32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Coming Next Season: The 32 Thoughts Arm Wrestling Challenge

Episode Date: June 18, 2021

Subconjunctival hemorrhage occurs when a blood vessel breaks just underneath the surface of your eye. David Amber kicks off the podcast by telling Jeff and Elliotte the story of how a blood vessel broke in one of his eyes during his university days. The guys then chat about Carolina signing Rod Brind’Amour to a three-year […]

Lemonade. 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 I hear him great. I need you to jaffa a little louder please. Coming down in 3, 2, and 1. There you go, perfect. The way I look at it here,

at 12 minutes past 11 Eastern on Thursday evening, there's only one thing better than a car cast with one person driving. And that's a car cast with two people driving. Not only is Elliot Friedman on his way home from Hockey Night in Canada, but so is our man David Amber, who's making the drive back to his palatial estate after a night of broadcasting. We're going to set up why David is with us here in a moment. But first off,

David, welcome once again to the podcast. How are you on this fine evening? I'm good, except Elliot's tailgating me and it's really worrying me. Back off, buddy. Yeah, I know. He's amongst the other things that he's very poor at. Driving is right around top of that list as well. I am aggressive. I will not lie. I am an aggressive driver. He likes the pedal on the right. Okay, Elliot, tell us why David is joining us today. I love this story. So we're not going to spend too much time

talking about what happened with Jeff Petrie. I think that's been done to death. But while this was happening, the other night in Game 2, Montreal, Vegas, Amber says, this has happened to me before in arm wrestling and i stopped him right there i said i do not want to hear the rest of this story right now and i'm telling you if this game goes to overtime you're telling this on air in between third period and

first overtime and if it doesn't go into overtime you're coming on the podcast to explain this story. So, Dave, how did you burst the blood vessels in your eyes arm wrestling? I want to hear this whole story right now. All right. Well, first of all, thanks for having me on, Jeff. I'm all Elliot. It's nice to be here. And it's funny because we saw Jeff Petrie, and I went, oh, my God, what the heck happened?

And we were figuring it out and Kyle Bukowskis did his report. And then I said, you know, that's actually happened to me. And I thought back when I was at university, back at McGill University, and this is many years, it was probably 1991 or 1992 is actually probably when it was. I was with a bunch of buddies and what we were doing, what guys do, what women do at university, we were drinking some beers, we were hanging out, and next thing you know, there was a big arm wrestling contest between like 10 guys, right? And one of the guys, a good buddy of mine, his name's Jerry Eiffel, he played on the McGill football team, he was a running back, had a cup of coffee with the Toronto Argos. guy's a super strong guy and I said I'm gonna beat you in an arm wrestle and he kind of looked at me kind of laughed and next thing I know I said

let's do it and we we locked arms it was almost like remember that movie with Stallone over the top of course yeah yeah it was like that right you know guys are going toe-to-toe and just the typical try and be the bravado of university guys trying to be strong and tough and all the rest. And we got into one of those epic, like, minute and a half, no one's moving an inch either way, back and forth, back and forth, but nothing's happening. I was clenching my face so tight that I didn't realize it at the time,

but I popped the blood vessel, I guess, in my left eye. I didn't realize it at the time, but I popped the blood vessel, I guess, in my left eye. And it was pretty funny because we were heading out after this, right? And I'm going to the bar and I got like this bloodshot eye. Like it happened right away. I opened my eye and I couldn't, I could see out of it. It wasn't painful, but it looked like I'd been, you know, stuck something in my eye. I've been punched in the eye or whatever the case had been.

And it was an epic battle. And we laughed and laughed and laughed. And then we went out to Gertz, which was the McGill pub at the time. And we had a good night. Needless to say, I don't think I was, you know, things didn't go so well at the bar for me. I was a street brawler, but it happened to me. It didn't happen in both eyes, though. It just happened in one eye. And I remember, you know, watching Petra. It's like, oh, my God, that actually has happened to me. It didn't happen in both eyes, though. It just happened in one eye. And I remember watching Petra. It's like, oh, my God, that actually has happened to me before. So I can see how that could happen. Now, as someone who's never popped a blood vessel in his eyes, does it feel like anything?

Do you even know when it's happening? Or do you just look in the mirror and go, whoa, something's up here? I didn't know anything happened. And it ended. And it's funny we ended up having two arm wrestles and he beat me right arm i beat him left arm so i was 50 50 thankfully i felt pretty good about that i it ended and one guy's like dude what happened to your face one of those moments right and you know none of this is god this was before the you know social

media before uh the internet really so it wasn't one of those things where people were filming it and putting it on TikTok or anything like that. I went to the bathroom, looked in the mirror and said, oh my God. And he just laughed, right? Because I think he was exerting himself to about 20%. And I was exerting myself to 120%. That was the difference. Real quick follow-up. Even though this is pre-social media, do you have any photograph of this?

Somewhere, anywhere? I wish I did. The likelihood of that is pretty low. I've never even owned a camera in my life. That's the funny thing, except on my phone now. But I do have some pictures from that era back at school, but I don't think I have a specific picture from that night. That was kind of our every Thursday night, Friday night.

Not the arm wrestling, but, you know, you're difficult to have some beers,, hang out and end up going out. So if I find one, I will definitely get it to you guys. But I haven't seen one yet. I just remember my eye was completely bloodshot. It lasted about two days, though, and I'm not sure with Petrie, I think his might be a whole nother situation. But yeah, it is pretty scary. And it is pretty ghoulish. And, you know, for at least a couple of days i look like a tough guy so there was that first of all this story is unbelievable and i really appreciate you coming on the podcast to tell this story uh dave but secondly i remember jerry eiffel now people should understand this is not an insignificant person that david picked an

arm wrestling contest with. Now, I can't look it up because we're driving, and I got in enough trouble from people complaining that I was pumping gas while doing the car cast last week, so I'm not going to Google while driving. But if I remember correctly, first of all, Jerry Eiffel did play a year in the CFL with the Argos. And if I remember correctly, McGill won the Vanier Cup like in the late 80s, and he had three touchdowns in the CFL with the Argos. And if I remember correctly, McGill won the Vanier Cup in the late 80s, and he had three touchdowns in the championship game.

So I have to give you credit. You did not pick a fight with someone who was beneath your physical power. You picked on a legit opponent here. No, no. I was swinging way above my weight class there. I mean, this guy, he's built like an absolute rock. And great guy, super smart guy. Lives out in Asia now.

And your memory is fantastic. Yeah, he played at McGill, scored three touchdowns in a Vanier Cup winning season back in 1987. And let's put it this way. He beat me one busted blood vessel to none. So, you know, he had a very good chuckle that you know wow look what i did to this guy even though he beat me one arm i beat him one arm but he had you know the last laugh for sure and he was a great athlete actually would have had a nice cfl career but he broke his leg in a pre-season game that was a team with

dimball clemens and said i don't want to go too down deep down that hole because it was a hockey podcast obviously but he uh he could have a career, but he ended up in finance, and he's done incredibly well out in Asia. So, yeah, kind of a blast from the past and a funny story and something we can relate to what happened or the look of Jeff Dietrich. I've been there before. Okay, so this is my last question. If you were to arm wrestle BXA, who would win?

BXA. Let me train for six months, and then I might have a shot. He's younger. He's a pro athlete. I'm a civilian. It might be close, but I need a few months. We've got to get the gyms back open here, and I can start getting a little bit prepared for that. Next year, let's do it.

I am ending this interview with a promise. We are doing it, because next year it's going to be 32 Thoughts when C comes in we are doing next year the 32 thoughts arm wrestling challenge kevin bx versus david amber we're doing this we're going to find a sponsor we're doing this there's going to be money for charity on the table and i don't even think it's going to be about who puts each other's arms down first. It's about who pops the other guy's blood vessels in their eyes. Oh, I don't care who wins.

I just want to see eyes popping. That's it. Can I start with you, Elliot? Like, give me some hope. Sure. Dave needs a couple of squash matches first before he gets to main event. You know, they used to, every Saturday for how many months do they feed tomato cans to mike tyson guy's name uh unpredictable johnny rodds and wwe yes every game just need a couple of jobbers like us we'll make

don't worry dave we'll make you feel like a champ we'll make you feel like the whole girl all right this is great before we let you go, give us a playoff. First of all, you asked J.J. Watt a great question the other night when you asked him to give a Stanley Cup pick, and he basically picked Cole Caulfield to win the Stanley Cup by himself. But give us a quick Stanley Cup playoff thought tonight. You know, Tampa, they really are an amazing machine because they can really beat you any which way.

And I think you hit it on the head in the postgame hit we did for Sportsnet Central with Danielle and Faisal where you just called it an offensive clinic. You look at the possession that New York had in the final four minutes, and it's very impressive. I mean, the Corsi numbers and all the rest will look nice. But look at how many saves Vasilevsky had to make in the final four minutes. I believe the number is zero. The shot clock was at 28 and it finished at 28.

You know, they just find a way. Kevin pointed out, we all talk about the prowess of, you know, Braden Point and Kucherov, you know, but they have all these guys who can play a great two-way game. We all know Jeff has been singing the praises of Anthony Sorelli for two years now, three years now. And they just have a bunch of guys who know how to grind out wins. And there really

is a difference between a team that's been there and done that in one and a team that's still learning to do that. And that's not a knock on the New York Islanders by any means, but it's just, boy, Tampa's an impressive team, and again, they can beat you so many different ways. This next game is everything for the Islanders. I really do believe that. They're not going to beat

Tampa three straight, so this game four coming up is going to be very, very pivotal if they have any shot of winning this series and upending the defending champs. You can't nap. You can't nap a period or a shift against Tampa. You know what, Jeff? I am literally waving goodbye to Dave right now.

Our cars are next to each other. I'm waving goodbye. See you, man. Take care, bud. The Arm Wrestling Challenge coming to a podcast near you. Well, namely 32 Thoughts to Pod. Oh, for sure. Next year, 32 Thoughts, BXA versus Amber Arm Wrestling Challenge. BXA doesn't even know he's being volunteered for this, but too bad.

We're doing this. Oh, yeah, we're doing this. Dave's strong, dude. Dave's freaking oh yeah all right with that let's kick it off welcome to the podcast 31 thought style presented by the gmc sierra atk Stavkos with it 10 seconds to go in the power play Stavkos back of the net

Sorelli to Kucherov Back for Sorelli Broken up by Green Kucherov's got it again. To Herrmann. Shoots. Blocks. Free ball. Scores! Braden Point as he's knocked down, swipes it in the net. And the Lightning get the lead back. Well the time had run out. I think he was out of the box. But good on the temp. Bay Lightning to keep the puck alive.

I think the Islanders did an excellent job of really tightening the diamond down low so kucherov couldn't hit any of the seeds so welcome once again to 31 thoughts the podcast or as we do it at this time of year 31 thoughts to carcast america alongside friedman who is on route uh back home um the game you just covered tampa and new york two to one is the final tampa takes a 2-1 series lead. Vasilevsky versus Varlamov. We saw Gord score, Clutterbuck, and Braden Point. And I got to say, that Braden Point goal was some kind of clinic

in being able to hold on to what you were trying to do. That was remarkable skill by Braden Point, falling down and putting that puck exactly where he wanted to put it but what was your main takeaway from the Thursday night game defensive play Tampa Bay there were times the Islanders entered the zone but whether they blocked a shot or whether they had a stick in the right spot or they pounced on a puck that was fumbled you know Tampa, Tampa, well, I mean, it did change last year because they beat some teams that weren't shrinking violets.

Like, you know, they beat the Bruins. They beat the Islanders. They beat Dallas, and that was a tough team. And I don't think they get enough credit for how mean and nasty and even dirty that they are. And I don't say, like, people think when you say the team is dirty that you're ripping them. I think you have to be somewhat dirty to win in this league,

and I think they are. You know, I was talking to one GM, and he was talking about Tampa, and he's like, everybody thinks they're this, like, nice, genteel group of guys. He's like, they're a bunch of pricks. And I think the other thing, too, is this league, it needs villains. Oh, my God, yes. And this whole thing with the cap, if that means that Tampa becomes a villain, and I think there's teams out there, organizations out there,

that get driven crazy by Vegas. Last week, they joked with Nashville, do we get a banner for this yeah and nashville created a banner their social media team this is why no one likes you and there is a certain amount of dislike and jealousy towards vegas because they're successful so quickly and if that makes them a villain fine just like if it makes tampa a villain fine like you can't have heroes without villains and if that means that people are getting upset at Tampa because they've done something that almost everybody else in the league is done go over the salary cap Chicago won a cup with this in 2015 if they weren't

going to change it then they're not going to change it now if that means people are villains you you know what? Your league needs villains. I'll tell you what. I'll go you one further. I hope they do it again next year with someone who needs surgery. I hope their surgeries are timed to coincide with the playoffs next year.

Because listen, this is a loophole they don't want to close. Why not? We talked about this before on the podcast do it do it tonight what we saw in game three was a defensive clinic for them they took a team that's really talented the islanders and scores a lot better than they get credit for the islanders they made life really really difficult on them really difficult I'm glad you brought up the point about, you know, these players are not, you know, nice, genteel hockey players. Like, there's some miserable guys on that team.

We've talked about miserable guys. Like, Kucherov is the most miserable guy on the team, he looks like, half the time. He's the most miserable guy in the league. Never mind the team. And you know how miserable, like, we always talk about, oh, it's got to be tough playing against, you know, that third line, you know, Gord gets under your skin.

Coleman's tough. Barkley Goodrow is tough. You know how miserable it must be playing every second day against Alex Killorn? Yeah. You know how awful that must be? You know how awful it must be playing against Sergeyev?

Hedman, McDonough. All of them. There's no choir boys on that team, man. They play you hard. And I say that with all due respect. Like, in this league, the thing that separates the winners in this league, especially in the playoffs, is you have to be determined. Like, in the pregame tonight, it was a really nice moment

with Rod Brindamore getting the Jack Adams, and it was presented by Brian Sutter. And what was the first thing that Rod Brindamore getting the Jack Adams, and it was presented by Brian Sutter. And what was the first thing that Rod Brindamore said? You know, he said that, Brian, 30 years ago you were my first coach, and you taught me never to waste a game or a shift in this league. And it happens in the regular season, but in the playoffs, you cannot waste a game or the shift. And the Lightning are out-islandering the Islanders in that game.

I'll tell you what, right out of the gate, and you saw it every single shift, Islanders looked slow early. Did they not? Like that first period, and I thought they'd be coming out, this is the Coliseum and the fans are going to be going crazy and house on fire and tampa's going to have to put up with drinking beer right like i'm like oh man this is this is not looking good for tampa right out of

the gate and bam they were skating in mud and tampa was flying just just flying. I do wonder, they had two good chances later in the game. Komarov, he had a couple chances, and it was almost like Tampa was saying, we're not letting Parcell beat us. We're not letting Eberle beat us. The guys at the point, if it's Pulak or whatever, if someone has to beat us, it'll be Komarov. I just wonder if Trotz is going to have to do something with that line.

I would think that next game Leo Komarov is not on that line. No, I don't like to say this is all on Komarov because I think that guy gives you an honest effort every night. But it's clear they might need another finisher up there. Wahlstrom right this way.

That's an interesting call. Okay, a couple of other things. You mentioned Rod Brindamore there a couple of moments ago this was a big day for Rod Brindamore when you look at his career this was an absolutely huge day you mentioned the Jack Adams coach of the year also contract extension announced by Don Waddell today GM of the Carolina

Hurricanes it is a three year deal man you've been on this for so long we've talked about this so many different podcasts. What's the update, Elliot? You must be so thankful you don't have to hear me ask you about it anymore. Someone said to me today, Jeff's going to have to get a new question. Going to have to get one new question. That's right.

I try to find one question and pluck it like a fiddle over and over and over again. I got to find a new one now. About this whole scenario, I mean, this is a pretty unique one. Like normally in a situation like this, the first thing a coach will try to do is create a marketplace. When your contract's about to expire, you sort of generate interest elsewhere

to give yourself some leverage. Rod Brindamore did not do that. I have a hard time believing that some teams weren't waiting on his decision, thinking maybe they would have a shot, but it seemed right from the get-go, this was the only place he wanted to be and was not in any way, shape, or form interested in trying to create a marketplace. What can you tell us about this entire saga? Because it was a saga. Yeah, I think we've said almost everything that needs to be said.

You know, he wanted to be there. It was, you know, it was the old line, you know, and I use it on the air tonight. You,

you, you find the best looking person for the prom and you'd shoot your shot. Right. And, or the person you want to take the most of the prom and you shoot your shot. And I think some of these, like, you know,

the Rangers were looking for a date for the prom for you shoot your shot and i think some of these like you know the rangers were looking for a date for the prom for a bit and seattle was looking for a date for the prom for a bit and i always did think galant in new york was the most likely scenario but the rangers just wanted to make sure and you know sarah simeon of the athletic you know she wrote several times it was obvious she was getting exhausted with some of us in kind of a fun way. She would say, he's not going anywhere, it's Carolina or nothing. And she was right.

I think she was totally right from the beginning. But it doesn't mean you don't try. And I think people wanted to check. And we've talked about it. The deal was done verbally for a while. He took a lot of heat from some of his contemporaries. But at the end of the day, you have to do what you think is right for your family. That's what he chose to do.

The other thing I said to someone, I did have one person who called me who thought that what Brendan Moore was really doing was wrong and they felt I had to do something more to pressure him. I said, at the end of the day, it's his life and people have to live their lives for them. You can't constantly be worried about what other people think, what other people tell you to do. It's you and your family.

And he said, well, what about all these other coaches? I said, well, that's when you have to go and you have to say hey his situation is unique and i've talked to you about this book before the bald truth by david falk the former basketball super agent and he he talked about situations like this where someone would say well x player on the other team is making this your player is not better than that he can't make more than this and falk would say that's their situation this is your situation and that's what you have to do and you know I think a guy like Travis Green in Vancouver is a guy who did that like I think his number is significantly higher than what Brenda Moore got but I think

that's what you have to do you have to say that's his situation our situation is different I don't like when people tell other people, like I don't like telling other people what to do. So I don't like people telling me what to do. Do you think though that this and the reported number is $1.8 million? Do you think that this underpayment based on his market value will have any type of cascading effect on other coach signings?

And moreover, have we seen the last of the huge deals for coaches, the Elaine Vigneaux's, the Joel Quenville's, the Mike Babcock's, the Claude Julien's? Have we seen the end of those deals? I think we've seen some rollback. Like I said, like green came in, from what I understand, significantly over Brendan Moore's number. So the answer to me is it's not going to be used as a cap ceiling if you're a good negotiator and have some leverage.

Gerard Gallant has been reported as four years at about three and a half a year. So maybe it's not, you know, 20 million like you would have gotten a few years ago, but it's still a very good number. I think because of the situation that everybody's in, the league is in, we are seeing some dial back, yes. But, you know, things are going to return eventually, and someone's going to have some big leverage at a certain point in time where we're going to test all this.

But I do think there's been a pullback, and I do think a lot of teams are very curious about Dundon's whole thing in Carolina about this is what I think you're worth, and I'm not going past that. And one of his assistant coaches is going through that, Dean Chenoweth, and also Dougie Hamilton's going through that, where he says if you feel you can do a better job for your market value,

go ahead and do it. But we'll see. And I'm only going to a certain point. One of the questions out of all of this now is what happens with the Seattle search right now? And Rick Tockett's name is now, front and center, Elliot.

I'm understanding he's got a third meeting with them set up. And, you know, I never like to say anything is a guarantee, but just the fact it's a third meeting, you've got to think it's a good omen for him. So, you know, we'll see where that goes. I heard David Quinn had been interviewed by them, and someone told me that Quinn's interview was actually really good. But it sounds like, you know, anytime you go for a third time,

you've got to think there's something reason for that, right? So we'll see where it goes. It seems like talking at this point in time. As David brought up on air tonight, because Arizona, I think, is going, you know, Mike Van Ryn or Todd Nelson or Lane Lambert, somebody in that realm. Buffalo, I don't know. You know, Buffalo had an interesting one where, you know, Capuano, Ottawa did not allow permission. And I know Don Granato and Kevin Adams met on Wednesday. And there's no announcement yet so we'll see but I don't see Buffalo Arizona going the Babcock Tortorella Claude Julian route

so what I think next year Jeff is when the season starts if a team gets off to a slow start there's going to be some serious juice in terms of what could be available for a team that begins poorly. Be some expensive coaches sitting on the sidelines waiting to pounce. A couple of more things as we try to keep our car cast tight and bright here. I'm just putting my earbuds in. You guys got me okay here? Yeah, it is really hot.

You guys got me okay here? Hello? Hello. Okay, there we go. Okay. What's happening between Anaheim and Buffalo with Jack Eichel? Jeff, they're definitely talking. You know, I'm on record as saying I think Anaheim is going to try to do something big.

You know, I reported this week that I've heard that, you know, teams are saying that Buffalo is potentially going to have a second pick in the top 10 or high in the draft and Anaheim is sitting there right at number three. You know, I do think there's teams out there, Jeff, who, who do believe that Buffalo does not want Eichel in the Eastern conference. You know, Anaheim last I checked on a maps, not in the Eastern conference. Truth can confirm. I definitely think there's, there's something going on there. I, and you know, the other thing too is, you know, Anaheim wasn't willing to include

Zegers or Drysdale for Dubois. I'm curious to see how this grinding goes for Eichel. I was going to say, this is Jack Eichel here. This is, get healthy and he's one of the best players in the National

Hockey League. With all due respect to Pierre-Luc Dubois, he ain't Jack Eichel. Right. And you're looking at transitioning from the Ryan Getzlaff era into another huge centerman in Jack Eichel. I don't know. I love Jamie Drysdale. I really like Trevor Zegers. I also like a third overall pick.

But we're talking about Jack Eichel here. The other thing, too, is, by the way, I did have one team that told me that they think that there's a club out there that's trying to get one of the forwards and Ristolainen, but I don't know who it is. And Ristolainen. Yes.

One of the teams is trying to get two of those guys. How much do we just say that by the beginning of next season, Eichel, Ristelainen, and Reinhardt will all have different addresses? I think it's likely. I think they want to start over and those guys all need fresh starts. Where's, um, where's some of the main

interest from what you've been able to glean for, uh, for Sam Reinhardt? Columbus. I've been told some of the teams that are in on Eichel might also be on Reinhardt. So for example've been told some of the teams that are in on Eichel might also be on Reinhardt. So, for example, say Eichel doesn't end up in Anaheim, it doesn't mean that Reinhardt couldn't end up there.

Right. I've heard Columbus and Reinhardt a lot, but I think there's quite a few teams. I mean, I think this next couple of weeks is just going to be, for rumors and stuff, is going to be bananas. You know, to me, Philly, I am really curious to see what they're going to do there. They're like in the middle of everything. What's the one thing that we talked about at the end of the year that they really needed

to fix their ability to defend? Yeah. That's got to be front and center. No, they're going to go after a goalie, like a backup to Carter Hart. I'm wondering if they're thinking someone who's going to challenge Hart. Wow. Like a short-term veteran. Yeah.

My thinking there was always, you know, job number one this offseason is get Carter Hart back to where they thought Carter Hart was going to be this year. No, you have to do that too. Of all those teams you're talking about, like, I think this is going to heat up pretty fast. Like there are big names that are already out there we just talked about eichel and reinhardt and we've talked about dougie hamilton already etc there's some players on the boston bruins i'm sure we can we can go over but who are some of the more interesting teams for you to follow right now as far as chasing rumors and this team's going to be active getting into the draft, who are a couple, before we start to drill down on these in the next couple of weeks,

who catches your eye? Okay. Well, Columbus. Yep. Obviously Anaheim, Buffalo, Philly. Someone told me, and I wrote it this week, I think Florida is going to try to be aggressive. I think Colorado is going to be really interesting because, you know, I wrote this week that the biggest question there is what's Makar's number

going to be? I had some people tell me this week, they will do everything in their power to keep Ladiscau. That they feel they really need him. First of all, they feel that he's been so loyal to the team. He's everything you want your franchise standard bearer to be. And they feel an enormous amount of loyalty and respect to him because of that. And, you know, secondly, they feel he's critical.

They feel he sets an attitude. And the other thing too is, you know, McKinnon is such an incredibly driven and competitive guy sometimes you need someone to say okay nathan ease up a little bit today or all right you know stop killing everybody in practice today and and landis kog is kind of that guy yeah so someone said to me that colorado is going to do something to make sure that they can keep him too. And plus they're disappointed they lost. So they might be very, they're creative.

And I think they might be very interesting. I'll tell you this. I'm wondering what Edmonton too. In more than just a Zach Hyman sense? Yeah. I, I think Edmonton is going to be interesting. Like we think they're re-signing Larson. I don't know about RNH.

Like everybody's locked down on that one. And I think it's because they're really trying to get it done. But I think Edmonton looks at the way this season ended. And I think they obviously believe in their top guys. I think they believe in some of their young guys who are coming. But then I think they say, you know, what else do we need? We have to take a hard look at what we need. And I think they're doing that.

To me, the question at Edmonton still is who's your goalie? Yeah. Last one for you. Get your thoughts on this one. The Jim Gregory GM of the year award. I had a vote in this one. Mark Bergevin, Lou Lamarillo, and Bill Zito, three general managers who had three very distinct teams with different objectives.

My big question about the GM of the year award is how do you evaluate it? What makes a good general, like how do you evaluate a general manager's moves that season within like this 12-month frame i just don't understand the criteria for like how you decide that bergevin had a better season than lamarillo who didn't have as good a season as zito i just don't get the criteria like if you voted for like what went into it for you i don't think i'm allowed to release my ballot yet so So I'll just talk. No, no, no. I won't specifically say it. No, no, no, no, no.

Philosophic. What are you looking at? I'm just saying that I would tell you who I voted for, but I don't think I'm allowed to do that yet. The one thing I kind of like about this award is that it's unique in the sense that it's the only one that's after two rounds. I kind of like that about it. It creates a bit of a crutch, which is okay. There's four GMs after two rounds, which three are we voting for? The one thing I liked about it this year was that, you know, there was somebody in there

who his team had a great regular season and, you know, didn't make the final four, but still got in there. Like, I liked that. I will tell you that I had six guys and I had to cut it down to three. And of those six, you know, Zito and there was another GM on my list who aren't here right now, but I thought they had phenomenal regular seasons and turned around teams very quickly. And for me, it was simply when you look back at the last year, who did a really good job with their teams? Like, so when I look at the finalists, I'll just talk about them because the finalists

were all in my big group of six. For Zito, he took a team that ended last year terribly, made a bunch of budget signings, really, and that improved the team and the overall team. It got better. There were some rocky moments, no question about it. But, you know, he made a bunch of small moves from Verhege to Duclair to, you know, other things that they did not trading Uyghur, who I thought had a fantastic season. They sure did. And I liked his body of work and he breathed new life into Florida.

You know, Lamorello, I just think again, the Islanders, I look at where they are. They're greater than the sum of their parts. This year they lost their captain and he hit a home run at the deadline. Yes. I just think that he's, he's built with Barry trots there, like a team that's consistent. And I thought the fact that they lost Lee and

they still did well at the deadline and they're here and Paul, Mary and Zay Jack have both been good players for them. I thought that was very legitimate. Bergevin, I will admit, that was one of the biggest challenges for me. He was on my list of six, you know, two weeks ago, three weeks ago, it's probably longer now, I don't even know what day it is anymore. They were 24 hours from running him out of town.

Correct. It was a big challenge for me. And, you know, it just shows you how slim the margin is, right? I have a friend who's a gambler. He says, when you pull a victory out of a sure defeat, he calls it pulling an inside straight and five card stud. You're not supposed to be able to do that. And this year, if you look at Bergevin,

they were in trouble and his moves came up pulling that inside straight. And he looks really smart. See, one of the things that I fight with philosophically here about voting on this one, like if I had a vote, I don't know that I would know how to vote appropriately because I'm still fighting the question of, is it more impressive to build something or sustain it?

You know, like Bergevin and Zito built something. Okay. Especially Zito. Like he rebuilt that team. The other thing too, I'll say about Bergevin, sorry, Jeff, is that he stayed with his convictions, right? In what sense? He had a plan. he stayed with his convictions right in what sense he had a plan he went with his plan it didn't look like it was gonna work oh yeah a good chunk of his fan base hated it yeah and he said whatever I'm doing

it if I'm going down I'm going down in flames this way yeah just the the whole nature of this award too it's like so much of of what a general manager has is a lot of times built by someone else yeah built by your predecessor i mean listen um you know brian burke will always talk about the moves that brian murray made um that helped the anaheim bucks win the stanley cup in 2007 you know the Chicago Blackhawks won in 2010. Stan Bowman is a general manager, but everyone's looking at Dale Tallon. And I believe, I don't know who did it,

but one GM voted for Dale Tallon as general manager of the year in 2010, even though he wasn't a general manager at the end of that season. I just don't know how it would vote because I don't know what's more impressive. Taking, and maybe it's the same thing about the coach of the year as well.

What's more impressive? Sustaining an excellent team or taking a bad team and making it good? I don't know the answer. I think sustaining is harder. I do. Then Lamarillo's got to be the choice of those three.

The other three guys I had on my list this year that I considered, I'm not saying what my ballot was, but the other three guys I considered on my list this year that i considered i'm not saying what my my ballot was but the other three guys i considered were julian briswa bill garren and kelly mccrimmon all excellent i'll tell you what you know what right out of the gate and maybe it's just like the you know he's the the new sexy and general managers i loved what bill garren did this year i think it took a lot to do what he did and he had to make some unpopular decisions.

It's like what we just said about Bergevin. The courage of his convictions. And he's still going to make more and he's still going to do more. Like so far, Guerin's been really impressive. Okay, that's the Carcast. You are now free to enter your house, Elliot. And taking us out,

the Canadian music duo Bros, Ewan and Seamus Curry spend most of their time making music with the platinum-selling Sheepdogs, but the last five years they've also been making groovy tracks as Bros. From their upcoming album, duo July 16th,

here's Bros with Never Gonna Stop on 31 Thoughts The Podcast. Just a tear apart You're never gonna stop When you keep on rockin' it all You're never gonna stop When you keep on callin' it all Yeah You're never gonna stop When

When you keep on rockin' it all Lately We lift our troubles in the past And we found ourselves together again at last But honey, I've heard about everything you do Try to tell me it ain't true, but I already knew You're never gonna stop when you keep on rockin' it all Try to tell me it ain't true, but I already knew. You're never gonna stop when you keep on rockin' it off. You're never gonna stop when you keep on rockin' it off, yeah.

You're never gonna stop when, when you keep on rockin' it off.