32 Thoughts: The Podcast - “Crossroads” With Kaleb Dahlgren

Episode Date: March 19, 2021

The Buffalo Sabres have parted ways with head coach Ralph Krueger. Jeff and Elliotte discuss why the team made the move (00:01), question if Zoom media availabilities add to the negativity around the club, which players are untouchable going into the trade deadline, and if the new coaching staff can help Rasmus Dahlin get out […]

It goes to the far corner. Gehr tried to center it. Tipped away by Magnus into the left of the net. Chased into the corner by Don. Loose, loose. Throwing it behind the net. Makita up on the right boards. Taken by Cliff Corral.

Turns in the face-off circle to the right of the Chicago net. Ahead to Makita at center. Makita comes to the Buffalo line. Couldn't get by. Deflected a whimsy at his own blue line. Back at center. Outside the line. The long shot off the corner boards.

Gehr goes in. Out he scores! Danny Gehr! Taking the puck off the corner boards. Rare goes in after he scores! Danny Gare! Taking the puck off the corner boards. Raced in through the face-off circle. And let it drive. Go in the short time from 25 feet away. Leading Tony Esposito and the Buffalo Sabres.

Score their first goal of playoff competition here in 1974-75 season. Elliot, that's my voice. That's my hockey voice. Ted Darling, original pay-by-play voice, Buffalo Sabres. You remember that show, The Littlest Hobo? Of course. The theme song is written by a guy by the name of Terry Bush. There's a voice that keeps on calling me.

That's the opening line. And the voice that keeps on calling me, the one that I will always have with me when it comes to buffalo sabres hockey and maybe just hockey in general because i still hear the voice as clear as a bell as when i was a kid is ted darling's voice so like you i grew up in southwestern ontario so the two most accessible teams to watch were the toronto maple leafs and the buffalo sabres and this is the era of the French connection, right? And this is the era of Danny Gare and Peter McNabb and Craig Ramsey, Jim Lorenz and the Bats, Jerry King Kong Korab and Jim Schoenfeld, Edwards and Sove can go on and on and on and on.

I don't cheer for teams, but part of me every year really wants the Buffalo Sabres to do well. Like I really want, and maybe it's just a childhood thing. You know, what was it that the US gymnast Mary Lou Retton once said, trophies carry dust, but memories last forever. I always love that line from her because my memories of the Buffalo Sabres are vivid and that voice is vivid. I just want the Sabres always to do well. Not that I would necessarily cheer for them. I just think the NHL to me is a better place. And maybe it's all just nostalgia when Buffalo is a good team.

A couple of things from there. Number one, of all of the things I was expecting on this podcast, a Mary Lou Retton reference was not among them. You like that one? That was very very good i have to tell you i'm having my 1984 los angeles olympic flashback great gymnast i think it's saber dance yes and again like you said we're southwestern ontario guys so we would get the sabers games occasionally on channel two WGRZ with Ted Darling. Yep.

And I remember the Boston pops version, Arthur Fiedler. And, uh, I, I gained, I gained a love of that kind of music, uh,

because I heard Sabre dance on the opening of Buffalo Sabres games. And I'm with you on the Sabres too, because I think they're an important franchise for the league because they're a driver, you know, whether or not the Sabres are playing their TV numbers are great. It's one of the few markets where, you know,

if a Stanley cup final doesn't involve Buffalo, you know, the numbers in the market are going to be great because they love their hockey. Philadelphia, Ed Snyder. He always took a lot of pride in saying, we're the seventh team in the original six. Well, I would say Buffalo would qualify in that kind of area too. So maybe Philly came in first, they're seventh, but Buffalo could be eighth.

I think they're that powerful a team and a market in the league. So I agree with all of those things that you say. So Kevin Adams fires Rolf Kruger on Wednesday. Steve Smith gets fired as well. Don Granato comes in interim capacity. Matt Ellis, Dan Girardi on the bench as well. And you saw the Kevin Adams media availability. I mean, you saw the press conference.

Did it feel like he had been put in a corner, 12 losses, no other choice but to do this? You had to do something. You had to do something. You know, one of the things I was thinking, to be honest, was should they do media anymore? Because it's so acrimonious? I don't see it benefiting anyone.

Like Sam Reinhardt, I'm watching him after they lose that game, 6-0 to Washington. And, you know, first of all, you have to answer the questions. The worst moment of my career, as I was getting worldwide requests to talk about how I fucked up that Olympic race, you know, I said to myself, you can't rhyme. You have to answer the questions. You have to face the music. And I did every interview that was requested of me. And I believe that that's what you have to do. But in Buffalo with every game, it's been getting more and more acrimonious, right? Yep.

And I just think you reach a point where, I have to say, I've never seen it like this before. Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe there have been situations where the relationship between a team and its media is bad. But because it's all on Zoom now and we're all watching it, it just seemed like the worst one I've ever seen. And I'm not just that particular one, but like just the whole relationship. And I was just looking at this and I'm saying, who is this healthy for? Who's benefiting from this? And I don't think the players are benefiting from it. I don't think the coach is benefiting from it. And I'm not convinced the players are benefiting from it i don't think the coach is benefiting from

it and i'm not convinced the media is benefiting from it either like at some point in time it's disaster porn right jeff like do you think i'm wrong about this i don't like shutting it down i know that a lot of the a lot of the media avails towards the end of kruger's regime really didn't amount to anything other than confronting players and confronting coaches and splashing the obvious in front of them. I just don't like the idea of shutting it down because you don't know what's going to come out, especially in this COVID time right now where there's no face-to-face and there's no conversations on the side and there's no's no interaction i hate the idea actually of

completely shutting it down i understand what you're saying because you don't get from a to b a just continues the line just keeps getting drawn and there's no end point to it but i just i don't know that i'd go so far as to say completely shut down doing media i understand it's it's probably not the right position for me to be advocating either. I know there'll be some people, if they listen to this, they'll be very critical of me even suggesting it, which is totally fair. I understand that. And you're probably right. But I watch these things every day and I was just getting concerned for like the health of everybody involved, including the media members. including the media members. Because you know what happens, Jeff? It's almost like, to me, you get to the point where if you don't ask a thunderous question, you're almost worried that you're going to get ripped on your Twitter.

And some people really get affected by that, and I don't like that either. So then let me ask you this question. Was then the firing of Ralph Krueger a good enough release valve for now for now because you saw the tension build up between media and buffalo sabers the players the coach the management all of it like there needed to be some type of release valve let's let the steam out of everything yes let everyone back up and catch a breath was that firing enough for now i mean let's see how they play right you know we're taping this on thursday morning they've got a

game on thursday night against boston their practice by the way was canceled this morning just unbelievable one thing after another it's unreal really it's like pig pen just that cloud of dust is all over you and it just doesn't go away but you know fans are supposed to go back into the arena this weekend and i do wonder if in addition to the losses if it was partially motivated by that i'd read some reports that the ticket sales were really soft and if there's one thing that will get someone to act, even when a coach has approximately 3.75 million under contract for next season, it's that. Because you're hoping that next year is the resumption of business, quote unquote, as usual. And if the fans are voting with their wallets to say, no, it isn't, then that usually does create change. So we'll see if they play poorly, it's not going to change anything, Jeff,

but something had to happen. There's no question about it. Uh, do you have a thought on, uh, Don Granato behind the bench interim? You talked about Matt Ellis before as well. And, you know, Mr. Positivity and bring that positive energy on the bench and Dan Girardi, who this is his maiden voyage behind the bench of an NHL team. To be honest, to me, Girardi is the key here.

And the reason is they got to fix Rasmus Delene. Rasmus Delene is a cornerstone piece of their organization, or at least he should be. And that is the number one thing that I have to figure out if I'm the Buffalo Sabres. What is going on here? What has happened with this player?

And Dan Girardi, I believe he's been living in St. Catharines or area. So as they said, he's got to go through a quarantine before he's available. But to me, the most important on ice thing that they have to figure out is how to get this player back on track and that's what dan gerardi is there for you know it concerns me that it went sideways under steve smith because you look at that defense in carolina steve smith authored quite a bit of that you You know, he helped grow Slavin. He helped grow Pesci. A couple of those guys who are big parts of Carolina's defense, they learned at the feet

of Steve Smith. So it's not like he's a dumb guy or a bad coach or anything, but it clearly went south here. And if I'm the Buffalo Sabres as an organization. The number one thing I'm looking at right now from an on ice perspective is how do we fix this guy and get him to be the player we think he can be? I wonder if Rasmus Dallin more than anybody else in the entire NHL, Elliot was affected by the long inactivity. Like we talked a lot about teams that weren't going to play teams that

weren't going into the bubble. And what was that going to mean for them? Because it wasn't as if Rasmus Dallin, like over the past few years has been a bad defenseman. Like if you look at his career arc, like he was kind of like, okay, like not superstar,

but okay. You can see the progress year to year. And then this year he just fell off a cliff. Yes. And I don't know what that is and the only thing that i can point to is man the buffalo sabers didn't play going back to last march and then all of a sudden jumped into action when the season resumed he's the one guy in the entire league that i look at and i say that guy may have been affected most by the long layoff

more than anybody else in the entire nhl the evidence says to me you could be right one story i remember was when we were in the negotiations that came up between the league and the players in november when they were talking about the possibility of changing the mou and the league and the players were arguing about it there was one player in particular an agent told me that the player called them and said what do you think and they started they started talking about the economics, but they moved off it. And it was a, it was a player from a team that didn't make the playoffs last year. And the agent said to the player, you know, we have to talk about the economics because it's important.

But the other thing is you got to play, you know, you haven't played since March. It's now November at that point in time, they were hoping for Christmas, but I think they kind of knew it was going to be January at the earliest. And just said, you know, whatever happens here with this situation, you've got to get on the ice and play games. Like that's the most important thing. He said he felt an obligation to say that he actually thought that was the most important

thing for his client. And I believe it. Can I say with 100% certainty that he was more affected than anyone else? No, but you're looking at what's happening here and it's not out of the realm of possibility. I think also just the negative of the whole situation drags you down. It didn't start well for him this year.

I mean, it just, this whole year has gone poorly for him and they have to build him back up. You know, if I'm Buffalo, even as badly as this season has gone for him, it would take an awful lot for me to even consider moving him. And you see, this is the thing, like people say, how would you fix the Sabres? How would you fix the Sabres? And one of the things I look at is it's not just on the ice.

You have to build up your organization. And number two, there is a belief in the market that, you know, everyone's saying, well, the bills are good and the sabers are bad. It took a long time for the bills to turn around too. And I think the pagoolas, they've thrown money at everything. You can't argue that, but there's something there in the way they run their teams that throws things off track. And the belief is that the latest regime with the bills came in and they reached a written

agreement as to what they can do and what they can't do. And you always have to report to your owner. The owner is the boss. The owner signs the checks and you have to respect that but the owner also has to understand that when you hire people you hire them for a reason and you put them in place to do your things and the bills seem to have an agreement where there's a limit as to the influence the pagoulas can have and the sabers don't have that. And I don't know what the exact truth is, but there's no question it became a factor in the Eichel negotiations. And there's no question it

became a factor in the Skinner negotiations. And I think that that's one of the things that has to happen here is a clear delineation. And then from there you start to say okay now we got to fix some of our other things and number one is who is the right person to fix deline whether it's gerardi or someone else if i'm kevin adams that's the biggest question i'm asking right now is how do we fix them how do we get them back to being what we know we can be you know as we as we look back at the off season for the Buffalo Sabres, in light of the press conference that we just heard from Kevin Adams on Wednesday after firing Ralph Krueger,

one of the things that people are wondering about is, you know, when did the philosophy change? You know, there's that video now that's going to haunt this team for this season when Kevin Adams is talking to Terry Pagula about signing Taylor Hall, and they're talking about how this is a move that means you're going for the Stanley Cup.

Yes. Right? And then you saw Kevin Adams talking about, well, hang on a second. No, this is an evaluation year, which confused a lot of people internally. And I think a lot of people said, well, what is this?

It started out as a we're going for a year, and all of a sudden here's our general manager saying every department needs to improve every department needs to evolve every department is under scrutiny and every department is getting evaluated this is turning into an evaluation season i know this is hindsight and of course it's 2020 i understand understand that. Why did they sign Taylor Hall? If this was just going to be an evaluation year, that's the one that I think a lot of people are having a hard time with because you don't sign Taylor Hall when you're having an evaluation year as Kevin Adams described it. Well, I don't know if I agree with that. Well, I don't know if I agree with that.

First of all, it was not a prohibitive contract. It was a one-year deal. If that drops into your lap, what's wrong with that? Now, I think what it did was it created a logjam on the left side, and it's kind of affected Skinner. Look, the whole thing with Skinner to me is there's two problems there. It's are you putting him in a position to succeed and is the player doing enough to be successful? I don't think it's ever one or the other.

I think it's both. There's just too many games out there where he's not enough of a factor, and that's as much on him as it is on anyone else. Now, they created a log jam for sure. And that's on them. Like if they went out and they signed Hall to an eight year deal at 9 million a season, then I would look at it and say, okay, I don't know if that's the best choice of your resources, but Taylor Hall one year, 8 million. I'm sorry, but I think that was a good gamble for them. It didn't work.

If Taylor Hall drops on your lap for that, it's hard to say no. And if I was in that situation, I would probably have done the same thing. And that's the only way I can judge it. Speaking of Taylor Hall, that's one of the decisions now that Kevin Adams has. The next big date for the buffalo sabers as it is for every team is april 12th from the trade deadline yeah and whether it's um brandon montour whether it's eric stall everyone's going to be circling taylor hall here for the trade deadline what do you think i think that he will most likely get dealt that Islander hole with Anders Lee.

See, if I was Taylor Hall, I would want to go to a team like the Islanders. I want to go to a team that has some structure to it, has some identity to it, positive identity. If you said Islanders or you said Boston, like I don't know if with the quarantine, if that's what Toronto is going to do. I would have no problem with them going to Toronto. I mean, you get a ton of chances there.

But if it's U.S.-based, if it's Islanders, if it's Boston, if it's Colorado, why wouldn't you want to go to any of those places? It was interesting. There were a couple of other teams, Nashville and Colorado specifically, want to go to any of those places. It was interesting. There were a couple of other teams, Nashville and Colorado specifically that Taylor Hall could have gone to in the, in the off season.

We've talked about this before, just as an, as an aside, I don't, I'm always fascinated with the alternative universe, the, the what if universe of the NHL. If he ends up going to Nashville, reunited with John Hines and does it help the Nashville Predators, or does it give it yet another salary cap issue for David Poyle to deal with? Ultimately, I don't know.

I don't know what the answer is to all that. It's just mindless speculation on what if. What about the other players? That's what we love to do. I know. It's a podcast. Keep going. Just keep talking.'s what we love to do. I know. It's a podcast. Keep going. Just keep talking.

You don't have to do traffic. Don't have to get to the weather. Don't have to do sports. Traffic, weather, and traffic on the ones. Eric Stahl, Brandon Montour. I mean, how deep are these cuts slash trades going to go for the Buffalo Sabres? I would say you can't move, Delaney, unless you get a ridiculous offer. But who else is untouchable there well at

one point you would have said jack eichel i don't know that you say that anymore i think and now the injury clouds everything right that clouds everything i think dylan cousins right now i think is probably untouchable yeah no but but other than that yeah no open for business as far as i'm concerned i agree i think they're doing the right thing. Listen on everything, everything. One of the interesting things that Kevin Adams mentioned as well, we're getting heavy with this intro, assistant general manager. Does this need to be someone with a long time in the NHL?

Does this need to be an experienced hand here, Elliot? Because the one thing that we've seen on this Buffalo Sabres ladder, on all the rungs, all the way up, there are inexperienced hands grabbing every single rung. I think more likely than not, it's going to be Jason Carmanos and he is certainly is experienced, but I think also they've got to beef up their scouting. Well, we talked about this last time. They, they're not doing it in the West, the OHL, they don't draft Russianussian hockey players it seems so don't bother to have a scout there nothing in finland as well that's one of the teams that

many have pointed to and have said i wonder if they do like an 80 20 or dare we even say a 90 10 split for video to eyeballs in the rinks when it comes to scouting i don't know that one comes from the top like i don't think that the scouting issue I don't know. That one comes from the top. I don't think that the scouting issue is a Kevin Adams issue. Do you? That sounds like a Terry Pergula. I think this.

There's nothing wrong with video scouting, especially this year. What I do think is wrong is a 90-10 or 80-20 split. There's one team out there, and I'm going to reach out to their general manager just to get more about it. But from what I understood, they did a map, okay,

of the United States and Canada. And now a lot of these leagues are starting up again. And they said, where are we thin? Where are their players? And where do we not, whether it's, you know, because they have scouts who don't want to travel because of health reasons which teams understand or because there's quarantine rules in those various areas and you can't get someone

in there where do we need to have someone who can see players that we don't have someone right now i heard it was three areas of north america they said we're thin and they said, we're thin. And they said, okay, it's our responsibility right now to find someone who lives in those areas and hire them and say, here's a freelance fee. Can you scout for us and file reports? If it's the team, I think it is. And like I said, I'm working on it. It's a good team. It's a team that you would say that's a good team. And if good teams are doing that, the Sabres have to do that. I mean, there's a reason they're called best practices. And I think the whole thing with Buffalo is a challenge too

because I think the Pagoulas felt they were recommended people and it didn't work, and then they didn't want to follow league recommendations anymore. So they did it their way, and now that didn't work. And so now where do you kind of go from here? And I can understand their confusion. All you can do when you own a team is put it in the best position to be successful. And right now, that's what Kevin Adams has to deal with the most. Put us in the best position to be successful. Find that way. And bring us back to the glory of the mid-70s,

Ted Darling and the Buffalo Sabres. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. And the Sabre Dance. And we're going to win that cup by Donna McDaniel, who later went on to become a backup singer for Motley Crue and Billy Idol. Really? Yeah, you know that story?

No, I don't. You know the song, right? We're going to win that cup in the Sabres Booster Club from Really? Yeah. You know that story? No, I don't. You know the song, right? We're going to win that cup in the Sabres Booster Club from 75? Yes. The singer Donna McDaniel went on to become, and she was in a couple of Motley Crue videos. I think she was in Kickstart My Heart.

She was also a backup singer for Billy Idol. Oh, yeah. It's a great story. Get us back to that era of the Buffalo Sabres when it was the Sabre dance and we're going to win that cup and Ted Darling and French Connection and Crozier. Ah, the good old

day. King Kong Cora, bring us back. In the meantime, welcome to 31 Thoughts the Podcast presented by the GMC Sierra 1840. Okay, welcome to 31 Thoughts, the podcast. Jeff Merrick alongside Elliot Friedman. Thank you so much for stopping by today. Thank you for all the tweets and the feedback and the questions about why does Elliot think it's gross to put onions and mustard on a hot dog.

And coming up on the podcast, I'm really looking forward to this. Caleb Dahlgren is going to be stopping by. Part of the Humble Broncos. He has a new book out called Crossroads, My Story of Tragedy and Resilience as a Hum humble Bronco. And Elliot, I've gotten to know Caleb going back to the Memorial cup when it was in Regina for the 100 year anniversary, spent some time with, with Caleb and other members of the humble Broncos at that opening ceremonies at an Eagles concert.

We'll talk about that with him during the interview, but you know, I've gotten to know some of the kids, Colby Armstrong has gotten to know a ton of those guys and had him over to his house in Pittsburgh a number of different times, really keeps in touch. I keep in touch with Caleb. And the one thing that always strikes me when I talk to Caleb, I've sent this,

I've used this quote before on the podcast that we're all born with two lives and our second life begins when we realize we only have one. And that really hits home with me when I talk to Caleb and anyone who hasn't heard him speak before, I'm sure you're going to get the same vibe off of him. Just so happy to be alive and cherishing every day and cherishing every moment. And that was like, honestly, for age, like as a hockey dad, or even just as a parent,

even just as a human being in Canada. I remember that day so specifically, the humble Broncos bus tragedy. And we'll mention this too. I'm sure many people have told them their story about that day. I can just remember, you know, following the news with my wife that night in bed, just refreshing, refreshing, refreshing, and just like tears coming down her eyes. It was just awful. But this guy is so appreciative of everything that he has in life. Just a wonderful guy. So I'm looking forward to this conversation with Caleb.

Well said. You know, one of the interesting things on Wednesday doing the Ottawa Senators-Vancouver Canucks game with you and Jennifer Botterill and Anthony Stewart was watching the first period and watching you frantically try to call as many people as possible as we're trying to watch the game

and figure out what to talk about in the intermission as we try to figure out why Jimmy Vesey wasn't playing for the Vancouver Canucks that evening. Now, Jimmy Vesey woke up in the morning, was a waiver claim by the Vancouver Canucks from the Toronto Maple Leafs, drove to Ottawa, took the pregame skate. We all assumed that Jimmy Vesey was going to play. And then at the last minute was scratched.

And I don't know how many people you called. We're all sitting there in the room while you're trying to figure it all out. And I was trying to figure out who you were talking to. I think I nailed two of them. I'm'm not exactly sure but i think i have two of the people correct but take us back to wednesday night and a frantic elliot friedman trying to figure this one out well in the day what i was trying to do was i was trying to figure out could vc play and the reason i knew there was a chance was because when Aaron Dell was put on waivers by the Toronto Maple Leafs,

Mike Smith was out and Forsberg had been claimed on waivers by first Carolina and then Winnipeg. So I knew they were looking for a goalie and I thought they were going to claim Dell. And what one person said to me was, you know, look at the schedule. Edmonton was going to be in Toronto for a few days. So rather than have them flying to Alberta and having to go through their provincial

quarantine, if they got him and New Jersey did, because they were ahead of them in the priority, if they got him, they were going to tell him to stay in Ontario and they'll pick them up with them and take them with them. So he doesn't have to serve a quarantine. So you're always looking at, okay, circumstances, how do they affect things? And normally VC would have to go province to province and you'd have to go through that. But because he was based in Toronto and the Canucks were sitting in Ottawa, I knew there was a chance. So the whole day I was just trying to figure out what it was.

And initially I thought it was because it was within five hours. And as long as he had a driver that produced a negative COVID test, he was okay. And then someone told me right before the show, it wasn't the five hour rule. It's simply because they were in the same province. It was Ontario rules. So I'm sitting here i'm going okay so we got this sorted out and he takes the warm-up and then he doesn't play and the canucks send out the tweet that he's not available and i'm looking at this and i'm saying

why and you sent a note and the canucks were good they got back to you it said you know the paperwork couldn't get done now i'm sitting there and I'm going, okay, what specifically is wrong with the paperwork? You know, that's the one thing you don't want to go because people are going to tweet at you. What's wrong with the paperwork? And you don't want to get it wrong. And secondly, I actually think that's a really good question. You should be able to explain what is wrong with the paperwork. So I had to call up a bunch of people and nobody wants to guess. And finally, someone said they have the specific team name on the paperwork. And because VC is a US citizen, once the team name changes, you have to get the

paperwork to say the new team name. And this was something I wouldn't have known. It doesn't affect me in Canada. And someone from a US team told me that in the States, you actually get a 30-day window in that situation where you can change the paperwork. But Canada doesn't allow that. And so you learn something new every day. And one reporter who actually goes through this periodically sent me a picture of his

paperwork after the segment to say, here's the example. And it says, you may not work in Canada with anyone else except the employer listed on this paper. And I was like, thanks very much. I'm going to tweet this all over the internet for identity fraud. And why couldn't you have sent me this 10 minutes sooner? As a Canadian in Canada, I didn't know that. You know what it is, Jeff?

It's just that you know if you go on air and you get one thing wrong, it's a disaster. So you're trying to nail it down as best we can. And good job. And you got it by the first intermission. Because I was getting texts as well saying what's the situation here and all i would send back is elliot's working on it watch the intermission what did you make of outside of all the why is he not playing issues what did you make of the jimmy vc claim like is there a subplot to all of this first of all it's not like jimmy vc's a terrible player he's not it didn't work out in

toronto they're really deep vancouver is not as deep i think you know he's making nine hundred thousand dollars vancouver is going to pay the prorated amount of that about half the season i think it's a smart pickup by them he's one guy whose underlying numbers are not bad so if you're into that kind of thing, you're looking at it and saying, you know, he can make us better. I do think the subplot to all that is that, you know, it's more likely than not that Tanner Pearson was going to get dealt.

Now, as we record this, we don't have an update yet on Pearson who was injured and left the game against Ottawa in the third period. You know, we'll see what happens there. But I know the Canucks have talked publicly about how they want to sign Pearson. I'm sure they do, but I just don't see a path to it.

It doesn't make sense. Unless Pearson is really willing to take a haircut without seeing the market, I don't see it happening right now. So we'll see where it goes but it says to me that the canucks are preparing for the possibility of a pearson deal and they wanted to have some added insurance there for it uh the anton forsberg claim as his parade through canada continues edmonton winnipeg ottawa you know there was one team that had a a certain goalie issue not too

long ago who actually mused about claiming him on waivers and using him as their starter. You ever thought on Anton Forsberg? So he's been on four teams this year and he hasn't played a game. Nope. Do you get to keep the jerseys from all the teams? I don't even know if he had jerseys from, like, Carolina. He was never actually there, right?

Yeah. He gets to keep his 1920 jersey. I mean, that's, it's brutal. I mean. If never actually there, right? Yeah. He gets to keep his 1920 Jersey. I mean, that's, it's brutal. I mean, if I'm Anton Forsberg and anyone asks me what I do for a living, I don't say professional athlete. I say professional traveler. How many quarantines has he had to do? Three.

Oh, I know this guy's had a tough. And he's going to play. Ottawa keeps losing goalies. Well, that's another issue we should probably get to here on the podcast. This is like Spinal Tap Drummers with the Ottawa Senators and their net monitors. You know, that's like the third time in the last month that you have made that reference. You have to come up with something new. Something new instead of the Spinal spinal tap drummer analogy for one position

that keeps getting eliminated like like goaltenders do in ottawa like ottawa has proven to be a pretty scrappy team i know they have a hard time against the oilers but i mean they've gotten a piece pretty much out of anybody and they just threw a real good scare into the vancouver canucks as they still have playoff hopes if they get saves their confidence grows and they play hard if they don't get a save they wilt you can see it like decord he's a battler yeah i love him gustafson i liked him last night he battled like that's all you can ask for you coming in that situation and then when in the commercial break when they showed him with his hand i was looking at mandeliza on the bench and also like that was gustafson's nhl debut mandeliza has one pro game

and i was thinking is he gonna have to come in and and gustafson was actually pretty interesting he explained in the post game so so it's kind of funny like when i'm when i'm getting stressed i can't get blood into my hand. So I couldn't feel my right fingers at all. So we had to get a heat bag and something and try to get blood into that so I could play the puck for the first couple of minutes. And then it was kind of normal after that. I don't care about the relative lack of experience of guys like Decord and Gustafsson. Just go in there and battle and they respond.

And the Sanders have showed that, you know, who else needs goalies in that Ottawa organization? Belleville. Well, that's because they're all in the NHL now, right? Well,

they're playing with two OHL goaltenders, bless them. Uh, Cedric Andre and, and, uh, Ty Austin. Yup.

But these are OHL goal. I'm sure those kids are thrilled to be playing though a hundred percent of course you're kidding like andre like the game the other night against uh laval you know bless him he's a third star in the game like i'm sure they're loving it and it's a lot of fun but if you're the belleville senators too, too, it's like, man, send me goaltenders, please. Please send me goalies. I want to get to one more thing here before I hopefully get to some Ask 31s. David Quinn and the New York Rangers coaching staff all placed on the COVID list on Wednesday afternoon.

They were not available for the game against the Philadelphia Flyers. In comes Chris Knobloch from the Hartford Wolfpack of the American Hockey League. And the Rangers have their game of the season. They beat the Philadelphia Flyers 9-0 because Benajad, in his big apology to everyone that took him into fantasy hockey, puts up six points, to which I ask a couple of different things. One, if David Quinn and his coaching staff are available for the back-to-back against Washington

over the weekend, do you still follow the philosophy of you never change a winning lineup? Does that include coaches as well? And two, I don't know if we've talked about this. How different would hockey be, NHL level, if there were no coaches and players just decided on the bench who was going on, who was coming off, and then they just went out there and played, would it be a more entertaining sport?

I would submit yes. Because I would imagine that the new coaching staff comes in last night and it's not like they're not trying to hammer in anything new. It's just, guys, just go out and play. Just go out and play. What would NHL be like if there were no coaches one of my favorite books is lord of the flies so i think it would probably be something pretty similar to that yeah i think in the short term it would be hilariously entertaining i'm not thinking

about success yes like all of this is i'm not thinking about eyes on the prize and Stanley cup and we're built for the championship and furrowed brow button down. Like this is how hockey is. I'm just talking about like enjoying hockey games. Like wouldn't every game be more entertaining if there weren't any coaches, any coach listening to this right now is hating on me hard. I get that. Yeah.

But I bet you a lot of fans are agreeing. A little thought experiment coaches. Sorry. Just humorous here. i think it'd be more entertaining there's no question it would be more entertaining like zero zero question a coach's job is to give you a better chance to win and oftentimes a better chance to win means better structure committing defense, all that non-fun stuff, right? Yeah. I would be curious to know, in the long term, would teams get better or would they devolve?

What do you mean by devolve? Like lose more games? That's your barometer for it? Well, that's the thing. To me, the whole challenge is do you get better? If you took a coach off the bench, would a team over the long term get better or worse? That's the challenge of it to me.

I think some teams get better and some teams get worse. But to me, that's the challenge. If I was on a team and you said we're taking the coach away, for me the challenge would be is to prove to the coach we can win without you on the bench because I'm competitive and that's the way I think. There would still be some type of coaching, but to go to your Lord of the Flies analogy, there would be a leadership group of players on that bench that would decide how the team was going to play and who was going to play with who and how they were going to play. It would just be the minutiae of the game wouldn't be so micromanaged. It would be just go out and play. Essentially, it comes down to, as a coach, is it your job to be entertaining or

efficient? And every coach will tell you, it's my job to be efficient. No, no, it's your job to win. will tell you it's my job to be efficient no no it's your job to win your job to win and and you win through efficiency many would say you don't win by hey let's be entertaining out there let's go make a whole bunch of risky you know low percentage plays because it could be fun if it pays off i don't know this just sort of winks again at my you know annual r&d camp idea where listen maybe this is one of the things that you do in the offseason play an entire offseason worth of games once a week or twice a week or whatever where there's no coaches see what it's like i don't know try it oh by the way do you have a thought on that game that rangers flyers i thought alan vino said the right thing after

try to forget it and move on now i think privately they're saying what do we have to make sure we don't do again so that doesn't happen again but publicly i think that's the right attitude and this is why by the way jeff i also think it's becoming more and more likely the flyers don't make a big move to add like ekholm before the deadline because i just don't think they believe they're good enough to do it this year i think their major surgery if they decide they have to do it, is in the offseason. That is an interesting point of view. Have you earned a trade? That's the way I would deal with it.

Yeah, that's funny. I was talking to someone last night over text during the game, and he's a Flyers fan. He said, what does this mean for the Philadelphia Flyers? I said, it looks to me like this is going to inform Chuck Fletcher on what he's going to do come trade deadline time, should they even bother adding at this point. Okay, quick break. We will, by the way, do some Ask 31 at the end of our interview with Caleb Dahlgren. You'll hear from him next. Former Humble Bronco, now author of Crossroads.

My story of tragedy and resilience as a Humble Bronco. We'll be right back. Elliot, it is very much our pleasure to welcome to the podcast hockey player slash author slash all-around good guy, Bon Vivant. I've never seen him without a smile. Caleb Dahlgren, author of Crossroads, My Story of Tragedy and Resilience as a Humble Bronco. Caleb, it always puts a smile on my face

when I get a chance to talk to you or get a text from you or get a chance to hang out with you. Thanks so much for joining us on 31 Thoughts, the podcast this week. How you been? Thank you so much for the great intro. Geez, thank you. It really means a lot. And I'm honored to be on here with you guys today and chatting. So thank you.

And I'm doing really well, honestly, being happy, healthy and safe. I think that's all you can really expect right now in life. And I have all three, so I couldn't be luckier. Caleb. So just fill us in on what keeps you busy right now. What are you up to? All right. So I am a student athlete at York university. And so I am actually pretty busy, not gonna lie. We have team meetings every week. We have two of them and then we have a workout mandatory every day. And then on top of that, I volunteer with, I guess I have school as well. I don't want to miss that part. I have school.

And so I have many courses at school. I actually fast forwarded one of my courses. I was able to finish early in one of my courses and now I only have two left in my degree. So that's super exciting. I'm in them right now. So I'll be graduating this spring. But on top of that, I volunteer with many different organizations. I have my own Dog and Die Beauties.

And then I also am with JDRF. And I am with Inner School, Black and Indigenous Varsity Student Athlete Association. And I'm also with the Sport Council at York. And I want to say I am with Heroes Hockey too, because I do volunteer with them every Wednesday. I really try to give back even though it's weird in this virtual world to give it back. Yeah. But I always find it fuels my soul

and it helps me feel good about myself too. And so I love doing that. And I'm also in the process right now for applications with Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College and have an interview coming up for that soon. And I'm really looking forward to that because that's my future goal is to be a chiropractor and to work with athletes especially.

And otherwise, just trying to have a happy, normal, healthy life. And I think this book is probably another thing to add to that list too, I guess. Favorite and least favorite course that you took at York? Okay, there's quite a few I really liked. I'm a student. I love school. I'm not afraid to admit that either. I love it. Wow. What's wrong with you? I'd say my favorite, it would be, I really enjoyed my anatomy and physiology course I just took. I took a year-long anatomy and physiology course and I loved it. But I also really enjoyed prospects

and perils of globalization. And that was all like the future and next. That was super, super informative and really, really eye-opening. I loved that course too. I could go on probably. There's quite a few. Least favorite though. I'd have to go with Managerial Accounting. I'm not an accounting guy. It just doesn't work for me. My brain doesn't put the pieces together like it should. So that one probably not my favorite. How many hours in the day do you have? I only have 24.

I think Elliot only has 24. Have you been able to find a few extra ones, Caleb? Like what's going on, bud? Hopefully I'm able to find just some sleep. I've been able to sleep a little bit. So that's nice. No, I'm kidding. It's been good.

I'm really, really organized and I'm very committed to my time. And also, as I forgot to mention, that was quite a big thing I do. I help my team with recruiting. So I was actually spending a lot of time on that just before the book launch here. And yeah, so I was able to land some players for organization for the next four years and make my impact on the team still without even playing. So I think that's super special too. But yeah, I try to live a balanced lifestyle. Obviously with this, I'm unable to hang out with my friends, which in turn kind of helps me with more time. But it also really is hard for me because I'm such a friend guy. I love my friends and I always want to spend time with them. And I am an only child, so they are technically my brothers. And that's definitely been the, so they are technically my brothers.

And that's definitely been the hard part about this is that I have to kind of stay at home since I'm immunocompromised and be careful with what I'm doing. I'm listening to you talking about York University here and hockey and recruiting players. Even though you're hoping to go to chiropractic college, do you see yourself coaching or being involved with the program even after you graduate? I wonder if coaching or management of some kind is in your future at all. Yeah, definitely. I think I'd love to coach someday. And right now though, with chiropractic, I'm not 100% sure what my hours are going to look like or how much dedication of time is going to be

because I do have a brain injury. And so I do have to dedicate even more hours to school than a normal regular person would. So I won't be committing to anything until I can actually get in there and get the test of the water and see what it's like before I make any commitments with that in the future. But one day I definitely want to coach my children.

I want to be one of those cool dads on the ice, not one of those hardos, but one of those fun dads who like to just have fun out there, make the practices fun, make sure all the kids are having a good time. So definitely one day I want to be a coach for my children. And that's definitely a goal. Take a couple here, Jeff.

I've been talking too much. Go ahead, man. I was going to say, not going to be a glass banger then, Caleb? No, no. I can't see myself ever doing that. I would probably be the coach on the bench, having a good time, trying to make the kids laugh or try to make them fall in love with the game that I have such a deep passion for.

I'm sure you've been asked about April 6th, 2018 over and over again. And that was the day that, you know, for my family, like I was saying to Elliot earlier, I can recall vividly, Caleb, and I think you and I have talked about this before. My wife and I that night just, you know, refreshing Twitter, trying to get updates. And as each update came in, it got more and more horrific as we learned more about the humble

Broncos bus crash and just like crying, just sobbing. Like how could you not? And this was coast to coast. This isn't exclusive to my family. This is families all across the country, all over the world, really. You can't be a parent and not feel that because one of the things, and I'm sure you've had people tell you this before, like as a parent, when you hand over a child to like, say a hockey program like yours, it's difficult. Like that's another cut the umbilical cord that they're out of your control and they're out of your protection. They're out of the womb. Like you can't hold them and keep them safe. That ship isn't important anymore. It's off sailing. And it's a fear that parents live with. You've had a few years to, I mean, you went through it. You've written about

it in this wonderful book. You've thought about it. You've been asked about it. Has your perspective on everything that happened that day and the country's reaction to it changed? Because this whole country mourned for that team. Yeah, I wouldn't say my perspective has really changed per se. I've always had an open mind throughout this whole process too. One thing that I did learn that happened afterwards is that everybody heals differently. And I think that's so beautiful to be able to acknowledge that there are differences in us as people and the healing. And what works for me may not work for somebody else. And what works

for someone else may not work for me. and still respecting each other throughout that process is so powerful and I think super special and so that's one thing I take away from it but like you said the support from not only just Saskatchewan or Humboldt not even Canada but the world like literally the world was astronomical I actually still am speechless today I actually I can't even process and put the words together to say how grateful and thankful I am for that. It helped me for sure in my healing process. And just to know that people in my corner that literally in my corner from all over the world wanting to see me succeed and go another way to help me if I ever needed help, it means the world. But then also in the same breath, it kind of opened my eyes up to other situations where

other people have tragedies in their life but they don't get any support or like nearly anything maybe a couple phone calls a couple people visiting them but and i think that's where it really sunk in and hurts me even more is to see the other end of the spectrum too like how grateful and thankful i am for all the support i received but then how this lady in the hospital beside me had one visitor the odd day. Like it breaks your heart to see that. And so definitely been more aware and I've learned and grew to just be more supportive of the people who are going through tough situations in their life and to have that kind of aspect of looking out for others even more.

Cause I always tried to put myself in other people's shoes and empathize and to always be a support for them. But now even more, I'm like really trying to be out there and really trying to see if they're okay. I really think that's something special for sure. And I just think that I need to make the most of the situation too. Uh,

I've always tried to live my life to the fullest before the crash. And now after, I've always tried to live a little bit bigger too. Life can end in an instant. And I knew that before I've had lost situations in my life where I could have been gone or my family members or friends have passed or gone or could have been really close. And in the book, I detail how I lost my personal trainer at a young age. I lost one of my teammates at a young age. And then I also almost lost my dad when I was 16.

And so I've been through those situations where life has been drastically different if something does happen and if it did happen. And so that's kind of opened up my mind to always be in the present moment and giving my all and training on how I want to be treated. And so afterwards, I feel like it's kind of my duty to continue that, but to do it for the 16 as well as myself too, and to enjoy life to the fullest and to make memories and have fun and still make an impact and try to do as much as I can from the situation and try to turn into a positive. That's remarkable. And Elliot and I earlier on, on the show, we're talking about, you know, the idea of us being born with two lives and the second life

begins when we realize we only have one. And I will never forget. I will never forget. I still have a video of it. Maybe I'll put it up on Instagram when this podcast comes out with your blessing. May 17th, 2018 at Mosaic Stadium during the Eagles concert. That was the first day that I met you and some of your teammates. And I was there with my now late friend Colton, Todd Warner, Colby Armstrong was the Eagles concert before the Memorial Cup. And I remember there's so few times like Elliot, I'm sure you've had times like this in your life too, where you're part of pure joy, like just pure, like the joy of being alive and everything that it means to being alive, like that complete joy, smiling deeply and richly.

And there's this one video that I have of, of all you guys with Colts and Todd and Colbs dancing at the Eagles concert. And like, there's deep, rich smiles on all of your faces. It seems as if that is, that's a common thread with a lot of you guys that you feel, okay, that was a close call. We got a second chance at this. Let's make sure that, you know, as Warren Zevon would say, we enjoy every sandwich.

Yeah, for sure. And I even remember him talking to Colton that night and I was actually going to put him in my book too, but we weren't able to get him in there. And I really, really was really pushing for that, for him to be in there because our conversation that we had that night definitely put things into perspective even more too.

Because he was talking about how he had cancer and he wasn't going to make it that much longer he's just trying to live in the moment and enjoy everything and he accepted that too but he's like i'll never be mad as i have enjoyed my life and just hearing his perspective and mind kind of be in line with those situations it really just like validated what i was thinking and feeling too about how we really need to do everything we can to enjoy every day because tomorrow was never given and the way that he opened up to me that night it was something super special yeah i definitely remember that night forever too and i remember us dancing i still have that video too you have it too yeah

it's a good yeah oh yeah my dad was in there too just shaking i know i met your dad that day yeah it was a really fun night and it was great meeting you and it was one of those nights that we needed to i think just to let loose a bit lots of guys had a great time there and i did too and it was really really fun to just i guess get out and try something new and meet people and i always liked that uh yeah it was a time. How much do you and the other Broncos communicate with each other? Is there a group chat? How much do you talk? What kind of contact is there between your group?

So we have a group chat that we talk in. Yeah, I'd say it's like often. I don't want to give a timeline, but we have a group chat we like to talk in and we always try to be supportive of each other at the end of the day. And we're all on different healing journeys and all on different healing processes throughout this whole situation, a lot of different perspectives too. And for me personally,

I want to support them in whatever they believe and whatever they think. And I really value how strong everybody is too, and how everyone is trying to move forward in their own way. And I respect that completely. So it's been a great process throughout this whole thing. And I always will have their back forever. Who is the most entertaining person in the chat? I would bet decent odds that it might be you, but is there anybody else? I like to say that I'm,

I like to start the conversations, but yeah, I'd say I like to start the conversations for sure. I also like to say that I'm I like to start the conversations um but uh yeah I'd say I like to start the conversations for sure I'd also like to say that uh we are always planning for something too which is nice because we're planning to get together again this summer to do something together which is great we try to do it every year uh last year obviously didn't work out because of COVID but the year before we went to Kelowna which was such a. And it's so nice just to get away with the guys and just hang out and just enjoy each other. And so last summer we weren't able to do that. So we all hopped on a Zoom call, which was great. And this summer we'll see if we're able to get together. And I

think we're looking like we will in July or August here. So I can't wait for that. That's awesome. Now, what was the toughest part of the book to write for you, Caleb? I'd say right after the crash and chapter 16. And chapter 16 takes it, I think. The hardest part for sure was my tribute chapter. And it was difficult because there's 16 souls that aren't on this earth, who I literally consider family. But also on top of that, you can't describe the amazing life that they had in a paragraph or two.

Like there's not, there's no possibility. And even for the year that I was with these people or days or months or however long I spent time with these people, it's so hard for me to describe how amazing they were to me, how amazing they were on this world. So it was such a difficult chapter, and I spent countless hours on it, countless. And I reached out to all the angel families and asked for their blessing on the chapter and what I wrote about the person because I really wanted to respect that situation completely. And I wanted to make sure they're okay with what I was putting in the book about their child that's not here. And so

it was definitely a difficult one. But hopefully, I tried to make it the best chapter ever, but I realized it never will be. And there's no way it could ever be the best chapter ever. I bet you, Caleb, people are going to read that and nobody's going to have a problem with it. Absolutely. Just the amount of effort you put into it and you went to the families first, nobody's going to have an issue with anything. Nobody. Nobody. We'll see.

Hopefully, it resonates with people or people enjoy it. But yeah, it was definitely the most difficult chapter. It was chapter 16. And just recounting all the amazing memories and stories and personalities that these wonderful individuals had. I want to ask you about your dad, selfishly, because I'm a hockey dad too. There's a wonderful quote that you put in your book from your father, and I'll read it here. Let's just live as big as we can, my father said. The only thing we can control is how we live our life now and how we celebrate people when they pass away. We need to move in their light and not in their darkness. Can you share some of your thoughts about your dad, Caleb?

Yeah, no, my dad's such a big inspiration and so is my mom. Both of them are absolutely incredible individuals. I'm honestly honored to have them as my parents and I look up to them both. And so on my dad's side, he's an absolute warrior too. He was dealing with a disease that is super rare and he was literally on his deathbed. You'll see in the book how my mom texted me saying that I need to come home now because he's not going to make it. And that was on a game day.

And so while I wasn't even home and I was on the road already. But it was definitely empowering to hear those words out of his mouth at that time in my life too. And it's so true too because we have to focus on the things that we can't control to our life because there's lots of things that we can't control. And it's the reality of it. And I can't even, just to put the crash in perspective, I literally can't control the semi-driver. I can't control my injuries. I can't control who's here, who's not here.

I can't control the whole circumstance of what had happened. I can't control the reaction of other people. All I can really control is myself and how I want to move forward from this situation. And so, as you said those words to me, it's true. And when people do end up passing away, how do I want to live my life for them? from this situation. And so as he said, those words to me is true. And then when, and when people do end up passing away, how do I want to live my life for them? Like, what would I want? And so I kind of put myself in the shoes as if I wasn't here and what would I want the survivors to do? How would I want them to live their life? Would I want them to be happy? Would I want them

to have fun? Of course. And so that's what I've tried to do and i want survivors to follow their passions and dreams and to enjoy life to the fullest and to not let this hold them back and to grow and learn and to be their best version of themselves so that's what i've taken on is to live like that so when i when i hear that i'm curious you talked about your desire to go to chiropractic college you talked about you're looking forward this summer to getting back in touch with your teammates and seeing them face to face, which you couldn't do last year. But I'm also wondering what, Caleb, are some of the more, I don't know if fun is the right word, but fun goals that you hope to accomplish over the next few years.

You're obviously an incredible person. There's a lot you're capable of doing. So I'm just wondering about other things that you're looking at that maybe isn't a work goal that you're saying i'm gonna do this or i'm gonna accomplish this uh one is traveling where are you gonna go i want to go on a hot vacation somewhere somewhere tropical but i'm really like interested in bali or philippines nice and i also want to go to dubai i and it was a super cool place i want to check it out i love traveling and so i think for me traveling has always been one of the things i'd love to do

and i want to do it and so i make time for it for sure i really also really want to go out to my buddy's lake and just have some fun out there uh we have our summer get together with me and all my best friends growing up and we always go to his lake at chick lake and sask and uh it's literally the best time every year i look forward to it every year i try to like schedule my time to be at that lake and to be with the guys because that is such a highlight and i also have a golf membership too and so i love golfing uh getting into it a little bit it wasn't too good at the start but i'm getting back into the the rhythm. And it's been a blast. And so I like to have fun too. It's just, I do have big aspirations and dreams in life. And I think I get fulfillment from giving back. And that's why chiro was like a win-win. It wouldn't even

be work in my eyes. It would be me being fulfilled in life and me having my passion and my dream to help others and to still be in the sports world fulfilled and so I think even if I did get my chiropractic and I did get my sports specialty if I went to Europe for a couple years and just like toured around Europe and uh or with like a national team or something I think that'd be such a cool experience but that's like far-fetched and a bit pretty big dream but uh yeah I definitely want to travel around europe i've been to italy i've been all over europe twice already so i i absolutely loved it there too so what's your handicap oh boy i i want to say 13 that's pretty good caleb 15 like nothing wrong with that it could be better it could be worse friends, if they do listen to this, they'll be laughing because I was at the first round, I was like over 100 and it was so bad.

But it was on the hardest course in Saskatchewan. So like they gave me a bit of credit, but it was improved at the end of the summer. Some friends you've got, they put you out there to try on the hardest course in Saskatchewan. Literally, it was the funniest thing. Those are terrible people. It was fun. It was a good time. I mean, it made me get a lot more resilience in myself

as a golfer for sure and definitely tested my patience. So it was a good one. Before I wrap up here, I just want to mention, Chapter 12 to me was the one that really hit home when you're documenting the days where you know you were out of it and you had lost consciousness and then you woke up and your parents were there and explaining everything that happened and you'd been out for uh for five days that was the one that uh that really found a home for me kayla but i want to end on i want to end on

a positive and i want to end on um conor mcdavid and ryan o'reilly uh two of the more generous people uh in the league. What did it mean for everybody that I still remember getting the phone call from Sherry Bass and Merrick Sherwood here. You got to keep something on the down low. Ryan O'Reilly and Connor McDavid want to do something and telling me all, all about it and what they want to do. They want to do it very quietly and very privately as well.

But what did it mean for those two guys to go visit visit yeah it was super super nice to see uh those guys just come and take time in their lives to support us and it really meant the world to have them come to and they're such well-respected players in the nhl and leaders on both their teams and you tell their leaders too and that's the part that i love about it is that they carry themselves with such high regard and they try to be such great people on and off the ice and be a leader for others to follow and yeah they're definitely people that look up to in the hockey world and then also like everybody else I came and visited too was phenomenal I had so many visitors and so many people that sent messages, videos, and just took time of their life to support us. And I think it really goes to show how amazing life is and how

amazing the hockey community is too. Like the hockey world really got together around this and really supported us. And it's something very special that I hold deeply to my heart. And I'll always be so grateful for that. And it really does make a difference to be there for people. And yeah, so me and those two, it was a cool experience for sure. And they're great guys. And I can't say enough good things about them. And for years, Caleb, people will look up to you.

Bud, thanks so much for doing this. It's a wonderful book, Crossroads, My Story of Tragedy and Resilience. As a humble Bronco, our guest has been Caleby and Resilience as a Humble Bronco. Our guest has been Caleb Dahlgren. Caleb, thanks so much for this. You be well and stay in touch. Thank you. Thank you so much, you guys. Caleb, just before we let you go,

is there anything you want to say that we didn't give you the opportunity to say? Anything you just want to close with or anything like that? For sure. This is just one out of 29 stories from that day and of the many other stories externally from that day too. So this isn't the Broncos book, it's a Bronco book. And I just want to make that clear to everyone out there that it's not the Broncos, it's a Bronco book.

And just one person out of 29. So I just want to make sure. I want to thank Caleb Dahlgren for stopping by the podcast this week. Elliot, the book is called Crossroads. I could not give it a higher recommendation. Wonderful guy, had to have been a challenging offering to write, to go back and relive everything that's gone on in this young man's life. But it's a real good look into Caleb Dahlgren's life, what happened with the Humble Broncos. And I like that he mentioned this isn't the story of the team and the tragedy. This is one story because everybody has their own.

We thank Caleb for stopping by and encourage you all to pick up this wonderful book. Elliot, I don't know if you've noticed this, but you're sort of becoming a star on these Hey Berkey features. It's supposed to be about me and Brian and somehow your fame is sort of overshining all of it. Hey guys, on set in 30. Elliot, don't be late. This beef wellington is delicious. So Awol comes to me and says, can you help me and be a part of hey berkey and of course i would glad to be part of it to help the group help make anything sound better whatever you want he says okay how about this line and and this line i said sure no problem and then i get can you make sure that you're eating when you record these? Now, Jeff, at this point in time, I'm like Admiral Ackbar in Star Wars.

It's a trap. There's no way I'm not coming out of this looking ridiculous. And you're just saying, whatever, let's do it. Let's have some fun. And when he posted that thing or the or the sports net twitter account posted that thing it didn't take long until i started getting flooded with text messages how's the beef wellington vancouver radio plays the clip with my hit this week and seriously vancouver radio is the bane of my existence and kathy broderick says i should change it to my twitter avatar which i did i'll probably change it back soon but

this one is not going away anytime soon i know that i like it i like it it's got the turtleneck and it's real sharp it's good oh well do you draw it? Who draws it? Niels Britz. Niels Britz out of Winnipeg. He's great. He's fantastic. Yeah, he does a good job. Yeah, very good. He's an excellent artist. It's a treat working with him.

It's good. It's too bad it's coming to an end, Merrick. You guys do a good job with that. You draw. It's not coming to an end. It's not? It's going to stay? No.

Berkey wants to keep doing it. That's the thing. Like when Berkey left for Pittsburgh, I had this, I called him on that, that night that, that he made the announcement. And I said, yeah, it's been real nice doing the,

hey, Berkey's with, he's like, what do you mean? I want to still do more. These aren't going anywhere. Berkey. He,

he wants to be both a media superstar and a hockey executive at the same time. Don't cross the beams, Berkey. I'll tell you. Don't cross the beams, Berkey. I'll tell you. Don't cross the beams. I'll tell you what, man. I get so many comments about that Hey Berkey feature. It's good.

And I think Brian does too. It's just because it's different. You draw good stuff out of him, eh? For stories we've heard 47,000 times, you do a really nice job of drawing them out of him. I got to hand a lot of that to Amal too. He doesn't just do the audio, but he helps put together the storyboards for all of them like honestly nice you guys do a good job of that amals are a secret weapon not just on the podcast

but also on hey berkey all right um let's get to a couple of hashtag s31s because i promised we would this comes to us from i love these at th3 underscore n3 rd sm4 you know that guy is that a star wars droid well if that is indeed your real name th3 underscore n3 rd sm4 is that a bot like no because it's a sophisticated question it's an interesting one too that's going to be tracked back to a bot farm somewhere in eastern europe you know maybe, but it's a pretty hip bot farm if it is because this bot farm just asked a pretty interesting question. In order to attract free agents with other benefits, could teams offer a white glove service package to players, your own equipment person, etc., assistants, anything like that? How about that as an offering to lure free agents? I believe there is something in the CBA about not being able to offer things like that.

In theory, you can't do stuff like that. And, you know, I'll give you an example. When Dennis Rodman was in the NBA, when he signed with the Dallas Mavericks, initially Mark Cuban put him up at his guest house and the league said you can't do that that's a violation several years ago yes very early in the salary cap era yeah and I found this out years later so the salary cap comes in in for the 05-06 season, and this happened not long after, and I found out about it even longer after that. There was one team that accused another of signing someone to a UFA deal, and that player was late in their career,

and they said, look, if you want to retire before this deal is done, we'll just switch the money off the books, right? And one team accused another of that, and I don't think it went anywhere. So I think the league is very mindful of this kind of thing, just like, as I mentioned, the NBA is. All of that stuff is not allowed. I remember, for example, one time there was a player

that took a private plane during the playoffs. And I think it was because of an injury reason. And another team complained about that being a violation. They do technically monitor this stuff. Like you're only supposed to be paid your salary and that's it. And they do try to keep making sure that there's no funny stuff going on. Okay. I'm glad you brought that up.

Because you know what I've always wondered about and never received an answer about? What's that? Let's go back to the early days of the salary cap as well. I always wondered if Sidney Crosby living at Mario Lemieux's mansion. I always wondered if that was a circumvention of the CBA. Oh, because Crosby stayed there? Because Crosby stayed at the mansion, which is something that I'm sure,

you know, fourth line Pittsburgh Penguin left winger, that was a perk that that player wasn't getting. Well, if there's any issue, we'll find out after this podcast. After this podcast comes out, i've always wanted to know how how penguins were able to skate on that one it always kind of seemed a little bit weird didn't like listen i get it where someone new comes to the team and another player puts them up and that's cool but this is the owner and his mansion and the star player and a rookie minimum you know a rookie minimum salary cap i don't know

that one always i kind of looked at and said i wonder if a team would complain i'm sure someone must have said something i know this league look they're already bitching about kucherov right of course yeah you know somebody's gonna complain he's coming back in the playoffs how convenient they're in a cat pickle the one time i know there was an investigation although nobody would confirm it to me but i'm pretty sure there was an investigation i know there was an ncaa player signed a few years ago where he got a second contract when after he signed he played very poorly and nobody would confirm it to me but i'm convinced it happened okay so there you go that

bot farm asked a really interesting question peter scott not from a bot farm no that's not a bot farm name at hey peter scott asks what do you two think of this potential rule change don't let teams on the penalty kill ice the puck why allow a team that broke a rule gain an advantage? That's another one that I've always wondered about. I've wondered about that over the time. Actually, I did want to ask Colin Campbell about that. Have you ever thought about that? And he actually said, yes, it has come up in conversation.

He was worried about injury. Yes. Yes. The only thing that I've ever wondered about is if you have, again, if your hockey players are too tired, that can lead to injury. This did make me think of another thing that I wanted to get on this podcast eventually. Okay, it's the end of a period, okay? There's a team on the power play, and there's, I don't know, 40 seconds left on the power play, but the period ends. Two teams go into the dressing room, come back out for the next period.

Where's the face-off? Where's the face-off? Where's the face-off? Center ice. Why? Oh, you're saying it should be in the D zone, right? Should be, yeah, in the power play zone, in the offensive zone for that power play. Why are you dragging it back out to center?

You have some horrendous ideas. That one's not bad. Okay, I did all right on that one. Okay, our next question comes to us from rich franklin uh using the hashtag ask 31 rich by the way vp of sponsorship and sales for the portland winterhawks of the western hockey league this isn't a hockey question okay if you could go back in time and see one band or singer perform what would the band slash singer be and at what time in the past i would have to say and this really dates me like beatles on ed sullivan would you want early beatles or late

beatles at that time to watch them break into north america united states oh you wouldn't even have to go to the show just go to the airport when they land well that's what i'm saying like at that time the beginning of the beatles i think that would be huge the other choice i would say aside from the beatles is around the fall of the berlin wall there were some big concerts in east and west germany in 1987 it was david bowie genesis and the arrhythmics in West Berlin. And in 1988, Bruce Springsteen, who I love, played in East Berlin. I think that one would be the one. To see Bruce Springsteen in East Germany, just think of what the world was like in 1988

for those of you who were around to see it. So to me, it's not only the concert, it's what's going on around you so when i say the beatles breaking into the united states or bruce springsteen playing in east berlin it's not just the act it's what's going on around the world at the time i like that what about you the first zappa album i ever got from my old drum teacher, Mark French, who played Briefly with Blue Rodeo on the Casino album. And he gave me this and he's like, this is going to change your life. And it did. It was Roxy and Elsewhere, a double live album from the 1973 band.

And to me, that is the best band that Zappa ever assembled. assembled that had napoleon murphy brock and george duke and the fowlers chester thompson and ralph humphries on drums uh ruth underwood to me 1973 zappa band that era the one that was on roxy and elsewhere that would be my favorite that would be that would be the one that i want any particular location probably where they recorded it right like at the roxy that would be the spot for me um that was recorded in a couple of different places actually but mainly in the uh at the roxy like i could be there for that and i still go back to roxy and elsewhere um but the roxy theater in hollywood for the roxy and elsewhere recording with that band oh god they're so good that would be the one for me that is the one regret that I ever have. Like I never got a chance to see that,

but he didn't play Toronto a ton to begin with. And I became a fan after he had played his last show in Toronto, but that was the one regret. I've seen Dweezil play a bajillion times. He tours his father's music, but never saw Frank and would love to have seen that band.

Great question, Rich. How about this one? I said we were going to get there. Oh, is this the hot dog one? I got into it from Brian Tyberg. I got into a huge debate at work last night, so we put a poll together, not including grilling. So grilling is out.

What's your preferred way to cook a hot dog? Boiling, microwave, searing in a skillet the oven or an air fryer are your choices i of those choices i would take searing in a skillet i probably would too but i'm super lazy and just boil it yeah but the thing is you know i'm super lazy too i'm not going to claim i'm any kind of motivated human being but you know i think if you really want to make a good hot dog and I'm committed to the bit, I'm going with the skillet. To go the extra mile after this is over, I'm even cleaning it properly.

Like if you're going to use a skillet, you have to respect the skillet. You have to clean it properly. And what is your topping? Because you were grossed out by mustard and onions. What grossed you out, the mustard or the onions or the combo? It depends on what kind of onions we're talking about here. I should have clarified. Oh, oh.

If they're regular chopped onions, I'm okay. I know. I think it's more like the princess and the pea. If they're chopped or diced onions, I'm okay with that. I'm just not crazy on hot dogs with like the whole caramelized onion kind of deal i like that oh that's good i'm a mustard relish diced onion red like hot pepper kind of guy so like a ballpark dog that's kind of what you're putting on at the ballpark yeah but not all ballparks have good hot peppers like if the hot peppers have been have been sitting

there in a plastic container and they're kind of warmed up or cooled down you gotta have like crisp hot peppers that have some edge to them that make your mouth go on fire that's what i want bring your own in a ziploc dude don't leave at the chance jeff maybe i should maybe i should bring my own peppers to baseball games possible don't leave at the chance man my friend mindy she brings hot sauce in her purse everywhere she goes because she's that fanatic about like super hot sauce. I got a lot of respect for that. A ton of respect.

One from Marco Luciani. I just want to get it out there. Find out why the GTHL hasn't canceled the season yet. We talk a lot about the GTHL on this podcast. They haven't canceled it yet because everybody, the OMHA, Alliance, all of them are all waiting for the OHF, the Ontario Hockey Federation, to officially cancel the season. No one wants to go before the OHF does. From Mark Perreault, are you reading any good pro wrestling books right now? Do you have any good ones to recommend? Let's just extend that to what are

you reading right now? I got a few that I always have like three or four on the go. And actually, it's interesting because one of them I just picked up. Um, you ever read a book? It's a wrestling book. It's called drawing heat. I'll lend it to you. If you've never read it.

Is that the one by a guy like Jim Friedman or something like that? Yes. You know, okay. You know, the one I'm Elliot, I'm so impressed that you know, well,

I'll tell you why I know that book because my first year roommate in university, a guy by the name of matthew lebo he took anthropology 20 at western and that was one of the books assigned to it and after he was done with it so this is 1989 90 after he was done with it he gave me the book i have it here somewhere it's so good it's amazing and it's funny because jim like friedman's an anthropologist so that would that would make a lot of sense and it's his look at the dave mckinney circuit the bear man and this is back oh god this is years and years ago and they would run small town circuits and there were some of the guys i got to know later on in life like wolfman willie farkas who passed away a few years

ago i got to know him uh a little bit when i was when i was covering wrestling he was an older dude by then bear man would run shows with like andre and the chic and all these old school guys it is a really interesting look at the small town wrestling circuit in ontario i'm also reading barbara tuckman's guns of august which is about to lead up to world war one oh my god that's so funny that's a long book man oh dude and you know what there are so many different books on that exact same topic and nobody can agree it is to me the one question about history that i don't think will ever be answered accurately like the effects of that war are still being felt today like just look at the map like just look at the world look at the map and how we all live. Like that was all set by World War I. And we still don't have a handle on why it started or how it started really.

So that will be an endless fascination always for me. But the one hockey book that I do have on the go is a book by a guy by the name of Ian Fyfe. It's called On His Own Side of the Puck, The Early History of Hockey Rules. So this one is real interesting and i know i always get snarky and talk about oh well you know i'm a purist well if you're a purist like then let's go back to you know the montreal rules of 1877 let's go back to the halifax rules like at what point are you saying you're a purist because essentially when people say oh i'm a purist that just means i like

things the way they were when i first understood them because hockey rules are always evolving but that's a great hockey read that i have on but i gotta always have like four or five on the go i'm pretty sure you're the same way yeah i i do too i have a couple of ones i'm reading right now i mean i'm committed next to getting through uh to dealing with uh brant meyer's book painkiller oh nice yeah i'm gonna do that one and uh dave king's book he sent it you know what the caleb dahlgren book so it's good you know it's it's been wild i mean we had berkey's book we had nick's book we had um i'm looking right now at harna ryan's book james duthie's book like there's a lot of people we

know in hockey we're putting out books and you know know, I want to get, I want to make sure I get to the mall. You and me are the only ones not putting out books. That's just it. It's just you and me, bud. I will do one Jeff at one time, but I'm not ready for it. Cause I'm going to be unsparing, particularly on myself. I'm not, I'm not ready for it yet. And people will read that and say too harsh.

Well, maybe, but that's my choice, right? Sure. What about you? I don't know that I've really done enough to justify a book about myself. It would have to be a book about something else. No, you know, I disagree. I think you've had a very interesting life. Eh, maybe just interesting to me.

I disagree about that. I really do. I think, um, you know, you've talked a little bit about some of the things you've been through. I want to hear about you wrestling coyotes in the backyard of your place. I hear them every night, man. It's awesome. I could do a book about my adoption. That's what I could do. Because that would be a book that could help people. Yeah. I could do that one. I found my birth mom, I never found my birth dad, but I could do that. But I think also, like, you've had an interesting path to your career. Accidental, totally accidental.

But I think a lot of us are like that. Like how many of us hit 50, like we've hit 50 and their life goes the way that you think you do. Like maybe you thought you'd always be here. See, that's the thing that makes it even more valuable to me. I think that you're a guy who got to where you hope to go but you never but the path wasn't anywhere close to the way you thought you'd get there no i i honestly i'm i think i've mentioned this to you before i i think that the only thing that is unique about me in this industry is that

i don't set goals yeah but i don't either i just try to be as authentic and as hardworking as i can every day. And I see where it takes me. That's it. It's almost like meeting someone for the purposes of breaking up with them. Don't try to set a goal that way. That's how I always think. And it's a very non-sports way to think.

But that's the way I always have. Now, I'm like that too. I'm like that too. So I understand where you're coming from here. But if someone had told you when you're 50, you'd be the host of a weekly national game in the NHL, you would have said, yes, I want that, right? Want is strong.

I'd say, well, that's interesting. How did you get there? Play along with me here for crying out loud, okay? Like seriously, what are you doing? There would be part of me that would say like, yeah, I want that. That would be kind of interesting. But the interest would be, well, how did you doing? There would be part of me that would say like, yeah, I want that. That would be kind of interesting. But the interest would be, well, how did you get there?

Well, that's my point. Like, how did that happen? Amal, are Jeff and I speaking different languages here? Like, do you understand what I'm trying to say? Like, please back me on this. I get you. Okay, thank you. So, Jeff, that's my whole point is that you're in an interesting place and your route to get there

was very different. Like it's never linear. We all think we're going to do, or I shouldn't say we, cause I think you're like me. You don't really set goals, but we all kind of think, okay, we're going to go on this path to get where we want to go. And that never happens. The road gets blocked or something happens. And now you've got to figure out what's my way to get on the proper path. And I think you have a very interesting journey. Well, I appreciate that. And I've just realized the book that I want to write. Okay.

A book about you. Oh, God forbid. I'm not letting you write it. You know too much. That's right. And on that, we'll wrap up. Thanks to everyone for playing along. Thanks to everyone who sent in the Ask 31 questions.

And thanks to Caleb Dahlgren. Again, please check out his book, Crossroads, My Story of Tragedy and Resilience as a Humble Bronco. Caleb, bless you, man. You have a beautiful story. You're a wonderful man. You have a great family. And it was a real pleasure, real pleasure having you on the podcast.

Elliot, you know what we should do? You know what we should end with this week? What's that? The Buffalo Sabres Booster Club. We referenced it earlier. 1975, we're going to win that cup. Nice call. Hockey needs booster clubs again.

That's what this sport really needs. We're going to win that cup. Nice call. Hockey needs booster clubs again. That's what this sport really needs. We're going to win that cup. Buffalo Sabres booster song for the playoffs for the Swords back in 1975. Thanks for listening to 31 Thoughts, the podcast this week. You know we're going to win that cup. You know we're going to win that Stanley Cup. Me and my Buffalo Sabres. Yeah, yeah, yeah

You know I'm down loose He's gonna skate circles around you Cause my sabres are razor sharp Yeah, yeah We got

phones, we got Roger Crozier Making that saves You know we got the French connection And where there's a shield, there's a way You know we're gonna win that cup We're gonna slap, gonna slap that puck. Me and my Buffalo Sabres. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na We got Garin Big Cherry Cora Leading the way You know we got Robert and Martin Making that big power play You know we're gonna win that cup We're gonna slap, gonna slap that puck

Me and my Buffalo Sabres, yeah, yeah, yeah. Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na. Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na. Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na. Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na. Bye.