32 Thoughts: The Podcast - A Key Change in Music City

Episode Date: February 3, 2026

In this episode of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman react to Barry Trotz stepping down in Nashville while remaining with the organization through the end of the season, and examine what comes next for the Predators’ front office. They dig into Robert Thomas trade-market chatter (29:00), Florida’s ability to maneuver its way into a potential Artemi Panarin deal, (30:30) teams checking in on Nazem Kadri (39:20), and why Ottawa could be poised to make a push if their goaltending holds up (44:50). The guys also discuss Buffalo’s reluctance to weaken its roster (46:40), Connor McDavid’s Players’ Tribune piece (49:40), the growing Matvei Michkov situation in Philadelphia (60:00), and the Stadium Series success in Tampa Bay, along with ideas to rethink the Winter Classic schedule (1:05:50). The Final Thought looks ahead as the fellas prepare to head to Milan for the Olympics (1:13:40).Kyle and Elliotte answer crowd questions in the Thoughtline (1:20:54). Today we highlight Southern Ontario musician Julianna Riolino and her song On A Bluebird's Wing. Check out her music here.Listen to all the 32 Thoughts music 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

First of all, I cannot believe Amber admitted that he was the one who bet me. He is normally the biggest chicken alive. The biggest chicken alive. Don't say it. Don't say my name. I don't want my journalistic integrity to be ruined. Okay. There are 10 points out.

Say my name now. Say my name. Yes. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the Toyota BZ. Go All Electric at a winter ready Toyota. Toyota BZ at your local dealers today. Producer Dom Elliott, Kyle, back with you.

Oh, hold on a sec. What are you talking about? First episode with a new sponsor. We're dropping this a day late. It's Tuesday morning. Normally we come out on Mondays. What is the big idea? Don't worry.

We will get to all of that and the reasoning behind it in just a moment. But first, we should say we are delighted and appreciative to have Toyota on board as a new title sponsor of 32 Thoughts, the podcast, Elliot. I drove a Toyota for 25 years. Thrilled to have them on board and I can speak very highly

of the quality of their vehicles, very highly. Excellent. So looking forward to having them and part of things as we move forward here. And yes, Welcome aboard. What's going on? Welcome aboard.

So what happened here? I mean, it's Tuesday. We got a lot of DMs, a lot of tweets. Where were you on Monday morning? I understand, but there is method to the madness here. We were not being lazy. Well, I wasn't. I can't speak for Kyle and Dom, but I was not being lazy.

Dom and I was still in Vancouver Sunday night. We tied one off after we. It was a green light night, not having to record Sunday. Green light. So I called Kyle and I called Dom on Sunday night while we were preparing to record the pod about half an hour before. And I said, guys, we're holding it. We're not doing it tonight. And it was at that time I started to get wind of something with Barry Trots, the GM of the Predators.

And I just didn't want to send out a pod that I knew would be obsolete very early. and you know sometimes you can't control things you put your pod together and something happens and it's ruined like all of the information is dated particularly those who live in the western time zones and there's nothing you can do about it you throw your hands up in frustrations but you say this is out of my control but i i knew on sunday night that there was a chance that something could happen monday morning with draughts and i just said you know what guys we're we're going to hold this till Tuesday. I just didn't want to send out something that was going to be outdated and obsolete so

quickly. So that's why you're getting it on Tuesday. And I guess we should say at this time, Kyle, we're going to do our regular pod on Friday. Well, I am, but you're not. And then during the Olympics, we're going to do one Olympic preview sometime beforehand. And then we're going to do our quickie pods right after Cam. or days where Canada plays. So that's our schedule for the Olympics. And then depending on what

happens, quarterfinal day, semi-final day, gold medal preview, gold medal game. That's, that's our goal. We're treating it like it's the playoffs. So there'll be quickie pods and dealing with news as it happens on days of games. Bingo. Yes. I can't believe it's practically here, but it's practically here. Starting a little over a week from now. It does the men's tournament and we're just days away from the opening ceremonies in Milan.

So, okay. And the women's tournament too. Yes, starting getting in their way. Yeah. So why don't we start there with trots then? Okay? Because as we learned on Monday morning, he is on his way towards retirement

and stepping down as general manager of the predators. He's not doing that right now. He's still staying on. He's going to be part of the search to find His successor, as Bill Haslam said to the press conference on Monday, he is our general manager. I mean, I got to be honest, when he first took the job there in Nashville, I never really got the sense that this was a guy that saw himself as, okay, for the next 15 years,

I want to be working in an NHL front office. But for a guy that was under contract till the end of the 26, 27 season, how do we get to this point here, just as the calendar flips to February in 2020? that the process begins defining a successor. So, Kyle, I started to hear some rumors on Sunday night as mentioned that something was going on. And I'll say this about Barry Trots. The people who know him are very loyal to him and for good reason. He's a great human being, a great human being.

And one of the things that it was very clear that was very important to Nashville, the organization, was that Trots, his personal legacy, be protected at all costs. And one of the things that Barry Trots wanted to do was, so the Predators called meetings on for Monday morning, one for their assistant GM, one for their coaching staff and one for the players. And when that happens, it's unusual, right? And things started to kind of seep out that something was up and Trott stepping down was going to be what it was. But he wanted to tell them face to face. And the national people who love Barry Trots

wanted to protect him. It just shows the level of respect he's got. He's, you know, regardless of what you think about the job he's done as GM, and every GM has their good moves and their bad moves, it doesn't change Trots' legacy in any way as a human. And if you watch that game and we'll get to what happened in that game, but they did a tribute to him early and he got a huge ovation. and if you watched any of the media conference or the scrums afterwards,

you see how emotional he got when discussing his family. And that's legit. That was a very big part of Trots' decision. I don't want to get into it. It's public. You can find it. His son, my son. I get it.

He's 63. His son is 25. It's time for him. and them to be together and that family to do some other things together. It resonates totally with me and nothing more needs to be said. As part of this, so Bill Haslam has, when it first got announced that he was buying the predators, he did it in stages. He paid an amount, he got a percentage.

He paid another amount, he got another percentage. He paid another amount, and suddenly he had controlling interest. of the team. And the thing I really heard on Monday was that Bill Haslam, and you have to understand, his family understands sports ownership. His brother, Jimmy, owns the Cleveland Browns and the Columbus crew of MLS who won a championship a couple of years ago. So maybe he's not in there all the time, but his family understands sports ownership. And he has been asking questions, meeting with people, listening. What don't I know about the NHL and I need to know?

How does this league work? What are the things that are same as the other sports? What are things that are different about the other sports? And he's been asking a lot of questions and listening to a lot of answers. At the Board of Governors meeting, in Colorado he was there, and I was introduced to him, and he said, look, no interviews. I'm not ready. He was more than happy to say hi and do a little bit of talking.

But he said, look, I'm not going to say anything until I'm ready to say anything. And I think it was also very important. Like if you listen to him in that media conference, but the local media in Nashville, he was pretty honest with them. He wasn't hiding much. He was telling them what he thought, what he was thinking. So, Kyle, at some point in December, the two of them sat down. and I think that, and I want to be very careful about the word I use here, Kyle, because I know if I say the wrong word, it's going to be a problem with someone. So please understand what I'm trying to say here and don't mix up the language or don't get fixated on the language.

It's either, quote, modernize, upgrade, update, whatever word you wanted to use. There were some things he wanted to do. And I think between with that and talking with Trots and Trots realizing he was a year and a half away from his contract being up and him retiring, they just said now is the right time. And you have to remember the last, Nationals only had two GMs, Poil and Trots. And the last time they did something similar. They announced that Poil was stepping down, moving into an advisory role. role and they handed the baton to trots during the season. This time they're announcing that trots will step down, eventually move into a more

advisory role, and they're handing the baton to someone. And I just think that everybody looked at, you know, what Haslam was thinking, what Trots was thinking, and they just said, let's just do it now. because I think there's a chance that there could be some change around the league and they wanted to get to it as fast as they could. That is, I think, where how we got to this kind of situation. So it's a win-win. Haslam will get to search for help and trots.

He has, he can go out his way. on his terms, legacy protected. And I think that was very important to the Predators. You know, he's a huge figure, as I said, in the history of Nashville hockey. He's hugely respected. Like if you went through social media, Kyle, you know, the Capitals fans obviously still love him. He brought them the Stanley Cup. The Islanders fans love him.

He brought them to respectability in this close to beating Tampa in an Eastern Conference final when Tampa was at its peak. People really love Barry Trots. You know, the other thing, too, and Nashville deserves credit for this, and I wanted to mention it, you know, years ago, when we were still beginning to turn to a society

that respected mental health and dealt with this stuff a lot better, you know, Nashville was at the forefront of that. You know, players like Brian McGratton and Jordan Tutu had their challenges, and Nashville was like, how can we help you and how can we support you? And obviously David Poil was big in that,

but so was Trots. And, you know, I'll tell you that, I heard from someone who played for the University of Manitoba. And Barry Trots was there 40 years ago. And he told me how much of an influence Barry Trots had on him back then. So I do think it was very, very important that Trots be celebrated in the proper way here. Yeah, it's the connections back to day one of that. franchise and you think about how much things have evolved in that market since they first

joined the NHL and yet you've still got the synergies of how long David Poil was there, the shared values with Barry Trots, how that's carried on under him, and a lot of the same standards and values with how the organization runs still remains. And it seems like, I mean, we'll learn more and more of a time about what Bill Hassam's all about. But you mentioned the transparency. Like, as we've talked about, Barry Trots goes on local radio there once a week. How many other GMs around the league do something like that? The second best hockey hit of the week on the game in Nashville. Yes. Not the best, Barry. No. Second best. Right. There's one person in this conversation that thinks that and it's not me. But to go to go back to, I mean, the reverence in

that city for Trots. So back in October, there was a wonderful, like an Anne-Murray tribute night at the Grand O'O. Opry. And Trots was invited to come and, like, speak to the crowd at one point in the night as obviously a representative of Nashville, but also as a Canadian that would have grown up listening to Anne Murray. Anyway, it's pretty neat. That's pretty, that's actually pretty cool. Anne Murray has a tribute night and you're invited to go speak at it. Yeah. You know what happened to me if Anne Murray had a tribute night? Tickets are $200 by one. Like that's what would happen to me, right? You're like, yeah. But wait, have you heard my radio hits?

Wait a second. I got a better radio hit than he does. How come he gets in for free? Yes. So the other thing, too, is that we should mention with here is that it's very, to me, like, like I was on an HL network and, and with Bill Pito and Dave Reed on, on Monday, and they were, and Bill Pito was saying, like, how would the next guy feel about Trots making these moves right now? And I think, and I kind of asked about that, and Bill Haslam feels very confidently in Barry Trots as a person.

Like, sometimes if you're in this situation, you feel. feel like I got to do this to save myself. I think Bill Haslam looks at it as this is a person of integrity. We've made this decision. It's over. And he won't have and he won't feel pressure to do that. Barry Trots can sit there and say, look, my future is set. I know what is happening with me. I can do what's right for the franchise. And I will tell you this. They are not backing down from If we get something that we really have to consider, we'll do it. And they've got like the big names O'Reilly and Stamco's. People are making their pitches.

Stamco's was brilliant on Monday night. And also too, like they've got a lot of really good support pieces. Hala, McCarron, bunting, pervix. Like bunting, I heard, like we talked in the last pot about Bunting and the Islanders. I've heard this story in a couple places now. It was so close. That deal didn't happen, apparently,

because they couldn't agree on the year of the draft pick. I think Nashville wanted a 26 pick, and the Islanders wanted to send a 27 pick, and that's how close it came. But, you know, so, you know, obviously Trots knows what his future is, and Haslam trusts him. He trusts him with this.

I got to say, though, you know, you mentioned the game. The Predators are three points out of the playoffs right now. Like the Predators, because they're in the Central, they can't go through their division. Like those three teams, Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota, they're too far gone. But the Predators are right in there with Utah, Anaheim, Seattle, L.A., San Jose. Like, it's a fight. And, you know, I do know some of those. teams look at it and say,

who boy, like if we make the playoffs, that's some reward to get the avalanche or the wild and stars if one of them catches them. Like, that's a tough, a tough result. But you look at that building and how crazy it was on

Monday night. The fans were wild. They were wild about the comeback. They were wild about trots. It was so funny. Like, the Predator's social media account, like they're sending out like three word updates, 5-1-blues, 4-1-blue. Like, it's just their, God, get us to the end of the game.

And all of a sudden, the social media is going bananas and the, it's really tough to sell in these circumstances, but they're looking at things. Yeah, yeah, I know. And Stamcoast's reaction on them. Say, like, you could tell he's like, I'm not so sure I want a rebuild here. Marsha's so, too. Like, that's another name. Yeah. Stamcoast was reaction on the 6-5 goal.

Like, there's still in it. Like there's, you can tell that the, the juice is still there. And I'll just say this about Trots 2 in his tenure. And you mentioned, okay, not every decision works. Hindsight 2020. Okay, could you do some things different? We all point to July 1st in 2024, all the contracts that were signed. Don't make the playoffs.

It ends up being, you know, a complete opposite of what you're anticipating. Guy never, I don't think he traded one of their first round. on picks through all of this or a high leverage draft capital. Yes, he made some signings, but in terms of mortgaging the future on anything, he didn't go anywhere there. So having still all of that in their holster, I can only imagine the type of interest that would be around the league for a job like this. So I'm glad you brought that up because I was going to go there.

Kyle, if you ever watched the movie Major League, this is why he's the best color. man the league folks this is why Kyle is the best podcast host in the league folks because we got to go there there is enormous interest in this job e nor must enormous so when the story came out um before i was aware that they'd hired a search firm and we'll get to that but before I was aware that they hired a search firm, you know, a bunch of people were texting, what's the plan here?

What's going on? And Nashville is a great place to live and play. If you're single, we know how much fun it is, right? If you're married with kids or you're building a family, it is also a great place to live. good weather, very outdoorsy, lots of stuff to do. No tax date, a lot of great things about Nashville, a lot.

Players want to play there. And I think there, you take a look at guys like Ryan Gatslap, played his whole career in Anaheim, he lives there now. Bobby Ryan, he lived there for a while. I think he's somewhere else now, but he lived there. Like there's a lot of guys who really don't have a lot of attachment to Nashville who have moved to Nashville because it's got a great reputation as a place to live. So I'll tell you this. I think you're going to see a huge cross-section of contenders, Kyle, from the people who've been in big roles before, Brendan Shanahan, Rob Blake, Mark Bergevin. I think the next generation.

And I'm, look, I just threw it together. a quick thing of names. I could be missing people here. Don't get angry at me. I'm throwing together names. It's early. People like Ryan Martin, Evan Gold, Jamie Langenbrenner, Sonny Meta,

Ryan Johnson, Ryan Bonas, Scott White, like, you know, even someone like Brad Pascal, I don't like throwing his name out there because I don't want to get Cassie's stink eye if she doesn't like me doing it. But, and I think agents too. You know, I think there will be agents interested in this job.

Like, to be honest, I think George Perros lives there too. Like, I wonder if there's league execs, like Getslaff, who will be looking at this job. Like, I just think that the amount of people here that are going to be looking at this is going to be gigantic. And the other thing that Haslam indicated is, and I think this is smart, I wondered if are they doing president of hockey operations or just GM? And his answer, Kyle, was we're getting the right person and then we'll worry about how it's all going to look and what the titles are.

The Predators and CAA, the agency, which is running the hiring, they're going to have, you know when you don't look at your phone and all of a sudden you've got 3,000 unread emails, that's what it's going to be like. It's like Jim Carrey and Bruce Almighty. The inbox just keeps filling up. You can't respond to them fast enough.

It's exactly like that. Now, I did want to talk quickly about this, about the search committee. So Nick Sabin's on it, eh? Right. Well, because he's now a minority owner, right? He's part of the team. So he is, he's the villain. When he was coaching, he was like the hated Nick Saban, right? Because he coaches Alabama and this is the volunteer state. Vanderbilt's there. The University of Tennessee is not far away. They hate Alabama.

But the moment he comes working for the teen, I watched the press conference, where he talked, like the media is eating out of the palm of his hand. I'm not making fun of them. Like, he's a, it's SEC country, southeastern conference football. He is God there. And the fact, and he's going to intimidate people. Like, I got a couple calls about him. You know, this, for Sabin, you know, they say he's not going to be there just to sit

there at the meetings and drink pinocaladas. He's going to be in there asking tough questions, they think. And he's going to intimidate. some of these guys because he has definite ideas of what a winner is. Now, the thing about him that's really interesting is his agent is a guy by the name of Jimmy Sexton. Jimmy Sexton is arguably, and some people might reach out to me and say it's not even arguable, the most powerful man in college football.

He is a super agent and you do not cross him. And he is the head of like football operations at. CAA. And I can see, you know, Bill Haslam being a southeastern conference guy wanting this connection. It all makes total sense to me. And the other thing is, too, is in the other sports, they all use these firms. Here's the thing about hockey, Kyle. The NHL, I believe, and it's more the Players Association, I believe, is the one league that does. not like this. It does not like agencies that represent players also representing coaches and executives. It happens all over the NFL. It happens all over the NBA. I think it happens in Major League Baseball too, although I haven't looked at it for a while. The NHL has rules against this. If you represent players,

you cannot represent coaches and managers. And that line got kind of blurred a bit because you could say, okay, well, it's a different agent from my agency. I may represent players, but I don't represent coaches or managers. It's someone else at my agency. Well, when Pittsburgh hired Kyle Dubus, there was a complaint about it because Kyle was represented by an agency called Wasserman. and Wasserman also reps players. And even though his agent didn't rep players, some people raised a stink about it.

And I understand when this got reported the other day, some agents started to make a stink about it because there was an agent meeting where this was brought up and said, we have rules. Now, one of the things I was told was that if CAA hires somebody or recommends someone, who they don't represent.

It might be all clear here, but, and this has got nothing to do with Bill Haslam. He doesn't know. He doesn't care. He wants to hire the best search firm. I think some people are a little bit bent out of shape about this. So we'll see. We'll see what happens.

Hmm. Can I just ask why? Like, why do you think it's different in hockey if it runs rampant in football, basketball, otherwise. Because we're weird, Kyle, because we're weird. No. Okay. That was the, no, it's like, there are people who feel very strongly, and I know it at one time,

I don't know how the league feels about it now, but they did at one point. And they were like, well, you know, they didn't want the idea that coaches, that agents could pressure coaches to say, hey, this. is we're both with the same firm, you've got to help this guy, or you got to give more playing time to this guy, or you play this guy and not that guy because there's a financial tie-in to that. I see. It's, you know, and obviously, like, the other leagues don't care about this, but the

NHL and the Players Association do. So we'll see if there's anything to this, but I got a few calls about it on, uh, on Monday and it's just it's an interesting thing here because like I said other leagues don't care the NHL and the players association they care in theory well when trots first took the job he had the line about challenging his group be bold do not play it safe all the time be bold and they were and it sounds like wherever this all goes there's going to be some bold moves along the way here or two in finding a successor. That ain't changing.

It's tough, man. You're three points out. Like, how do you wave the white flag? It's a tough thing to do. Especially after Monday night. Bananas. Like the four-goal comebacks, the new three-goal comeback.

Yeah. We'll get to the outdoor game in a bit, but that was sensational. It's back-to-back night. So Nashville comes back, wins in regulation, as we say, on the receiving end of that was St. Louis. So you had the story on Saturday with Robert Thomas

and a minor procedure done, expect to be back after the Olympic break. What else on St. Louis there? Maybe Thomas in particular do you got? You know, obviously St. Louis has been out there. The one thing I wanted to mention about Thomas is, I did have someone say to me on Saturday, if you were to have the over, under,

on the amount of teams that could do a Thomas deal based on what St. Louis wants, he'd take the under. Hmm. And maybe not even teams that would be looking to trade for them. I just simply teams that have the assets, the cap space. Yep. To pull it off. Yeah.

So take the under. But he'll be back after the Olympics. I, and we'll get to this a bit more in a second. I am really curious, Kyle, about what some of these post-Olympic rosters are going to look like. especially for those in white flag mode. Yeah. Yeah, I think there's a lot of guys playing hurt. A lot of guys playing hurt.

All right. Which is no surprise to anyone. Yes, you knew it was all going to come to a head if it hasn't already. So St. Louis is in that mode and you know Doug Armstrong ain't going to be pushed over to soften his ass. What about the Florida Panthers? Have the Buffalo Sabres? Are they like the Grim Reaper's of the Atlantic Division? You know that?

You're knocking on Toronto's door. That's right, with Grim Reaper at the doors. Yeah. That was last week. Then they go into Florida on Monday night. That Tage Thompson goal, by the way. Very cool. You highlighted the connection with him and Josh Stone on Saturday.

Did you see his goal on Monday? Like he's got, he's basically standing still inside, just inside the blue line. And it looked like a. flick of the wrist and he ripped this thing over the shoulder, Babroski. I know there's looks like a bit of a screen there too, but But still, you don't see goals from there very often. Yeah. Oh, the power

that seems so effortless from him. Just, he continues to be on a tear. But now for the Panthers, I mean, is it time to have that conversation? First of all, I cannot believe Amber admitted that he was the one who bet me. He is normally

the biggest chicken alive. The biggest chicken. alive. Don't say it. Don't say my name, but don't want my journalistic integrity to be ruined. Okay, there are 10 points out. Say my name now. Say my name. Yes. He was waiting for it. That was great. Anyway, so yes.

I have the, you didn't even know. Ron had to inform you. You didn't even know that he had already put it out there. Ron was like, oh, no idea. Ron told me. Like I said, I don't, I don't watch Amber on television. But so it is me and Amber who have the bet $100 on Panthers make the playoffs or no. And, you know, like we kind of talked about before, if, you know, the Panthers, they aren't getting there. If they were to march the comeback, they aren't getting there through the Atlantic. And all they're, you know, they're basically 11 points out. Like it's, well, I mean, it's, it's, it's going to have to catch the wild card.

and they're already nine points behind World Card 2. You know the one team in the Atlantic and we'll get there in a second. The one team I think could do it from the Atlantic is Ottawa, but we'll get there in a second. So Florida's in real trouble. They lost again. So I don't really have any,

we know that the pre-Olympic freeze is Wednesday afternoon. And I don't really have any updates on Panarin this morning. We'll see what the day brings. But I've had a few people ask me about whether, I mentioned on Saturday night, can Florida do this? And I had a few people saying to me like, how on earth do you think they can do this?

And Steve Warrior, who used to work for the Panthers, was their AGM, really bright guy. He wrote a piece for Puckpedia about how it could happen. And it's exactly what the conspiracy theory is. He spelled it up. out. And what it is is that you've got a GM who Bill Zito, who will do anything to win. You've got one agent, Paul Theophanas, who represents two critical players, Sergey Bobrovsky and

Tamirin, both of whom need new contracts for next year. Bobrovsky wants to play in Florida, I believe. Panarin, his first choice would be Florida. And, you know, they both need new deals. So as long as the players agree, Theophanus could say both these players want to be here. How can we make it work? And the Panthers, what's my line? The surest predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Look at that deal they got for Marchand. So I think one of the things that kind of happened with Marchand was he had a number. He wanted to get to. And if he didn't get it in Florida. I think he was pretty confident he could get it somewhere else, Toronto, and the Panthers got to that number, and then he just left it to them, structure the deal as UC fit.

So Florida could do that. Like I mentioned on the last pod Panarin was looking for 50 million. I'll say this, famous last words, Kyle. People don't think he's going to get that. They think he could get to between 40 and 45. They're not necessarily buying 50. But whatever the case is, he could go to the Panthers with a number, and the Panthers could say, this is how we'll structure it. Leave it to me. The thing that somebody called me about on Monday, and we just kind of alluded to it, if Florida's out, if they're out, and they're in trouble, they're on the ropes, the guy said to me, how many guys there do you think are playing hurt?

And I said probably quite a few. They've played an awful lot of hockey. said the other thing that could happen here, and this just fuels the conspiracy, after the Olympics, Florida could just shut guys down to clear them out and they'd have the cap room to do it. So that adds another layer to this. I don't know.

I mean, we could all wake up on Tuesday morning and Panarin could be traded somewhere else. There's other teams in this. But the whole Florida thing, it's like one of those things that's on the dark web and certain amount of people believe it and you don't know if it's true until it does or doesn't happen. The one hole in all of this is I don't know what the deal is here that makes sense for the Rangers.

And, you know, ultimately Panarin has the no move clause. So he's got a big say. But the Rangers could look at this and say, you know what? We're not playing ball if we don't get something here that values us, that is valued to us. But that's the conspiracy theory on the Panthers about how they could pull it off. Steve wrote a bit about it. It was exactly what I felt, and I just added to it a bit here. But, you know, right now I thought the Panthers would be okay this year.

they're you know the other thing too is they're minus 13 goal differential and that's always the number one stat i look at even with the great goalie bob and even if you look at paul marisa's comments after the loss on monday like hey they're playing together they're battling as hard as they can there's nothing more i can ask of them like that sounds like a head coach that knows full well what's really going on under the hood that may not be right there out in the open for you for the rest of us, don't you? Well, the thing is, Maurice knows, like, he can't criticize them. They've given him everything he can for two years, and they've been to three straight finals, two Stanley Cups. Like, someone sent me a tweet on Monday.

There was some, like, deranged tweet, like a Panther fan tweeted, Zito's been terrible all year. He knows he's got a hole on the blue line, and she's got to, like, what? What? They just want two cups in a row. They're similar.

Yeah. I think they're similar stuff going around Colorado too, right? Lose a couple in regulation. They're like, I don't know about this team, man. Not sure this is the group to do it. Drew Hutchison, who we used to work with, he's like, we've got to fire the power play coach. I'm like, oh, my God, you guys are number one.

I know the power play has been really bad, but I look at the talent and figure, you know, It's just funny. Like, oh, my God. Producer Drew, like, go out and touch grass, man. Leave the power play coach alone for crying out loud. But you know with a guy like the Maurice, like there's time to grind the players and there's time to back off and clearly,

understandably, he's taking back and off. I wouldn't be criticizing these guys at all this year, at all. No. Now, in addition to this, Kyle, Someone said to me, on your board on Saturday night in the headline segment, you didn't mention Tampa Bay. And, you know, people said to me, you know they're in on this right, especially if they think Florida's there. And I said, yes, I believe that. I think you'd be crazy not to believe it.

I know one thing about the lightning. They don't like rentals. So I always think about that. And I'm looking at them. Can they actually do an extension? And, you know, they have a lot of money tied up. Kuturov, point, Gensel, those are 9 million players. Hegel Sorelli, they're 6 million players.

Headman is an $8 million player. Moser goes to 6.75 next year, and Vasilevsky is 9.5. So I never count out the lightning. I think Julian Breesbaugh is similar in the sense of Bill Zito that he will go for it and he will do what he needs to do to win. I just am not sure can they actually pull it off. Okay. So what else?

Toronto. I'll look through some things. Well, we've talked about Toronto. They've got a lot of stuff. They've basically let people know that they're out there. And we'll see. I think they've got some things going on. And we'll see if they do anything by Wednesday.

A couple of other situations I want to mention, Nazim-Codry. I don't you know part of the problem with all the hits I do Kyle is I this is bad and it's a big criticism of myself sometimes I can't remember the things I say and someone said to me you went on air and you said that and it wasn't on the pot I think it was on the hockey show with Marquesi and Futa and you were said that Codry can block to Montreal and I was like I did and they go yeah I think you said that I was like, oh, that was dumb because I don't think, I think he can go to Montreal without approval. And we'll see what happens there.

Like, I think one of the things that kind of happened with Cadry is that, you know, Robert Thomas being available out there and maybe some other centers being available that people didn't realize it kind of slowed things down. I think that's picked back up a bit. I think Utah is a team that is also asked about Cadry, you know, what is the possibility here? I don't know what the situation is with them, but I do know they've asked.

You know, I've heard Calgary's told their, told opponents that are told other teams that have called about him that, you know, there's a couple of ways they're willing to do this. They're willing to do like the Brock Nelson kind of deal, which is first round pick, prospect, or they're willing to do more of what's called like a hockey deal, less of a futures deal,

but more like a young player that the flames would have control over, I've heard they're open to it, but I think that one started to pick up again. I had a couple people tell me about San Jose, so they had Kuroshev just come back. Sherwood should be back, I assume any time. San Jose is also at 49 contracts out of 50. I think they would like to move some things out and see what they can add. Like Greer's been pretty sure. He's been around the Panarin, but he's also been.

been pretty sharp about this stuff. Like he's trying to reward his players, Brasw for goaltending depth. Sherwood, of course, even though he hasn't played yet. You know, I think there's been a challenge getting to an extension here, but with Sherwood, but I do think the sharks knew going in what the number that Sherwood was asking for. So, you know, we'll see where that goes, but I've heard, you know,

also, of course, the sharks have no defensemen other than Dickinson's sign for. for next year. So I've, I've heard they're kind of out there looking to add. It's like, do you ever watch The Wire, Kyle? No, I did not. You know, I should watch it.

It's great show. Stringer Bell, put the word out there. We back up. That's the sharks. That's them right now. Nice. Great scene. Detroit, huge win on Monday night.

They beat the Avalanche 2 to nothing, which is why I produce a group. Yeah. was wobbly, but you know, hey, they don't ask you how. They ask you how many. And plus, they got their asses kicked by them on the weekend. So that was a, that was a sweet, sweet victory for Detroit. Yeah. A lot of Wings fans at that game, by the way, eh?

When they iced it with the empty netter, there was a lot of red all of a sudden. Like Toronto and Calgary, like half the crowd was shirt for Toronto again. Yeah. I mean, that you've kind of come to expect, but I was like, whoa. Wings fans travel well. Like, maybe it hasn't been the case when they've been struggling, but when they were at their like you would go to games everywhere like Florida. I remember I did back when the wings were one of the first teams to do a father's trip,

um, we did a we did the father ship and they were in Atlanta and the whole building was cheering for the wings. So that's not. Yeah, it's nice to see. Yeah, it's good. Like you know why? It's an important franchise. Um,

so the 2-0 and producer Drew is trying to fire all the coaches. And, uh, we talked about how they were discussing something with Winnipeg. The one thing I do believe is true, and it's kind of like what Mike Greer is, I think that Iserman wants to help the wings. I think he feels as players the way they've played. And right now, they're in second place in the Atlantic. There are two points back of Tampa and Carolina for first in the Eastern Conference.

And I do believe Iserman has said these players earn help, and he's trying to get them help. So we're watching them. By the way, did you notice Eric Johnson on Saturday was wearing a tie for the game that the wings won, lost six nothing to Colorado? Yes, he was a little more John Cooperie a couple nights prior. Well, so like, okay, so working in TV, Kyle, you know and I know what happened here. Exactly, right? Like some ESPN exec looked at Eric Johnson on the bench with his. Like on the Colorado broadcast, they're like no problem.

Like Colorado broadcasts, like those guys are going to get broadcasting naked in a couple of weeks the way that's going. But Eric Johnson, like you can tell some ESPN exec said, hey, this isn't the Avalanche broadcast. You're wearing a tie here. You know, like there was a time I could wear turtlenecks on hockey night. I eventually got the call like, we're wearing ties here. Okay. Eric Johnson got the ESPN call like, we're wearing ties here. And I'll say this too.

I'm really curious about Ottawa, Kyle, because they've now, they're hot, they've beaten good teams. What a week. Yeah, they beat Vegas. They beat Colorado. You know, New Jersey is going through it right now, but they beat them. And now they beat Pittsburgh. And Pittsburgh didn't play great, but they still beat them. And I have.

And I look at them with their underlying numbers. And if they can get saves, Kyle, that's the team from the Atlantic I look at that's kind of far out that can maybe make a charge if they get saves. I have a theory on what they've been trying to do. But it's something I have to check because I have a meter of, okay, they were mad at me a couple weeks ago. I'll just let them calm down before I make them mad at me again. But so I don't want to make any wild guesses. But I have a theory at what they're looking at. And I think we talked about this.

Remember Alex Anthopoulos going out to get David Price? Because their run differential was good even if their record wasn't. Like they're plus seven. You look at the teams that are out of the playoffs right now as we wake up Tuesday morning in the Eastern Conference. You know, the third best team, Columbus, who's made a great run of it under bonus, they're minus five.

Washington's plus 12, and they're right there. Ottawa's plus seven. Everybody else, Florida, Toronto, Philly, Devils, Rangers, they're in the double digits minuses. I think they are trying to do something there in Ottawa. And a couple other things I'm keeping an eye on. Buffalo, you know, they're going to have an interesting decision.

to make with Alex talk. I think what I've heard about the Sabres is they're not going to make their team worse. Oh, you can't. Yeah, you can't. After all this, you can't. I'll say this, like, that's a team with a lot of picks and prospects. Unless you get a ridiculous offer,

I'm keeping him right now. I mean, you've got two weeks out of the Olympics to see if it changes, but if I own the Sabres, I'd be like, if it continues this way, he's our own rental. We're going for it. And I've heard they've told people,

we're not making our team worse. And by the way, Washington, now at 63 points, with two goalies hurt, and I heard Thompson, they're confident, will be okay for the Olympics. Clay Stevenson,

he beat Carolina. He has a shaky start, but to his credit, he recovered. beat Carolina. Then on Monday night, they won again, beat the Islanders. And they play back-to-back, Philly. Their backup right now has zero NHL experience.

I wonder if Stevenson goes back-to-back. Because all of a sudden, after they beat the Islanders in a huge game, there are two points behind them. Foof. Just like that. Well, I guess you got to see, is there a chance? Logan Thompson gets back for the last game before the Olympic break. But, I mean, desperate times, man.

You could see it. You could see it. I don't know. And just go back to Alex Tuck. We saw what he said the other night in the room after, I forget which win that was. But after that game at home where he's talking about, we don't, not just about making the playoffs. With Mike Harrington, yeah.

Yes, in the scrum there, just how different it all is. Like, don't you just happily gamble if you're Buffalo going, if we're not getting it done right now, okay, we'll hang on to them, we'll ride this out, you've got great momentum to have an opportunity to get into the playoffs and whatever comes of it that that player goes, as a Western New York guy, finally, this is what he had hoped to, experience when he first arrived in the Ikel deal and you figure out a way to get a deal done after going through all of that together. And also, if you listen to our interview with Josh

Donne, I mean, it's pretty much signed seal delivered. That's right. That's right. Josh Stone said, they're all paying for dinner next year. Yeah. Did you read that Players Tribune piece with McDavid? Oh, yeah. It was really good. A hole in my drywall. I was so fired up afterwards. Ready to run through a wall? Yeah. I was so excited I put Berkeley through a wall. Yeah. But what's interesting with that, though,

and the Players' Tribute has done a wonderful job for so many years. A while back, I remember reading one that a player in the NHL had done, and I just happened to be working a game of his a little while later, and I saw him, I said, hey, I really liked that Players' Tribune article that you did. As I'm reading it, I can kind of hear you something. those things and he goes, really? He goes, when I read it, I thought, oh, there's no way I would ever speak like this. You know, like he felt it wasn't anywhere close to how he would talk or explain or tell a story or

anything like that. So I was beautifully done. Obviously, it sets a great tone if you're getting ready for the Olympics, if you're an Oilers fan. But I would just be curious for Connor himself, if he were to read that back, assuming he does, how he thinks of it. I can see, like, I can always see differences because if you read paragraphs where you actually pause, a lot of people do not talk like that. But I think the tone is very him, how much he burns to win. Yes.

I think that really came across in the piece. The tone of it really hit me. I thought that was very, and I like the fact he said, like people say, I'm a robot. He's like, I don't really care. I want to win so badly. I think that piece explained a lot of how he's wired, right? And there were a couple of things that really hit me there.

The drive to win was obviously number one. I don't think that's a huge surprise to anyone, but he gave you a little bit more insight into how he's wired. When he scored the winning goal at the Four Nations, somebody on Team Canada said to me, and I kind of forgot it. I annoyed it myself. I kind of forgot it until I read this.

They said that he really needed a win, like a big win. You know, before Shaquille O'Neal won his NBA title, he had a phrase that he said, I've won everywhere except for college and the pros. And people were like, what, you're talking about high school? And they used to rip him, mercilessly for that

for that quote and he hated it I once saw an interview with him we talked about how much he regretted saying it because it got used against him so much and you know Shaq won a gold medal at the 96 world championships in basketball but that was such a lopsided victory

like it didn't count really right so when he won his first NBA title with the Lakers in 2000 it was like you know what I don't have to hear this anymore And I think with McDavid, you know, him, I remember when he won and someone said to me after in the aftermath, I'm so happy for him because now he finally has a big W. Like people are going to look at it. And remember how hard they defended him in that tournament, like how everybody was committed to stopping him. And he's talked about in that piece, like how much that did matter to him. like finally he had something.

And I really love the story about how the bachelor party got kind of ruined by both A, the bad weather and B, the loss. As a guy who has been at times annoyed about things, the point of being a sock that I've ruined the get-togethers before, that really resonated with me. I thought it was a great piece. And it's kind of interesting, Kyle, that comes after a really, horrible loss. Like they look terrible against Minnesota the other night. And, you know, Minnesota can embarrass people now. That Minnesota-Montreal game was just an incredible,

incredible hockey game on Monday. It's like just great hockey. I love watching Montreal play. And Minnesota, sorry, Jacques LaMere, but Minnesota's never been better to watch in their entire existence. Jacques, I loved you as a center for the Canadians. And I think you're one of the smartest coach as ever, but you're wild, we're never as exciting as this. But, you know, it was really interesting. Like Tristan Jari comes out and says, we have to give up less chances. And one of the things, you know, there'll be people who are split about this. They'll say, like, you know, be quiet, stop the puck.

Again, I always say people say hockey players are boring. Can't rip them when they say what they want. But, you know, the one thing about Stuart Skinner, Kyle, and you did a lot of these interviews, is he ate that stuff. Like he never complained. He ate it all. He was like, nope, it's my job to stop the puck. I'm not worried about the stuff in front of me.

I'm curious to see how the oilers react to Jari saying that. And number two, I'm also curious to see how, like, if the fact the goalie actually comes out and says it, okay, it's not a coach saying this anymore. It's the goalie. we just went out and got who said it. How does that resonate in their room?

Do they get mad or do they say, wait a sec? This isn't a coach. This is our peer. This is a guy we went out and got. It's interesting too because I'd heard some talk that they might be interested in a guy like Brandon Carlo and some people said, yeah, they did hear it

and other people said, no, they're not doing that. you know, again, the one thing I really think they're trying to do is find people who will accept the third and fourth line role better. But it's fascinating to me because for him to come out and say that, it's been a long time since players in Edmonton have heard that from their goalie. Right. And especially when you couple that with the fact, Calvin Pickard, on waivers, clears waivers. Now, he's still with the Oilers at this point. I assume they won't send them down until after the Olympic break unless they absolutely have to. Right, fair enough.

But you think about one of the ultimate diffusers in that room. I mean, a guy that could take the pressure out of any stressful situation. Like he's been that guy as well as being a goalie that's come into incredible situations and gotten wins for them. over the last couple of years. If he's no longer going to be part of the equation post-Olympics, how does that factor into the dynamic? He was close with, very close with a number of guys in that room, in particular, Leon Drysidal.

You went down the list from there, that piece we did with him as part of Hockey Day in Canada and Moncton, what McDavid said about him. That's, uh, personality-wise, that's a loss on top of the critical spot. duty he could give you too. Interesting times. Yeah, you're right about that. You know, he's, he's a pressure valve.

He's a pressure valve. And just going back to that the Players Tribune piece that McDavid put out there, you combine that and also what we saw from Crosby over the weekend, the emotion looking back of the 2016 celebration, the 10-year anniversary. Like, it's just, again, like you talk about needing a big win. it's a great reminder of why they pursue opportunities to win big games like that and why it's all worth it in the end and how much it means to you.

Like that was never see that from Sid. No, it was really something. It was really powerful. You know, I think it just how much winning matters. and you know what when McDavid wins because he will win at some point in time he's going to be the same kind of blubbery guy at a reunion right right that's that's what makes it all it all worth it in the end very cool so let me ask you about that Sid thing so someone said to me there's no way he's ever leaving Pittsburgh after seeing that and that was my initial reaction

too. And first of all, before the Penguins fans start storming the border, he's not going anywhere now. The team's right in the middle of the fight, no matter how ugly Monday night was, they're right there. So nothing's going on here. But like someone argued with me, no, it's, if they're not a playoff team, it's going to make them want to leave more because they want to have that feeling again. And I'm like, I'm not, I'm not getting into this argument. I'm just staying out of of it entirely. But I looked at that and was like, man, how could you ever see him leaving Malkin and Latang, whatever's happening with those guys? Like they're, it was really special. It was really something to see him like that. Yeah. Yeah, it was. I don't know. I just,

none of us saw this coming with them this year as we've talked about. So I feel like it's completely changed the conversation over where it goes with. with him and we're kind of in a year by year basis now I feel but that was great though that that was really you know on Saturday afternoons my life is a whirlwind it's very rare I can stop and just stare at something for about five or six minutes I stopped and stared at that that was really it was powerful very powerful excellent so good okay the other team, Philadelphia and Matvey Michikov. So that wife's carnival.

Yeah, so that that wife's carnival, first of all, it's a great event. Like you can really tell that the, that the whole organization, the wives, they put a lot into that. And it's very impressive. As you know, in the DC universe, Kyle, there is something called the bat signal. You know what I'm calling for today? The Breyer signal. Oh. And I know he talked the other day.

What's that? What does the Breyer signal look like by the way? Is it a 48 in the sky? Is it? I like a 48 in the sky. Or the like a silhouette of him. Remember you had the great down in the one knee fist pump, scoring a goal?

That's a good one too. That's a good one. Actually, I like the down in the knee fist. fist pump. Yeah. Going with that. Maybe a plane from that great feature of his wife being a pilot. Oh, that's not a bad one either.

No, but I like the down low fist pump. I like that one better. That fits for Breyer. So we're going to flash the Breyer signal because I think he is the guy who is best able to put an end to this. And I know he talked the other day, but this calls for extra. measures. If I was running the Philadelphia flyers, what I would do, because Breyer is the calmest, he's not going to let his emotions get control of him. And I would just say that he's calling a press conference and he's clearing the air. Okay. It says, we're putting this all out here. This is what

happened. You know, there's talk about Mishkov not showing up in shape. And now there's also talk about Rick Tocke, discussed like the possibility of Mishkov being late for treatment. Okay? If I was, if I was Breyer, I go and say, okay, these were the issues. It's over. Today is day one of a new day. Or, if you want, Kyle, since we're about to both go to the Olympics, the day of the opening ceremonies at the Olympics, do you know what day it is? It is day zero?

Day zero. That's the way they do it. Day zero. So this is day zero or day one. This is what the situation was. This is what our issues were. And we're closing the book on the past and we're moving on. Madh Vy Mishkov is too important to the flyers.

And I understand, look, if he's showing up out of shape or he is late for treatment, those are issues the flyers have to deal with. And Mishkov has to be better at. But in this day and age, it's a two-way street. It's a two-way street. They have to say to Mishkov, okay, this is what we were upset about. We demand you do better, but we're giving you a new slate to prove to us. Anything we didn't like last summer, anything we didn't like right now, to this point,

we're giving you a clean slate. We're putting you out there. but if you go back to what we didn't like, it's on you. But we're ending it right now. He's too important and you have to finish this season on an upswing. I can imagine the Flyers as an organization were de-happy, unhappy with some of the commentary on the weekend. I think generally like you like to keep that stuff in-house. that's why I think Breyer is the best position guy to come out and say, okay,

sometimes a relationship has to hit rock bottom before it can get better. Dana tells me that all the time about you and her. So this is rock bottom. This is where the flyers can say this is rock bottom. It's over. We're moving past it. New slate. And it's on the player and it's on the flyers to finish this up strong.

that's what I would do. I would say we're going out and we're doing this. We're ending the noise. Ending it. And we're going to ride Mishkov for the rest of the season. You know, some of the thing I wonder about, Zemula is not there anymore. And he was kind of like the Mishkov sounding board.

And I do wonder if that's a factor too. But you have to make this work. It's too important. Now, do you buy the other thing that Breyer said, over the weekend anticipating kind of a quieter trade deadline for the flyers. You're buying that.

Like it was, they were in a good spot for the first half of the year and now their situation has changed. I think the only thing that I would guess is if they got something with team control, I could see them doing something.

But I think the key is, I don't think they're going to waste it on rentals or anything like that. I don't think they're going to waste it on that. Okay. Before we get to the final thought, we've got to weigh in on the stadium series game down in Tampa. So I don't know where we start here.

But earlier in the week, you were down there interviewing John Cooper. Did you get any type of preview of the attire? He gave up nothing. Nothing. I can only imagine at one of those huddles at the bench, the officials were looking at him and like, can you do have a button? I was thinking of the same thing. How are you supposed to have like an actual conversation?

If you're John McIsaac, yeah. The shot of him walking off with the cigar after the game was fantastic. He had lots of cigar boxes around his office, by the way. So he's obviously a big cigar guy. that was a great shot. But the outfit was fantastic. You know, there's this whole debate about was it the best outdoor game ever. People can decide.

It was fantastic. You know what the number one takeaway is for me, Kyle? Where it was on the schedule? Yes. I would move the Winter Classic there. I heard you talk a little bit about this on the radio. As the sports calendar has evolved where it's got to, too having something in the week in between the Super Bowl and the NFC and AFC championship games.

It makes a lot of sense, a lot of sense. I would do that. I would put it there. I would say our new winner classic date is the week between the conference championships and the Super Bowl. And I have a lot of reasons for this. number one on TV that night, the Grammys, I don't know if there was, I don't get a chance to watch NBA that much

during the season anymore. I don't know if there was a big NBA game or not. But, you know, the Venn diagram of the hockey game, a basketball game, and the Grammys, I don't know how much overlap there is. And even if there is, this generation of people, they watch nine things at once. Like, I don't think it matters.

matters, really. I just think you have to be away from football. Football is God now. So last year, I think 86 of the top 100 broadcasts in the States were football. And that's actually low. I think the year before it was 93. And that was one of the reasons because we had a great world series, which I still don't think actually happened, but we had a great world series. So it got in there. But, you know, the NBA used to own Christmas. Own it. The NFL put three bad games with quarterbacks nobody ever heard of, and they crushed it. Like at some point in time, you have to admit, okay, we've lost this battle. And the other thing that happened with the NHL is, Betman has said now, because of glare, you've got to play later.

or at night. And now this new college football playoff, that around New Year's Day, it's all over the place. Like this year, they had three games on one day and one game on the other day against the Winter Classic, but I've heard rumors that they're thinking of spreading it out more, like maybe one game on four consecutive days. And if they do that,

you can't avoid it. You cannot escape it. So after seeing the success of that game and the attention on that game, Kyle, if I was the NHL, I'd seriously think about that. I'd be saying that our winner classic now, if you want to play a stadium series, move it. Winter classic now, that week. Certainly had everybody's attention.

And I mean, the fact that the game ended up playing out the way that it was, didn't hurt it. and it was a perfect storm Gasparilla weekend down in Tampa how much they leaned into the whole Pirates theme of it all at the stadium where the Bucks played I will say I mean

both teams had phenomenal walk-ins the most enjoyment I got was seeing the lightning walk in Buck's football gear and you see Kutrov walking by you can tell he's the one guy going oh my good like what the hell am I wearing

what this is ridiculous why am I wearing but I'm going to be a good teammate it's what everyone else is doing I've got the football helmet on he just looked like a guy that couldn't wait to get out of the equipment it was outstanding it was great and then he went out and ripped it up oh he was he was and then every time he speaks you can put it on a t-shirt Mike Tyson yeah yeah yeah so good uh so someone asked me a great question they said, do the players bring a change of clothes for post game? I was like, you know what? Honestly, I have no idea. Because Kyle, his point was imagine, like, if you're Boston and you lose that game

and you have to walk out in the Patriot clothes. Talk about walk of shame. Like, if you're the clothes back on, I'm not doing the wig, though. Could you imagine Tampa loses that game? 7-1 and they got to put the football clothes on and walk out as the creamsicles. Yeah. That is a true walk of shame. Yeah.

I've seen some bad ones over my years, but that would be up there. I had the identity with the helmets on. Before we get to the final thought, the one thing I did want to say is, so the pastgen-out goal, like you could hear the trail ref blowing the whistle on the broadcast, but you had to listen for it. Like I don't know if his whistle just went, abandoned him. Yeah, they couldn't hear it.

I guess the ringside mics picked it up so we could hear it, but the players couldn't hear it. I do have to say this. So there's been a lot of weird stuff that's been happening lately with, you know, the penalties were pretty lopsided in that game and a couple of the phantom calls recently that Montreal got, and I don't think they were that thrilled about the penalty in overtime.

of the Minnesota game. And Tom Wilson's been a wrecking ball lately, another big hit on Monday night, and Brindamore was really angry. There was no suspension for the hit on Stan Kovin on the weekend. I had a couple of people say to me that everybody's a little bit distracted now because the Olympics are coming up, but they said they think supplemental discipline and officiating is going to be a

big post-Olympic topic that these players are getting frustrated and the teams are getting frustrated and that happens it was interesting there was a big one in the NBA last week where Mark Cuban stepped up and said that and and him and Jason Kidd said that you know Cooper Flagg doesn't get referee acceptably and you're always trying to buy calls but a couple guys seem to say to me that they think it's getting pretty close to be. being on tilt. Sometimes it gets there and they think of the NHL or in one of those phases where it's kind of getting there. Yeah. And just a few weeks after the Olympic break, GM meetings down in Florida mid-March. Yep. Perfect time to air out the dirty laundry. Okay, with that,

it's time now for the final five presented by the Toyota BZ. Go all electric in a winter ready Toyota BZ at your local dealer today. Elliot, we have nearly reached the Olympic break. in a few days. I get on the plane to head to Milan. You were Milan-bound this weekend. Some of our teammates

for the hockey coverage are already over there. See Cheryl Pounder, Kenzie Lalone, Claire Hannah, already boots on the ground in Italy. I don't know.

This is my first Olympic experience, Elliot. You've got to have a few times. Any advice? How should I pack? Should I leave room for souvenirs? Yes. Okay.

There will be a couple things that you'll want to buy. You know, I think that one of the things I always found at the Olympics is, and I love every second of it, there will be a point in the Olympics where you hit a wall. So you've got to kind of pace yourself. You get there, you want to experience the city, maybe go out and have a good time. I always felt that the less I do that at the beginning of the Olympics,

even if you have time to do it. Because, you know, I was obviously doing a lot of swimming and tracks. So you have a Dom's writing, nothing Italian Expresso can't fix. That's not true, Dom. I'm going to tell you that. Believe me, it's not true. When you do track or swimming, you have heats in the morning and then you have finals in the evening. So you're burning the candle at both ends.

right and in hockey you know oftentimes you'll have three or four games in a day at your arena so again you're burning the candle at both hands the biggest device i would give you is when you get there don't go crazy all at once well i know that's a problem for you so hold on really you know that's not going to be a problem you know me Friday nights in Montreal yeah that's right you're just it makes me so angry thinking about it. But, you know, I just think that, you know, you're going to have a night or two where you can really see the city.

Try to save, maybe with the first day you get there, see a little bit of the city. But if you really want to go and spend a night out late, do it not at the beginning, but like in the middle or towards the end. That's what I always felt was the best. Yeah. I, that's how I approach playoffs typically. Like you save until okay, now the cups handed out and that final night we're all together as a group, then you let your guard

down a little bit and enjoy all the work you got you've all just put in together over those two months. It's kind of feels similar going over there because to your point, I mean, once the hockey starts, like it's a lot up until the metal rounds. And then even then, one day in between doesn't give you much time to catch your breath. So it's going to be a lot. It's going to be wonderful. And I will say for all the talk and worry about the state of the arena, the Santa Giulia over there.

And especially once you're seeing the images now with the Olympic signage everywhere, it's, you know, it feels, okay, now it's real. That's what you expect to look. look like. It will be. It'll feel real. You'll be like your first time you'll go, you'll be like, wow, I can't believe I'm in the middle of all this. I think the other thing too is pick one thing you want to see there that's whether it's another sporting event or something you want to see in Milan and you know, you and I had the opportunity to go to Milan in the summer. Make sure you do it. There's been a lot like the Olympics, I don't know if they're doing it this year, but at the

Olympics in Italy, they had concerts every night. And I saw Lou Reed. I always wanted to see Lou Reed. And Lou Reed played a concert at the Olympics in Italy, Turin, and I had a chance to go see him. Like, that was a big highlight for me. I've gone to see other events. That's not always possible. And these ones are really spread out. So it really might not be possible. But try to find something to say, like, if I'm coming here, I want to see this. You know, when Rio, I didn't prepare for it well. I wanted to go see Christ the Redeemer, right? Like, I know I'm not Christian or Catholic, but still, it's an incredible, incredible piece of architecture or history, whatever you want to call it. And I didn't plan properly, so I didn't see it. And I'm still

annoyed. I mean, I'll say this, there's one other thing I'm more annoyed about my Brazil experience than that, but that bothered me that I didn't get to see it. So if there is something you want to see there, find time to go. All right. But we're going to be there to work. We're going to be working a lot. Oh, yeah. And I can't wait.

Oh, yeah. All right, pal. I'll see you over there. Have a great trip. Thanks, buddy. You too. All right. That was the final thought presented by the Toyota BZ.

With that, we'll take our first break and come back with the thought line. 32 thoughts, the podcast continues after this. All right, welcome back. Time for another edition of the thought lines. So, Elliot, as you know, I'm in Vancouver this weekend or was in Vancouver this weekend. A couple of shoutouts before we go any further. First goes to Cooper, who is a member of the ice crew at Rogers Arena. So I walk in Friday for the tail end of the Canucks practice and the Leafs practice

because they played at 4 o'clock local time on Saturday. And I'm standing there in the Zam area and Cooper gets my attention, says hi, introduces himself, goes on to tell me that every time he goes out to do a flood on the ice, he has this program in his earbuds as he's doing his laps. Oh, thanks, Cooper. That's awesome. If you're listening, keep her tight in the corners, bud.

Which Knoch do you think? is going to skate up to Cooper and say, hey, stop listening to that garbage. The ice has always screwed up. That's right. The puck keeps, yeah, there's a puddle down there on the right side. You're too busy listening to Elliot go on about Panarin. I can't decide if it's Garland, Demko, or Patterson, one of the three. Yeah, could be.

Thanks, Cooper. That's awesome. So I wanted to shout him out. Also wanted to shout out our producer, Dom. I sent him a note earlier this week knowing we were coming out here. I said, where would you recommend a possible spot for dinner?

He gave me a handful of options. And Dana and I, because she was out here with Berkeley this weekend, we went for dinner after the game Saturday. Excellent spot. Excellent recommendation, Dom. So thank you, sir. You're more than welcome.

Anytime in our city. All right. What do you got for? This job, Dom. About time. Mm-hmm. About time. I only give you bad recommendations, Elliot.

That's right. You had me eating out of a dumpster. Okay. So I've got a few here. First of all, let's go with this one. Hello, Elliot. I'm hoping this reaches you and you don't mind my reaching out. Of course not.

We have never met, but I pay attention when you're on air. You always have good information. and an informed opinion. I like where this is going. I feel compelled to respond to a comment you made last Friday when Mitch Marner returned to Toronto with the Vegas Golden Knights. On the pregame show, you said that Mitch Marner is by far the best homegrown leaf ever, no question.

If not exact, they were words to that effect. I think I said something along the lines. He should have gone down as the best maple leaf homegrown maple leaf ever. No question, but leaving God in the way of that. But it's close enough. The writer's not too far off. He continues, I am a huge Marner fan and was disappointed to see him leave. He was terrific to watch.

Having said that, I must take exception to your comment. In my not unbiased opinion, my father, Charlie Conacher, was by far the best Toronto-born Maple Leaf. I won't quibble about Toronto versus Markham as it's all GTA, but there is no comparison. Charlie is one of two Maple Leafs to ever lead the NHL in points scoring during the season, and the only Maple Leaf to win the scoring title twice. Gordie Drillan won at once. Marner has never led the league in total points. The author of this letter is Brad Conacher.

And if you're not familiar with his dad, Charlie Conacher, Charlie Conacher is a hockey hall of famer. He was a member of the famous Kid Line with Busher Jackson and Joe Primo, and they won the Stanley Cup in 1932. And Conacher was a great player. He went into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961, and Brad is not wrong. and I wanted to read the email because Charlie Conacher, it's been almost 100 years since he was at his peak in the National Hockey League and he should not be forgotten.

Kyle, in the last podcast, we had a person who wrote it in the thought line and said, can the Montreal Can Indians hire Carrie Price as a goalie coach, even though he is still under contract to the San Jose Sharks? And I said, if you look at the precedent established by Chris Pronger, who was working for the league and eventually was working for a team while he was still under contract, I would think the answer is yes. And Price's contract is over after this year. Well, I had someone in the league who heard heard that and wrote to me and said, I am. not correct about that he said carry price wouldn't be able to work for another team in an official capacity but this person told me he knew of a player a few years ago who wasn't allowed

same situation traded from a team wasn't ever going to play again the team that traded him wanted him to work for them the league wouldn't let them made them wait the year I don't think either team cared, but it became a point of principle. So he said that maybe that was the case before, but it's not the case now. Kyle, we also had a number of people reach out about our ambidextrous conversation that I wanted to mention. First of all, let's go with Wade Stewart. Wade pointed out that Paul Gostad, was well known for winning face-offs as both a righty and a leftie. Also, Jason Faber wrote,

I can't believe known Sends fan, Kyle Vakosgus, forgot about Jake Sanderson using Michael Amadio's left-handed stick to make an epic outlet pass that led to a goal this season. Yeah, I blew that one. Jason, I think that he didn't do that because he wants people to forget his bias towards the senators. And the great Tom Joliti, who writes for NHL.com, he talks about Chris Chelyos, scored a couple goals lefty, and talked about it on TNT at one point earlier this season that his dad once bought him some bargain lefty sticks when he was a kid, so he had to use them. So I appreciate those notes.

Now, Kyle, as part of this ambidextrous conversation, Biffy Miffy, who always sends me on, I know it sounds ridiculous, on the Instagram DMs, Biffy Miffy, my buddy, about the raccoons, also sent a note about Andre Vasselowski. Vaselowski is left-handed and used to catch with his right hand and switch to left because he couldn't get a right-hand. right-handed glove. I feel like he would count. Well, buddy biffy-miffy, he sure counts. And you know who found out about that? The hard way on Sunday?

Jeremy Swayman. Yes. It would have done him as good if this was released on last Friday, not Tuesday morning. Well, that's right. Because Swayman would have listened to the pod, which of course he would have,

it is preposterous to suggest he wouldn't. he would have been prepared for that goalie fight at the outdoor game. Yeah. I love Kuthrov afterwards. He's like, well, I knew he was going to kill him. Like, I knew I knew that he was going to get him. Every time Kucherov speaks, it's a new t-shirt. Seriously.

All that guy spits is smash hits. And I also believe, to your point, everyone needs a biffy-miffy in their lives, one way or another. One way. And I'm glad you found yours. Or another. I've got a couple others here. I wanted to mention.

Let's go with Frank Asher. Love the pod and especially the discourse on the pronunciation of Puma. So I went down a rabbit hole on YouTube searching for Puma commercials. I can say with certainty both pronunciations are correct. Soccer commercials say it your way. Ricky Fowler and his golf commercials says it the American English way. Thought you should know this listener wasted time on this, having owned many pairs of Puma golf shoes. I don't have a good raccoon story, so I'll leave that to other listeners.

And I will tell you this week, Kyle, the raccoonistas of this pod did not disappoint. I was deluged with more raccoon content. More people sent the taco place in Mexico that the raccoons hang out. in and they said I should open a franchise. Yeah, you could do it just right off of your patio, the house. That's right. The only problem is that's too many people in my house. I'm not always crazy about that.

And secondly, I don't want to encourage these things to hang around more. Andrew Holland talked about raccoon characters. We aren't pests. We aren't invaders. We're just trying to live. Please be kind to wildlife. I got some pro raccoon pushback this week. There was another Insta follower.

Her name is Larissa Studio sent me a drawing that says, cats are punk, dogs are pop, raccoons are techno. Okay. And, you know, I have to tell you, You would not believe how many notes I got. Somebody sent me an Insta profile, Sanchez the Raccoon, who has 760,000 followers. And I had someone who sent me a video of a guy who cooks Raccoon. And he put it with rice and cornbread and yams.

And he was like, I don't care when anybody thinks, I'm eating this. And it's good. You got a few people of reminding us of Xavier Leggett. Yes, I was getting to that. Xavier Leggett and going on Amon Ross St. Brown's podcast and talking about how he eats raccoons. So it was all pretty crazy. But I'd like to close with Anthony Polafron, who's from Australia. So you're sick of winter.

Well, I'm sick of summer. I'll trade you this disgusting Australian. heat wave we're having. If you haven't seen, we're basically the hottest country on this planet. Minus 17 sounds better than 45 degree blaring heat. Anthony, I will take that trade. I won't even make you throw in a draft pick. I will take 45 over minus 17.

And Anthony is from Australia, but he's got a red wings shirt in his profile. So big wings fan there. No degrees retained at all. We'll take all of it happily. Yes, yes. You don't even have to throw on a fifth rounder, Anthony, or a prospect who might not make the NHL. We'll make that trade one for one. Yes.

Okay, Matt from Toronto. Gentlemen, great to hear Norm Allman mentioned on the pod recently. Someone once described him as the best player never to win a major NHL award. Post-retire, and he played beer league hockey well into his golden years. And the story that gets around is that one game, a young buck on the opposing team was hot dogging on a rush and Allman casually stripped the puck off him.

Red face, the player slammed his stick in frustration at having being bettered by a senior citizen. And another player consoled him, don't feel too bad. He's done that to players a lot better than you. Keep up the good work. He liked the Norm Allman love we gave the other pod. So, Matt, I love stories like this because a few years ago, This is probably about 15, 20 years ago.

Some guys I know basically played. They work in finance and they wanted to play against the NHL alumni. So they got a game against them. They paid to get a gain. And they looked at the lineup and I think a lot of the guys were like 10 years older than them. And they were like, we could beat these guys. You know, we could pummel these guys. They're younger.

We're in better shape. This could we, like they were like, we got to take this seriously. We got to beat them. And the NHL alumni were in the next room, and they could hear them. And they were like, okay, I guess guys, we've got to take this seriously. My friend said, we never touched the puck. And the alumni guys have said to me, you can lose your speed, but you never really lose your hands or your intelligence. They played keep away all day.

And my friend said, like, we were exhausted. Not only they kill us, but we were sucking wind. Like the only time I recently, I went to go see the Shorzie game in Toronto. And they skated rings around the NHL alumni. Like the second half of that game, they were all over them. And Adam Monroe, who's a former NHL pick and NHL player, he was unbelievable. Like, he basically saved that game. The Leaf guys took a lead and they were holding on for Dear Life at the end.

And yeah, that was the only time I've really seen the alumni get skated around or not be able to control the game because normally they're really good at getting the puck and making sure you can't get it back. Yes. I mean, that is textbook like senior hockey at its best. Whether it's a group of NHL alumni or just a group of players that have played together a long time and have figured out that the puck moves a lot quicker than anybody will ever be able to skate. and you could have all the speed and youth and tenacity in the world. But if you got a group of guys that are like, that's fine, we'll just pass the puck around so you never quite get to it, especially in that setting, whether it's an alumni game or just rec league, it is a complete one-sided affair.

It's great. You know, I just want to say, I know Shorzy is part of the evil telecom as opposed to us, the good telecom, but Jared should know, like those fans, they, love them. I could, in the audience tonight, that night, you could really feel the love. Yeah. He's got a presence about him. Yeah. But all of them to everybody. Yes. For sure. Yeah. It's a, it's a wonderful

thing that they've got going. Okay. Madeline. Hi, Elliot and Kyle. My name is Madeline. I'm a college student. Dom, do you think it's Madeline or Madeline? Oh, Madeline. you think so in this instance yeah I think you guys are both wrong Madeline you have to send a note in to say if it's Madeline or Madeline I think these guys are nuts

M-A-D-E-L-E-I-N-E Madeline it's just probably like a different spelling you think Madeline you got you got to send a note to follow up so we know the truth here you are the king of different spelling that's for sure yes weird spelling of my name. All right, so we'll continue with Madeline to keep you happy. All right. Sorry, Madeline, if that is a real name.

I'm a college student and became a hockey fan last year, and I've really enjoyed listening to the podcast throughout this season. Welcome. Yes. I had a question about the upcoming Olympics. I know the NHL pauses play after February the 5th, and that the opening ceremony is on. on February 6th, so I was curious whether NHL players are expected to participate in the opening

ceremony or if their schedules prevent that. I was also wondering if you guys have any thoughts on Team Canada's Lulu Lemon Olympic gear. I'm having a hard time picturing some of the guys in the opening ceremony outfits, especially the maroon puffer style capes. Ha ha! Moments like LeBron James carrying the American flag of the Summer Olympics felt so iconic, so I'm wondering whether hockey players might have a similar presence or moment in the opening ceremony this time around.

Thanks so much. Love the show. Madeline, it's a great question. The way it's working this year is for most NHL players, there are charters going on Saturday the 7th. And that is how they're going to get there. Now, we know of at least three who are going early. And it basically just depends on where, when your schedule ends.

So two Boston Bruins, Jeremy Swayman and Charlie McAvoy, and Jake Ottinger of the Dallas Stars, are going early so they can go into the opening ceremonies. I remember, I don't remember the specific year, but I remember when Jack Johnson was a member of the L.A. Kings, he left early once to go to the opening ceremonies. He got permission from the Kings to go to an opening ceremony and just march in that.

So I guess it comes down to A, do you end early enough? And B, do you want to do it? And I agree with you. I think it's spectacular. And if they can get there, obviously at least three will. And now that news has gotten out, the three are, I wonder if more are going to do it. As for the gear, they will happily wear it. It's your country.

And even if some people think it looks a little different or odd, you throw that stuff on and you pimp like a peacock as you walk into the stadium. And I believe I saw two Elliott Pastronachs going also to walk with Chequia. Oh, I didn't see that. Well, it makes sense because the Bruins are done, right? You know, the Rangers are done too. So I wonder if any of their guys might end up going over. You know, the Rangers obviously have J.T. Miller.

So there's Vincent Trocheck. So there are players who could easily go if they wanted to there as well. Absolutely. All right, Paul. Remember, Madeline, we need clarification. Please. We'll be. And by the way, if I'm wrong, don't write.

Yeah, that's right. Only clarify if Elliot's right. That's right. Otherwise, you are never to be heard from again. That's great. I hope you enjoy the Olympics, Madeline. And we appreciate your writing in. and great to have you aboard and part of the hockey community.

Okay, Paul. Hello, Kyle, Dom, and the Raccoon man. With Patrick Kane, having now broken the career points record by a U.S.-born player, attention is now turned to whether he will score the 17 points necessary to pass Brett Hall, who, while American, was born in Belleville, Ontario, and who is widely regarded as a career American points leader. However, what about Brian Trotcheye, who's sort of. scored 1,425 career points.

While born in Valmarie, he represented Canada at the 1981 Canada Cup and then the U.S. in the 84 Canada Cup, as he was a dual U.S. citizen eligible for U.S. citizenship due to his Chippewa grandmother and as he desired to represent the country he lived in, shouldn't Brian Trotche be considered the American career points leader? P.S., I once had the terrifying experience of having to figure out how to remove a raccoon from my empty garbage bin. I attached a rope through the lid handle. Then from the relative safety of the other side of the fence, I opened it, then slowly checked whether it had left. It had not. Then came plan B of placing a large tree branch in the garbage bin, then fleeing indoors, with hopes it would climb out once I was out of range. Fortunately, that was a quick end to my raccoon

encounter. So, Paul, I have a similar story from, not surprisingly, from my old house, a baby raccoon got into our tall garbage bin and when I opened it up to throw the another bag in there I saw it and I jumped and I didn't realize it was a baby at the time but I jumped and I was like oh my God there's a raccoon in the bin same thing and I started to think about you know what to do and my neighbor saw me he's like what's going on here and I told him he says I'm not letting you do this I am making you call a professional I go you know what I was just going to lean it down and let the raccoon crawl out. And he said, nope, first of all, you don't know what the condition of that raccoon is. And secondly, you know, what if it's angry? It could attack you. So he made me call a professional and have a professional do it. And what had happened, too, is that the raccoon got scared and it had defecated all over the bin.

and if you know anything about raccoon droppings, they are not good to be around it. That stuff is dangerous. So I've, Paul, I've been there and they just, I was going to do something potentially along the lines of what you discussed there. My neighbor was like, nope, this was my first ever encounter with raccoons. And he's like, you are not doing that. I'm not letting you do it.

Soft Torontoian. Anyway, as for the answer to your question, I actually, I don't know how old you are, Paul. But I'm old enough to remember when that happened. And it was actually a big controversy. Mike Bossy, the great Mike Bossy admitted, he did an interview where he admitted that he was angry at Trotche for doing that. And the reason Trachet did it is he was a great player, but he wasn't going to make the 1984 Canadian team.

You know, they had so many good players, Oilers, Islanders, and just other guys that Trache wasn't going to make that team. And he had a lot of pride and he was very upset. And he switched his team based on what you said. And there were some hard feelings there. But Bossie said that him and Trache, they hammered it out. But some of the Canadian players were really angry at him. So it was a big deal.

I do remember that story. I would just say no. I mean, as you're right, He's a dual citizen. He did play for the U.S., but that was, you know, that was how many thousands of points before. Actually, it probably wasn't even a thousand, but it was close. He'd already been a heart trophy winner. He'd already been a number one center on a four-time Stanley Cup champion. I mean, Trotche was an incredible player, just a fantastic player.

But you know what? I don't count him as an American. He's Canadian through and through, even though. though he did play for Team USA. Good. I mean, good thinking, though, Paul. I like that you brought that up. Yeah.

And it's a good, I mean, I had no idea that he had jumped to play for the Americans in 84 at the Canada Cup. No idea. I think in the round robin game in 84, I think he scored, but I think the final was something like 83 Canada. And the Canadians admitted that they wanted that game bad. that was the tournament too. It's also a great story. You know, the Oilers had just won their first Stanley Cup after the Allenders had won four. And there were a lot of hard feelings between those two teams.

And that team Canada team, if I remember correctly, they went two, I'm not even looking at this. So if I'm wrong, please excuse me. They went two, two, two, and one in the round Robin. And they didn't play very well. and Larry Robinson pulled the Oilers and the Islanders together and he said, like, enough of this crap. You're not the Oilers. You're not the Islanders. You're playing for Team Canada. And enough is enough. It's one of the greatest games I ever saw internationally. It kind of gets forgotten in all the other great ones. But the 84 Canada Cup semifinal between Canada and Russia, and Russia had beaten Canada, six,

to three in the opening round. They really embarrassed them. It was a really lopsided game, and that was the one where Paul Coffey broke up a two-on-one in overtime. Everybody thought they were about to lose, and they went down the ice, and he took a shot from the point that John Tinelli deflected in, and then they beat Sweden two straight in a best two out of three final.

But that Canada-Soviet Union game was one of the best international hockey games ever, and it kind of gets lost and all of the other ones that have happened. But people who are my age, they will remember that tournament extremely well. That two on one was the greatest play called Paul Coffee ever made breaking up that play. Wow.

Good recall. Okay, one more. Hello, Dom, Kyle, and Elliot. Why are you reading it like this? What I was going to say is that Cadence remind you of anything? Who would send in voicemails with that type of intro? Oh, the anonymous caller? Oh, God.

So here's the big reveal. My name is Kierce. Kierce? I'm a 34-year-old born and raised in North Burnaby, home of the great Don Taylor. I fell in love with the game and the Canucks when I was a kid, West Coast Express era. Naslin Morrison-Bertuzi. So great. Yep. I am a die-hard Canucks fan. Not the easiest thing to be right now.

Anyways, I sent in that first anonymous voice message, just as a joke, I guess. I was under the influence one night and feeling creative and silly. I used to call and text into 1040 and 650 a lot. Also ended up on spit and chicklets a couple times, almost in the same way I was on your show. So even though it was just a silly idea, I did think you guys were. get a kick out of it and play it. Just didn't think it would catch so much steam. That was hilarious and fun.

So, sorry to disappoint, but I'm just an average fan, not in the industry. I am an audio engineer and produce a bit of music. Love hearing all the engineers chiming in trying to reverse engineer my voice back to normal. Thanks for having fun with me. Tell Amber, I'm sorry for getting him blamed. You know what, Kier's. First of all, that's awesome stuff. That's fantastic.

The fact that it was a random fan of the pod makes it so much better. I wish he would sent this in privately and it hadn't been read so that we could continue to rip Amber and Vexa and not know the truth. I thought the listeners deserve to know. Okay. That's fair. You know. Yeah. I thought to.

I get it. Kierce, that's awesome stuff, man. Awesome stuff. I'm glad you said what your expertise was, because that was going to be my question if you didn't. How was he able to do that? Right, right. But now, as he was describing the state he was in,

we sent in that first one, because remember we were hell-bent on this timestamp on the voicemail when it came through, right? Mm-hmm. Because it was like just after 4 a.m. Eastern Time. Yeah, you're right. Just after 1 a.m. Pacific, which would have been peak under the influence.

I've got an idea, our. So it's all making sense now. Let me just say this to you, Kier's. That your ability to do that properly makes you the greatest broadcaster to come out of your town. Don Taylor is a distant second. You can't even see him in the rear view mirror. And Kieris, thank you for sending that in. and thank you for providing so much great fodder,

a bit that lasted far longer than I'm sure you would have envisioned or any of us, and just a lot of joy and laugh. So that's great. That was a heck of a run. And it could have kept going. He could have happily kept it going, right? But he decided to. I almost got a way to send it in and then halfway through gone to his real name and explained it.

Yes. And real voice. Yeah, exactly. Oh, I see. Send in the voicemail doing it. Yeah, and then halfway through, say, oh, by the way, my name is Kieris. I live in, I live in BC and I love Don Taylor. That's, uh, that's great. Oh, what a run. What a run. Okay, Elliot, for the first time ever in the history of the thought line, I got a live sports net stats request while at Vancouver, Toronto on Saturday. Okay. No way. So during the second intermission, Michael, a Leafs fan from Colonna, approaches me and goes, I've got a question for the good people at SportsNet Stats. I'm like, all right, never had this before it in person, but this is great. What's up? So he goes, I'm convinced the Maple Leafs this year, they are the worst that when they score, they always seem to give up a goal right away after the fact.

because in that second period on Saturday, as you'll remember, Nick Waugh scored to tie the game, and a minute and 11 seconds later, Tom Vlander scored to give Vancouver the lead back for the time being. So it was fresh on his mind, and he wanted answers. So I said, no problem. I'll go ask. So I asked our group, just this season, who has given up the most goals within two minutes of scoring one themselves? Now, Michael, I will tell you, though it's not great numbers for Toronto, they are not the worst in the league. They are three off the top number.

So they are fourth worst? They are twenty-nine. Okay. Fifteen goals they have given up within two minutes of scoring one themselves this year. Do you have a guess of who sits at the top of this list? I really don't. I have a bell guess. I'm going to guess.

Sure. I'm channeling. I wish you could all see what Elliot's doing right now. Summoning his best guess. I'm going to go with Nashville. Wow. That's close. They are tied for third.

16. It's Toronto's provincial rival, the Ottawa Senators, 18 times this year. They've given up a goal within two minutes of scoring one themselves. That makes sense considering some of the things they've gone through. Yeah, but also like Colorado, 16. Really?

Colorado? Yeah. Boston at 15 tied with Toronto. Even Buffalo at 17, their second on this list. But that doesn't seem to be costing them. Certainly not in the last couple months. You know, Buffalo was another team I thought about, but they've been so good lately. I figured it wouldn't be them.

the nation's capital has really gone to heck since you left, Kyle. That stat would be that bad if you were still living there. This is all your fault. I know, because what was the other one this year? It was revenge games for goalies returning, right? Like they had the most for ex-Senators goalies playing against them and winning. Yes. They were at the top there too.

So, all right, I'm willing to wear that one. Okay. If you would like to send in a voicemail, anonymous or otherwise, 1-833-3-3-1-321-3-2, or you can submit an email at 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca. We'll take one final break and wrap up this edition of 32 thoughts afterwards. What do you think Kurses' email is, D-Amber at gmail.com? Yeah, that's right. At rcii.orgers.

Yeah, wait a sec. Oh, I wouldn't put it behind Amber to send that in just to throw us off the trail. He's like, the harassing gotten too much. I'm trying to decide if Amber is smart enough to do that. Yeah. Could go either way. We're just interested enough. He's like, he's already created one alias.

He's not going to create a second one to try to get rid of the first one. There's the anonymous caller and then there's Kearse. The anonymous defender of the anonymous caller. Okay, before we go, you may have heard on Monday, tragedy struck the hockey world. Three junior hockey players perished a fatal collision in southern Alberta, J.J. Wright, Cameron Corso, and Caden Fine, three members of the Southern Alberta Mustangs,

on their way to practice. on Monday and an accident claimed their lives. It's, you can't even begin to make sense of it. We wanted to send our love to the Wright family, the Cosorso family, the Fine family, the Mustangs, the hockey community in Stavely, and Southern Alberta. All right, before we go, a couple more shoutouts here. Wrapping up my weekend in the BC Lower Mainland, covering Leif's Canucks this past Saturday in Vancouver.

So Joey Kenwood is Sportsnet 650. It was great to see him. He too, a lover of coffee, was kind enough to drop off a bag of beans from the foggy bean coffee company in Euculet, BC over on Vancouver Island, not far from where I grew up. Can't wait to dive into those, Joey. Thank you very much. And then, Sue, I don't know if you've heard yet, there is a new coffee roaster on the scene in British Columbia. Breakout coffee company. Okay. So it's two guys, Aaron and Gore, that have been on the coffee scene for a long, long time in the area. They've now roped in Dave Tomlinson,

who of course works on our Sportsnet Canucks broadcast with John Shorthouse and Dan Murphy. So Dave's got his own line of espresso, the Dave Tomlinson top shelf espresso. So Dave, thank you for sending me a bag of that. I look forward to try and a bit of this before heading off to Italy to cover the Olympics. And just wanted to mention that because every bag of Dave Tomlinson, top shelf espresso that is sold, $2 from it goes to hockey helps the homeless. I believe if I understand it correctly, any other bag from breakout coffee, a bag of beans sold.

$1 goes to hockey helps the homeless. So really neat cause there and just wanted to highlight that. All right, tonight, a special. Tuesday night National Spectacular on the network. Austin Matthews, the Maple Leafs in Edmonton to face McDavid and the Oilers. The Oilers ran the Leafs out of the gym when they came through Toronto back in December. We'll see what the return affair looks like tonight at 830 Eastern 630 Mountain Time from Rogers Place at Edmonton. And then the final Scotia Bank Wednesday night hockey prior to the Olympic break is another all-Canadian clash from Winnipeg.

Canadians are in town to face the Jets. That's at 7 E.T, the pregame show Hockey Central with David Amber and Company at 630 Eastern, 3.30 Pacific. And it's almost kind of a roundabout doubleheader on a Wednesday because after that at 10 Eastern, also nationally on SportsNet is the Battle of Alberta, the Oilers and Flames from the Scotia Bank Saddle Dome in Calgary at a little after 10 Eastern 8 Mountain Time on the main Sportsnet channels. And of course, you can stream it on Sportsnet Plus. All right. Taking us out today, a track from Giuliana Rilina, who has put some work in her own growth on her Sokmar record, Echo in the Dust. The Southern Ontario musician is as soft as she is tough, seeing the benefit of laying down armor and splitting her heart open so that we may get a glimpse of our own. The songs on Echo in the Dust consider relationships of all sorts as the foundation for her awakening into a renewed creative self, working through loss, grief, habits, and decisions she once made seeking clarity in the past before leaving it to move forward.

The adage, you don't know where you're going until you know where you've been, rings especially true on this album. She's got a number of upcoming shows, both in Canada and stateside over this month here in February, including February 13th in London, Ontario at the Palisad Social Bowl, and the next night, February 14th in Guelph, Ontario at Sonic Hall. Here is Juliana, Rio. On a Bluebird's Wing on 32 Fots, the podcast.