32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Connor McDavid Has a Mean Streak

Episode Date: January 20, 2025

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman discuss their experiences at Hockey Day in Canada, highlighting the excitement and memorable moments from the games. They delve into the controversial referee decisions during the Edmonton vs. Vancouver game, particularly focusing on Connor McDavid's frustrations and the implications of his actions (5:51). The conversation shifts to trade rumors surrounding J.T. Miller and the Vancouver Canucks, exploring the dynamics of potential trades and the players' sentiments (23:56). They discuss the salary cap situation in the NHL, including projections for future seasons and the impact on player negotiations (34:29). Elliotte mentions that the Anaheim Ducks are close to signing Artyom Galimov (46:47). The Final Thought focuses on their experiences during Hockey Day in Canada, particularly the electrifying atmosphere in Montreal (48:12). They discuss the ups and downs of the Montreal Canadiens over the weekend, including their performance against the Toronto Maple Leafs and the subsequent game against the Rangers. The conversation shifts to trade talks and team dynamics, highlighting the complexities of player management in the NHL (58:38).Elliotte wraps the first segment recapping his biathlon experience against Kevin Bieksa (1:02:43).Kyle and Elliotte answer your questions and respond to your voicemails in the Thought Line (1:09:47).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

So I gotta say, Kyle, like four of those kids looked like they could be your child. No, I don't think the math words. Why the hell would you say that? How old are those kids? They were you 14s. And so it was how old are you? Thirty one. That could work.

Well, I suppose it could, but I could assure you it didn't in this case. It does not. I would like to state for the record, it could work, but I can assure you it didn't in this case. It does not. I would like to state for the record, it could work, but it does not. Yes, no, they were great. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra AT4X. We have descended from the mountains in Canmore, Dom Schiamatti back at sea level in Vancouver, Elliot and myself just above in Toronto and Ottawa respectively. Elliot how are you feeling?

The altitude change? Is it providing any struggles for you? How did you hold up after three to four days in the mountains and the cold of Canmore, Alberta? It really wasn't that bad until Saturday. Once Saturday hit, it was freezing. But other than that, it was fantastic. I have to tell you something that I think you guys will find pretty funny. So on Saturday morning, everybody does like a 30 minute picture slash autograph signing. And so Kelly and I were together for half an hour and they give you like Sportsnet cards. Like it's like basically a postcard with your picture on it and the Sportsnet logo and you can sign to people.

And so Kelly and I are signing and we each have there's a stack of Kelly's and there's a stack of Elliot's and I'm beginning to think that Sportsnet believed that there was a lot more interest in Kelly than there was in me because halfway through my stack there were no more Elliot's and there was another half stack of Kelly's. You have like five cards to sign or what? It was exactly that. And someone actually, it was funny because I handed a card to one kid and he kind of looked at it in a very confused way. And I said, Oh, is there a problem?

And he showed it to me and it was my signature with the boy's name on it and Kelly's picture. And I was like, Oh, that must be a mistake. And I went through it, and they were all Kelly's. So basically what that says to me is Sportsnet metrics must indicate that there's three times the interest in Kelly that there is in me. Other than that moment when reality really strikes you in the face, it was a fantastic

weekend in Canmore. One of the best hockey day in Canada's I can remember, including as you were saying before we started this podcast, probably the best four game group that we've ever had on the air before. Like I would be curious to see if anybody at Hockey Day could remember four games better than those ones. Ottawa, Boston, great game. Toronto, Montreal, in Montreal, spectacular atmosphere. Although you liked it a lot more if you were a Toronto fan than Montreal, especially after the first 20 minutes. Calgary,

Winnipeg, great game. Flames, Dustin Wolfe continuing to make his run to the Calder as you tried to kiss up to everybody locally. And Vancouver, Edmonton was just a great hockey game with a lot of, a lot of drama. I know you had to leave early, hope you had a great time, we had a great time. Yeah, you were trying to throw me into the depths of the Bow Valley during that time when I was making my case for Dustin Wolf. I will say, hey, if anyone at Sportsnet was there for the live show of the podcast and the swooning that was done over you, they would have been thinking, uh-oh, we didn't order enough cards. over you they would have been thinking uh-oh we didn't order enough cards now I shudder to think of what the card distribution was before that show it was probably 10 to 1 yes that's also they must have said well we must need to get

about three or four more for this yeah half, no, no, that we don't need that much. If you can do four, that would be great. So, okay, we'll get to a little bit more, particularly, you know, Toronto, Montreal, Montreal's weekend a little later on in the show. But I want to know the scene on the panel there towards the end of the night. You know, Edmonton, Vancouver becomes a really, really tight game. You know, we're watching that end of the night. Edmonton-Vancouver becomes a really, really tight game. You know, we're watching that game of the hotel in Montreal after our game was finished, and we see Vancouver jump out to the early three goal lead, and we're going,

are we going to see a repeat of what Toronto did to Montreal just a few hours earlier? But Vancouver hangs on, and you're thinking, all right, we've got, what, 10, 15 minutes to fill, and then it's on to Scott Oak and after hours with Ray and Landon Ferraro but then not one but two cross checks Connor McDavid and Tyler Myers both will have hearings for it later on this afternoon you say Elliot? Yes it'll be on Monday afternoon for both players and it I can tell you've been there before because

you were absolutely right. We were looking at about a 25 minute fill before all of that happened, before after hours and we're thinking okay what are we gonna talk about what are we gonna talk about and all of a sudden that happened and we were thinking to ourselves well the fill is not gonna be long and we're gonna have something really good here to talk about just from a purely discussion point of view. Like that is a hot topic to discuss. Okay, let's start with the referees on the ice. No question, Connor Garland deserved anywhere from one to eight penalties, depending on

how you feel in that particular moment. He clearly decided that nothing Conor McDavid was going to do was going to allow him to tie that game against the Canucks. He took him out, he committed fouls, he did his job but he absolutely committed fouls. Now this is where this splits into two lanes. Even if the officials call a penalty, Vancouver never came close to touching the puck. It was a shooting gallery for the Oilers. They were all over them. They couldn't have stopped play. Here's the counter to that argument. Someone told me to go back and watch it.

How much time is there left when McDavid is really getting mugged? You can go anywhere from 10 to 15 seconds remaining in the game. Okay? If the Oilers see that one of the referees hands is up, do they throw the puck at the Canucks and go six on four? Now, my initial thought to this person, and this was a player, my initial thought to this person was you're all over them. They can't touch the puck. Why would you risk blowing the play dead? The Canucks get some rest and maybe they

win a face off and kill the play. I liked the way it was going for Edmonton. And he's played the role of devil's advocate and he said that's all fair, but he thinks the Oilers would have considered throwing the puck at the Canucks and going six on four. So at the very least, I introduced the possibility in the spirit of a full picture. I'm not so sure I buy it. Things were going great for the Oilers. Vancouver was hemmed in, running around in complete disarray, in trouble. But this player said to me, a team like the Oilers might have done it. Might have decided to go six on four, throw the puck at the Canucks. So okay, if you believe that, then absolutely the referees deserve blame for not calling the penalty. Well the only thing I wondered though, like it's impossible to know unless you asked him

directly, but like is McDavid looking around not seeing any arm go up, knows that there's practically no time left on the clock and go, all right, enough of this. If you're not going to call anything, delayed penalty or not, I'm taking matters into my own hands here. That was the only thing I wondered about, if that had anything to do with how things escalated. I would say that I watched the closeups again. I think that I wonder if he actually could have seen both refs

because I would think in that minute, all McDavid is thinking about is I want to get free so I can tie the game. Right. And like, you know, only he can answer this and I should never discount him. Maybe when he finally threw the cross check he did realize it, but up until that point, until the whistle goes, I think it's all about him just trying to dislodge himself from Garland and tie the game. The other thing I want to say here too is I think you have to look at the whole context of McDavid's week. Like the Oilers are in a great stretch here.

They came into that Vancouver game. They'd won seven of eight in January. But if you look at McDavid's week, there were a couple of things that happened that I think add to this. I don't think you can look at that one particular play in isolation as frustrated as he was with Garland. Number one there was that slew foot from Campy which I didn't like at all. I thought that was a really dirty play and you know if a guy if Connor Mcdave if anybody

gets injured on that play it's bad but and some people don't like it when I say this But I don't care if a player like Connor McDavid gets injured on that play. It's really bad. I don't like slew footing but You know, it's it's just not a good thing for the NHL if Connor McDavid gets hurt in a play like that And I have no doubt that he was angry that it happened and that all that came out of it was the fine, right? And then he had the play with Marcus Johansson. And I have to be honest with you, when I watched that play,

I think he thinks he's about to get clipped. Like, I, like McDavid is not a guy that throws a ton of elbows around like that. I think he, it was one of those plays where, you know, he's kind of looking around, the puck's around. You tell me if you think I'm wrong on this. He, he kind of looks around, the puck's around, and then he, he kind of looks, he looks up and he sees a player coming to him and I think he sticks the elbow up because he's wondering if he's going to get clipped and he's like if I'm going to get clipped I'm going to be the one who's out here defending myself and maybe doing it first.

And again McDavid can tell me if I'm wrong but that's what I thought when I saw it. You? Yeah, I'll just stay here quickly for my own context of how I'm approaching this. I remember when the Brad Marchand interview blew up a few years ago in the playoffs. I mean, I for the most part kind of stayed out of the discourse online. But of course you see a few things. And there's people weighing in going, well, Kyle's thinking this here, and you can tell that this is where his mind's at here.

And like people, I don't even know. And I remember going, well, how the heck do you know what I'm thinking? And I've always kept that in mind. Oh, people always assume a lot of motives and get them completely wrong. So that's why as I'm watching this, I'm going, who am I to say what he's really thinking? It's kind of like that the 3D baseball card were depending on what angle you kind of look at it You get a bit of a different perspective Maybe but ultimately the fact that he was not punished in any way from the league for it

I thought you know as tough as it was to see Joe Hanson go down You don't like to see that I was, I was okay with that being the outcome. Okay. And one thing I do agree with, with you talking about in general, people guessing people's motives is that they put their own biases into it. Like they project their own biases onto other people, which is stupid. It's stupid and people do it all the time. They're like well if I believe this or I think this That's what they're thinking

No, it's not just because you've got your own craziness doesn't mean everybody else has it but people forget that all the time I just thought that it was an emotional game between the campy play and the Johansson play. It's been a pretty high intensity week around him at a time when the others are playing really well. And I just think he snapped. And you know, I mean, at the end of the day, he's going to get suspended for it. The first thing I thought of when it happened is it was it was Matthews Matthews battling with Dalyne and and and I thought it was similar

Remember in Matthews to the game before that outdoor one member He got was it he felt he got tripped or something in overtime against Arizona the game before oh That's I forgot about boring and he went at the officials and as you know He is not a guy who typically goes after the officials and so it stuck out then and then two days later He's playing in that outdoor game and he snapped against Daly and they were losing It makes my theory seem even better Kyle I like it when you back add to my theory Yes, but I just as you're laying out the whole week for McDavid

I'm going this reminds me exactly of Avastin Matthews a few years ago when he got suspended for the cross check to Dahlene in Hamilton. Now I feel even better about my theory. The other thing I kind of remember here is I think I mentioned it in a pod recently. Remember what Chris Cellos once said to me Yes every now and then Every now and then I don't mind doing something to remind people that I can still do it

and I would bet you Like look nobody in Edmonton wants to see McDavid suspended They want to see him protected and I'm sure that as part of his hearing on Monday, all of this will be brought up. And I have no doubt that the organization has been lobbying on his behalf behind the scenes since this all happened on Saturday night. But, you know, I'll bet you there's going to be people who are going to say, I don't have a problem with McDavid bearing his fangs once in a while. Now there's times you got to take a number and there's times you can't do it.

But you know, people are going to look at McDavid now and they're going to say, you know what? There's a chance that if this guy feels he's being mistreated, he's not going to be afraid to make somebody feel a little bit of pain. And maybe that'll make some people think twice. And there's going to be people who don't like to hear me say that. I really do believe that some of the best players don't mind people feeling a little scared of themselves from time to time. I saw Chris Pronger and Michael Rupp talked about that online the other day.

Yeah. Won't be my most popular take, I can tell you that much. No, but I like still like make David in his last year a junior member. He broke his hand. Oh the fight Yeah, right. That's right for the world juniors because he decided he had enough I thought the the line that bx I gave there as you guys were were discussing it all in the aftermath I thought was really poignant about you've got two guys there McDavid Myers respected players well liked liked in their respective locker rooms, and a lot of cases around the league. But even those guys, every now and then, the

wires cross and they can snap. They can happen to anybody. They can happen to anybody. The Myers one though, I was trying to find, because when you watch that back, so craziness is happening. McDavid and Garland are all tied up. Bouchard eventually gets the puck on the half wall there. So, and then the puck goes out of play, the whistle goes. Myers finishes the check. It was kind of late, but Bouchard kind of just takes it. And then Myers turns around and like hacks him again.

And then Bouchard starts to skate towards him and Myers delivers the cross check. And I don't know if there was something earlier in the game where the two were battling and eventually it kind of came to a head there. But that was one where I was like, I could not figure out for the life of me where that all originated between those two. No and Myers, I wonder if Myers gets more because he has been suspended once before and this is one of those things. Well so is McDavid but he's out of the repeat offender window.

Well you know what, the one thing that everybody, everybody gets this repeat offender thing wrong. I'm glad you brought this up. Everybody gets this repeat offender thing wrong. I'm glad you brought this up Everybody gets this wrong Repeat offender is only to do with the size of your fine If it's been 18 months since a previous punishment you get fined per day instead of per game and obviously since there's 170 days and 82 games,

it is less of a fine if you're fined per day. But the one thing the NHL says, and it's in the collective bargaining agreement, is that you can always look at someone's history. If you've decided that they can be suspended, the repeat offender has nothing to do with making the punishment more serious. The repeat offender is purely about the fine. Once

they've decided they can suspend you, then they can look at your history and say, all right, you know what, you've been suspended before or you've been fine before we're going to say that we're going to hit you a little harder here. Clearly you're not you learning your lesson. The the repeat offender thing it gets mocked up too often and I was guilty of that at one point in time. But now I've committed the way it works to memory. I Am on an education campaign. Thank you for educating me No problem, but you know the thing is like fans as you said in BX to said Fans want to know that when they pay their money

the players care as much as they do. I saw. Like Garland clearly cares. Like he was doing anything to make sure that McDavid wasn't getting up off the ground. McDavid obviously cares. And so does Myers. Like he got his wires crossed at the end of that game.

What the Department of Player Safety is supposed to be about is you go too far then we get involved and in this situation a couple of players went a little bit too far and they'll just have to pay the punishment for it. By the way Kyle this was a bit of a weird week for the NHL department of player safety. So Islanders Philly, Siplikov, Paling during the game, they do a review. And I don't have a problem with that. I do not have a problem with the officials at high speed saying we're calling a major and we're gonna review this and

they took the penalty away siplikov no penalty and Clearly to me that the people in the situation now in that situation The officials have the the on ice officials have the final say on penalty reviews. It's not the situation room in Toronto is the final say it's the four officials on the ice. But I would think in that situation that the officials said no penalty and I would think that they would get backed by the situation room. Okay, no penalty and The next morning the Department of Player Safety, which is a different group Calls for a review and siplikov gets suspended now I am betting the Islanders went squirrely over that and I went squirrely over that. And

I would be very curious to hear what happened inside behind the scenes because that is to depart like I don't know that that's happened much before. I don't know if that's ever happened before where a play got called clean in a game or no penalty and it turned into a three game suspension after a review. Some things get missed during games, but you have a review and then it turns into a suspension. I can't remember that happening. And I would guess that that didn't go over very well.

I met on both sides, right? The Islanders are ticked off and I'm sure the league's going, how did this happen? Yeah, because you know, like the thing is it's like, like, you know, how the officials are, that's, that's basically saying the officials made a terrible decision and they don't like, they're very sensitive to that. It's interesting. It's like, like I can see how it happens sometimes in the speed of play, right? At full speed.

Of course. But with a review for it to happen, that is very, very rare. And I know people who felt very strongly both ways. I know people who felt it wasn't a suspension and obviously, john tortorello and the flyer sure did. You could see tortorello's reaction is just really odd. We don't see that very often often and that I wrote that down when it happened the next day I was like, wow, that's that's a new one Yeah, the three games. I mean take away the review but the play itself it felt just

On that one. So and we'll see where things go between McDavid and Myers is their incredible fireworks to wrap up the Oilers and the Canucks once again. One of the great rivalries in the Western Conference here born the last couple of seasons. So the news did not stop there on the BC West Coast on Saturday Elliot because so JT Miller on Saturday had two assists, a couple of penalty minutes, 20-25 of ice time, those the most minutes he's the to play because there was a pending trade with you believe was the Rangers but something happened. Obviously trade didn't happen. He played as we record this JT Miller is still a Canuck. Now you have linked this team and player since this saga all started earlier in the year. Where do things stand right now? So let me just take everybody through the weekend because I think that's the best way

to do it. If you're a Canucks fan, like producer Dom, you know that Thursday was a really rough night. He played only 14-34. The Canucks were against the Kings at home. They lost 5-1, but that game was over early they were down 3 nothing less than 10 minutes in and You know you talk about when you go to a game you want the players to care as much as you do

Those Canuck fans they were furious after that game on Thursday And I you know you can't blame them you pay ticket, you pay those prices to go to a game, and you don't want to be, you don't want that. And they were angry, and they deserved to be angry that night. It was a terrible performance. And I think that's one of the reasons that the Canucks players were so wired up for that Edmonton game. Big rivalry, and you know, they'd had two really bad losses in a row. So after that game you know there was also the point where you know Tocket went down to Miller and Miller went down to the other end of the bench and it just looked all bad. And you know there's been a lot of conversation and obviously I've been part of it too about the whole Miller-Peterson relationship

At that point after that game on Thursday night, I don't think it had anything to do with the two players I think it had everything to do with an overall frustration With how everything was going and I think the Canucks made a real effort to say we're doing this We're doing this and we're getting this done. Now I'd heard that Miller had asked for a trade, but had finally said, just get me out of here. But that was denied to me.

And I think as a couple of people just said to me, like everybody knows what's going on here and they're just, they're trying to work to get something done but a specific trade request that was denied to me by several people but I think there was a point on Friday where it looked like with the Rangers it was close and Miller was told it was close and on Saturday Saturday morning, when I woke up in Canmore, I had messages to check on this because I don't think Miller is playing tonight. And then something happened. And I don't know if it was on Friday night,

I don't know if it was on Saturday morning, but after the morning skate on Saturday, there was no inclination he wasn't't going to play I waited all day It never changed. Obviously he played and he played a great game. He was one of Vancouver's best players. I Think they had something going with the Rangers and I think it fell apart and I don't know I have some theories, but I just don't have enough proof. I don't think Miller vetoed it I just for whatever reason I just don't think it got to the finish line

But anytime a team goes to a player or an agent or whoever But a lot of people knew there was a chance. He wasn't gonna play Then whenever a team goes and does that, they think it's close. And I had several people who told me they thought it was close. And again, I think it was the Rangers. Now there's been a lot of names thrown around. I don't think it was a Benajad vetoing it. I don't believe that's the case.

I think that that was something I think he came up a long time ago and I Just don't think that's something that interests Vancouver. I don't think it was Schneider I think there the Canucks have asked about him several times before and can't get him and I Could always be wrong, but I don't think it's Lafrenier either. I know his name has been thrown around I Just I don't think in this case. It was him I think it was simply a situation where the Canucks were like We would like to do this and it just didn't get done

For reasons I can't confirm at this time. This doesn't make me think that any attempt to trade with the Rangers is dead I don't know that but all I know is that right now there's nothing as of Sunday night when we recorded this imminent. The other thing that's a case here is that on Tuesday the Canucks sent out a note to all the teams in the league reminding them, you know, nobody has permission to talk to any of our players without getting it from us first. So obviously the Canucks thought that someone on their team was being tampered with. I mean, I don't know who it was, if it was Miller or it was

someone else, but they felt there was tampering You don't send that message out without that feeling and then I heard on Saturday. I Thought it was blanket permission, but it turned out only some teams that It was reasonably felt that Miller would go to It was reasonably felt that Miller would go to Would have permission and obviously the Rangers are one I haven't figured out the others but The Rangers are one of them and I think there are more So I

Mean, we'll see where this goes. Like I said on Sunday night as we taped this, nothing imminent, but there was something close. I know there's been a lot of speculation about the devils. You know, here's the thing, the Rangers, they can, they can take Miller at full. They can afford it. They've got cap room. The devils can't do it without surgery roster surgery. They have some guys who've got no trade clauses and you know, they've got a good team. I like I'm curious to see how they are but I think an overall like him. You know, I think the one thing about from a purely on ice fit I think Miller is a good fit for the Devils who aren't you know, the biggest toughest team in the league

But again, you're doing Major surgery your roster if you're bringing him in there and I think they're good like I do think they're really good So I'm not convinced. It's the Devils. There's been some reports about Dallas. I'm not convinced it's them either. I think there's somebody out there right now we're just not seeing yet. One team I do wonder about is Carolina. That's a team that makes some sense to me don't know for sure, but it makes sense to me but. On as a Sunday night. We're not as close as we were on Friday.

Now the other thing we should mention that I talked about is that Pettersen is told the Canucks he wants to stay so I think for now that's cooled the talk around. I think for now, that's cooled the talk around his leaving. I think they're satisfied with that for now. And he made a couple big plays at the end of regulation there to get the puck out. He played hard at the end of that game. I don't know if Pederson told them

or his representatives told them when they met after the World Juniors, but it has been communicated that he wants to stay Okay, it kind of feels we're very much past the if stage with JT and More the when stage I understand you say nothing's imminent and you're a firm believer that nothing is done until it's done but trying to read the tea leaves as best as I can from what we're seeing, what you're saying, and what you know,

feels that's where we are here at this juncture. I think everybody, look, I agree with that, Kyle. I think you read it right. I think everybody was kind of hopeful that it was gonna to be done on Friday or Saturday, but that did not happen. I'll say this though, I saw this thing going all over the internet, the interwebs on Saturday night that he stopped and took a picture for some young fans as they were leaving the game on Saturday night, which was a nice thing

to do. Yes. And by the way, did you see what the Canucks put out on their social on Sunday? No, what was that? New Best Buddies alert and with a couple of pictures of Rick Tocket and the team service dog in training, Eddie. Mmm. Some dog content. Look over here, nothing to see. Here's more dog stuff in the meantime.

Well, you know what? I think that's always smart. Always the best distraction. By the way, you know who the most popular guest was at the school visits? I heard it was the guy with the long tongue. Yeah, Harvey the Hound. Kevin and Dave said they were at the school visits

and nobody wanted to talk to them. They all wanted to talk to Harvey the Hound That's right. And Kelly Rudy and Ivanka Osmek were saying the same thing. So that's why I almost even more surprised that Kelly had way more cards to sign than you. I Guess did Harvey have a station set up was no I I wouldn't are you kidding after I heard that? I'm not going anywhere with him. I would have felt like a total loser Yes, now, you know how I feel. Okay, Elliott salary cap. What's the other big one?

So you had the story a few months ago about the possibility of next year's cap being higher than 92.5. You touched on the idea over the weekend that teams and players could know the salary cap not only for this coming season but for the next few years so where does everything stand there and how far in advance could they know where the caps gonna be yes so the news broke I don't know when because I was up in I was working on it for Saturday show but it broke before we got on the air while we were out there that as of January 30th, the

players have been informed that every year there's a percentage of your salary that's with withheld and kept until the accounting is done of the overall revenues to make sure it's 50 50 between the league and the players. This year, that percentage is 6. So 6% of each player's paycheck is held. And it takes a while for this to get sorted out. Like the players are supposed to get money back from last year, but we're halfway into this season, and it still hasn't been finished being accounted for yet in terms of what the exact figure is going to be

So it takes time But the revenues are so strong this year that they've already been told that that six percent is going down to zero as of the end of the month and someone told me that I guess a memo went out to the players on Friday and me that I guess a memo went out to the players on Friday and somebody told me that was like one of the happiest days in NHL locker rooms like players were high-fiving each other about this memo and you know I mean who can blame them right like imagine anybody out there losing 6% of your paycheck you don't want that so they were they're very happy about that and it continues to

trend the way that we've discussed in the past as you mentioned well the the thing that Is coming out of this is that The the players and the teams have been screaming for guidance On what where the cap is going? So next year it's set for 92.5 as per the CBA but

again as we've discussed the revenues dictated should be considerably higher and I heard also that There is something expected to be announced before The trade deadline which is marks March 7th and I think teams and Players agents are really hoping it's significantly before that They they don't want it to be like a week or two They're hoping they get more than that and it to me it sounds like it's possible that that's gonna be the case It's not gonna be too long

before we know. And the other thing I heard, and it was confirmed to me, is that we might not just know about the cap next year. We might know the cap for one or two years into the future. Like, when after I mentioned it on Saturday night, I had someone call me on Sunday, and they said that they've heard we're gonna know for Next year in the year after and I had someone else who said that he thinks it could be for three years so

because they're because they're in negotiations and because of the way the cap is behind the revenues they think there is the ability to do this and You know nothing is set in stone at this particular time. You still got to negotiate it and still work it out But when I sent notes about could this happen? Nobody said no Nobody said now people said you shouldn't say anything is guaranteed, but they didn't deny it was a possibility. So I think we could see not just next year's cap get set, but maybe a year or two past that.

It'll be interesting. So can I ask, and here's again your opportunity to educate me along with a sure number of our listeners, because the CBA expires in 2026, would that not have to be in lockstep or can they project that out without having the new deal agreed upon? If the league and the players agree on it, they can they can do whatever they want. Okay, there's always a path there. All right. Yeah, like, you know, basically, you don't have to write write a whole new CBA, you could do a memorandum of understanding or just make a deal. Okay. And again, the reason they can do that in this case, is because And again the reason they can do that in this case is because

Due to the that due to that CBA out of kovat being the way it was The salary cap is behind the revenues based on a 50-50 formula Right, so there is the ability to do that Okay. Now I'll say this and we talked about this a little bit remember the fan who in can more who asked us about Canada and where the cap is going and the Canadian dollar and everything and taxes. I will say this, and I'll say this again, not everybody is comfortable with a 100 million plus cap. It's a bigger challenge for Canadian teams.

It's a bigger challenge for smaller revenue markets. It is, and teams, and there are teams that say like, how much more money can we squeeze out of our buildings? But the way the CBA works dictates it. And, but I also do think that we will see, buildings but the way the CBA works dictates it and But I also do think that we will see I think we could see if the cap goes like a hundred and ten For argument's sake like just let me use that number. I wonder how many teams are gonna be at the cap That that'll be interesting

Like this is a league where almost everybody's at the cap right now, right? Yeah, or close to it if it's a hundred million a hundred and ten million. I don't know and There's a few teams saying I don't think we're gonna be able to do that now. You don't know until it happens, but That talk is definitely out there. Okay, so I'm looking at some UFAs to be come this summer. Yeah. Mitch Marner's of the world, Miko Rantanen, guys like even Brad Marchand, a little bit older,

John Tavares, Nick Ehlers in Winnipeg. I mean, how many player representatives right now are going, you know, beyond the conceptual talks about what a new deal could potentially look like with their current teams? Are they saying until we know what next year's cap looks like and potentially for a year or two beyond that, we're not even prepared to get ultra serious when it comes to negotiations? Kyle, I think it's true. I had one manager tell me, he's got a player who's a good player on his team, but not a superstar.

He's a guy that they value and they want to extend, and they can't get anything done with him because the agent wants to know what the cap's gonna be. And it's not like that player is gonna be anywhere near a top salary, but right now a lot of the agents use percentage of the cap, and they say we don't know what the number is yet. So I think it's stalled, yes. So I think it's stalled a bunch of things. The middle of the pack pack players in some cases

Yes, it has happened like we've seen a bunch of guys sign recently but It's it's a thing like it's it's definitely a thing. You know the ranting one. There's been a lot of noise About that there. I know where no love. Why has said that he could see Colorado trading him if they can't get anything signed by the deadline. I have looked into that. And the one thing I generally seem to hear is, I get a lot of let's wait and see what happens there. Don't jump to any conclusions. And you know remember in the summer I said that teams were taking Dry Cytl and Rantanen

off their free agent board for next year because they thought both those guys were gonna sign. Well Dry Cytl has signed and I think the one thing that's definitely true is that Dry Cytil's contract has changed the course of action in the NHL. Dry Saitil's contract has been a game changer. Particularly for Rantanen. Particularly for Rantanen. It's absolutely 100% true that all of a sudden we have an issue in Colorado that didn't exist before because Rantan is saying, well, and you know, the other thing that happens now is that all those players like, you know, McKinnon who was worth every penny and McDavid, who's obviously worth every penny, they signed

those contracts under a different CBA. Now there's a bunch of guys who are saying, oh well we're gonna have a new CBA or a new setup here, a post-COVID setup, and it's different now. And you know, I know, I understand the way players and some teams do that. They say, look, like here's our hierarchy and you're not going over that. You know, agents will argue, well that's that situation, our situation is different. And right now Colorado hasn't bent and Rantinen hasn't bent. And what I think that situation needs is a deadline. And what it comes down to is, yes we have a trade deadline, March 7th, but does

everybody really believe that's a deadline? Do the avalanche look at it as, you know what, that's a deadline for us? Or does Rantanen look at it and say, well that's a deadline for me, I don't want to risk it, so I'm gonna sign? I don't know how he feels. I'm just putting that out there. Right now, everybody here can sit back and afford to wait. That situation, like I said, needs a pressure point so everyone can decide, okay, is it time for me to put my cards on the table and play them and obviously July 1st is one but there's one before that and it's on March 7th and I would bet leading up to March 7th we'll probably have a better idea of where everyone's feeling

right now you don't have to do anything. Rantin and doesn't the avalanche don't. Let's see how everybody feels in seven weeks. It's hard to just believe that could even be a possibility. I understand you can say that about almost any situation, but the idea of him not being in Colorado We'll see mind-blowing mind, you know, I mean again like we'll see like at this point in time. There's a lot of Posturing right behind the scenes. No

No, we don't want to do more than 12.6 avalanche Well, we think his worth is 14. Rantinens can't. Ultimately, the players are going to have to make a decision, the teams are going to have to make a decision. Do they feel they have to do it by March 7th? All right. Interesting stuff. So speaking of doing something though, you're hearing Anaheim could be on the verge of signing somebody. Yeah, so I always make lists of who needs to be signed or who hasn't signed or who are the guys were kind of on my radar and someone sent me a note they said it's not the biggest name but here's a guy who could be on your radar because he knows I like to try to be on top of everything even though I generally fail.

In 2020 the Ducks selected a Russian player in the fifth round of the draft named Archim Galimov and he's 25 now and he's the center who plays for Akbar's Kazan and he's got 21 goals already this year. Um, like he was an interesting guy in the sense that when he got drafted, I don't think anyone really expected him to be a player for a while. He signed a long-term deal to stay in Russia after the Ducks drafted him. He had a time where I think he was healthy scratched in the playoffs. Someone told me but he's having a really good year and you know

what I clearly hasn't left the Ducks radar and ultimately he's decided it's time to give it a shot. So his name is Archim Galimov and I've heard he's going to be signing with the Ducks pretty soon. Other than that, I don't know a lot here. All right, perfect. So with that then Elliot, that'll set up the final thought brought to you by GMC. And yeah, why don't we reflect one final time on Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada from Canmore and four terrific games on the network starting with Ottawa and Boston and then it was Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Winnipeg and we

spoke at length about Edmonton and Vancouver. I don't know where you want to start here. Well let's start with Montreal because you were there and you said it was an awesome night. So it had been thinking back to Hockey Day in Canada in 2019 so I think that was in February that year so it was a little bit later on in the season but it was a similar scenario to what we had on Saturday where the Leafs were very much locked into a playoff spot and the Canadians were right in the middle of the pack and were very much in contention. Remember that year it went

right down to the wire and they just missed out. I think the second to last day of the season. They missed the cut line there for getting into one of the wild card spots. But anyway, so that I remember that night the atmosphere was incredible. That was John DeVars' first season with Toronto. He scored the winner in overtime that night. It was just a good back and forth game. Anyway, I haven't felt that kind of anticipation right from the moment you wake up in Montreal Saturday. Go for a walk in the morning after breakfast and already it's 8 30 in the morning and you see the jerseys walking around town and the crowds only grew bigger We had a group of minor hockey players in our pregame hit

There was a huge can am minor hockey tournament going on in the city as well So I gotta say Kyle like four of those kids looked like they could be your child No, I don't think the math works. Why the hell would you say that? How old were those kids? They were U14s and so it was... How old are you? 31. That could work. Well, I suppose it could, but I can assure you it didn't in this case. It does not. I would like to state for the record it could work but it does not. Yes, no they were they were great. They were really good and and Liam the the one Terrier I spoke to it was very well spoken it was funny so they came in and

they said so how's the tournament going and they're like oh we don't want to talk about it and so as I said I was well I got to ask you how the tournament's going and one of his teammates was like coaching him he's like just say that it's it's been going well so far that we you know We're working hard like don't give him anything more than that like his teammates are trying to tell him what to say They don't want to give away the fact that they haven't been happy with the results, but anyway It was just all good funny it all led to the the whole lead up to to the game itself and the crowd was just

Incredible and I like that Craig Borube said after the game that you know it was they could feel it too beforehand and they had said to the players that you know this this was not just another game this was more than that it was a big one for Toronto even Brendan Gallagher beforehand made the comment that you know it's been a while since you know that matchup has meant this much this late into the year and it was well on its way to a classic up until I guess the last 10 minutes or so the third period as Toronto pulled away there but that was another you know special scene to be a part of for Hockey Day in Canada remote as opposed to you, being there in Canmore on the day,

but fortunate we got a few days there prior to that. So it was a good game. I mean, the Bobby McMahon story, I mean, talk about- That was great. AJHL, the white tape. Yes, getting Matthew Nye's stick off the bench, and that's what kickstarted the comeback for Toronto. And credit our crew in the truck that, you know,

was able to find an angle that showed it and put it all together to help tell the sequence of events and the great look of him on the bench afterwards he's going all right yeah that was great but I need my stick back with the black tape you know we'll get into stick preferences a little later on in the thought line but that was a really good prime time matchup from Montreal Elliott What was some of the highlights from you in general over the course of your four days in the mountains? Well, let's go before we get to that did simmer go to Stokeys. It was he was he there on the weekend Not that I know of I think him and I got in decently late Friday

But then he actually hosted a number of us to watch the the Edmonton Vancouver game in his hotel room so that's nice when we saw the double cross checks not it's nicer so good night good night for the for you guys sitting there yes it was good pizza was going those are good nights it was fun it was fun after you know it's been a long week of course and it was good to just just hang with our crew because it's not often especially you know, it's been a long week of course and it was good to just just hang with our crew because it's not often especially you know the weekends we're in Toronto so much of our production crew lives locally so naturally our

colleagues will go home afterwards and it'll just be Craig and I sitting at the bar watching the late game so to have more of us around was a nice treat. Yeah that's that's awesome like we had a lot of chance to sit together and talk, um, in the, in our hotel lobby and they had the hotel lobby had a great fire, like an actual wood fire going and a Saturday night after the game, we all sat down in there. It was, it was awesome. I liked those moments too. That's that's a teamwork, teamwork and teammates.

You really like that before we go on to talk about Kenmore we should mention you know after the Canadians absolutely fell apart over the last 40 minutes of Saturday's game they played a great game on Sunday against the Rangers coming back from four one goal deficits to beat them in overtime. Just an unbelievable fight between Jacki and Rempey. Just like a tough, mean, like that felt like, you talked about that Saturday night game having that late season playoff feel. That Sunday game against the Rangers

felt like a playoff game as well. It was terrific for them. And it was interesting, I was talking to someone after the game Saturday, and we were remarking on, trying to put our finger on what happened to them against the Maple Leafs. And they were saying, like, you look at the schedule that they have had, it was almost Western Conference-like with the road trips that they had been on and continuing to pile up points and even you and I when we were in Canberra Thursday night looking at ourselves going holy smokes they just went into Dallas and beat them in regulation too

and the feeling of you know what's interesting too with what they saw a couple times the Canadians have done this where they take you know a full day off the ice the day before a game. And so that was Friday. And then Saturday, like no morning skate. Really? Yes. Who were the team Canada World Juniors? Oh boy. Couple guys, I think went on, I think Jake Evans was one the two goalies went on but there was no not even like an optional. There's

nothing and so they did that also before when they hosted Vancouver a couple weeks ago and beat them in overtime. Anyway, this person just making the point to me, you know, everyone was kind of wondering, because they have been grinding out incredible results, gutsy efforts against really tough opponents, when was the energy level going to drop? And I think we saw that as the game went on against Toronto, like once they got rolling, they just didn't have the legs to match it. Certainly that third period, the Maple Leafs completely took that thing over, but they found their legs again on Sunday to not go away against the Rangers. Like it's, it's been a great game. to not go away against the Rangers. Like it's it's been a great game. That was that was one of the better games I've seen this year.

Yeah. When you get when that happens to you, you get off the mat. You come back from one goal down four times and you win. That's and that Doe Bush looked phenomenal. He made a couple of great saves in over time. But that's yeah, that's that's a gutsy, gutsy win. And, you know, you look at it now now, some of those games over the weekend, like the Ottawa-Boston game, the first 10 minutes, I thought Ottawa was going to win 8-0,

swim and save them. And then I couldn't believe that Boston blew that game late. And just like Dobish that that Maryland and like the stare down he gave to Posternak and the shootout he's he saved them like you know just as Dobish has kind of helped save Montreal season Maryland has saved Ottawa season I mean you look at the wild card now Boston has

been passed in points percentage by the Canadians the Blue Jackets and the Senators. Now, the Canadians are outside the playoff spot right now. They're one point behind Columbus and two by Ottawa. But you know, the seeing the Bruins there at 532 and those three teams have a game in hand and it's still lots of runway to play. But that was a bad loss for Boston.

It's exciting a game that was and it was just great hockey. That was a bad loss for the Bruins, a great comeback for Ottawa. I mean Sanderson, what did he stop? Two into the empty net late in that game? He stopped two chances. As good as Maryland is, Sanderson was the best goalie the Sanders had on Saturday. Then they won Sunday in New Jersey with Kachak getting the karma points for saying that that stick didn't hit them. So it's- Paging the Kyle McCarroll's book. Yeah, that bottom of the bottom playoff spots in the East. And the thing about this too is Columbus

is coming into Toronto this week. And everybody is rooting for them. Everybody is rooting for them. Like I root for the Canadian teams. There's a chance for seven Canadian teams to be in the playoffs. I'm all for that. It's tough to root against Columbus right now. How can anybody will not want Columbus to do well?

But absolutely Montreal I give them a lot of credit and we should mention the flames too Like the flames are probably can more's favorite team among the NHL among the people who live there and they grinded out a really really nice win over winnipeg like winnipeg's been hot they've beaten some good teams they were really skating rings around people and wolf has been fantastic as we mentioned early but i think coronado early but I think Coronado like to me Coronado is is just another guy who you were looking at him and you're saying he's carving out a spot and I think there's a lot of teams have kind of said to Craig Conroy you know if you if you

if you think about doing something with this guy or you think about doing something with that guy Let us know and I think that's kind of the way he's saying it Like if if we do decide to do something well, he'll start calling people and seeing you know, what's out there But the longer this goes on The less he's gonna be inclined to make that phone call the less he's going to be inclined to make that phone call. Like you know, it's interesting, like we had the comments about Anderson that I think they want to sign him. And there's some, you know, there's some Flames fans who are like, you know, it's going to be 30 years old, you don't want to do it.

I don't know, I don't know, I understand what the Flames are thinking here. You know, they've had a bit of a history lately of people leaving their team. You know, you're doing that as much to send a message that you can keep people. Like I look at this whole thing with Seth Jones in Chicago right now. You know, Chicago's really struggling. You know, Jones had a bad game last week. All of a sudden, you know, you're talking about do you want to move them? Is he available? It would be a really complicated deal

but you know Connor Murphy's hurt again and the thing about a guy like Seth Jones is Chicago like you They're gonna start turning it over to even more of their younger players I think but you do need veterans, think. But you do need veterans. You know, you do need veterans, some veterans there. And if you're looking at Bidart and how disappointed and despondent he is, um, you know, we've, we've talked about how hard it is to get top players to come back to your team when you're not doing well.

Yeah. Jones has some flaws like every player does but Who's gonna take his role if he's gone? Like you're not are you getting anybody else out there who can at least shelter some of your young players and Allow them to break into the NHL the way you need them to break in. I don't know that you have that So I like I understand what the flames are thinking here I understand why the Blackhawks wouldn't be too eager to move on from Jones now if Jones gets frustrated and you know wants to go Somewhere where he can win. That's a a different story but i could look at the

i could see the blackhawks saying this after and saying you know are we really gonna is there a trade for jones that's gonna make us better at a point where people aren't exactly beating down the door to come play for us same thing with with Caligreen Anderson. I think sometimes we forget about that kind of thing. Yeah. No, it's a very good point and he distracted me briefly from the weekend in Canmore to make all those excellent notes but I've got to go back to the biathlon. We didn't give it all up when we talked on Thursday to the live show because we wanted to wait for the segment to air. Now you have a chance to completely describe the scene, what happened, and how it got away.

So it was Kevin and myself. First of all, it was a great experience. I loved it. I loved every second of it. And our coaches were Scott and Christian Gao, who are Canadian Olympic biathletes, their brothers. Scott is, he's 34 and Christian is 31. And Christian was Kevin's coach and he didn't have to do a lot of coaching but Scott had to do a lot of coaching with me. So as I mentioned last week I went up to Horseshoe Valley which is just north of Toronto for those of you who don't know it's about an hour north of Toronto and on Tuesday the day before I left for Canmore I went cross-country skiing for an hour just because I hadn't been a long time and I wanted to get the base and I wanted to shout out Katie and Heather who were working at Horseshoe Valley

Who set me up with the rentals and after it was over? Gave me some tea because I think they felt like I'd spent too much time on the ground or something like that Very nice people and I loved it. I had a great time But I did the classic skiing, right? I guess there's two ways to do cross-country skiing the classic and the skate skiing and Scott and Christian are more the skate skiing and I just haven't done it in a long time. And it's not like hockey skating, it's like speed skating. You don't push back, you more push to the side.

And in the three hour window we had to do this, I just didn't have enough time. Plus that snow there on the course that Little Littleth made, it was really fast. I just couldn't control myself. So I said, I don't care how much Kevin is going to be able to out-ski me. I've got to do well on the shooting. And we practiced. So basically, we went around the course twice, and we shot twice. And they had the penalty box, which was hilarious. Those were great visuals.

That was a nice touch. So the last time I practiced, it's it's five targets. You get five shots to hit five targets. The last time we practiced, Kevin went four for five and I went five for five and the and I was going pretty slowly. Kevin was going faster than I I was going pretty slowly to keep my breath. So then the first time, so when the race starts, Kevin, and by the way, I got to tell you the spandex, I thought it would be thermal spandex. Kyle, it was not like I was freezing. Yeah. Like I was wearing long underwear.

I had that vest on, but it was cold. And they explained because you work up so much energy, you sweat, if it was thermal, you just wouldn't be able to do it. So it was a lot colder than I thought it was going to be. And I'll say this, like I have a much improved physique, the world is still not ready for me yet in full spandex. Let me just say that. But so Kevin was much. So the first lap, Kevin was much faster. But he, he made four out

of five. So there's a penalty. So he had to go in the penalty box, I caught him. And then I went five out of five. So he was stuck in the penalty box and I went around and the first time on one of the turns I slipped and on the second time I did it clean. I wasn't moving that fast, not as fast as him, but I was doing the classic skiing and I did it clean and I was in control. Like I had him beat and it just got to me in the sense that I couldn't get my heart rate down. I was excited. I was full of adrenaline.

We already think of what your post-match cry to the nation was. Yeah. Your Jason Tatum moment. Yes. So I was just, I completely lost focus. I absolutely did. And I hit the first shot. So I hit 11 in a row and then I couldn't get my, you have to be able to control your breathing.

And the one thing that Scott mentioned to me that I had done really well that I completely fell apart on was that you should always hold your breath as you're about to shoot. Always. And I just, I lost it. I missed four in a row. So I had to sit in the penalty box. Kevin came down the clutch, hit five out of five and he won. Now I had to sit in the penalty box, I think for like eight minutes because each penalty was like two minutes and They let me out after a while Kevin waited near the finish line. I think partially D. Hamley who was the producer And Kelsey Scobie who was also there producing I think they wanted the Visual of it being close, but Kevin should have won by a mile because I'd gotten such a bad penalty. But we made it close and then at the end I was just, I was a real suck about it. I was a real poor sport.

Oh, you were crestfallen. There's no question about it. No, I was not crestfallen. I was mad. Okay. Like I choked. Like it was terrible. It was just, it was bad. Like I was not crestfallen. I was furious that I had this upset in my hands and I just lost it like someone said to me after I think it was Dee Hambly the producer she said to me I had no idea you were that competitive and I was like I thought I should have won so I was I

was really angry. It made for great television though. And the fact that he brought the sunglasses back at the end of the night, it was a great bookend to the 25th anniversary of Scotia Vague Hockey Day in Canada. Really great. Yeah, I gotta tell you, like I told Steph and I would love to, like, I would love to make it a regular activity.

I don't think Max is ready for the shooting yet, but like just to go cross country skiing every week. Great idea. You know, what's amazing here, over on the Gatineau side, even in the summer, like the cross country skiers, I mean, they still train so they had they're basically like in line skis. And they oh yeah, trek themselves up the hills, like the paved hills in Gatineau. It's incredible to watch and

then ski down afterwards. So that could be you after a few more practices. I gotta tell you I had a great time. Everything but the last four shots was fantastic. There we go. Well with that, that was the final thoughts or thoughts. There are a few of them. Presented by GMC. We'll take our first break and come back with the Thoughtline. You are listening to 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Okay, welcome back. Time now for the Thoughtline. It was a jammed inbox of submissions to sift

through for Griffin Porter and myself here, Elliot, after we went live with the Thoughtline at the end of last week during our time in Canmore. And actually, before we get to today's submissions, I wanted to shout out, so at the end of the show, Elliot, we got a chance to meet a number of the people that came and listened and took in our show and the guests that we had on, and got a chance to meet Steve and Destiny of Anvil Coffee Collective in Salmon Arm. coffee as well, including so this afternoon for a little pick-me-up I had the special rotation Ethiopia Guji pour-over styles. It hit the spot so I just wanted to say thank you kindly to them and everyone we got a chance to say hi to after the show. Yeah I didn't get any so you can say hi I'm not going to. You're more bitter about this than blowing the biathlon. It's equal. No, so the coffee was good? Very good, yes. Good. So Anvil Coffee Collective and Sam and Armand, I believe they have another location in Sycamore, so thank you, you two, for that. All right, well the first submission we have here today, Elliot, is with you in mind.

Well, the first submission we have here today Elliot is with you in mind And there's a tie-in to can more. Okay, so here we go. So sad and emotionally sacked That's the title we were given for this one. So this person first talks about his lifelong Trials and tribulations as a Vikings fan just like you know, man brings up kicker Gary Anderson Championship, oh the anniversary was this week Scott Loughlin was taught was bringing it up to me that jerk So for those that aren't aware he shanked a gimme a 39 yards after previously making 122 consecutive field goals. So what are you doing? Oh my God.

Hold on. He submitted this. Okay. So, Sadden emotionally sack goes on to say, Why do I discuss such difficult memories? Well, in the autumn of 2006, on a trip with my now-wife, we were on a winter getaway in the Rockies, which included a visit to my wife's aunt in Canmore. Okay. So, in Canmore. Okay.

So in Canmore and learning the lay of the land, my wife's aunt uttered the words, uh, Gary Anderson lives there. He used to play football or something. He was a kicker. What? And I was instantly on the ground in the fetal position. So he says, I feel like a 32 thoughts taping in Canmore that does not include a field trip for Elliott to rid the demons of the missed kick of 1998 was a wasted opportunity. Maybe the best smudging

could be comprised of Elliott pelting the Anderson residents with 39 yard field goals from the streets straight down the pike. Something Gary was not able to accomplish when it counted most. Kyle will obviously need to hold the ball or perhaps fabricate an impromptu place kick tee from hair product. I don't see any other pathway to closure and there are no bad ideas in brainstorming. Laces out Kyle, laces out. Great movie Ace Ventura, Pet Detective. I wish I would have known that. I guarantee you that's right we need this a week ago. I wouldn't have done anything bad That's not the way I would do anything But I would have loved to have somehow done something if Gary Anderson lives there and he was willing

I would have loved to have done something Alright, well, maybe if we go back there for the 50th anniversary of hockey day We can try to make that happen. Yeah, I'll be, they'll have long fired me by then. We're bringing you out of retirement just for that one moment and promptly placing you back there. You have to return your severance, we are bringing you back into the organization, yes. Okay, so hockey stuff.

Jeff from San Jose. Hi, Kyle, Elliot and Dom. Love the pod and appreciate all the Sharks content. Question inspired by some of the equipment talk on the last few pods in my amateur career in hockey and lacrosse. Is a player allowed to change sticks mid game that have different specs? Specifically, thinking for shorter guy like Mario Ferraro would swap his stick for a Chara-sized one while penalty-killing,

having max length and width and the biggest blade possible to get sticks and lanes to cover more ground, seems like it might be worth the stick handling awkwardness trade-off for at least defensemen on the PK. Other examples would be a pass-first guy going with a different lie for a shootout, a more friendly face-off curve if you're playing center versus the wing, and he goes on and on. Maybe I'm crazy and taking it too far, but hearing about how Patti Marlowe would change skates every period, maybe I'm not. Well, I think

basically the most plain answer is, so long as the length and size of the stick is within the NHL rules, there's nothing against players swapping mid-game. I just don't know of any that would like to do so because so many are so finicky. Yeah, as far as I understand, as long as your stick is legal, you can do whatever you want. And you know, there are players who had quote unquote power play sticks before. You know, I think I've told the story before, but there was an NHL team that believe that, you know, there was opponent if he went for a certain stick with a

certain taping on it, that it was an illegal step. And they always kept that in mind. You know, I remember the one I remember and it wasn't a game was because I was able to hold it and I just never forget how it felt in my hand when she Weber was still in Nashville and won the hardest shot competition at the All-Star game when it was in Tennessee. at the All-Star game when it was in Tennessee, he had a stick, especially made for that. And I think it was a 122 flex, if I remember correctly, it was like holding a crowbar. Yes. Yeah. And he for the longest time, there was a certain model of Bauer that like, even though it was well

passed that they were actually making them retail, it was well the one that he actually liked and I think he He was able to sweet talk the the reps there at Bauer to continually have that stick made for him for as long as they Possibly could because he didn't want to switch and stiffness certainly was a part of that. That's outstanding Yeah, so I think I think you've got it as long as the stick is legal. No problem All right. Up next, Peter. Hi, Elliot, Kyle, and Dom.

Elliot reported a few weeks ago that Yesi Pulya-Yarvy was on waivers and cleared. He was not immediately sent down and played in four more games. So my question is, can players clear waivers at the start of a season and be sent down whenever? Or is there a limit? Thanks for the podcast.

Yes, it's 10 games or 30 days. If you have cleared waivers and they keep you up there, then once you play 10 games or you've been on the roster for 30 days, you have to clear waivers again. And one of the ways, I'll give you an example of how that was manipulated recently, when the Maple Leafs were calling up Matt Murray on an emergency basis, it meant that he was only accumulating it on game days. Right, so he'd send them down in between. Yes, well it was also because it was an emergency situation. So it was only on a game day

that he would pick up the dates. So even if he was up longer than just game days, it only counted as a day on a game day. So in that situation, if a player is up on them for emergency reasons, there's even more flexibility for it. And so, but that's the general answer. Ten games or 30 days, and then the player has to clear waivers again. Very good. Alright, Sean up next. Hi boys, this is the original Triangle Guy. Oh Sean, a wings fan in Denver. One of those moments, eh? You send something in and jest and it

completely takes over a podcast for months. It's going to be on the tombstone, Triangle Guy. Yes. Oh, I can't wait for that. Here Lies Triangle Guy. That's very good. And just the dinging. Like on mine, it's going to be like, Here Lies Biathlon Loser. Like that's what's going to happen.

That's right. Sour Elliot. That's right. Okay, Sean. Wings fan in Denver. Yes, I have a real question for you. Watching Utah versus San Jose, San Jose calls a timeout. They're down 2-1 with a minute to go. They had just gotten a call and they pulled their goalie, so they had a two-man advantage. The San Jose coaches are drawing up a play on a handheld whiteboard, with a two-man advantage. They're going to be playing a two-man advantage.

They're going to be playing a two-man advantage. They're going to be playing a two-man advantage. They're going to be playing a two-man advantage. They're going to be playing a two-man advantage. They're going to be playing a two-man advantage. They're going to be playing a two-man advantage. They're going to be playing a two-man advantage. They're going to be playing a two-man advantage.

They're going to be playing a two-man advantage. They're going to be playing a two-man advantage. They're going to be playing a two-man advantage. They're going to be playing a two-man advantage. They're going to be playing a two-man advantage. They're going to be playing a two-man advantage. They're going to be playing a two-man advantage. They're going to be playing a two-man advantage. They're going to be playing a two- and they pulled their goalie so they had a two-man advantage. The San Jose coaches are drawing up a play on a handheld whiteboard watching the Utah feed and the announcer says I can see their whiteboard from here it's a quick pass to the short side off the

face-off or something like that but describing exactly what they're drawing. I thought that was bizarre an announcer describing the whiteboard of the other team? Some Utah staff could have heard it on a feed. I don't know. Would that ruffle feathers, or is there enough of a delay where it wouldn't matter? Any hockey stories featuring announcers helping their teams? Boy, that is a great question.

And I was right in the middle of one. I can't remember if it was the 2006 Western Conference Final or the 2007 Stanley Cup Final. I think it was the 2006 Western Conference Final where the Ducks lost to Edmonton but we showed the Anaheim bench while they were drawing up a final play and you could see the play on the whiteboard and After the game Brian Burke who was the GM of the Ducks at the time. He was furious oh boy and as you know with Burke he can sometimes take these things slightly personally and

He said he would not cooperate with us again, and he was angry So before the next game we asked for a for a pre tape with Randy Carlisle, who was the coach in the Ducks at the time. And I think we did it partially because it was newsworthy, but also partially because we wanted to see how seriously the Ducks were taking Berkey's ban. So they asked for him and he agreed to do it, but he came out like just sneering at me. And then the first question, I think he answered it like really obnoxiously short. And then he started laughing. Like he was like, I can't keep a straight face. And then I said, oh, so you're not bothered by this? He says, No, no, no, it's, it's all good.

So it was kind of like, I didn't tell Berkey that I kept my mouth shut because I didn't want Brian to get mad at Carlisle for any reason, like, Hey, I'm mad at them here. Like, you're not taking my anger seriously. But it became very obvious to me that that Carlisle did not take this as seriously as Burke did. So that but that was one situation like Burke was really angry about it. I have to say it would be interesting to me because some teams are different than others. I could see teams saying we don't like that. I could see I could see one or two teams not caring, but I could see a bunch of teams saying,

you know what, there should be a limit of how your team is talking about us on your broadcast. That I could definitely see in terms of, you know, like how would you feel if we did the same thing to you? Would you feel as good or as charitable as we do about it? I think some teams would get really angry about it I think the one thing about things like the Amazon show or the road to the winter classic is all that stuff airs later I know back in my NBA days. I saw freak out at a game when The Raptors were playing I can't remember who they

were playing, but the Raptors assistant coach, it was a big time out late in the game and a Raptors assistant coach was staring at the other team's bench trying to see if he could pick up what play they were going to run and the other team saw him and they freaked freaked out and so that and that was a while ago like that's 30 years ago but I think it depends on the team and the individual and the situation but like I said I have been in a spot before where that's been a problem and I I do know that there are teams that in the moment would be very angry about that. Yeah, I remember one of my first years working at hockey

night and in a playoff series. And there was a coach that we had shown. I don't know if it was drawn up play specifically, but just interacting with his players, interacting with coaches. And you can kind of do a bit of lip reading from time to time. And I don't even think it was a case where we were trying to make a guess of what they were saying or what the discussions were about but I remember the next day

their PR coming to our producer and saying you know our coach is very upset of how often you're you're showing them and I think and to our producer's credit just said well like he's in the field of play and I thought that was the the right reaction there from it but when you're And I thought that was the right reaction there from it. But when you're introducing whiteboards and picking up what they're drawing up, it's a bit of a different argument altogether. And especially as you say, like the balance between are you a team broadcaster, are you a national broadcaster,

do you tend to be slanting your coverage one way over the other? Certainly from a national perspective, you're just trying to tell the whole story of what's going on in a given game but there's always going to be like the other thing too I mean this is different from drawing up plays Elliot but you know like those POV cams in the hallways right I mean sometimes you get great great images like we just had the anniversary of the Calgary Vancouver line brawl but there's other times

certainly you know like with injuries of players being hobbled off there's rules about you can't go to those cameras in moments like that so there is there is some unwritten rules and also some hardened rules when it comes to broadcasting the game and trying to tell the story regardless of you know which network or team you're associated with. Yes the interview thing is a good one because I do remember that on those cameras We were told you can't do that back when I was still a sideline reporter and you make the point about the field of play too Very well, but again, I saw the other side Like I just think in general people in the game are gonna have to realize that fans want more intrusive stuff and

the NHL sent out an email about a year ago where they talked about people are gonna have to come to grips with this and I've generally agreed about the field of play argument and I used that once on a coach I I think I actually said that to Berkey at that time like Berkey it's out there and he said yeah but the visiting team can't see it maybe the fans behind the vent bench can but it's the visiting team doesn't have access to that and that was one of his arguments against it I mean like I just said I think we're moving towards a day where there's less and less privacy ever but that doesn't mean that some people still aren't going to freak

out about it if they feel it's being violated. Like I'll tell you another thing I knew one that was a big issue recently was that like there was one guy who said to me that while you annoy me referring not to you but to me Kyle while you annoy me at least you're talking about like every team's business he said what bothered him was that he said there's a there's a general manager of a team who hates when information gets out on his team and will get upset when somebody breaks news about his team but he's got somebody on his team and will get upset when somebody breaks news about his team, but he's got somebody on his broadcast talking about everybody else's business.

And he said, like, what's that? So yeah, so, you know, like, I, like, I don't get upset at this stuff. I think we're all trying to make the broadcast as good as we can. We're all trying to make them as informative as we can and I think people need to relax and only you have to I really believe in life you save your bullets right like the less you fly off the handle or the less you rip someone when you do it it carries more weight right. I've always believed that and I think there are some people who just get mad at too many things. Sean, good to hear from you again.

Thank you for all the Triangle Sean as you are now known. Okay up next, Mike, first off quick thanks for all the many hours of enjoyment listening to the pod. I'm an East Coast Sharks fan. Lots of Sharks flavor here on the thought line today. We have one that works at the gym we go to. Big Sharks fan. Oh yeah? Yeah. He says, uh, Freage acronym SOS right now.

That's pretty good. I may have to use that. You know what? Chris Jastremsky of TNT, he gave me CIA for Chicago and I forgot to do it so I have to do it another time. It was a great one. I felt bad. He was like, he sent me a tweet.

He's like, what happened to CIA? I'm like, oh God, I forgot. I'm sorry. Plenty of season left. So Mike goes, he's had the pleasure of watching Joe Pavelski over the years as an elite tipper. I wanted to know who do you think is the best tipper in the league right now? How about the best puck tippers of all time? It's always crazy to see a player have so much control over where the puck goes with

so many variables. All the best in 2025 and shout out to Coach Halco. I know you are listening too. Yes, as the commercial says, Elliot, tipping is out of control these days. You know, by the way, you know what I meant to ask you? Did someone tell you to ask Lin say they're about tipping? Yes, we just ran out of time.

I know. A whole bunch of stories I wanted to get to with him. Apparently he's one of those people that thinks tipping culture is out of control as well. Yes. Someone asked if the tipping came up. Yes, someone did ask. Yes, apparently when he first got to New York

to work for the Rangers, he made that very clear. Right away. But tipping, when it comes to bucks. I gotta say, I'm a good tipper. I pride myself on being a good tipper, but I think it's out of control now too. How do you feel? Yeah, I'm with you. Like when you get a cab ride in the city and it's like, would you like 25%, 35%, 640%?

And I'm like, what? All right. Well, I mean, Pavelski, I think would go down as the best. Yep. Thomas Holm. Crosby's incredible. Crosby's fantastic. Yeah. One of the other names for current guys too is Chris Crider.

Yep. I put him there. I had a conversation with him about it once and he was saying like he knows you know all of his defensemen their tendencies in terms of which guys tend to keep the point shots low which tend to go stick side or blocker side on the goalie like he's got a book on his own defenseman to kind of anticipate where the shot's gonna be headed when he's parked out in in front of of the net so it's unbelievable the homework he does on his

own teammates to say nothing of all the work that goes into putting himself into the right position and timing it and the hand-eye coordination of course is off the charts as well so he would be one I'd put into the current great tippers. I would say a Pavelsky and Crosby would be my guys. Yeah. Patrick Horne quiz to in his heyday. Horne quiz was just an incredible player like around the net. Right. unbelievable player. Right. Well, just even this the cup winning goal in Nashville and 70. I mean, it

was shot off the backboards, but even the the cup winning goal in Nashville in seventeen. I mean, it was I mean, it was shot off the backboards but just the the quick hands and tight to kind of redirected in behind Pecorino tells you a lot about how good he was around the net two to your point, Elliot. Very good. Good question, Mike. Thank you. Alright. Bill's Chiefs. That's a final. Yeah. I was saying to Don beforehand that if the Bills are finally gonna do this I think it's only fitting they've got to go through the Chiefs and the the AFC Championship. And the referees. Boy I gotta

tell you I was sitting there I couldn't watch the games on Saturday because you know obviously we're busy doing our hockey game, Canada stuff, but that conspiracy went full blown and the Texans, they were just throwing gasoline on the fire. Those guys, they were going out there, they're like, we lost, we don't care. I'm just here so I don't get fined. Like they were going out there.

They were feeding the frenzy. It's going to be a week of NFL officiating discourse. Beautiful. Well, we have one more here, Elliot. Okay. Yeah. A little bit longer just because we were backed up with our live show last week. It's a voicemail.

Kyle from Georgina Island. Hi, Dom Griffin and company. It's Kyle from Georgina Island calling in. I've grown up a huge Leaf fan, but I've also enjoyed following the Stahl brothers careers, specifically Jordan Stahl. As he's closing in on his career 700 points, I was looking at his stats

and realized he's never had a season with greater than 50 points. He had exactly 50 in 2011, 2012, but he's never had more. So my question is, which player has the most career points with never having a single season over 50 points? I find it hard to believe that it's not Jordan,

but I figured you guys know best. Thank you, love the pod, go Leafs, go. So this is kind of in the same vein, remember that- Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I think I have a new nickname. For who? Company.

What? Well, you see how you how Kyle opened or me and you have a new nickname company he said I I don't Griffin and company yes led with the headliners we are we are now company 32 32's. Kyle and Elliot the company with Dom and Griffin. That's pretty funny. Boy that's a great question. Yeah so it was kind of on the same ilk as I was saying about Pavelski a couple weeks ago. Remember most points without ever going over a point per game. Yes. And this is most career points without being more than 50 points. So Jordan stall is in the mix. He is second overall all time. First among

active players. Okay. Do you have any idea who has the most thinking and 731 career points? Is it a defenseman nope it is a forward okay that was my first question immediately was are we talking about a defenseman a forward was 731 points how many years did this player play can you tell me wait a sec hold on is it Bob Ganey it It's not. Okay. So I think Bob Ganey's high was like 47. So this player like 22 years in the NHL. Wow. Long time. As you would think. Yeah I was right Bob Ganey's high was 47 but he only had 501. So he played 22 years in the NHL. Yes.

Three times Stanley Cup champion. And recently inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame. Matt Cullen didn't play 22 years. Yes he did because he's the answer. Is it Matt Colin? It is. Oh my God. I just, I got it right and disrespected him in the same sense.

You are the ultimate backwards falling somersault into the correct answer. That is so on brand for me. I can't tell you. I, I, that is just me in a nutshell, trying to compliment someone and accidentally dissing them. Right. Yeah. He first played back in 97, 98. I didn't realize he played 22 years. Yeah. I knew he played a long time. I knew we got a lot of points And a handful of cups. Yes. So he's first at 731, Jordan Stahl, Eric Nestorenko at 574, Doug Harvey was fourth, and tied for fifth Ron Stewart and Sam Gagne at 529 apiece.

Wow. Well, I'm really proud of myself and mortified all at the same time. You've done it again, Frej. You've done it again. Kyle, thank you for the new nickname and the submission. I'd just like to, when we can, wrap up with a little bit of trivia. That'll do it for another edition of the Thought Line. A reminder, if you would like to leave a voicemail, 1-833-311-3232 or 32thoughtsatsportsnet.ca is where you can send your email. We'll take one more break and conclude the pod when we come back to 32 Thoughts. the as we wrap up some things to keep an eye on the network this week games wise a Tuesday night Detroit and Philly seven Eastern for Pacific that can be seen

nationally on Sportsnet one Scotiabank Wednesday night hockey the Columbus Blue Jackets one of the great stories of the NHL season to this point they are in Toronto to face the Maple Leafs battle gets underway with David Amber and company at seven o'clock Eastern, four Pacific. Game time, 30 minutes past that from Scotia Bank Arena. Only so many hours in a day, and we appreciate you once again spending a few of them with us.

We'll talk to you again on Friday.