32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Bill Daly, Marc-André Fleury & Jack Hughes

Episode Date: September 18, 2021

Bill Daly joins Jeff and Elliotte (10:00) to talk about arena capacity, salary cap, Olympics, COVID-19 protocol, Evander Kane, the Chicago Blackhawks investigation, data-tracking pucks, gambling, and the Arizona Coyotes. Marc Andre-Fleury joins the podcast (26:45) to talk about his trade to Chicago, how this could potentially be his last season, most memorable moments from […]

Marc-André, just count backwards from 10. 10, 9, 8. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4. 10, maintenant en français. 10, maintenant en français. Okay, Elliot, day one interviews in Chicago. NHL, NHLPA media tour is done in the books. We're going to present, oh, by the way,

welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast. We're going to present three of our more intriguing conversations, I thought, from the morning slash afternoon. Hear from Bill Daly here in a couple of seconds, Deputy Commissioner of the NHL. We will hear from Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils, and we hear from Marc-Andre Fleury. Before we get there, let's get a thought or two

on each of these players slash personalities in the NHL, starting with Marc-Andre Fleury. And the headline in this one is the answer to your question of could this be your last season in the NHL? I was kind of surprised by the answer and then I kind of went and revisited it later in the interview because I just wanted to make sure

I hadn't gotten anything wrong or misheard anything. You know, Fleury's going to be 37 in November. He's had a hell of a career. He's had a hell of a career and a hell of a season yeah and a hell of a season last year he's at the top of his game winning the the vesna trophy yeah i've always been fascinated by this and i do reference it in the interview one of my favorite baseball players ever and i'm sorry if this makes me an old is mike schmidt phillies yeah in the hall of famer uh you know 550 home runs and at his peak he was the best third baseman in the majors and he was a three-time most valuable

player and not only was he a great hitter but he was also the best defensive third baseman in the major leagues for quite some time and he quit in the middle of a season basically because he was below his standard and you know he still could have played you know he was still good enough to play but he said nope i'm not mike schmidt anymore and anybody who ever dealt with him knew that you know he was a confident confident guy and once he was below that standard he he was gone. And Fleury kind of talks about in the interview about how, you know, I want to be at the level I expect myself. He says it's tougher to play goal at 36 years old

and I understand it, but it was still kind of jarring to hear. I agree. I just wonder if that's more the nature of the position. Like I always respected someone like, we've talked about this before, Peter Forsberg, who just tried and tried and tried and tried to play. And he wasn't, you know, the hall of fame Peter Forsberg that we were used to, you know, the best power forward in the game when he

played. He wasn't that guy by the end as he was trying to find, you know, magical boot after magical boot to fit on his foot so he could keep competing. I wonder how much of that is just the nature of goaltending where, you know, there's no lines. Sure, there's a starting goalie and a backup goalie. But, you know, when you're a forward, you can start on the first line and by the time your career is done, end up on the fourth line. But when you're a goalie and you're not at the height of your game, you can't play. There's no hiding out there. There's no hiding out there.

There's no hiding out there. Like when your game really drops off as a goaltender, there's no, well, we'll bury him in the bottom six or he can have, you know, maybe he'll go out and kill penalties, but he'll basically be a fourth line guy. Like I understand that, but I do wonder how much of that is just the nature of,

he's a goalie. And we've talked about the goaltender being, you know, 70% of your team if you have it and 100 if you don't. And that's kind of true. I just wonder, as I look at Marc-Andre Fleury's career, he's on his third team now. And the first two teams that he was on, the endings weren't great. The endings were awkward, controversial, at times could have been construed as nasty by both general managers who got rid of him. Yet through all of it, here's a 36, 37-year-old guy who's been through a lot in hockey, and this sport can make you cynical, can make you bitter, can really change you. When have you seen Marc-Andre Fleury not smile?

Like you get the impression he's a guy that doesn't have a bad day. Of course he has bad days, but he doesn't show it. He tries to keep it very private, but it was interesting hearing him. Like he didn't want to talk a lot about Vegas and the way it ended. I think he will one day. That's why I got the impression he's kind of like,

I don't want to say it now because I don't want any more drama. I'm seeing $200,000 book advance. Well, that's it, right? When the day comes, maybe he will talk about it. But I thought it was interesting how he talked about when he was traded from Vegas to Chicago, I was one of the people that reported that maybe he wasn't going to go. And I think at the end of the day, he was always going to go.

But he did say it was something he needed to talk through with his family to move his kids again. We'll hear from Jack Hughes here in a couple of moments as well. Confident lad. He's always been that way. But, I mean, he's always been like a highly skilled guy. Dominate, not just whatever team he's on, but whatever league he's in. Supremely skilled. And he's part of a New Jersey Devils team.

I don't know if they're going to make the playoffs, but if they stay healthy and they get goaltending and they get secondary scoring, if you're a Devils fan, you're crossing your fingers and saying, I don't know where it's coming from, but maybe it'll show up. They could challenge for a playoff spot. The blue line's a lot better. I don't like that division.

That's a tough division, man. I look at the division and I wonder about Pittsburgh. I know Crosby's only going to be out a couple of weeks to start, but we don't know about Malkin. That might be longer term. I don't know about... There's going to be an intersection. As some teams in the Metropolitan Division take a downturn

and New Jersey's on the upswing, I just don't know when that's going to cross. See, the thing that I find most interesting about Hughes is he doesn't lack for confidence, and I like that. Some of the stuff he talks about with Quinn, for example, I think is fantastic. And we can't say we want our players to be more honest and then rip them when they're honest.

The thing about the Devils was he kind of stopped a bit short of that, and I like the way he said it. He says, I'm not going to predict playoffs. I just want us to play meaningful games. And I think that division, that division is going to be brutal. But I do think this year they're going to play meaningful games. I agree with you there. So you hear from Hughes, you'll hear from Marc-Andre Fleury,

but we'll kick off the podcast by talking to the Deputy Commissioner of the NHL, Bill Daly. And there's a lot of things here. There's COVID. There's unvaccinated players. There's Olympics. There's a Vanderkane. There's the Chicago situation. There's a lot of ground we went over with Bill in this interview.

Yes. And, you know, there's a lot of ground we went over with Bill in this interview. Yes, and there's a lot of interesting stuff there. Obviously, the vaccination is a big success for the NHL. It looks like it's going to be under 15 players. And I know of at least two cases where players who weren't sure about being vaccinated have agreed to get vaccinated or are going to get vaccinated because they saw what the rules and the situations were going to be. You've got to get back to normal in the league.

And I think the league is hopeful about revenues this year, but you can't be hopeful if you're risking a ton of shutdowns. And, I mean, God only knows where we're going, Jeff. We don't know what the future is going to be, but the best chance you give yourself is with vaccinations. Do you have in your mind what a best case number would be for the NHL as far as revenue goes? If everything goes smoothly, as smoothly as it can go in a stop and start COVID world, do you have a number in your mind? I think they're hoping between four and five billion. What would that do to the cap or does it matter do the players still have to pay that off the players have to pay money

back um so it's probably a million a year for another couple of years two or three years you know the other thing we should talk about briefly is evander kane uh he gave an interview to linda cohen of espn where um he said he expects to be cleared. And Daly does say that they're expecting the report to be arrived before the beginning of training camp, which is next Wednesday. Cleared that he didn't bet on hockey, bet on his games, throw games, etc. Yes. And, you know, the throwing games things, I have to say that I don't think anybody believes that that happened.

You know, the gambling on hockey, I mean, obviously Kane appears pretty comfortable that he's going to be cleared of it. We'll know next week, but I'd heard rumors that that was the case too. We sat down with Thomas Hurdle today, and Hurdle didn't really want to talk about that situation. He basically said that that's something that we have to talk about as a team before I talk about publicly. You know, the one thing I would like to say about Kane and the Sharks last year is while I think there were some issues, I think that one of the things the Sharks felt was that, you know, Kane was getting help for his gambling addiction,

as he says. And I think the Sharks were also sensitive to that, that, you know, like we have to recognize that there's a player here who's getting some help. And I think you have to be sensitive to that. So I think the sharks are going to have to sort of sort out a lot of that stuff internally to among, you know, the players and him. And, and he also did say in the interview that he's not necessarily buying that narrative. So we'll see where it all goes.

That story continues. Uh, in the meantime, here is the deputy commissioner of the NHL, Bill Daly, 32 thoughts, the podcast. Please be joined by Bill Daly, Deputy Commissioner of the NHL. An abbreviated summer, and we're right back at it.

And Bill, first of all, thanks so much for joining us. Second, we all have our fingers crossed, want this season to go seamlessly, 82 games, 32 teams. What is your biggest challenge from your desk? It's interesting because that was a question. We got a question the other day, the commissioner and I, in a meeting we did, and it was putting COVID aside, what is your biggest challenge? And funny thing about where we are is you can't put COVID aside, what is your biggest challenge? And funny thing about where we are is you can't put COVID aside, right? COVID defines everything we do and everything we're going to do for the course of this year, unfortunately.

So we are very pleased and happy we've been able to do as well as we've done, both completing the 19-20 season and completing the truncated 2021 season. We're looking forward to more progress this year. And as you said, completing an 82-game season and full Stanley Cup playoffs and getting back to a more normal calendar than we've had in the last two years, those are all important objectives. We are pleased with the growth of the sport, growth of the league and the league's fan base and revenues. We hope to get back on that cycle, right? So, you know, the last two years have been strange years. This year, we're hoping that most, if not all of our teams will have full buildings, fans in the stands, passion

around the game, and we can get right back on the cycle we were on, which is growth. Just out of that, a couple of questions. First of all, specific to Canada, what are you expecting in terms of building capacities? So currently we understand there'll be reduced capacity in Vancouver. There'll be reduced capacity in Quebec to start off the season. We don't know where we are going to be in Ontario yet. Ottawa and Toronto are both hoping for more guidance on that in the coming days and weeks.

And in Alberta, there won't be any capacity restrictions. And Manitoba, no capacity restrictions. So pretty much full buildings. Certainly different than where we were last year in our Canadian cities. pretty much full buildings, certainly different than where we were last year in our Canadian cities. So hopefully very soon we'll have full capacity in our seven Canadian cities. The other thing I think people are curious about is just the cap. You talked about the business impact of COVID. How long are you expecting either a flat cap or just a million dollar raise per year? So I think we move,

at least our current projections on revenue, move us into kind of a million dollar raise a year starting next year. So I do expect that that will kick in. We do have flexibility under our formula and under our agreement with the Players Association to revisit that to the extent there's a need to revisit that and perhaps make the increase greater. But certainly in the short term, we've been telling our clubs to kind of plan on $1 million increases to the cap. Okay. Olympics. That's a huge one,

obviously. As I look around the landscape, am I characterizing this correctly? I don't get the sense that NHL owners or the NHL or Donald Feer at the PA are thrilled about any of this, but the players are. Would it be safe to characterize that the players are the only ones that are enthused about the idea? I think once you clarify that and use enthused, that's probably true. I do think, look, the bottom line is when we negotiated this with the Players Association in the summer of 2020, we knew it was important to the players and that's in part why we agreed to it. At the end of the day, as we played out the negotiation this summer with the IIHF, one of the huge issues was who's assuming the risk of COVID and the fact that the players kind of stepped to the plate and really

assumed a large portion of that risk themselves tells you how much and how important it is to them so I totally respect that they love competing for their countries and winning medals for their countries and so I totally respect the importance that this is for the players. It's been demonstrated by what we're dealing with. So we support it. I mean, it's best on best competition on the Olympic stage. You've got to look at the positives. The positives are there'll be more people watching our game

than typically watch our game, and maybe that translates to the growth I was talking about. So we're trying to focus on the positives of olympic participation and not as much on the negatives is there a deadline for when the nhl would have to say and the players would have to say we can't go because they're a commitment to this so the the commitment that the double ihf made to us going way back uh well way back to uh the meeting we had with Rene Fizell at the Stanley Cup final, is they understand that we have to be flexible. We have to have the ability to pull out if circumstances warrant us pulling out.

And so our discussions and our agreement with them contemplates our ability to pull out at any time. There are different financial consequences associated with pulling out late as opposed to sometime this fall. And so that's recognized in the agreement where there's an assumption of costs associated with a late withdrawal. I certainly hope that we're not in a position where we're making that decision in January or February. If there's a decision to be made, hopefully that comes sooner than that. Unvaccinated players. The numbers you expect revolve around.

So we get projections from the clubs on a frequent basis. One of the kind of the last gating factors was what the, our protocols were going to look like. I think we got the final protocols out in early September to our clubs, and I think that was a motivating factor for a number of players who are now in the process of getting vaccinated. We do expect by the start of the regular season, the opening day of the regular season,

that the number of NHL players who aren't fully vaccinated will be a very low number, less than 15, maybe even less than 10. So we're a very high subscription rate on vaccination in the NHL community. I think we're about 98, 99%, which we're pleased about. So in the COVID protocol agreement, there was something that said that there could be a choice to pursue a travel exemption with the Canadian government. I think it's by Friday. If a player is unvaccinated, will there be a chance to get a

travel exemption or are they going to be on their own? So I think the commitment we made in the protocol was to sit down with the Players Association by Friday and talk about whether there's a need to go to the Canadian government to seek an exemption, that would be a process. It's not as simple as, you know, picking up the phone, making a call and trying to get a travel exemption. Our prior experience in the exemptions, the national interest exemptions we got from the Canadian authorities where it's a, you know, it's a multi-week, maybe sometimes multi-month process to get those types of approvals.

So that's one of the things we'll have to discuss with the Players Association as to whether at this point in time, given the numbers that I just expressed, whether it's something we want to pursue and it may not be. I've got a couple of situations I want to ask you about. Evander Kane, he's actually doing an

interview that's going to be released today with Linda Cohen at ESPN. The investigation into whether or not he bet on hockey or bet on games, where does that stand? So it's ongoing. I understand that most of the legwork behind that investigation has been done. Most of the interviews have been completed. I do expect a report before the start of veterans training camp, which I guess is the 22nd. So I do expect a report in the short term and we'll make decisions based on what we see in that report. We're in Chicago. We've been awaiting

clarity on the accusations and the lawsuits against the Blackhawks. Where does that stand? suits against the Blackhawks. Where does that stand? It's ongoing. We do get periodic reports from the Blackhawks with respect to the status of that investigation. I don't have a timeline for you as to when that will be completed, but it's ongoing. Coming off that question, this may seem a little bit frivolous, but whenever I ask anyone in the NHL, I kind of get, I get a groan. And I understand it's been a headache and it's been a process. The pucks, the data-loaded pucks, puck tracking technology, where's the NHL at with that now? We rolled out the new pucks last year, at the start of last year.

And we got some concerns from some players that they weren't performing the same as our traditional puck so you know we listen to our players we take it back we went through a fairly rigorous process throughout the course of last season and during the offseason including with current players in terms of testing that puck and we do expect to be able to use that puck even for our preseason. We're actually going to utilize it in preseason games as well this year. And we think we have it down. We hope we have it down. So hopefully it won't be anything that's newsworthy this year.

Gambling. How much of a windfall? Who have you bet on to win the Stanley Cup this year, Bill? I have not placed any bets on hockey, nor will I. How much of a windfall has it been? It's been a new category that obviously was not available to our clubs in the league prior. I think we're taking a measured approach with respect to how aggressive we get in that category and how aggressive we let the

clubs get. I think we'll continue kind of a deliberate approach. We're learning more every day. We think ultimately it is a way to engage with more fans. And I think it's proven to be that to this point. And it's been a source of revenue generation for sure, but it's not probably what you read about. It's more incremental. It's not the main part of most teams' budgets. I'll say that. Long-term, a lot of people look at this and say,

I mean, there's- Gambling money is everywhere now. It's everywhere. Sponsor. And when I look at sports too, like I look at the NHL and I'll say, there's three things. There's the event, the games. There's the conversation around it, and then there's the interaction.

And a big part of that interaction is gambling. And it does seem that all, you know, all roads are leading to gambling being a huge windfall for everybody at almost every level. When you project, you know, outside of this year, three years, five years, seven years, whatever, how do you see it in part of the hockey landscape? I think it's a fair question. I don't see it as a huge revenue driver in the short to medium term, but that could change. I mean, all your premises, I agree with, right? So I do believe that you'll continue to see its presence around professional sports to grow, and that will obviously generate revenue for us, for the players, all of which is good. It's not the main engine of what we're trying to drive, at least now. To Jeff's point, what COVID has done, I think, is forced everybody in life to consider things that maybe they wouldn't have done before.

I think has forced everybody in life to consider things that maybe they wouldn't have done before. In addition to gambling, there's the jersey ads, there's the helmet ads. How much of the NHL is going to be different because of what we've gone through as a society in the last two years? and agree with, again, the premise of the question, which is the pandemic certainly has forced us or certainly allowed us to think outside the box in ways that probably weren't imminent prior to the pandemic. So if you had asked me when I saw Jersey advertising to be on the horizon, if you asked me that two years ago, I'd have a different answer than then obviously

is playing out currently and i think that's good um it's evolution it's progress whether it's going to be a distraction for our fans or or for viewers or whether they you know we're going to look like um european uh sports where where they sell lots of advertising and perceive that way, time will tell. I think we can do it in a kind of a discreet way that preserves kind of the integrity of our uniforms, which continues to be important for us in our clubs. But it's a new area.

It's a new revenue stream. The players have been supportive of it because it's beneficial for them as well. So it's kind of a brave new world. And I think the pandemic kind of pushed those envelopes kind of more than they would have been pushed in the absence of it. One of the biggest battles that the Commissioner League has fought over the years is just the health and safety of the Arizona Coyotes. They have an uncertain arena question again. In any way, are you preparing for the Coyotes to be playing anywhere else after this upcoming season?

No, no, not at this point in time. We do think that ultimately there'll be a place to play in the Valley. They did unveil their plans for a new arena in Tempe with a new arena development around it. I know they're excited about that. That's obviously several years off before you can bring that to fruition. But everything we've seen from this ownership group

and this team is they like where they're playing. They want to remain there and they want to be successful long-term. So that's what I expect to happen. Further to that, for hockey observers who, and it's quite a knee-jerk reaction, oh, just send them to Quebec City. Hey, Houston's available. Can you explain why, from an NHL point of view, that market is important to you?

Well, I think all of our markets are important to us. So I wouldn't elevate Arizona over any other market. I think the markets you establish in professional sports, in any professional sports league, you make a decision to go there for a reason, and you have confidence in that market on a long-term basis. And I would say the same thing for Arizona. When the Winnipeg Jets moved there in 1996, I guess, whenever it was, they moved there for a reason. They thought there was a future in Arizona for professional hockey. I think our experience there kind of demonstrates there's a future for professional hockey in Arizona. And I think we owe it to kind of the fans and followers of the Arizona Coyotes to make every effort to maintain

the stability of the franchise there. Last one, Bill. I think everybody in the sport was burned out at the end of last year. It had been 23 months with no vacations. Is that obvious? Basically for everybody. Us too, don't worry.

Players, people who worked in the game, executives, like up and down. Do you and the NHL and the people you know in the league, did everyone get recharged? Because like there were people telling me that they were really concerned about some of the burnout they saw in everyone in the league at the end of last season. Well, you know, it's certainly a focus of ours in the league office. You know, we observe the same things, and the commissioner made it a point to tell all of our employees to make sure they get adequate kind of time away this summer to the extent you can. Obviously, we have full-time jobs, and sometimes it's tough to get away,

but he knows kind of the mental health aspect of burnout and the importance of unplugging. And so, you know, we told all of our employees that they should make it a priority this summer to try to get some downtime, to try to unplug a little bit, to try to get some family time so that when we're now, when we reach now and we're ready to start and ramp things up, that everybody had a little bit of mental rest, if not physical. So it was a short summer. It was a quick turnaround. It's going to be another long season, particularly with the Olympics. But I feel more recharged now than I certainly did at the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs, for sure.

So it's part of what we're dealing with and, and you make the best of it. This has been great. Bill, thanks as always for your time. Good luck this season. Should be a good one. Thank you.

Thank you. Marc-Andre Fleury of the Chicago Blackhawks joins us now, Elliot. And first of all, thanks so much for doing this. And second of all, I should be used to things like this by now. It's that jarring time of year where you start to see players who have been traded or signed with new teams in their new uniforms. And I don't know what it was about your agent Alan Walsh's tweet this morning with you and your new Chicago gear that was jarring or surprising, but it just really caught me like, wow, that just looks so profound. I don't know why I feel that. It just looks so profoundly different.

How did it feel the first time for you? I think it was this morning pretty much, right? So I just got my equipment yesterday and my mask this morning. And first time in open in Jersey, I'll wait everything on. So a little awkward, right? A little different, but yeah,

I think it's, it's also exciting, right? Another beginning and another start. So was there ever a point when, because when the trade was announced, we heard that there was a chance you might not play. Did it,

was it ever close? So, so, there was a chance you might not play. Was it ever close? So-so. I would think a little bit. I needed time. And Stan Bowman was great about that when we talked. He just, so I'm going to give you some time and no pressure to get back to us. And that was good.

Because I've been lucky to do what I love for so long. And my family was very comfortable in Vegas, the to do what I love for so long. My family was very comfortable in Vegas, the schools, the kids, and their friends and our house. We started to think about retiring there and stuff. That's why it was a little bit of big news. I didn't want to be overly selfish about it and just think about me playing another hockey season and moving everybody around, right?

But I still love the game. I still love to play. But talking to everybody from the team and my family, right, and everybody's on board about it, right? And everybody's been so welcoming here in Chicago. And, yeah, so I'm happy to make this decision and excited to get going. Did the Olympics weigh in on your decision at all?

I remember speaking to someone who brought up the point, said, I think Marc-Andre Fleury goes to Chicago because he wants to play so he can play in the Olympics. Was that part of your decision-making process? I love the thought. Obviously, nothing, for sure, but I've had such great experience in 2010 Vancouver. And if I have a shot at it again, you know, definitely that's something I would love to do in an honor, right, to go there and represent a country. So definitely that's something I've thought about. Definitely that's something I've thought about. You know, you're, I think you turned 37 this year, right?

In November. Yep. You're still at the top of your game. You're Vesna trophy winner. You have a great reputation of being like, you know, a positive guy and a fun teammate. Maybe I'm wrong and you can tell me I'm wrong, but it seems weird to me that you're at a time

where you would say, I don't know if I want to do this anymore. It just seems weird for me that you're at a time where you would say i don't know if i want to do this anymore it just seems weird for me from what i know about you on the outside that day will come right i'm not sure when i'm not sure how why it's but i'm getting older right body's feeling it some days a lot of days right so um i gotta do more right to be in the right spot mentally physically right to to feel myself and to feel good and but when i get out there though i still feel like a young guy right i still have fun playing with the guys and even practice yelling at them and trying to save him right so i don't come i know what will come. I don't know what will come, you know.

I don't know. I'm not sure when, right? But I'm sure soon. And yeah, so I just try to enjoy, you know, what I have right now and go one year at a time and see what it takes me. So, okay, you're under contract for just this year, right? Is there a chance this could be your final season?

Could be, right? Honestly. this year right is there a chance this could be your final season um could be right it's honestly it's so weird for me to hear you say that i don't know we'll see how she goes right like i'm not um i still want to be good i don't want to be i want to battle i want to feel good i want to win um i want to help a team right i don't want to just right. I want to win. I want to help a team, right? I don't want to just, right? I know what you're saying. Like there was a baseball player, Hall of Famer, Mike Schmidt. He retired in the middle of a season because he said, I'm not up to my standard anymore.

And the team was like, you know, you're still really good. He goes, no, no, no. So I understand what you're saying. Like I think when you're used to being at a level, it's not acceptable to be below that level. I think so, right? If you know what you can do and you can't anymore, the body doesn't follow you and you don't have that, I don't know.

I feel like if you have fun, you're going to have that passion and you're going to have that drive to keep pushing to be good. And as long as you have that that I think you're in good shape and when when you don't you know when you don't have fun when you don't

have that drive right I think that's when you gotta seriously think about things when was hockey the funnest for you I was gonna say

when we win right when we won but obviously those were great moments those were great moments yeah for sure

it's something you try for right all your life to to get and get those cups um but i also take pleasure in just the everyday thing you know coming to the rink being with every day like 20 and 20 guys right just i don't know just having some laughs and playing the game going the ice and trying to save him you know and yell at them a bit right i think it's just i just don't know what else in life could bring that uh fulfillment or that joy you know that hockey brings me so yeah i'm just going to enjoy every moment of it which player have you enjoyed stopping the most in your career is there one guy that you're just like oh i own him i'm gonna let him know

every time i make a club save i can say i own them you know but i love facing sid though in practice i think he's a big reason i think he's helped me improve on my game and stuff right but he's such a competitive guy too and i i love every time he comes down you know trying trying to stop him and and he's a stick around he shoots the rebound you know people are coming he's still trying to score her and like just try in between but and we've done that for years right and um I don't know I think that's something I I really appreciate and I like that battle with him as Elliot mentioned and anyone that knows you you're a real positive guy. Upbeat, positive, love to laugh, always smiling.

Every interview I've ever seen you and you're smiling. What pisses you off? Getting scored on. If it's a bad one, especially, that really pisses me off, yeah. I don't know. I can't say I get too angry in my days, you know. It's in my day. Maybe sometimes my kids, right, they push my buttons, right,

to get me going. But other than that, I don't feel like it's – I'm a pretty laid-back person, I guess. Did you feel you were treated unfairly at all in Vegas? I don't know. I wouldn't say that. You know, I wouldn't say that. You know, I think they're trying to make the best,

you know, for their team, right? Trying to do what's best for them, right? And yeah, that's it pretty much. Yeah. All right, let me follow that up with this. Yeah. Because you were in Vegas, like right away, face of the franchise, right away, expansion team,

Marc-Andre Fleury, the star. When you look back on your time there, as albeit brief as it may have been, what are some of the things you recall?

Like right away, things that, I know the ending was awkward, we all get that, but what are the things that you remember from your brief time there? Just that first season.

Even the first few months were very incredible. The draft, right? draft right awkwardness a bit that draft I still remember you coming out of the curtains oh dude yeah

it was just so awkward a bit but I thought it was great I loved it too I don't know to me it was just weird you know

to put it in front of Jersey and I was in Pittsburgh for 14 years almost I think so it was different right and

but from that day and then the question you have on vegas you know about like are we going to win in the games or are people going to like hockey even come to the game right so and right from the start we've had such a great support right from day one people came to practice it was always full and the arena is one of the best building in the league where you can play with you know the atmosphere is always awesome and then we start winning right from the start you know i think that first win was like everybody's like so pumped right because they didn't know how many we're gonna get right and then got that first one so it was such a relief but a good feeling and i think the chemistry on

that team was was amazing too right and i think that made us a good team all the way through into the final there it's kind of interesting when I was looking back at your career and when you got to Pittsburgh, they were in trouble. They knew that was going to be a lot of work to get them to be a good team. When you got to Vegas, nobody thought they were going to be any good.

And you're coming into Chicago now at a time where they've been really struggling. It just seems like every new situation you go into, they're looking at you and saying we need you to make a big difference here. No pressure.

No pressure. Yeah, but you can handle that. I love that challenge, right? To be part of that team and help put my way to make this playoff team again. Because once you're there, you don't know what can happen. It's a long season.

It's a grind. If I can do a good job and be consistent for this team, I'm sure we'll find a way to get ourselves in the playoffs there and we'll see. Since you've been in the NHL, the goaltending position specifically,

how has it changed since you started to this season as you're about to play with the Hawks? I think guys are bigger now. Like, they're tall. So many guys are 6'4", 6'5", 6'6", right? Like, so many of them. The young guys coming up. So I feel like everybody's, like, you know, good goalies, but they're big goalies and then

they can move around too right like I think before the bigger guy they would block a lot right like move a little slower and get big right tried to get hit by pucks and I feel now like these guys are they're young they're fast flexible they're big they react to shots right I think it's and the game is faster right than it used to be too and I and you have to be able to follow the game right and read and react

you know that you can and even if these guys are big like they still move around like no big deal right so

and that's why they're some of the best goalies there's been I tweeted out the picture tell us about your jacket liner yeah

yeah just I think it might have been before the bubble in Menton I got a suit made right and so Giovanni in Montreal told me I could put like

pictures and stuff so I got one from the kids and so it became my my lucky suit lucky suit

right they always want me to wear that one so that's awesome I had to wear it a few times that's a tremendous thing to do I had to wear it a few times. That's a tremendous thing to do. I got to tell you, I mean, I'm floored, Mark.

Like, just listening to you saying that, you know, possibly this could be your last season, I'm blown away by that. You're going to miss all these interviews, Mark, if you do retire. I might miss other things before that. I'll still miss you. I'll watch you on TV.

Before I wrap up, give us a thought on the Blackhawks this year. This is the year where they bring you in. Seth Jones comes in. It seems as if Chicago had patience for a rebuild for a cozy 20 minutes, and then they just wanted to get back to winning. Give us a thought on your new franchise. I think they have a bunch of good young players

I think they're very talented and they have some good depth right and a lot of them got to gain some experience

right last couple seasons I would say and to be coming here and then Jonathan Tate is looking good

and then they brought some is looking good and then he brought in some veterans who McCabe and Johnson too right so I like it I like how the

team is you know forming and yeah looking forward to getting to know everybody a little better

you ready for the madhouse yep hopefully you hear Chelsea Dagger a lot thanks so much for doing this best of luck with

the Hawks alright thank you so much appreciate doing this. Best of luck with the Hawks this year. All right. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Thanks, guys. I'll tell you, it is, Elliot, maybe the best visual to come out of the draft this year, the Hughes family celebration after Luke gets selected by the New Jersey Devils.

Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils joins us here on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. And thanks so much for doing this. Want to start there. And there's a lot that goes into that pick by your team with your brother. Someone told me a week before the draft that there's no way that Luke would make it past New Jersey. But did you know, and did the family know, that that was also true? Yeah, I mean, we went into it blind. None of us knew where he was going. You hear things, but you fall for anything too. So I don't know. We were kind of just looking at Elliot Friedman Bob McKenzie seeing

seeing where they had him but yeah we had no clue it's it made it exciting I remember New Jersey did the same thing with me when I was going through the draft they never told me so yep I wanted to text Fitzy every day like we got to take Luke but I wanted it to happen naturally so I'm glad it did it was a great celebration by, by the way, and that's going to be one of, like I mentioned, the enduring visuals from that draft. Yeah, I mean. You look back on it now, part of you has to be like, you know what, that's just pure family joy coming in.

Yeah, it was great. We had a lot of friends and family there. The place erupted. It was an electric atmosphere when Luke got taken. The first pick, we clapped. second pick, clap, third pick, like no one wanted to see him go there. And then the fourth pick came around and it was like, here we go. Like everyone just got all nervous and tensed up, but man, when it happened, like it was, cause it's, I've been telling people today, it's like, it's not a, it's not like a everyday thing, you know,

it's very hard to, for it to happen. Um, a lot of things have to align like i know it seems crazy because it's just a game and it's it's hockey but like at the end of the day that means luke and me are going to live together and be in the same area for a bunch of years you know and we'll grow up together so as much as it's a game and it's it's really important it's our life and it's gonna it's gonna allow my parents to come to new jersey a lot and a lot of things had to go right for it to happen so it's an extremely lucky thing to happen and yeah i mean we're we're all pretty pumped up you know it's funny you say that because it doesn't always work out the way it worked out for the sedins right yeah like you look at Kachuks, will they ever get the opportunity?

Hearing you say that, I understand where you're coming from. It doesn't work out like that for a lot of people. Well, yeah, totally. I mean, even if it does, let's say Brady and Matthew ever do play together, I mean, what is it? You have to be 27? Seven years or 27. Play together when they're 28 and 30?

I mean, if they ever play together. So to get drafted to the same team, you gain probably five, six years just by getting drafted to the same team. So that's why, like for me, I was so excited just because I know how hard it is to play with your bros. You were talking off camera. Trevor Zegers.

Yeah. What did he do? Yeah, just draft day. I was on the golf course with Quinn, some buddies, some of my uncles. And like I said, you fall for anything. And Z texted me. It was like, Luke to Anaheim. And I was like, no way.

And I texted everyone, like, Luke's going to. And then Z had no clue. Like, he's just busting balls. But that's what I'm saying. You have no clue, man. Like, you just, like, I don don't know you hope for the best but at the end of the day what the message we gave to him was it's the nhl you're gonna go to a good spot no matter where it is but god we are what a time that was great man how long did the party go for yeah i went for a while luke actually had

world junior camp though the next day so it was like a party, everyone's celebrating, and then Luke goes to bed, and then it keeps going, and it's like celebrating Luke, and he's not even there. Yourself and the New Jersey Devils. This is a squad that looks like it's ready to take the next step, bringing in Dougie Hamilton, bringing in Ryan Graves, bringing in Tatar, right down the list. How are you feeling about the Devils right now?

Yeah, we're good. We're in a good spot. We've got a good young core. The management obviously spent money this summer. It shows that they want to push us up the mountain. They want to start winning and playing important hockey down the stretch. We're going to be good i mean i'm not going to sit here and say we're making playoffs or anything but we're going to be playing important hockey and we want to make the playoffs and

we got a tough division and we and we know that but yeah you know if we just do our thing and we'll give ourselves a chance who's the guy that you know in your couple years so far that you've lined up against and you said there is going to be the day where i take this guy to school and i'm really going to enjoy it because he has tortured me so far yeah i don't know i mean i'm relying we got some good matchups this year you know we got the berger online crosby a guy i don't even know this guy well i know him a bit but a guy I love kind of playing against just because we play a really similar style is Barzell.

I love when I get that Barzell matchup. I'm sure he's the same way because he likes playing offense. I like playing offense. We both give some stuff up once in a while, but I love playing him and competing against him. There's so many interesting skill sets of a lot of young hockey players right now, and it continues to evolve. You're right at the top of that discussion for a lot of people.

To get where you want to get in the NHL, what do you still need to do? What do you still need to learn? Your skill is ridiculous. As you know, that's just part of it. What do you need to do to get to where you want to be? Yeah. I mean, obviously I'm not a very imposing guy. Like skill, that's the reason I am where I am, but it's the whole thing. It's 82 games, being mentally prepared for every game, staying focused for 82 games. That's tough. You want to enjoy yourself as well but

you know it's a long season a lot of ups and downs just playing with confidence throughout the year and i'm still figuring that out i mean my first year i played 61 games and covid shut it down last year i played all 56 but you know i haven't played a full 82 game schedule and in terms of my game you, my game's right there. I think aside from the points, I dominated at times last year. If I just keep going with the game I was playing and finish plays off, I'm going to be in a really good spot this year. You mentioned that.

What was the game that you walked out of last year and you said, wow, I'm really happy with this one? Yeah, I mean mean there's a lot had a really good start to the season I had a game in Buffalo I think I had like nine shots no points and I was like this is ridiculous you know like best player on the ice and no points but that's the way it goes sometimes you know you some nights you have a bad night you're not feeling it but you have two power play points you know so I think for me there was a point last year where it was kind of shifting where I was heading into the year I was like come on I need to I need to

be a top player on my team and then I realized you know I'm going to be a special player in the NHL and you know this year is a continuation of that and I'm going to just take another step forward so when you say take that step what are are you thinking about? Like what's, what are you going to be happy with? What's going to make you feel that? I got a few things in my head. You know, the most important thing is leading the Devils to some wins. You know, we don't want to be at the, at the bottom of the league again. We want to be pushing. And like I said, we want to be playing important hockey down the stretch. But on a personal note, obviously points are important, but I want to continue my game, keep getting better, more dominant,

and the points will come. I just got to finish off plays. But I think everyone's expecting me to have a breakout year, and I'm expecting nonetheless. Nico Heischer, it seems as if when you look at the New Jersey Devils, and the back end is the back end, and it's just got a shot in the arm this summer everything up front is built around you and nico what should we know about he sure he's one of you know safe to say one of our favorite players here

on this podcast hawaii always this stealth selkie candidate etc what should we know about he sure from your point of view yeah i mean i wouldn't say he's been written off but he's last year i think people forgot about him for sure because the injury maybe just because i say he's been written off, but he's last year. I think people forgot about him for sure. Because the injury maybe. Just because, I mean, he's missed the first 30 games and he had a freak accident, took a slap shot to the face, you know. So he had a weird year last year. But, you know, we all expect in New Jersey for him to come back and lead us, be a great captain and, you know, produce and have a great year. It's not going to work if both of us aren't moving. Me and him got to push this team forward and you know I think everyone in New Jersey knows the kind

of person and player he is and I think he's gonna have a great year this year we had Ty Smith in our podcast last year I was really impressed with him didn't know him that well but really impressed with him he told some great stories about competing with stuff with Brendan Gallagher. You guys are friends, roommates. Are you guys competitive with each other? Yes and no. It's different in season and out of season, you know? In the summer, you're very competitive. But in the season, you're all focused on a common goal, you know?

We're both focused on pushing the devils forward and progressing our game so but smith he's a great dude man we had some good times last year and we're living together this year we got no furniture in our apartment right now so he's sticking it out right now while i'm here but it'll be good and i think he's gonna take another step forward and be a good player again so does he have the ikea duties is that what that means like he Like he's got to put everything together? I got him, I ordered the stuff for him but I think he's putting it together but we don't have nothing there. We have no couch. I have

nothing in my room so might have to tell Lindy to calm down the first few days of training camp. Wait for the boys to get some furniture in. Now we should mention too that you and Quinn bought a place this year in Michigan. Is there furniture in this house?

Yeah. Yeah, there is. Yeah, we live together. We have a few buddies in and out too. So it was good. It's fun. I pretty much saw this guy every day this year. We didn't really go on, or this summer, we didn't really go on vacations apart from each other. So it'd be nice to get my space now but uh he was a good roommate and we

had a lot of fun this summer you know um all the vancouver fans are all paranoid that quinn's going to be a devil eventually someday too yeah i mean i started the recruitment process so no but he loves vancouver he's got to get that deal done he's's got to play some hockey. But yeah, I mean, I'd love to meet up with him someday. And now that we got Luke, I don't know if I see myself leaving Jersey for a while. But if Quinn ever wanted to come, I mean, we'd welcome him with open arms. I remember two years ago in the bubble playoffs, he played his heart out. And Vegas made him the target. They were like, I wondered what you thought

watching that as Vegas basically said we are not letting this guy beat us and we are going to take every run at him we can and I thought Quinn handled it incredible like that's what happens when you're a great player you become the focus of the game plan and I just wanted to know what you thought watching that because I thought he played his heart out in a situation where it was obvious they said we have to we have to beat this guy yeah I remember I think he was a point per game maybe like 17 and 18 games but man I think he got disrespected this year you know I mean I know his first year is unbelievable but and I know he had a lot of dashes and people questioned his defense this year but you know at the end of the day, when you're on a bad team, that's what happens. You don't score as much as you'd like, and you give up more goals than you should.

I think people forget he's an elite defenseman in this league, and, I mean, man, that playoffs, him and Petey were incredible, driving that team to Game 7 with Vegas. So, I mean, he's an elite defenseman, and he's going to have a big time year, and I think people forget how good he is. You know, Lindy Ruff, you mentioned his name a couple of seconds ago. Veteran coach, well-respected. What are your thoughts on Lindy?

What's he like as a head coach to you? I have a lot of respect for Lindy. I think he's got six most wins of all time or something. You know, he's obviously very decorated and, you know, he's shown me a lot of respect and I knew nothing about him really last year heading in and he didn't know anything about me and we have a great relationship and, you know, that's a guy I want to play for for a lot of years and I'm excited to play my best in front of him, you know, so I have a lot of

respect for him and I think it's mutual and, you know, I want to win for him. You know, one of your teammates said to me about him is that, you know, you kind of expect a certain thing because Lindy Ruff's an older guy, but he doesn't have a lot of rules. Like he actually keeps it pretty simple in regards to being a devil.

Like basically be on time and treat people well, and there's not a lot other than that. Yeah, I think aside, I think his only real crazy, crazy rule is be on time. And that's very simple. We're professional hockey players. This is what we do. We go to the rink on time.

That's it. It's nothing crazy. But he's good. He lets us play. Now we just got to learn how to win you know know when to play with skill know when to

lock it down a bit so he's been good for us and he's an old coach but he's really good with our young players I'm always curious about

players rituals specifically on game day I know a lot of players it has to be the exact same way the exact same way we travel from the house to the rink and where we stop and the coffee we get, et cetera. Are you like that?

Do you have like those strong rituals on game day? I've actually gotten asked this a few times today, but I'm not very superstitious. Like some games I'll play suey, some games I'll just chill. Some games I won't even stretch. But my one constant thing is I need like games i won't even stretch but my one constant thing is i need like a three-hour nap that's my one thing i can respect that like and sometimes

on the road like my first year man nico is my roommate this guy loves to sleep and we would literally like shut it down after pre-game meal at like i don't know 12 45 and wake up at like 3 45 4 and then go to the game and like that's my one thing i need a three-hour nap yeah and yeah and smitty doesn't sleep much but he waits for me and that's my only thing thanks so much for this really appreciate it look forward to seeing you play for the new jersey devils again this season and uh best of luck thanks guys thank you thanks very much. Good stuff. More podcasts coming up as the NHL media tour. We are part of all of it.

A lot of player interviews coming your way. Hope you enjoyed today's edition of the podcast. More is still to come.