32 Thoughts: The Podcast - A Lot of TBD at American Thanksgiving

Episode Date: November 28, 2025

In this edition of 32 Thoughts The Podcast, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman begin the podcast by unpacking the Edmonton Oilers' woes as they crumble 8-3 against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night. The discussion moves to the thriving Ottawa Senators as they get Brady Tkachuk back into the line up (21:55). Kyle and Elliotte talk about the Calgary Flames who extend GM Craig Conroy two season (30:00). They talk about the Canucks winning a big game in Anaheim after management sent that memo out (33:16). The fellas focus on the Craig Berube-William Nylander dynamic in Toronto (35:00). The Final Thought focuses on the juggernaut Colorado Avalanche and their successful focus on defence (47:30).  Kyle and Elliotte answer your emails and voicemails in the Thoughtline (52:38).Today we highlight Toronto rock musician Keegan Powell and his track Drown. Check his music out here.Listen to all the 32 Thoughts music here.Donate to the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation here.Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates

The game is a matchup between the Campbell River Taiz versus the San Diego Gulls under 16s. The game ended in a Campbell River victory 2 to nothing. Do you remember this game? Yes. On the sheet for the first goal, the game winner, number nine, Kyle Bacoskas. Scroll down, who is in net for the San Diego team. Do you know? No, I don't.

None other than... Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving, those celebrating south of the border. And while we are no Pat Summerall and John Madden, Elliot Friedman, happy to be along. Yes.

On this holiday weekend. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. Hope you're having a great few days with your family. Hope you're enjoying. one day away from NHL action because it is going to be a smorgas board on Friday and Saturday. Showt out to Aaron Andrews. Kyle and I knew what you meant. Absolutely.

We're with you. We are with you. So, Elliot, as we all know, you have your November 1st app. Yep. There's also the look at U.S. Thanksgiving being four points, at least with than striking distance of a playoff spot. As we wake up Friday morning, only Buffalo in the east,

they're five points back. In the west, Nashville, Calgary, St. Louis, Vancouver, they're outside that threshold. Everybody else is either in or on the outside. It just feels like there is a lot to be determined here yet, a lot to be determined as we go forward. Some teams are starting to make their case as sellers.

You had the big news this week on Vancouver. We're all wondering where things are going to go in Nashville. You've got some heavyweights emerging at the top half of the list. And then there's a team like the Edmonton Oilers. Mm-hmm. Who, by all accounts, have aspirations to finish the job that has been now three years in progress. Goaltending continues to be part of the conversation and also just how the entire team is playing. What a great way to end their road trip last weekend down in Florida.

And then we saw what happened on Tuesday night against Dallas, the lone game on the NHL calendar on Tuesday night. As we sit here right now, where are you at with Edmonton and in particular the goaltending conversation? So I've mentioned the Gorge Stellick rule before. for, if you're going to stink, stink on the road. So Edmonton violated that on Tuesday night, but they also violated a second rule.

If you're going to stink, don't stink when it's the only game that everyone's watching. That was another violation. That's right. They committed. They should have saved it for Wednesday. That's right,

when there are 15 teams, 15 games. That's when you stink, because maybe some people will miss it. Number one, I thought McDavid did the right thing post game. He did what the, he was captainy. He did what the captain's supposed to do. We stunk. Not all on Skinner.

We stunk. Like, you know, I was talking about it actually with Gord Stelich on his morning show on, on Sirius XM, and we were saying, even if you had prime Hoshick that game, you lose 5'3 instead of 8 to 3, right? Mm-hmm. And you can make the argument that you're hoping your goalie bails you out with a save 100%. I have no problem with that argument, but they were losing 5-3 instead of 8-3 with prime Hashik and goal that day.

I think we have gotten to the point here, Kyle. Like, I understand what the Oilers think philosophically. I get what they're saying. They're saying, look, this guy's making 2.6 million. We're cap tight. We don't have a lot of flexibility here. The best thing for us is to find a way to make Skinner work at $2.6 million. They also feel very strongly that if they were going to take a shot at changing,

it had to be a clear upgrade. They've traded a lot of assets for other things. They don't have a ton of them. They wanted to be confident if they were going to take a shot at this, they could say it was going to be a clear upgrade. I think all of that is fair and all of that is reasonable. But speaking of sayings, my grandmother, you plan, God laughs. And now we're at a point where I think if you're the Oilers,

you have to be asking yourselves internally, is it just the best thing to move on for everyone involved? is it the best thing for us is it the best thing for Skinner the way we are playing and this is a question you really have to ask yourself when you look at some of the games

that Skinner's played recently and they did win an emotional one with him in goal against Florida are the Oilers as a team just and they are bad defensively but are they just not confident that he's going to be able to do it for them.

It's a really tough question to ask, and you don't have to say it publicly, but you have to say it internally. And, you know, the other thing, too, someone brought up to me, and they went through this in Toronto with Marner, I think some of the reason that it didn't work out for Marner in Toronto in the long run was just having so much around them in Toronto. he's a Toronto guy yes a lot there and maybe going three time zones away and distancing himself from it a bit might be the best thing for him and I know there's starting to be some talk Skinners and Alberta guy St. Albert which is just outside of Edmonton maybe the best thing for him is he goes away from that too and starts over starts fresh so that's the way I look at it now for the Oilers

and you know I don't think Skinner's asked for a trade I don't think he's asked or demanded to go or said it's time I don't think anything like that has happened and to be honest I'd be very surprised if he did it's not his way but I think that from an organizational point of view you have to be asking the question if it's time

for everybody's involved. Now, Kyle, it's easy to say that. It's harder to do that. Because now, if you're doing this, you're already approaching it from kind of a position of weakness in the sense that there's not a lot of goalies available. There's Mersleekins, there's whatever Buffalo is willing to do, and there's Pittsburgh.

I should have said Pittsburgh two pods ago, and someone pointed out Pittsburgh's got four goalies there. who can play and you know Kevin Weeks threw jari's name out there the other day everybody knows that you need to do this and it's harder to make a trade when people see you as desperate or needing to do something but it gets to a point where as an organization you have to say to yourself even if we don't want to do this it's time to do it and I think the Oilers have to be asking themselves that now. I also, by the way, Kyle, I think the other thing, too, is I wonder if the Oilers are considering other defensive help too. Like, are they looking at, okay, it's not

just about the goaltending. Are there other changes that can help our defensive make up that we can make too? And I said we had this conversation kind of the first time this season, a number of weeks back that it feels like, and I do believe, regardless of what happens this year, the wheels completely come off or Edmonton wins the Stanley Cup and Stewart Skinner's the Kahn's Mike trophy winner, I think the best for all involved, because I think Stuart Skinner is a good goalie, that this is his last year as in Edmonton Euler. And you can't tell me that there isn't say that. You can't tell me that there isn't another team out there that looks at their own internal metrics of how they defend and go, yeah, I think if we put him,

in our situation, things will be just fine, you know, so. Oh, you know, Kyle, I think you're 100% right about that. I guarantee to you that a bunch of teams in this league are going to their goalie coach and saying, give me a report on this guy. Tell me what you think. If we get him out of the high pressure environment and bring him here, can he thrive here? I know if I was a GM, I'd be asking that. I'd be going to my goalie coach and I'd be saying, you have a homework assignment.

I know you're not in university anymore and you thought you'd never have to do homework again, but you've got a homework assignment tonight. I need a detailed report on Skinner. If we bring him here, can he play for us? Hunter, I think you're bang on about that one. The other thing, too, is, so we talked in the last pod. You were in Edmonton, and you were staying in the presidential suite of your hotel there. and you were going to see Pickard the next day.

And we talked on that pod about how there was a feeling that when Pickard played in Tampa last week on the back to back of a tough, tough two-game set, Washington and Tampa, they lost in Washington wasn't good, they lost in Tampa in a 2-1 in a hard-fought game. but we had talked about that you got the sense that that might have been it for Pickard that he was in trouble and they played hard for him

and so when you talked to Pickard that came up it did yeah so after we talked about it and the encouragement of Dee Hambley who was the producer quarterbacking that whole project it's a piece we're working on for Hockey Day of course coming up in January from Moncton where Calvin Pickard

was born and spent the first seven years of his life. But yeah, asked him about it. You never know what kind of answer you're going to get. It could be an easy throwaway. It was not in this case. So we wanted to play this now. It gives you a great snapshot into what the man himself was thinking about that and the overall understanding of how much pressure is weighing on oilers and their goaltending and the team in general as they try to sort through all this. That started in Tampa last week felt like a big one for a couple of different reasons. How did you, how do you look back on that night?

Yeah, well, I knew I was playing on Tuesday, which it was a Thursday game of Tampa. Skins was going to play Wednesday and I was going to play Thursday. Tough back-to-back. It's really hard, you know, it's tough travel. You get to sleep at 3.30, you wake up and you're thinking to yourself, like, I got to have a good one here tonight. And I got no excuses like I need to go up, go out and show up and be ready to play because you never know what tomorrow's going to bring. So it was, yeah, it was kind of a weird day for me. I was like, I was napping.

I woke up and I'm like, I need a good one. But I didn't want to put too much stress on myself. I need to have a good one. It's just one game, you know, like I need to have another good one, another good one, another good one. But I had a few tough ones in a row where, you know, I just wasn't playing up to my capability. and I was honestly standing around there and the anthem looking around being like, I got nothing to lose at this point.

You know, I might as well go out and just play clear-minded and do what I can do. Like a game like that, it's almost more pressure on myself than a playoff game. You know what I mean? Like personally.

So... Why? Just personally, like you say you're up one-nothing in the playoffs or whatever and you lose. Like, I'm still going to get another chance. I'm starting to play. playoff game but I don't know if I'm going to start another game after that Tampa game you know what I mean so it's

I'm probably leaving you guys too much info here but um yeah I was looking around during the anthem and and I'm like I got I got no other option I just got to go down swinging played a great game it was a tough finish obviously they score late they scored overtime but that was probably the most at piece I was all year mentally you know I was calm I was seeing everything and in the back of my mind I knew I had a ton pressure on myself. That's a great clip. Kyle, first of all, great job getting that out of them and I look forward to the piece. And secondly, great on Pickard for being honest about it. It's, there's a couple things here. Number one, players know. You can't fool players. They know who deserves to be on a team. They know who doesn't deserve to be on a team. They, they know when it's going well. They know when

it's not going well. You can't, it's like you can't fool the person in the mirror, right? At the end of a day, I always say that to myself. You can't fool the guy in the mirror. And one of the reasons I like being around sports is it's in a lot of ways, particularly when it comes to teams, there's a lot of meritocracy there. There's always exceptions, but generally the people who deserve to be there are there. And if you don't, you get cut and people understand getting cut if you don't deserve to be

there. I kind of like that way and philosophy of life that you should deserve to be where you are. You know what that says to me also, Kyle, that the players can sense the organization knows it can't be status quo in net anymore. And initially they were looking at the easier option, which was changing Pickard, but now they've got to, be looking at the harder option, which is changing a Skinner. Where does Connor Ingram, you think, factor into things at this stage? Is he still an option? It's not his numbers aren't sparkling per se.

I've heard up and down. I've heard up and down. Like maybe you just, see, it's clear to me that when they were thinking about this with Pickard, which he sensed, that Ingram was going to come up and they were going to give him a shot to see what does. he looked like. Like I don't think that Edmonton's going to look at going on with Ingram and Pickard, right?

Like if they were going to do this, it was going to be Ingram and Skinner. But I've heard mixed things about Ingram. You have to look at Minnesota. Like I'm watching Minnesota and that game against Chicago on Wednesday night was just a great game. But Minnesota is a completely different team now with both Gustafin and Walsett going. Like they are.

making saves, they're a good duo, and the team is flying right in front of them. That team believes no matter who's in net right now, they're going to win. And that attitude has completely changed their group, right? Mm-hmm. Edmonton right now is the reverse of that. Now, to me, the bigger question becomes, where are you going to go if you're the Oilers? jari i'll tell you what scares people about them is the health i you know as scared as you are

for the oilers about making a trade where you're going to say maybe we'll lower our sights a bit in terms of what we're looking at the thing that terrifies you the most is going out and getting a goalie who can't stay healthy because availability matters and if you if jari comes and he gets hurt or he can't stay healthy you've created yourself a new problem you've weakened your depth and you've created yourself a new problem that's i guarantee to you that's what scares them about jari so i don't think enough we consider that availability matters to these teams.

They'll take a bigger risk on a guy who generally tends to stay healthy. Right. That's probably part of the reason why John Gibson remained in Anaheim for so long. Yes. Trying to get that sort of. 100% it was. 100% because you couldn't stay healthy. It scared teams away from him.

You're totally right. Now, Nick Hipprios in his first trade board of the year, set off a hornet's nest with Bennington. Bennington, I don't know 100%, but I feel very confident in saying he'd have to approve it. So even if St. Louis wanted to make a deal and had a deal that made sense, he would have to approve it. So that's number one.

A guy I'm going to be curious about, and again, he's been hurt, but he doesn't necessarily cost you anything. is Brasois. So Laurent Borsois is coming back. There were some good articles. A few of the Chicago reporters did good articles on his return. He hasn't played in two years. You know, he could have given up

because those were some bad injuries, but he wanted to try. I think he's going to be on a conditioning stint by next week at the latest. The thing about that is, The challenge for us was is numbers is numbers 3.3. So you're probably going to have to pay a little bit more in terms of a draft pick or whatever. Yeah.

So there's a bit of a cost. Yeah. So you're going to ask Chicago to keep money if you're the others. But the thing about him is, yes, we talked about Jari, he hasn't been healthy, but he doesn't really cost you anything to go do it, right, aside from a pick. And it's not a heavy cost. a guy like jari would be heavier cost so i i'm wondering if that's a guy who's now on edmonton's radar been with the organization before yeah played for the oil kings lots of

ties to the area that could be he could end up being the ultimate wild card in all of this i mean depending on how that conditioning stint goes because there's a guy where health aside you've gotten a guy with a track record that can perform well in spot duty and thrust into big moments, right, Vegas in the playoffs a couple of years ago. But fortunately then he got hurt. But that could be a real big part of all of this too once he gets up and running again and playing games.

Man, oh man. And I'll just say this too about Evanston Elliott. I know a big focus for them going into the year was like, okay, it's going to be a long journey again. We've got to enjoy. the little moments along the way. We can't be wired so tight all the time. We've got a long ways until the spring.

Just get the sense it's been tough to do. I haven't been winning enough games. There hasn't been enough little moments to enjoy to this point. So all of it's just hanging to some of the angstering. Got to start defending. Of course. Gotta start defending. All right.

We should shut out, though. Edmonton continues to try to find their way. The Ottawa Senators remain. remain the best in Canada. Big win over Vegas on Wednesday night. Wayne Scanlon pointed out the last time that they were tops among Canadian clubs this far into the year, November of 2007.

And of course, that ended up being a strange year for Ottawa where they started the season like it was compared to the Montreal-Canadian's dynasties. They were so red-hot. And then I don't even think John Paddock didn't make it through the entire year. They made a coaching change. They just got into the playoffs and lost in the first round. So for those in Ottawa, of course. They burnt out the number one line, right?

Yeah, that's right. That was the year that Alfredson, Heatley, and Spetsa got burnt out early. That's right. So they're hoping not a repeat of that too. And as we talked about last pod, and now it's all the more confirmed, Brady Kachuk, getting back in the lineup Friday in St. Louis. He did media with the Ottawa reporters from the rink on Thursday, one of the few guys that actually was on the ice in Thanksgiving. But he looks ready to go. They did very well without him, all things considered. Do you put them back in?

Or do you say it's going too well right now? We need to continue to keep you out. Kidding, of course. Could you imagine? I wanted to see somebody asked Travis that question. Yeah. Do you hesitate putting your captain back in? I just wanted to see his answer.

Yeah, I'm sorry, you know, I don't want to change a winning lineup, Brady. Yeah, we just got to wait. Just imagine they lose two in a row when he comes back, the think pieces. Are the senators better off without Kachuk? I remember in Pittsburgh at the start of their cup run in 2016, remember Malkin got hurt at the end of the year. And they'd done well with him out. They won game one against the Rangers. And I think he came back game two and they lost.

The series was tied. And people were like, are we sure the Pittsburgh penguins aren't a better team without of Kenny Malkin? The answer is no. I think they'd definitely rather have them have a minute. I could already see it now like front page of the Ottawa Sun. We don't need you and a big like X in Brady's like head. Oh gosh. Don't even go there.

Don't even go there. And Al Mendes listens to this spot. so I hope he reaches out to you. I would not want to be on the ice against Kachuk for his first shift for Ottawa. Boy, fright train. He's going to be no breaks. Pommeling guys. Pommeling guys.

That was a great win in Vegas the other night. You know, Vegas is not themselves right now. They got some injuries like everybody does. They're a little bit leakier than they. they normally are. But I think any time you win there, especially when you blow a lead, that's a massive W.

You get out of there and you say, let's get to the tables. That was awesome. Like, we were celebrating. That thing with Eller too and Marner were Lers like chirping at Marner and Marner's showing him the iPad. I couldn't stop laughing at that.

I thought that was really hilarious. There are some, guys in this league the challenge with like macar like shea Weber never won a norris right never and it was because you know Ryan suitor never won a norris right because there was a run there of guys that were just so good and like Carlson was at his peak um you know there was there was just there was Brent Burns there was just a run there of guys that were so good that you just

someone's going to get screwed okay like I look now it's terrible that Hayeskin has never won a Norris but then you look at like this is the Makar Quinn Hughes era and who's

going to look and say oh those guys are undeserving right but to me it's generally terrible that Hayeskinin's never won a Norris, and he should. Sanderson, I'm curious to see

when does you break through or if Hayskinin wins, and I know it's still early for Sanderson, but this is how good he is, is Sanderson going to be a point in time in this league the best player who's never won a Norris trophy? Hoof. Because right now it's...

Right now it's Heskinen. Yes. But I'm talking about when you're playing, right? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Weber is one of the best ever, never to win the Norris, but he's out right now. No, I know.

To mean, number one is Haskinen right now. But if Haskinen wins, is it going to be Sanderson? Is he going to be the best defenseman never to win a Norris at some point in the NHL? Right. And my only point I was going to make on Weber, I think he finished second in the voting twice, finished third one year. He's been a finalist, but...

Kyle, if you're not first, you're last. Thank you, Reese, Bobby. I live my whole life based on that. I think, too, for Sanderson, like you've... You can totally make the argument that this should not be the reason to make a case for or against. Of course, it's always part of it. There needs to be, at some point, you pop. offensively where you're in the conversation amongst like that changes the conversation whether

rightly or wrongly i feel it just does it just does when you're talking norris um especially if you're somebody that like sanderson you haven't won it before there seems to be the need to have that element too and i mean a great first step wednesday night in Vegas what three points in the first period alone. I think I heard Gord Wilson say. I think it was just the third senator's defenseman and franchise history to do that, three points in one period. But he's a heck of a player. I remember like DJ Smith when he first came into the league, he was like, this guy wants to be the best, looks after himself really well, right from the jump. And you just sensed it was only a matter of time before the more broader recognition came in for him. Now we're starting to see it.

Chris Pronger, waxing poetic. Yeah. And on and on and on. So good for him. It's well deserved. You know, we talked about the Oilers in Minnesota and how different you look when you feel your goalie's going to make saves. It's not the same thing exactly, but you can see when Sanderson's out there that the senators play very comfortably. Like, things are going to work out here.

yes it's nice to have an eraser back there yep human eraser that can just not even necessarily physicality but can kill plays and control the game like warrensky was that has been that for a few years in columbus he was incredible wednesday night against toronto again it felt like he had the puck for 18 minutes of that game like just total game changer when he's on the ice so you want to That's another guy. You know what? He would be, you know what?

He would probably be second right now behind Heiskenen for me. It would be Heatskinen 1, Werenski 2, and then we can talk about Sanderson. Yes, absolutely. But all those guys are in that class. Heck of a time to be a defenseman right now. Unless you want Nora's votes. What's what I mean? there's so many, so many good ones

and two at the top that unfortunately, it was like Mike Trout in baseball, right, for all those years and there was almost this feeling among the voters well, we can't possibly have him as AL MVP again. I was like, well, you can because he continues to be the best

guy in the league. Seriously. But, okay, so we've got there's another big Canadian podcast again, eh? We've got some more Canadian topics to do. Don't worry you Americans. We're trying to give you things so we don't freak you out about any of your teams. Yes, because this is where we talk disasters.

Yes. On the 32 disaster podcast, you know, it's a holiday and you're focused on football. We're not ignoring you. We're not anti-American. We're just trying to give you a fun week with your families. So with that, the Maple Leafs. No, well, we talked about the big grade length on Monday. Why don't we do Calgary?

Why don't we do Calgary first just quick? Oh, of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, let's get there. So Craig Conroy got his extension. Eric Francis said on the broadcast in their game against Tampa that it's two years. And Eric suspects it's been done for a while, and I think he's probably right. Eric's pretty plugged in there. I always say getting closer because until something's announced, you always wonder what exactly is going on there.

I 100% believe that there's something to be said for what we talked about on Monday and I wrote on Wednesday, which is that some teams are really allergic to making positive announcements when things aren't going very well. I'll tell you what was funny was I got the confirmation in a few minutes before I put out the tweet and so I looked at my watch and it was 720 and I was like, ah, Puck just dropped. I, you know, I, I, I wasn't looking at my app. I wasn't looking at the TV. I was just worried about the wording. And I was like, I'll just, I'll just put it out, probably still zero zero. And immediately, I get a text like, good timing. And I go, what do you mean? He goes, look at the score of the game. It's three nothing. I'm like, what? It's three nothing. And by the time I turn the TV on everything, it's four nothing. I was like, Oh, my God.

And so a friend of mine asked me, he says to me, this guy's not in the business, he's a lawyer, he says to me, you know, when a team is losing that badly, do they tell you that to put it out to distract from what's happening on the ice? And I said, no, like, that's absolutely not what happened here. I said to this guy, you know I'm enough of a space cadet on my own that I would just do that without checking, which is exactly what happened. I should have checked. Now, if I would have checked, I don't know what I would have done. I might still have put it out anyway or might have waited to the end of the game, depending if I knew anybody else was chasing it. But it was just funny.

Like, so immediately a text comes to me, like, great timing on that one. And I had no idea. I was like, I was like, Dustin. Wolf starting can't possibly be that bad. And that was the other thing, this guy who texted me, he said, I'm reading your notes. And he's like, this is the double whammy you put it out as they're down three nothing and you said that they can't possibly bottom out with wolf as he gets chased like two and a half minutes into the game so anyway it was conroy's deserving um i think the fans feel very comfortable with him uh you know he he's a he's definitely a flame like he's a very passionate flame he thinks he cares a lot about the organization and don't listen to the noise they are rebuild

like you can see with what they're doing and I don't think the flames are going to do anything this year to try to save their season short term if they end up where they're going and they get a high pick they'll take it and they'll figure it out and we should mention Vancouver two big win in Anaheim first game after the memo goes out I have no doubt that that was like an Adam-foot motivational game. Guys, this is one of those games where you sort of use the front office as motivation. And I don't even think the front office would care because coaches, they try to do this kind of thing. They've given up on us.

Let's go out there and show we're better than that, that they shouldn't give up on us. And typical of the Canucks, that was a game they could have lost, but they won. and they played hard again. And I know I've said this a few places. The guy to watch here is Sherwood. I think they're going to have a lot of options. And to me, the only question is when? When do they do it?

But there's, I think there's already teams lining up there. I mean, dirt cheap the rest of the year, always on, already on pace to smash what was a very productive season a year ago. And as we alluded to earlier, plays hard. Quinn Hughes was the one that was like, hey, we should be thinking about this guy. And I'm sure internally Vancouver was looking at that name prior to that. But Hughes knew what was going on. And he's going to be in high, high demand.

All right, Toronto. I mean, we spent a good chunk of Monday's pod dissecting everything that has gone on with them to this point. Not looking to rehash that. Joseph Wall, unbelievable on Wednesday. Again. The reason he's been really great since coming back. the most stabilizing part of what they've been trying to do has been him. But we, again.

I have, I have a question for you first. Okay. Okay. Did you watch Sean McKenzie's pregame interview with Craig Barube? I did. Okay. I think I know where you're going with this. No, you know where I'm going with this.

If you were doing that interview, would you have had the courage to say, Craig, inquiring minds want to know, how'd you get that cut on your forehead? I think that would have been, I would have slid that in before the camera started rolling to feel the water. Yeah, that's what I would have happened by the way. Yeah, I, hey, before we go, are you all right? What happened? Yeah. How do we know?

That's what I would have done too. I would have said, just tested the water out beforehand. Yes. Clearly, clearly, McKenzie dropped the ball on this one. The problem is right. If you do it live

and things go sideways, everybody going to see it, and that's not going to look good. That's right. Do we know? Do we know what happened? I have no idea. I'm sure somebody knows,

but I don't know. I'm not on the road with them, so I don't know. Anyway, so with Barubei, you'd believe that. You should see the other guy. 100%. Yeah.

Okay. Okay, so speaking of the Peruvie. Okay. Where do you want to go here? Yeah. The head coach William Neelander dynamic. I mean, once again, there was another can't miss memeable shot of the two of them on the bench. I remember last year thinking it was one of the more fascinating sidebars of that Toronto season was the dynamic between Barubi and Neelander. Because you've got two personalities that seem the complete opposite that in most situations in life, they would not mesh with each other. But last year in particular, it really seemed to.

The team played well. They won the division. Neelander had another great year offensively. They had good natured ribbing kind of back and forth in the media. Like there was the stuff early in the year of Neelander going to him saying, hey, I need more ice time to feel better as a player. And though you're still seeing Neelander as one of the more productive leaf players in the early going this season, like, you know, you think about how tough it's been at times.

Where would they be without him and John Tavares? But more and more than any other point, there's examples of Barubei giving it to him on the bench and you're just seeing it way more frequently than any other time during Baroube's tenure in Toronto. So let me ask you something first because you're around them more than me. What do you think? What do you think is their relationship?

I think there's great mutual respect because you'd see during practices when guys are just kind of doing laps feeling the puck a little bit before the actual drills get started and they'd be chatting and they'd be laughter, they'd be like a good rapport it felt like there. Now, I'm not in the dress room so it would be foolish to try to really hammer down on what really is going on. I just wonder, because we saw it a little bit, you know, in the Amazon series, the stuff on the bench last year in the playoffs, especially as things got away from there against Tampa later on in that series, he went hard at them then at certain times for all the talk about how they're defending

and we've heard Barubi at various points kind of be at a loss for why this group hasn't been doing things at a level that he would anticipate or expect and it seems like you're seeing examples that Nielander certainly hasn't been innocent from those sorts of things And I wonder now if that's part of the reason why we're seeing him in a public setting, like on the bench during a game, go after him a little more than in the past. So this is weird to see for me, just as a viewer and an observer, like the last time you really think about this was McKinnon Bednar, right? Right. And that was a one-time thing, really. That was a one-time thing.

And the other thing that was interesting about that one was Landisca got involved. He's like, wait a second, I'm dialing this down. And unless there's something we're not seeing on the bench because the camera isn't always showing the bench and things get missed. I don't know that there's anybody else who's stepping in there and saying between these two guys, hey, like, this is enough already. so I'm curious about this like at its base Kyle like I always imagine what if I'm in that situation and my I wouldn't be bothered by it if it was me as long as I knew that we both had the same goals like as long as we knew that we both had the goals of the making the team better and that we were both willing to take it and dish it out,

and anything I was saying was getting listened to. Like, that's kind of the way I am with people. Like, I understand in my job that my best and worst moments are going to be seen publicly. Like, the things I do well, everyone's going to see it, the things I do terribly, and the world has seen me at my worst, I know they're going to be public, right? And I accept that. I always tell people that who are going into media that if you can't accept that you are going to be seen a lot at your best and your worst, don't do it. So when I watch Barube and Nylander, my feeling would be if I was in the middle of that, I would be okay with it as long as, A, we both had the best interests of the team.

number two i would be expected to take it but so would the other person and number three that anything i was saying that was important or important to me i felt would be being listened to so that's where i come in with this this is unusual this is a lot and um you know i think it's really fascinating because Nealander in the middle of a really horrible start for Toronto, Neelander has delivered.

You know, he's been their best player. You know, there's a lot of players who haven't been very good. He's been really good. You could make a real argument that he's kept them afloat. And part of me wonders if Barubei is

going after him because he knows that this is his best player and he feels he can take it. Like other players told me that Keefe used to really grind Nielander privately. Like when Keith got the job, I remember when Keefe got the job, there was someone who told me this is going to be really interesting watching him now with Nielander at the NHL level because when they were with the HL Marley's together, Keefe went harder after him than any other player. But, and it never, it didn't stop when they were in the NHL,

but Neelaner could handle it. Now, I think Neelaner is a really interesting guy because, like I said, he's played hard this year. He's tremendously skilled. He keeps himself in great shape. But I know at times his laissez-faire attitude drives them crazy. Um, one guy said to me once, you know, you heard me say on the pod, how I'm always late and you've joked about, uh, how I'm always late. He said, you and Willie would love each other because he's always late for everything too. And, uh, you know, and plus he gives off the I don't really care vibe. And he does make plays out there that would make a coach insane and an organization insane. Um, but, you know, he's, he's delivered this year. And, and, and, and, and, you know, and. I'll say this, too, about him, the organization has protected him a lot.

He was Shanahan's first pick. Shanahan really protected him. He was Shanahan's guy, his first ever first rounder, and he had a lot invested in him. They've paid him very well, so that's the ultimate belief in him. But also, in the first Amazon they did, the series, the all or nothing, there was a a scene in there that the Leifes and the NHLPA and his agent all fought to have taken out. And that wasn't supposed to happen. It wasn't supposed to happen. Like everybody was supposed to be like it's there. You have to say yes. But the Leaves, the Players Association,

and the agent, it was an argument between Keefe and Nielander and those three felt strongly it made Nielander look bad. And initially, Amazon fought it. They're like, nope, but they put up such a stink that eventually they won their way. So, you know, this is a marriage. And I know, like I said, I know Nielander drives some people crazy, but he's been good for them and they've been good for him. Just watching this, I wonder where it's going.

because it's boiling over at a very frustrating time for the team if it was me I think I would be able to handle it but I'm not seeing 100% of what's happening so I can't say for sure it's funny to bring up that Amazon series

whenever this type of conversation around Nylander is had I am reminded of that one line that Kyle Doob has had in that All or Nothing series on Amazon Dom, I think we have it. William Nealander has the absolute unique ability to drive you nuts in one moment and then do something in the next that nobody else in the world can do.

That's it, isn't it? It's so well said. Like, that's him. But I think right now, it's interesting right now watching him beyond the receiving end of some of this stuff because he's been their best player. You know, you look at the way Wool's come back and he's been fantastic. But if Nealander hadn't been the way he's been all year, where would they be? Right.

I mean, the last two games they've won have been off his stick and overtime. You know what was interesting about that too is that overtime, for any of you watched it, when the puck was coming to him, Greaves was at his mercy. I said to myself, he's going to score here. Greaves does not have a chance. It's over. And then you couldn't see the puck go in just because of, the way it went in and New Leonard didn't even react and I was like did he miss somehow did

grieves stop that and he scored and I was like he didn't even celebrate like you could tell it was just like that was that was like an up yours goal like up you yes at the end of a long shift so maybe he was just gassed yeah that might have been the case too it's It's a really fascinating dynamic because we don't watch that play out publicly anymore. People are so sensitive about that kind of stuff, it's rare to see it play out publicly. But at the end of the day, I give the guy credit because in a year that's been very disappointing for Toronto, he's been excellent. He's like the guy you could look at it and say A grade. And a big boost getting some healthy bodies back in the lineup as well on Wednesday night, Austin Matthews.

Matthew Nyes, Nick Waugh, among them. All right, that'll take us to the final thought. And, Elliot, yes, we need to move south of the border here and talk a little bit about what else is going on around the league. As far as next week, we'll talk more American teams. Talk more American teams. The Colorado Avalanche remained just one regulation loss on the air. It's been incredible. We have seen this version of the Avalanche.

They shoot the lights out. They've got so, so much talent that wants you to turn their game. on anytime they are playing, but the growing sentiment, and you noted it in your latest blog edition of 32 thoughts, starting to defend a lot harder too. So already appearing to be a juggernaut and getting stronger each passing week. You know what, Kyle, it's about time the avalanche are as entertaining as their TV broadcasts. It's a high standard to live up to. Yes. They're finally there. There's a couple of things. I wrote in the notes and someone had said to me that they're committed to defending hard

and a lot earlier than they have in years past. It's pretty clear that the Avalanche field that after they won the Stanley Cup, they lost a little bit of that dogged determination defensively, and that's gotten back this year. You know, Ryan Worsesowski had a pretty interesting quote after they embarrassed San Jose the other night, where he said that it was 5-0 and Sam Malinski was checking their guys like it was a zero-zero game and you know how we talked about Anaheim

and Anaheim saying we have to change this penalty differential and it became a very important internal talking point for them and they have it's clear that the avalanche felt they had to change their mindset for how they defend. You know, as we said, I think Landisg is a big difference. But you know the other thing, too, Brent Burns, really good personality around a room, unique, different, but not someone who brings sort of any negative energy. The other one someone pointed out to me was Brock Nelson. So Brock Nelson shows up in the middle of last year. It's hard to, you're trying to fit in.

You're in a whirlwind, right? like your personality becomes sort of like a pebble in the ocean. Now, you know, Brock Nelson probably feels a bit more comfortable, spread his wings a little bit, a bit more of his influence there. You know, we've talked about how McKinnon is really hard and really hard driving, and that's why he is what he is. But you, especially when you're trying to put young players in there, you need people who can kind of just, hey, all right,

not right now, or create a bit of a buffer. And I think between Lannisog being back and the likes of Burns and Nelson being in there, I just think it's a different vibe. They play much harder. You know, it's interesting. There generally does seem to be a feeling that the avalanche weren't as hard to play against as they were when they won. And they're getting back to that. And eventually they're going to lose.

Every team goes through struggles. They'll have their three or four losses in a row. But definitely to the other teams in the Western Conference, there's a bit of a DNA change there. Less of an edge off the ice, more of an edge on it. And two of the guys you just mentioned there, and Brock Nelson and Brent Burns, two well-respected guys and two guys that haven't won yet

that are on, I mean, Burns especially, the later stages of his career. like that plays a role in it too and I mean you can't say this enough but Landisog back in the fold just completely you can only imagine the dynamic change now with him back there

like we were just talking about right when McKinnon and Bednar had the blow up a few years ago he was right in the middle of getting that all sorted out so in terms of getting back to an identity as a team that has them thinking yeah we could do again what we accomplished in 2022

captain has to play a part of that as well. And you know what, too, Kyle. I'm glad you brought that up. It's the motivation of somebody who's never won again, like Bull's assistant coach Frank Hamblin. I thought it was a different name. Of all the names to mix up

and get wrong. Oh, nothing but respect to Mr. Harder. Yeah, but you know what? I think it's so true. You want to win for guys like that. That's a great motivator. It's a great call. Totally. Great call.

All right. That was the final thought. Why don't we take our first break and come back with the thought line? 32 thoughts. The podcast continues after this. All right. Welcome back. Time to clear the deck.

also known as the thought line, Elliot. So quick story here before, I'm sure you've got a few things to get to. As mentioned, I was in Edmonton at the start of this week, and we're leaving on Tuesday to head back home. Of course, the night that the stars were playing against the Oilers, and

we get down to the lobby, we had the dog with us, we had the baby with us. So we had one of those trolleys to put our stuff on, right, just to make it a little bit easier with everything going on. And as we're wheeling out, there was a gentleman in a elevator that had offered to hold the door for myself and my wife, he didn't realize that we

were just getting off the elevator as opposed to coming on. So Dana goes, no, no problem. It's all good. Thank you. And I turned and I look. And it was Miko Ranting him. And I thought, oh. And of course, he wasn't playing that night. That was the night he served as suspension. So he was just coming back from the rink. And I thought, all right, I had a tough couple of games. But nice guy in the end, right? He's a nice guy. And after you said thank you, he checked Dana through the elevator. That's right. That's right.

I just sent the stroller flying. And I was like, oh, no, there it is again. You tricked me. That's a nice story. Do you recognize you? Did you recognize you? No, no, no. And I didn't do anything to try to make him recognize me.

You didn't quickly put on your hockey night in Canada jacket or anything. John Swartznet jacket? Hey, Miko, you see? Anything? You remember? No, okay. Yeah, did not do that. All right. That's all I had. What do you got? That's a good story. Okay, I have a few, I have a few things here. First of all, shut out Randeep Janda, finally off the Schneid in the in-season cup. Yeah. I really, I couldn't even make fun of them. That zero next to his name was so pathetic. I just, I felt sad looking at it. I couldn't even. even make fun of them. And I lived that last year, so I had nothing to get on.

But you I could make fun of. I just, you know, I felt bad for Randy. But the Rangers won again on Wednesday, so he holds it through Friday when he plays Boston. And no offense, Randy, I hope you lose because I have the Bruins. I also wanted to thank all the people that whenever, ever since we went to that Vikings game, Kyle, whenever the Vikings lose or there is a video or a post out there, ripping the Vikings, people just send them to me.

Oh, excellent. It's so funny. And I hope you got so many of them last Sunday. Well, the funniest ones was like when McCarthy was going through a rough stretch, there was this video of people walking on stilts. And the caption was, Viking receivers training to catch J.J. McCarthy passes. And I got sent that no joke like 25 times.

So I get a good laugh out of it. And I don't care about how much he's struggling this year. After that game we saw in Detroit, I believe McCarthy has it and long term he will be fine. Okay, I got some notes. First of all, there was an executive in the NHL who listened to the last pod about how quickly you can re-sign someone. And I have to say that this individual has total recall.

He is a savant because he remembers, Elia Sorokin. And Ilya Sorokin's first NHL contract when he left Russia to join the Allenders was signed on July 13th, 2020. His second contract was signed the next day, July 14th, 2020, a one-year, $2 million deal. And the reason that happened was because of COVID and just the way that those seasons got warped together, the Islanders had to sign him to his ELC, and then his ELC ended, and he needed a new contract to play the next year. So his first two contracts were literally signed a day apart. So that was a situation because of the uniqueness of COVID where a signing happened that quickly. So for you who submitted the question, thank you, and to the executive

who had the total recall of this, thank you, too. Okay, I have a few notes. I have three notes I want to read, then a special email. Okay, first note, this is kind of a Canadian thing, from Dave Stanley. Just wanted to register a complaint.

It's a hockey sweater, not a jersey. You are Canadian. This is a longtime gripe of the pod. It's not football. Long time listener going back lots of years. Keep it up, especially the Canadian. So Dave's going to love this pod. But actually, Don Cherry used to always say that.

It's not a jersey. It's a sweater. He was big on that. So once in a while I need the reminder. Okay, two more here. Thomas Gage. Mr. Friedman. Don Bopre played for Waterloo.

in the Inter-County Baseball League. Bopre, a great goalie and obviously a good ball player. Inter-county Baseball League is good baseball. That is high-level baseball in the Ontario area. And so shout-out Don Bopre sort of forget you. And then he continues, and you forgot Dylan DeMello on your list of Portuguese-Canadian hockey players, the large Portuguese community in London,

would be most displeased. I do not want to be besieged by angry Portuguese Londoners. I have nothing but enormous respect for Portuguese Londoners. I am sorry for forgetting, Dylan DeMello. Okay. Dom, this is for you. It's from Amanda Delano, who lives in New Zealand. She opens up with Kiaora, which is,

a Maori greeting, as I looked up. Love the pod. 32 Thoughts is a daily Tuesday listening for me. Here in New Zealand, I'm a day ahead. So can someone explain, whoa, as in Woe Canada, on the next pod? Because based on what you were saying at the start of the pod, I'm pretty sure you were talking about Woe, W-O-E, Canadian Sorrel, and not, whoa, W-O-E, Canadian Sorrow, and not, whoa, W-W, W-O-A surprise and interest.

And then she says, Ingemihi, which is another local term, meaning goodbye. Dom, Amanda, wants you to know you picked the wrong woe. I stand by my decision. Who is not surprised by how poorly the Canadian teams are doing? Okay, turn off your mic. You are wrong. Amanda's right, and you are wrong.

And finally, Kyle, here is the last one. And Kyle, this is for you, okay? No, no, no, no. This is, quite frankly, very interesting. Hello, 32 Thoughts Crew. Lately, Kyle's youth hockey past has been discussed. I went to my stat people to get some data on his career and found something I am not sure I have heard referenced on the pod or at all.

Please tell me if this is new information to y'all. He actually wrote, Spencer Bartlett, by the way. Spencer actually did write, y'all. Below I have linked to the game sheet from a 2009 Richmond International Midget Hockey Tournament. The game is a matchup between the Campbell River Taiz versus the San Diego Gulls under 16s. The game ended in a Campbell River victory, two to nothing. Do you remember this game?

Yes. On the sheet for the first goal, the game winner, number nine, Kyle Bacoskis. Scroll down, who is in net for the San Diego team? Do you know? No, I don't. none other than Thatcher Demko. Are you serious? Hello.

Clearly Kyle isn't even aware of this because if he was, anytime Friedman chimed in with, well, here's the thing, Kyle. Kyle could just say, excuse me, sir, who here has scored on an NHL goalie? Wow. If this is new info, you're welcome. If not, Kyle, why are you not bragging about this at every opportunity?

Thank you, Spencer Bartlett, in L.A. And it's, he sent it, I'm looking at it. Campbell River Taiz versus San Diego Jr. Gulls, Monday, December 28th, 2009. Kyle Bacoskus unassisted, Josh McLennan unassisted, 2-0-Viles. one of your teammates uh looks like michael weston has some real anger management issues he has a charging a five-minute slashing major game misconduct uh but they don't they don't record the amount of shots but thatcher demco is listed here as the starting goaltender for san Diego. That's incredible. I had no idea. First, I had no idea that that game sheet existed

somewhere in the internet. But that was a special tournament for us. I mean, I think I may have hinted a few times in the past that my age group growing up in CR, we were not a strong one when it came to hockey. We would go to a lot of tournaments where we were the punching bags and you would play, you know, the home team played you first. Yes. And you would get the, you know, the ninth, tenth, relegation game at like 6 a.m. on Sunday. as kind of your last game and then you went home. But that tournament, we won. We were in the AA division and we won.

I kind of turned our season around. I remember we kind of had a tough start, had a players meeting in one of our guys' hotel rooms. And anyway, turned it around, went to the final. We played Langley in the final. And we were tied going into the third period. We scored three unanswered, won the tournament there, and then ended up winning our league.

championship which I had never done before that was like team wise the the most fun year because we actually had a bit of success but I remember that game against san diego for sure because part of it's like oh it's kind of neat you're playing a team from san diego no idea that that was who was in net at the other end do you remember the goal I remember it was like if I recall correctly it was like a jam play in tight like that's typically what I was good for like Just kind of hands around. You had a breakaway from your blue line and you undressed him. No, Elliot, if you saw me skate, you knew that I could not,

I could not even try to sell that on you. So was a jam play? Somewhere in tight, yeah. But it's funny. So Josh McLenn had the other goal. Like we played on the same line together. So we, our line had a good game that day, clearly. If we'd combine on both goals, that's incredible.

I had no idea that existed. existed. But we've got, like, I played at the Challenge Cup. I don't know if they still do that in Vancouver as like a big spring hockey tournament back in the day. The one year I played spring hockey went there and I've still got the program from there that's got all the teams listed. And it's fun going through and looking at different rosters. Who else was there? Other players? So like Ryan Nugent Hopkins played for the BC Selects in that year, like things like that. I think Brendan Gallagher may have played in that tournament too with a different team. So they're just. names you look through and of course they wouldn't have registered it on your mind at the time and then they end up playing in the NHL so that's neat thank you Spencer for sending that in yeah thanks very much Spencer that's that's awesome for you to do that and Kyle I sent you the the link to the score sheet but there it is number nine Kyle Bacoskas one goal one point one game winning goal we'll take it didn't happen too often we will take it okay Elliot you should You should print that up and you should take it to Demko and see if he'll sign it for you.

That's a good idea. He might make you eat it. Yeah, I was going to say, I may look like Berube only worse on Wednesday night if I tried to do that. My goodness. Okay. I said earlier, I only had the one story at the top. I actually have one other thing. Someone sent me trivia to do early in the week.

Oh, okay. And I would like to share it with you. That someone is friend of the show, Kyle Okpozo, former player, now during work with the NHLPA. He reaches out and says, I've got a trivia question for you because you're looking at how good of a year Sydney Crosby is having. We don't know how it's all going to play out. But conceivably, you could see a conversation towards the end of the year where you're like, is Sidney Crosby a heart trophy candidate, right? so he's wondering who are the five oldest players to win the heart trophy all time before you get started so i got two on my own i eventually got two others that he gave me some hints for and one i was never

going to get okay i got to say this like I actually know one of the answers, because one of them is Eddie Shore. I know that. I don't know if he's the oldest, but I know he's one of them. Was Messier one of them? No. Okay, because... Not top five.

Okay. Well, one of them has to be Gordy Howe. It has to be, and it is, yes. Okay. So I got Shore, how. And I believe that another guy who's kind of in the area is Haschik. He's right there, yes. He's in the top five.

So how and Hasch were the two that I got? Okay. Yeah. How, I just knew Eddie Shore. Like, I remember that he was always near the top. I got to think of who else would be up there. Like, is it anyone recent? No, no.

Hachick was the most recent. Because, you know, because the one of the thing is, you're thinking like, like, Gretzky won one, like in 90 and you're trying to think, okay, he was 30. Is that close enough? That's why I guessed Messier, because he was probably about 32 or 33 when he won it the second time, I think. So I got, I was thinking that was close enough. Well, off the top of my head, I'm trying to go back, like. Both with Montreal. Oh, one's got to be Jacques Blount. Bingo.

And the other one was, again, this was the guy that Once I heard the name So I'm just thinking, I'm thinking of other Canadians who won The MVP Going back at a later point 20s? Long time ago, yes So that's like

Howie Moran's Oral Jolia No, I tried those They were incorrect Like which there were some Lalons and Stuarts and Clegghorns and Seabirds

like all those guys Is any of them won? No, Seabert's just outside the top five, so good pull. Oh, okay. But I never would Without that clue, I never would have guessed that. Never. I know. I'll try like

Toe Blake one in the 30s. I have no idea. Ready? Yeah. Herb Gardner. You know, I'm going to tell you, if you had asked me to list all, everyone I could think of who'd won the Hart Trophy, I don't think I would have remembered Herb Gardner.

That's a great trivia question. Yeah. So I said to him, I said that, very good. Do you mind if I throw that one in alley on the pod? He said, go right ahead. Yeah, without the clue, you're better than me because I would have gotten three. I would have gotten Shore, Hoshick, and How. I never would have gotten Gardner.

and Plont, I only got with help. Ron will be mad because, you know, Plant is his favorite player, so he'll be like, that's disrespect. No, you did well. You did well. Okay. Jake from Lakeville, Minnesota,

32 thoughts team. Question on drafted NHL prospects. How much control or influence do NHL teams have over their drafted players? With Mason West winning a Minnesota State Football Championship and then the Jett Luchenko trade in the OHL, do NHL teams influence what players can and can't do or influence potential trades in junior or the CHL, etc. Thanks for the pod and happy Thanksgiving.

Yes, same to you. Same to you, Jake. It's a great question because the answer is they try. You know, I think at times, like Luke Shen is a perfect example. When the Maple Leafs drafted him, they didn't like his junior situation. and that that's one of the reasons they kept him because they felt that his junior situation that he was leaving was not that good.

Now, the team at the time got really offended at that and they fired back and kind, but it was one of the situations I remember off the top. It's slightly different, but I remember when Curtis Lazar was playing for the Ottawa Senators, you know, he was the captain of the World Junior team. They sent him back. and Brian Murray told me

that he did not want to send back Lazar until he knew exactly what the role was going to be. Would he be, captain? He didn't want him buried. He wanted him to be in a prominent role. So, like with the situation with Luchenko and Philly, Philly would definitely be calling and saying, what's your plans for this guy? And, you know, if you're going to trade him,

where are you going to trade him too? We'd like to know. Now, you can't always control it, But believe me, these teams lean. And they feel like there have been situations before where all things being equal, teams have said, you know, I don't know if I want to draft a guy out of that organization because I didn't like the way the organization treated another one of our prospects. You know, it's not a surprise to me that Lachchenko ended up in Brantford because, number one, the Hymans have a really good reputation for the way they're running that team.

and number two, Jay McKee's the coach there and the Flyers know Jay McKee really well. So I do think that they play a role, they try to have influence. Do they always get their way?

No, but their opinions are definitely heard. Right. And Breyer would have played with McKee in Buffalo for a period. And they interviewed him for a job this year, so they know him well. Okay, Tyson from Edmonton.

Hello, Elliot, Kyle, and Dom. With the recent transactions of players being put on waivers for the purpose of contract termination, what would happen if these players were, in fact, claimed? Is there an unwritten rule amongst general managers to, quote, stay away from a claim? If, for instance, Alex Georgia were claimed by a team even after he is rumored to be departing for Russia, would the process have to restart, or would the claiming team just secure his rights? All the best, and thank you for the work you put into the pod the claiming team would just secure his rights i can't imagine that

anybody would do that i guess somebody could um but uh the claiming team would get uh his rights i i just can't imagine anybody would ever do a claim there right because you know the situation yeah good question though yes a case like you or give in particular okay tattoo from cayani Finland. Wow. Hello, Dom Kail, and the third guy whose name escapes me. That's good. Happy greetings from Kayani Finland. Brent Burns, scoring the game-winning goal against Nashville, 15 seconds into the game, so the eventual game winner, got me thinking, what is the fastest game-winning goal scored on the first shot of the game in NHL history? Thanks, came up the great work, and let's go Panthers. and they love the Panthers in Finland. Thank you, Alexander Barkov, along with the rest of the Finnish mafia.

You know what's interesting about that is, is that Major League Baseball and the NHL have a different way of calculating winning pitchers and game winning goals, right? Like in baseball, if you're winning 5-0 and you win the game 5-3, and let's just say, for argument's sake, Kyle, you're the starting pitcher,

your team is up 2-0. You leave the game. Your team goes up 5-0 and wins 5-3. You're still the winning pitcher. Major League Baseball's rule is as long as you're ahead, the pitcher who leaves the game when you're ahead wins, as long as you never get tied. In hockey, if you have an 8-0 lead and the team scores a garbage goal to make it 8-to-1,

it's not the first goal as the game-winning goal. It's the second one. So that can change the metric. I wouldn't know the answer. What's the answer? Seven seconds. Long time ago. February 6th, 1932, Charlie Conacher scored seven seconds into a game.

Leifes beat Boston six nothing. So that one held up as the winner. That one held up. That's a great one. I never would have known that. Great pull. Great pull sports net stack, guys. Very good.

All right. Good question, Tattoo. We'll wrap up with a, a voicemail here from, well, a neighbor, perhaps, of yours, Elliot. Anyway, let's listen. God, I hope not. Hello, Elliot. My name is Randall the Raccoon.

I am a retired triangle player slash your backyard resident. I have now been promoted to head of traffic operations in Hamilton. I know your next move, Elliot. See you next time. Apparently, Griffin Porter said there were a lot of Hamiltonians writing into the thought line to support and feel your anger and frustration trying to get all in front. Really? I'm glad to hear that. I'm really glad to hear that. It's infuriating. It is terribly infuriating. Randall the Raccoon. Who plays triangle and now runs traffic lights in Hamilton.

Whoever you are, that's genius, man. That is genius. Well, there's a story about them becoming more domesticated. Now they're listening to the bloody podcast. I could see raccoons being smart enough to play a triangle, that's for sure. Those creatures, man, they are, we cannot beat them. No, especially you. All right.

We'll wrap it there. Thank you again to everyone who writes in or call. in. You can do that. 1833, 311, 321, 32, or you can email us at 32 thoughts at Sportsnet.ca. One final break. You're listening to 32 Thoughts, the podcast. All right, before we wrap up, wanted to give you a heads up, as we all always do on some games to keep an eye on nationally across the SportsNet family of channels this weekend. Later on today, a whole slew of games on the NHL calendar, as you well know by now, the Calgary Flames trying to rebound from that ugly night in Tampa a couple of days ago.

They are in Florida to face the Panthers. You can catch them on SportsNet East and Ontario, as well as SportsNet West for Flames fans in the Calgary region. That's at Four Eastern to Mountain Time. On Saturday, things get started early on Sportsnet. The Oilers in Seattle play an afternoon affair, 4 o'clock Eastern, two Mountain for that one as well, which will lead right into hockey Central Saturday with Ron McLean and the gang at 630 Eastern, 3.30 Pacific.

Just two games in our early window. The Toronto Maple Leafs are in Pittsburgh. Winnipeg is in Nashville, the late game this week. The Vancouver Canucks continuing their tour through California in Los Angeles to face the Kings at 10 Eastern 7 Pacific. Okay, taking us out today, a track from Keegan Powell. Since 2019, Canadian musician Keegan Powell has been releasing music that explores the mystery of pain, the release of demons, and how through it all, life actually may be

some kind of miracle. With a new record in the bag for 2026, Powell has made it clear. He's an unstoppable force. Produced by Peter Van Helvert of the Glorious Sons, The Shine, and sheer brilliance emanating from his new single, Drown, shows a promise of a legacy that resembles the archetype of a troubadour you could only produce in this decade. No pandering, no record label, no permission needed.

Kegan has a couple of live shows coming up in January the 23rd in Winnipeg, the next night in Edmonton on the 24th. You can hear this along with all of the other songs we've featured this season on the 32 Thoughts, the music playlist on Spotify. Here's Tegan Powell and Drown on 32 Thoughts, The Podcast. I'll see you coming down you know there's no turning around I hear you going off I see you rolling like around I'm not going to make you stop you don't even want to time

I don't want to see you go drowned break the glass don't look back now you're faking so you're spoke too quick and it makes you sick to stop again so you move too slow but you've got to go now you're lying to yourself again i'll see you coming down you know there's no turning around i'll hear you I see you rolling like her up I see you coming down. You know there's no turning around. I hear of you.

Go it all. I see you rolling like around. I'm not going to make your stop. You don't even want to talk. I don't want to see you go down. I don't want to see you go down. I don't want to see.