32 Thoughts: The Podcast - 32 Thoughts the Car Cast

Episode Date: April 22, 2024

Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman ring in a new season of car casts by recapping an electric come from behind victory for the Vancouver Canucks over the Nashville Predators. That makes way for an in depth look at the scoring bonanza that was Game 1 between the Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche (12:44). Jeff and Elliotte also delve into the Rangers 4-1 win over the Washington Capitals (22:08). They wrap the recap of Sunday's action with the Battle of Florida and the Panthers 3-2 win over the Lightning (25:00). Jeff and Elliotte also look back at Saturday's action beginning with the Hurricanes win over the Islanders (31:17) and then the Bruins drubbing of the Leafs in G1 (32:55). The fellas wrap the pod with a preview of Monday's slate of games. They begin with the heavyweight tilt between the Stars and Golden Knights (40:57) and then shift focus to Oilers versus Kings (47:23). Jeff highlights PWHL Montreal for setting a new attendance record at a women's professional hockey game (49:40).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailThis podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.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.

Jets fans, when they get on a goaltender, they are the most creative and they are ruthless. I still remember the first time Ryan Miller played there after the Olympics. And the chant was silver medal, which was delicious from the Winnipeg Jets fans. And pull the goalie for the chance on Sunday in Winnipeg. Okay, the playoffs are upon us. Welcome once again to 32 Thoughts, the podcast, or should I say, Elliot Friedman, 32 Thoughts, the car cast, presented by the GMC Sierra Elevation.

Merrick alongside Friedman, driving with two hands on the wheel, using his hands free, driving home after doing a hockey night in Canada. Once again, Dom Schramatti locking it down in Vancouver, where I would imagine right about now, Elliot, as we record this, he must be glowing. We talked about you shimmering coming out of the ocean. He must be just glowing and beaming. That moment where

Quinn Hughes scored and then Dakota Joshua scored and the Vancouver Canucks took the lead and then there was an empty net goal. All of a sudden, I would imagine our man Dom Tremati might be the happiest he's been all season. True or false? Well, I bet Dom's happy. And I just

want to say, Jeffff we're actually starting pre-car cast here we began while i'm changing after the show and i was topless as we began this podcast i want everyone to know that okay everybody close your eyes and just imagine as we talk about things like conor hellebuck and georg and 7-6 games that Elliott Friedman is slowly disrobing. That's what I want to talk to you about. I'm glad you mentioned 7-6 games because I know it's old. I know he's not always familiar to a new generation. But are you a Sinatra guy, Merrick?

Oh, huge. I think all men, I think I shouldn't say all men. I think most men have gone through, like of our vintage went through a Sinatra phase. I certainly did. And I still kind of get a little tinge when I hear summer wind. So yes, big Sinatra guy once upon a time.

Well, because I would say tonight that the Predators and the Avalanche in particular, they would say regrets. I have a few. If Nashville and Colorado are going to lose their series, they're going to look at game one and say, okay, this is one that we should have had, but we didn't. You know, Nashville has the lead 2-1. You knew the Canucks were going to come on in the third period, and they did.

But you're still leaving that rink tonight if you're the Predators and saying, we could and maybe should have had that one. You know, I really thought, too, that when the Canucks kind of built up their team, they have great star power. They have Hughes. They have Pet star power. They have Hughes. They have Pedersen. They have Miller. They have great – they have Demko.

They have great star players. But, you know, to win, you've got to have great goaltending. They've got it. You've got to have stars. They've got it. But you've got to have depth. You've got to have role players. And game one – it was Garland.

It was Dakota Joshua. You know, the thing that if I was a Canuck fan, I would leave this game saying, you know what? We weren't great, but our all-world goaltender was good. Our best players made big plays at key times and our depth players made huge players at key times. All the things that have to happen for you to win in the post season happened for us.

And we know we can be a lot better. And if you're the predators, you're walking out of that building saying we let that one slip away from us we had them we had a chance to steal one on the road which we have to do and darn it we lost it so let me let me um let me pull a couple of things out of this game here so first of all you mentioned thatcher demko and that save on anthony bevillier early set the tone for Demko for the entire game. He was brilliant. But the one thing I want to get your thoughts on, and you guys talked about it during the intermission.

Now, my instinct would have been, if I was Rick Talkett, to challenge goalie interference on Luke Evangelista on the Preds' second goal, the Ryan O'Reilly goal, where clearly he taps Thatcher Demko's glove, but he doesn't. Sometimes it's the things you don't do that end up saving you. Yes.

And I can't help but thinking if Talkit would have impulsively just reacted and said, hey, that's BS. He knocked our guy's glove. I'm challenging. That one's still going to an interpretation. That is not like offside. That is still what an official thinks. And there's a chance that it goes awry and you go down and you're killing a penalty and maybe they score again. And then it's a completely different game. challenge in some ways i think kept vancouver's hopes alive in this game in a weird kind of way

by just leaving it because who knows what would have happened frege how did you see it you know initially when i saw it i thought they should challenge it because i definitely think evangelista got the glove oh yeah but then when I saw where the puck was, I was thinking, now, Jeff, here's the thing. I can't remember. I know I've seen one where a team lost a challenge because the puck was behind the goalie. And they ruled that the interference came after the puck had gone behind them.

I know I've seen it. I'm kind of crowdsourcing here because I don't remember it, but I know I've seen it. Now, I think it was a smart non-call because of that. I had one person reach out to me and say there was one with Zach Hyman in Vancouver, actually, where it got turned over, where the Oilers lost a goal, even though the puck was already behind the Canuck goalie. That one was close. It was not as clear cut as this, but I think the Canucks were smart not to challenge it.

And I agree with you. I thought that was a great no-call by Talkit. And I don't know if I would say it was a turning point in the game, but I thought it was a big move not to do it. Because in the emotion of the moment, Jeff, I think you want to challenge it. And I thought that was one place where Talkit

kept a level head and didn't do it. Let me get your thoughts on Dakota Joshua you know a couple of weeks ago I on the radio show and you and I had a whack at this pinata as well together you know the idea of much like the NBA you know coming up with a most improved player award and it was a lot of Quinton Byfield and it was Thomas Harley, these types of players, Uri Slavkovsky very much in consideration there. And Dakota Joshua has to be one of those players that you'd look at. I don't think he would win it, but he would be in the conversation for most improved player of the season.

The goal to put them ahead, the empty net goal. He's had a wonderful season, Physically involved all three periods. You have a thought on Dakota Joshua here? Well, I thought he was great. And I'm really happy for him, Jeff, because I agree with you. He's a player who's come a long way. And he's a player who I think has shown that he's got a lot of value where in the past, maybe people wouldn't have thought that he had this much value.

I think the most interesting thing about the canucks after the season and patrick alveen was on uh 650 before the game tonight and he said all decisions uh about um all decisions have been tabled for now we're not doing any contract negotiations. That's right. And that's normal. I don't think that's unusual. But the thing that I'm trying to figure out here is the Canucks' number one priority is Roenick. And I think that's because he's a defenseman

and he's got the biggest number that you're going to have to sign anyone to and you kind of have to figure that one out first. But then Jeff, who's number two? You know, you've got Joshua, you've got

Bluger, who's a very good part of who they are. Then I'm trying to figure out what's the next. Yeah, Lindholm. I don't think that one's going to continue. I think they're going to move on, but I think you could make a really good argument.

Josh was the number two. And if he's going to play like this in the postseason, Jeff, that price isn't going down. Two more things here about the Vancouver Canucks and their opening night win against the Nashville Predators. We made a lot about what happened after the Nashville Predators got pasted by the Dallas Stars,

most notably the canceled trip to Vegas to go see U2 at the Sphere. Yeah. And then Vancouver comes out to where the streets have no name, which is just such a great open. It's just a fantastic way to start a game. Vancouver has the best open. It's so good. And they have the best goal song.

Yes, that is true. Simple Minds, love it. That's a troll, right? You know, I had some interesting reaction to that. Uh, you know, it's, I had some interesting reaction to that. Um, I think it probably depends on if you're, if you're a Vancouver person, you're like, no, that brings back great memories of 2011, but you heard the exes say he got chills listening to it. If you're a pro predator, you're sitting there going wait a sec that's a

troll they're trolling us that was awesome but you know i i think i you know it's interesting like i tried to ask some people who were kind of not linked to either side there were some pretty interesting reactions um you know put it this way um like I said on the air in 2011, when they beat the Blackhawks, they wanted to play Chelsea Dagger and some others talked them out of it. They said, we're not doing that. Now, I think a lot of those people are no longer there. But Jeff, some of them are. Some of them are. It's great. It's a happy coincidence. Yes, it works on a lot of different levels. But that was the first of all. It was the second thing that I thought of.

The first thing was, this is an awesome song. Second thing I thought of is like, oh, man, what a shot at the Preds. One final thing. The Elias Pettersson interview. I thought it was interesting how he copped to the fact that this was a little bit more than Nylander by design, by competitive design. I found that pretty interesting. What did you tell him? I mean, you were there.

You spoke to him. What did you take away from the piece? I think he's very excited about being in Vancouver. And I think he's very excited to be there for a playoff run and not in the bubble which is the only time he's been in the playoffs but I really was really impressed he admitted to that because other people told me it was true and he didn't run away from it I loved it I I think it's I think it shows his confidence and how much he believes in himself. I think the other thing that really stood out for me is that with 2020 hindsight, all he needed was to see the kind of success that he saw this year. And there would have never been any doubt he would have been at Canuck.

That's what I really believe. He thought he was going to be at Canuck. That's what I really believe. He thought he was going to be at Canuck, and it was what he wanted, but he just needed reason to believe, and they finally gave it to him. Nice piece, nice interview, fun game. Certainly, if you're a Vancouver Canucks fan, the Canucks draw first blood. In this one, they take a 1-0 series lead. Now, This one, they take a 1-0 series lead. Now, I'm going to start off with a quote from a hockey player from the Colorado Avalanche postgame after losing 7-6 to the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre.

Unfortunately, all the mistakes we made ended up in the back of our nets. That's Kale McCarr. Jared Bednar, head coach of the colorado avalanche said something similar more identical than not to which i ask and there's a lot to pull out of this game do the avalanche have a georgia problem there's no question they have a gorgia problem um you know there's always surprises and the surprise wasn't your year starting the surprise was a noon was not available like they didn't have they there was no way jeff that they could have pulled they weren't putting arvid holm in that situation no so they were unless in that situation no so they were unless georgiev got hurt and nobody wants to see that he was finishing that game he was going one to 60 or 60 plus if we had gotten to overtime and you know

the thing is internally you're sitting there if you're the avalanche and you're saying we scored six times on conor hellebuck and not only six times but if you go back before they score on the first one which was a beautiful shot by Nachushkin oh like he looked dialed in Hellebuck started that game great Winnipeg was on their heels and Hellebuck bailed them out like he didn't have a great night by his standards, but I thought if you really look at the first 5 to 10 minutes of that game, he saved Winnipeg at that part. I'll tell you, it's weird. He gave up six goals, three in the first, three in the third,

but I still feel like that was a good game by Connor Hellebuck. 40 saves. Again, it's not how many, but it's when you make them and how you make them and how you make them Etc I didn't come away from that one going man hella Buckley stunk the joint out a lot surrendered six I am saying that about georgiev with the seven I I kind of looked at that one still and thought that was a good game by hella buck I really did I I wouldn't disagree but you you know the way the elite think.

We scored six. We should have won. Yeah, no, I get it. Now, Anunan was sick. So to me, the only question right now is, is he going to be healthy enough to play game two? Because if he's sick to the point where you think he's weak, you have no choice but to go back with

your give but if he's healthy enough to play and they'll probably know more tomorrow the thing is here is that bednar bednar gave the guy a week off to reset like we're seeing this more with goalies now that's what toronto did to save Samsonov during the season. And teams told me that they thought that was so successful that they might start trying that with some of their guys. I think if Edmonton could do it over again with Jack Campbell, they would have done what Toronto did with Samsonov as opposed to sending him to the American Hockey League. But here you go. Colorado gives Georgieva a reset in the last week of the regular season. He doesn't play. He can work on his game. He can refresh himself mentally. And that's what you get game one. And the thing is, at this time of year, you really can't afford to be nice. This is results matter. salts matter. And I got to think that if a union is healthy enough to play in game two,

you can't go down to nothing to Winnipeg like that. So I got to think they're going to put a man, but you know, I've been wrong before. Did you hear the chants in Winnipeg at Canada Life Center towards Georgiev? Oh yeah. But that that's, that's the fans. That's fire. Jets fans are when they get on a goaltender, they are the most creative and they are ruthless. I still remember the first time Ryan Miller played there after the Olympics, and the chant was silver medal, which was delicious from the Winnipeg Jets fans, and pull the goalie for the ch chance on Sunday in Winnipeg.

Okay. So a couple of things here. It seemed as if early in the game and it settled down much to Winnipeg's benefit here, but did it not seem to you at the Winnipeg Jets started this game by just trying to just trying to massacre everything that moved like they just went out of their way just to try to hit everything. And it was like every single shift, it's like, you know there's a game here, right, guys?

I understand the physicality, but don't let the game wash away while you're trying to destroy everything and throw everyone into the season ticket holders' laps. The same thing happened in Toronto, and I know we'll talk about them, but I think that's more winnipeg's identity like i i have to say like to me the most impactful player skater on the ice was lowry i thought he had his great game and that's very much him like you remember last year winnipeg came home from the vegas series the first two games, they were tied 1-1.

And on the first shift of game three, Lowry went after Mark Stone and Keegan Colasar came off the bench and made a beeline right for Lowry. And I thought that was a huge moment for Vegas and one of the points where they really took control of the series. You know, Lowry tonight, he was in control and he was not to be denied. And in the postgame, you know, Scott Oak asked him about outscoring McKinnon and he downplayed it, which is smart because he's got to deal with McKinnon for three to six more games.

So you don't want to wave the red cape in front of the bull but I just thought that uh Lowry was under control and he was himself and there were a lot of players that really showed up in this game the one thing that really surprised me is how many of these goals occurred after like bad giveaways or bad mistakes around your own goal line i would think that in game two a lot of that's gonna clean up i think a lot of the mistakes that led to goals they're gonna go away um one thing um and we have a new star on the hockey night in canada panel and that's jake and i can um thankfully he's leaving jeff because we can't let people get so good that they threaten the rest of our jobs well i mean derrick lalone almost took everyone's

job last year jake allen's threatening threatening to take everybody's job this year but it was because last year with the loan like um some wonderful television last year on hockey night when he talked about andre vasilevsky and shots from the point and having a hard time locating them and how they had to change things you know to make things easier for vasilevsky like that was really compelling stuff you know i don't know that tampa's ever forgiven him for saying that but nonetheless it was great television and jake allen on sunday night you know know, presented something that's really fascinating. The triangle. And giving everybody the triangle. That area between the right skate and the heel of the stick. Call it the triangle.

That's what they're shooting for. They're not shooting five hole. That's the spot they're shooting for. Which, listen, I'm not surprised that Allen is doing great. I mean, last year when we interviewed him and we spent an hour of his time and it could have been two or three or four and it was like we had just all gone to goalie class. So I'm not surprised at all, but he's been great.

I don't know if you have a thought or two on working with Jake. Oh, by the way, was that you that helped on-ramp the Jake Allen presence on Hockey Night? It seems like a very Elliott Friedman encouraging move. No, I think that honestly

Allen had gained some fans at our place from that interview. I think some of the producers had bookmarked it and they had asked about it just a couple of weeks ago. So I think it was more his own intelligence

as opposed to mine i would definitely not credit my intelligence for anything you know i just think that he's really smart and um you know i i think on saturday night he talked about how swayman was prepared for one of toronto's pet plays and he's got a good head for the game like at the at the beginning you know you know he's worried about okay do i have to look at the camera? What do I, you know, and you just tell them, just talk and we'll figure that out. And obviously he got more and more comfortable

and he has to go home so he won't be back Monday night. But we told him, you know, if you want to come back at all in the playoffs, you're more than welcome. So hopefully we'll see him again. I thought he did a great job. Fingers crossed because he was excellent. So that was Sunday evening. Now there were other games before that, and let's get to those here now,

and we'll get to the games on Saturday as well. Sticking very much with the theme of all home teams win so far. Home teams are 6-0 so far. So also on Sunday, we saw the Rangers take care of the Washington Capitals 4-1. Matt Rempe scoring the first goal for the New York Rangers. And then later on, he was challenged by Dylan McElrath. No surprise there. Igor Shcherkin was fantastic.

And for the first time since May of 2018, Alexander Ovechkin was held shotless in a playoff game. Yeah, that was a bit surprising to me. You know, first of all, when Rampey got that penalty early in the game, my first reaction was like, you know, I don't know if they're going to be able to play him. But I give him credit. He settled.

And he scored. That was a huge goal and a huge moment. Like, you know, he's the king of New York right now. They've got all these great players on this team. Shosturkin on down. And Panarin, who had a really rough playoff last year, he scored right away. Another great omen. But right now, the king there is Rempe.

He drives the bus in that building. He creates the energy in that building. And I actually think that was one of the biggest things that happened for him because if New York's sitting there and Laviolette's sitting there and saying, uh-oh, this guy can't play because he's a marked man, we might not see him again. But, you know, he found his way. sitting there and saying, uh-oh, this guy can't play because he's a marked man, we might not see him again. But, you know, he found his way.

You know, for me with Washington, it almost kind of, and especially with Ovechkin, as you mentioned, no shots, it almost kind of reminded me of the way they started the season. Just looking out of sorts, trying to figure out their way. And I kind of thought that for a little bit of that game. They just seemed, once the Rangers really started to go, I thought the Capitals had a tough time with them. And again, it's early. And, you know, the Capitals are definitely going to use this whole

nobody believes we can win and everybody's counting us out thing like all sports teams do but i just thought that you know the the team that kind of and the team that kind of scrapped its way i i think they kind of i don't know if i want to say lost it but I didn't see that same urgency I saw late in the season for them There are some teams sometimes that making it to the playoffs is their Stanley Cup and again it's only game one

but it felt like that to me coming off of game one the Rangers draw first blood there Tampa and the Florida Panthers I mean this was the one that a lot of people had. Okay, this is the game. Matthew Kachuk, one goal, one assist. Carter Verhage with the game-winning goal.

But did it not seem like every time Barkov was out there, he tilted the rink? Like the rink tilted every time Barkov was out there. That was a command performance by, you know, someone who's most likely going to win the Selkie Trophy here. I thought it was. First of all, I thought it was a great game. I thought the arena was bonkers.

I thought Tampa counterpunched really well. Like, I think if there was one thing I got reminded of in that game, it's that the Lightning, for everything that's happened to them, they still have a big heart, right? And there were times in that game, especially when Reinhardt scored relatively early, especially when, you know, Florida scored a big power play goal on a call that happened to Nick Paul that I wasn't really crazy about. You know, even when they scored the empty netter,

Tampa still scored again. I think they reminded everybody that if they go out, they're not going out easily. But I'm with you on Barkov. You know, as I watched the game, Jeff, you know, this year was a really hard, hard vote. And, you know, there's the guys who were kind of in my conversation for the Hart Trophy. Like all of them could go to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Kucherov is going to be Kucherov is going to the Hall of Fame someday. Matthews is going to the Hall of Fame someday. McDavid is going to the Hall of Fame one day. McKinnon is going to the Hall of Fame someday. McDavid is going to the Hall of Fame one day. McKinnon is going to the Hall of Fame one day. And I think Panarin is going to be a guy who's going to be in that conversation. But I was sitting there watching Barkov and, you know, you know, Kachuk especially takes up a lot of the oxygen there because he's such a face of the league kind of guy. But I was sitting there wondering, like, do you think Barkov could win a Hart Trophy someday? I think it's going to sound weird, but I think it's going to take the Florida Panthers winning a Stanley Cup

and maybe him winning a Kahn-Smythe Trophy to get him more in that conversation. You know, I don't think you're necessarily wrong and that's probably not a good need something for us as voters need something big to happen to him here yes you know like like i'm watching him and do you remember a year ago at this time we talked about how he had to develop the killer instinct. Yes. And then he developed the killer instinct. Like, he's a nice guy. And sometimes nice people, you have to understand that when you go out on your football field or your soccer pitch or your hockey rink, and you have to become, you're almost playing a character. You have to drop the nice guy and say, well, I'm here. And while the clock's running or the game's on, I have to become, you're almost playing a character. You have to drop the nice guy and say, while I'm here and while the clock's running or the game's on,

I have to be a prick. And I thought last year Barkov developed that. And I just like, I'm watching him on Sunday and I'm like, this guy, this guy is so good that maybe in almost any other era, people might think about him that way. I mean, not the Gretzky-Lemieux era. That was something else. But if he's in the league 10 years before he gets there,

I'll give you a better example. If he's in the league before the Crosby-Ovechkin era with Malkin really started, like in that post-Sackick kind of window there, I wonder if he wins one. And you're right. He probably doesn't because this era has some absolute studs but he's becoming one of the best players in the league we always talk about players that other

players want to watch nikita kucherov is one of those guys he also has incredible counting stats that captures everyone's imagination and captures everyone's attention so you can't help but seeing him at the top of lists because you know here he is again he's going to win the art ross trophy oh he won these art ross trophy he's always going to be in the conversation because his name is there barkoff doesn't have that and also i think for for barkoff well the flor Florida Panthers now are gathering attention around the NHL, the likes of which, you know, they haven't had, you know, going back to when Doug McLean took them to their first Stanley Cup. It's kind of been a quiet market. And it's really hard. It's always been

really hard to get attention. I mean, how many times have we heard he's the best kept secret in the NHL? He's the most underrated player in the nhl underrated because i mean the game is the game barkoff is barkoff it's just that market didn't get a ton of attention but as far as skill goes absolutely he should be in the heart conversation and he for a lot of people he has been considered one of the best players in the NHL. And by definition, the Hart Trophy most valuable to his team for years and years and years. I just think it's going to take something as big as his team winning the Cup, him winning the Kahn-Smythe, to get more people to notice him. Because he's never going to have the 140-point season.

That's just not him. He's a different kind of brilliance. Same way that Patrice Bergeron wasn't winning the Hart Trophy, but lock him in for Selkies as long as he was going to play. That's Markov. That's fair. Now, before we just wrap up this game, I misspoke on Saturday night.

Sergeyev. I said maybe a week week i meant to say a series i i don't but the one thing is at this time of year everybody lies but when it comes to injuries so i think we have to be prepared for anything here but i i don't think i i would say he's still probably two to three weeks away, which is likely second round if they come back and win this series. Okay. So to the pair of games on Saturday,

and I want to finish up with the Boston-Toronto game. Let's do the Islanders and the Carolina Hurricanes. Would you agree with me if I said the Islanders played a really good road game, but it wasn't enough? Would you agree with that? Yes. I thought they were good. I thought they a really good road game, but it wasn't enough. Would you agree with that? Yes, I thought they were good. I thought they were really good. I thought they fought hard.

I thought they battled. You know, like I could see four times in this series the Islanders losing that kind of game. Like it's not impossible to picture where they they play really hard but carolina is just a little bit better um you know i i understand i'll tell you i'm very curious to see the way game two is officiated because the islanders screamed about diving and a couple of them certainly looked like it um and i i am curious to see as you know after every game the series supervisor will go to the teams and say okay is there anything

you really have a concern about here and you know what the islanders are going to be telling them so i am curious to see if the the either the hurricanes get embellishment calls or they don't get calls because of some of the stuff that happened in game number one. But, look, I just think that it's – look, Carolina, the standings prove it. They're a little bit better than New York. And these two teams, they both play hard. I just wouldn't be surprised if we see that kind of series where the Islanders give a real battle, but Carolina's just a little bit better.

The Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins. We'll finish up the games here. 5-1 is the final score. Jake DeBrusque with a pair of goals. He was excellent. John Beecher scores on the first shot of the game the Leafs outplayed in this one, Jeremy Swayman

was fantastic, flat out, full stop 35 saves, he was excellent, as the game went on Boston became more and more physical Patrick Maroon bouncing Timothy Lilligren into the bench

Samsonov with a tough one, 4 goals on 23 shots Patrick Maroon, you know, bouncing Timothy Lilligren into the bench. Samsonoff with a tough one, four goals on 23 shots. No William Nylander in this one. Questionable for game two, but did skate on Sunday. How did you see the game, Elliot? This is, you know, I can't help but thinking for Maple Leafs fans. Let me ask you a question first. Okay. Before we go to how to, if you're the Bruins, who's playing in that game?

Swayman. Swayman. Swayman is playing. Swayman is playing in game two. This is what I would do. Now, I'm not running the Bruins, which is probably a very good thing for the Bruins. But I'm not running the Bruins. But if I was doing anything, if I was in charge, I'd say Jeremy Swinman's playing in game two

and Allmark is playing in game three no matter what. That's what I would be doing. And last year, they got trapped because they went with Allmark until the end of the series. And I think they are determined not to let that happen again. So what I would do is, if I was in charge, it would be Swayman because he was so good in game two, but I would tell everybody that Allmark's playing game three internally.

You don't have to say it publicly. So that's what I would do. The game itself, I thought Toronto was too wired um they made some mistakes because they were too wired you can fix that you know max told me to put out that great instagram video to baba o'reilly uh the day before the game and i just think that he was over the moon kind of affected some of his decision makingmaking. But you can fix that. You know, the Nylander thing, I think that affected them. I do.

Look, you get used to injuries. Players are not there. But this Nylander thing, Jeff, it's weird. And here's why it's weird. Nylander, and I said he has not missed a game in eight years. I forgot about COVID. But he has missed one game due to injury in eight years. And the other thing too is, the thing that's weird about it for me is toronto was what was resting guys who were hurt late in the year they did not care about where they finished they were saying we are starting guys healthy yeah domey rested edmondson rested you know even riley got games off they they so

like if i don't see any chance that if they would have known anything was wrong with Nylander that he would have played because he says, oh, I'm going for 100 points. I just don't see that. Like, you heard what Keith said after the game in Florida before the last night of the season. I only have, what, 12 healthy forwards? There's no way that they're letting Nylander play

if they think anything's wrong with him. So something's bothering him after the Tampa game, and then he's not playing. And I think it threw them a bit. And, you know, Nylander, he's a lightning rod. There are people who love him. There are people who hate him. Nylander, he's a lightning rod.

There are people who love him. There are people who hate him. But there's no question to get through that neutral zone corn maze that the Bruins throw up there. He's one of the best they have at it. And I think it really screwed around with them. Now, I have heard that he's more likely to play in game two than he was in game one. We'll see what happens on Monday night. But this is weird.

To me, this whole thing is weird, and I just am curious to see where it all plays out. I have theories, but I just don't believe at this time of year you should guess on injuries unless you absolutely 1 billion percent know what they are. We'll see what happens in game two. Maybe we'll have to bust out some of these theories. One thing I do want to mention, as far as scheduling for podcasts goes, we are doing three per week. Two of them will have the Montana's Thought Line as a feature on it. today is not the montana's thought line day that's coming up on wednesday and friday drop this week so stay tuned for that before we get to the break can i just say a couple more things about boston just for

a second though jeff um i think they reminded everybody that they're a really mature and calm team they always kept their wits about them. You know, obviously, Domi tried to get under Marchand's skin at the beginning of the game. You know, in the regular season, or if that's a blowout, maybe Marchand engages. He sent a message that this was too big and wasn't going to do it. And I have to say the other thing is, one of the players this year, you talked at the beginning

about Dakota Joshua being one of the most improved players of the players this year you talked at the beginning about dakota joshua being one of the most improved players in the league this year i think this season has also been a big coming out party for charlie coyle and i thought he was phenomenal in game one yeah more more responsibility higher up in the lineup we used to always just say you know really great third line center uh no he can play higher up and on one of the best teams in the NHL. I'm with you on Charlie Coyle. He fits. Maybe it's just the obvious thing,

but he looks like he was poured into the Bruins jersey. One more thing before we do go to break and come back and we'll have a little look at the Monday games here. Decision time's on the horizon for the San Jose Sharks on head coach, David Quinn on his assistants, Scott Gordon, Ryan Worsofsky,

Brian Wiseman, et cetera. Where's San Jose at right now at their bench? I think San Jose caught some people a little bit by surprise in the sense that when Mike Greer met with the media on Saturday, he said he still had to make a decision on the head coach. I think some people were expecting he would have made the decision by the end of the season, whether they were doing it or not doing it. But what that says to me is we have to be focused on the Sharks

over the next couple of days to see what their choice is, which way they are going here. So I was a little bit surprised. I thought that maybe this was one thing they would have decided and announced one way or the other. You know, it was a tough year there, a really hard year there. I don't think you can look at the coach and say anybody could have done any better. No, no way. But obviously San Jose has some decisions to make here. They do. And I don't know, though, I want to pin anything here on David Quinn myself. We'll see which direction my career goes.

OK, the direction we're going right now is quick break. We're back to talk about the Monday slate of games. This is 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Back in a moment. Listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Welcome back to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra Elevation. All right, wrapping up here with the Monday slate of games. Elliot, we've talked about Toronto-Boston game two tonight,

and the big question, well, I guess there's two. One, who's playing net for the Bruins, and then the big one for the Maple Leafs is William Nylander in. We'll stand by for that one. The Islanders and the Carolina Hurricanes, game two. We'll see what happens there. As we mentioned, that was a really

good road game by the Islanders. Red line to red line. They were really good. The problem is they couldn't take that round black puck and put it over the red line more times in Carolina. The two other series are whoppers. Not going to lie. On the ice, off the ice, the drama, the intrigue, the outrage about the salary cap. The Vegas Golden Knights and the Dallas Stars. Game one.

Mark Stone, question mark, as we record this. Alex Petrangelo, question mark, as we record this. The Dallas Stars, I personally think there's a lot riding in this organization on this playoff series. That this is one that Dallas needs to get by, agree or disagree. Like there's a lot. This is a very demanding owner. We know that. They've had a lot of successful regular seasons.

They need to get by. They cannot go out in the first round. Problem is, they're facing off against the defending Stanley Cup champions. Mark Stone might be back. Ditto Petrangelo. Yeah, I mean, it's a massive series it's you know last year this matchup had happened two rounds later yep um and the other thing too is is that like petrangelo i had a feeling he was coming back um, like at this time of year, I don't like to guess. I really don't. But I did

hear that it was likely something like an appendectomy. And I'd said on the pod that I believed he was going to, that it was not serious and he was going to play. Like the stolen one, I just didn't have any idea, right? Because it's an injury that you just don't know. You know, I read some of Kelly McCrimmon's quotes to Jesse Granger in The Athletic about how this is a legitimate injury and the league monitors it. And he's right about all that stuff. But it just doesn't matter. People have an opinion. And a lot of people hate it.

And, you know, Vegas doesn't need to apologize for it. But I think they also have to recognize that a lot of other teams just hate it. I don't think they care. Hang on, pause. I don't think they care. I do. I do. You think that Kelly McCrimmon stays up and I say, oh, I don't want to offend these other teams.

I think he's bothered by the, I really do believe it bothers him that people think they're cheating. I do. I think it does bother them. Now, like Bill Foley, the owner, I don't think he cares. I think he loves to win. And, you know, I think he's like, look, like, we're allowed to do this. And I think Kelly McCrimmon feels like we're allowed to do this.

And he points out the league monitors these things. But the fact is that, you know, just because it's happened a few times, you know, people aren't rational. They're like, again, these guys won again. And like I said on the last podcast and like I wrote, this is now like none of us can do anything about this. None of us can do anything about this. This is up to the players, the league, and the teams to decide, do they want to change it in two years? Like we can all scream and yell and bray at the league, and the teams to decide, do they want to change it in two years? Like,

we can all scream and yell and bray at the moon, but we're going to find out how everybody really feels about this in two years in the next CBA. I think it does bother McCrimmon that, you know, people call the Knights cheaters, and they're not cheaters, not at all. But there's no question everybody else is frustrated by this. I think the series is going to be incredible. Like I said, I think 1-20, now that Ottinger's going, Dallas is the best team in the league. But Vegas is a great team.

Although one thing a few people have pointed out to me, Jeff, their underlying numbers this year were not as good. Now, that can always change. They've got great players. They know how to win. I think this series is going to be incredible. I think this series is going to be incredible. And I just think that people out there are going to be rooting for Dallas.

And we'll see. I think it's going to be seven incredible games. I think it's going to be a great series. Listen, I hope considering what we saw on Sunday, that Winnipeg, Colorado is seven games. I hope looking at this one, I hope is seven games. And considering how nasty it gets between these next two teams, Elliot, I hope that Edmonton and LA goes seven games.

It doesn't take much for these two teams to bring the hate out. It'll probably happen early in this one. Sports hernia for Evander Kane. That's what he's been skating through. I have to tell you, Jeff, there were a number of people who said to me they were very surprised about how he came out with that. Because this kind of year, we use the diagonal rule. Oh, I've got a broken toe yeah upper shoulder that's my injury and he just came right out and admitted it so it was it surprised some people it really

did yeah uh how do you see this one we previewed it last podcast but now here we are like okay remember when we were in edmonton it was all about cup or bust cup or bust well later on today begins cup or bust well i think number one is you know both teams both teams start with with fans doubting their goalies right yes you know skin steward skinner is a talented guy he's had a he's had a bit of an up and down year. Cam Talbot, everybody knows what he is. And he started off this year like a house on fire. I think everybody's looking at this series and saying, who's going to get the better goaltending?

Which is, of course, the biggest question. LA is an elite defensive team. Elite defensive team. One of the best in the league. However, you cannot shut down these guys. They are going to score on you because of who they are. And I just think, Jeff, my biggest worry for L.A. is they are going to need somebody, whether it's Fiala or it's Kempe or someone else. They're going to need somebody, whether it's Fiala or it's Kempe or someone else, they're

going to need that. They're going to have to have somebody in this series for LA is going to have to average a goal a game. And maybe two guys to win this series. And that's going to be hard for them. It's going to be tough. And we talked about

how much LA was thought they had it down the middle with Kopitar and Deneau. And then the always controversial Pierre-Luc Dubois. Well, hey, look who scored for Vancouver tonight. Dakota Joshua. No, no, no. Who had a nightmare season and scored for Vancouver tonight? Elias Lindholm.

Okay. It wasn't a great goal. Saros would want it back, but we always say you can rewrite your story in the playoffs. If I am Jim Hiller, I am showing him that goal by Elias Lindholm. And I am saying, if he could do that,

why can't you? You can do the same. Enjoy it tonight. Four games on the go around the NHL. And man, the lates look good. Vegas, Dallas,

Los Angeles, and Edmonton. One final note that I wanted to make sure we got on the podcast before we signed off. Congratulations to PWHL Montreal, setting a new women's attendance record. Great, great ovation for Poulin.

Beautiful. So 21,105 people at the Bell Center on Saturday, breaking the old record, which was set about five minutes before, in a Montreal-Toronto game as well, just over 19,000 there. And you're right about Marie Philippe Poulin. Honestly, Fridge,

watching her stand there and bask in the glow of 21,000 people going crazy for i honestly i thought she was going to break down didn't you didn't you see it in in poland and it's funny too if you read the comments and listen to some of the quotes from some of the players after they never thought that they would be in an arena that full and an arena that packed. And it was funny. I'll tell you the one thing that I thought of. Montrealers love their athletes.

They love their own. And Marie-Philippe Poulin is very much one of their own. And you saw that outpouring of emotion. I remember going to a George St-Pierre fight at the Bell Center. And I thought I'd heard the Bell Center loud before. It was nothing. This would have been St. Pierre versus Diaz. And the ovation was insane. They love George St. Pierre there, and

they love Marie-Philippe Poulin there. And you saw it. And it was a fun game. It was 2-2. Goes into overtime. Sarah Nurse early with the overtime winner. Toronto captures a playoff spot, the first to secure one in the PWHL. Just the whole thing was fantastic.

And I'm with you, Frej. To me, the highlight of the whole thing was the ovation, the thank you for Marie-Philippe Poulin. Just a great afternoon at the Bell Centre. You know, Jeff, I don't like to say men's sports and women's sports. To me me, it's just sports. Like it's people playing sports. But women's sports are having a moment. You know, that Caitlin Clark. Oh, yeah. Just, you know, the numbers on the women's basketball tournament. And now, you know, for example, at the WNBA, like they're moving to bigger arenas when she comes in to play for Indiana. So, look, like I said, to me it's just sports. Sports is sports. I love competition.

I love watching the best. But, you know, I've said this before. I grew up with four sisters. I was born in 1970. We're all about the same age. And when we were kids, they were not encouraged to play sports. The world is a different place now. And we're all better off for it.

It's awesome. We are. And that was tremendous to see. Congratulations to everyone involved. And congratulations to the league. That's another benchmark for them. We'll see if they break that record with an outdoor game. We'll see if they ever get there. I'm sure they will

one day. Okay, that's it. The first Carcast is in the books. Again, we'll be doing three podcasts per week, most of them Carcasts. Enjoy. The first weekend of the Stanley Cup playoffs is over. Catch your breath. Here comes a week's worth of action. Have a great week.

We'll talk to you again Wednesday morning.