32 Thoughts: The Podcast - A Tight Playoff Race at the Halfway Mark

Episode Date: January 10, 2025

Links to donate to LA fire relief efforts: Support LAFD & American Red CrossIn this episode of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman begin things with an in-depth look at how tight the NHL standings are near the halfway mark of the season, and how that race is holding up big trades across the league. The fellas key in on the Ottawa Senators who have cooled off after the Christmas break (7:33). Elliotte interjects to update the latest Dylan Cozens trade speculation (16:19) and they also talk about Michael Andlauer's recent comments on the future of the Sens' downtown arena development (21:13). Elliotte wonders about what the Bruins do with their coaching staff beyond this season (26:00). Afterwards, the guys talk about John Gibson's future (28:40), before delving into how trade-values are trending across the league (33:54). The Final Thought focuses on Connor Hellebuyck's 300th career win (45:10). Kyle and Elliotte answer your questions and respond to your voicemails in the Thought Line (53:14).In the final segment, Kyle and Elliotte look ahead to Saturday's cross-country showdown between the Canucks and Leafs (1:13:40).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailThis podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates

Alright, before we start the podcast, we wanted to begin by sending our best to LA Kings fans, hockey fans, and just everyone in general out in the Los Angeles area right now that are affected by what's been going on out that way in Southern California the last few days. The devastating wildfires and one of the scariest parts about it as we record this, they seem to be nowhere near a point where things are contained Elliot our words aren't gonna do a whole lot we know that but we just wanted to let everyone out there know we are thinking of them. 100% well said Kyle and you have some places that people can donate to if they want to help out in the reconstruction and firefighting efforts and just want to say proud that there is some Canadian content in trying to help contain them and stop them. Yeah, so two websites that certainly the Los Angeles Kings have been working with in helping getting the word out

for those that are able to donate. One being supportlafd.orgorg the other red cross.org any little bit helps. We wish everyone out there all the best despite a very, very difficult time. Welcome to 32 thoughts the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra 84x producer Dom Shamati, Elliot Friedman and Kyle Bukaskis all with you Elliot I know you were a heck of a wrestling fan back in your day That is true. I'm looking at the Eastern Conference here right now To me it is a battle royal going on when you look at the amount of teams

Conceivably as we have just kind of passed the midway mark for a lot of teams conceivably, as we have just kind of passed the midway mark for a lot of organizations of the season that have a legitimate shot of saying they're in the mix for a playoff spot right now. How many teams nevermind just the East? How many teams would you look at right now in the NHL and say they are out of the playoffs? Oh, you're out. and say they are out of the playoffs. O-U-T out.

Capital O? Yes. I see three in the West. Yep. And Seattle is teetering. Anaheim too, but they've got, you know, they're within seven. So we'll just keep them in for now. But they're teetering as well. I think I think you could argue that Seattle or Anaheim is the cutoff.

Yes. So that's five teams anywhere from three to five teams. I think we'd all agree. Chicago, San Jose and Nashville. Although somebody told me that they were talking to some members of the Predators on their road trip before they played in Austin in Winnipeg the other night and they said the Predators were still talking like no we can catch the second wild card. Now that's probably more wishful thinking than anything else because not only are you basically 13 points behind now, but you don't have games in hand

on Vancouver who's there right now and you've also got seven teams to beat and that's borderline impossible in this league with the loser point. So we'll go with San Jose, Chicago and Nashville is being out and Seattle and Anaheim teetering. That's five. But in the East, you're right. Nobody. Buffalo is in last place. And with their win that you saw on Thursday night in Ottawa, they are seven points out of a playoff spot.

There's only three teams in this league really out of the playoffs right now. I don't think we've ever seen this before at the halfway point of a season ever. Right this deep into things which makes you wonder expanded playoffs. Let's yeah commissioner you can't wave like you did a couple years ago Columbus and the Allenders finishing 20 points out of the playoffs in the ninth and 10 spots at us anymore. This one's going to be a lot closer time for the expanded playoffs especially I mean you look at what's going on in college football and you could argue about all of the reasons behind why it was expanded but it is compelling TV when you've got those many bowl games that are leading towards the national championship. People are watching. I agree. I agree. You are preaching to the converted here. Well all of this is to mean that I know at this time of

year people really get excited. Nothing moves the needle more among fan bases than trades or trade rumors. Drives the players crazy, drives the teams crazy, excites the fans to no end. But as we're sitting here right now I'm really curious about this simply because there are so many teams still in it. Like I look at Pittsburgh, the GM there, Kyle Dubas, he's let everybody know that he still wants to get younger. He's got defensemen, he's got goalies, he's got forwards, he's got a bit of cap room. He'll take a contract that you wanna move,

as he'll consider it, as long as you give him something he wants. And he prefers the Thomas Senos of the world, young players who are either in the NHL or ready to play in the NHL who needs something a little different. I'm watching Philly. We just did two games back to back against Toronto and I watched them against Dallas on Thursday night They need goaltending help as a matter of fact There's some talk that they may ask Kolosov to go to the American Hockey League for a few days and just play Just to get some action, but they I look at them and and I see a team that if not now

But eventually they're going to have to look for goaltending. I see teams that have holes that they need to fix and we're going to talk about Buffalo with you in a minute, but generally the major surgery, who's doing it right now? Not too many. There's a lot of teams that want to play this out. Lou Lamorello gave the Allenders a bit of a vote of confidence on Thursday.

Said, you're asking me hypotheticals. Don't talk to me about Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmeri might have what might happen with them. We're still in the race with that vote of confidence. What do they do? They go out and beat Vegas four to nothing Exactly what he was probably looking for when he said that it doesn't happen to Vegas too much there

Too good. So you want to talk about what we saw across the league on Thursday ten games in total some high scoring affairs What did you see you were in Ottawa? Well, it's the sec. this is the second week in a row we convened to record this late Thursday night after I just left the Canadian Tire Center following a very tough result for the home side of the World Juniors. They're not going to let you go. I'm going to be barred from the building. The World Juniors last week and then the Ottawa Senators, first home game after nine straight on the road, it was UGLY ugly. You ain't got no alibi. Very good, Elliot.

Glad you picked up on that one. But you know what? It's interesting with Ottawa, like the post game, no one wanted to pour gasoline on the fire. It was, we were doing some good things early. Yes, we made some mistakes that ultimately cost us, but this is a team that's struggling to score right now, Elliot for the last while. So after being one of the hottest teams going into the Christmas break,

they've now lost six of seven. And in only one of those games, the one that they won in Minnesota, have they scored more than twice over that stretch? Shut out in two of the last three. And now we talked last pod about, I mean, the injury list, of course, that was there. What are they looking at maybe doing? Since then, we had Jacob Bernard Docker go down in practice. Six to eight weeks. Yeah, that's a while. And then Noah Greger gets hurt on Thursday and Travis Green said he's going to miss some time. So if there was a to do list for Steve Stahels and company

already, it's feels like it's gotten a little bit better because, you know, previous to our discussion, this is a team that's put themselves in a position to get some help. And what does that help going to look like? And how does the front office go about handling all of that I'm really curious to see because you don't want all the efforts they put in they've been an inconsistent group no question but to now as we talk about all these teams that are fighting for a spot they don't want to fall behind here see I look at them and I I see Ottawa has the the Anthopolis Ottawa has the Anthopolis rule.

And the Anthopolis rule is, you'll remember a few years ago when one of the years Alex Anthopolis went all in with the Blue Jays in 2015. There were two reasons. Number one, he knew he was in trouble. And number two, and this is one of the things he talked about at that time, he said their record should have been a lot better because their run differential was very good. He said our underlying numbers are great. And this is the kind of team you bolster in the Eastern Conference.

There are six teams with positive goal differentials and all of those teams are comfortably in the playoffs. Toronto, Florida, Tampa Bay, Washington, the Devils, and Carolina. Okay? Maybe you can dispute whether or not Tampa's comfortably in the playoffs because they've only played 39 games. They've got a 590 points percentage. I like their chances. Everybody else, all the other teams in the East are negative point differentials and only two of them are single digits. One is Columbus, minus three. One of the great stories of this NHL season, tragedy early in the year, the team is playing hard and

Ottawa was the other at minus four. The next best is the Rangers and the Sabres, who are minus 10. Like there are a lot of teams there that do not have good gold differentials. I still say this and I will always maintain this. And I also think that Mike Andlour's ownership is really trying to build momentum in the market. It's dangerous because as we said,

there's not a lot of teams that are complete and total sellers and two when you're struggling they throw you anvils they don't throw you life preservers but I do think Ottawa the the the goal differential at minus four especially considering how the injuries have affected their goaltending you have to go for it you between those two things You have to go for it. It's a matter of when and it's a matter of what? But I just think you reach a point where in your organization where you say We have to even if it's not a run for a championship, it's a run just to get

in. Ottawa's at that point. This is not a year that they can afford to waste. And I understand, young Bacauscus, the local citizenry was restless at the end of this one. Yes, they were. And rightfully so, given how long it's been since they played at home and they get blanked. They've had two games against Buffalo this year. They've been outscored a combined 9-1.

Yeah, that's bad. Credit to Uko Pekelukene. He played very well Thursday when he had to, but there was a number of self-inflicted wounds. There was the, you know, bad break, the centering pass that goes off of Chavot and in behind Anton Forsberg. But really, I think it was kind of more of a microcosm of the whole evening. So yeah, whether it was the power play struggles kind of late in the second period or being boot off the ice at the end, it was not a great night for the senators. And for for Buffalo I mean we mentioned them the fact that they're not entirely out of it despite being last

in the Eastern Conference I mean quietly they won five of eight and you know if they had any chance of giving themselves a pulse and and a shot at climbing back up you need to not only beat the teams in your division but win in regulation and they came out and got that accomplished here Thursday against the the Senators. I was gonna ask you like what's... I have to say I have to say I'm really impressed with Thompson right now. He's clearly not a hundred percent. They've admitted he's not a hundred percent. Yes. And he's going out there

and he's playing as hard as he can yeah i'm really really impressed with him can't take face-offs you know the one the one thing i was going to say we're talking about defensemen just before we talk about the sabers i had someone say to me that there's going to be a bunch of teams in this league that they didn't that are going to regret they didn't make the deal with Nashville for Carrier that Montreal did. He said and this guy was honest he said his own team is probably one of the teams kicking themselves for that one but he said that that's a trade that when you when you take a look at what Montreal had to pay and you know the effect the players had on the Canadian since he's been there that there's he thinks not only himself but there's a few other teams out there

kicking themselves her for not making that deal. Right and there was I mean you could say that Tage Thompson once upon a time there were teams that probably felt the same in hindsight about him, too. It's funny you mentioned him just a moment ago. He was a guy that could have been had for not a lot. Well, he basically was like there was a there was a deal that I think everybody kind of knows about it. The Colorado could have had him. And thank God for the Sabres they didn't do it. Right. Okay I wanted to ask you about

Buffalo only because I mean when they were going through their struggles earlier on in the year naturally the vultures are swarming. You mentioned Dylan Cousins name in your latest blog. What have you been hearing around Buffalo here the last little while. So right before the freeze, the Christmas freeze, not the freeze that we're going through in our various homes right now it is freezing up here. And I'm actually going to Winnipeg next week and I looked at the temperatures and I was

like I almost changed my mind. Wait, hold on. Hold on. Yeah. We've had and it's my fault remiss to talk about the biggest news to come out of Ottawa this week. You know what that is? What's that?

Rideau Canal's opening Saturday. Nice. Did it not open all of last year? So two years ago it didn't open at all. Last year there was a small segment that opened for I think less than a week and I'm a firm believer that they just did that so they didn't have to say we haven't opened for two years running. But 3.6K.

But the moment people started falling through they're like we better close it. You should be clear no one fell through the ice but it was very very poor conditions. It was like skating on a frosty. Oh I like frosties. Right but you shouldn't be skating on them. No, but you don't skate on that's right. That's right. Yeah, you that tiny spoon So good Anyway, I'm glad to hear the Rideau Canal is opening that is good news because that is a true slice of Canadian That we should not be without for any length of time But right before the trade freeze

Jason Carmanos who's the assistant general manager or associate general manager in Buffalo, he was in Detroit for a game the Red Wings played. And that that was unusual. People started to wonder exactly what was going on. And he's been there a couple more times since. Like he was he was there again. And he's been there a couple more times since like he was he was there again and and it's it's been you know, it's obvious that the Sabres are following them around and you know, finally, finally, it kind of information squeezed through because you know, there's there's definitely not a lot that gets out of Detroit and there's not very much that gets out of Buffalo But finally, you know, it got coughed up to me that they believe that the Red Wings were looking at cousins and It fits. I mean, I think there's a lot of people looking at cousins

And I will say this there was a time That a couple people said to me they thought it was close. Now I don't know where it stands, I don't know where it's going to go. One thing I do believe is that, you know, Cousins is a guy, like everybody is looking for right hand centers. So at the very least, I'm sure Buffaloes had even more of a stretch of people calling them and saying, what exactly are you thinking here and what are we looking at? And you know, right now with Thompson unable to take face-offs, cousins, I mean, you always

look to see how somebody does in a situation like this because it's an opportunity for them to show that they can take a big role. And the best way to solve your problem is to fix it internally, not to trade it elsewhere, go somewhere else. So we'll see where this all goes. But that's the guy I do believe the Red Wings are looking at pretty hard. Something I heard about them when they came through Ottawa, Elliott was, you know, I think one of the things the team has worked on cousins with this year is

just not to be too much in your head at times. Um, I mean, this is a guy who, let's face it, he defied the odds in, in a lot of ways, uh, giving where he grew up and turning that into being a first round pick and establishing himself as a real good player in the NHL. I think early on in the season where the team's struggling, he wasn't producing at the level that he expects of himself, that he wants to be at. And I think the team felt that, you know, almost you can get into your own head a little bit too much where you're worried about,

you know, what's the perception? You're being paid handsomely. He's into his seven-year deal now where he's over seven mil per and gosh, I'm not delivering on my end of things. And I'm not delivering on my end of things. And all of it comes from the right place and wanting to be a good player and to hold up your end of the bargain. But I heard that was just something that the team has been working with, with Cousins with in particular.

Not even so much to deal with, is your name out there, anything trade or rumor related, but just about go play, is your name out there, anything trade or rumor related, but just about go play, don't worry about what your contract number says, don't be so tied up about the production, just go play. And so where he's all at in that journey at this very moment, I'm not entirely sure, but I will say Elliot.

So it was interesting, I wouldn't say often, but a number of times during the season, there's equipment reps that will show up at the Canadian Tire Center from various brands, not only to talk to Senators players but for visiting teams too that come through town. And so there was some gentlemen there at the rink this morning and Cousins, I don't know if it was new skates or just new steel. I think it was new skates he wore during their optional morning skate. Anyway, he comes off the ice and comes down the hall to one of the equipment reps and just the he was like glowing.

He's like, oh, I really like these skates. And he goes, in fact, I think I want to wear these tonight. Like is that OK? And they were like, yeah, for sure. Like that's that's no problem. And then he went out and scored in the second period. So if you're wondering if he had a little extra jump in his step Thursday against the Sands Sabres fans, it was the fresh wheels on his feet.

Cousins should know that he shouldn't be asking. He should be demanding, hey, equipment reps, these feel good. I want them tonight. Not, is that okay? He's a polite guy. Yes, I respect that. Those northern guys from the Yukon, they're very polite people. By the way, did you watch Michael Anlauer

getting interviewed by Claire Hanna tonight, or did you see it? I did, yes. Interesting. That last line about, I hope the rules don't change on us at the last second. About the NCC, yeah, we're talking about the arenas. Well, you should explain what the NCC is. So that's the National Capital Commission. They're the government body that is in charge of a number of pieces of land around Ottawa,

one of it being LeBreton Flats where they're trying to build a arena closer to downtown. Before the season they got the MOU, the memorandum of understanding completed between you know the team and the NCC and so the process they're in right now and I think what he was alluding to there about I hope they don't change the rules is You know the big buzzword that came out of that announcement of the MOU Elliot of course was market value fair market value for the land and The reason why there was no number attached to that was because they hadn't determined it and are still working to do that

Because they got to figure out how much work is needed to clean up the site. How contaminated is the land? And my understanding was once that gets sorted, like one or two things happen, you go, okay, the land is worth this much, but it's also going to cost this much to decontaminate all of it. So either the NCC is on the hook for that and the senators pay the full amount for the land, or that almost acts as like a discount into how much you're paying where you're going, this is how much you're going to have to pay to clean it up. So we're taking that off the cost of the land itself.

And I'm wondering just when I, that's where my mind went when I saw what Ann Lauer said there, in that the end of his answer there to Claire, and my mind was just thinking, boy, is he worried that the NCC is going to try to swap things around and I don't know, try to send both bills towards the Senator's way there. As he's hinted and many people in this area know, we've talked about it. That is a group that doesn't move quickly and as you can imagine for Ann Lauer and those that came before him, it can be frustrating at times.

I don't trust governments, never have, never will. I will say this when I saw that answer you know what I thought what's that he sees the path to a deal but he's worried the rules are gonna change hmm it's never simple it's never simple governments like I said my father was a developer he dealt with this stuff all the time. You're at their mercy. And they change their minds without even warning you. You can't wait for this story to go away, right? I know.

It's funny because they're like, oh, you live out in Stittsville. It's going to be tough for you when the arena moves downtown. It's like, I don't know. We could all be retired by the time this arena finally gets built. Plus, you're a terrible driver. You're like a slow driver anyway. You're like the old man from Simpsons, who they're always passing in the right lane. Yeah. Did you pay your speeding ticket yet? Or still waiting? No comment. That's very good. All right. Other stuff I was looking at, even when Pittsburgh was up big over Edmonton, there were a few minutes there.

I really thought Edmonton was still going to come back and win that game. I was actually kind of surprised they didn't. When Dry Cytl got ramped up and started scoring, I thought that one was either going to end 6-5 in overtime or 8-5 in regulation. There was not one or the other. But Pittsburgh to their credit held their spot and beat them. Boston, we talked about them that they're going to have some big decisions to make. We talked about that on the last pod six in a row. You know, one of the things I kind of wondered about there is.

I don't know what their plans are coaching wise. I don't know if they if they give SAC a sack over the rest of the season, but it almost made me wonder if they're considering if they are considering at all another coach here, do they go for that person now? Like I wrote in the blog this week that if I was Chicago, I wouldn't let Carl get to market and somebody said to me, you could have written the same thing about Boston. Hmm. I think Boston is kind of in shock about where they are. I think they they knew that they maybe weren't as great as they were the last few years,

but they thought with Linholm and Zadorov, they would have plugged that holes and they would have been better. And they're not. And now I think they're kind of regrouping and thinking do we have to take a bigger picture look at this? And what does that mean? So one of the things and this person made me think about this is if there is someone who they're thinking about maybe being a full-time coach particularly if that if it's a if it's not Sacco and B if it's someone who's available does Boston all of a sudden look and say if we're going to commit to this person do we

try to go for them now so that's one of the things I thought of there we saw st. Louis last week They're on fire Looking pretty good and they're still out of the playoff race That's a team I think Doug Armstrong he already went out and he got Cam Fowler, who we've talked about. Centers are- Really well. Very well, very well. And I see him adding another forward.

Like I thought Sod was going. If you've seen the quotes, Jim Montgomery has really worked to get Sod making him feel important again. I'm not convinced anymore. That guy's going now watch they'll trade him tomorrow. But you know the hat trick last week though. That's right. I mean, you know, I look at that and I say again, your best the best thing you can do.

There's two things you can do. You can trade your problem. You can solve your problem. It's always better to solve your problem. And I look at what Montgomery's doing with not only him, but other players. And I, and Doug Armstrong, he wants to make the playoffs. I can see him striking and, and going for it. And like, that's the thing I'm looking at these standings as we kind of started where we were and

You know the other one too I Could be totally totally wrong I've been wrong before and I will be wrong again The more I think about it, the more I think this is the year that John Gibson goes. Now I've heard for Beak is asking a lot. He hasn't bent. But look at all the goalies coming off the market now. Blackwood traded, signed. Colorado says, we've liked this guy before. We're trading for him and we're getting off this goalie merry-go-round. We're keeping him.

Two more years after this one. Sorry, what? Gibson, two more years after this one. Right, Blackwood five years, Gibson two more years after this one. Right, Blackwood five years, Gibson two more years after this one. You know, it's always the question of health with him, but he's playing great. I just see so much uncertainty and goal out there this year that I think the stars aligned for it. Someone said to me a few months ago, they were joking, but I think there's a lot of

truth to it. Just the idea. Well, you know, the injuries are one thing for John Gibson, but a few months ago, they were joking, but I think there's a lot of truth to it. I've just the idea. Well, you know, the injuries are one thing for John Gibson, but a little bit older, you know, are his best days behind him. Is he going to be an asset if someone acquires him? He's like, no, the guy is just exhausted for how heavy a workload is and how much rubber he sees in Anaheim. As soon as you put them in a situation where you've got a team that's in a position

to not only be in the playoffs, but try to win a Stanley Cup. Everything will change in terms of the workload that he's faced with and the results will surely follow too. I've had this argument with someone. I've had this argument with someone who disagrees with that thinking that his underlying numbers have not been great And although lately he's been dynamite And the other thing too that gibson has to realize and I think he has realized this is he can't be picky about where he goes He was picked. He had a no trade clause

He was very picky about where he's going to go no trade clause. He was very picky about where he's going to go. But it's like Fowler, right? Like Cam Fowler had a no trade clause except for like three or four teams. And he just said, look, I'm going to after last year when he was frustrated, he didn't get the captaincy. He knew they had to move on. He knew they wanted to play more of the kids. He knew that he had to bend it. They had to say, look, if I just want to go play, I may have to go somewhere I initially didn't want to go. And he's ended up in St. Louis, and as you said, it's great for him. Gibson's going to have to do the same thing. He might have to say, you know what, maybe this wasn't a place I thought of initially,

but if I really want out of here, and I think he does want out of there and I think they do want to move on from him too he might have to go someplace where it wasn't initially his thought I know Carolina is uppermost in his mind and I and something that the hurricanes have danced with from time to time. That feels like a match made in heaven. It does, but it's like flirting, right? Which I don't do anymore, but I used to. Sooner or later, the flirting has to result in something.

And they've been flirting for a long time. We're getting to the point where the flirting has to result in something. Like I gotta tell you something, I'm watching Philly tonight. I wonder if that makes any sense for them and they have done deals with Anaheim. Yes, yeah, pretty big one last year.

Yes. Drysdale and Cutter Gochi, but refresh my memory here. Like this John Gibson saga. It's been going on for a while. Yes, but there's there's a few things that are different. Number one is he's shown a willingness to open up his list. And number two and I think this is a big part of it. The term keeps shortening on his contract. Like sometimes I think in this league term scares people more than the number does And in Gibson's case that was absolutely true

Yeah, now it's only two years. I mean again, he has to stay healthy but You know, he's He's been on a hot streak like Like that duo, Gibson and Dostal, quietly, they're one of the NHL's best goaltending duos this year. Like they got smoked in St. Louis on Thursday night, but that rarely, rarely happens with them. Yes, and so my only point with that was,

you can't tell me with how long this has been a thing that at certain points it hasn't affected his play and maybe why the underlying numbers weren't so hot for stretches too. That was my only thought. Well, we'll see. We'll see. It's interesting, like there's a lot of people who think like you do, but I've spoken to a couple of people who disagree with it. Hopefully we'll get a chance to see if this argument settles it. But enough with the flirting. Time for the general managers involved to show they've actually got game. Time to close.

Okay, with how we talked about how many teams are conceivably still in the race like does that make in terms of the asking prices around the league for those that are looking for upgrades Like are they higher than they normally would be at this time of year for certain guys? Like how much is that driving the demand and the I think there's a little I think there's a little bit of that No question because there aren't so many available You know, I think that Like Scott Lawton so he's got he's a pretty sexy name right now and But someone said to me for what Philly is asking for him they don't think the Flyers right now really want to do it Like the like like it sounds to me like they asked somebody for a first-round pick

I don't know who it was but somebody said like okay if I wanted to do a lot and it'll be a first-rounder Like I'm not sure that that's gonna happen What someone said to me was that means that at this point in time? They don't really want to trade that guy Right because they know what's no. Yes. Yes. It's like you're now things change. Circumstances are different. But that's the reaction I got like a year ago Seattle Seattle is going to be a really interesting one. If they don't sort this out. I think that could be really fascinating

situation. A year ago, everybody was calling Seattle about their defenseman. You know, Larson was a year away from unrestricted free agency. He's now extended. They had Alexiak signed. They had guys signed. They had a lot of D there. And they had Dumoulin there, who's now in Anaheim. And Seattle was saying, no, we don't want to trade any of our D and people were disappointed They they were really interested in that that group. They wanted to add some of them Well now, you know, it's another year later. They're in some trouble here. We'll see how it plays out To see like I do think of Seattle decided they wanted to move one or two of their D

And I certainly don't expect it to be Larson Like they have players that have interested people in the past but again that would that would mean that they're potentially giving up on their season and I don't know that they're ready to do that yet. They were they were really hopeful that this year would be different. There's there's no question that there's a bit of gridlock right now. Aside from the one situation I'm in timeout from discussing right now, there's a lot of gridlock out there. There's not a lot out there. Are you gonna get through the pod without it? Yes, yes we will. Yes we will. Okay, but going

back to Scott Lawton, so we've got we've got the flirting, and then you've got the no without saying no. It's like when you're asked out to dinner and you don't wanna say no outright, so you say, well, it's a family boggle tournament I've got tonight I can't make it. I've gotta wash my hair. Yes, that's a legitimate one for me. I know it's not.

No, no, no, in our family, it wasn't boggle, it was sori. Did you ever play sori? Yes, I thought it was a Stratego. That was your big play Sory? Yes, I thought it was Stratego. That was your big Christmas game. Well, no, only I play Stratego. Nobody else plays Stratego, only I do. You can play that by yourself? No, no you can't.

Sory is the game I force Steph and Max to play. I love Sory also. Yeah, you're a big Sory guy. Yeah, I'm Sory all right, that's for sure. Also, a couple a big sorry guy. Yeah, I'm sorry. All right. That's for sure. Also, a couple other things to mention. Connor Zari, I think the flames are going to know on Friday have a better idea of how serious it was.

They were happy to find out it wasn't a fracture, but we'll still, you know, like to me the it's not an intentional injury. It's just a high speed accident. I had no problem with the penalty being called. But there's absolutely zero deliberate attempt to injure there. I look at it like it's it's just a shame that kid he's so talented. He's been playing so well. And to see him get hurt like that, I hope it's not as bad. I felt terrible for his mother. It happens on the mother's trip. Just brutal. You know, to see that and the way he grabbed his leg right away. I know they were hopeful. Maybe it wasn't as bad as they initially thought or it looked.

But we should have a better idea on Friday of where we're standing here and I did want to tell one story so I went out for dinner on Wednesday night in Toronto at a new restaurant in town Ocholino it's an Italian restaurant oh it's quite good. I have to say I believe someone will tell me if I'm wrong. I believe it's Drake's former chef who opened it. But it's an Italian restaurant. It's fantastic. And by the way, very reasonably priced, like not outrageous or anything like that. So in my new career as a restaurant reviewer, I am recommending it to anybody who wants to go.

So my buddy, I went with Dave, he told me a story and I was like, how did I never know this story? Because it happened 10 years ago basically. So in 2015, November 2015, he and his two brothers-in-law, they're all Big Leaf fans, they see on the schedule that the Maple Leafs are playing in Dallas and they say, let's go down to that game. And they made a trip. It was November 2015, they did some other stuff down there and then they go to the game. And what I also didn't know about this story was that they dressed up as the Hansen brothers. I was like, what? So he's, he's 45 years old at the time and he's dressing up at a game like the

Hansen brothers with his two younger brothers-in-law. So I was like, I can't believe I I never knew this story. And he said, yep, that was us as a matter of fact, he has a video on his phone of a camera. I have no idea was probably a sportsnet broadcast but whatever it was they showed them on camera. And he's got the video of the phone

and his mother-in-law laughing her head off when the three of them are on the screen. Like she just can't believe that her two children and her son-in-law are at this game in Dallas watching the Leafs as dressed as the Hanson brothers. So they splurged, they bought really good seats behind the Toronto bench. And he said, they're sitting like two or three rows back.

And it's Mike Babcock's first year coaching. And during the first period, he's yelling at the players or commanding the players, watch the middle, watch the middle. Like that's what he's saying. So my buddy Dave, he starts yelling at them, watch the middle. And it's not long before like he gets a tap from one of his buddies there. And he says, look at the assistant coaches and the assistant whenever he was doing it,

the assistant coaches were trying not to laugh and they were failing. They were like they were they didn't want that. They clearly didn't want Babcock to see them laughing, but they couldn't they couldn't control themselves. And the other thing too, as he said that his brothers-in-law told him that the players were starting to laugh too, because they could hear it. So it continues on. Actually, that was not a very good Toronto team.

That was the year they won the lottery and drafted Matthews at the end of the season. But they were down 2-1 in the third period and they came back to win. You look at the rosters from that game and there's like, it's pretty interesting. It was pretty interesting, some of the players that were there. So they win 3-2 and at the end of the game, like they were getting up to leave and all of a sudden they hear someone yelling at them and they turn and he says, one of the Leafs assistant coaches has turned to them and he says, you guys are great. And he hands them a puck. I don't know if I meant to ask. I forgot.

I don't know if he gave one puck for the three of them or all three of them got a puck, but he gave them a puck. And I was like, which is, I says, which assistant coaches it? And he goes, you got to remind me who the assistants were back then. So the first guy I came up with was DJ Smith. And he goes, Oh, that's the guy who coached in Ottawa, right? And I go, yeah, he goes, no, it wasn't him. And I go, well, the other coach at the time was Jim Hiller. And he goes, can you show me a picture of him? I don't remember exactly. And so I, you know, I bring up a picture of

Jim Hiller on my smartphone. He's like, Oh yeah, that's him. I go, you know, he's coaching in LA now. He's doing a pretty good job. And he goes. Oh, okay. I'm a big Kings fan now, too because this apparently Hiller and Smith were laughing their heads off all game and Hiller at the end of the game handed them a puck. I didn't I can't believe I didn't know this story was ten years ago How did he take that long to tell you? But I can totally see it. Like knowing Jim Hiller a little bit, working around DJ Smith for a number of years, they would absolutely be the guys that would find humor in that. That's tremendous. Something about the Giggles and the

Dallas visitors bench, eh? That was the same building when Vigneault lost it with Vern Fiddler doing the BX. That's right. fun of BX. That's right. Yeah. Anyway I heard that story and I wanted to share it. I was like I couldn't believe I said first of all how do I not know this story and secondly you were 45 years old. Like what's the statute of limitations on dressing up at games? Oh boy I'm the wrong guy to ask for that. You know, if you're into it, like there is not one. Yeah, I was good. I mean, you're right, that's fair.

Like I remember I got told at a certain age. Yes, at a certain age I was told you can't bring your baseball glove to baseball games anymore. Yeah. But once I started taking max to games, I brought I brought my glove back once. Really? Yes.

And did you put it to good use? I've twice not with not with him twice. I've caught well not directly caught but balls came near me that I got at baseball games and no glove but no spectacular grab either. The one souvenir baseball I did keep I went to Tiger Stadium with Brian Spear and we worked at the old headline sports in the last year before the Tigers played there and we both stole I think we can tell this now it's been 30 years we both stole batting practice baseballs from Tiger Stadium. Oh nice yeah that's a good one to hang on to good for you. All right that'll lead us to Final Thought, which is brought to you by GMC.

No stealing the accolades from Connor Hellebuck and what he's been doing this season. Say nothing of his career accomplishments. So this season already, Elliot, he's hit 500 appearances, eclipsed 40 shutouts for his career and most recently this week finally got that elusive 300th career win your thoughts on the multi-time Vezna trophy winner continuing to add to a resume that only runs deeper amongst the Goli Union. So I was thinking about this week because after I wrote the blog I had the line in there about Dry Cytl taking a run at Kaprizov for in the Hart Trophy race. I had a long email from a passionate Jets fan who said Halobach should be in the MVP conversation. And I would say that if there's one goalie this year to this

point who should be in that spot, it's Hello buck. Now I, it used to be, I think a lot more like Hasek won it. Um, but now in the age where they're trying to get goalies to play fewer games, I think it's going to be harder and to get goalies to play fewer games, I think it's going to be harder and harder for goalies to win the Hart Trophy. However, Hellebuck leads the league in games played. He's at 33 and I don't know how much Winnipeg is going to ease this up. Because once again, you're in a race

Colorado's getting hot we know how good Dallas is like that is a tough and Minnesota even though they lost on Thursday night they have played unbelievably well all year with a ridiculous amount of injuries. So you're sitting there and you're saying we've got to finish first and because if you don't you I mean it's not like any series is easy but you don't want that 2-3 you just do not want that 2-3 in that central division. So I don't know and and this is the really interesting thing about all this Kyle is that when I see the Jets and I see Hello Buck here I understand why they're and commerce played pretty well he's another Adam

Francilia guy and he's changed some of his, he actually was on the NHL network the other day and he had some pretty interesting comments about how he's changed his stance. Cory Schneider and him were talking about it. But if you're the Jets, you are looking at this and you are saying, I don't know how much we can afford to rest this guy because we got to finish first. Now if you don't, you take your lumps afford to rest this guy because we got to finish first. Now if you don't you take your lumps and you deal with them as they come. But I understand if the Jets whether they admit it privately or not or admit it publicly

or not are saying we are going all in to finish first. Now Hello Bucks a big guy. There is a school of thought out there that it's harder for the biggest goalies to win, not just in height but bulk and he's a big strong guy that when you're going basically every other night or three or four times a week in the playoffs, it's really really hard for those guys to win cups because of all the weight they carry. There's also the school of thought and Ben Waller was big in this. If you play 60 games in the regular season, your number one goalie, you're not going to win the Stanley Cup.

He simply runs out of steam and there's a lot of good analytics that say that's true. And I get it. But if I was running the Jets, I would say. We gotta we gotta go for it. We got to go for number one. And if that means that Hellebuck plays a couple extra games, we're doing it. And you know what?

You're right. That could push him into the hard trophy race. I think it's hard. I think, you know, Kaprizov, Dreisaitl, McKinnon, you know, he looks like he's going to defend the title. There are so many good players in this league. It's hard, I think, for a goalie to win, but he's the one guy that can be in it. You know, the thing about last year is the Jets, and I've said this before on this pod,

they panicked. The biggest difference to help Hellebock and their team succeed in the playoffs is not to panic and fall apart like they did last year And here's a row Elliott two years. Well one was earlier in the regular season Yeah years ago remember they went off the wagon and had to write themselves And it was too late by then and then in the play they weren't gonna beat Vegas that year They weren't gonna beat Vegas that year, you know, Colorado I'm you know, they're still a fearsome team. And we'll see how this all plays out with

ranting in. I, I, I'm very curious to see how that particular dance is going to go down to the wire at the deadline. And what everybody there decides to do. Right now, it's a stalemate, but deadline spur action and deadline is going to force a lot of people there to make decisions so we'll see how everybody handles it. There's no question that the landscape has changed there since the dry saddle contract. That's a variable that we didn't have in the summer and now we do and it it's changed not the situation not only for the avalanche but for other free agents in the league but I look at Hello Buck and I look at

the Jets and there's there's two things you have to look at number one is don't panic and they've banked in they banked and they had a great enough start of the year that there's no excuse for them to panic but number two you, Justin Bourne talks all out about how Toronto has to go for first. And they've got a shot to do it. I think Winnipeg is the same way. I think you have to make your run, even if you don't get first in the conference, you got to finish first in that division. You have to.

That's a goal. And if you have to squeeze a couple extra games at a Hellebuck, I I would do it. And by the way, Comrie, we mentioned on NHL Network, he had a great clip talking to Corey Schneider and Bill Lindsay about about Hellebuck as a person. Once again, our relationship is so unbelievable. I'm so lucky to have him as one of my best friends.

And honestly, as a teammate, he is truly one of the best human beings in the NHL and he is it's it's unbelievable how much he how much knowledge he gives me how much he shares with me I'm so grateful to have that relationship with him. So it's a big compliment, Comrie by the way one of the league's best talkers absolutely one of the best talkers great talker but I generally think Winnipeg makes good decisions. And there might not have been one better the last few years than to not deal Hello Buck and sign them at the time because it really stabilized their roster. Certainly has and it will be the second golden stick ceremony

this season Andre Vasilevsky had his earlier for 300 career wins and now Halabuck will enjoy his moment hitting the 300 mark. So that was The Final Thought brought to you by GMC. We will take our first break and come back with the Thought Line. You're listening to 32 Thoughts, the podcast. All right. Time now for the Thoughtline, where the real brains of this operation come together, the listeners, Elliot. That's right. Their questions and ideas.

That is right. By the way, can you believe less than a week from now, we are going to be sitting at Silver Tip in Canmore for our live podcast as part of the Hockey Day in Canada festivities? I'm looking forward to that. I'm really looking forward to that, Kyle. I remember last year, Kevin didn't realize that it was actually being taped for a podcast. He thought it was just for the people in attendance. And when the podcast went out, some of the things he said, he was like, we didn't realize that that was going out there. I was like, Kevin, what did you think we were

doing with it? Anyway, the other thing going on, so he'll be back this week, next week. The other thing is we're, we're doing a crosscountry ski shoot. So I have to go out. I've heard about this. I have to go out and I have to do some cross-country skiing because it's been a while. I got to get back. I got to get back in before. I can't let that be the first time I've done it in a long time. Yes.

I, someone just said to me that the wardrobe choices for that shoot are extravagant. So listeners. Oh really? I didn't even know that shoot are extravagant. So listeners. Oh really? I didn't even know that. I can't wait to see this. Good. Excellent. I can't wait either and the listeners. You know more than I do. Well it's the one area, the one area I could one-up you is the hockey day shoots. That's gonna be great. Yeah Kevin will be there. We're gonna have Glenn Sather join us as well and another legend, Lanny McDonald, will all be part of the live show at Silver Tip in just under a week from now. Okay, today's batch of submissions, Elliot. We will begin as you can imagine. There were a few

submissions about the Frank Vetrano contract and how the deferred salary all works. This one in from Mark from Grand Falls, New Brunswick. Hey guys, with Vitrano's new contract. Looks like it could be a new trend in the NHL. Let's just say that Vitrano gets traded in the third season of this deal. Who would be responsible for the deferred payments? If it's the new team, those deferred contracts could be harder to trade. So how does all that work? I'm under the impression that the Ducks will be under the response, will have the those deferred contracts could be harder to trade. So how does all that work? I'm under the impression that the ducks will be under the response, will have the responsibility for the deferred money beginning in 2035. I did ask this question and it was told to me that that is an Anaheim commitment. So that's how that's going to work. And just the point that

Mark brought up that this is going to be a new thing in the NHL I would be very curious to see if this really ends before it gains much more momentum The league is not crazy about them and there is a CBA negotiation slightly ongoing and really about to get going and we've kind of been told that this is something the NHL would like to close. And we'll see if the players association has much of an objection to it. Right. Because this is a lot of it is wording in the CBA from like pre salary cap days. Right. And it was just kind of left there because nobody really used this mechanism

until a little more recently that some right and players are taking advantage of it I wouldn't say taking advantage I would say that you're using it to make a deal that people are happy with I like when you have two sides making a deal I don't like the phrase take advantage so cut that out Pukoskas but well the fact that it's an option to use, sorry. Yes, they're using their option. Let's go with that one. Precision in language.

That's why, failed English major, no degree English major here. But the league clearly isn't crazy about it. So we'll see if it lasts or there's much stricter rules headed into the next CBA. Okay. Up next, we got a voicemail. Gracie from Florida. Hey Kyle and Elliot, this is Gracie from Florida. I love your guys' podcast. So in a recent episode, Elliot, you said that you love when a team pulls their goalie. And I was wondering about that because to me, it seems like the team that's behind,

they pull their goalie for the extra player. They end up getting scored on. Maybe I'm just watching the wrong game. But I'm curious what percent of the teams that pull their goalie end up like actually winning the game. Okay, thanks for your time. Well, you're definitely not watching the wrong game. Gracie, the odds are against you. There's no question.

I assume Kyle, you've done some research into this. Yeah, we did a little bit of work between us and the Sportsnet stats team. The tricky thing is, so I just asked for last season and to this point as we record on Thursday, this season, instances where, and we just took an arbitrary number within the last three minutes of a third period that a team scored a tying goal with an extra attacker and went on to win the game. I mean it's difficult to really hammer out

an exact percentage of how often this works because as you know Elliot there's times where a team's down a goal they pulled their goalie they don't score to tie there also isn't an empty netter scored so to try to filter that through a database search when nothing actually there isn't a goal to try to help your criteria, it can be difficult to pinpoint. But all of that being said, 34 times last season there were instances of a team tying the goal late with the goalie pulled and they went on to win and there have been 17 such instances to this point. So as you know, there's believe 1312 games total across the NHL for the entirety of the regular season. So for that to happen 34 times within it, it's a little over 2%, which is to Gracie's point.

Odds aren't great that this type of scenario will really happen. But when it does happen, you're already trailing, so you might as well try. Yes, and not every game would a team pull the goalie. Sometimes you're down big and you wouldn't do that. But this is a tight league. There's a lot of one goal games. I would say just to Gracie's point, I like it when people do things that are unconventional. I used to love it when Patrick Waugh would pull his goalie with five to 10 minutes left.

That's the stuff. When the face-off is in their zone? Well, that's the one that we were talking about. And it was interesting because the other night, we were working the regional, me, Nick, Justin, and Dave Amber, we were working the Philadelphia Toronto regional and I think there were seven seconds left or 12 seconds left and Philly had the face off in their zone and they were down a goal and we were like pull the goalie do what Patrick Wad did because who cares if you lose four to two or five to two if it's a three goal game you might as well either win the face off and try to use the advantage

or if you lose the draw, put two guys on the puck and try to win the battle. So I love the reason I was saying that is I really liked the fact that watch tried something unique. So I would say that that's the thing I like the most. But Gracie, we appreciate the question and love that you listen to the podcast. and I'm jealous of the weather you're getting down there in Florida right now because we are freezing up here in Ontario. Yes. Okay. Up next, Peter from Slovakia.

Wow. Is this Peter Stasny? Yeah. Well, after reading through this here, it'd be remarkable if it is. So here we go. Hi, Elliot, Kyle and Bob. I love Peter Stasny. I just want to say that I love Peter Stasny as much as you love breakfast.

Well, hey, only Gretzky had more points than Peter Stasny through the 1980 decade. That's true. Okay. Peter goes on to say, I've been a fan of the podcast since the Stanley cup finals this past year, inspired by my love for the Edmonton Oilers. So in November I flew to Canada to catch my Oilers play in Vancouver while there a fellow fan gifted me a Western Championship Oilers hat. A moment I'll never forget I also

bought a Canucks souvenir puck at Rogers Arena for my dad who's an amateur hockey player in Slovakia. So when I gave him the puck as a Christmas gift we realized that it was made in Slovakia. After some research I discovered that many NHL pucks are sourced from my home country. This got me wondering why does the NHL source something as simple as pucks from overseas and specifically from Slovakia? Is it about cost, quality or something else? Thank you for the podcast. Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

So the information I could gather, Elliot, first off, do you have anything on this topic? First of all, I want to shout out whoever that fan was in Vancouver who gifted Peter the Oilers Western Conference Championship hat. That is an outstanding gesture and a true commitment to Canadian diplomacy. I like that. Beautiful. So what I could gather is that I think there's a long history of Slovakia being a producer of hockey pucks. I think they've had a relationship with not only the NHL but a number of leagues for a long long time now. So yes Peter that souvenir puck that you would have purchased for your father, all

souvenir pucks are produced in Slovakia, the ones that the NHL then sells, but they are printed whatever logos or anything on there in Canada through a company called In Glasgow. The only difference is so for the pucks that are actually used in games and of course the ones now that have the tracking technology those pucks are made in Canada and also printed in Canada, Quebec specifically, but they've had a long history of getting their souvenir pucks through Slovakia. So why them specifically? I don't know. Clearly they've got a good reputation when it comes to good vulcanized rubber. We would like to invite our Slovakian correspondent Dom Sramati to add his opinion to this question.

Dom, why is your home country so good at making these souvenir hockey pucks? Making pucks is our national pastime, boys. It's just since I've been little, it's what I've known Slovakia to be good at. We just we make hockey pucks. Really? There you go. That's great. Well, when I was very young and I went to my first junior hockey experience,

I got a puck from the game. I forget what game it was. I think it was UBC against Team Slovakia. And the puck said made in Slovakia and it now could have been older than seven years old. So I've known from a young age that, you know, it's, it's a big thing like we make pucks. That's impressive. Pretty good. I didn't know that their airports. Welcome to Slovakia. We make pucks. You know, I've been to Slovakia before a couple times we went this summer and

also I've been to Bratislava on one previous occasion. And I never saw that sign. So wherever it is, I did not come across it. Maybe because I made it up for a cheap laugh. That's why. It was good line though. You bozo. Thanks, Tips.

I realized that. All right. Well, great story from Peter and good question as well. Thank you, Dom, for the assist there. All right. We have another voicemail. This one comes from Drew from Edmonton. Hey, boys.

It's Drew from Edmonton. I was just watching the highlights noticed uh Revo knocking his own goal. Tough look but I did notice he was not wearing a visor. Is he the last NHL player to not wear a visor in the league? Which lead me to the next thought. the next thought. Who was the first player to wear a visor slash half cage full time? Thanks boys. Love the pod. Okay, first off, I actually know I actually know this one, the four guys who are left. Wow. Okay. Who are they? They are Reeves. Yep. And I noticed it's just funny because they've all been in the news the last couple of days. Who scored the overtime winner for Dallas in New York at Madison Square Garden? Cost me the in season cup Jamie Ben. Okay, I'm gonna stay on focus and not go off on that one. Okay. And then Zach Bogosian

is Jamie Ben, by the way, Zach Bogosian had a big game for Minnesota the other night against St. Louis, he was hitting people all over the ice. And he doesn't wear a visor. And I think most people recognize probably the most well known one who doesn't wear a visor is Ryan O'Reilly. So those are the last four players with at least 35 games of NHL experience prior to 2013 14 are allowed not to wear a visor if they choose not to do so. So those are the last four standing. Correct. Mandatory visors were grandfathered in back in 2013. Do you know who the first player at any level that any level?

Yes. And he effectively invented it. Gentlemen by the name of Ken Clay, while playing for the Vanderhoof Bears, which is like remote British Columbia, not far from Prince George. No, I didn't. I didn't know that. Like, did you know that story because you're a BC guy or did you look it up? No, no, I had to do a little bit of digging myself, too. But yeah, this dates back to the early 1960s. And unfortunately, as often as the case,

takes a horrific injury for something like this to happen. So Ken lost sight in one of his eyes. He took a high stick during a game. And just through sheer, I guess, desperation and desire to still continue to play the sport that he loves, took some plexiglass and bent it around the helmet that he was using, screwed it on both sides. And that was, at least as history has shown to this point, the very first player to play with a visor. Now, I should also add, Greg Neald, who was an up and coming stud of a player

until he got an eye injury. I believe he was the first professional player. He played in the WHA. Because of an eye injury, he began to wear a visor. That came later in the early 70s I want to say and it's tough to know who in the NHL was the first player but names like Boria Sauming, Brian Propp, Ron Fogarty would have been the early day visor wearers in the National Hockey League. That's good stuff I didn't know that. When I think helmets, you know I think of because one of the first

guys that can remember seeing pictures of him wearing a helmet was Red Kelly. Right. But that would be in the 50s and 60s so obviously there would there would have been people before him but Vizor I never realized that those are the players who are credited with it. Good history lesson. Real good history lesson. Thank you Drew for that question. Okay we are credited with a good history lesson, real good history lesson. Thank you, Drew, for that question. Okay, we're wrapping with a question from Samantha in London, Ontario. Hi, Elliot, Kyle and Dom. Samantha here, longtime listener, first time writing in from London, Ontario.

She notes though, not a Western alumni. Not a Western alumni. Lakehead for life. Okay, so first of all, even though you didn't go to Western, you're a Londoner, you're a Westerner by osmosis, Samantha. We accept you. And I will tell a story too that, so Lakehead, when I was a student at Western, they played in the same league as the Western sports teams.

So Western was the Mustangs and Lakehead was, I don't know if they still are, it was the Norwesters and the Lakehead had a reputation for having incredible fan support at their games. So they didn't have a hockey team at the time but they did have a basketball team so I traveled one weekend to Thunder Bay to see Western's men's and women's basketball teams play lakeheads teams and back-to-back double headers. So I think it was so first the women would play and then the men would

play and it was crazy up there great fans great support and I think they split I think the each men's team won one game and each women's team won one game. And I still remember the Lakehead women's team game was disputed because they had a great player named Pam Leach and she stepped out of bounds hitting the game-winning three-pointer and the Western players were furious that the officials missed the call. That's a great story. Good recall. It was a fun time. It was a fun time. Yeah. All right. So here's Sam's question. I have a question regarding me Stanley Cupps appearance at the recent Winter Classic. My partner and I were at this year's Winter Classic in Chicago. We went

to the pregame event and saw what was advertised and appeared to be the Stanley Cup. We got our picture with it. We were super excited until I saw a family member back in Toronto at the Hockey Hall of Fame on New Year's Eve also with the Stanley Cup. So this leads me to my question. Which one was the imposter? Is there more than one Stanley Cup? I'm so confused. Thanks for all you do and go Hawks go. So to put it plainly, yes there is more than one Stanley Cup. There are two in circulation at a given time. Now the original bowl, the original Dominion hockey challenge cup, it has been retired since I believe 1970.

So when you go into the Hall of Fame, you can go into the vault, you can still see it, it's behind glass. It hasn't been used and toured about for many, many years now. But in 1993, Elliot, the Hockey Hall of Fame decided, because you know, as it's become commonplace when a team wins a Stanley cup, every player gets their day with it over the course of the summer. They decided that no matter what time of year, if hockey fans were going to pay admission to go to the hockey hall of fame, they wanted to make sure that there was a Stanley cup there to see, to look at, to take pictures with. So they've got the presenter Stanley Cup and they also have the replica. So when the Stanley Cup you see shown on TV with teams parading it about, players getting a chance to have their day with it in the off season, when that is on the road,

the replica fills in at the Hall of Fame when people go and see it there. So one of the big differences between the two is underneath the base, there's the Hockey Hall of Fame stamp that's imprinted on it. The replica does not have that. So Samantha, good news for you. The picture you got with the cup in Chicago, that was the presenter cup. That was the one that is... That's the real one.

...every year in June. So you got the real deal in Chicago. No worries there. That's good stuff. Nice work. I would have assumed that for an event like that one, the real one would go on the road. And I will say this, I think that is a great move by the Hockey Hall of Fame to do that because you're right, if you go there, you want to see a Stanley Cup. Absolutely. Beautiful. All right. That was a fun one. Good thought line this week. Very good. As you said, Kyle, better than the rest of the pod. Yes. All right. We'll try not to butcher the end of this thing

after the our last commercial break. Back to rap in a moment. Okay, welcome back. Before we go, Elliot, have you had a look yet of what is on tap for Hockey Night in Canada this weekend? Because there's a lot going on on the network. There's a lot of hockey to watch. I always love the weekends where the Canucks and the Leafs play against each other because the fanbases can't stand one another and for whatever reason Even though they don't play each other much there always seems to be fireworks There's always something that happens whether it's Ryan Miller trying to fight half the Maple Leaf team it it's a scene. It's a show. It's an event. I love it. This is my second favorite one. I like the one in Vancouver better, which is next month, right

Kyle? That's in February? Yep. Just before Four Nations. I like that one better because all the Vancouver fans get mad about the game being at four o'clock local time. And I don't know why that just makes me laugh. I can't stop laughing whenever I see those tweets. Right. It's it's taken out of their control. It's the least TV man. We spend a lot of money on these teams so the salary cap goes higher. You got to understand why that game and you know what the Maple Leafs and the Canucks should always play on Saturdays. I know there's been a couple times we've moved those games to Wednesdays. It's just like Crosby versus McDavid should always be

on Saturday. McDavid versus Matthew should always be on Saturday. Canucks versus Leafs should always be on Saturday at four o'clock Pacific time. Sorry. When you really break it down. It's fantastic to have the game over seven o'clock local at the latest, especially on the Saturday. You got the whole rest of your night. If you're going to go for dinner, you're going to do something. You can go to the Roxy and meet your partner

just like Macklin Celebrini's parents. That's right. What's wrong with this? In the name of love. In the name of love. Yeah, it's not about television. It's about... It's not about hockey.

Romance. Correct. Correct. As Ron MacLean would say, this is the story about a love affair. What else we got this weekend? What else is on our show? There are four early games. So we got that one. Oh my goodness. Headliner.

Dallas and Montreal suddenly feels like a pretty big game. A big game, yeah. You mentioned the importance of having the marquee matchups on Saturday. We got McDavid versus Bedard in the early window as well. Edmonton's in Chicago. And Colorado and Winnipeg. Talk about a matchup that is rarely boring. That's another one too, especially after the playoff showdown last spring. That's a pride game for

the Jets. A big pride game for the Jets. And then the Kings and Flames in Calgary is the nightcap this weekend. So a very good lineup. Oh, we talked about the Kings and Flames in Calgary is the nightcap this weekend. So a very good lineup. We talked about the Kings and their fans a little bit earlier, so hopefully it can provide three hours of entertainment in the middle of some very tough times. Absolutely. Plenty of options to keep your mind busy and hopefully give you a bit of joy here along the way too. So that's what's coming on Saturday, Elliot. Have yourselves a good weekend. We'll talk to you again on Monday and then Canmore for Hockey Day in Canada. Can't wait.