32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Doing The Wright Thing

Episode Date: November 21, 2022

What a Weeknd! Jeff and Elliotte discuss Shane Wright and the Kraken re-assigning him to the AHL on a conditioning loan (1:00), potential trade talks between Vancouver-Ottawa (6:30), the sale of the Senators and some possible new names in the mix (14:30), Erik Karlsson (18:00), defencemen on the market (19:30), why Dallas might be the sleeper team this season (26:20), Chicago retiring Hossa’s #81 (33:20) and the Penguins turn their attention to Evgeni Malkin for his 1000th game (35:20).The guys also touch on the Ducks (who might be looking to make a move), Jason Robertson continues to impress (30:30), a special night for Alex Goligoski (52:50) and they take your questions + voicemails (41:40).Stream PAINTING THE PITCH RED wherever you get your podcastsGET YOUR 32 THOUGHTS MERCH HEREEmail the podcast at [e-mail] or call The Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailThis podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.Audio Credits: Bally Sports North, CHED, KFAN FM 100.3, NBC Sports Chicago, NBC, Pittsburgh Penguins, Sportsnet and WRCN FM.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.

The Grey Cup just ended. Did Toronto win? Yeah, congratulations to the Toronto Argonauts. 24-23 over Winnipeg. Mike O'Shea, one of my favorite people, is the coach of the Blue Bombers. I never like to see him lose. I think he's a hell of a coach,

but tough day for Gary Lawless. He loves his Blue Bombers. He really does, but he's doing fine in Vegas. But I know he loves his Peterborough Peets. He loves his Peterborough Lakers. He loves everything Peterborough, and we know loves his Peterborough Lakers. He loves everything Peterborough, and we know about his Manitoba connection as well. 32 Thoughts to Podcast presented by GMC

and the new Sierra AT4X. Welcome to it, Merrick Friedman and Dalich. Coming up a little bit later on, we have some of your emails, some of your voicemails as well, some thoughts on the games over the weekend, but we start, as always, with the news. And the very latest, and Elliot, we talked about this on Hockey Night on Saturday, Shane Wright has been sent to the Coachella Valley Firebirds of the American Hockey League. This is after he was scratched

for a fifth game in a row against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. That opened up the possibility for the two-week conditioning stint. He has been sent there, and he could play as many as five games. Two games against AHL Calgary, one against San Diego, two against Henderson, which would put him back in Seattle on December the 4th. If they're going to send him to the Royal Juniors, that would be reporting to Moncton on the 8th. Camp starts on the 9th.

There is one Seattle game in between there, and that is against the, interestingly enough, Elliot, Montreal Canadiens. A lot to unpack here. Your initial thoughts on all of it. Well, he just needs to play. We've talked a lot about this. If I believed in conspiracy theories,

I would be thinking that there was a conspiracy against letting Shane Wright play. Now, I don't think this is a conspiracy on the same level as the Illuminati or maybe the Kennedy assassination. It's just kind of unreal when you sit and you think about the last couple of years and just all of the things that have conspired against this young man's development now you're a guy you follow minor hockey and and junior hockey and the various levels of hockey a lot more than i do and and i remember the first time i met him which was at a charity event a benefit in memory of one of their former teammates, Roy Pechanovsky. Who else was on that team, Jeff? Brennan Othman was on that team. Don Mills Flyers, by the way.

This is the 2003 Don Mills Flyers. So that would have been Shane Ray, would have been Brennan Othman, would have been Brant Clark as well. Those were the big three. So it was a pretty well-known team in the toronto area it was a big fundraiser event got a chance to meet him and you know everybody at that point in time was saying just what a bright future he had yeah and then like a lot of young people affected by covid that year he stays in ontario because as he told every team he was being told we're gonna play we're gonna play and then we're going to play, and then they didn't play, and he lost the year, and it affected his development.

And now this. And look, Ron Francis believes in this guy. I think he has a plan for him. He's looking at Matty Beneers, who is a much better player than I really realized, and Shane Wright, and he's thinking, we're going to be okay down the middle for 15 years. They just can't get him into games. And I really thought they should have sent him down before this.

Sent him down for a conditioning stint or sent him down to the OHL? Okay. Yeah, sent him down to the OHL. Just play. And again, I don't blame Dave Haxtell. He's got to win games. There's a couple of things here. One, it was looking like he was trending towards a two-week conditioning stint

a couple of weeks ago. He had been scratched four games in a row and then what would have been game five, Jared McCann was hurt, so Shane Wright drew in and the clock reset. We mentioned that Saturday on Hockey Night in Canada and that brings us to where we're at right now. The other thing is complicating all of this. I don't think that if you're Seattle, you want to send him down to a team that's not going to compete for the OHL championship. And that's the Kingston Frontenacs

who still own his rights. If you're going to send him to the OHL, you want him traded somewhere. The problem is if you send him to the Kingston Frontenacs before January in any trade, they can't get last year's first rounder. You know, Jeff, I have to say it got to the point for me where I don't care if Kingston was being relegated to the Central Ottawa Junior D Division. It was time to play. I'm of the belief that if he goes, if he gets sent to the OHL, like let's just say, and again, this is just me spitballing. He goes to Coachella Valley, plays his five games, comes back, plays the one game against Montreal Canadiens,

plays his five games, comes back, plays the one game against the Montreal Canadiens, gets sent to World Junior Camp, has the World Junior experience, and then gets sent to the OHL. That would be in January. I'm of the mind that he's going to, and the one team that pops out to me right away is Peterborough.

Brennan Othman just got traded there. His longtime friend, as you mentioned, former teammate with the 2003 Don mills flyers that's a team that's going to be you know competing for a championship like that makes a lot of sense i just don't think that seattle wanted him to to play who knows risk injury whatever unless he was going to be playing on a team that's going to be the upper tiers of the ohl yeah i understand that like i said i don't, I don't think Seattle is sabotaging this kid. I just believe, first and foremost, that the kid needs to play,

and any game was a good game. Hey, if you wanted to go into the Merrick Beer League where you're going offside all the time, as long as he's on the ice. I know a lot of people get frustrated with the rules about what, you know, you know, where are you going to the AHL? If you're drafted out of the CHL or you're drafted at somewhere else.

Yeah. I get all this. I just think we got to a point where the kid needed to play. That's all. And I'm happy he's going to play. Yes, absolutely. Um, and then we'll see what happens. Uh, if they end up going the world junior route at

the end of it it is either kraken or kingston or whoever uh knows where but i'm with you the the kid does definitely need to play okay um something else from saturday as well uh vancouver and the ottawa senators discussing deals involving defensemen i I had a couple of people who said to me, did you say that Zaitsev turned down the deal? And I said, no, I don't believe that happened. I can't give you the exact timeline. It's kind of hard to say. Just so we introduce it properly, this is a deal involving both Tyler Myers and Nikita Zaitsev. Yes. So there's been a lot of smoke around Ottawa because of everybody knows they're looking for D and then you know Mike Rear came out publicly with Eric Carlson we'd listen and then

you know you and I talked about Ottawa and we heard that they talked but it doesn't look to be a match and that we know Ottawa was looking for D and then there started to be a lot of rumors about Tyler Myers turning down a deal to the Senators at some point. And I will say on that one, there's a lot of differing opinions flying around about what happened and who did what and who didn't do what.

Rick Dallawal, who I go on with every other Monday, you know, I shout out Rick and Don Taylor because, you know, we're proud that, you know, they give a fee for doing that and they graciously donate it to, uh, the Canucks autism network, which I'm, I'm very happy to donate to. So I'm happy to plug them. You know, he said that Myers hadn't turned down a trade to Ottawa. You know, I'd heard the same thing recently. Again, there's a lot of people with differing opinions on this, but as it stands right now, I do think Ottawa and Vancouver talked about a Myers for

Zaitsev deal and it never got to the point or at least not recently when Myers even had to accept it. And Myers could block it. And I think it's even possible that Zaitsev could block it. I'm not sure. But it's not like he was blocking it. He was going to Belleville. So he wasn't going to say no to anything. And some people were asking me, well, why would these teams do that? And to me, I think it's actually pretty simple. For Ottawa, who's lost confidence in Zaitsev,

they would have a player that they would use in Myers. For Vancouver, you'd get a million and a half in cap room because even though they're both signed for one more season Myers is a six million cap hit and Zaitsev is four and a half so that's a reason there in Vancouver is looking for a bit more cap room to do some things. You know, the other thing here too, is that the reason I think it didn't get to a stage where anyone was specifically asked to approve it is that I don't think they could agree on what else would be part of the deal. You know, I think there was the possibility of a draft pick, maybe someone else included. And I just don't think the two teams could agree on it.

So that's why it didn't happen. And the other thing too is we'd mentioned, I'm sure it's true, that there was at least one player that turned down a deal to Ottawa, and that's why a lot of people started wondering about Myers. But in this case, it's not him. So, I mean, look, I think it just shows everything that Ottawa was trying to do to find more D, and now Bernard Docker got hurt.

So maybe they might need Zysiv again. We'll see. I don't know where this is all going to go. But it just shows you, I think, a lot of the work that Ottawa is trying to do to find defensemen. They are not sleeping on this one. They are really trying to do it. I think Saturday's game was really tough for

them and their fans. The Devils are really good. They had a big crowd. Their fans were very unhappy. Not that you could blame them. It was a bad loss. The crowd and social media is all over the coach. Brady Kachuk defends the coach, which is what the

captain should do. I see it all the time. I'machuk defends the coach, which is what the captain should do. I see it all the time. I'm sick of the negativity towards that. It's nobody to blame but ourselves players. It's just we weren't ready to play today. And that's my job to get everybody ready. And yeah, I'm sick and tired of seeing all this negativity, social media and all that. It's not one person, it's a group in here that needs to figure it out. I mean, it's a tough time there right now. It's been a hard start to the year. And Jeff, you and I have talked about the underlying numbers have actually been not bad for them until recently. But at the end of the day, you got to have double use.

You absolutely have to have double use. I want to get to defensemen in the market here in a couple of seconds and i want to get to a couple of notes on the ottawa sale that you brought up saturday but i mean is this situation critical right now this is not the way it was supposed to go not even remotely close well saturday was just a bad performance they were down you know new jersey was all over them and they were not really close and again that's a good team but it was a bad day i think it already was kind of situation critical when it came to the standings but again you know here's a gm that backed his coach publicly and also i think did it to the

leadership group i heard he went right to those players and told them the same thing he told the fans and we all know he's trying like there's no lack of effort to try to improve the team's defense i think the other thing here though is that it's just tough with the sale hanging over the team because you know they've poured a lot of money into it they've signed a lot of players to long-term deals there's no question about that but i think once the sale process actually starts and we're about a week or two away, we'd said earlier, we think it's going to be after US Thanksgiving where it really starts. Once it actually starts, then it becomes a question of, okay, now the team is actually

for sale. They want to know by middle of January where this is headed. That's when you get to the place where, as any business person listening to this will tell you, you're very careful about any money that you add to the organization. Because you eventually reach a point where, I don't know whether you would describe it as proper business practice or the right thing to do or what you would say, but you get to a point where you don't add any more obligation to the financial impact of the buyer. And I think that's always something that comes up in these kinds of things.

That is interesting when you consider how much money has been added when you look at the contracts that were signed in the offseason. But park that for one second. But I think, Jeff, you could look at those as there was a benefit to doing that. A lot of these teams, they're real estate plays, right? They are. And this one is going to be right in the middle of that with a new downtown arena.

However, you ask any billionaire that owns a sports team you know unless they're crashing crypto like ftx is this week you're generally not as well known or talked about in the business world as you are as to when you own a sports team true and that's what a lot of them have learned to understand, which is you can go and do a lot of things in the business world that aren't good, but people don't see them because they don't follow the business world like they follow a sports team. But when you make bad decisions running a sports team, people really come after you. And quite rightly, I believe the melnick family and the brain trust the senators saw a lot of those contracts they handed out as a sound business decision to make

their property more attractive and i and i think that happened but now you get to the point where you're kind of told we're not sure if we're adding any more with the team actually on the market uh do you want to share some of the notes from saturday the team actually on the market. Do you want to share some of the notes from Saturday on the Ottawa Senators sale? And you focused in a little bit on Ryan Reynolds and the celebrity involvement in potential ownership here for the Ottawa Senators. For those that didn't watch Hockey Night Saturday,

you care to vamp on that a little bit? Well, I've just heard that Ryan Reynolds is taking at least one if not more meetings this week like this is very real and by the way we should mention seattle on sunday night had the largest crowd ever for a u.s national team game on u.s soil yes they beat Anaheim's record. Yes. Over 14,000 as the U.S. beat Team Canada 4-2 in the latest edition of the rivalry series. Hillary Knight was a phenom. Yeah, she had two goals, right? She was awesome.

Yeah, she was great. So we should mention that, but Seattle added Marshawn Lynch and Macklemore to their ownership group, and everybody kind of liked the vibe they got from that. The NHL sees Ryan Reynolds go on Jimmy Fallon and talk about wanting a sugar mummy or a sugar daddy to do that. It's a very expensive. So, you know, I need, I need to partner with really deep pockets. It's called a consortium or a consortium when you form a group together to buy an entity.

It's such a fancy way of saying I need a sugar mommy or a sugar daddy. Yeah, okay, yeah, yeah, but you do need one. And all the positive press that comes for that and says, hmm, we should actually turn this into a thing and they are like you know they're he's actively meeting with some of these teams about it but i've heard there's the potential to be more and ron made the joke and a couple people started texting me like are you hinting that the weekend could buy into the ot Senators. Like, I don't know that that's going to happen, but you know, you and I, we chase this all day Saturday.

Do we have confirmation? We both got to the same spots. Yeah, we got Heisman. Which normally I say, hmm, that means there's something there. We both arrived at the same spot and it is bars and tone. You're like, hmm, okay, maybe there's something to it. All I'd say is this, is that I don't know that that's true, but the one thing about him, he's from Scarborough.

Well, he's a Toronto guy. He's tied into Scarborough. Obviously, he's very proud of being from Scarborough. He has some representation that has tie-ins to Ottawa. At least two of his representatives, well, they were born overseas and moved to Canada and have connections to Ottawa. So, you know, we'll see, Jeff. I don't know that it's true.

I don't know that it isn't, but that rumor's out there, and I was kind of surprised. I was like, why would someone with a Toronto area connection do that? And then you kind of do the research about what's around him and you say, okay, it's not impossible to believe with all the Ottawa area connections. We'll see if it's true or it's just a bad rumor. Did you just pull the Doug McLean line of all time? I'm not saying it's the truth.

I'm just saying what I heard. Hey, man, you saw me chasing it. You helped me. That was a fun little chase on Saturday. I give you homework with Eric Carlson, and you gave me homework Saturday afternoon, and that was a lot of fun. Yeah, my grade was higher. You got somewhere.

You and me got nowhere on Saturday with this one. Elliot, before we move on, anything you want to add here about Carlson? He has not been approached at this time about waiving his no-move clause. That's number one. I think the interesting thing here is that by putting it out there, like Mike Greer did at the GM meetings, I think what he's done is he's created a conversation among a number of potential teams about what they're willing to do. So if you've been following this, you know that Carlson has four years left on his contract after this season at $11.5 million per year.

And one of the conversations I think that San Jose is trying to figure out is, is there anybody out there who's willing to take the whole deal? I think we all kind of assume that's unlikely. If the answer is no, what are you willing to do? And I think that's what he's trying to figure out. You know, Carlson ultimately has control over this process, but what the Sharks need to know is what are we dealing with in terms of what we're going to need to retain? And I think that's what the early part of this process is all about. What are other teams willing to do? Not in terms of players or prospects or anything like that,

simply in terms of the money. And that's the first part, I believe, of this deal. Okay, Elliot, with that, let's have a quick look at the market of defensemen around one team specifically. And that is the Arizona Coyotes. Now, this is the week that Jacob Trickman makes his return. So fire up your rumor mills, ladies and gentlemen. Jacob Trickman has now reentered the chats.

Arizona plays Nashville, Carolina, and Detroit this week. You threw another name on the table as well on Saturday night, and that is Connor Timmons. Jeff, you know the juniors better than I do. When he was a junior, he was a big prospect, right? Yeah, him and Rasmus Sandin on that Sault Ste. Marie blue line were outstanding. Absolutely.

He was huge. And his dad is one of the great hockey dads in the history of the OHL. I'm not sure that his dad, who went to Cornell, by the way, missed a single one of Connor Timmons' games. Didn't matter whether he had to fly or take a helicopter or a Batmobile or whatever. He did not miss any of his son's games.

I would like to see Connor Timmons' dad in the Batmobile. It would be pretty cool. They had the Batmobile during one of the stanley cup final games in 2018 it was in the parking lot in vegas yeah and so we were walking home after one of the games and it was there and i go can i take a picture in that and they were sure and they're like sure and i think it was nick and kelly they looked at me and they said i've never seen you so excited to take a picture before i was in the seat of the batmobile anyway i digress cool so he's and by the way listening to you say that it should not surprise you that after we did that

segment i had a couple people reach out to me and say they think toronto is one of the teams that's interested because hussein marie greyhounds and he played with sandin you want another useless fact sure one blue eye one brown eye eye. Kate Beckinsale. And Connor Timmons. And Connor Timmons. That's what they have in common. Boy, we are full of useless information. Continue.

We are completely full of useless information. So Timmons is on a conditioning stint of his own. He's only played two games in the NHL this year. His conditioning stint ends on Wednesday, I believe. And, you know, the biggest problem with him is he can't stay healthy, right? He had concussion issues, which are no joke. You want to be serious.

He's had some injuries here and there. You know, Arizona, I think so far this year, has surprised us all a little bit pleasantly. They've kept their heads above water. I think a lot more than people expected. They play very hard, which has been very impressive of them, all things considered. But, you know, he can't seem to find a spot right there. And I've just heard there's some conversation around him.

We'll see where it goes. I mean, we all know about Chikrin. He's coming back to play on Monday. I mean, he took a puck in the face on practice on Saturday. I was like, what else could happen to this guy? And you mentioned Goss Despair, but someone told me to add Timmons' name to this. I think, again, this all changes, as you always say, with one phone call. But I think Goss Despair is probably closer to a trade deadline deal, but not 100% on that.

And he's on the expiring contract. You don't think there's any chance he would stay? Like, it's been a good place for him there. It really has. I just don't know that he stays. Like many people, I consider the Arizona Coyotes open for business on just about everybody. Okay. Fair enough.

I was wondering if he would just say, you know what, I like it here. It's been a good fit. You know what's interesting about Connor Timmons? When there were two teams, remember when the Darcy Kemper sweepstakes were on, the two remaining teams were the Avalanche and the Oilers. And Colorado putting Connor Timmons in the deal, that's what cinched it for the Avalanche.

Yes. That they liked that prospect over whomever Edmonton was offering. As I've been told, that's what ended up getting the Colorado Avalanche, Darcy Kemper. Listen to 32 Thoughts, the podcast, ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. It's been half an hour since the final whistle blew at BMO Field, and despite a negative 13 temperature, not a single fan has left the sold-out stadium. An endless sea of red jerseys wave Canadian flags, singing and dancing as flares and fireworks shoot into the Toronto sky. Down on the pitch, players wipe their tears and embrace one another draped in flags. It's March 27th and Canada has just qualified for

its first World Cup in 36 years, comfortably defeating Jamaica 4-0 at home to secure the number one seat in CONCACAF qualifying. As the party rages on in the stands, an older crew starts to make its way onto the pitch. Famous Canadian soccer alumni from all eras are introduced to the crowd, but one era, in particular, draws louder cheers than the rest. The players from Canada's last World Cup team in 1986.

30,000 fans applaud and cheer for the trailblazers who first brought Canadian soccer to the global stage. But in the midst of it all, one question lingers in the air. Why did it take us so long to get back? This series will explore the history of Canadian soccer through three pivotal chapters that outline the rise and fall of the beautiful game within our borders. with experts such as Sid Sexero, Craig Forrest, Christian Jack, Brendan Dunlop, former Canadian players and coaches, experts on Canadian culture and politics, and more, to understand not only why we suffered a 36-year drought, but more importantly, how we managed to beat it. And as the sun begins to set on that afternoon at BMO Field, midfielder Jonathan Osorio bangs

a drum at center pitch surrounded by teammates. As he increases the pace, sending the crowd into frenzy, it doesn't feel like we're counting down to the end of the party. It feels like we're counting down to the beginning. I'm Henry Standage and this is Painting the Pitch Red. Stream a new chapter of Canada's roller coaster journey ahead of each group stage match at Qatar 2022. Elias, something I wanted to make sure that we got to today, Saturday, Islanders and the Dallas Stars. Now, one of the headlines coming out of it is Matthew Barzell finally scored. While he still came away with it, Romano in front deflection, they score! Now, one of the headlines coming out of it is Matthew Barzell finally scored.

Which I'm very happy for Matthew Barzell. It's always nice to score. There is a hockey geek part of me that really wanted Matthew Barzell to get 82 assists this year and lead his team in scoring without scoring a single goal just because of the bizarre nature of what that was. I know. It's told. I know.

But I knew it was never going to happen. But I amused myself for a handful of games here thinking it might. But the Dallas Stars end up winning this one. 5-2 is the final. Jamie Benn takes a spot on the top line. Rupe Hintz is injured and gets three points. And don't look now, but Jamie Benn's got 20 points so far on the season. And don't look now, but Jamie Benn is kind of back, Elliot.

So is Sagan. So is Sagan, I know. I'm glad you brought this up because I think this is low-key Ben is kind of back, Elliot. So is Sagan. So is Sagan, I know. I'm glad you brought this up because I think this is low-key one of the really good stories of the beginning of this season is the return of those two guys. Because at times they've taken some pretty heated criticism from high up in their organization which is something you don't see very often you hear about it but he's usually behind closed doors in their case it was public

yes and i'm kicking myself a little bit right now jeff because at the beginning of the year as you know we're asked to pick stan Stanley Cup champions and things like that. And I refused to pick Colorado and I refused to pick Tampa. And Dallas is one of the teams I was looking at. I didn't do it. And I'm kind of kicking myself a bit. Because they know how to defend and they know how to check. And in this league, I don't think you can win

without knowing how to do those things. But if this is real from Sagan and Ben, and I hope it is, because like I said, physically those two players have been through a lot, the Dallas Stars could win the Stanley Cup. I mean, a lot of this is like, you never have to apologize for your goaltender. I mean, Jake Ottinger is a 927 safe percentage goalie.

He's picked up right where he left off in that Calgary series. So that's fantastic. We all know about their blue line, which is fantastic. And they're getting contributions all the way, you know, up and down the lineup. And you know what? We've talked about Tyler Sagan before and how much grace I give a player coming off of hip surgery. Like I give players a long runway when they're coming off of that surgery. I'm happy

that Tyler Sagan looks to be as healthy as someone that's played in the league for, what is it now, 12 seasons or 11 seasons, and what he's put his body through is able to compete at this level. That to me is one of the, we talk about untold stories or underreported stories. Just how much Tyler Sagan has put his body through for this team. And to your point, how much criticism he's endured. Yet here he is now, 30 years old, and he's still performing. But he's not like a normal 30. Like you look at the list of injuries that Sagan's had and what he's done for this team. That is a laundry list. And he's back and what he's done for this team that is a

laundry list and he's back again and he's competing at a top level Ben's list of injuries I don't think has been as long as Sagan's has I've heard what he's had to go through there has also been pretty severe limited what he can do and I don't know if Ben's expected to score as much as Sagan does, and I think scorers always take more heat. And I'm with you on Sagan. He's been through a lot, but I also believe Ben privately has been through a lot with his body that hasn't allowed him. Like there were rumors a couple years ago about his hips

that he would never be able to get back to this level. It's bad news for a lot of teams in the Western Conference that these guys appear headed in the right direction. The other great story is Jason Robertson and the contract. And we all went through that saga day by day, even podcast by podcast. I think one of the great stories here is he signed the deal and we said, wow, that's a lot of money, but it'll probably look good by the end. It looks good now. Like right, right away.

And we just had the conversation not too long ago, like a few days ago, like is Jason Robertson already underpaid? Like right away, boom. You want to talk about earning your new contract? Cause that was a significant bump he got. Already, that deal looks like a bargain for each. Oh, by the way, Jeff, one quick note. Last pod, we were talking about Bo Horvat and Columbus.

And someone said to me they didn't think it made sense for Columbus to do that in a trade. They said, why would Columbus give up assets? If you really want them, because you've got to sign them anyway. Yeah. So you go after them just in free them? Because you've got to sign them anyway. Yeah. So you go after them just in free agency. Just something I wanted to throw out there because I thought it was a good point. We wrote that, I think, on the pod. It only makes sense if it comes with an extension.

Someone else was just saying if they were Columbus, they would just wait until he was a free agent. Like, why trade anything for him? The other thing we spoke about on the last podcast, which I'm going to continue to enjoy every time it happens, is how many people tweeted at you specifically saying Eichel should have an assist on that Mark Stone penalty

shot. Thank you to everybody who responded to Elliot Friedman's tweet about Mark Stone's penalty shot with give Eichel the assist. On behalf of me, I love you all. Yeah, you know what? Whenever something like that happens, I do get a little annoyed about that you're right

or people are supporting your ideas. But the thing I am filled with is the recognition that we have incredible listeners. So good. Incredible listeners. And I am hugely appreciative of that. That was a great game, by the way. Just a fantastic, fantastic hockey game.

And McDavid with an unreal goal. Drop it for Darnell Nurse. These three have been on the ice now for a minute and ten seconds. Nurse reloading. McDavid breaks around Petrangelo to the net for the win. Scores! Connor McDavid, high glove on Aiden Hill. And Edmonton prevails 4-3 in overtime.

That's a minute 17 into the shift, and McDavid races past one of the top defenders in the National Hockey League. World-class goal from the world's best player. Wow. And Kevin made a good point. He said on the broadcast that if he was playing against the Oilers in overtime, he would put 2-D out there. Now, on that goal, you could have 5-D out there. It wouldn't matter.

But I thought it was a good point that he made. All right, Elliot, I want to talk about the Pittsburgh Penguins. Now, Sunday night, they beat the Blackhawks by a final score of 5-3. This is the jersey retirement for Marian Hossa. Love to see the 81 go to the rafters. Marian Hossa's number

81 will be raised to the United Center rafters forever, ensuring that for the Chicago Blackhawks, there is only one number 81. Great ceremony. Tremendous ceremony. I can only imagine what's going through Jonathan Taves

and Patrick Kane's head as they're watching this ceremony. Game number 1,000 for Yevgeny Malkin. I do want to get there. But first, is there any quote unquote latest around the Penguins Ron Hextall hates trade rumors I don't feel like being beaten up by Ron

Hextall but I've heard he's looking into things I don't think that should surprise anybody I'm going to have Felix Podvan live at my house the next week in case Hextall hears this and doesn't like it. That's your only chance. That's your only chance.

Get the cat. I've just heard he's looking into things. The other team I've heard a little bit about is Anaheim. I don't want to go way too far away from Pittsburgh because I know you want to talk about the Penguins. We always joke about it, Jeff. You do this show on Saturday night and then people reach out and say, oh, well, here's more on this or why didn't you say this?

I just had a couple people saying that you know Pittsburgh and Anaheim are two teams that you know Pittsburgh is I think they're just looking around I think Hextall's trying to figure out what's out there and I think he's looking into some things and all I've heard on the docks is Toronto having some interest in Frank Vetrano which I think makes a lot of sense left-hand shot guy can score. But someone said to me, they can't do even at 50%. It's 1.8. It's not something they think they can fix. But I'm sure we're going to start hearing

a lot of things out of the Ducks. Like I said, I heard they've got a lot of people out looking to see what's out there. But back to Pittsburgh. Malkin, number game 1,000. We've all watched his entire career. I mean, I can still recall how much of a challenge it was to get him in with the contract.

Is there a loophole? Can the Penguins get him? You remember all of that, Elliot, and that first game where he scored on Martin Verdure of the New Jersey Devils. He's provided so many memories since then. The coming out from behind the net and roofing it backhand, becoming one of his signature moves.

The playoff success, the Stanley Cup success, the battles with players like Henrik Zetterberg, the battles with Alexander Ovechkin. One of the things that I think we've totally forgotten here, because I guess mainly it was Ilya Kovalchuk that that mended the fences is how nasty it was between Malkin and Ovechkin for the longest time um and one of the things that I think we've all wondered about I'm sure you have as well were there any times you think that Malkin said you know it's Crosby and Malkin, 87 and 71.

You know, there have been plenty of players, and we think of Iserman and Federoff, where one of them says, you know what, I want to go out on my own. You know, and Federoff, you know, famously signed that offer sheet with the Carolina Hurricanes, letting another stick of dynamite in the feud between, you know, Illich and Carmanos, Compuere and Little Caesars. But I've always wondered at which point Malkin said, you know what? Maybe it's my time to lead a team myself and not have it a two-man act.

Was that ever close? Do you know what happened? He's admitted that he thought about it once. It was actually in a Sportsnet feature. I remember that, but did you ever think that it was close though? I don't know if it was ever close, but I do think he thought about it.

And then I think at some point he realized how good he had it. You know, first of all, the one thing I would say about Malkin is, you know, one of the fun things about lists that are always put together is,

you know, there's always a debate about who's on and who's off and who was the miss. 100th anniversary all-time team. I didn't vote on that one, so I'm going to trash it. No, I didn't vote on that one, but I thought Malkin not being a top 100 player was a miss. And I think he's definitely a top 100 player in NHL history.

You know, the thing about Malkin is I think eventually, you know, some people are made to be the alpha dog on a team and some people aren't and I think as a player Malkin's built that way but when you're the alpha dog on a team you've got to be the one who's always visible always available and you kind of have to sell the team I'm not sure he's and it's not even because he's not uh North American I just don't think his personality is wired to be like that and i think he recognized that having crosby there to do all of that stuff was very beneficial to him i think he came to realize that at one time but yes i do think he thought about it but the one thing i know and i don't know if it's still the case now for ron hexall, but I know there was a time that if you were the general manager

of the Pittsburgh Penguins, it was in your contract that you could not trade either Malkin or Crosby without ownership permission. There was always the belief or the edict that these guys retire as Penguins. That's what Mario Lemieux wanted, I believe. That was his plan. These guys are retiring penguins.

They're not going anywhere. And it was close. Like, it was close this offseason. This one, we all remember, this one came right down to the wire freeze. Yes. And for a day, for 24 hours, it looked like he was leaving.

But common sense prevailed. And the other thing, too, I think Malkin deserves a lot of credit for is crosby came back from a big injury we never knew if he would be sydney crosby and it's one of the things i most admire about crosby is the fact that he came back from the concussion and neck problems to return to be sydney crosby malkin too has come back for some pretty bad injuries. I mean, they're not as public or high profile, but he had a pretty bad knee injury last year,

two years ago, and it needed some pretty significant surgery and he played on it and he played at a pretty high level and then he had the surgery and came back. And I don't know if you can be a great player in this league without going through that not to say that you need to but how many great players do we know of have had significant injuries and played through them and I think that he's one of them and to me that only

adds to his legacy he's been so much fun to watch. 1,000 games. I love, by the way, the tribute where they all did his warm-up. Yes. All of them on the ice. You know what it looked like? I saw it. It was like, are they doing synchronized swimming? And then I kind of realized what they were doing. The looks from the Blackhawks were hilarious.

It's so good. It's such a nice touch. The other really nice touch that the penguins had tonight jeff was malkin's son announcing the starting lineup i mean that you could see that was very emotional for him you almost wonder how hard it was for him to go out there and focus after that because he's very emotional uh giving his boy a hug in the video the penguins put out that's a that's a real nice is even emotional for nikita like you see in the video how much it affects him too like that's a great touch by the penguins a fantastic touch

thousand games for mulligan he's provided all of us with so much hockey joy yeah over the years uh we'll hit a quick break come back with some voicemails and emails after this. Let's go win a hockey game. Let's go. Okay, Elliot, some emails, 32thoughts.sportsnet.ca, and some phone calls. The thought line, 1-833-311-3232. I'll say it slower now. 1-833-311-3232. I'll say it slower now. 1-833-311-3232.

We are going to get to some emails, but we are going to start off with a voicemail. Here's Mark. Hi, this is Mark from Edmonton. I just was listening to your podcast about the World Cup of Hockey and the potential to do a Canada versus US series, both the men and the women. I'm wondering what your thoughts are on a mixed best of seven.

So the men would play game one, the women would play game two. I think that would be a pretty exciting and innovative way to integrate the best on best that both countries have to offer. And it could be replicable in a lot of other places. As always, great job, Merrick and Amal. And thanks for taking my call. It lives. It lives. You know, I have to say, I actually think that's a pretty interesting idea. So do I. The only question is who gets game seven, the men or the women?

Well, you could do it either way. Like, for example, I could see a situation where the nhl says we want our players playing a three games max right because that was our initial idea best two out of three so you could do it that way the women get the fourth game if necessary i love this idea mark and edmondson well done i think it's a great idea take the rest of the week off, Mark. What a great idea that one is. All right. Cody from Saskatchewan submits this one. Listening to all the offside

challenge debates got me to thinking. If an attacking team goes offside but does not score and the defending team regroups and quickly goes down the ice and scores, can the team who was originally offside challenge themselves in order to cancel the other team's goal? Elliot,

we've had this one before, but I always like to include it at least once a season for our new listeners. It's a great thought. Tell us what the answer is. The answer is no. You can't do that. There can only be an offside review for the team

that was scored against to knock it away, not because you went offside down the ice and nobody realized it. Coach's Challenge. It is very creative. But that was brought up, though, as one. Yes, it has been asked before. It has been spoken about.

Okay, Thomas in Switzerland. Elliot, we're going international. Oh, wow. Man, I've always wanted to go see hockey in Switzerland. I mean, I've always wanted to go see hockey all over the world, but specifically there. First of all, thanks to all of you, I guess even you too, Elliot, for your fantastic work.

Never miss an episode. Can't imagine how much you guys mean to the hockey community over here in Switzerland. Those are very kind words. Thank you, Thomas. Here's my question. Patrice Bergeron signed a one-year contract with the Bruins carrying a cap of $2.5 million.

He also has a performance bonus of $2.5 million I believe for over 10 games played. Are there any rules on what parameters for the performance bonuses are or could you set ridiculous goals like, quote, he wore skates

just to minimize the risk for players? No, they have to be approved, right? So I think he wore skates would not be accepted. But good try. Because then I would wear skates every day walking down the street and say, someone owes me 2.5 million. Where's my bonus, damn it.

You know, I have to say, I do like these kinds of questions because I'm one of those guys who likes to bend the rules and pools as much as i can you know in one of my football pools this year there was a player of mine that someone wanted i think it was george kittle i have him on my team and someone wanted to trade for him but they didn't have a high enough pick so i said why don't you trade me not this upcoming year's draft pick, but a high pick two years from now?

And we were told we weren't allowed to do that. So I like people who try to come up with different ideas. What I like about this is whenever these ideas pop up on the podcast, invariably, and I'm sure you get the same thing, either someone from the league or from one or two of the teams will text or call the day that the podcast comes out with a reason why it's a great idea

or a stupid idea or we need to talk about this more. So just so you know, these questions aren't just for me and Elliot. These are heard elsewhere as well. Okay, Elliot, we're going to go to a voicemail. Let's go to... We got a lot of Saskatchewan today. Let's go

to Sam in Yorkton. Hey guys, Sam calling from Yorkton, Saskatchewan. Just a dumb question, although maybe there are no dumb questions, but you guys could be the judge. The way players change on the fly,

I know there's not much chance of it happening in reality, but in theory, it could happen. Can a goalie change with another goalie on the fly? Or is there some rule that prohibits that? Anyway, probably a dumb question. Thanks, guys. Thanks, Ammo.

Thanks, Jeff. First of all, that's not a dumb question at all. And the answer to that, Elliot, is yes, they can. You can absolutely change on the fly. Have you ever seen it before? No, I've never seen it. But I did check with a former NHL referee about that this afternoon and was told, yes, you can do that.

Absolutely. I don't know that I've ever seen it. I've never seen it either. But if there is any coach courageous enough to try it, it will not be blown dead or there will not be a penalty. You are allowed to do that. It's like the same rules apply to any other change. There's only one caveat for one situation,

and that is if you swap out a goaltender for a penalty shot, that goaltender has to stay in net until the following whistle, and then you can change back. But as far as goalies changing on the fly, Sam in York did. It's not a dumb question at all.

It's a really interesting one. Only reporters ask dumb questions, and I've done it several times. Good question, and yeah, the answer is yes, you can absolutely do that. All right, let's do one more. Let's do another voicemail then. Let's go to Todd in New York. How's it going, guys? Long-time listener, first-time caller, Todd from New York. I just have a quick question. I'm a big fan of guys with hard slap shots, but most guys with the really hard shots, I feel, don't ever make it to these all-star games where they get their shots clocked.

For example, maybe, I don't know, as low-key, maybe Johnny Boychuck with that Johnny Rocket, but growing up for me as a Devils fan, Brian Ralston had one of the hardest shots in the league. I know if I ask you guys who had one of the low-key hardest shots, Jeff will say some Maple Leaf from the 70s, but maybe Elliot could give me a good answer. Okay job, Jeff. Great job, Amel. Thanks a lot, guys. There's a lot in there, too. Shots at all of like that thanks that's good first of all i i agree with you on this todd and by the way that he sounded like a new yorker oh man yeah it's awesome one of the people i think should be invited is ryan pulak going away absolutely and i've actually talked to him about this before i think he should be there i i do think they should take specialists it It's been debated before. It's never really happened.

You know, last year, for example, they tried to convince Chara to go, and he was like, no, this is a mockery. I'm not doing it, which is too bad because I would have loved to have seen. I mean, talk about a leave from the 70s. We'll go leave with the 80s. I love the idea of Iafredi going there i really do

for example i think now and the slap shot's a dying thing in the nhl but i i would love to see ryan pulak there a couple of names that pop to my mind right away well first of all martin firk uh with all due respect to everybody else in the in in the pro ranks right now martin firk bombs it yeah he wanted at the AHL level, right? Oh, yeah. Didn't he put up like 109, Elliot? Like, you want to talk about a bomb? That's a bomb.

One of the other guys, there's a couple that spring to mind on this one. One, you remember Andy Delmore? Of course. Remember how hard Andy Delmore could crank it up from the point? That's one of the guys that comes to mind. If you want to go back and, Todd, cover your ears

because you're not going to want to hear like 70s and 80s references here. Jacques Lemaire had a great slap shot. Jacques Lemaire had a dynamite. You never think of Jacques Lemaire and his dynamite. Well, you think of the goal against Tony Esposito right back in 71. He had a bomb of a shot.

Brian Propp, I always thought had a really, really underrated slap shot. He can fire it and sticking with the Flyers. Reggie Leach had an insane slap shot, but you know who's slap shot? Because we never associate him with slap shots. Although if you ask Mike Vernon, he might tell a different story.

Wayne Gretzky had a really good shot a really good slap shot now I don't think it was ever the hardest accurate but you know Kelly Rudy would be

a better person to answer this about what made Wayne's slap shot so good because it was so accurate like his timing on his slap shot was near

perfect like he'd do that little pause where most guys would just sort of wind up and it was all one fluid motion. Gretzky would do like this little pause freeze and just like either freeze goaltenders or throw them off. And then the next thing you know, the red light is lit. I would agree with you on that.

Thanks so much for the voicemails. Thanks so much for the emails. Please continue to send them in. And again, for all the Sam and Yorktons, there are no stupid questions. Please send them along. 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca is the email. 1-833-311-3232 is the voicemail. Or as Amel likes to call it, the thought line, guys.

Call it the thought line. Branding, after all. Oh, one thing I do want to mention before we wrap up here. Emil's part of a new podcast and it sounds fantastic. It's called Painting the Pitch Red. Oh, yeah. It's hosted by Henry Standage. The trailer is out now.

It's available everywhere you get your podcasts. And essentially, Elliot, this is the history of Canadian soccer and why exactly it took 36 years for Canada to qualify for its second World Cup. This one sounds outstanding. And though we are loathe to give praise, once again, Emil Delic hits us one out of the park. So look for that one and look forward to hearing the full thing. I'm no doubt with Emil involved, it'll sound great. I feel like I'm congratulating my wife for cheating on me a little bit,

but I'm very happy for you, Amal. He's stepped out, but we'll give him a hall pass on this one. How about that one? Thanks for that, guys. The first episode of the three-part series drops on Tuesday. Get it wherever you get your podcasts, and it's hosted by a Western alumni, Elliot.

I don't want to talk about Western. Tough loss in the Vanier Cup semifinals this weekend. It still stings. It still stings. Yeah. One thing I want to mention before you wrap up, when wonderful moments happen, wonderful hairs on your arm go up

and nerves close to the skin and the shivers and all that kind of stuff, Alex Koligoski. Yes. And the game winner against Carolina and the interview with Kevin Gorg and the 1,000 game celebration and the family and everything.

Just when you think that there's no poetry in hockey, it all comes together and it just turns into a beautiful event for Alex Goligosky and his entire family. Here's Sam Steele jamming on the break. Threw it to the back post. Goligos, scores! How fitting is that?

Alex Golikowski wins it in overtime on the 90s honor for his veteran, impressive career. They salute him for game 1,000. And tonight he has the overtime. What it is is a reminder that you could be 37 years old you could play a thousand and two games in the nhl like goligosky has and you never lose that pride in yourself or that passion and the will to play the game it would be very easy for him to be satisfied. But here's a guy who, after he played his 1,000th game for the Minnesota Wild, was scratched in 14 of the next 15, I think it was.

And then he gets back in the lineup on the same night he gets the silver stick, and he scored, as you mentioned, the winning goal. And we'll let his voice speak for itself, but I believe this. Every player who plays so much as one game in the NHL is a great player, but you can't play 1,002 without being an extremely great player and having the passion and demand of yourself to be constantly at an elite level. And these are the words and the tone of someone who is exactly that they call them the

goose and you couldn't make this up if you were in hollywood alex this is your special night your family and friends are here take us through your emotions yeah i'm emotional right now uh it's been uh it's been an awesome night uh you know i have my family on the ice and so many people here. Sorry. It's awesome. This was a huge game for your hockey team. You're on the ice in overtime on your big night. You've got to put the emotions

aside and make a play. Take us through because it started with you in the defensive zone. Yeah, no, a great play by Freddie and Steeler obviously coming up the ice. Steeler makes a great play backside to me, and lucky, lucky one. What can this mean for you and your team, knowing what you've been through the last couple of weeks, beating one of the very best in the league?

Yeah, we talked about it, needing a win like this to get us going. We've struggled at home. Fans, stick with us. We need you guys. We're coming here. We're going to be good. Congratulations. This is all about your night.

You did a hell of a job. Thank you.