32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Category 5 Hockey

Episode Date: June 3, 2026

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman unpack an amazing Game 1 between the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights. Afterwards, the guys delve into the Nashville Predators making Chris MacFarland their new GM (23:00). They also talk about news regarding Commissioner Gary Bettman's future with the NHL (32:00) before unpacking the newly announced All-Star Game format (35:00). Elliotte provides an update on Bruce Cassidy (39:00). They check in on LA and Toronto's head coaching search (43:00). The Final Thought focuses on the Vancouver Canucks officially hiring Manny Malhotra as their next head coach (47:00).  Kyle and Elliotte answer your questions and comments in the Thought Line presented by BetMGM (50:24). Listen to all the 32 Thoughts music here. Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail. This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates

Elliot goes into the gas station, gets a black coffee, a dairy milk, and a Wither's original. Hey, there's nothing wrong with. That's a great combination, man. I like Wothers original. Yeah. You don't have a pack of Peak Freenes? And do you have any fake Nunes? Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast, presented by your Canadian Toyota dealers and the 2026,

Tacoma. Get yours before red tag days are over. Elliot Friedman, Kyle Bukoskis, Dom and Christian, both handling the production here of this, the first pod and the aftermath of the 2026 Stanley Cup final. It is officially underway with Game 1 on Tuesday night. Vegas Golden Knights, take Game 1 on the road. We'll get to that, the rest of the news, the botline, all of that to come on this edition, Elliot, but we've been AWOL the last couple of days. Where have we been?

What's going on? Bring us up to speed. Yes, apologies to everybody, Kyle. I'm sorry about this. We had a lot of notes and questions about it. As I mentioned on Monday, the travel situation the day before prevented us from doing our regular Monday morning pod, but I promised one on Tuesday.

I'll be honest with everybody. I was not happy with someone on Monday night. And sometimes in life, you've just got to put yourself into the corner and take a time out. There are times you should not be around a microphone. And Monday night was one of those nights. So I just said, you know what, guys? We're going to record on Tuesday. So the reason the pod didn't appear on Tuesday morning was I called timeout on myself.

Rare occasion, but sometimes you got to just put the muzzle on. So was it Dom that made you upset? No, surprisingly, it was not Dom. Is it David Amber? No, also surprisingly, he's not even here yet. He doesn't show up until game two. So Amber, to be annoyed by Amber, he's got. to be there in person. He can't do it from thousands of kilometers away. Well, okay. So it was

Kyle. Yeah, was it me? No, it was not you. As much as I would like to blame you, it was not you. However, before we start the pod, I would like to talk overalls. You had a fantastic open to the show tonight where I understand after the morning skate, you went and you visited Hamilton the pig. And it was outstanding television, Kyle. It really was. I don't even know what we call our awards anymore, Canadian Screen Awards or whatever they are.

You deserve to win it for that. If you haven't seen it, I retweeted it on to my ex-feed. Or it's on the sports net. If you don't want to go to mine, it's on the sports net feed. but Kyle, I have a complicated relationship with overalls. You know, I... Pretty good story sitting right there. I used to date someone and she loved overalls.

And I would say to her, I love everything about you except the overalls. So I have a complicated... That does sound complicated. So where did you get the overall? Elliot, I spent a good chunk of my morning more than I'd like to admit, searching online, calling around to different places in the Raleigh-Durham triangle. Nobody had them, nobody had them, had to ship them, had to ship them. I go, I need them right away.

Finally, it was a sporting good store in Apex, North Carolina. It's about a 20-minute drive from the rink. I called, she goes, yeah, we've got, there's like one. At the end of the rack, it was a return. I only have one here. I'm like, perfect. You were used. overalls? It was a return. The tags were still on them. I don't know. Dom, what's your vote on this one?

That's totally fine. As someone who worked in retail, I've seen way worse. And their overalls. I was so committed to the bid at that point, Elliot. Yeah, I understand this. They could have been 10 sizes too small. I was getting them. Well, thankfully they weren't, but I can understand being committed to the bit. do get that. Yes. I just wanted to shout out from, well, Hugo Regimbald shot all that.

Yep. Obviously, Kyle, the man that looks after Hamilton, they have been so gracious to have us there. And from Jeff Geardot, at a producer,

Ryan Zadebiak, our ISO director, Caitlin Lusty, our technical director, and just everyone, because that's a tight turnaround. We shot that at like 1.30 in the afternoon.

You've got to bring all the footage back to the truck. You've got to edit it. Meanwhile, they've got everything else going on to get ready for, you know, the actual game itself to broadcast that. So for them to turn that around in relatively short order, I really appreciated it. Like you can have any idea you want, but if you don't have a crew around you that can make it all come to life, you got no chance. So just wanted to say that quickly. 100%. It was a great bit. I loved it. The only criticism I got, Kyle, was nobody working on a farm in overalls would have hair that good. Oh, we broke around here on Tuesday. Setting a new standard going forward. I just come from the rink. Anyway, Elliot, this was a banger to start the Stanley Cup final. Great game back and forth. Lots of goals. Some mistakes, but all part of a really entertaining environment.

That barn was so loud. And then Vegas quieted it at the end. Tomash Hurdle, forget that gold drought is a thing of the past now. That dude is rolling. Another key goal for him ends up being the game winner. Five, four in the end. And I just think, Elliot, as much as Carolina, I think they've got every opportunity to rebound, to adjust,

and to claw themselves back into this series here moving forward. For the first time in these playoffs, they in a lot of ways have met their equal in the Vegas Golden Knights. Everyone talked about a team in Carolina that would not go away that is relentless. Vegas has a lot of the same qualities. I could imagine what it would be like watching that as a Colorado Avalanche, player. You would have said, I've seen this movie before. It wasn't quite as dramatic as the three nothing comeback that Vegas came back to win. That really was the death blow to Colorado

on the Western Conference final. But you look at it, your Carolina, Eilers is red hot, you score your first goal. The third fastest goal in game one, Stanley Cup finals history, missing the record by 10 seconds. You're up two nothing and you lose the game. And the building's going bananas. And the building's going bananas. I bet you the Avalanche players were like, holy cow, I can't even watch this. I'm turning it off now and so as not to see it again. You know, it's really interesting. I had a chance to talk to, I know you talked to Shea Theodore postgame, and I had a chance

to talk to him, too, after he finished his scrum. And they're like Freddie Kruger. They're like Michael Myers. They're like Jason Voorhees. Just when you think they're dead, they come back to life, like a horror villain. and the thing that, first of all, Theodore says they never get rattled about anything. Tortorella said that in the post game, that all these guys have been here before. They understand what it takes to win.

But Theodore said something really interesting. He said that Tortoralla, what he does is whenever he calls them together, and if you listen to the audio of him during that television timeout when they're down to Zip, he always makes sure to bring up something that they do well. It's either something they've done well that game that if they continue to do it well, it will be successful. Or if they started poorly like they had in that game, something they do well or is key to the game plan that they have to do well and they'll be okay. Like he says it. I can't remember what he says if it's north, southeast or west, whatever he says.

But he says if we do that, we're going to be all right. And Theodore says, Tororella always does that. all of his messages are about if we do what we do well or we do this, which is part of our plan, we're going to be okay. And they go right out and they score and they cut the game to two to one. I think that's the biggest compliment I have about Vegas is that you want a team that will bend but not break, that in the bad moments they will find a way to pull themselves back together. and they did it again. You know, the thing for Carolina is the other game they lost was they lost game one to Montreal,

and that was a completely self-inflicted game. They made horrible decisions. They let the Canadians get behind them. They got embarrassed. Game two, they changed all that. They wiped out the Canadians, and they won the series. You know, Kyle, this one, I looked at this more as it wasn't Carolina that was the problem. It was Vegas took it from them.

And on the game winning goal where Sissons made a great pass to Hurtle, and as you said, hurdle struggles are now in memory, that wasn't a situation where Carolina did something bad or made bad choices. That was just Vegas shredding their deep and saying, we know what you're going to do and we're going to get a step and we're going to beat you into the spot. And that's what Hurtle did and Sissons made a great pass. And, you know, I'm not saying this series is over.

Far from it. We've got a lot of hockey left to play, but this team will not be, Vegas will not be shut down after losing game one like Montreal was. This is a completely different animal. There's no question. And especially, you know, and Tortoella mentioned in the post game, as you say, it wasn't an ideal start for them going down to nothing relatively early, but he felt that even within that,

there were some good minutes there, as he put it. It wasn't a team that had completely lost themselves, maybe just caught up in the energy and everything that goes on in your brain when, oh my gosh, finally, game one of the Stanley Cup final, it's here, even for a team for a lot of those guys that have been through it before.

So then to settle them down at the exact perfect time and for them to get playing again. Shea Theodore, you know, tough for his shift, right? He goes for the pinch. You know, chips to buy him. He's gone, scores. And then our guys showed it, you know, he comes back to the.

bench and there's almost like a smirk on his face of like, okay, that sucked, but I'm not going to let that define my night. They didn't. He ended up with three points. I mean, a great goal to get them back going and a heck of a play to set up Brett Howden backdoor in the third period. That was a really impressive performance for all the talk on Media Day, Elliot, about all the different roles, the different minutes and usage that he has.

absorbed with Alex Petrangelo, no longer part of the picture on the ice for Vegas. I think in a lot of ways you saw that, even despite a tough start to the night for him, you really saw how valuable a player, Shea Theodore, as been for a long time, of course. This isn't anything new. But why a lot of people within the organization think it's even gone to a little bit of a different level here this season. He talked about it. He wants to be seen as the guy who replaced Petrangelo. That's a lofty goal.

Like that's a Hall of Famer. That's a really lofty goal. You know, a couple of the things about this game I want to discuss for the overall situation. First of all, Kyle, if it's going to be like that, I'll take six more games easy. No question about it. Number two, no cobbler.

No cobbler again for the hurricanes. They're 1 and 0 with the cobbler. I don't know what they're doing here. Like you should not be screwing around with this cobbler karma. 1 and 0, okay? Bring it back. Bring back the cobbler. You know, there's a couple of things I want to discuss.

We're going to talk about Chris McFarland getting the job in Nashville in a couple minutes. This is going to be a really, it's going to be really interesting to see what this final does across the NHL. We were going to talk about this if we'd done a preview pod, but we couldn't do it because I was afraid of throwing a temper tantrum. these two teams both have a really unique path and a copycat league. You've got Carolina where there's no other team in the league where the coach is as much a force of nature in an organization as Rod Brindamore is to the Hurricanes.

There is nobody even comparable to him as a head coach in the NHL. And some people would say John Cooper, but that's also a team with Kucherov and some incredible players over the years. I think Brindamore is unique unto himself. The general manager who's made a lot of really smart moves is someone who is far from the traditional hockey path. And I think some teams are going to, and I think especially some owners are going to look at that and they're going to say,

can we copy that? Can we do that? Is there a way that we can bring that into our organization? And I think Vegas is unique in the sense that they don't, you know, years ago, Cliff Fletcher, when he was the GM of the Maple Leafs, he got in trouble for saying draft schmaffed. Well, there's no team that lives that philosophy more than Vegas does. They barely have any of their own picks. They barely keep any of their own picks. But what they do is they recognize they're a destination. And if a really good player becomes available, they're like, they're going to want to play here. You know, like Noah Hanifan is a perfect example. When he first got trade, it was going to get traded from Calgary, he wanted to go to Tampa.

And it couldn't work out and boom, and he goes to Vegas. Like their whole situation is like that. And not every team can do what Vegas does because not every team is a destination like Vegas is. But I find it really fascinating, Kyle, the two teams in the Stanley Cup final this year,

are two teams that do business very differently than most in a copycat league. And how is the way these two teams are going to do business or do business going to be implemented by other teams if it can? The other thing is the Carolina owner, Dundon. He's under a lot of heat right now in the NBA in Portland because of the things he's done since he got there. You know, right or wrong, I'm not surprised by any of it. We lived it in the NHL when you first got here.

But he's in the Stanley Cup final right now, and his team could win. And, you know, I think that I'm just really curious now if, you know, apparently there's a reporter from Portland who was kind of falling around. I don't know if they've written the story yet. But it's interesting because when you win, before you win, people tear you apart for the kind of stuff he's done. but when you win, everybody looks at you differently. They might not always like it, but they look at you differently. And now that he's climbed over that Eastern Conference hurdle,

I just wonder if people start to look at Dungeon differently and say, okay, what does he do that I can do? And I think this series is a chance not only to have great hockey, but effect, the teams are going to start looking at them and saying, what can we do in terms of the way they do business? Yeah, and I think fortunately, certainly for ownership here in Carolina, when you say, L.A, you mentioned the Brindamore factor. If you go back and watch when Rod was first announced as head coach back in 2018,

you know, eight years ago now, Dundon said, like there was, because he had just bought the team a few months prior, right? he hadn't been around very long and kind of did some internal observing and eventually came to the conclusion like there was no need to really do some wide net search for who's going to be the next head coach of the hurricanes

he's going, I've got my guy, he's sitting right here and that ended up being one of the best decisions that he made to set themselves up for where he is because in a lot of ways I don't even look at Brindamore as a head coach, I just look at him as a hurricane, you know what I mean? You never say never, but it's hard to picture him coaching anywhere else. Like this is where his heart is.

He's a hurricane more than he looks himself as just a coach in the NHL. So it's, in a lot of ways, it's been a perfect marriage that way. Okay, one other thing, the Marner interview. Okay, so you ran your Marner interview and it's obviously a big storyline. Can I tell a couple stories about getting some of the other sound for the Marner interview? or is there anything you want to say about it? No, I think I appreciated that he agreed to sit down with us, tried to be respectful of where his head was at.

Well, also, you know, let's face it. Like, it's been a pretty busy 18 months for him. There's been a lot that's gone on in his life. And I know, like he, as Media Day players are pulled in a lot of different directions. We had kind of got him towards the end of his checklist of all the different stops. people he had to talk to, but all of that considered, you know, you're, as we know, you're not going to get a ton from him revelation-wise, and that's totally fine. Like, you're in the bubble of trying to win a Stanley Cup, but appreciate that he agreed to do it.

He was guarded. I didn't expect anything different. A big shot block at the end of the game. I did want to say, it was so funny, we did an interview with Mark, Stone when he sat down with us for the one-on-one. The first thing he said to me was, are we talking about Marner? I was like, that's not why you weren't pulled in here. But it was just so funny, like all these guys, I guess they just looked at us. They said, oh, these are the guys here to talk us about Marner. And I mentioned this on the pregame, but the thing with the Tortorella was funny.

So I saw a Torteralella on the podium. And he's like, I'm not talking about individual players. I'm not doing any of that stuff. And so one of our people who runs the sports net social media accounts is Kaylee Sibley. She's here with another guy of the name of Anthony Corey. And so Kaylee was doing this thing where she put all the team names in a hat. She did for both Caroline Vegas. Yeah, play her names.

And the player had to or the person had to pick a name out of the hat and then talk nicely about that person. So I saw that Tortorella We refused to talk about individual players And Kaylee asked, you know, do you think he would do it? And I said, I'll ask him. And so I introduced Kaylee and I said, this is what she's doing. And he goes, yeah, okay, I'll do it. He played along.

And then he puts his name, he pulls his name out of the hat or pulls the name out of the hat. And he goes, you guys set me up. And we're like, what? And he goes, Mitch Marner. He legitimately thought that he was like he wanted to check the other. I can't remember if he actually said it then or said it later that he wanted to check and make sure like every name wasn't Mitch Martyr. But it was just.

It was just funny how it worked out. He gave a great answer. But he was convinced we set him up. It was pretty funny. But he played along. and it was really fun. It was just really well done in a really funny moment. Yeah, awesome.

And you mentioned the shot block he had right at the end of the game. Flashback of 2019 game three against Boston, almost the exact same play, like two seconds left on the clock. I think it was Pastronach to let one rip, and he got in front of it to hang on for the win. All right, so a great start to the Stanley Cup final. Hopefully it's just the beginning here, Elliot. and, you know, a second straight series where Vegas starts on the road,

they win game one, and there was no discussion afterwards about, well, at worst case, we have a split. They'll be going for two to head back to Vegas with game two coming on Thursday night. Okay, some other news around the league, Elliot, and there's actually a decent list of things to get to. So you mentioned Chris McFarlane. Why don't we start there? This is one you had really been working on over the last 24, 36 hours,

as it really started to heat up. But he is in Colorado no more, now in Nashville. And we now know why. They had waited so long to finally get their guy. McFarlane is now there as the president of hockey ops and the general manager. So what can you tell us all about how this one unfolded? So everything exploded on Tuesday,

but it didn't all happen on Tuesday. I did have someone to say to me, wait, did they get permission on Tuesday and then the deal got done on Tuesday? Like, how does that happen? I said, no, the permission didn't come on Tuesday. I don't know exactly when it came, but it came earlier than that. Obviously, sometime after Colorado got knocked out, as everybody is aware now, the avalanche have yet to have their season-ending conversation or media availability with Joe Sackick. This is one of the reasons we know why. It didn't all happen in one day.

We'll find out exactly when they got permission. But McFarlane was in Nashville on Monday night, and he met face-to-face with the owner, Bill Haslam. And from what I understand at that conversation, Bill Haslam basically said, what's it going to take? You know, we want you. What's it going to take? Like, I really do believe.

And I don't know how many people were still, it's really tough to tell, but I heard that some of the people that Nashville interviewed had not been formally told they were out. Like they were kind of just waiting. They were just waiting. I don't know how many people that is, but I heard that some of them were called on Tuesday and told, we've got our guy.

So other contenders had been waiting for a while. I really do believe that Nashville was going to do what it could to either get McFarland or Tulski. Now, as I've reported, they had requested permission for Tulski before, but had been denied. I think if they had not gotten McFarland, they might have tried again. Like, I think they were willing to consider that. So this search was going as long as it could before they knew 100, They couldn't get either one of those two guys. So anyway, at some point after Colorado got knocked out last week, they got permission,

they brought him in, they had dinner, they said, what's it going to take? And they got it done. And I'll tell you this, the gossip, Kyle, and I think it's pretty good, is that he got a six-year deal. Whoa. Yeah. There's some security. And I'm betting it is at more than minimum wage, too. So, you know, it was, you know, I'll say this. The Joe Sackick and the avalanche did well by Chris McFarland here because I think they looked, they could have easily refused the permission to speak to him. He had another year under contract. But I think everybody there in Colorado recognizes as long as Sackick was there and I don't think he has any desire to go anywhere, you know, McFarlane was not going to be able to get that type of content.

contract. He became general manager. He was promoted four summers ago. I still think he was toward the lower end of the league in GM pay. And I just think that the chance for him to elevate, including financially, was not going to be in Colorado. And the avalanche did him a real solid. Now, I think it had to be a big offer, both in terms of title and money. And it was. Like, I don't know what the finances were, but no question it was a raise in a six-year deal. It's a great deal. Like, it's a huge opportunity for him and an opportunity he wasn't going to get it with the avalanche. And, you know, they got their man.

And it's going to be interesting to see it's going to be a whirlwind. And, you know, the thing about Nashville is, and I've said this many times, and I go on radio on Nashville once a week, that is a destination. You know, it hasn't gone well for them the last couple years, but still, in the last few summers, they've had Ryan O'Reilly, Stephen Stamco's, Brady Shea, and Jonathan Marshall, so go there as free agents. Those guys just aren't going anywhere. It's a good place to play. It's a good place to live. And, you know, are they going to have to fix some things that went wrong?

Yes, but Nashville is a destination. And, you know, sometimes it just. just not only when it comes to buying concert tickets, Kyle, sometimes it just pays to wait. Yes, no kidding. Yeah, you'd know a thing or two about concert tickets. Yeah, when I can't retire, it's because I've blown all my money on concert tickets.

Yes. Good way to go, though. I suppose. I mean, there's no question that McFarland had a good thing going in Colorado, obviously, like, they had built a really great team, you know, that came up a bit short this year, obviously. I suppose it's just, you know, money talks, I get it, Elliot, but the allure of having a little more power and a little more say in a place like Nashville, I think ultimately is what made this so appealing here, you think?

I think so. And you know what? I hear when people say it's not about the money. It is on some level. But, you know, you get a chance. You know, McFarlane is not a guy who really seeks the spotlight. But, you know, it's an opportunity. It's like, look, Joe Sackick was there.

He's the guy in Colorado. He's at the top of the hockey food chain. And that wasn't changing anytime soon. and this is an opportunity can take care of your family I don't begrudge anybody doing this nobody

and you know we'll see what he decides to do you know what I think the good thing is I think for a lot of people who work for the prayer outers organization it had been limbo like the toughest thing sometimes is the uncertainty

and good or bad Kyle, at least some people there now will start to get some answers on where things are going. Like, you know, I mean, there's good executives there. There's a coaching staff there. There's support staff there. At least now they can start getting some answers. And I think that, you know, whether you like the answer, you don't like the answer, sometimes it's better than the uncertainty. Right.

Because now we are into Draft Combine Week. The draft itself is only a few weeks away. Nashville's got a decent stockpile of picks for McFarland to work with, whether they are used to pick players or utilize otherwise. And time is ticking right away for the new era in Nashville, Elliot. Okay. Should mention in Colorado, Joe Sackick takes the GM role for now. We'll see what happens.

I don't know that the one thing I'm curious about there is Andrew Cogliano. I think Cogliano is a chance if he wants to do it, he will get a chance to do it at some point. So I'm curious to see if he gets, I don't know an elevated role, but Sackick leans on him. And they are bringing back Jared Bednar. He always got another year on.

I'm curious to see also too if he gets an extension. Bednar's got another year under, on his contract. And I've heard he's coming back. This just popped into my head, But I wonder if they give Eric Johnson a call. I mean, in some capacity. Why, you're afraid he's going to take your job because you're frightened that he's too good a broadcaster? No, I mean, I've made my peace with that because he is.

But he's, but he said, Ellie, like when he first retired, like Daniel Breyer reached out to him about, I think it was a role in player development. And it just wasn't for him at that time. But it sounded like he was a guy that was at least open to the idea of continuing to work in, for a team. Like, yeah, he could do the broadcasting thing as long as he wants. Yeah, your resume never gets worse. You're right. He's an absolute stud there.

But just given, obviously, the history there with that organization for him, I wonder if he gets a phone call as they kind of revamp their front office a little bit now that the era with McFarland is now over. Anyway, just popped into my head. And still also, too, you know, some clarity probably on Kailaul-McCarr. someone called me about it. They said, did you say he's going to miss all of next season? I said, no, I didn't say that. But I do think there's a chance he could miss the start of next season.

We'll see what happens. Okay. Gary Bettman and the annual state of the union addressed prior to game one here on Tuesday, Elliot, there's a few notable points that will rifle through here. But why don't we start with his future as commissioner of the National Hockey League? I know this was another one you were working on. You had put out just a brief report on Sportsnet.com. Earlier in the day that there was conversations around a succession plan.

He at least admitted as much, though there wasn't much further detail provided. So where do you want to start here with Gary Bettman and the future of the commissioner's chair? Well, I did like the fact that he actually admitted there is one because I don't know if he's ever done that before. And, you know, as he said, there's nothing imminent. And, you know, I want to make this very clear. I think the commissioner will be around for a while. So I got a call from one governor. So Tuesday was the commissioner's birthday.

He's now 74. I did get a call from one governor who said to me, I'll bet you he's visible in one role or another until he's 80. I said, what, six years? And he goes, yeah, six years. I said, all right. I mean, I'm happy to bet anything for a steak dinner. So we're doing a steak dinner.

We're going to figure out the terms. Now, I will say this. There were some rumors going around that he'd sign an extension. Those were denied to me. And I'll tell you something else. I had heard rumors that he was going to become chairman of the board of governors, which is now Jeremy Jacobs role. And those were denied to me.

Betman is incredibly loyal to his deputy commissioner Bill Daly, who's worked with him for a long time and put out fires for the commissioner for a long time. And I respect the loyalty. I don't think there's enough of it in the world, and I really do respect it. I think one of the things that's kind of been discussed about all this is whenever Betman's time does come, will Bill Daly be the next commissioner? And again, the idea of Betman becoming going right to chairman of the board of governors, I know some other people who asked about that and they were also told that's not going to happen.

So whatever the succession plan is, and I think it has been discussed with the executive committee, which is a group of 10 owners, he's not ready to say what it is yet and not everybody knows, but there is something. I just think one of the interesting things here is that there is willingness for Bill Daly to take over as the next commissioner. I just think that there are some owners who would like to have a search. Okay, if we have a search and Daly's the right guy, he gets the job. And there are other owners who are like, no, I think he deserves the promotion. So I think that's one of the things they are kind of sorting out,

that whenever the time comes, will there be a search or will he just be put into the position? That's, I think, one of the things that's kind of being discussed. But it is interesting, Kyle, because for the first time, they really do seem to be putting together a plan. Right, and that he's willing to admit it. Yes, he's willing to admit it. Yeah.

Some degree. Yes. So that was part of Tuesday's press conference. Also, a revamped All-Star Weekend that will be on Long Island next season, that skills competition for 25 and under. We're calling that the Kucharov rule, by the way. You can't be old enough to be as jaded as Kuturov. Oh, I like that. That's pretty good.

That is excellent. And then the three on three that will now have an international flavor as opposed to divisional opponents. So it's the same four nations as four nations, Canada, U.S., Finland, Sweden. And then a fifth team comprised of all the other countries. And Bill Daly confirmed Russian players will be included in that team comprised of all other countries. And so it kick started the conversation again around Russian participation. going forward in best-on-best events. So the International Ice Hockey Federation really started this at the World Championship

by saying they're going to consider it. And there were a couple of things that were really notable to me at this event on Tuesday. First of all, Daley himself said he'd spoken to the double IHF before the media conference, and the International Ice Hockey Federation had conveyed to them that they didn't think some of the European countries would boycott if Russia came back. And assuming that's true, and I don't know, and I don't like to guess with this stuff, like it's a serious stuff and you shouldn't guess with it. If it is true, it's a big change.

Because one of the reasons last year was a four nations is because the league admitted to us that countries like Sweden and Finland wouldn't play against Russia. Czechia wouldn't either, although ultimately they weren't at that event. And the league admitted that simply by living in North America, they didn't understand the depth of the passion of that argument. So I've always assumed that if there was an international tournament like the World Cup, that would still be an issue. So for the double IHF to tell that to Daly, that's a big change.

and we'll find out where we go. Now, Dilley did say it's premature because nothing's done, but for him to indicate that that's a big change. That's a big difference in where we were a few years ago. Now, also there were the NHLPA's executive director, Marty Walsh, and also Ron Hainzzi. And Hainzzi was asked about the players, how they felt.

Pierre LeBron actually asked the question. And he said that last year, when the NHLPA did their team tours, and they visit every team and they do it before Christmas, they asked the players if they would have problems playing against Russia in a tournament. And Hainesi admitted there were some players who said, yes, they would, that they wouldn't like the idea.

And so if this becomes a reality, he did say they're going to have to talk to the players again and find out if some of these players still feel that way and what the number is. So we've still got a few things to work out, here, but it is interesting that at least from what Daley said, it's possible the attitude here has shifted a bit. Yes, and it all stems back to what the double IHF has said back in the spring. And I mean, as Batman itself said, they're still kind of looking for clarity from what they all

meant by that, but they have long said they will follow the lead of the international ice hockey Federation in large part going forward on on this matter here. So how about Bruce Cassidy, Elliot? That continues to be his future seemingly hanging in limbo. That was asked about here on Tuesday. And it sounds like the league as contractually is the right of the Vegas Golden Knights. The league doesn't have much of an issue with it at all, at least for now. What was your read on that?

Well, you know, they stood up for Vegas's right. to say no. That was number one. You know, as we've reported, Bruce Cassidy cannot just quit and say, I won't take another cent and allow me to become a free agent. They can't do that. Now, Daley also made a very interesting comment about how there are some coaches' contracts that this would not be allowed to happen what Vegas is doing, but this is not one of them. And I took that to mean Daley, who's a really good lawyer, warning people, if you're going to sign a coach's contract, you better be aware of what it says when you're terminated. And I thought basically he was telling everyone, make sure you know what your language says and make sure that this doesn't happen to you. It was kind of a warning to every coach out there.

Now, I tried to follow up a bit and get more information about what he was talking about. And what I heard is that I asked around, and what I heard was that it's when you're terminated without cause, which means your behavior doesn't cause you to get fired, there's different language. And apparently, many of these contracts provide specific. obligations that a team has around request for permission. Like I had one guy tell me that in his contract, it says that you have to be actively looking for a job when you get fired and B, you, and also the team can't refuse permission without a good reason.

So I'm just, without seeing it, there must be something in Cassidy's contract that doesn't allow this. Again, I haven't seen it. I don't know what it is, but it's clearly not worded like some other contracts are, and that's given Vegas some extra power. But didn't you get the sense that, you know, once this is all over, Cup final's done, the dust is said a little bit, whether it's a league-driven thing, but didn't you get the feeling there would be a revisit to this going, okay, can we,

there not be a path to getting this solved and allowing him to speak to teams that want to potentially hire him? I'm glad you brought that up because, yes, he did sort of leave the door open about what happens, maybe we'll see what happens after the season. But at the end of the day, he pretty much said, or they both pretty much said this is well within Vegas's rights

I'll tell you what someone else said to me that was really interesting so Kelly McCriman was on overdrive last week and he said I work for the Vegas Golden Knights

and I will do what's best for the Vegas Golden Knights I did have an executive from another team say to me, that made him wonder if it was an ownership decision. I see. Well, it would not be unprecedented. It would not be unprecedented.

They did it with one of their H.L coaches, Rocky Thompson, a couple of years ago. Right. Okay. So while we're on the topic of coaching, it's probably good at times any to check in on Los Angeles and Toronto. is there anything new to throw out there? L.A., it sounds like Jay Woodcroft and D.J. Smith, but I, if there's someone else there, I'm not seeing it right now.

You know, Smith just got back from the World Championship, so we'll see what Ken Holland does here. Toronto, I've heard they've done like 15 Zounds. interviews. And I think Peter Lavillette was one of them, working on some others. You know, as I've said, I'm not 100% certain about David Carl being out. Some other reporters seem to be very confident of that. And at this point in time, I have no reason to think any of them are wrong.

I just haven't been told that 100% specifically. There's been too much this week about reporters fighting with each other about information. I can only tell you what I've heard as much from the source as I can particularly believe it. And, you know, we'll see. I think I'm getting closer to confirming some of these names. But Lavillette is one I know they did by Zoom. heard. So we'll see about some of the others. I heard they're about 15. That seems like a big number.

Yeah. Again, I don't have a problem with that. I'm assuming they're going to narrow it down soon. Yeah. Okay. Oh, by the way, I did have someone tell me that there's war going around that AJ Greer is going to hit the market. That, you know, I think there's going to be a lot of guys who kind of go out there and check and see what their market is on July 1st and and decide if there's any chance they go back to where they are or they take something else.

But I heard it looked like Greer was going to hit the market and I think that's going to be a pretty interesting player. Yes. A good fourth liner on a back-to-back Stanley Cup champion. we could see the market being pretty good for him. Absolutely. I mean, he's gotten himself in hot water at times with his play, but you're right.

There's no denying the value that he brought, especially last year, to that Florida Panther team on route to another Stanley Cup. That always pays. Did you see Barkoff, by the way, at the World Championships? That's like how much, do you want to talk about a warning shot. That's what someone said to me.

He said that that whole tournament for Barkov was like, hope everybody in the East enjoyed enjoyed it without me this year. Me and we will be back next season. Yes. Oh, boy. You miss all year. And I know the world championships, it's not the same level as the Olympics,

but that's still so impressive. He looked phenomenal. Okay, let's get to the final thought presented by your Canadian Toyota dealers. And the other big bit of news over the last couple of days, Elliot, is that it is official in Vancouver. It was trending that way for a little while now. But Manny Malhotra is the next head coach of the Canucks. So it felt like even last week we thought we were going to get this officially. Did not come down until Monday night.

So what can you tell us about the whole? process and finally getting signatures on the dotted lines and Malhotra as the guy in stone. I don't think anybody is surprised. I never really, I never really doubted it. I thought it was always going to happen. There's always a negotiation. You go through ups, you go through downs. The team tries to make the best deal for itself. The coach tries to make. to make the best deal for himself. But nine times out of ten, everybody wants the same thing, right?

And I never had a doubt. It would be Mani Malhotra. They've gone with the familiar hire at GM. They've gone with the familiar hire at coach. There's nothing wrong with that. You know what you know. And they've all won a championship together, right, in Abbotsford. So obviously, winning a Calder Cup is not the same

was winning a Stanley Cup, but at least you have an understanding of what everybody is like in a good situation and a year like last year where it was rough in Abbotsford, what everybody is like in a bad situation. You know what you know. You've seen the person in the best of situations and you've seen the person in the worst of situations.

A three-year deal. And none of this is a surprise to me. now we'll figure out where we're going from here. You know, Cleveland, because Trent Vogelhuber is going to go to Columbus on the bench with Rick Bonas. That job's going to open up. The Abbotsford job is going to open up.

I have heard some early rumors that the Canucks may have some interest in Jessica Campbell. There could be like a trade here. you know, Patrick Alvin going to Seattle and Jessica Campbell going to Vancouver although you can't make executive and coach trades anymore. It's like maybe they'll pass each other.

On the I-5, Kyle, from Vancouver to Seattle. Yes. I've heard the Cracken have interest in Alvin. He obviously knows Jason Botterill and I have heard the Canucks have interest in Campbell. Who knows where it goes, but I heard that's one of the names on their radar. Excellent.

First time NHL head coach for Manny Mahhotra. And it comes in Vancouver, an opportunity to grow with a group that is in the early stages of a brand spank and new rebuild. That was the final thought presented by your Canadian Toyota dealers. Let's take our first break. When we come back, brand new edition of the thought line on the other side. You're listening to 32 Thoughts, The Podcast.

and it continues after this. All right, welcome back. It's time now for the thought line presented by BetMGM, make it legendary. And Elliot, before we get to the submissions and the shoutout, so we both had some glaring, I don't call it oversight? No, we have to repair some damage from one of the last episodes. Yes.

So I got a note from an old friend of mine, and he said, you have now provided a window to the world of what we know you to be on a day and day out basis. And I said, oh yeah, what's that? Someone who has convinced the world he is an intellectual when he is really the dumbest man alive. I said, okay. And so my friends who know me for a long time, my family has known me for a long time, they know that I'm a space cadet.

That if I'm, and actually, I'll tell you this, it's become even more so since when I made the swimming mistake in Rio, where I took my eye off the ball for a second and butchered that call, I've become even more like if I have a task, I am locked into that task, and I'm not paying attention to anything else. Like, you know, people joke, like nuclear, bombs could go off next to me, but if I have a task right in front of me, I'm going to miss the

nuclear bomb. And I am kind of like that. I am kind of wired that way. And so this person said to me, what were you doing when you met Ben Lombardi, Owen Givens, and the person you called Mason St. Louis? And I said, actually, it was after game four, I think, Kyle. And you know, you know, me and Dave were going for a couple beers and some chicken wings and nachos after the game. And I admit, I was a little tired. And he said, so you remember Ben Lombardi, he's going to play for the Barry Colts. Owen Gibbons is going to play lacrosse at Lafayette. And Mason St. Louis is going to go to camp for Sherbrook in the Quebec League.

And the guy said, did it not occur to you? for even a half a second that Mason St. Louis was really Mason-San-Luie, Martin's son, Martin's son. And it was like a two-by-four hit my face. I didn't realize it in the moment because I was locked in. It's all the fault of the beer in chicken wings and nachos. I was locked on them and I was talking. tired. And the guy said, well, you can blame it on Amber and Bukasquez for not knowing either.

And I said, no, no, no, I am blaming myself for this one. No one else is at fault for this. And he said, the best part was it about was you did it in person and then you read it on the podcast without still realizing who it was. So that was Mason-San-Louis. And I can't believe I was that, I actually can believe I was that clueless, but my buddies love the fact that everybody got exposed to that. So I got to ask quickly, because I remember you talking to them, but it was very loud in there, so I couldn't hear the actual conversation, but I did see at the end, you were getting their names, and like, oh, here comes more shoutouts. And so when you got their names, did they pronounce it in Mason, St. Louis?

Or do you even remember? I don't even remember. I don't even remember. I wonder if they were just, if they were trying to mess with you. Like it's Mason's St. Louis. Those three guys must think I am the biggest idiot alive.

And I quite possibly am. Do you like, yeah, you guys have fans? Anyway, so I, yeah, because I couldn't hear the conversation at the moment. So I had no chance of picking it up.

then, but I completely miss that also when you read it out on the pod. This is not on you or Dave, purely on me. Now, the other one I have to fix, and I got like 20 messages. I picked one. Yeah, and I got to wear this one too. From Mountain Lion Timber, Elliot was just listening to this morning's podcast and had to pull the truck over to write this. I thought you may want to be aware of your egregious,

stake. It is Rocky Mountain House, not Rocky Mountain Horse. While I can see what happened there, it's much different than, say, Detroit. As a resident of Rocky, as we locals call it, I'm slightly offended and majorly amused. I'm sure Doug, who was the person we mentioned, will be too. It's a great place. Come check it out sometime. I'm still a big fan of the pod, despite. this snafu. P.S. vague snack requests are criminal. Cheers, Cam.

That's great. That's awesome. That is one of many. So that's from Mountain Lion Timbercraft, which is a, I guess, a carpentry business in Rocky Mountain House. And Cam, I was looking at your Instagram feed. Some of that work you've done looks really nice.

by the way I will say 7525 agreed with you there are some people who were like Kyle is dumb you know what you were doing he knows what you were doing no

and we know Dom is really dumb Elliot doesn't even know what Elliot's doing that's right how am I supposed to know 75% of the responses I got were with you and Dom yeah I think it was even more than that I was trying to find the DM

but somebody sent me a note about the Rocky Mountain House horse and was like, you live in Alberta now. Like, how did you not catch that? I'm like, I got no excuse. I was just clearly on autopilot mode when you said it.

So that was one I needed to, I needed to catch real time. But it, again, another one, in one ear and out the other. Sorry, Elliot. I try to save you from yourself. That one I do blame on you. I'll eat that one.

You're from Alberta. I'll eat that one. Okay. So speaking of, yeah, we got lots of responses about the snack debacle. By the way, the snacks you bought,

those berries things were good. Oh, yeah? Okay. Good, good. I'm glad. I'm glad it wasn't a waste of money. Okay,

so I wanted to read one here. This is Chuckie Picks. emailing from a gas station along the TransCanada Highway. You ever heard of that one? I've heard of the TransCanada Highway, yes. Yeah, yeah. Let me begin this email by addressing Kyle, Dom, and Christian. Folks, how on earth can you fumble such an easy layup in the snack run world?

You've always got to assume yes. So when my man's stank snack Friedman here is asking for something sweet, then follows up with a separate text mentioning chips. It wasn't separate, Chuckie. That's what threw me for a loop. It's yes and. To further prevent any snack-related mishaps, I'm going to save you each a lot of further snack anxiety

and propose the following question I frequently ask people I travel with. It's important, so listen up. I call it the gas station name. You're on a road trip, it's late at night, and you pull into a local gas station. What is your starting trio? Your go-to, chips, a bar, and a pop. Each of you list one,

and make note of your partner's choices. Remember them. We're talking regulation stuff here, no important goods like a galaxy bar from the UK. Stank, I can't believe three people let you down like that, but at least Kyle came through with a bag of kettle brand salt and vignies in the end. Yes.

All right. Go to chips, go to bar, go to pop. What do you go? Why don't you go first? Chips, anything salt and vinegar.

That's why I got those for you. Because the worst case, I would eat them. Bar, Kit Kack. Classic four-finger wafer or the chunky all day. Pop.

Yeah. I don't drink pop often. I do a classic Coke unless there's a barksrupe or sitting there. Mm. In and out. Don? Don, go ahead. Chips.

Anything that is spicy. So, flaming hot chips or jalapeno chips. Pop, Fantaziro. And chocolate bar. Canadian coffee crisp. Oh, I like the coffee crisp. I was going to put coffee crisp. I have to change because I can't pick the same wine.

So chips is either going to be, it's one or the other. I'm either a Tostitos guy or sour cream and I dine. Okay. Pop is Coke. When I drink pop, I drink Coke. It's weird because, the arena we're at in Carolina, that's not a Coke rank.

You can't get a Coke in there. So it's a little weird for me, I have to say. And chocolate bar? Well, since you said coffee crisp, I'm not going with that. So I will go with a dairy milk. A dairy milk? Like, oh, yes. Nice.

That is such an old person, chocolate bar? What? What does that mean? What's an old person chocolate bar? Like, could you not have chosen something more fun? Dairy milk's good. What is, what, what is more fun than a dairy milk?

Oh, Henry, Reese's cups, Kit Cap, like Kyle said. Why is a coffee crisp more fun than a dairy milk? And plus, dairy milk has all these different versions. There's the crunchy version. version, there's the Oreo version, there's the toffee version, there's so many different versions of dairy milk. I just assume you were a plain Jane kind of guy, dairy milk milk chocolate. Just keep it simple.

Dom, go back to sleep. Oh, we need Christian's picks too. Yeah, Christian. Yes. Let's go Miss Vickies for Chip Brand. honestly any flavor but you know the plain old original are great barbecue uh chocolate bar I'd see Twix Twix is a go to for me and then I'm not a pop guy either Kyle honestly like Twix is good Gatorade is good call is Twix fun Dom does that qualify as fun yes old man

from the left factory and the right factory does Gatorade count as pop like if I'm going a grocery or not a grocery store, a gas station. Yeah, it's orange Gatorade would be the answer. We're not going to electrocute you over Gatorade instead of pop. You're good with that. Orange Gato for Christian. All right. Got all written down.

Next time we're on a road trip, the four of us. There will be no need to even speak when we pull into a truck stop. I know exactly where to go. Okay. One more here, Elliot. and it is trivia. Comes courtesy of Kirk from Billings, Montana. Greetings from Billings,

former home of the Big Horns of Pat Conacher, Gord Cluzeck, and Andy Moog. Rod Brindamor was... Dave King's coached there too. Oh, good. Yep. Rodbendamor was the captain of the Hurricanes when they won the Cup back in the day,

and it made me wonder, has anyone won the cup as a captain and later as a head coach. The only one I can think of possibly is Bob Ganey, who was captain of the Canadians in 79, but I'm not sure if he was the coach when Dallas won their cup in 99. I don't think Tobe Blake was a captain with Montreal

in his playing days. So we've gone a step further here. We are looking for people that captain a team to a Stanley Cup, and then coached that same team to a Stanley Cup. Was Toll Blake the captain? Yes, he was. So that's one.

He is one. Was Joe Primo ever the captain of the Maple Leafs? No. Okay. Was Hap Day ever the captain of the Maple Leafs? He sure was. That's two. So he would be another.

He would be another. Is there anybody else? There's one other. Can you imagine you're sitting there in silence? You know, you're anybody else? Is it? No, that's it? Yeah, there's...

I could see you doing that to me, though, which would actually be funny. I would laugh if you did that. No, there's one other. Yeah, Rod Brindmore is the seventh to get to the Stanley Cup final as captain and head coach in the same team, but only three have one.

while holding both titles. So he would look to become the fourth. Yeah, there's one other. Okay, so I'm not going to look at the coaches' names, but I'm going to look at the Stanley Cup winners just so I can think about this. So Toe Blake, Hapday. This is old, right?

Like, this is nobody recent. Correct. I'm looking at the teams. Was Frank Boucher ever a captain? He is not the guy we're thinking of. What team? Boston. Eddie Shore?

No. I think this guy may be the first to do it. Okay. I am not getting this. I can't remember who coached, because that's got to be 39 and 41, right? Because that's when the Bruins won their two early Cups. Yes.

So I think, yeah, he was the first ever. Because the Bruins won in 39 and 41, and the Rangers won in 40, and then they both went forever. You know, the Rangers obviously went 54 years, and the Bruins went 29. I don't know who the coach of the Bruins was back then. If it's not any shore, I'm not getting it. Cooney Wyland.

I got to tell you something. I bet you even Cooney Wilden's descendants didn't even know that one. I think he was the first to be able to say they've done both. And then half day shortly thereafter. and then later, Tobe Blake. You could have given me every, no disrespect to Cooney Wyland. It's a great accomplishment,

but you could have given me every name in the history of hockey and that might have been the last one I picked. I feel he came up with a trivia question a while ago, and I think he gave the same answer then. Oh, was that the one about the, yeah, that was like last week or two weeks ago. It was Joe Primo on a half day.

were two of the answers. Yeah, no, this is different. And Dick Irvin and Dick Irvin. Yes, yes, yes, yes. This was different, but I think it was this season. Anyway, yeah, that was deep, deep into the archives, Elliot. The fact they got two out of three at this hour, that's a win. Well, you got Toe Blake, I think.

I only got Half Day. What do you tell? I have the answers. What do you mean I got Toe Blake? Oh, I don't remember. I'm tired. You know, you know what I think coach did it? Martin St. Louis.

Sorry. Not Martin. Yeah. I mean, Mason's St. Louis, not Martin St. Louis. Mason's St. Louis. That's what it is. I was going to say, does Martin St. Louis have kids? I'm not sure.

No, that was a good effort. I would buy you a dairy milk for that one. That is dairy milk worthy. a boring old dairy milk. It still tastes. It can still hit the spot at the right time. Awesome. All right, that was the thought line presented by BetMGM, Make It Legendary.

We'll take one final break and wrap up this edition of 32 Thoughts to Podcast after this. All right, that'll do it for this edition of 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in. And again, we apologize for being absent the last couple of days, but a few factors conspiring into having to wait until now. But we appreciate your listenership as always. We haven't had a chance to say yet, but for those that either don't remember

or maybe this is your first season listening and along for the ride here with us, now that we have got to the Stanley Cup final, we will just do episodes going forward at the conclusion of each game, however long this final goes. and we hope it goes to the bitter end because if game one was any indication,

this should be a beauty. So that means the next time you will hear from us will be Friday morning after game two wraps up down here in Raleigh. Game two, mind you, pregame show for those listeners up in Canada, can be seen on Sportsnet at 730 Eastern, 430 Pacific time. Puck drop after 8 p.m. Eastern on CBC and Sportsnet from the Lenovo Center. in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Game two on Thursday. We'll talk to you again on Friday after game two. Have a great rest of your week.