright humorous,

like Conn Smythe, Gump Worsley, Buddy O'Connor, Hobie Baker, and Dit Clapper. It got me thinking, what do you guys consider to be some of the great names in the history of the game? Hope you have some fun with this. Go Bruins. Oh, you got any answers off the top of your head? So, I mean, here in ottawa frank finnegan like i like these that just kind of roll off the top i love alliteration i'm a big alliteration guy

sprague claghorn out of montreal czarly zalapsky czarly zalapsky is a great one. That's that, that is a fantastic, fantastic name. I remember having a conversation years ago with Jim Ralph, uh, who does a color analyst in the radio for Maple Leaf games, along with Joe Bowen. And he, you know, the sense of humor that, that Ralphie has right now. And he told me once about how he was thinking of, he had come up with like a lineup that was like the uh the human body part lineup so it was like Toe Blake, Adam Foot, Jeff Finger, Mike Legg and he went on and on and on and on as I was howling. That's very Ralphie

I say that in a compliment that's very Ralphie. So that's in a compliment. That's very Ralphie. So that's a fun way to look at it too. Who do you think of? His son is a big prospect with the St. Louis Blues right now, but I think it was the second Olympics after the Miracle on Ice. He played in 1988. The US Olympic team had Dave Snuggerud and I remember whoever was calling hockey at that time I can't remember if it was for CBC or for the US network they had just a lyrical way of pronouncing that name so Jimmy Snuggerud is now one of the Blues top prospects and I just always remembered whoever that was had

the lyrical way of pronouncing it but when I was a kid in Toronto one of the great nicknames I always liked it was the the Maple Leafs kid line had Rocky Saganuk and that was Rocky was a big movie. It had already come out twice. And Rocky three came out my, for my 13th birthday party, we had a class trip to go watch Rocky three in the theaters with Clubber Lang, great movie. But the other one, I remember the original Leaf Kidline was Joe Primo, Charlie Conacher, and in the 1930s, and Busher Jackson. And I just, I always loved the name Busher Jackson.

Terrific. Some great handles over the history of the game. 1-833-311-3232. 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca. That's the way to get involved with the Thought Line. Back to wrap on 32 Thoughts, the podcast after this. Welcome back to the pod. So, Elliot, Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Kings had a huge 6-3 victory over Vegas,

especially when you consider the night prior, they fell in regulation on the road against the San Jose Sharks. That game against the Sharks did not have Kevin Fiala in the lineup. He was a healthy scratch for what the team said, violating a team protocol by missing a meeting they put him back in Wednesday night against Vegas a goal and an assist just over 15 minutes of ice time and he was not ducking anything when speaking to the media post game no I think he deserved a shout out for it because you know one thing that the Kings fans know is Fiala is kind of a lightning rod out there.

It comes with the territory. You know, the higher you're paid, the more blame you get when things go badly. It's just the way life goes sometimes, life in the big city. And, you know, so he misses that game. They lose, as you say and the story I heard is that he had his iPhone out for repair and he tried to set the alarm on the iPad now I have never set an alarm on my iPad before so I don't know if it's easy or not but the fact is it didn't work it didn't go off and he missed the meeting and I just love what he said yeah well, well, of course. I mean, what happened is, I don't know if you guys know,

my alarm didn't went off. I had only my iPad. My iPhone was broken. And I never had iPad, yeah, doing the alarm for me and will never do again. But, yeah, it didn't went off, honestly. That's the truth. But, you know, I take full responsibility,

and me and I have to be better than that. And, you know, I felt terrible, let down the teammates. And so, yes, of course, I had something to make up for. He didn't dance around it. He didn't blame anyone else. The other thing, too, is you know the team has a bad loss. Like, it's not like the Kings can afford bad losses. They had a bad loss because of it.

And he knows that if he's there, maybe it makes a difference. And I just love the fact the only thing you can do in that situation is eat it and make a difference. And he did. And look, like everybody knows it goes wild when a player misses a game for a difference. And he did. And look, like everybody knows, it goes wild when a player misses a game for a meeting. Sometimes the apology doesn't get the same. And I thought it was important to shout it out. He did the right thing in coming back and playing well.

All right, busy weekend of games on the schedule. And prior to that, if you're listening to this early enough on Friday, a reminder that the Global Series is today, Friday, and Saturday over in Tampere, Finland. The Florida Panthers and the Dallas Stars, Friday to Eastern. And then again on Saturday afternoon as well. Both of those games can be watched on the Sportsnet Network.

Hockey Night in Canada gets underway. Hockey Central Saturday at 6.30 Eastern, 3.30 Pacific. A trio of early games. Toronto is in St. Louis. Montreal is in Pittsburgh. Seattle in Ottawa. The nightcap this weekend. Vancouver in San Jose. Have a great weekend, everybody.

Enjoy the broadcast, even though BXA is still there. A small price to pay for a good slate of hockey over the weekend. We'll talk to you again on Monday.