32 Thoughts: The Podcast - 32 Jinxes

Episode Date: November 21, 2025

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman open with the struggling Edmonton Oilers heading into Sunrise and why their goaltending remains the biggest issue under the microscope. The fellas look at Montreal’s 8–4 loss to Washington and similar concerns in net (12:38) before shifting to Nashville and whether it’s time for the Predators to consider selling pieces (19:09). Elliotte gives the Avalanche their flowers (24:07). They discuss Matthew Schaefer being placed on the Olympic drug-testing protocol and whether he fits on Team Canada (30:58), as well as Connor Bedard earning an ‘A’ in Chicago and the debate around bringing him to the Olympics (38:23). The guys touch on Adam Lowry’s extension in Winnipeg (44:53), Brad Lambert receiving permission to seek a trade (49:49), and Ottawa aiming for a home-run swing on the market (55:20). The Final Thought highlights Alex Ovechkin and a Capitals team that’s heating up (57:52).Kyle and Elliotte answer your emails and voicemails in the Thoughtline (1:05:26).Today we highlight Toronto-based band Heaven For Real and their song Unlimited Time. Check them out here.Listen to all the 32 Thoughts music here.Donate to the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation here.Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This 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

Tris Alexander, Instagram. You totally jinx the hockey world with the topic of odd injuries on the podcast. First Jack, now this. And he has a picture of Louis de Rhinan barbecue incident. Welcome to 32 Thoughts the podcast. Dom Elliott, Kyle, back with you once again. Fridge, as you know, many, many moons ago, lover boy told us everybody's working for the weekend, and so we're all trying to figure out how to spend our time

over the next couple of days, particularly Saturday night, you can't help but notice on the NHL calendar, there go the Edmonton Oilers, as agonizing it has been for the Oilers and their fans for much of this seven-game road trip where they have just two wins on it thus far. It wraps up in South Florida. of all places. The site of where their last two seasons, their last two cracks at realizing a dream of winning a Stanley Cup, have come to an end.

And as much conversation there has been over the last little while of when are the Oilers going to start showing signs of a team that has hopes of getting back to that stage a third consecutive year, there could be a lot to be learned and potentially a lot to be gained with what they put forth by way of effort and maybe a result back at Amaran Bank Arena in Sunrise. Where does that one rank for you for things to watch this coming weekend? Number one, it's the number one thing I'll be watching. First of all, I would like to say, Kyle, I had some people to reach out to me and said, last podcast, the one we taped on Monday,

I was too verbose. They said, you talked too much on Monday's podcast. I said, you talked too much on Monday's There was a lot of filler and extraneous stuff. So tonight, I am promising to be more concise. So, Kyle, when you ask me, am I looking forward to Saturday's game, Edmonton, Florida? Am I watching it as my number one game of the weekend? The answer is yes. Next topic. And on we go from there.

And on we go from there. No more Oilers, Panthers. So it was interesting. I had some conversations with some people about the Oilers on Friday, just calling around and asking what people thought. And number one, they looked terrible against Buffalo on Monday, just an awful performance. Number two, they were better, I think, on Wednesday in Washington,

but it was an ugly defeat. And that was a night they could have gotten a save or two, and it might have been different. but they lost and they weren't great. I thought they were really good on Thursday. Vasilevsky robbed them in overtime. They went down the ice and scored. I mean, Gensel might be having the best season in the NHL that nobody's talking about.

He's a hell of a player for Tampa. But that was a much better effort. And, you know, I'll say this. I think a guy who's really stepped up for them over the last couple of games was nurse. He had two goals against Washington. And he took on, like, that Douglas is a big man. He is a big man. And there's nobody on the Oilers roster who was really equipped to fight that guy,

but Nurse didn't like the hit, and he went and dropped the gloves. And I have seen Nurse the last couple nights as a guy who's really trying to drag them into the fight. They could have had a better feat on Thursday night. But the one on Saturday is big. And not only for the reasons you mention, they've lost there twice, it brings back a lot of bad memories. But the Oilers as an organization were not happy with some of the post-celebration commentary from the Panthers. Like the Panthers, they really rubbed that second one in. They really did.

And, you know, Kachuk's not going to be there. And Barkov's not going to be there. and it's not Florida's best team. But I see this as, okay, Edmonton's been in a bit of a malaise. And I think internally, the heat is really on. I think it's really on internally because everybody understands that maybe you don't start the year grade or, you know, you've got a bit of the Stanley Cup defeat hangover.

But there's a point where that's no longer an excuse. And I think we've reached that. and so I think the owner is a guy who puts a lot of pressure on the people he works with and I think everyone's feeling it now. So this to me will be a statement night from the Oilers. And if we look back six months from now and this is the one that turned Edmonton season around and we'll see how they do, I think a lot of people will look at it and say, okay, we can

deal with this. Say one other thing about the other. Someone pointed out to me they've now played I think 15 games on the road um that's a lot of road hockey a lot of road hockey. Um, you know, Calgary's played

13. Um, L.A.'s played 14 um, in the Western conference. Um, I look at that and I say this could be a really good thing for them in the back half of the season that the schedule's tough especially in an Olympic year it's really compressed I had a couple people point that out to me

that maybe just maybe they get maybe just maybe they look at this and say we got some of the worst parts of our schedule out of the way and we figure out of the way and we figure out of ourselves out. So we'll see. But I expect a fierce effort from them on hockey night Saturday night. Especially this trip alone, two back-to-backs and going from Washington down to Tampa isn't exactly the easiest or shortest flight either. No, no. That's a back-to-back hike. Like that is, that is a back-to-back hike. Heck of a performance from Calvin Pickard on Thursday to give them a chance. I just wanted to for Edmonton as a team that

as we're all kind of wondering where do they start to turn there? Like you mentioned the heat's starting to get to turn up internally. Like do you think it's equally dispersed throughout the organization? Is there one area where maybe it's hotter than others? What's

your sense at this stage? Well, I definitely think the goaltending is under the spotlight. Look, they've only got four regulation wins, right? Like, that's the fewest in the NHL. And, And, you know, again, we're still six weeks into the season. That's always one of the metrics I check going into the playoffs

because overtime shootout, regular season is completely irrelevant to what the playoffs are. So they have to get going and start winning some games in regulation. But there's no question in my mind, the goaltenings, you know, the major focus. As I wrote, you know, they're not playing like the 1977 Montreal Canadiens in front of Skinner and, and pickard, but the heat is on those guys. You know, I just want to say one thing about Skinner.

I see a lot of people making fun of his comments about, he said at the beginning of the year, I envisioned myself playing for Team Canada. And now he's been struggling. It's kind of, you know, the viral world we have. Kyle, it's not enough just to poke fun at somebody. Everybody has to pile on and you have to pile drive them to the center of the earth.

And so I've seen that a lot in my feeds, lately in people poking fun at him. Like, I have a theory about Skinner in that quote. And I remember when I heard it, I was thinking to myself, oh, this one might come back to bite him, but I understand it. And, and basically what it is, like, you can tell that's a guy who relies on like sports psychologists and mental coaches to help him, right? Obviously, we know he feels the pressure.

He's a big believer in trying to be positive. with that kind of thinking and that's exactly what that was you know i've told the story before but mike weir i remember covering him a couple of canadian open golf tournaments and whenever he missed a pot or a shot went badly especially around the green he would say oh there were spike marks and stuff and they affected my shot and finally i just said like does this guy ever take responsible for anything and remember it was bob weeks who kind of we were chatting about it And he said that, you know, the word on Mike Weir was he really faced confidence issues. And one of the ways that his sports psychologist helped him battle with that, especially around

the green, was if you miss a put, it's not your fault. Something else happened. And that way, like, he made the biggest putt of his life to win the masters. And it was that mentality that helped him do it. Like, this is not going to be my fault. I'm going to hit a great shot. And I've always thought about that, that, you know, that's not the way I personally think. I generally feel that if I make a mistake, it's my fault and I did it.

But I understand that everybody's wired differently. So when I heard Skinner say that before the year, I immediately thought of Mike Weir. Like he's putting himself in the right frame of mind because he needs to feel that way. He needs to feel he's that good because. If he's struggling between his ears, he's got no chance. So when I see people kind of making fun of that, I feel a bit badly because I think I know why he said it. And I understand where he's trying to come from.

But there's no question of my mind, Kyle, that as this goes on, the goaltending is going to be the thing that they get leaned on the most to either figure out or solve or settle. they tried changing the goalie coach I don't know if that's going to end up being the long-term solution here but that's the thing I definitely feel that that's the thing yeah I hear the

relationship establishing all that early on between Pete Aubrey's you say the new goalie coach in Edmonton and Stuart Skinner in particular has been a positive one but on that note Elliot it's like okay now you go into Florida it's a big game it's been a long road trip and Bobrowski just tuned up

up with a shutout. He shut out in New Jersey. Yep, he's getting ready. Yep. What was the conversation through much of the Stanley Cup final, right? Who's starting goal for Edmonton the next game? And now it's like, okay, who do you start on Saturday in Florida? Is it Skinner or is it the guy that nearly stole one for you in Tampa on Thursday night and Calvin Pickard?

You know, that's a great question. I'd probably start Pickard. I would too. Like, as I said, I should are both Skinner fans, but I think the oil is at a point of the season of, okay, who's had the best result for us in the short term? And it's what Pickard just did on Thursday night. So if you believe that he's got a chance to follow that up 48 hours later, like keep running with it because you just need a win.

Yep. And this is a big night. This is a big night. I'm looking forward to it. Really excited for that game. I always look forward to Saturday nights, Kyle. Yes, I wonder why. As one of my best friends, Seth Mandel, used to always say in university,

I can't wait till tomorrow. You know why, Kyle? Why? Because I get better looking every day. Yeah. You've been on a heck of a run the last of a while. I don't have to tell you. Okay, so goaltending, once again, part of the conversation in Edmonton

and suddenly in Montreal, that's been a big part of the conversation as things continue to be a little rocky for the Canadians after a dynamite start to the season. Another loss on Thursday night. It was close for much of the game and then just got ugly the final five, six minutes of the third period against Washington. Hattrick for Ovechkin as he continues to torch Montreal

as he's done much of his career into 10th, all time and points, surpassing Joe Sackick. But for the Canadians, I mean, it was three goals on 10 shots for Sam Montenboe. Out he went. Jakob Dovich didn't fare. much better and Dobish was a guy that was the steady hand early on when Montenbo was shaky kind of out of the gate and now you've got two guys who you're not really sure about if you're Martan-S-Louis and company how do you view

things in Montreal these days well like I I really think that Hughes and Gorton who run that team are are people who would try to be at the front of this the thing is that you didn't believe if you were in Montreal that this was going to be this much of a problem early this year. I think you really felt that Montembow, Team Canada last year, and Dobish, who looks like he's got a real future, that this wasn't something you were going to have to think about all year. But as my grandmother said, you plan, God laughs.

And, you know, Montreal, as we all know, they're kind of holding and waiting, what's the best center option that we can find? Well, now, I think you're going to have to start thinking about, okay, how seriously do we have to consider this? Like, you know, all of a sudden we look up, we look at the standings, and they're not in the playoffs right now. You know, they're only a point out and in the Eastern Conference, like, nobody's out of it. But you weren't expecting this. And, you know, it was funny.

I got a text from a regular listener of the pod on. Thursday before the game saying your precious Atlantic division has nobody at a 600 points percentage while the Metro has six. Well, he's not quite right. Two teams in the Atlantic one, Tampa and Ottawa that got them to 60, and the correct answer in the Metro is five, not six, but point taken. Anyway, you know, I think now Hughes and Gorton are probably sitting there saying, all right, how much do we really have to talk about this?

how much do we really have to start looking at this and you know how long of a runway are you giving here before you start to say okay this isn't a blip but we're pretty concerned um you know montembow i the one thing that kelly always said was if he ever got pulled he he looked at it for performance he would always look at it as i really let down the other guy because that other guy wasn't expecting to play tonight and now because I'm awful he is and it just seems to be happening a lot in Montreal so I think that's the biggest question is we know that Montreal's been sort of saving their quiver for the second position for this for the center position the other thing too Kyle is who's out there goalie wise so I was just wondering people say can Talbot. You know, Detroit got embarrassed. The Islanders, I mean, and what a run they're on. But they're in first place. You know, like, do you think the Detroit Red Wings are breaking up a very good goalie tandem while they're in that kind of a position?

To me, the one interesting guy, and I wrote about it briefly the other night, is going to be Lucanin. Like, like, Buffalo still has a lot of goalies there. And, you know, it's clear they really like Ellis. And, you know, he beat Edmonton and then they had a really ugly night against Calgary, but that wasn't only on him. So I wrote on Thursday about, um, about Lucanin, and I had a couple of people call me and they say that that's going to be the interesting one to watch. Because If you look at it, Finland's goal tending for the Olympics, Saros and Lankanin are their top two guys to me. You know, I know there's a lot of Finns who listen to this podcast and we appreciate it.

You guys can tell me if I'm wrong about Saros and Lankanin being one, two. So number three to me is Lukinen and Corpusalo. Okay? If you're Lukinen, you're sitting there at four games. that you've played and you might not make it like Corpicello's playing like he's getting games

Lukanin isn't and let's be honest here he's got to be better too some of what's going on in Buffalo is that Ellis has been good for them and Lyon has been good for them and you know you have to win the net if you're Lukinen that is partly your responsibility

but it's clear from some of the things I'm hearing that it is a thing that Lucanin would be concerned if he doesn't get to play enough games and Finland says sorry you know we can't we need a third guy who's played a lot this year so that's going to be the guy to me who I start to think about is does he become the guy that some of these teams really start doing their background work on and saying okay he's the one we're going after somewhere down the road right and he's a guy i mean there's the injury history there too that i'm sure everyone would have to ask questions it's ugly hand this year yep right out of the gate okay so that's one guy um another finish goalie like sorrows and nashville's we're all trying to figure out what the

predators are doing here elliot yeah i saw like barry Trots, the interview they did when they were over in Sweden last week, or are you saying, you know, we're in a building phase right now. Not so much a rebuild. We're building right now. So I suppose moving someone like Soros out would perhaps be opposite or counterintuitive to what building would be. But do you think they would ever consider that? That was an interesting podcast, by the way. I thought it was an interesting idea. I imagine, yeah, I imagine both of them with Baileys in their coffee while they were doing it. Well, last year they did it with Maurice and DeBoer when Dallas and Florida were over in Finland. And that was great conversation, of course, because they'd known each other forever. So I liked that they've kind of kept that theme going. And now with a couple of general managers over there, it's different.

I like that. So Trots, I do like it. Any kind of content that's different, I find interesting. So as I've mentioned before, I do a hit on Nashville every week on their 105. the game, uh, station with, uh, Adam Vingen, Derek Mason and sometimes, uh, Willie Donick when he feels like showing up. And so Barry Trott's usually goes on Tuesday and I usually go on Thursday. And, uh, Trots was on Thursday this week because of the trip home. He was on before me. And I went back and I listened to it. And it was, it was pretty interesting. Like,

he launched into a defense of Andrew Burnett. Like, when they won that, when they won that first game on, the Friday when they scored late and then won an overtime, you know, someone texted me right away and said, this guy's not getting fired, like they're still playing. And I agree with that and he didn't and Trots defended him. And to his credit, Trots said some of this is on the roster and I don't want to hold him responsible for that. That's reasonable. The other thing he did though was he talked about some of the names that are out there and he kind of said like some of these things are just not true. They're not happening. And one of the names he mentioned was Philip Forsberg. He took pains to say, you know, Philip Forsberg getting traded, that's not happening.

Now, the one thing I always believe is that it can always change if the player wants to change it, but I have no reason to believe at this point in time that Forsberg feels that way. However, Trots did go out of his way to say that Foresburg, that stuff is all completely made up. The thing I'm hearing about Nashville is I still think they are trying to figure out what they want to do. So I think at times they're talking about

some of the older players on their roster. Like the guy that everybody would covet there would be O'Reilly. And Barry Trots has shown great respect to O'Reilly in the past that even though he doesn't have a no tree clause, they're treating him like he's got one. So O'Reilly would have a big say in where he would want to go if he wanted to go anywhere. And so I think that at times what I've heard is that he's talked about older players, and I'm sure obviously O'Reilly would be in that.

I think Michael Bunting would be in that. I think Eric Halle would go in that. But I think also at times he's talked about younger players too. And I'm not talking about like the hot prospects. Like I'm not talking about the camels and Brady Martin and stuff like that. I'm not talking about that. But maybe some of the younger players who are around the roster. So I think people are just trying to get a handle on what he's talking about.

Soros, I just don't know if I see that yet. I mean, Trots, at the start of the year, right? We want to prove everyone wrong for a third straight year. And I just wonder how much longer into this season they go before they get to the point of deciding, okay, maybe we're not going to prove lots of people wrong this year. It's going to be another season of disappointment for us and how they ultimately navigate the rest of the way. but I could see Soros being apart away from that conversation.

Just thought it was interesting when we started talking goalies. I think the other thing too is that, and I wrote about this too, like I still think the owner is finding his way, right? Mm-hmm. And obviously he's going to have to sign off on whatever they want to do. But there's no question Nashville's got feelers out there. I just don't think people are sure yet if the predators are 100% positive

on exactly which way they're going to go here. By the way, Kyle, just in the middle of this, apropos of nothing, I just want to shout out Colorado. So one of the people I talk to, they jokingly call our podcast, the Who's a Disaster Podcast, because they say we only talk about teams

when they're a disaster. He said you should call it 32 disasters. 32 time bombs. So I said, oh, you know what? I'll be proactive. I'll shout out people who are good. They're a fun watch. And they beat the Rangers.

It was a close game score-wise. The ice was a bit tilted, a bit tilted, shot-wise. You know what I'll say this about watching them a bit? It's hard not to look at them as top-heavy just because of who they've got on the top of their roster talent-wise. But I really look at some of their depth players. Like that's Sam Malinsky.

I think Parker Kelly, Parker Gretzky with that one great breakaway goal he scored earlier this year. Yeah. Gavin Brindley, who got hurt, actually, against the Rangers, but Gavin Brindley, who they got and very quickly has become a factor on their team in that Charlie Coil trade, I think one of the things they've really started to do there is to develop some secondary pieces or identify some secondary pieces. And they're always going to go as far as McKinnon and Makar and Natchez and Natchewskine. And I would put Taves and Lekinen. I would definitely put Lekinen. What a hockey player he is. Oh, yeah.

But I finally start to look at the rest of that team. And it's still early and we'll see where we go. But I look at the rest of that team and I start to see like some other pieces there that they're gaining a lot of comfort. Like Ross Colton. only plays 13 minutes a game there. Like, that guy's a good player. So we'll see this will be tested over time, but I like the rest of their roster a lot more than I have.

You know, Landis God coming back. We've talked about it briefly. We talked about it when Nature has signed. I think that that has brought a Zen back into their room. like I think that and we all joke about McKinnon Wright he's super intense he's super pointed he's demanding of himself he's demanding of others Landisg is the Yang to the Yin and I just think having him back there it's just they're still driven they're still competitive they still want to win badly but Landisog knows how to take the edge off

and I think that's a huge part of it and we'll see where they go but I like their depth a lot more and you know what's interesting about them too Kyle is that you know we talk about goaltending right and that's a team that very quietly redid their goaltending they look who they had like a week last year, remember? Yes, they were very proactive and they did it. And, you know, Wedgwood, like this Canadian goaltending situation has kind of been blown open. And I think you kind of have to look at him and say, okay, maybe at the beginning of the year, we wouldn't have ever thought. but you know Bennington's going to be there and I think Logan Thompson's going to be there

we'll see what else you come up to in the third spot but at the very least I'd be looking at him as someone he can play behind a really good team there's going to be a whole bunch of avalanche on Team Canada it is not preposterous to me that you would say all right How about Wedge, what is our third guy? Feels like nothing's off the table at this point when you're talking about Team Canada goaltending. And you mentioned the depth there in Colorado. Like, don't you think, Elliot,

like when you've got a situation where there are defined roles for players lower in the lineup, combined with being surrounded by great players in a program that is all about winning, it is an absolute breeding ground for players to find a level of themselves that maybe they either hadn't got to before or maybe didn't even think was possible.

Like some of those names you rattled off early on, all operating at levels that we probably haven't seen before. Part of that is, again, the environment that they're in. But it's been really spectacular. One regulation loss through 20 games, fourth team in NHL history to be able to say that. the whole thing too is with the way the rant and in situation played out and you can't go back and change it it happened it's over there's no point in relitigating it Kyle but I think we felt that it would take them a long time to recover and again we'll see where this all goes in the postseason and you know ranton beat them last year we'll see where this all goes but they look like they've recovered a lot quicker than a lot of us expected.

Right. And I think the fact that it was Rantanin and the stars that knocked them out, that was maybe the dunking of cold water that they needed to maybe accelerate the healing process. I think that's fair. Sometimes life smacks you in the face. And there are hard smacks in the face and there are soft smacks in the face. Like Kevin BX just smacks you in the face It feels like a feather

That playoff loss That would be like a brick Yeah And now they're doing the smackin Yes they are doing the smacking All right A couple of notes on the Islanders here You mentioned earlier Elliot

First off being the news That Matthew Schaefer Has now been added to the Olympic Drug Testing Protocol So that would make him eligible if Hockey Canada wanted to have him on the roster and bring him over to Milan in February. Talked about it a little bit last pod, Elliot.

To me, I would love to see him as kind of the Kael McCar insurance as a depth option for Team Canada. Recency bias, totally playing a factor here. But man, has he been fantastic, as have the Islanders as a whole. but maybe first just where you're at on Schaefer and when you heard that news that this week, he's now part of the protocol. To be honest, Kyle, that when I reported it, I didn't know that it actually happened like yesterday. So it's like it's recent, recent. Yes.

So apparently it happened, well, we were taping this late Thursday night. It happened on Wednesday. So I didn't actually realize that. The story went live on Wednesday night slash Thursday morning, and I'd gotten confirmation that evening, but I actually didn't realize it was that day. Like, it just happened. You know, number one, I just give the kid enormous credit. The fact that Team Canada is saying, all right, we at least want on part of the conversation,

that seemed as preposterous an idea. three months ago as, I don't know, what's the most preposterous thing that's happened in the world in the last three months? There's a long list, but that seemed as insane as anything that we would see. And the kid deserves a lot of credit. And, you know, I'll say this too. I would give the Islanders a lot of credit. Like, one of the things I wrote about in my notes is that they're putting him in positions to succeed. Like, Adam Pelick is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here in terms of the number one matchups against the best players on the other team.

You know, Schaefer is playing a lot of minutes. You know, he's, I didn't check yet what he played on Thursday night, but he's playing a ton of minutes. So he was just so he didn't get 25. So he's at 25, I think, six times, but he's close. Like the one thing that the Islanders are doing is giving him a lot of ice time where he has a lot of freedom to roam, right? He's not getting the head-to-head matchups. And this is at home against the best players.

So they're putting him in positions to succeed and the Islanders deserve a lot of credit for it. But nobody deserves more of it than Schaefer himself. He's caught their eye. I still think it's going to be a big challenge. there's an eighth defenseman now there were seven at the four nations I think all seven of those guys are going back you know they had injuries um they had illnesses theodore got hurt mccarr got sick Morrissey got sick

and they overcame it all and they won and I think they will be loyal to those guys and also none of those seven guys have played themselves off the team Kyle Doubtie's injury is not a thing. So you got to think Schaefer is battling for one spot with a bunch of guys. I don't know if he gets it, but it's impressive. And so are the Islanders. And Schaefer's a big part of that. His attitude, like they're playing better.

Sorokin has sorted himself out. They're, you know, you can see the confidence really building in that group. The Islanders, when they were at their best a couple years ago, they were greater than the sum of their parts. They've kind of got that feel to them again this year, and it's really working for them. But Schaefer's attitude is a big part of this, and look at them. I mean, they just, that road trip was not only tough teams, but it was a tough schedule. It wasn't easy, and they're sitting there right now. They're eight, four, and one on the road, and there is six, 19 points percentage.

I give them, this whole league has been fun this year. It's really fun seeing a bunch of new teams really make a run at this and a bunch of unexpected teams make a run at this. And the outlers are absolutely one of them. Not only are they greater than the sum of their parts as they have been when they've been a good team in the past. They are greater than the sum of their parts and they're scoring, Elliot. there's that wrinkle that had not been ingrained in the Islander's DNA not all that long ago, they're a team that can score too. So it's another wrinkle to that team that's become a big, big problem for a lot of others

across the league. And as you say, like that road trip, there were some good teams that they played and beat along the way and finishing it up with, you know, a huge shutout victory over Detroit on Thursday. it's been a lot of fun for them. Like you've got that coming together. There's the Schaefer story. There's this new way of Islander hockey.

And then you've got a scene like they had in Dallas earlier this week where, look, tough hit from Rantanin on Alexander Romanov, but the reaction from Patrick Waugh on the bench. And you can sit there and say, well, are you crossing the line by a coach yelling at a player? bottom line is that was a guy coming the defense of his player and his team and that was what was most important there he'll get a call on like March 25th

oh Patrick remember what you said a few months ago that's that's a little come with the fine yeah no no it'll be he'll get the warning like right before they play against oh yes sorry when that the return affair that's right you know remember what you said way back in the middle of November, if anything happens, you're getting fine and suspended. Yes, which you deal with that when you get there.

But in the meantime, I loved every bit of that. Yeah, it sounds like Romano's getting a second opinion, too. And whenever it's second opinion, obviously that means you don't like what the first guy's telling you. So, yeah. Usually in my experience, second opinion is I'm going to. going to try to find someone who can say that path, I don't like it. Is there honestly a better path or hopefully a better path? Right. So we're wishing the best for a man of, but

I mean, yeah, like you can't tell me with the reaction of him there in Dallas and then how that team came out to finish the road trip in Detroit. There's got to be a little bit of synergy between the two. So, yeah, things are going good on the island. And then speaking of coaches coming to their player's defense. You had Badard in Chicago on Thursday, newly sporting the A on his jersey, by the way. The irony that two

games ago, he's going, oh, the referees are so much nicer to be now. I don't get kicked out of faceoffs anymore. And then... By the way, that's a true thing. Oh, I believe that. That's a true thing. I believe it. A hundred percent true. Remember years ago, years ago, when I first

really started covering the league, players would say to me, and even some officials admitted to it, If you don't have a letter on your jersey, get away from me. They deal with enough during the game. I'm not talking to you. You're unimportant. Hey, do I see a letter in New Jersey? No, get lost.

So then you follow that up a couple of nights later with Bazaard not getting the call on the breakaway, letting the official have it. And then he gets two minutes for on sportsmanlike, abusive officials. Seattle ends up scoring on that power play. they win the game. Jeff Blaschell came to a superstar player's defense in the media afterwards, which, again, it was a tough circumstance because you're like, they call that penalty all the time.

All the time. Anything on the hands, it's a penalty. And I know you love your penalty shots. Penalty shots, 100%. First of all, I think the Blackhawks did a great thing putting the A on his jersey. Like, there's this whole debate right now. Like, we just talked about Schaefer playing for hockey, Canada may be making the Olympics.

The other debate is Bedard. And there seems to be a lot of, and I never mind seems, it's true. Like, I think they thought about taking one of the two of them, Badard and Celebrini, but they never thought about taking both of them. And the two of them have forced this into the conversation. It's real. Do we do this? And I thought Chicago putting the A on Bard in the middle of that whole conversation,

I don't believe in coincidences, Kyle. I think that was intentional. We want to boost our franchise player. We want, so that's, to me, that's twice this week. The Blackhawks have shown out for Bedard in the middle of this Olympic debate, the A and what Blaschell said after the game on Thursday night. What's interesting to me is that Blaschell said, his quote was, oh, he must have said something really bad to get.

that penalty. Now, if I had not been a sportscaster, I would have gone to law school. And I had been miserable. I would have hated life and I would have hated myself. I would have loathed myself if I had been a lawyer. But what is one of, what is the first thing that they tell you in law school, Kyle? first thing yeah well the first thing they tell you was how to bill properly what's the second thing they tell you in law school how to read between the lines no the second thing in law school is you never ask a question or bring up something in the courtroom that you don't already know the answer to oh of course yes so when i'm looking at this and i'm listening to what blasheil has to say i'm saying to myself he knows exactly what was said to the official and it wasn't that bad wasn't that bad at all i'm i'm with blasheel on this one i think at that point in the game you can't have rabbit ears and rabbit ears is a saying for you hear something and it gets you really sensitive you you have to understand the situation and

i don't know i i didn't like that call i did not like that call i didn't like the non-penally like One of the things that makes me crazy about the rules now is that you can, like, just whack someone from time to time and not get called for it. And if you do like a light love tap and it hits the stick in the right spot and the stick snaps, that's a slashing penalty. It makes me crazy. I really hate that when that happens. But I, you know, I agree with Blaschel on this one.

I think in that situation, it has to be egregious for Bedard to get penalized there. And maybe we'll find out it was egregious. But like I said, my brief legal background tells me that I really hope that Blasheld didn't introduce that without absolutely knowing what Bedard did or didn't say. He's had a heck of a week behind the microphone. I have to say, capping it off with the... It was funny. We talked in the last podcast about how he was on Saturday night, and someone said, someone sent me a text.

He said, Blashele knew hockey night in Canada was in town. He saw Chris Cuthbert lurking in the hallway. No, no, no, it was you. He doesn't care about Simpson. He doesn't care about Cuthbert. He's there to see you. Oh, now you're just, okay, talk about going into a courtroom.

saying something you don't know the answer to. That's a huge foul right there. Oh, I also just wanted to point out, so the first year I went to go be part of the Bruce Oak Gala. It was September 12th, 20203. Could you hazard a guess of what piece of news made its way that permeated through the city of Winnipeg

earlier that day? September 12th, 23. Ooh, this is a good trivia question. I'm sorry, I'm not prepared because this is not the thought line. I don't have my guessing, my invisible guessing helmet on. September 12th, 23. That wouldn't have been like the Dubois trade, was it? No.

You ready for it? Yes. It was the day they announced Adam Lowry was the next captain of the Jets. And so, of course. That's just stupid on my part. Like, how could I not figure. that this tied into Adam Lowry. The night of the Winnipeg Jets Gala on Wednesday night.

Yes. Mark Chipman announces he signed an extension for five years at $5 million per, which seems more than reasonable on both minutes. I was really annoyed at myself when I heard that he signed that night because if I would have known that there was a gala going on, I would have been much more aggressive on what's going on with Lowry. Ah. Because that's right up, that's right up the Jets, and especially Mark Chipman, the owner, that's right up their alley.

So they, I don't remember which one it was, but I think it was a Paul Maurice extension when Maurice was coaching the Jets. He announced it at an event. And I had heard rumors that he was getting that extension. I think it was kind of rumored at the time, and the Jets kept it really quiet because they wanted to announce it at this event. So had I actually looked at a calendar and realized that they had something like that,

I would have been much more aggressive. So basically what I'm doing right now is I'm loading all Jets events onto my phone calendar so I can know when they're about to announce something. Like that happened this year too. Remember, Kyle, at the media tour in Vegas, we interviewed Dustin Wolf the day before their golf tournament. And we told him, we'd heard that he was signing there long term, that he was going to commit to it. And he kind of played dumb.

And the next morning, they announced it at the golf tournament. And the flames badly wanted to do that. They wanted to make that announcement there. So if you want to cover the NHL, start learning when teams have events because that's when they're going to start announcing all their signings. Ever I asked Wolf a few weeks after that, I said, so you must have had some idea that a deal was close to we interviewed you that day. He's like, oh, yeah, it was done.

I just didn't want to say anything. I'm like, oh, good on you. You played a pretty good. Yes, I know. Hope you give up 46 goals tomorrow night. I just thought he held a pretty good poker face. Yeah, he did. Very good. Don't play cards with that guy.

No. All right. So, yeah, that business gets done in Winnipeg, Elliot, five more years beyond this one for Lowry with the Jets, which seems to make all too much sense for both parties. It's an interesting one. I was talking with a couple other teams and a couple other agents about it on Thursday. say. And if you really look at it, there's not a lot of comps for this one. Like, there's not a lot of guys who get five-year deals when they're 33 years old. And, you know, someone who might, and we'll see where it goes here, could be a guy like Panarin. But Panarin's a guy who's

a point getter, right? So teams will take a bit more of a chance on somebody who's got a bit more runway as a point getter. It's rare, but I don't think anybody disputes the value of it, and I don't think that anybody in Winnipeg will dispute that it was a good thing to do. And, you know, to me, what I see there is I see a team, and it shows what the deal they did with Connor, too, they think they can win now. They're in their window. And they have a really close team. Those players get along really well. Lowry showed why is the captain. They basically told him, look, we have to do Kyle Conner first because it's a bigger number.

And Lowry's like, yeah, whatever. Do it. And they did. And, you know, he does a lot of their heavy lifting. He's hugely important to their team. But what it says to me now is, okay, let's just say for argument's sake that Lowry's not a $5 million

player when he's 37 or 38 years old because the contract is assigned, it takes place when he's 33. If you have, good runs deep in the playoffs and hey maybe even you win it i think they're going to be in this conversation for certainly 60% of his contract at least it doesn't matter how it ends it doesn't matter how it ends now of course lowry is going to say when he scores 40 goals at age 38 hey elli you thought my contract would really sock at the end that's not what i'm saying here but what

I'm saying is you take this bet if you're the Jets because if you do win in the next three years and I think they're going to be deep deep deep into this conversation, he's going to be a huge part of it. I would take that gamble a hundred times out of a hundred. Now there was some other news out of Winnipeg today. Right. A report out there, Brad Lambert, who's their first round pick in 2022, that his camp has been given permission to go about finding a trade partner. So he's only played four games with the Jets this year. Looked like it's just been tough for him to get into the lineup on a regular basis.

Went down to the American League again. So where are things at there and anything further you can add to that story? Well, I'm not hugely surprised. You know, it comes the day after that the news got out about Mintyukov, right? And it's, it's, it's, the reaction of this stuff is, is really interesting to me because there, there are a lot of people who talk about that the days of patience are over if you're not playing. Like, I'm not here to sound like middle age man from Saturday Night Live. When I used to go to school, we used to walk uphill both there and home and we liked it. No, that's not what this is about.

But I do think it is a recognition that, especially among young players, there's less patience now. They're not willing to, in most cases, everybody's different. If they don't see a path, they want out faster. And, you know,

certainly Lambert, you know, Winnipeg's a good team. He's got to be a top six forward. You look at that lineup, there's really not a lot of room for him and maybe 20 years ago he might have waited longer and been patient that's not the way today's players are wired young players are wired mintyukov same deal now i will say this i had a couple people that didn't like it came out while anaheim's doing really well kind of same deal with lambert but because i was the guy reported mintyukov i had some pushback to that with me like anahehm's going really well this isn't the time for this And I was like, okay, fair, I completely understand it, but it is out there. And, you know, so I just wanted to mention that. You know, Mintyukov was the 10th overall pick in 2022.

He's a really talented young kid. He made this team very quickly. But you look at it right now, he's gotten beaten out. Like, Jackson Lecombe is now a $9 million defenseman. He's not playing ahead of him. Zellweger has done a – Zellweger has been a great partner for Truba. has been one of the tremendous early season stories, and Zellweger's playing a very big role

there. And Ian Moore, who is the kind of the guy who's beaten out Munchukov right now, he's played really well for them, and he scored the winning goal the other night in the second game that Munchukov set out. So they've got a winning hand right now, but I think that's the realism of what we're dealing with now in the NHL. The kids, they want to play faster. They don't have much patience as maybe they used to or were forced to to have for the American Hockey League.

Now, Lambert, it's tough to see him in the top six there. They're pretty loaded. So I'm not hugely surprised. You know, he's still young. I could see him. I could definitely see teams being interested, just like I can see it with Mintyukov. Mnchukov is a young defenseman who could move the puck. There's going to be interested.

him. With Lambert, what's my opinion always? The surest predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Winnipeg, they're used to this. They are used to, you know, people saying, uh, maybe I want out or I want to move on. And they're now actually very good at handling it. McGority, it happened with him a couple years ago. What did they do? They were patient. They were patient. They were patient. They said, look, if you want Magrorty, you have to give us something that we see equal in return. They got Yeager. Okay? So that's the way I look at it. If Lambert is going to go, the Jets will be patient, but they will say, we want something Lambert-like in return. And people around the league are going to know that. Something the Jets feel that either is equal to him

or maybe they can use towards something else. And that's what their history with Magrorty proved to people. In Anaheim, I don't know how, what to make of this. Because Verbeek, the more he gets pushed, the more gets his backup. So number one, I think he's going to kind of say, hey, I'll do this on my time. And, you know, I'll say this too. They've had a lot of young players who are really popping right now. out to their credit they've done a really nice job but at different times some of these players

have had issues with their ice time and he's always said I'm not giving you the easy way out like you're going to earn your ice time that's kind of his philosophy no easy way out earn it now maybe this is different I don't know we'll see in the future but I do know that he'll he won't be pushed into doing anything that's for sure All right. Another thing you had noted in your latest 32 thoughts blog that came out this week, the Ottawa Senators who beat Anaheim on Thursday night as they kick off their. Everyone's on a seven game road trip right now. Everyone's on a seven game road trip. Not two or three games. It's seven or bust. Okay. They win Thursday. You mentioned them as a team looking to hit a home run by one. way of adding. So how big a home run are we talking here? It goes back to what we talked about when they signed Pinto, right, Kyle? Like, I think they see this as their window now. And I think they would like to, and I think they would like to add on the blue line and or up front with

the best they can get. And we'll see what that all means. This kid, they called up, Halliday's interesting. Like, he was, I saw some people who I was, or I was talking to some people had seen a play and they said he was really he was really pushing like this is a guy who earned this call up and he had a really nice play on on one of their goals and beating the ducks but um i i just think like carolina they did it last year with rantan and they took that swing at a at a big player and everybody knows they're kind of like okay when's the next try we can make it that we'd like to do that um you know you just ask around and i think auto was a team that it's kind of out there.

Like if there's something big available, I think they would love to try. I think they really would. And like I said, it goes back to what we talked about with Pinto. Their window is now. It's now. And whether you think they're ready for it or not,

their window is now. And I think they see that too as an organization. You know what, Kyle, I listed teams that were looking at things. It's not the biggest thing, But I did hear from a couple places, Philly's looking for another center. Maybe more of a depth guy as much as anything else, but definitely another center. So they're trying to stay in the hunt here?

Yeah, I think so. I'm formulating some thoughts on that. It might take another pot or two, but I'm formulating some thoughts on them. I've been watching them a lot more lately. All right. Table it for next week or somewhere down the line. Very good. Okay. Well, with that, then let's get to the final thought. And Elliot, as we mentioned a little earlier in the show, Thursday night, Alex Ovechkin goes into Montreal as he has done so often in his career and had himself a big night. Another hat trick, 33rd of his career. And after a so-so start to his season and for the team as well, They're now starting to roll. Ovechkin's starting a role. The goal streak gets one game further.

I don't know. I mean, we've had this conversation how many times over his career. But once again, he is a headliner that is looking every bit like a guy who continues to love everything that comes with the game of hockey, both in scoring goals and being around a group that is starting to heat up a little bit. Good week so far for Washington with those two back-to-back wins. By the way, I just wanted to say Tom Wilson had a big night in front of Doug Armstrong and Kyle Dubus against the Oilers on Wednesday. Wilson scored those two empty net goals. He could have had six empty netters. They would have keep leaving him out there to pile them up right in front of those two guys.

I was just laughing my head off watching that. Okay, I want to talk about Ovi for a sec I know they haven't said anything here Have you noticed how many Jersey exchanges There have been with him It's been a couple, yeah McDavid the other night Like Copatar we talked about

How they took a whole bunch of sticks On the trip for him And I thought it was really nice What San Jose did for him On Thursday night Because big rival for a long time. And the Kings, they really tortured the sharks a few times. So I thought that was really nice of San Jose to do that.

But you can't help but watch all these jersey exchanges with Ovechkin and wonder, okay, do the capitals have a plan here? And Ovechkin says no. and I think he's definitely earned the right to call his shot on his own time whenever he's ready but it's hard not to look at all of these jersey exchanges and say, hmm, and it's like other players around the league aren't chants in it.

They're like, if this is it. Yes. Got to get the jersey. swap in. It's like when teams play messy now in the MLS, it's like a big mad dash to like got to get his jersey after the game. They're tackling each other so they can be the one to get the jersey, right? Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it would be like the capitals to want to do something. Unroll it on their own. hey we just talked about teams love to line up announcements with their own events yeah they can control it they absolutely will I just what's been impressive to me as I say like guys still making an impact still making an impact it was interesting at the beginning of the year I was actually

you know he looked slower at the beginning of the year and it's early in the season so I try not to take it that seriously and second but I think it was kind of affecting a little bit how they were playing and and also I think that if you started to look at it a bit I think there were some teams trying to figure out okay do we put our best guys out there against ovi or do we put our best guys out there against somebody else right like you could see some of the deployment was starting to change a little bit from what I looked over and I will say this I looked over it in kind of a cursory way so if I'm way off on that someone can tell me but it looked like teams were starting to say okay like how should we be deploying ourselves here

but now the cat now he's hot again right and so it's back to he's the focal point we got to deal with this like I think some teams we're looking at that sort of like right now they have protis playing with Wilson so some teams were like okay maybe we better put our best players

against those guys well here we go Ovechkin's hot again and how about Dylan Strome that's a tough one you find out in the warm up that your wife is going into labor And it's true, like, there's nothing you can do. Right.

And you still hold out hope while maybe things just hang out. Yes. You know, the plane takes off quickly after the game. Labor takes 10, 12 hours. Right. Although, you know, if I said to Steph, hey, I'm awake, you can stay in labor for 12 hours? I hope you stay in labor for 12 hours. Yeah.

I would get clawed in the face. So I'm not sure that that would really work. That's right. but you wouldn't live to see the birth you know i was talking about it actually with a with a buddy because it's not like you're getting a flight from montreal to washington right away and you're going to get back in time like there's no if it happens in the morning that's one thing but no chance on this that's right so you've got that and you're back here mine and he still had what, three assists on Thursday?

Anyway, just impossible circumstances. Why should go into labor every night? I'll let you call her up and make that suggestion. But yes, Sutton, Kimberly, Strom, the newest member of the Strome family. Beautiful name. Born Thursday night. Great name. And I have to say, too, the Capitals, they have to have the best post-game huddle in the dressing room following wins.

You like the dark helmets too, right? I think it works for them. The home helmets on the road. It's a great look. And then when Spencer Carberry holds court there going through different performances of the game and everybody else chimes in on different things, I know everyone's kind of got their own version of it now, and so much of it, which is great, is put out there for everyone to see.

But they do it different there in Washington. And anyway, they do it right. It's very well done. that's are you a team or you're a club that's a team that's a team that's a team all right that was a final thought and with that we'll take our first break and come back with the thought line 32 thoughts the podcast continues after this Welcome back. It's time now for the thought line, Elliot. What on earth was that?

As you can hear, with a sage burning, we are cleansing the thought line of all negative thoughts, juju, and bad mojo right now. I don't for a second. Is this because of the injuries? Absolutely it is. I don't for a second think our powers are strong enough to have any type of impact, and nor would we want to have any kind of impact in that capacity. But after I saw the Jack Hughes injury was one thing, but after seeing Etzulostarinen out for a period of time because of a barbecue incident, I thought it's better safe than sorry. And so the burning has commenced, and hopefully this puts an end to it all.

Tris Alexander, Instagram, you totally jinx the hockey world with the topic of odd injuries on the podcast. First Jack, now this. And he has a picture of Louis de Rhinan barbecue incident. Yeah. It was starting to get a little too close for comfort. It was stretching the, what would be considered, reasonable coincidence. Yep. Anyway, just...

That was good, Kyle. Really well done. It put me in a great mood. I feel very serene. Relaxed. I feel very relaxed and at ease with myself. That's good. I love to hear that.

And do you have anything else on your list before we get to today's batch? Yes. So thoughts on the thought line, as one of you called it. I like that. Thoughts on the thought line. A lot more raccoon information. I appreciate it, places where to buy ammonia, places where to buy mothballs, which I'm not even sure are legal. I had a number of people, including the great Sherry Ross, always good to get a note from Sherry Ross sending me that article about how raccoons are becoming more domesticated.

They're getting the smaller snout. Just unbelievable timing for that article. I had someone who wrote to me and said, here's the concern with coyote, urine. Do you have coyotes in your neighborhood? And apparently we do. We have some ravines near where we live. And I've been told there are coyotes there. And he told me the problem with that then becomes if you spread coyote urine, it won't be the raccoons in your backyard. It'll be the coyotes. I was like, you know, I'm not sure one's really better than the other. So I had I had someone who suggested hot sauce on the bins. And I had someone else who suggested

and it's someone we know in the hockey world. And Kyle, when I tell you his name privately, you will not be surprised this was his suggestion. But he suggested I buy a paintball gun and just blast at them. Yes, taking warfare to the next level. I have a couple other notes that I wanted to read. One more about the raccoons from a Taylor, Weston. And what Taylor wrote is that a year ago when we lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico,

we woke up one morning to find our kitchen was completely torn up. Bags of bread shredded all over the floor, bananas smooshed and ripped. We knew it wasn't our cat and quickly came to realize it was at least one raccoon coming in through our pet door and having absolute ragers in the night. So we did set a live trap one night and caught one. Because we knew a little, about the distance rule, and for those of you who haven't been following, apparently it's 60 kilometers. If you put them closer than 60 kilometers, they'll come back. But because we knew the distance rule, I drove this spitting mad raccoon up the mountains, waving to some tourists about to set off on a hike as I set the animal free. The next night, we caught another. The next night,

another. By the end, we caught five, one each night, and I like to imagine them reunited in the mountains, frolicing by a stream or something wholesome like that. Oh, geez. What does this podcast become? This is unbelievable. That's a lot of work. A lot of work. Yeah.

It's a lot of fuel. A lot of fuel. A lot of work. But happily, a lot of frolicking. Yes. It's good to keep a big picture in mind. All of the United. You know, anybody, whenever a story ends in frolicking, it's a happy.

ending. Okay, and here is the final note. Hey, Elliot, big fan of yours. I don't miss an episode of 32 thoughts. You have always have the most well-articulated takes to share and are a true professional. So far, I like where this is going. See why this one got in. If you're open to constructive criticism from someone you've never met, I think the amount you interrupt and disregard Kyle's points on the podcast. is too much. You seem like a guy that values his impact and wants to treat people well, which is valuable in broadcasting.

If you were to show him a little more respect, you would further improve your successful career. Hope you're able to take that as a nudge in the right direction from someone who has a lot of respect for you. So I'd like to thank the writer, who, interestingly enough, is under the pseudonym Dana's burner. She would have to listen to this thing first before she could offer up any type of thing like that. Well, I'll say this.

First of all, I bet that she treats you a lot worse than I do. That's number one. That's why I said get in line. Yeah. Number two, Kyle, how you doing? Got me good ideas? Here's my chance. Here's the door's open.

Oh, gosh. I thought we were. past the uh you're being too hard on me phase i guess not it's back it's come back keep it coming keep it coming and i doubt that that's the one thing that's holding you back in your career is being no i'm kind to me but there's a lot more that's holding you back in your career than just that yes well that's very kind of at dana's burner to write that in no the gentleman's name was matt okay thanks matt thank you for that but I take no issue.

If Elliot's going to jump in with something, it is mostly useful information or perspective. Mostly. All right, let's get to today's batch. Brett, hello, Friege, Kyle, and Dom. First, I have a follow-up from last year's question about altered equipment.

Kyle brought up a story about a goalie from Powell River that had pucks in his gear to take up more of the net. Well, I did some digging on this asking a friend on that team and wanted to report it was not Pucks but a life jacket. I know the good people of Campbell River always need an excuse for losing to the better river across the pond, but just thought you should get your story straight. Quickly on this, Brett, I will only push back because I was playing in that game. I literally saw the Pucks being removed from the top of his shoulders. So all this proves is that there's another goalie from Powell River, willing to bend the rules far enough to throw a life jacket on.

That's so West Coast, by the way, throw a life jacket on to make yourself just a little bit bigger in the net. So something going on out in P. Riv. All I've heard is that if you're going out to Powell River to play in a hockey tournament, you can be certain that someone on those teams is cheating and probably the goalie. Yes. But anyway, that's not why it was a, it was a, funny bit that Brett included here and actually he has a very good question to follow up. My question carries on

with the theme of unusual ailments and bizarre injuries. We just burned incense here. We can't do this again, can we? Well, I thought we've got a clean slate so hopefully one won't a pack the other. With Jack Hughes being injured at a team dinner and a

non-hockey related injury is the team obligated to pay him his salary during the time he will Miss, also, when an injury occurs and surgery is needed, who is the one paying the bill? I know these athletes seek out the highest medical care and best surgeons, with some flying halfway across the world for it. If there anything in the CBA for this, or is it a team by team case? No, that's a great question, by the way.

Excellent. It is, first of all, in theory, if someone suffered a non-hockey injury, the team could grieve it if they wanted to. But in this case, they're not going to do it. And in this particular case, Jack Hughes will be paid his full salary while he's injured. And he is compensated. So the devils will pay his salary. Now, there have been situations I mentioned one several years ago in the Major League Baseball

where Paul Quantrell was injured riding a snowmobile in the offseason. and there was some debate about that one, but generally the teams will pay that. If you're injured on the job, the team covers the payment of the surgery. And as a matter of fact, and Jack Eichol has a lot to do with this, the League and the Players Association

have worked really hard to make second opinions more available to players. And, you know, I've had guys tell me that they've never seen more cooperation, and understanding between teams and second opinion doctors than they get now. Like, they just say it's, it's, I'm sure there's always incidents that don't go that well. Nothing's ever perfect. But a number of players have told me it's come a long way.

Awesome. Great to hear. Thank you for that, Brett. And yes, the goalie story continues out of Powell River. That's fun. Okay. On the heels, Elliot, of you attending the Dallas Stars Hall of Fame night last weekend. some great storytelling about Joe Newindyke.

Here now some storytelling, courtesy of Alex from Massachusetts. This is a first-time caller, and I was just listening to the podcast this morning about all you guys had to say about New and Dyke, and I just wanted to share a quick story with you. I was born about three months before the stars won the cup in 99, and my parents lived in Chicago at the time, and we drove to visit my mother's satchel. of a family in Boston, and we stayed at my uncle's college apartment at Cornell, where he was playing at the time. Saturday night, like a college kid would do, he was out at the bar, and it was June, and Mr. Neuendike had brought the cup and the Con Smite to a bar, and my uncle phoned

my parents at his own apartment and told him to come. The Stanley Cup is at the bar, and they brought me, and long story short, Joe Neuendike took. me from my parents, brought me up to his little rope-dop area, and put me in the top of the cup and the whole bar started chanting my name, and I now have a pretty sweet signed picture from him with me sitting in the cup, and then another one with him holding me at about three months old. So just another story about New and Dike being an absolute legend and good teammates, just taking care of everybody around them. Thanks, boys. Whoa, what a story.

You know, Alex, you know what you have to do is you have to send us the picture. Yes. So after the pod drops, we can include it with the link. I want to see the picture. What a great story. Not surprised by that in the least, but what a great story. Wow. That's awesome.

My only surprise that the party was at Cornell and not Colgate. Oh, shut up. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. That was actually pretty good. Now you're going to start getting DMs about how you're mean to me. I'm not mean to you, you're mean to me. That's right.

That was the tables have turned. Yeah, that was actually a really good line. That was a great story. Alex, thank you for sharing. That's awesome. Very good. All right, we're staying along the eastern seaboard here. Jacob from Maine.

Hello, Kyle, Dom, and if I must include, Elliot. Question. The Boston Bruins currently hold Toronto's 2026 first round pick, and it is top five protected. If it ends up top five, which isn't out of the question at this stage, the pick would naturally go to 2027. But that pick was traded to Philadelphia in the Scott Lawton deal last year. So would the Bruins pick then slide to 2028? And if so, is there? there anything preventing Toronto from trading their 2028 first round pick? How long would they be able to trade their first round pick? Is there anything stopping Toronto from perpetually trading their first rounder and Boston never getting it? And then what would happen with the

Flyers pick? So whenever something like this happens, this is why in theory central registry exists. And central registry is there to approve every trade. Nothing. is done until central registry signs off and their existence is all about checking off items like this and making sure there's no way that the this kind of problem can be unsolvable like they've traded picks in a way that eventually they won't get sorted out and one of the things they do is they say okay um okay we're trading a pick are there any conditions already attached to that pick If no, okay, tell us what the conditions are on this one, if any, and they approve it. If a team says yes, and Central Registry is supposed to know if there's already conditions on a

pick, but if they say, yes, there are conditions that say, okay, well, are we in danger of leaving them unsatisfied, or is there a way you've agreed to work around it with the teams, so eventually everybody gets what they need? So the long answer I gave you is that central registry exists to make sure that all of these conditions can be satisfied, particularly when there's more than one deal. Here is the situation with Toronto, Boston, and Philadelphia. So as you mentioned in your question, the 2026 pick that the Maple Leafs have traded to Boston is protected to the top five. So if the Maple Leafs finish there and after the lottery they stay there, they have the option of keeping that pick. The 2027 pick has already been dealt to Philadelphia in the Scott Lawton deal and that one is protected in the top 10.

If the Maple Leafs keep their pick this year and don't send it to Boston, the 2027 pick will stay with Philadelphia and Boston and Boston will then get. the first rounder in 2028, and that will be unprotected. So that's one thing you have to know. If in 2027, the Philly pick is in the top 10, the Maples have another choice. They can either give it to Boston and wipe this deal off the books and then give Philadelphia the 2028 unprotected. their other choice is to send it to Philadelphia and give Boston the 2028 unprotected. So basically if Toronto keeps its pick this year, it's going to lose their 27 and 28 picks and it will just depend on either Philly or Boston who gets what. That's the way it goes.

Even if it's in the top 10. Yes, it slides. It slides. Gotcha. So that was their way of making these deals. They had to agree to all these conditions and central registry approved them. You can see why there's always such a backlog as the deadline comes and goes because all of this stuff needs to be ironed out and understood and agreed upon on both sides. The language is correct.

And also don't forget, colleague, those two trades, the Lawton deal and the Carlo deal, they both happened in the after. afternoon of the trade deadline last year. So, you know, Brandon Pridham, who's the capologist for the Maple Leafs and has to know the CBA, he's the one whose brain is frying while he's coming up with this idea and proposing it to Central Registry. And Central Registry has to approve it. Now, Kyle, did I explain that in a way that was easily understandable? Because sometimes when you're in the middle of explaining it, you don't know if it makes any sense. Did it make sense? It made sense to me. So I would say that's a pretty good. barometer.

But the other thing that Jacob threw in there, like, is there anything tomorrow keeping Brad for living from trading their first in 2028? As you say, like with the potential of everything sliding back a year depending on what happens or is that money in the top of my head, Kyle? The answer is no as long as he can satisfy

Philadelphia and Boston. Okay. If they object, I don't think he can do it. But if they don't object, I believe he can do it. Okay. All right. A little trivia here to wrap up. Friege, Stefan from Beachburg, Ontario.

Hello, lads. Piggybacking off the question about players scoring against their former team. And after seeing Anton Forsberg shut out Ottawa, as it seems, with all of their former goalies. Let's stick to the new modern era NHL, as we call it now, so salary cap era, and find out which team struggles the most against their past netminers. Thanks as always. I got to say, Stefan, you're creative.

I wouldn't have even thought about it. This is what I've learned. The New Jersey fans think all their former players score against them. The Ottawa fans think all their former goalies shut them out. This is what I've just learned. Yes. Yes, and... That's a great question, Stefan.

You guys are creative. I say this. You guys are creative. It's the natural progression over the course of this trivia and history journey. Do you have a guess, Elliot? Oh. And who struggled the most against X-NetMinders since 05-06? I'm trying to think which team has, like, traded a lot of goalies.

I'm going to say, who's had a lot of goalies? I'm going to say, well, what the heck? Let's go with Ottawa. I'm going to say, Stefan is absolutely validated for feeling this way. They are at the top, yes, 16 losses against X. The other team I was going to say was Calgary, because they've had a lot of goalies, right, ever since Kipersoff left. That's true. but they're not so I got sent a list of teams that have 10 or more and they do not satisfy that so they're further down than you might think but ottawa's at the top was 16 followed by chicago and florida at 14

stephen you are not paranoid they are really out to get you okay and lastly and the bronx hey guys watching the rangers play the blue jackets last week egor shisterkin stopped miles wood on a penalty shot, Rangers announcer Alex Faust, just said that the Rangers have not given up a penalty shot goal in eight years. That seems like a really long time. So my question is, what is the record for not allowing a penalty shot goal for both length of time and penalty shot attempts? Oh my God. Yeah. That's the unique one. The Rangers don't have the record. I was going to say, is it the Rangers?

No. I don't even know where to go with this one. That's totally fair. I don't think anyone would criticize you over that one. So let's save the pain. So the longest span all time. Okay, give me the years. Okay.

1936 to 1961. Wow. 25 years. So you know what? Like I'm trying to think of the goalies back then. Like Montreal had, I think George Hainsworth, Bill Dernan, Jacques Plont would have been right around the time he put on the mask. Yeah. And we're also, I'll say, we're going by teams.

And they were winning, what's that? Yeah, only six teams. And they were winning five cups in a row at the end of that. I mean, I don't know if it's right, but the logic says you got to go with Montreal. You would be right in thinking that. It's not correct in this case. However, George Hainsworth is part of the answer here. So it's Toronto.

Correct. Yeah. But the thing is, they would have George Hainsworth, Frank McCool. They would have had Turk Broda, who of course was in the Hall of Fame. So, yeah, I mean, it makes perfect sense. It's Toronto. Yeah. So Paul Thompson of Chicago scored on George Hainsworth, February of 1937.

and Toronto did not allow another one until Gordy Howe beat Johnny Bauer on a penalty shot in December of 1961. Do you know how many penalty shots they faced over the stretch of, what's that, 25 years? Let me guess it's like two. Six. Six. You would have been so mad back then going, we need more penalty shots. We need more penalty shots. Well, you know, we all know the Maple Leafs don't commit any penalties, right?

Of course. It's perfectly logical, yes. Now, most consecutive penalty shot attempts that were stopped by one team. That would be, this is the more recent, the Dallas Stars stopped 14 straight from 0304 to 2010, 2011. That's a lot of penalty shots to give up. That would be Marty Turco. Yes. Wow.

I wonder if he knows that. I just saw him. I saw him at the Dallas event. He still looks great. He still looks like he did when he played. Oh, yes. I hate people. Tan going.

Yeah. I've ever seen him there in the playoffs a couple years ago. It was like, come on. Yeah. That's a lot of penalty shots to give up, though, on the flip side, over the span of seven years. Well, Dary and Hatcher was even gone by then. You would think it would have been his prime when he was just chopping guys down and killing people. Yes.

And the longest active streak, 626 games by the Philadelphia Flyers. Really? The Rangers don't even. have the record they haven't been scored on for eight years and they're not oh that's that's amazing six hundred and twenty six straight games for philly so anyway not one that you would think about but i'm glad andy brought it up after hearing alex manchin it on the ranger broadcast last week because otherwise i can only imagine what's what's coming next what team gets the players the most angry that they suffer the most

major penalties against by a player who's mad that he got traded by them. That's right. What former players have committed the most 10 minutes conducts against, yes. Against their old teammates. That's right. We'll get there by January. I'm sure that question will come in. Very good.

Thank you, Andy. Thank you, everyone who wrote in, as always. Just the mailbags are so good to sift through each and every week. So thank you to Griffin Porter for his help with that. And as a reminder, 32 Thoughts at Sportsnet.ca if you'd like to write into the thought line or leave a voicemail at 1-833-3-3-1-321-32. We'll take one more break and wrap up this edition of 32 thoughts after this.

Okay, before we go, some programming notes for you as we head into the weekend. Hockey Central Saturday, as always, 6.30 Eastern, 3.30 Pacific. Rahm McLean Company, Chris Pronger, part of the studio this Saturday. Looking forward to hearing him again. Three early games this weekend. Another busy primetime east slot, including the All-Canadian Clash, Toronto and Montreal on SportsNet, East, Ontario, and Pacific, and CBC, as well as Hockey Night in Canada. Punjabi, Ottawa in San Jose on SportsNet 1, and the rematch of the last two Stanley Cup finals. The Edmonton Oilers are in Florida on SportsNet West 360 and City.

The late game this week, the Dallas Stars are in Calgary to face the flames. Tyler Sagan will be part of After Hours this week along with Scott Oak. On Sunday, Calgary are in Vancouver, and it's the old double regional, as it's known in the biz. So the Canucks Regional Broadcast crew can hear and watch them on Sportsnet Pacific and nationally on Sportsnet 1. And for Flames fans that want to hear their broadcasting voices, you can do so on SportsNet West. As well, as you know, this weekend is the opening weekend for the third season of the PWHL. So great to have PWHL games back on SportsNet this season, including Montreal and Boston at one eastern 10 Pacific. on Sunday, one of the great joys over my time living in Ottawa and some of the more enjoyable

atmospheres. I was a part of while living there was attending those Ottawa charge games, some of the best fans in the entire league out in the nation's capital. Let's not do anything to ruin that. I'll just say that as we wish all those teams the very best in the third season of PWHL hockey. Okay, taking us out today. Heaven for real. As a project formed around the nucleus of twins Mark and J. Scott Grundy, since 2012, the back and forth between Mark's evocative lyric-driven songwriting and Scott's musically expressive instincts has breathed a precious life into heaven for real. Their sound is most simply described as art rock,

but more accurately described as post-punk unraveled with one tug of a thread to reveal an internal pool of psych, jazz, ambient, electronica, and Britpaw. Have some upcoming shows next month, including December 3rd in Hamilton on the 5th. They're in Toronto and in Montreal on December the 6th. You can hear this track along with all the others we have featured so far this season on the 32 Thoughts, the music playlist on Spotify. Here's Heaven For Real's Unlimited Time on 32 Thoughts. Who left the guard down there? Along with our fair share

And more with that, maybe And more with that maybe Hop out the cauldron Like where's the morning after Level up in volume For a boring job to hurt Point out to feel the night Winds will find the edge of the fight

Peckles out of the lotus Dirty on me up so high Unlearned time Unlimited time Unlimited time Unlimited time Unlimited time You make me better

How better for nothing Always long for something say No now or never I'll leave me for something Take me out and put me away I'm not in a mad rush, but who am I faced with something beautiful and true? I'm not in a mad rush, but who am I face with you, face with you? Who plant the sea through to double-acre?

Fruit steep and shame are they locked in place? Hard to admit you're the rearrangeer I found myself touched by the complete stranger's grip I'm living in time I'm living in time I'm living in time I've been in time 100 times

I've been in time I've been in a mad drive I've been in a mad drive I've been in a bad ride. I've been in a mad rush. I've been in a night ride. I've been in a night ride. I don't know.