32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Best Game Ever Last Week

Episode Date: March 1, 2021

If you didn’t stay up late on Saturday night, you missed an exciting game in San Jose. Jeff and Elliotte discuss the back-and-forth contest between the Blues and Sharks (00:10), Jordan Binnnington��s tantrum and the current state of the St. Louis Blues. They also take your #Ask31 questions throughout the podcast (12:50), talk Nathan MacKinnon (14:20), […]

This episode of 31 Thoughts to Podcast is in memory of Brian Frazier, a great hockey fan we were all lucky to have and many called a friend. 13 goals, a wild night, Jordan Bennington goes banana sandwich against the San Jose Sharks, and the St. Louis Blues' Elliott Friedman win a thriller in one of the best games of the season. It was unbelievable watching the start of the third period. 4-4. That's an interference penalty on Dubnyk. Should be, won't be, but he nearly gave up the puck back behind the net. Goaltender gets in a road by sticking his butt out like that. You got to put the arm in the air.

Yeah, he's got a big butt though. 5-5. Send in front by Leonard. The shot. Score! Kevin LeBanc getting the pass from John Leonard and the Sharks have tied it up 5-5 and the wildness continues. 6-6.

Feeds back to Ferraro on the left point. Sharks threatening here. It's Burns. Over to LeBanc. Back to Ferraro. Now to Burns. He throws it towards the net. Tipped, SCORE! Logan Couture just tipped that brick burn shot and ties this hockey game 6-6! Wow! And then the winning goal later. Oh my goodness gracious. 13-13 to go.

There's one way to keep you up when it's 11.45 at night in this game like this. Six for the Blues. Six for the Sharks. Sharks have had four different one-goal leads. The Blues have had two different one-goal leads. Dubnik's been the goaltender the whole time for San Jose. Blues center. They score.

It's 7-6. Scandella tucks it in. And the St. Louis Blues are back on top. 12-46 to go in the third. The Blues with 7. The Sharks with 6. It's a shootout out in the West tonight. Wow! This has got to be a record for how many goals a goalie can let up and still not get pulled in a game for Devin Duby. That's the seventh goal he's let up on 25 shots, and I still don't think he's going to get pulled.

It was like watching an old cash register light up. It was just flat-out fun, and I know we've spent some time last week talking about the San Jose Sharks, and thanks to everyone who listened to the Mario Ferraro interview and tweeted in or texted in or DMed in about it. So I wanted to spend a little bit of time talking about St. Louis, and as fate would have it, these two teams met on Saturday night,

and it was a glorious game, ripped out of the pages of an entirely different era of the NHL, one that had goals by the handful and goalies snapping a little bit. What did you make, before we get into the game and the St. Louis Blues here, what did you make of Jordan Bennington going after anyone that was standing around in a San Jose jersey? Bennington went right over to their bench. Something was said there and he went right over and gave Schimmick one and now he's going to go by their player. Showing some feistiness, as he always does. Now he's going to go over to David Dubnik.

Here we go. So a fired-up Binnington is lifted here. Well, when he's going to the bench after being pulled, now he kind of stops by. You can see here he's going by, and then someone must have said something, obviously. And then somebody on the bench says something, but he gives Schimmick a little bit of a nudge right there.

And now he's going by, and I think this was Carlson there. Gives him a little fake blocker. Never hit him there. And now he's looking over at Dubnik and saying, yeah, you want to go? Let's go then. Gives him a little swat. Linesman get in there.

Oh, he shows some some fire that kid this is not the first time this has happened with jordan binnington he has a fuse and you know what did we learn about him a couple years ago we learned that this is a guy who marches to his own drummer. This is a guy who argued with Martin Brodeur about his place in the game. This is a guy who believed in himself when his own organization really wasn't sure it believed in him.

And this is a guy with a bit of a fuse. And you go back to april 2018 he was actually on loan to the bruins team in providence yeah and in a playoff series as he's skating off the ice he punches danik martel at the end of the first period and gestures at the fans. Then a few months later, he's playing for San Antonio. And while they're getting blown out by the Texas stars, he slashed Joel Esperance. He was ejected and then threatened to fight the entire Texas bench. You know, this is the way he is wired. This is who Jordan Bennington can be from time to time.

And I guess he was just incredibly frustrated with the way he was playing. You know, but we've seen this before, Jeff. He's going to have these moments from time to time. He's got a lot of Hextall in him. He's got a lot of Hextall in him. He's got a lot of Hextall in him. And in that, he is an elite level goaltender a la Ron Hextall, specifically in 1987, to which I believe you are referring.

That game was flat out fun. We mentioned the San Jose Sharks last week. I did want to park some time talking about the Blues. So let's get there now. Well, first of all, we should mention that Doug Armstrong has made it very clear that he's going to extend Jordan Bennington. Right. Now, until it's done, it's not done.

But I don't think that's going to change the Blues' minds on him at all. If people are wondering, okay, did the Blues not like this? I don't think that's got anything to do with it. And I'll tell you something else. I think Devin Dubnik wanted to fight him. Of course he did. That's why he came out at him. He just saw Bennington go after two of his own players, including Eric Carlson. And so Dubnik comes out. He's the new goaltender. What a great way to ingratiate yourself with your new team. Plus, Dubnik's just flat out bigger than Jordan Bennington is too uh so that added some

spice to it as well I thought Dubnik wanted to go as well I thought for sure he wanted to fight him so I was on radio in St. Louis on Friday with Andy Strickland our good friend and Strick asked me said you know how in Canada do you guys see the St. Louis Blues? And I said, well, I still look at them like they're a real good team. You know, they've been plagued by injuries, although Vladimir Tarasenko is on his way back sooner than later. We'll get there in a second. But to me, they're sort of one step beneath like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender right now.

Like I'll look at, you know, Tampa, I'll look at Boston, I'll throw Washington into that mix. Certainly Vegas is in that conversation. But to me, they look like one at that second Stanley Cup tier. How do you see the St. Louis Blues right now? The one that really makes me concerned is the injury to Pareko, right? Yeah, and how he was playing injured the last couple of weeks. Like a lot of guys going out of that lineup could really hurt them. You know, Riley being one,

they're obviously Tarasenko is a lethal score and he played extremely well when they won the cup. You know, Falk has been fantastic. He's kind of rejuvenated his career, you know Falk has been fantastic he's kind of rejuvenated his career but I think Pareko is the guy like of all their skaters if you lose Pareko or you lose O'Reilly I think the team really changes right with Pareko now being out if we don't know exactly what that is or what the timeline is I would be concerned about St. Louis's ability to win. And you know what? Whenever it's a back injury, because as you've seen before,

back injuries can really be an enigma when it comes to diagnosing or putting timelines and it can instantly change the minute you step out of bed. You could feel great when you go to bed one day and step out of bed the next morning and great when you go to bed one day and step out of bed the next morning. And all of a sudden, Oh, what I thought was going to be two weeks now is maybe turning into two months. So that would be my concern. I just look at St. Louis and I say, man, the injury bug hit them hard. Like they have a lot of like legit high-end nhl players on the shelf or in the case of you know alexander

steen retired the gunnarsson injury was a tough one to watch yeah mentioned that vlad teresenko is on his way back i thought robert thomas was poised to have a a breakout season i think that one of the things you know you always want your young players to pop and sort of come out of nowhere and, and grab a top spot. And for the St. Louis Blues, Jordan Cairo has been that guy. If you look at five on five points per 60, he's right up there.

The last time I checked, he was sixth in the league. Like the St. Louis Blues, when they won the Stanley cup, no one would ever accuse them of being the fastest team in the NHL. Much like the Los Angeles Kings, when they won the Stanley Cup, no one would ever accuse them of being the fastest team in the NHL. Much like the Los Angeles Kings, when they won their Stanley Cups, no one ever accused them of being a fast team. This was a very deliberate, heavy checking team that had good goaltending

and got great performances. And Ryan O'Reilly was outstanding. And that was one of the major parts of the recipe that went into them winning the Stanley cup. But the minute that Jordan Cairo stepped on the ice, all of a sudden they had a speed factor. They had a burner, you know, like when, who would it have been?

Maybe Adrian Kempe started with the Los Angeles Kings. All of a sudden that slow team just got faster. Does it not feel like Jordan Cairo has the exact same effect with the St. Louis Blues? Like all of a sudden, boom, he steps on the ice and ooh, that's a dimension this team hasn't had. That's why I'm curious to see when he starts to get more time.

Yes. He's what, around 15 minutes now? You're going to make me do actual research aren't you all right fine by the way i have to say this every game craig berube looks like he wants to murder an official kind of like when he played it kind of like when he when he played yes like i watch like i don't know if you watched the end of that san Jose-St. Louis game. I did. That was a great game. For those of you who didn't watch, there was a face-off with 2.4 seconds left, and they dropped the puck, and St. Louis won the draw but didn't score, and San Jose thought they won the game.

And the referees blew it dead, and they said, No, we got to do it again. And Berube just looked like he wanted to jump on the ice and strangle somebody. I have to say this, the whole St. Louis team this year, they've had moments this year and I've heard about it on the ice and, and just the looks and Berube's kind of alluded to it a couple of times in some of his zoom calls.

They don't like the way their games get called. Why do you think that is initially i heard it was they thought it was too ticky tack and then i heard later it almost became like it went the opposite way and apparently the blues are like just let us play okay just let us play the game this is probably for a deeper conversation we We'll have a different time. But isn't that true of every team in the NHL right now? I don't know. I've heard it with them in particular. By the way, you're right about Kairou, 15-03.

Boom. You were three seconds off, Jeff. Like, that's just terrible. You should be embarrassed. But I didn't go over. So on the Price is Right, I win. Closest without going over, says Bob Barker, Drew Carey. But he's third on the team with points in 18. He's having a hell of a season. Bryce is right. I win. Closest without going over, says Bob Barker, Drew Carey.

But he's third on the team with points in 18. He's having a hell of a season. Fantastic young hockey player. On that, we'll kick it off because we have a lot to get to today, including your questions at hashtag Ask31 and an interview with Andrew Parrott, defenseman for the Owen Sound Attack of the OHL, on what it's like being a player with no lead. This is 31 thoughts,

the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra. Welcome to the podcast once again to kick off your week. We thank you for joining us and appreciate the download. I promised a couple of hashtag ask 31s and so we want to lead with one today. Because at this point in the season where the stress can be overwhelming for a lot of teams brian tyberg asks this one what team or teams are most in need of a fridge turtleneck moment a breath of fresh air something different something to loosen things up a little bit who needs a little something different and a breath of fresh air right now around the NHL fridge? Maybe Montreal,

Calgary and Vancouver and the Canadian division. I would say Columbus. Ooh, five in a row. Ouch. I think Dallas really tough, really tough. Just everything they've gone through only 16 games and the schedule that they're going to have to play to make it up.

And then I think Buffalo would probably be the last one. Anaheim had a really rough week too. Yep. How about like Arizona? They fall behind three, nothing. They win the first time they fall behind three, nothing. They win the second time. It felt so bad.

And then Colorado, their fall down three, nothing and get to within three, two in the last minute, but they couldn't tie it. And then Colorado just said enough of this and beat them 6-2 on Saturday. Yeah, really, really rough week for Anaheim. How'd you like that Nathan McKinnon goal, by the way? Speaking of the Saturday, holy smokes. Permission to come aboard indeed.

Here's a shot from McKinnon. He scores! Permission to come aboard indeed. Here's a shot from McKinnon. He scores! A quick strike from the Cobra and Nathan McKinnon with a wicked wrister. I don't care who you are. Nobody's stopping that.

And the Avalanche lead 1-0 on the shoulders of the Mac Attack. Here's what I love about McKinnon. It's like every now and then he just reminds everybody you know like he'll fall out of the conversation around the top player in the game and it's flavor of the month and sometimes

hey it's Austin Matthews for a while and it's Connor McDavid and other players are making noise and then Nathan McKinnon does something like that just to remind everybody, it seems like, like, hey, over here, I'm in the conversation and might just be number one. Well, one thing I do believe, Jeff, is I do think that this whole conversation about the voting is a lot about Nathan McKinnon.

In what sense? Well, just that- He's not going to get enough love? Because McDavid and Matthews are getting so much attention, mckinnon in what sense well just that he's not going to get enough love because mcdavid and matthews are getting so much attention and you know normally there's more american-based voters than there are canadian-based voters yep by a slight amount i think i i figured it out last week i think it was like 85 82 or something like that but when you separate them into divisions all of a sudden you've got a lot more Canadian voters in their division than any one other division.

And in a couple of cases, including the one Colorado's in it, it's kind of lopsided. I do think that that's what a lot of this is about is, you know, Nathan McKinnon getting his due. I do have to say this. I think McDavid has been shafted royally in hard voting. But, you know, I think you could make a real argument that mckinnon has too uh not to the same level but it's there and you know i know that some of the people that have raised the issue about the voting this year mckinnon is the guy that they're kind of talking about can we pause for a second here, Elliot, and just bathe in the glory that was just the visuals of Minnesota and Los Angeles on Saturday night? Oh, beautiful.

How spectacular did that look? The green with the yellow with the purple. It was beautiful on Saturday night. Like to the point where I didn't even mind that the ice was white. That's how gorgeous I thought the whole thing was. I was going to wonder. I was waiting for that. No, those jerseys between the Wild and the Kings,

they were spectacular. And you know what? That was a fun game too. Yeah. That was a wonderful game. And that was, listen, that was a good Los Angeles that was listen that was a listen a good los angeles king team that's played really well lately and a minnesota wild squad now and congratulations matt dumba that was a real nice move in overtime to end it zuccarello getting it for greenway on

the left wing over now for zuccarello there's two seconds up a chance in front, they score! That's Dumba! Matt Dumba took the pass and scored as time expires. The Wild win in overtime, 4-3. Boy, it was just counting down, Bob. You were calling the clock as it was narrowing down, and you could see Dumba just jumping in there and makes a little move to his left, then goes to his right. He stuffs it in, and the LA Kings have not even left their bench yet. A Minnesota Wild team now that LA, we should probably park some time, He stuffs it in, and the LA Kings have not even left their bench yet.

A Minnesota Wild team now that LA, we should probably park some time, maybe even on the podcast later on this week, to do something deeper on the Minnesota Wild. But they've now won six games in a row. Yep. And they're now in second spot in the West. And dare I say, and I don't know if I've said this since Doug Reisbrough was the general manager, are the Minnesota Wild actually fun to watch now? I think they're pretty entertaining.

I didn't know if I saw this coming this quickly. I don't even think necessarily they were always necessarily so stale on the ice. I thought they might have been a little bit stale off it too. on the ice i thought they might have been a little bit stale off it too and i do think the moves that that bill garren has made has at least set off a bit of a grenade in there it's shaken some people out of their comfort zone and caprizov has breathed new life into the franchise and the new t-shirts dollar dollar bill carrell they're so good sign me up i'll take them give me give me a dozen uh those are fantastic it was like when ovechkin started with the washington capitals and there was hockey joy that sort of breathed life into that organization

are you getting the same thing with kaprizov and oh no no question about it he brought a new energy and you know the new energy was supposed to come a few years ago when Suter and Parise arrived, and it did, but they just never seemed to break through. And, look, that is a brutal division. On Saturday night, for a little bit there in terms of points, they were number one until Vegas beat Anaheim in overtime and passed them. But if you're going to go through the playoffs there,

you're going to have to go through two of probably Colorado, St. Louis, and Vegas, probably, right? Yep. And that's going to be hard. I think we're all curious to see, okay, seven-game series, how did they do? But the fact is Kaprizov has breathed new life into them. They're playing really well.

I think a lot of us are curious to see, will the goaltending hold up? And I think the other thing there too is that Guerin's going to have some tough expansion decisions there. Wow. The guy that just scored the OT winner has been circled from day one. Matt Dumbo, what's going on there? I think Guerin has approached it the right way it's the Lamorello way if you've got

time use it when you let your expansion decisions overwhelm your hockey decisions sometimes you have to do it but it can cause problems and I think that rather than making a bad trade or a rush trade he's kind of said I'll push it as long as I can. And I think for this team, that's the right message. You know, one of the things that we're, and again, who knows how he would have done.

He's only 19 years old. But as we see what Kaprizov's able to do with the Minnesota wild right now, I find myself watching the Minnesota wild and saying to myself, if only Marco Rossi could play this year. Yeah. Just to see. You know, I gotta tell,

I gotta tell you too, like there were two players that came back this weekend. I was really happy to see them come back. I was really happy to see Rasmus Ristolainen come back. Yeah. And I was really happy to see Ilya Samsonov come back. Yeah, same. Like those guys, they really had battles.

And who knows what the long-term effects are going to be. I mean, we just don't know enough. But I thought it was great to see them on the ice. And that gives me real hope for Rossi too. And what happened? Washington won and obviously Buffalo didn't win, but just the fact that Ristolano was out there, I didn't watch the game on Sunday, but

Saturday, I thought he played pretty hard. It gives me a lot of optimism for Rossi. I like that. Fingers crossed. We should do something more profound with the Minnesota Wild, maybe later on this week, or we should do something more profound with the Minnesota Wild maybe later on this week or we should do it soon because that's becoming a real fun team to

watch if not already a fun team to watch. Let me hit you with one more hashtag S31 as I'll drop them in like pepper and parsley in the soup here throughout the podcast. This to us comes to us from Chris Black. If Spetsa's fake clapper is his true

signature move and then how about that's the fake shot look at smith he bit on that initial shot goes down and as soon as spetsa knows he has him right there on his knees now it's just to the outside and a perfectly placed shot frustration for the top for the top line as McDavid slams the door. A turnover ends up in the back of the net at the other end. What are other true signature moves and your personal faves? To me, it's easy. It's the Dominic Hasek roll. The Hasek roll, to me, every time I see anyone try it and do it automatically,

it's just Dominic Hasik to me. The one re-rolls and he goes over his shoulder, that is the Dominic Hasik role. That is how I always, whenever I hear the name Dominic Hasik, that's exactly what I think. Much like when you see that Spezza fake slap shot, go to your right a little bit

and fire it past the goaltender, you see that Spezza fake slap shot go to your right a little bit and fire it past the goaltender you think Jason Spezza but the Hashek roll to me is it that's my favorite do you have a favorite signature move I don't know if you'd call it a move but to me it really captured who this player was I loved Patrick Waugh when he winks at Thomas Sandstrom. Okay, maybe you know the answer to this.

I should know and I don't and I'm embarrassed that I don't. Who's the camera person that caught it? That to me is the real star of that moment because you know that Patrick's done it to other players. Who's the camera person that caught that? It is such a great moment for each. It's a great moment in the history of hockey.

I should find out. I'll ask. I'll see if I can find out. We never think about who the camera person was. And that person is the star. Because they caught it. It's such great camera work. And we never consider it for a second. And I've always wondered who that person is.

But I'm with you. That wink. Oh, that wink is fantastic. The JC Tremblay flipping the puck. Whenever I see a D-man flip it high, JC Tremblay or Jim Dory, whose nickname was actually Flipper, because that's what he did.

He flipped pucks. But to me, the Hashek roll. But I do like your idea though. You know, I'll tell you something. The way Matthews is starting to hold his stick. He doesn't move his hands. Well, not only that, but noticeably holding it in midair, waiting for the pass, right?

I was driving through my neighborhood the other day and some kids were playing street hockey. And, you know, as I was driving up, i could see one of them doing it really eh yes i like that you know and don't forget you know matthew's still young he's got a long career ahead of him he's going to score a lot of goals yeah maybe that becomes a thing. All right. Something's become a thing around the NHL right now, and we mentioned them earlier, is losses in Columbus. Yeah. Do you have a thought on CBJ now dropping five in a row, specifically the last two to Nashville?

It's hard not to see something coming here. Is it that obvious they already made two trades um you know they trade uh domey for anderson and they trade uh dubois you know a couple weeks ago when when the liney thing happened there was a theory going around that maybe tortorella wanted to go like there was a theory that maybe he was even sabotaging himself. Yeah. And I know someone who knows him and they said that is just not true. That's just not the way he's wired.

You know, I've asked a lot of GMs. Berkey is one of those guys. I'm going to leave some other guys away because they're still working. And I said, you know, when do you know when to fire a coach? one of those guys i'm gonna leave some other guys away because they're still working and i said you know when do you know when to fire a coach and a lot of them say like your team doesn't push back right i don't know what's going to happen there and you know kakalainen has always stood fast tortorella and i'm not saying that i know he's thinking about it because I don't know that, but I'm looking at this situation and the pushback isn't there. Right.

And that's when you wonder if, if they're thinking about it. Uh, Mark sends this one in. Okay. Ask 31. What's the view of Anthony Mantha around the league. I know he was discussed previously, but do people view his inconsistencies as a product of what he has to work with, bracket or doesn't, or do they view it as an indictment on him? Ultimately, would Detroit find a market for him

if need be? Oh, if you put Anthony Mantha to market, there'd be a lot of teams that would line up. Well, the thing is too, is he's signed long-term, right? Yeah, you have that locked in. Like there's some guys i think that like if you put their contract out there and people would say you know what i'm not doing that

i don't want that term i don't necessarily think you'd be that way with mantha like he just signed a four-year deal his average annual value is 5.7 i think that's the kind of contract that people are going to bet on because it's his first year. He's still pretty young. I mean, Mantha is only, you know, 26, he'll be 27 next September. I don't think people are going to look at him and say, that's a terrible risk that we wouldn't take it. Do I think people would like to see more from him from time to time? Yes.

But I guarantee to you, a lot of people will look at players in Detroit, especially the last couple of years where there's been a lot of losing, while they rebuild, and they'll say, I'll take a chance on a guy like that and how he would handle a different or better situation. So do I think people want to see more out of him sometimes? Sure. But do I think people out there are saying,

oh, look at all these contracts across the league that no one will ever touch and we're saying that about Manta? No, I don't believe anybody's saying that about him. Okay, Elliot, did you have any idea how confused hockey fans were going to become Saturday when you tried to explain NBA Top Shot to everybody? I will tell you, Jeff, there was a mix. They were either really confused or they really got it. And I have to tell you, it went kind of viral and it went to places that I didn't expect. I knew this one was

something I didn't really understand very well, but I did a ton of research in it and I knew there was the potential for it to kind of hit a bit of a different audience and it did. One of the people who reached out to me after I did the hit, he said to me, I know about this. And he set me up with some other people who I spoke to for the blog, which is coming out Tuesday. But that person then reached out to me again later on Sunday. And he said, you know, I got a lot of people in the hockey world now asking me, what is this? What is this about? And I think there's two ways to look at it. It's what

TopShot is and what the technology is. And it's blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, that kind of thing. And some people out there will instantly know what that is, and other people out there will need it to be explained to them. And the world is eventually going to maneuver to the blockchain. It is going to be a huge part of our lives. And we all don't know about it now, but we're all going to have to learn about it. But from a fundamental point of view, here's the way it could change, for example, hockey. Right now, if you're a card collector, say, Jeff, I have a card for sale. I license it from the NHL.

I pay the NHL to sell this card. Now, the moment I sell it to you, anything that happens after that, the NHL or the players have no share of it. You make all the profit. That can change under the blockchain. There can be a function set up where every time that card is sold, the NHL or the players or the alumni who are going to be big in all this. Get a piece. Get a piece of it because the program could be set up that way.

How's the NBA set up? I should explain Top Shot. Top Shot, for those of you who aren't familiar with it, is virtual trading cards. You all know the handheld trading card. This is a trading card for a virtual world. And the example I used on Hockey Night on Saturday was a 2019 LeBron James dunk.

One of the biggest dunks of his career. So what this company called, it's called Dapper Lane. They own Top Shot. And they created 49 virtual highlights of that play. And they sold them. And one man, a guy by the name of Jesse Schwartz, who was actually born in Montreal, but lives in Los Angeles,

he bought one of those highlights for $208,000. He's very confident in his investment. And he's a guy with a good business background. He's a pretty smart guy. So he believes in what he's done and he's a big LeBron fan. So I think you have the combination of a guy who's a huge LeBron James fan and a really smart businessman.

He believes in what he's doing. But basically the way it works, Jeff, is every sale on Top Shot, the company keeps 5%. What about the players? Well, that's what I don't know yet, and I'm going to try to find out. But if they're licensing it from the NBA and the NBA Players Association,

you know they're getting a cut. And they're getting a cut of it. And that is the difference. The difference now is instead of them just getting their percentage the first time the card is sold difference now is instead of them just getting their percentage the first time the card is sold, now you can wire it so that they get a percentage every time. These are called moments, by the way.

These digital highlights are called moments. Every time the moment is sold, they can get it. And you know where else this is going to be a factor? And this is going to be big for the NHL, is ticketing. Right now, the ticket is sold for the first time. Jeff, you buy a ticket from me, the team. Right. I get it.

And if you resell that, then- You get everything. Now you can set up the chain so that every time it's resold- You get a piece of it. The team can get a piece of it. The team can get a piece of it. The technology is as big as the collection. Okay, Elliot, that to me is more interesting than, with all due respect, buying moments.

Yeah. Like hockey cards. That to me really gets my ears up because, and it might just be my ignorance, and I don't know if this will catch on for hockey. Part of me says just because it's popular in basketball and it works in basketball or people are invested in this

in basketball, doesn't mean that hockey fans will either. But I understand the NHL would have to at least kick tires on it because that's normal business practice. Hey, this is successful in the nba if you're the nhl you have a responsibility to your league to at least investigate it but the idea of getting a piece of the ticket resale market to me is a whopper that to me

gets my ears up elliot well there's there's two things about that number one i understand why you're saying that but on the other side i can tell you it's a bit of a pitfall because remember the first time the teams kind of did the resale and people were ripping them because they said why are the teams profiting from this? Yeah. So you know there will be that issue. But the teams will take that. They'll take their criticism to get involved in it.

I think they'd be fine. I think that they would say, look, we have to get our head out of the sand about this thing. We can't pretend that it doesn't happen. We're just trying to get a piece of it because we understand that it does happen. So you're right, Jeff, there's the collecting part of it and there's the technology part of it. And I interviewed a couple of people who are, Steve Dangle set me up with a friend of his who'll be, it'll be in the blog, just talking about getting involved on the collectible side of it, the moments and using it, whether it's an investment or a fun kind of thing. And then there's the technology, which is can the NHL

and the players and the alumni, because the NBA hasn't done alumni yet. And you know, the NHL will look at it because the Gretzky momentsky moments if you can do them those will be huge if you can find a way to make money off them in perpetuity it's going to be massive absolutely and i would wonder if this would extend further than just the nhl elliot like if you're the double ihf yeah you're sitting on a treasure trove internationally this isn't just nhl moments these are world championship moments these are olympic moments like well olympics would be ioc but the double ihf will be sitting on a gold mine themselves as well not for the necessary for the north american market but i would think of like i always think of the world championships you know

czechoslovakia versus ussr and what that would mean to a Czech person. You know, it's very good. UFC, by the way, has a deal with this company right now, Jeff. I am not shocked at all. And you know the other leagues are coming, but the NHL has already started talking to them and with the Players Association and the alumni, it's going to happen. You can't look at this as a pandemic and say, wait a sec, they're making this kind of money, and the players are really involved. That's the other thing here. Someone sent me a Zoom interview where an NBA player was telling the reporters, hey, you guys have to get in on this.

And the reporters are like, we don't make NBA player money. We can't afford this stuff. It was actually pretty funny. Hey, Amel, how can we get 31 thoughts involved in this? How can we scrape up a couple of dollars? Any moments from this podcast? Any moments from this podcast? Anybody want to pay for?

Bloopers only. Yeah, it's the stuff that Amel has stashed from how we talked before the podcast Anybody want to pay for bloopers only? Yeah. It's just, it's the stuff that Amal has stashed from how we talked before the podcast actually gets going. It's going to sell us out and retire to Monaco based on that. This is something Elliot, honestly, that I want to regroup on.

This is something I want to talk about more, maybe as early as our next podcast, but at a certain point when I'm, when I'm more knowledgeable about it because when you mentioned it my first thought was huh and you know i kind of had that like zoink scoob scooby-doo moment moment about it but now that i think about it more since saturday night and into today's podcast and talk it out. And listen, that resale ticket idea has, has me pretty interested as well.

This is something that I'm really interested in. This to me is, is something profoundly different and profoundly new. So let's, let's pick up this conversation when I'm a little less ignorant about the whole thing. Sure. Okay.

From Mike Hess. Okay. If I'm hired at Rogers for the position of junior Elliot Friedman, what does my first day look like? What's my first assignment? If someone gets hired as junior Elliot Friedman, what's their day look like,

Frege? I would, I would, I would say you have to replace senior Dave Amber. No, I really have a tough time answering these questions. I really don't think time answering these questions. I really don't think my day is that exciting. There's a lot of checking your phone, answering texts, making calls, sending out other texts.

Like a lot of this job, and I'm not trying to make it sound like bad because it's fun. And I'm not trying to make it sound like it's. Cause it's not like I'm operating on brains or anything like that, but it, you, it's a lot of grinding, right. And maybe trying on turtlenecks, it's grinding and trying on turtlenecks. I just think that's what it is. It's constantly about, okay, who can I reach out to? Who can give me a little bit of a morsel of information that I didn't have before? Like that's basically what it is. Who can give me a little bit of a morsel of information that I didn't have before? That's basically what it is.

And then it's listening to a lot of Kevin BX ripping everything you're doing. That's the fun stuff. Hang on, when's the last time you had someone yell at you? Like if someone comes on as Junior Elliot Friedman, what's he or she in store for? Oh, last week. Okay. There was a big one last week. See, I'm not going to talk here for a while for hopes that you might just say who it is.

No, no. You know, like I've said to you, Jeff, and I've said it on the podcast, you guys have all heard me. Occupational hazard. If you do this job right, it's going to happen from time to time. So, Mike Hess, if your job today was to be Junior Freed, part of it would include an interview with Andrew Parrott of the Owen Sound Attack.

That's next on 31 Thoughts, the podcast. Okay, Elliot, we've talked about minor hockey. Let's now talk about junior hockey and specifically the Ontario Hockey League and one player in particular. He's the son of an ex-NHLer, an ex-OHLer for that matter as well. He is Andrew Parrott, whose father Nathan played in the NHL and the OHL. He's a defenseman with the Owen Sound Attack. Right now he's playing hockey in Slovakia

because there is no Ontario Hockey League season comma yet. There are many people and I'm in that camp I suspect you might be as well who believe there will be some type of OHL season it seems as if the winds are blowing

towards a 24 game 12 in April, 12 in May and then a best 2 out of three playoff format. And that's the season for the OHL. But as of right now, there is no league. There is no start date. There is nothing other than hope. And that's what Andrew Parrott has to the point where he wrote a letter and started a petition and got a number of his colleagues in the OHL to sign it just to let various levels of the provincial government in Ontario and the Ontario Hockey League itself aware of how they are feeling. Give us your quick thought on this story before we broadcast the

interview here with Andrew Parrott. I think that we all are hopeful that this is going to happen, as you said, a bit later on in April and May. But I think if you're a 16 to 20-year-old young man, and especially if you're draft eligible, and there is the possibility the draft doesn't get moved, it's very tough to hear, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, and wait some more while the other two leagues are playing. And you know who I really feel bad too? All those kids who play in British Columbia whose teams are not able to play right now while everybody around them is going. It's brutal.

It sucks. Like there's no other way to say it. And you know, I give Andrew a lot of credit. It's not easy to stick your neck out there, but there's going to be a lot of people who are going to owe him one. And I hope they pay it back to him. I hear you. This is a brave move by this young hockey player.

Here is Andrew Parrott on 31 Thoughts, the podcast. Enjoy. We are very pleased to be joined by a young man who stayed up very late to accommodate this podcast, and we thank him for it. He plays for the Owen Sound Attack of the OHL. He is Andrew Parrott, who joins us from Slovakia. Andrew, before we get to the reason why you're here, give us the story of how you ended up in this COVID season. How did you end up playing in Slovakia? So a teammate of mine, Carter Robertson, actually came over here. So kind of talked to him about it, got the inside scoop, texted my agent just to see if it was a possibility.

And he ended up making it work. I'm out here with HK Martin in the Slovak 2 League and it's been a really good experience so far. How's the hockey? It's a bit different with the wider rink, obviously, but it's good. Now, I know Carter and I know his family quite well. How did Carter fare in Slovakia, be honest? He fared really well. He did really well over here. He told me that he enjoyed his time too and that his team enjoyed him over here too and actually kind of opened a lot of eyes over here for himself in the future. Jeff, you don't sound like you're buying that. You want a different answer.

I'm just waiting for someone to rip on Carter. I know him well. I know his parents really well. His dad, Jeff, and his mom, Michelle, are good friends of mine. I was just hoping, Andrew, that you'd rip on him a little bit. Now Carter's like one of my best friends. I don't think I can do that to him. I gave it a shot.

Oh, well, over to you, Elliot. So, Andrew, the reason we have you on the podcast is you sent out a letter last week, a petition. And you know what? The best way to do it is to have you explain it. What exactly did you do and what were you hoping to accomplish? So I was actually on the phone with a teammate of mine, Mark Woolley, at the time, who was also over here playing in Slovakia. And we were just talking about how, because we're really good with our teammates

and talking back home with them, and we were just talking about how guys are just struggling and everything. So I kind of just started writing my thoughts and feelings on the paper. Didn't really think anything would come of it, and I actually showed my mom and a couple of people I respect very well in the hockey world it. They go, wow, you actually wrote that very well. You should maybe do something with it.

So kind of just try to express in the best possible way the feelings I felt just throughout this and not being able to play and express teammates' feelings as well. Kind of get the message out there. And so I showed my teammates first obviously to see what they felt they uh all felt similar feelings as well and they also agreed that i should do something with it so then uh first i tried to just keep it with the petition as players only just to see how many players we could get to sign off on it to see if there was a lot of players that felt the similar way.

We ended up getting 146 players in the first 24 hours, which I thought was amazing. And the whole point of the letter, in my opinion, was just to raise the awareness of how important a season is to the players and how much guys have been struggling not being able to play and watch other guys play right now. And we just wanted to be heard ourselves because a lot of people are speaking up about how they feel. And I thought it was just important that as players not being able to play that we got our own perspectives out there. So everyone knew how we felt as well.

I know that it's tough for all players, but the one part, and I'm really glad you included this because, you know, in a lot of ways, this is the group of players that a lot of people feel the most sorry for through all of this are the overagers um guys that have played their last game in the ohl if there's not a season at all the idea that you know you played your last

game without knowing it i'm sure is a tough You know, there was some thought not that long ago, and I don't know where the conversation went in the league, but there are some general managers who have proposed adding another overage year. So it won't just be for 20 year olds. It'll be for 21 year olds. I don't know. You have three 21 year olds on your team to compliment three 20 year olds. I'm not sure how they would do it. And I'm not sure where that falls, but I'm really glad that you included them because that's generally a group that people don't think about enough. I don't think, and we don't hear about enough. So I know a lot of people that, that read your letter and saw your petition felt particularly strong about, you know, the fact that you included the OAs. Yeah, obviously I have Carteron who's a really close friend of mine too, and I talk to him a lot all the time.

And he was just expressing how he felt as an overager because he was saying a lot of guys get contracts their overage years, whether it's American League, NHL. You look at guys just last year in our league on my team, Brady Lyle, had an exceptional year, got an overage contract with Providence. He's doing really well over there. Noel Hoffmeyer obviously had a tremendous season for the 67s, got a contract. The list probably goes on with the amount of guys that get contracts out of away years just because they show that step, that growth that they took from their fourth

to their fifth year, and teams are willing to take them after that. What about the reaction surprised you, if anything? A lot of the players that have thanked me for it, to be honest. It's nice to get the thanks for doing it and seeing the thank yous, but it's also a struggle at the same time because I'm getting the thank yous because they are struggling and because it is hard on them, and they felt the same way. So it's kind of been nice to get those thank yous

and see that everyone else was very appreciative of the letter, and there wasn't really anyone that thought negatively or why did he put that out there or anything like that. So that's been nice. Do you think it moved the needle at all? At the end, do you think it will contribute to something happening for the Ontario players? I believe it will. I believe that since as a group of players, we got our own perspective and our own thoughts out there.

Now there's been a little bit of, wow, the players are struggling and now we know how they feel. And if there isn't a season, what will happen to us? How many guys just quit hockey? How many guys' careers are just over because of this important season? And I think it does move the needle a little bit to push the agenda on having a season this year. Now, putting together a junior hockey season, and we saw negotiations in the Quebec League most recently, of course, the Western Hockey League, BC still hasn't come on board.

And there's a similar petition going around right now in British Columbia about the junior loop and also the tier two loop, the BCJHL. All these negotiations are very sensitive. These are junior hockey leagues in concert with various provinces. And so you can understand the sensitivity around all of the negotiations, I'm sure. But having said that, as a player, do you feel that there's been too much secrecy around all of it and you're not being kept informed enough? around all of it and you're not being kept informed enough a little sometimes it would be nice to hear maybe like once a week especially as a player just if negotiations are just going well or not because at one point i think there was a time where we didn't hear anything for

a very long while and when you don't hear anything for a while, you kind of lose motivation in that process. A lot of guys I've talked to, and I'm actually very proud here, are finding incredible ways to get training in. And it's honestly been a year of craziness with what guys are doing themselves, finding ways to train and stuff. Things you see on the internet with people freezing weights in the winter and lifting and whatnot. It's just crazy. And for us players, a lot of our off season is still a lot of training and no off days really. So a lot of guys really want that to go towards a season because that's what we train for and work for every day. want that to go towards a season because that's what we train for and work for every day. Now, I saw that Dave Branch, the commissioner of the Ontario League, released a statement.

Did he speak to you at all personally? Did you have any contact with him? No, I have not. But I sent the letter and petition to him directly as I did with Lisa McLeod and Doug Ford before posting it to social media. Did you hear anything from the provincial government? I did not. You know, I just would say, Andrew, one of the things I think that happens here, and Jeff can speak to this from his own experience. Jeff reported that the Western Hockey League had a deal with the province of Saskatchewan and the WHL was none too pleased with Mr. Merrick when that news got out, which turned out to be true.

Because I think these leagues are terrified of angering the governments in any kind of way. Because if they do that, then they could lose the chance of having any games. So I do think that plays a role in this. Now, we've heard that there might be 24 games over April and May. Have you heard that? Has that been communicated to you at all? I've heard it, but it's all kind of just rumors and hopes right now. I've heard it, but obviously I don't think anything's set in stone

until it comes from the league directly because I hear something new every day. It's a lot of rumors flying around on what's going on, whatnot. The one thing that I can tell you about the OHL from what I've heard is every meeting that Dave Branch is in, the focus is on playing this season, having some type of season like we've all heard um you know various proposals or ideas i think the one that elliot mentions is probably uh the one that it's most likely to land on 24 games over two months two out of three playoffs and and and that's the season but perhaps the fact that it's the beginning

of march and they haven't shut down the season does that give you any sense of optimism that they are at least trying to put something together or else they would have thrown in the towel a long time ago yeah it still gives me optimism that uh it hasn't been completely shut down yet and i actually just saw an interview uh with david branch that he did with a kitchener station i think and he said something about they haven't even thought about anything about next year which also makes me very optimistic showing that he hasn't even thought about anything next year all his focus has been on getting something done this year, which shows that they haven't thrown in the towel yet because if they have, they would have already started plans for next season. That is entirely consistent with everything that I've

heard from people that have been in those meetings. The entire focus is on this season and that's it. That's been the main thing. Yeah, that's obviously relieving to hear as a player. And I think a lot of players that listen to this will be really relieved to hear that because a lot of us are really hopeful for a season this year and getting back on the ice. The Quebec League has played for most of the year. They took a two-month break. The Western Hockey League just played last weekend. They started up and everywhere basically except British Columbia. What's been your reaction to watching all that?

For me personally, it's been kind of tough, kind of not since I'm playing meaningful hockey. I am on the ice every day. I'm in practices. I'm in a controlled environment. I have my routine back a little bit, but I've talked to my teammates every day. routine back a little bit but i've talked to my teammates every day and just speaking to them they are really struggling seeing guys playing getting that traction for the draft getting noticed by nhl scouts because at the end of the day that's a lot of guys goals is getting to the nhl and playing professional hockey in some sort of way. So a lot of guys are just kind of losing their minds at home like, oh, this guy's jumped so-and-so up the boards or whatnot

while he can't really do anything about it because he's not playing. So I know that's been tough on guys. What's been the toughest part for you specifically? Like you say, you can lift as many weights as you want in the garage. You can, you know, cobble together whatever type of ice time you can. You can use whatever training aids you want. Nothing replicates a game. We all know that that affects you physically and it does affect elite level players.

And the OHL and elite league that affects those players mentally who have grown up only knowing one way to live. You wake up and your day is set in front of you. Charleston Elite League, that affects those players mentally who have grown up only knowing one way to live. You wake up and your day is set in front of you and it's that routine. What's been the most challenging for you, Andrew? So at the beginning of kind of the normal offseason when they came out with their first date, A lot of guys also do this, I know, for their off-season regiment. You kind of have that off-season plan that you follow. And towards the end of it, you really start to grind. Every day is a bagger.

You're getting your cardio in. You're doing as much as possible. So we had our set date. I know for me personally, I was doing so much salt bike, so much of everything, just heavy, faster, harder. Like I was in the best shape I've been in my life to this point. I think I had the best off season I've had to this point. And then I got pushed back again.

So it was like, oh God, you're just like telling yourself like, now I got to start from the beginning where you kind of get warmed up and then you push it again you're like oh my god those assault bikes are coming are gonna come back so you're just like oh my god you're kind of like battling with that a little bit and now after a couple pushbacks you're like oh my god am i even gonna play this year so i know before i even came out to slovia, it was like, oh my God, like, am I even going to play meaningful hockey this year? And I'm going to the gym every day and I'm doing 30 minutes of a salt bike. I'm like, oh my God, I don't know if I can do this anymore.

And I know a lot of guys felt the same way with their off-season regimen too, because a lot of guys have that similar uh plan i think we're both wishing you good luck um is there anything else you'd want to add or anything else you'd want to say nothing really i kind of just hope everyone can get back to their normal regiments because actually since i posted social media i've had coaches and staff members around the league also say it's tough on them it's not just players it's everyone like a lot of trainers are also struggling a lot of coaches are also struggling because those are daily routines that they're used to at this point so i kind of just hope everyone can get back to that regiment and that daily routine that they're used

to because those are memories that are made for a lifetime and you never forget them. Andrew, you may not feel this way, but what you did is pretty indicative of the person that you are. There are a lot of hockey players that would say, you know what, it's just my job to play hockey and I just got to be ready and damn it, I'm going to get back on the assault bike and damn it, I'm going to do a million burpees. And yeah, I'm back in the squat rack every day. And I'm doing sprints. And whenever I get the tap on the shoulder, we're going back to hockey. But to take the initiative to put something like the letter and the petition together

and then to send it to the right provincial representatives, to take the initiative to send it to David Branch, to make yourself public, to make yourself available for podcasts like this at one o'clock in the morning in Slovakia. I think it really does say a lot about you. Like, I know you might not feel it, but I think you should really feel proud of yourself. And I don't mean this as an insult to hockey players. You did.

You did the heavy lifting. Thank you. I appreciate that. It's not an insult to hockey players, but like you've done more than than most hockey players would yeah it's actually uh funny i i was a little bit nervous to uh to do this obviously putting yourself out there in any type of situation like this is nervous for anyone but uh a really close friend of mine actually that i train with a little bit is uh curtis gabriel

and it's actually a funny story our relationship goes back a little bit because my dad coached him when he was in owen sound so he's known me since i was little on my first year the nights i trained in london that summer and he was also there and we kind of ran into each other he's like oh are you are you nathan paris son i was like yeah yeah and ever since point, he kind of has like taken me under his wing a little bit. So I've just seen how hard he works. And then obviously, uh, how much he puts himself out there with everything.

And it's just kind of, uh, rubbed off on me a little bit just to see how much of an impact, uh, he's had on people's lives. So, uh, obviously I didn't do it to that scale.

I think he's got a little bit more impact than I do, but I was just trying to help in any way possible. While you mentioned your dad there a second ago, I do want to ask you, because both you and your father played in the OHL and I used to go to Oshawa. I mean, I obviously watched his NHL career, but I can recall going to Oshawa every Sunday to watch your dad play for the generals. Mark Savard was on that team. Jeff Ware was a first round pick. Jan Snopek, who I think went to Edmonton,

was on that team. A really good Oshawa generals team. And I mean, your dad was a robust hockey player. How much would you talk to your dad about his days in the OHL? I talked to him all the time about it. He's got some funny stories. A lot of his are uh you

would never see now nowadays in the game like getting like three or four fights in the game 10 guys get suspended and you have to play with like seven guys on the bench like stuff like that i remember talking to your dad after one of the games and all he kept saying was mark savard keeps poking guys behind the knees and i gotta go and fight for him i'm gonna i'm gonna beat him up if he doesn't stop i don't think he minded doing that though because i bet staying on the line with mark savard was pretty uh yeah pretty nice i think that season two my dad had like uh i think he scored 30 goals that year yep he was a good player he was a good player. He was a good player.

I think he was willing to stick up for Mark as long as he could stay on the same line as him. Riding shotgun with Mark Savard at that time in the OHL, who might have been the best player in the league. Yeah, that's quite a feather in the hat. Okay, you're released. You can go to sleep now, Andrew. Thanks so much for stopping by. And congratulations on the letter and the petition.

This has been a lot of fun catching up. Thank you for having me. It means a lot. So usually at this time of the year, David, we're all talking about teams jockeying for position, the playoffs coming, the excitement, of course, of building towards that Memorial Cup. And it's much different right now as we still battle through this COVID-19 pandemic. We've seen the Quebec League do a kind of stop and start, but it's got some games under its skates.

The Western League is talking about getting going. The scuttlebutt we're hearing around the Ontario Hockey League is something in the way of 20, 24 games, maybe in April and May. Where are we at right now with any prospect of getting on the ice for meaningful hockey? Hey, we've done a lot of modeling. I think

Herb Morrell, who looks after scheduling purposes for us, has done over 40 different schedule models as an example. And we recognize that, you know, as the clock ticks, we won't be able to play the desired number that we wish to or ideally wish to. But we haven't set anything in stone yet because we want to make sure we get across the finish line with, you know, public health and a safe environment in which to return. And of course, the government itself. So we don't have anything firm yet. Obviously, we're going to be ready to go the moment we find out. And that's Andrew Parrott,

defenseman for the Owen Sound Attack. Fingers crossed he's playing hockey sooner than later. As we conclude this edition of 31 Thoughts, the podcast, I wanted to mention Bob Ridley, who just called his 4,000th game for the Medicine Hat Tigers. Also over the course of his career, the legendary story drove the bus as well. We think of broadcasters that have had longevity, either in junior hockey or minor hockey. We think of Bob Chase of the Fort Wayne Comets

who called games for 63 years. Just wanted to pass on a big thumbs up and a shot in the arm and wanted to acknowledge and respect the work of Bob Ridley, one of the great hockey callers in the entire CHL, calling game number 4,000. By the way, there was a time as well in the Pioneer League, he called Medicine Hat A's and Blue Jays games. And yes, much like he did with the Medicine Hat Tigers,

he also drove the bus. Wow. Congratulations, Bob. Looks great on you. So, in that spirit, taking us out from their 1989 album Smashface, here are the hitmen with Medicine Hat on 31 Thoughts for Podcast. Baby, I've been working two jobs into the night To get you everything that you're putting up to fight

I look forward to coming home But when you're screaming, I feel all alone I love you. Of opportunity that will carry us Put on your medicine hats I love it when you look like that Put on your medicine hats I love it when you look like that Man on the way home from the bus stop Thinking of you, I ran into a cop Looking down at me from his policeman's cab

He asked me if I'd seen your medicine hat Well I think he heard so I ran away For all I know he's still there to stay All I wanted was to drive in your car But you're telling me

I won't get very far Put on your medicine hat I love it when you look like that Put on your medicine hat I love it when you look like that you