32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Bowness Blast

Episode Date: April 28, 2023

Rick Bowness did not hold back! Jeff and Elliotte get into the Jets as they are the first team to get eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs (00:00), Vegas looking good (13:00), Toronto-Tampa Bay (15:15), New Jersey turns the tables on the Rangers (36:30), Panthers force a game 6 (43:10) and Seattle look to close out the Avalanche (47:10).Elliotte also provides some news on the Flames GM search (52:45) and a potential coaching candidate from the Ducks (53:30).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call The Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailOutro Music: Gerd Beamtin - Big BoyListen to the full track hereThis podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.Audio Credits: KJR FM, MSG, NESN, Sportsnet, WTMM-FM and WQAM-AM.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Hold on one second. I just have to get the security guy to let me back into the studio. I left my pass inside. Can I be let back into the studio, please? Thank you very much. He looks dodgy. My friend on the phone says you shouldn't do it because I look dodgy. Shifty.

Shifty, yeah. She says she has cameras on me, so it's not like a... Thank you very much. Much appreciated. The Winnipeg Jets are eliminated. The Vegas Golden Knights move on. And now the questions begin. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by GMC

and the Canyon AT4X. Marek Delic and Friedman once again along with you. It is another CarCast edition of your favorite hockey podcast. Okay, so Winnipeg gets eliminated by the Vegas Golden Knights. 4-1 is the final. The Vegas Golden Knights will be the first team to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Vegas wins in five games.

It was an interesting game. Chandler Stevenson with a pair. He was outstanding. Mark Stone was great the entire series he was great in game five as well we had a hand passed missed stoppage challenge on a face-off involving blake wheeler we had connor halibut pulled at 8 18 every time the camera cut back to rick bonus you could see him frantically trying to get something done and try to, you know, will his team into winning this game and stave off elimination. And before we get to the players and before we get to the Vegas Golden Knights,

I think the big story are the comments by Rick Bonas after the game. This is going to be short and sweet, so let's get at it. He did not mince words about how there was, quote, no pushback. No questions, good. The same crap we saw back in February. Eric, just overall thoughts on that one. Overall thoughts? I'm so disappointed and disgusted right now.

That's my thoughts. Where does the disgust come from? Pardon me? Where does the disgust come from? No pushback. But it's the same crap we saw in February. It was. That's why we, so as soon as we were challenging for first place and teams were coming after us, we had no pushback. This series, we had no pushback. Their better players are so much better than ours, it's not even close.

Feels like you've been holding these feelings on for a bit. Is it just out of tonight's game or finally wanting to release that? It started back in January, February. What is it about this team's leadership core or the top end players? We've talked all... We got to push back. There's got to be a pushback. There's got to be pride.

You got to be able to push back when things aren't going your way. We had no pushback. Their better players are so much better than ours tonight. They deserve to win. They were the better team in the regular season.

They were the better team in this series. Anything else? Good. Thanks. Like, just imagine, Jeff, Rick Bonas talks for a minute, unloads like that, and you have to get back on a flight together to go to Winnipeg. What is that flight?

Four hours? Could you imagine what that's going to be like after that outburst? That's what I think about. There have been times where I know, I've been out with Steph and I've said something that really upsets her. And when we're driving home, it's the longest drive ever. So I know that I'm going to get home and I'm going to hear it. At least this time it got said beforehand, but that's going to be an uncomfortable flight back to Manitoba. Every player on that team is going to know what bonus said,

and he's not going to care. what bonus said and he's not going to care he's gonna want every player on that team to know what he had to say yeah but the other thing that really pops into my head jeff is that if there was any question that it meant the end of this particular core i think that eliminates it i think that eliminates it. I think that ends the question, if there was any doubt. And I thought the Jets played really hard in game three after losing Morrissey. I thought they played really hard in game four after losing Shifley. But the moment, as you said, the Golden Knights scored in the first minute of this one, they didn't have it. And an old school guy like Bonus, he won't tolerate that.

Like I use the phrase disheartened on television, but a guy like Bonus is going to sit there and say, you're in the playoffs. Even if you're going to lose, go down hard. Go down with the other team saying, even if we beat them in five games, I'm glad we don't have to see those guys anymore. They took a piece out of us. That's not happening after this series.

That was a beat down, but we talked about it, and everyone's going to talk about the same thing with the Jets here, Jeff, is what's going to happen. You know, Wheeler's got one more year. Dubois got one more year. Shifley's got one more year. The big one for me is Hello Buck.

I think that's the biggest decision that the jets have to make. And to be honest, it's not just their decision. It's Hello Buck's decision too. But if they want to keep them, they know that they're gonna have to make him among the highest paid goalies in the league he's gonna have to be right up there now he didn't have a great playoff brossois outdueled him but they don't get to the playoffs without him like

he got them there and willed them there he had a great year he had a great year. He had a great season. Yes. But what Halibut I think is going to say here is, okay, are we trying to win or are we rebuilding or retooling? And if the answer is yes, we're doing that, what's the timeline here? Because if the answer is we're going to rebuild a bit, and to me, I'm always willing to listen, but I'm curious about how the jets would feel they could contend immediately if they are changing all of these players if it is a rebuild i'm not sure hellebuck's gonna want any part of that yeah so that to me is the number one decision

that they have to make is where they are with hellebuck and what the future is there and i think every other decision flows from that one and i think every other decision is secondary from that one well then let's maybe talk about a couple of those secondary decisions as well because there's shifley and wheeler as you mentioned there's pierre luke dubois now shifley and wheeler are unrestricted free agents after next season, much like Conor Hallibuck. Pierre-Luc Dubois, a restricted, albeit with arbitration rights, and we can all see where that one is heading. Pierre-Luc Dubois, to me, is fascinating, Elliot. You know, I look at, you know, the obvious target, which is, you know. Although I'm led to believe that there

are other teams that Pierre-Luc Dubois would also be interested in going to, but we can all recall what happened around the draft and the comments and the indication that that is the destination of choice for Pierre-Luc Dubois. I look at Montreal and

I say to myself, well, they've got two first-round draft picks this season. They have a whole bunch of young defensemen. If the Winnipeg Jets are indeed going to go the rebuild route, that would really move things along quickly here, Elliot. It sure would. And like Dubois had a very frustrating finish to the year. I mean, he was one of the Jets' best players who was still on the roster, and he had a very uneven playoff, to say the least. And he wasn't the only one. A few of those guys did. I think the other thing too, Jeff, is I think there are teams that would consider

acquiring Dubois for a year if they thought a center might get them over the top next year. for a year if they thought a center might get them over the top next year now i was told last year that there was a team that was interested in acquiring dubois for two years they said even if he wants to go to montreal we'll take him for two years because we think we're close and we'll do it now it never happened but i wouldn't be surprised if there were teams thinking like that could it affect what the jets get for him yes but their leverage in this situation isn't necessarily great to begin with like you know i've had people say to me it's simple you trade dubois for to montreal and you ask for doc i think if it was that simple it it would be done already. So I don't think it's that simple. But once you get to this point, the leverage flips to the player. And I think unless these

players are willing to go somewhere where they're going to sign, I think you try to make the best deals you can. And I think that's what Winnipeg is going to do here the one situation that's a little different is Wheeler you know he's a little older he's got a year left I think the Jets and Wheeler looked into it last year I just wonder if it's going to be at all easier with one year to go as opposed to two for everyone to find another spot here if that's what everybody wants you know i think there are some teams i think we wonder about you know what's going to happen with sean couturier for example with the philadelphia flyers what's going to happen with patrice bergeron david kreitsche with the boston bruins this could be a a really intriguing summer for

those teams and potentially these players with the winnipeg Jets. I thought Wheeler played pretty hard too, Jeff. He did, and doesn't he fit the mold of those two teams that I just mentioned as well? You know, I'll be honest with you, Elliot. You know, we're talking about all these players. I can't stop thinking about what Rick Bonas said and how he talked about his players. You know, normally at the end of a season, a coach will try to, you know, at least shield some players. Say, hey, you know, these guys played hard, we gave it our best,

the other team was a better team, we had injuries, etc., etc., etc. I'll be honest with you, listening to what Rick Bonas had to say after the game, to me, sets up one of these, it's either these guys go or I go. And I know it's emotional.

It's right away. And maybe he'll clarify this all on Friday morning. And what I was trying to say is X, Y, Z. But there's something that's just different about this one. I mean, when you start using words like disgusted, it's really tough to go back to those same guys. Does it not feel like it's a well you know uh these guys go where i go for rick bonus i don't think your theory is a bad one i know at times

this year like it was a hard year for him he had covid he admitted that it really took a toll on him i know that there have been some people who've kind of wondered like would he just say you know what it's just time for me yeah he has grandkids now does he want to just say you know what i had my run i'm going to enjoy my family i know people have speculated that at this point in time i have no reason to believe that he's got another year under contract like rick bonus was a guy who thought he'd never get a chance to be a head coach again yeah and he got it he badly wanted it like that's the one reason i'm saying i don't know that i see that happening he badly wanted a second chance of being a head coach he got it i just don't know if it would be that easy for him or that's something he'd want to do is say, I'm going out now.

But, you know, I will say people have wondered about it. I just don't have any intel that it's actually something that's on the radar. You know, the one thing that does happen though, Jeff, is that he's an old school guy. As we said, I bet you during a season, he won't think about it. Like I think about Marv Levy. I remember I asked Marv Levy once about retiring and he said, my position is if you've got a day where you've retired, you're already retired and you're going to start cutting corners. And I can see Rick bonus being the kind of guy,

especially the way he reacted after game five. He's like the idea of me thinking about retirement during a season, no chance. Who knows? We'll see where we go. Now we'll see what he thinks about what his family has to say. All I can say is that I know there've been times this year where people have wondered if

you know maybe at the end of the year he says that's it but I have no intel that says that's true other side of the rink the team that moves on um the Vegas Golden Knights really nice performance uh really good performance by Laurent Boissois. Chandler Stevenson, I thought, was excellent, even though Jack Eichel had a shaky first game in the playoffs. He got better as the series grew on. Listen, how many times can we talk about Mark Stone? He was great again in Game 5. The blue line was a little bit nicked up as well,

but this is a team that looks good. I know there are a couple of defensemen specifically that were out in Shea Theodore and Braden McNabb. But at the same time, this is a really good, deep team that's going to be a handful for whomever they face next. It's something you said last podcast I think is very important is that they get the one short series, right? It's huge. It's huge. And I think you're so right. Like they're going to be more arrested than everybody else.

And that's a big W for them. You know, Petrangelo I thought was one of the best players in the first round in any series. I thought the golden Knights had a lot of players who had really good series at different times. Some of them were consistent. Others rose at certain

points. Versoie beat a guy who I thought should win the Vesna. There's not a lot to dislike. And you know, people can say the Jets were beaten up, which they were, but in the playoffs, you have to be ruthless. You can say, we don't care about excuses. We're ending your season. And the Golden Knights did that. And Braden McNabb is a guy who doesn't get a lot of attention. Yeah. I think he's a very important player for them. And the fact that they're going to get up and be able to give them a few extra days of rest.

Yeah. I think that's huge. And we should mention that it doesn't snap his regular season streak. Oh yeah. Phil Castle did not play a game for the first time since Halloween 2009. Yeah. And I had some people who texted me and they said, do you have a problem with that?

And I said, no, I don't have a problem with that at all. You have to be ruthless with your decisions in the playoffs. Totally. It's all about winning. And if they don't think K castle is one of their 12 best forwards it is perfectly within the golden knights right to do that okay so the vegas golden knights will now play the winners of the los angeles kings and the edmonton oilers series thursday as well elliot we saw the return of andre vasilevsky now technically he's been in net for the entire series

Andre Vasilevsky. Now, technically, he's been in net for the entire series, but you know what I'm getting at. We saw the return of Andre Vasilevsky. Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs by a final score of 4-2. Alex Killorn with the empty netter. Nick Paul, symbolically enough, with the game-winning goal in this one.

Your thoughts on this game where Toronto Maple Leafs fans thought that the first round drought was going to come to an end only to see it extend to at least one more game. When Morgan Raleigh scored that first goal and just put it through vasilevsky i thought they were going to win even when in tampa bay went down the the ice right on the next shift and scored i still thought toronto was going to win like like it turned out to be a huge goal in the game obviously but i thought toronto took enough of tampa bay's counter punches in the two games in florida that i thought they were going to be okay to vasilevsky's credit uh he made some huge saves at the end of the first period that kept that game tied when marner had

that breakaway and vasilevsky made that save you're like nothing's getting by this guy boy looking for some open ice as he grimaces on the bench. There's the best save for Vasilevsky, but just a smart play as Tavares with the bank pass right onto the tape in all alone and about three feet off as Marner, as soon as that puck went, he knew he was going to get the opportunity,

made sure he was onside, but this one here, Vasilevsky, in good position and didn't clinch at all. You're waiting for the goal. It is true. Like, he looked dynamite. Because I really thought that first goal goes through him. It's not his night. He's done. Yep.

But, you know, to me, and tell me if you disagree, but I really think, Jeff, that this series is about pace. And when Toronto forces the tempo at a quicker speed, they are better. And when Tampa kind of slows the game down a bit and turns it into like 1970s football, hand it off to, I used Earl Campbell last week, so hand it off to Chuck Foreman this week. And so, you know, know hopefully get 10 yards on three plays you know when tampa slows the game down they're better off and toronto has to force the lightning to play at their pace more often and that is when i think that they win because Tampa can't keep up to that.

But I thought Tampa got most of this game at their pace. I mean, how many people, when Matthews made it 3-2, they thought, here we go again, Toronto's going to tie it. But, you know, they couldn't get the last one. Look, you and I both live in Toronto. I had buddies calling me on Thursday saying, Leafs are going to win 5-1 tonight. And I'm like, are you guys crazy? Like, I thought they could win, but to predict the blowout is insane.

And nobody should be surprised. We're going back to Tampa. But I think, Jeff, this is about pace. The Maple Leafs have to force the lightning to play fast or else Tampa has a shot. Uh, do you have a thought on the, uh,

the Patrick Maroon hit on Mark Sherdano? I was of the group that I was a little surprised. They didn't call the five to go to review on this one right away. It was the, the two for roughing. How did you feel about it? As someone who sent me a dm i think his name was jay and he made a good point like if you look through the rule book if they call it

checking from behind it's a major and there's no option for a minor and if they called it roughing there's no five minute roughing penalty again we're doing the car cast here and i'm driving home so i don't really have a chance to check it but i wondered if maybe by calling it what they did like if they called it boarding then we might have had options to have a couple of different conversations here but i wonder if because they called it roughing they couldn't and again remember i'm spitballing this at night. They couldn't call it five. Generally, I feel I said that, Jeff, anytime it's something like that,

you should be calling the five and using the review. You know, Maroon's a big man. He's people saying that Giordano dives. Giordano's not a diver. He's been in the league for, you know, for 15 years. He's not a diver. He's been in the league for, you know, for 15 years. He's not a diver. And you know what?

Like Pat Maroon hits me from behind. Even if there's no intent to kill somebody, I'm going to feel it. Like, what did you think? I looked at that and, you know, the first thing I thought of what time of the period is it?

Like, I, I liked what BX has said. I think that's salient in this. Like, the period is winding down. I know you play right to the buzzer and I need to be aware right until the buzzer, and I get that.

But there's like a couple of dead seconds left in the period, and Patrick Maroon has a I'm-gonna-fill-my-boots run at Mark Giordano and catches him with a bad hit. I mean, ultimately, you know, Mark Giordano returned to the game, but still, I don't know. That one didn't considering the nature of the penalties that we've seen so far for similar hits.

That one felt light for a two minute rough. I don't, I don't lose my, my mind over it or, you know, really, you know, go snap case on it, but it just felt like more than a two minute minor for roughing to me. People out there are saying like Giordano was diving. Come on. Like I said, the guy's been in the league 15 years. He's not diving.

Get that weak-ass crap out of here. Okay, a couple of things more on this Maple Leafs situation. Next game, do we see Bunting? Here's another one. Next game, do we see Liljagren? These are both great questions. I think you absolutely see Bunting. I wouldn't take Nize out.

I think Nize has been really good. I think we see Bunting probably, I would assume, for Aston Reese. But yes, I think you give the team the energy of putting Bunting back in. Liljagren, here's my thing. I thought if you were going to do Lilligren, it was after game one when they got murdered. You know, I have to say this. The people who run the Sportsnet stats Twitter account,

did they just decide tonight was going to be the night to drop a nuclear bomb on Twitter with that Justin Hall stat? With Justin Hall, yeah. Yeah, like about how many goals he's been on the ice for. But here's the thing. What do you feel about putting a guy in for game six of this series who, by the time Saturday night rolls around, isn't going to have played in two weeks, at least?

It speaks to, actually actually a bigger story that since i don't know when trade deadline elliot timothy lilligren is at a hard time getting into this lineup jeff i think that's going to be an end of year story like i get it but i'm saying to your point like it this isn't just about this series right now with timothy lilligren i think it's a bigger story for timothy lilligren and i think it's a bigger story for Timothy Lilligren. And I think your point is a good one too. Yes. Like you'd be putting a guy in cold.

I just think that it winks at an even bigger story that we're looking at here with a first round pick. But Timothy Lilligren isn't going to do that now. If he's upset, he's not going to say that now. What he can say is he can be professional and say of course i want to be in the lineup because i want to play but i think you ask a very fair question and that's going to be where are we with him at the end of the season one other thing jeff i just want to mention at the end of the game i wish i would have phrased something a little bit differently

that i said on air like there was a play at the end of the game where it looked like nice was high stick and all of the angles we had i think we had three didn't show it it showed like the stick goes into his arm or under his arm or his armpit or his chest but it doesn't conclusively show that the blade went up into his face like it might have gone around his neck or his throat but it doesn't go to where he grabs it and i said if it doesn't get him you know that's not the reputation you want to get early in your career you don't want that and that's exactly what i meant to say but one guy called me and i got a very interesting phone call after the call someone texted me former ncaa player and he said you have a sack i said

absolutely and he called me and he said the thing you have to remember here is that Nize, up until two weeks ago, was wearing a cage. And even if that stick doesn't get him, and he agreed with me that it didn't look like it went where Nize was holding. He said, when you've spent a lot of time in a cage, as Nize is, it really is disconcerting when you first go into the NHL. And he said that happened to him. And he thinks that even if the blade didn't get him, the fact that it was near him or he could feel it or see it, or if maybe some ice came off the blade into his face, whatever happened, he said, you have to give him a break because of how disconcerting it is.

I said, okay, you know what? That's a fair point. I'll concede that. And then you know what he said to me? He said, the Leafs are going to win game six and Niles is going to score the game winning goal to break his Amelie Arena curse. So there you go. Very good.

You don't even have to watch on Saturday night. Very good. That's a great way to hype a hockey night in Canada on Saturday. Well done, Elliot. I'm sure our bosses will be thrilled about that. One more thing I want to ask you about this series, then I want to move on. What was your take on all of the Derek Lalonde

should not be sharing state secrets controversy that's ripped through hockey social media the last 48, 72 hours. A few years. Well, the tips are a big thing. It's not – he has very few weaknesses. One thing, actually, we did a study back in the day. He was one of the lower percentage goalies in finding pucks from the points. We actually changed our entire D zone, and we've improved our pass rush.

But, yeah, not him. This is just, I give total credit to Toronto. This was a different field than their win yesterday. I have a lot of thoughts on this one. You know, number one is that, Jeff, I honestly believe that this would not be a controversy in any of the other major North American team sports. Like if this happened on an NFL broadcast or a major league baseball broadcast, or certainly an NBA broadcast inside the NBA, it would not be a controversy. And you have heard me say before on this show particularly when it comes to the inside the nba

which i believe is the greatest studio show in the history of north american television like the double standard between the stuff that gets said on shows like that one and the reaction to stuff that gets said sometimes on our show i think it's ridiculous and like I really feel strongly that all of us in hockey I'm not talking about just fans I know people are passionate right now and if it wasn't for the passion of those fans we wouldn't have

jobs but I think sometimes everybody in the sport people in the league people who work for teams sometimes fans sometimes media members at each other. We need to lighten up and we need to have more of a sense of humor. If we want to make our broadcast better, we have to stop getting upset about things as much as we do. Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't get upset about legitimate things like if someone's

wrong about something and they go off crazy and they're wrong or god forbid a slur or anything like that but something like this the reaction in hockey is always greater than any other sport and that's my opinion but you won't get me to change it because i see it all the time and that's what frustrated me about that is that was good tv and instantly the reaction from a lot of people was oh no this is bad and i don't think the majority of the viewing audience thinks that but because there is a segment of noise that gets created i think it freaks out people i think it freaks out executives and i think now and i don't want to speak for everybody i'm i'm just saying this for myself

and people in the business can tell me if they agree or disagree. I think there's more fear in hockey of standing out on your own than there ever has been. I see it in people I work with. I see it in myself. I've talked to other people about it and I think it hurts the broadcast. to other people about it and i think it hurts the broadcast and i think it affects those on the air those behind the scenes and those who make decisions about what happens when something occurs on the air and i just wish we would all lighten up a little bit and save it for the stuff that really matters and you know i'll tell you like jeff another stuff that really matters. And, and you know, I'll tell you like Jeff,

another thing that really bothered me about it was other media members saying it was wrong and I'm not going to name anybody. And if they've got a problem, they can reach out to me. One of the things I hate most doing, and it really pains me when I do it. And I've really limited the amount of times I've done it. I've done it.

I think I've probably done it less than five times, is when like somebody reports something and I have to dispute it. I know what it's like to put yourself out there with a report and I don't like to attack other people or embarrass other people. I really try to stay away from it. I did it once last year and the guy who I did it to was really pissed off at me and I don't blame him for it, but it was a big thing he put out there and I, I felt I had to do it, but I felt sick about it. I just don't understand why media members would have an issue with that because all it does is it empowers people to use us against each other. Like Jeff, we're a caddy group.

We fight with each other all the time. Like I get it, but I don't like when we're used by other people to fight against each other. I don't know. I think we should be encouraging. I think there's a lot of good hockey media out there. Do you like narrative? Yeah, there of good hockey media out there do you like narrative yeah there's good narrative out there do you like analytic work yeah i think there's

good analytic work out there like i think there's a lot of really good hockey work out there and i'm not perfect but i want to be as encouraging as i can and i have to tell you it bothered me because for two weeks derrick l Lalonde's my teammate, and I didn't like seeing my teammate be put through that. And it just bothered me because I, like, I think his work has been very creative. I think he's brought a new insight into our show. And I think he's been very good for our show.

And I, and when he leaves, cause he's got to go to the worlds, I want more coaches and people to say, you because he's got to go to the worlds i want more coaches and people to say you know what i'd like to do that and i want the viewers to say you know what that was really good and that was really different and if that's what's going to happen when he tries something different then less people are going to do it and i don't think that's good for us i don't think it's good for the viewer i don't think it's good for the viewer. I don't think it's good for the NHL. That's why I think Biz is really important. I think the stuff he does, he's moving

a line. I really support it. I think BXA is moving a line. I really support it. Not everyone's going to be happy with this take and I respect those opinions but I just think there's less dumpster fires around broadcasts and other sports than there are in hockey.

And I think part of it is because I just think we need to lighten up a bit when it comes about broadcasting. That's all. You can tell me what you think. I'm sorry for the rant. Actually, I'm not sorry for the rant. This is my podcast, but I'm sorry for wasting about six minutes of your life. I'm not going to disagree with any of that. I think that's all well stated and well said. Let's hit a pause, come back and talk about the Rangers doubles.

Listen to the 32 Thoughts Podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Okay, welcome back to the podcast. We're going to get to that New Jersey Devils-New York Rangers game here in a couple of seconds. In the meantime, Friday, very much looking forward to a number of games. Game six between the Bruins and the Panthers. Game 6 between the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Islanders. And also Game 6 between the Avalanche and Kraken. We'll get to them later. And

the Minnesota Wild and the Dallas Stars. And last podcast, Elliot, you had some advice I believe for Peter DeBoer, head coach of the Dallas Stars. I believe for Peter DeBoer head coach of the Dallas Stars. You know, like I'm not as good a coach as Peter DeBoer, but you know, I'm going to give him some advice.

You know, I'm going to give him some advice, some advice, advice. You know, I'm going to give him some advice. Tell your guys to stop giving out breakaways. Like you might just want to cut this out. Hey, Elliot, this is Pete DeBoer in Dallas. Really appreciate the coaching advice, but I think you should stay in your lane and stick to the media. Talk soon. Did you guys actually ask him to do that now?

Emil did that, yeah. He's right, but I'm a little bit embarrassed. Listen, I think you probably took your coaching advice to heart. I'm going to be counting breakaways on Friday that the Dallas Stars allow. Let me just say this. I reiterate, Peter DeBoer has forgotten more about coaching

than I will ever know. But I still believe I am correct in my analysis that they should stop giving out breakaways. Razor blade insight. They're not a key to success. Giving up breakaways. Ooh, more state secrets.

And speaking of, uh, the Dallas stars, uh, you can see the piece that we recorded with Jake Ottinger when we were in Dallas not too long ago. That will both be on the broadcast and available at our Sportsnet YouTube channel.

So watch for that on Friday. So you were drafted in the first round. They'd already taken Haskinen. And that was a situation where Dallas traded up to get you. And the story that I was told was Philadelphia was waiting and you weren traded up to get you and the story that I was told was Philadelphia was waiting and you weren't going to get past Philadelphia and that's why Dallas jumped and moved up and made the trade with the Blackhawks. Draft was in Chicago as you know made the trade with the Blackhawks they moved down and Dallas got their goaltender. What do

you remember from that first round? I just remember as the kind of the round was going later and the kind of the range that I was supposed to go and I kind of the nerves started to get higher and I honestly just wanted to get picked on the first day. I was really hoping to. I kind of expected to and was would have been a huge letdown for my family and stuff if I if we had to come back on day two but I mean as soon as you hear your name called it's you kind of black out and especially to have it like a place like Dallas. I mean such soon as you hear your name called it's you kind of black out and especially to have it like a place like Dallas I mean such a great organization and city and the quality of life here is unbeatable so I remember just being like you know all the talks about it but from when

it actually happens it's it's pretty crazy and then just to have the people that you know helped me get there to be there with me was made it extra special. Did you know it was going to be Dallas? I thought it was going to be Chicago, honestly, before they traded it. I had a great relationship with their minor league goalie coach. He and I kind of went back and forth. He was saying, I'm going to do everything I can to

have us pick you. When Dallas traded up for me, it felt like a perfect spot. Okay, Elliot. Too fast all night long. The New Jersey Devils beat But when Dallas traded up for me, I mean, it felt like a perfect spot. Okay, Elliot, too fast all night long. The New Jersey Devils beat the New York Rangers. 4-0 is the final score. Eric Holla, and I know you love his nickname.

Empty net, the Devils score! Eric Holla with Chesterkin out. Hall of Famer. And it's 4-0. There you go. I was waiting for you. You left me hanging out there with Shesterkin out. Hall of Famer. And it's 4-0. There you go. I was waiting for you. You left me hanging out there with a pair of goals. Andre Palat, who becomes the second Czech-born player to score 50 playoff goals.

Jaromir Jagr, the only other one. Empty netter, the final tally in the Devils' game. We don't have to face off a turnover, and the Devils score, and it's Andre Pallott who fires one off of Shesterkin. It rolls over his shoulder. 4-0 is the final score, and as I mentioned off the top, the Devils' defense was really good. The goaltender, again, was really good,

but to me the story of this game was New jersey just looked so freaking fast elliot and the rangers had no answers and much like we talked about last podcast with these two teams we're left saying what is going on with mika zibanejad and artemi panarin i think no one scored but these two really stand out now look jeff you know i'm gonnacede to this one, to you on this one more, because obviously I'm watching the Toronto game more than I'm watching the Ranger game. But every time I looked up, the Rangers were on their heels. They were. They get that ridiculous fluke goal to start the game the Devils do,

and all of a sudden the arena's going bananas and you could see it like the moment that puck went in basically that game was over the Devils just said this is our night and we're going there was a really interesting moment in this one where uh Igor shisterkin and he heard the Igor chance once again at the Prudential Center. Very nice. There was a really interesting moment in this one where he makes a save and then skated to the bench. Yes. To yell at his team to get going. Like, I know Gerard Galant's the coach,

but at that moment, Shosturkin's like, you know, screw it, like, nothing's working like, you know, screw it. Like nothing's working here. I got to try myself. I'm doing, and Shosturkin was good. Like, and Shosturkin's been good this whole series.

Yes. And he's trying to light a fire on, under his team. Like I'm always, part of me like feels really bad. You watch someone who's just battling as hard as Shosturkin is trying to get everybody else up to his level. But I know that, you know,

we talked earlier about how disappointed Rick Bonas is at his Winnipeg Jets. I got a figure as well, Elliot, that Gerard Gallant not exactly thrilled with his New York Rangers. Gallant really pulled his punches tonight. We got to be better, but again, it wasn't nothing. I don't have to feel the same anything close to last game. We've been in this position before.

Last year, twice in the first round, we're down 3-2, so see what we can do. Go back home on Saturday and rally the troops and get it going. I saw some Ranger fans were upset about that. You can't do that twice in a row when you're trying to save your series. Like he did what he did after game four.

He called them out. You can't call them out again. When your team is fragile and the Rangers are fragile right now, this is where whether the fans like it or not, you have to pull out the velvet gloves. You can't do that again and i completely understand why galan the tough guy of all tough guys didn't do it this time this series changed in game three they put schmieden goal he won the game and the devil started to say hey we can win

with this guy and you know what i think the other thing I thought was really big in game number four, Jeff? Kevin Ball. Yeah. Kevin Ball. Big Kevin Ball. Well, you know, Kevin, I know you're humble. I know you don't want me to talk about it, but two big hits there.

I'm not going to call you the wrecking ball yet. But, Kevin, is that a bump up? You know you had a good chance to score you're handling the puck now do you feel like i could also throw some big checks when i have to yeah of course and that's a big part of my game so i need to obviously step that part up so i try to keep that rolling yeah and and you accepted the challenge from good draw i don't know if you've done much fighting in your career what was it like down in the ahl i know juniors you're not going to drop the gloves but do you have that a little bit in your arsenal or it was just like hey i gotta go oh no i uh you know i can fight

i've done it my whole career juniors hl so i'm happy to accept the talent like there's two things that fires up a crowd. The goal, like the first one that Palad scored. But also, like, especially a crowd like Jersey's, when they're playing for the Rangers, they're like, we're out for blood. When Kevin Ball is running over guys three times in a row, or however much it was. Here's Meyer, though, pouncing on a loose puck for Ball. Oh, he throws a big shoulder hit on Barkley Goodrow. Goodrow came up on the young defenseman, and Ball just banged him.

Stuck out of his butt, knocked him flying. Oh, another hit. Hit far side by Ball. Hit check on Jimmy Beasley. The crowd loves it. That building is going bananas. Two of their favorite defensemen of all time are Ken Danico and Scott Stevens. This should surprise nobody.

Yes. This should surprise nobody at all. It energizes your crowd. Now you're really going. And Ball had a couple of shifts there where I was like, this guy's making a difference. And good on him. People forget he was part of the taylor hall deal

yeah i remember when when he was traded there were some guys said to me well you can't teach size but i don't know if this guy's a player on thursday night i saw this guy making a difference in a huge playoff game yeah i think swagger matters, and that's why Jack Hughes is so important, aside from the fact that he's a great player. But they were losing this series, and Hughes still had the swagger, and now everybody on that team is caught up with him. If they had any doubt they could win after game two,

it's over, and now they think they're going to win. And that Ranger team, they are reeling. They are in trouble. And with that, let's rewind to the Wednesday night games. We've got a couple of them here we'll finish up the podcast on. The Florida Panthers and the Boston Bruins. We thought Boston game five was going to end this thing. They're going back home.

They'd just beaten the Florida Panthers twice in sunrise and Anthony DeClaire scores the first goal on a really bad giveaway by Tyler Bertuzzi Brad Marchand ties it, and then it's a nip and tuck game all the way through. Goes to overtime, and Matthew Kachuk becomes the overtime hero. As Kachuk wins it, 6-0-5 into overtime. And the Panthers take it 4-3. Well, Linus Allmark hasn't had a whole lot to do. Shots are 47-25. He's out to handle the puck, and he's usually very good. But this one, he just feathers it instead of firing it.

Another point for Verhege, I think, who's the man who intercepted in the corner. The Panthers are on cloud nine because they're going to head home and host a game Friday in Sunrise. In the process, Carter Verhege with three assists, and he's been really good. But this was a game that was all about Sergey Bobrovsky.

I know a lot of this series has been about Matthew Kachuk, and he was the overtime hero. And Paul Murray spoke glowingly about how he had the patience to hold on to that overtime puck and not just try to jam it in. Held on to the puck, found the shot, took it, and salted it away. That guy is a very attractive guy. You can see that. But that was the Bobrovsky game that we've been waiting for, Elliot. Yes, it was.

And I wasn't sure it was the right idea to start him. Boy, was I wrong about that. That save at the end of regulation, the weird breakaway out of nowhere. Stalemate. Marchand breaks it clear. 2-1. A save by Bobrovsky. Sudden death.

Here we come. Wow. Wow, what an opportunity. Four seconds left. I mean, just like an incredible save. People were saying, does Boston feel the pressure? I don't think Boston feels pressure at all. I just think they're too smart.

They're too mature. They carried the game. They completely dominated. They've won twice in Florida. I mean, the one thing now is can Bobrovsky give them another one like that? And he just hasn't been consistent enough because, you know, there's going to be another onslaught from the Bruins in game six. But, you know, the one thing about

the Panthers is I thought they really battled. Like Montour coming back to play, Ekblad coming back, that was during the game, Ekblad coming back to play, Duclair coming back to play, and you know, they're going to have to do it again.

I don't think the Bruins will panic. I just think it's up to Bobrovsky. He's got to do that again. And then we'll see what happens if there's a game seven. Eyeball emoji on this one. The Seattle Kraken have the Colorado Avalanche on the brink of elimination, as we all predicted, Elliot Friedman. And this was an exciting game, man.

Like this whole series has been excellent. I know it hasn't gone the way that Colorado has wanted, but you know, this has been fast. This has been quick. This has been sudden. It's really been a wonderful series. The Seattle Kraken win by a final score of three to two. And we haven't talked about him a lot.

You and I talked about him Thursday on radio. Man, a couple of words about Philip Grubauer here. We've talked a lot about great goaltending performances. You just mentioned Sergei Bobrovsky, Jake Ottinger, maybe the best goaltender in the playoffs right now. Man, Philip Grubauer has not gotten the accolades that he deserves in this series and probably in this season as well. Grubauer has been excellent for this team and was on full display on Wednesday night.

There's no goalie in the playoffs who has elevated himself higher than the regular season that Grubauer has. No one. He is at another level here, and that is what you need to do. He is at another level here, and that is what you need to do. I mean, look, the one that got Colorado within a goal late in the third period on Wednesday night, it hit two people and it went in. And that's the way they're beating him now. I mean, that Karche was just a fantastic story about how his parents got there

just in time to see him score. Throws it in front. Karchi scores welcome to the national tie Karchi his first NHL goal in the Stanley Cup playoffs 2-1 Seattle 10-0-1 to play in the second oh the youngster comes to play Jordan Everly around the net shields the puck moves it all the way across. Beautiful, beautiful story. Everybody listening to this who's a parent,

your sole dream is that your children reach their goals. And to get there in time to see that, it was fantastic. And just another part, you know, of the Kraken mystique. I had one GM text me after the game on Wednesday. He said, Seattle wins this? Good for the cap.

I'm sure there's some people who are not as brazen about it who feel the same way, but you know Colorado's going to throw everything at them. Well going to throw everything at them. Well, they threw everything at them at the end of the game. You saw the shift length

for McKinnon, Comfort, and Rantanen. $255 each. You know, and like, listen, Haxtell had Larson out there for $235 and Oleksiak for $227. But they tried everything. And listen, man, give it to Seattle. And they're without Jared McCann.

I know Colorado's without Kael McCarr for the one-game suspension. But, you know, you got to hand it to Seattle. I know that Colorado is getting wounded here. But the Seattle Kraken have the defending Stanley Cup champions, one of the best teams in the NHL, on the brink of elimination. I think this is an outstanding story and an outstanding series. Elliot, the Valeria Nachushkin story as we're talking about the avalanche. Bennett Durando with a piece in the Denver Post about the Valeria Nachushkin situation. So the Denver Post reporting there was a woman in Valeria Nachushkin's room, extremely intoxicated last Saturday.

She had to be taken to hospital. There is no criminal investigation into this. The Colorado Avalanche wouldn't confirm whether this incident was related to Nachushkin's absence from the team. However, that's the latest reporting on the situation as it unfolds with Valery Nachushkin. I don't like to guess on things like this. The one thing I will say is people were warning, just be careful what you say about this prior to this story

because they said it wasn't a case that was really clear as to what exactly involved the chushkin so i think after reading that story i think we all have a better idea on what that means you know i'm not going to argue about the validity of it or not i just don't know know. But like we've said, Jeff, I don't think anybody expects him to play anytime soon. And what that story at least does is give us some idea as to why

and you just hope everyone is okay. Okay, so Elliot, last podcast, we talked about the Carolina Hurricanes and the Islanders. So we'll bracket that until the next podcast and ditto for the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings series. And boy, is that a huge game on Saturday?

Those two teams going head to head the late game on hockey night in Canada game six, the venue shifts to crypto.com. The Edmonton Oilers looking to close out against the Los Angeles Kings. A couple of things just want to keep an eye on, you know, A couple of things just want to keep an eye on. You know, Flames sounds like they might start to do some GM interviews maybe over the next week or so.

I think they're going to get closer to doing some actual conversations here. But one of the names I'm kind of wondering about here is Mark Hunter from the London Knights. That's a name I could see potentially having a conversation with the organization. If not, I'm so careful about terms now, conversation, interview, like you get caught on semantics so much. It's not worth the aggravation, but I think he could be a name of interest. Another name I wanted to mention for you, we're talking about potential coaches for Anaheim. You know who I kind of

wonder about for that is a guy like Mark Savard. In Windsor? Yes. And the reason I was thinking about that is, Mark is a creative guy with young, skilled players. He was one, of course. I just wonder if someone like him would make any sense for them.

Just because of the young, skilled players they've got. And I think the environment he would try to create around them. I think there have been a few teams previously that had inquired about, or as we're all being sensitive about how we describe things, had conversations with, discussed around, talked to Mark Savard last season after the Windsor Spitfires had a wonderful run specifically with Wyatt Johnson who ended up on the Dallas Stars. And I think that there was at least some interest or conversations

or there was, put it this way, there was some there there between the Dallas Stars and Mark Savard. That doesn't surprise me that Anaheim is interested because I kind of have the feeling that Mark Savard is on a few teams' radars. I don't know if I would go as far as saying anaheim is interested yet i because i honestly don't know what verbique is thinking there but i had some people say to me that you want to take young players especially good young offensive players and make them better he was one of the guys that people suggested to me made sense for that kind of philosophy.

They have a lot of highly skilled young forwards. That makes all the sense in the world, Elliot. All the sense in the world. Yes. Okay. Taking us out, Elliot is a singer-songwriter who's been around the Quebec hip-hop scene for a while. Before going solo, Greg Bodin was part of two groups and was known as Snail Kid. From his latest record, here's Greg Bodin with Big Boy on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. par les cheveux de l'or Regarde-moi dans les yeux que je puisse me boire Big boy, yeah, je suis super size

C'est le nom que j'ai resté solide comme le phare Yeah, ils parlent, yeah, ils feintent Mais ils sont restés en arrière So, je garde la famille sous peut-être Deux bouts devant le miroir Je suis comme un moule

Tu sais qui se colle, hein Tu sais qu'ils sont morts, hein Big boy, je pense queense la question s'pose pas J'pourrais pull up, c'était pas au-delà Couleur sweet comme un skittle Y'a t'se m'tise comme il faut On fuit des spleens comme des fiends Chasing dopamine, boy I got you sur le highway

On speed J'étais beau comme la couleur de ma peau J'peux des jokes, j'fais des gros choses Avant qu'ce soit over Remplis le compte, yeah, fais le back Mais si tu tombes, au moins j'arrête ton pack J'vois tout te donner pour qu'on make it back J'prends des rêves pis j'en fais des faces