32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Edmonton & Elliotte Spared

Episode Date: June 16, 2024

In this edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman look back on a dominant Edmonton Oilers win over the Florida Panthers in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final to stave off elimination and force a Game 5 back in Florida. They also get into what the Panthers can takeaway from this ugly loss, and they look forward to Tuesday (17:00). Afterwards, Jeff and Elliotte discuss Guy Boucher's exit as Assistant Coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs (23:14). They wrap the news with a couple of notes from the AHL (24:16). The guys answer your questions in the Montana’s Thought Line (25:30).Jeff and Elliotte wrap this edition of the podcast by discussing who they think are the lead candidates for the Conn Smythe and whether Connor McDavid might garner some votes if the Oilers lose in the end (35:49).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailThis podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.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.

Are you a jaywalker? Oh, God, yeah. I'm a big jaywalker, too. I freely admit it. I jaywalk all the time. And I was about to do it at a light, and a gentleman grabbed me. And he said, don't do that.

Not in our city, hippie. Not in our city. Elliot, I'm going to start today's podcast with a joke. You ready? Is it going to be a good joke or a bad joke? Yeah, I like this joke no no no no i like this joke it's a good joke you ready okay so elliot a uh a guy tried to sell me a coffin today you know what i said okay what ah that's the last thing i need signs of life from the Edmonton Oilers. It is a three-to-one series. We are headed back to Florida. And with that, we'll kick off the 32 Thoughts Podcast presented by the GMC Sierra

Elevation. Elliot, first of all, did you like my little joke? I'm actually embarrassed for you. I may have another one later on. Don't worry. I'm in my dad joke phase of my life, man. You can come on. I got, this is, this sustains me. I was trying to think of like, okay, what can I do?

Cause everyone will do like the undertaker meme, like, Oh, the Oilers aren't dead. All of it. I tried to have a little bit of humor to kick off the podcast today. Anyway,

game five is on Tuesday. And, um, you know, there are, there are many times where I say this, I wish I was in the rink. Elliot, Saturday night in Edmonton, I really wish I was in the rink.

That sounded fantastic from the opening puck drop right to the end. What was it like to be in there? I don't know if I would say it was better than game six Dallas because that game was tighter, and I really thought the crowd willed Edmonton to victory on a night where the ice was tilted against them but it was pretty incredible the thing that happened in this game was that the Oilers gave their fans real reason to get into it the other night in game three I thought the fans were very excited Florida scored

first they did eventually score with the Fogle goal, but then the air got let out of it really quick when all their mistakes ended up in their net. This one, it was 1-0, then it was 2-0, then it was 2-1. But when Skinner made the save on the 2-on-1, which I actually thought was the biggest moment of the game. To me, this is a very different game of Verhage scores there. But when that happened, and then they scored shortly thereafter,

the building was rocking. And they just piled on, and it kept growing and growing. And the third period was really a party atmosphere. And I think two things can be true, Jeff. Number one, this was a night where the Oilers could have a lot of people feel really good about themselves, which is exactly what they needed. But also, I think it's a game that Florida, I think Florida is a really mature team. I think they compartmentalize well. I really believe that game three, when there was all that talk about how late they got in, and they still won the game.

To me, that says they're not distracted, eyes on the prize. They don't vary from what they need to know and do. So I know that the Panthers will say, look, the final isn't total goals. This is not an aggregate score. It's who wins four games first. They'll flush this one down the toilet quickly and they'll be ready for game number five. This to me, like people are like they created doubt. No, I think they had a great night, a night they needed, but I don't think they really create doubt until they bring the series back to edmonton i don't think this florida team is going to be too shaken by this so uh

getting back to the crowd here i want to make one point so i am really curious because it felt like this to me and i'm not sure if i'm just projecting it because i want it to be true because it's a cool story if it is but after yan mark scores short-handed goal again uh to make it one nothing there was a too many men on the ice penalty and by the way 34 too many men on the ice penalties in these playoffs i don't i don't know if you could see it wow on on television but do you know who made that call? Who made the call? Eckholm. He skated right to the Florida bench.

Really? Yes. He skated right to the Florida bench. I can't remember if it was a referee or a linesman who was right there. But he skated right to the bench and yelled at them. And he was beaver-tailing his stick. Well, you know, Gretzky was famous for that, for that right hopping on the ice and skating by an official too many men just really quietly with too many men too because i mean wayne one of the famous things about wayne is he liked to know exactly where everybody was that's why he didn't like skating along the boards

like along the benches because he wanted to see who was coming on and who was going off but anyway so let me get back to my point can i tell you one quick story about gretzky about this sure so one of the stories i heard about gretzky was there was one time he did that he skated through a team and scored and after he scored he yelled at the referee or the official too many men and the referee said i know i know they had six guys out there and gretzky said seven oh that's the best was it too many nobody was going to argue with him another player told me that another oiler told me so that's my gretzky too many men story anyway acol made that call okay well on that play see i i don't know if i believe it or i just want to believe it but it certainly felt this way it felt like the crowd caused the too many men on the ice penalty because they were so loud that communication was almost non-existent on the bench and then there became it felt like to me

tell me if i'm just projecting this because i want it to be true it felt like there was a moment where the crowd itself once the pen once he once that once the penalty was called realized that because of their chaos in the stands they probably caused the snafu at the florida bench leading to the too many men on the ice call did it and i'm crossing my fingers hoping you say yes did it feel that way in the rink yes i would agree with you on that i i absolutely would and and like i said as the as the score kept on going more and more um it became even more of a party atmosphere. Like the third period was basically one giant karaoke night. Every song that came on,

they were singing the words Bon Jovi, living on a prayer. Everyone was singing it. Some Shania Twain came on, everybody was singing it. Now I confess there were some songs. They knew the words better than others. And I'm not exactly a great,

like I'm one of those people who's like, when I'm singing a song, I like it. I don't know the words. There was a little bit of that. But like I said, game six, Dallas, that was a crowd that willed them to win in that game. This one tonight was a crowd that was like, hey, we're at a party and we're going to party. They were in a great mood. They were dancing.

The third period was karaoke Edmonton. It was phenomenal. It was karaoke slash 50-50. Did you see a final number? I mean, the last thing they flashed it was just over 13 million. I saw 14. I saw 14. I know Kyle bought a ticket and I bought a ticket. I don't know ifyle bought a ticket and i bought a ticket i don't know if amber bought a ticket

but we were debating who shows up to work if they actually win this we were also saying how much do you think other fans would hate us if someone like kyle or i won that oh yeah by the way i'm really i'm really annoyed at Kyle today. Why is that? Because we set up an interview with Sarah Nurse in the second intermission, and he stole it. Oh, he scooped it. I know. I saw that sitting next to her father. Sideline reporter scoop.

I always want to mention this whenever I see him anywhere. The legend, her father, Roger Nurse, lacrosse legend in Ontario. One of the most famous and important sportsmen the province has ever produced. When you see Roger Nurse, you think about how much he's done for lacrosse in Ontario. It's staggering. Anyway, I didn't know that you guys lined that up and then he scooped it. He just yoinked it under your nose. Kyle Bukowskis.

You know what they used to call Isaiah Thomas? The smiling assassin. Kyle Bukowskis, you know what they used to call Isaiah Thomas? The Smiling Assassin. Kyle Bukowskis is the Smiling Assassin of sideline reporters. I thought he was the Tom Brady of Canada, according to Sir Charles. The Smiling Assassin. When you see Bukowskis in Florida or Edmonton or anywhere else, say, hey, there goes the Smiling Assassin. Well, you know who else is an assassin

assassin of gretzky records and that's conor mcdavid is 30 second assist breaks 99s record one goal and three assists you know all last week on the radio show a couple of different times we would talk about you know where's the signature conor game where's the signature mcdavid game saturday elliot we got it. And he broke a record that, listen, I'll be honest, many of us thought would never be broken. 32 assists. It's incredible.

It really is amazing. By the way, I have to apologize to everybody in Newfoundland. I pronounced it wrong in the second intermission. I didn't even know. I couldn't even hear myself talk. I had no idea what I was saying, but I got some angry tweets and people said that Bob Cole would have killed me for it

the way I pronounced it. I used to get that for Saskatchewan. Oh yeah? I used to call like everyone, like everyone from Ontario would call us Saskatchewan instead of Saskatchewan. Bizarre, John Biner,

genuine Saskatchewan steel skin Biner Super Dave. Oh, very good. Give me Super Dave all day. But so there was a fan who had a sign. I came in all the way from Newfoundland for this game and he was standing outside of Rogers Place after the morning skate and he told me that

McDavid had come out of the building in his car and stopped in a red light and he waved his sign at the car and McDavid rolled down the window and signed his sign at the car and mcdavid rolled down the window and signed his sign so that's good karma i think that i think that mcdavid had a big night because of of good karma i loved warren fogel in the kobe bryant jersey i thought that was excellent but but i thought the real stars of this one were yanmark Brown and Henrik and the thing that really stood out to me was when Florida scored to cut that goal to two to cut the game to two to one who was the line

that Knobloch put out he put out that line and there was a lot of good reason for it because they'd already scored twice but I think also they just been so dogged and determined. And that line set a real tone for them. And I thought it was a massive, massive performance. And I think there's a lot of people there. Like Janmark, you can see how emotionally guy he is. But there's a lot of people on that team who are happy for Connor Brown because finally he's healthy and he's putting it together. And no better time he was

in the best of all possible moods in his post game as well I'm not sure if you saw the other scrum I haven't had a chance to see them yet no it was honestly Elliot when you watch it you'll be like you can just tell he does not want to leave the scrum like normally guys like okay let's get this over with you know he just had a great game he's happy he's all smiles he's i mean you know connor brown he's a really engaging person and he was just honestly having a great time in that scrum it was almost like no more questions keep them coming no don't have to shut this down see i would throw a couple of more names in there too um i would throw dylan hollow into that mix. He had been very quiet, big night. Nurse.

Nurse, and it was great to see him score. Man, you want to talk about the weight of the world on your shoulders. Good on him, that snapshot. And also, you already mentioned him, but Stuart Skinner. You mentioned the save on Carter Verhege. The two-on-one with Sam Bennett. Later in the third, I mean, the game's already out of hand. It's 6-1, but still the glove save on Matthew Kachuk yeah uh was a was an absolute thing of beauty so

I'll I'll lob those two other names and then I think as well like Kevin Biaxson mentioned it on the panel Matthias Ekholm was a beast yes all night long he was all the pain he's a part part-time official and full-time defenseman like he's got a side hustle as a zebra here. So good on Matias Ekholm. I have to say, Broberg has really come on too. Everything went right for the Oilers tonight. The thing that's really going to happen is that the Oilers are going to go into game number five feeling really good about themselves. And that's important now i

think the thing about first of all you already heard me talk about um just i think that florida is a really mature team the the one the thing that would make me feel really good for them is bobrovsky and the way he handled it like as as Kelly pointed out during the intermission, he didn't throw a fit. I was watching him because he was right below me. He came, you couldn't tell he'd just been yanked out of a game and blown out. He was calm. He was relaxed. He sat there.

There was the one play where he caught the puck and gave it to a fan. I think Bobrovsky set a tone with the way he acted after he was pulled. He was like, guys, I'm not losing my mind. I think Bobrovsky set a tone with the way he acted after he was pulled. He was like, guys, I'm not losing my mind. I'm not going to act all crazy. I got this.

And I thought that was very important. The other thing, too, I thought was really big. And I guarantee you, everybody watching this game, we know the Panthers can be sore losers. And there were a few mean things that happened in that game, like know the Panthers can be sore losers. And there were a few mean things that happened in that game, like tough, tough, mean things that happened. And that's the Stanley Cup playoffs. I mean, Bennett even punched his old minor hockey sleepover buddy McDavid in the face. But in the third period, we were expecting that game to turn into like a UFC fight, right? And it really didn't. There were a couple of things that happened,

but I guarantee to you that that third period was much more tame than most people expected. And I bet you that's Maurice saying, guys, we're not going to lose our minds tonight. We're going to show we're composed and we're relatively calm. Maybe we'll take a pound of flesh here and there, but they didn't lose their minds. And I guarantee that was, we're not, we're not going to show the others that we're becoming unglued. We're not giving them any more to feel good about than just eight goals. You know, I kind of thought that was more like, guys, we don't want anyone suspended for game five. We don't want anyone hurt for game five. That's part of it. Eyes on the right thing here.

You know what? You want to get a lick in on someone? Okay, that's fine. But that's where it ends. I agree with that. I'll tell you a funny story too. So when I saw that Bobrovsky make that catch and give the puck to a Panthers fan.

So during game three, there was a play where the puck got thrown to Calvin Pickard in the bench, and he kind of missed it. And the play went on, and I was sitting there thinking, oh my God, if this goes in the net, this is really bad of Edmonton's net, because you couldn't review it. You couldn't challenge that, because it happened in the neutral zone. It didn't happen in the offensive zone. neutral zone it didn't happen in the offensive zone and uh he told me on uh he told me the other day that uh as that play went on and he's like thank god it got out and nothing bad happened he said cory perry was yelling at him you gotta catch that you can't drop that you gotta catch that oh by the way on the it's moot because the game's out of hand at this point. Yeah. But on the seven to one goal,

the Dylan Holloway goal. Yeah. I thought that thing was getting challenged all day. I think if that was any kind of close game, I think if it was close, that's what I was getting. That's what I was asking. If it's because he was like five minutes left at that point,

the game's out of hand. But yeah, I looked at that and kind of went, Ooh, I, now the one thing is Mcid was smart to drag his foot you'd have to say that his skate hit the ice i wonder if like betman phoned down and said don't challenge this we're fitting a nice three-hour time slot here dave amber has to catch the red eye don't challenge yeah let's go chop chop um so at the end of this one uh i think you're bang on about there's a lot of players on that

oilers team well pretty much everybody really who can feel really good about themselves going into game five and the one thing that i'll take away if i'm a florida panther here is if you're going to lose i'd rather lose like that than like 3-2 at overtime or 2-1 and something really close where it really stings. Yeah, I don't feel that way. I understand what you do, but I don't feel that way. Pro athletes can just shrug it off. Like, eh, it's one of those games.

Just shrug it off. Like, to me, the Panthers are so mature, they would have shrugged it off either way. I did laugh at Brady Kachuk in the pregame saying, I told Matthew I'm only showing up this one time. That I thought was very funny. I'm not walking around with tins in my back pocket up and down the stairs.

And he did not wear a Panthers jersey. They were hilarious. But I do think there's something to this now. They showed a graphic during the game of all the teams that have failed to clinch the first time that they had an opportunity to do it. Vegas did it last year. They didn't waste any time. But Colorado didn't do it in 22.

Tampa didn't do it. St. Louis didn't do it. 22. Tampa didn't do it. St. Louis didn't do it. There's something to this. And, you know, I think it's tough because you're seven hours away from home and all of a sudden they're flying all the families in from all the different places. And like, again, I thought Florida was very businesslike. I didn't sense any overconfidence or anything like that. But I do think there's something to this. The first time that you have a chance to clinch,

it can fool around with you a little bit. Kevin's talked about having all the extra family there for two games, and it does distract you. And we'll find out how the Panthers feel about that. Again, I don't think that'll be a factor in in game number five but I but I do understand how this slight sudden change can muck you up a bit you know Kyle Ocposo said he got a great text from Jack Eichel after game three like just a fist like that's the only thing he got for and you remember that Ocpozo was in Vegas last year to support Eichel during the Stanley Cup final so those guys are

obviously very close he said he got a really nice message from Don Granato too but yeah I think look I think this one was a stinker obviously obviously, for Florida. But, you know, good teams don't let one loss bother them. It's just like, okay, like I said, it's not total goals in the series. It's first to four. And Edmonton still has to put pressure on Florida by winning game five. If they bring the series back to Edmonton, that's when Florida's going to start feeling it a bit. I don't think they'll be out of sorts on Tuesday.

And you saw what Paul Murray said after, quote, we came to Edmonton to get a split and we got it. Always sell. You're always selling. Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross, always be closing. People were ripping Chris Knoblauch for saying, we ripping chris knobloch for saying we can beat this team we've shown we can beat this team you're selling paul maurice we came to get a split you're selling always be closing abc dave mamet one of the great scripts of all time love that

movie uh anything else before we wrap and get to the news elliot two things two things okay did you see that shot of shania twain giving the players high fives at the end of the game? Absolutely. I like that. And I also like the shot of her looking like the queen in the stands with that regal look and pose. How are they not going to bring her back to do a concert? Oh, no, no.

They go to game back to game six. Shania Twain absolutely has to be there. Yeah. You know what? That is true. She did look like a queen. Absolutelyania Twain absolutely has to be there. Yeah, you know what? That is true. She did look like a queen. Absolutely. She totally did.

A thousand percent. Like, that was a presence. Whatever it is, that was it. Oh, yeah. The second thing I have to tell you that I was going for lunch with a friend of mine in Edmonton on Friday. And are you a jaywalker? Oh, God, yeah. Oh, the worst. I'm a big jaywalker oh god yeah oh I'm worse I'm a big I'm I'm a big jaywalker too I freely admit I jaywalk all the time and I was about to do it at a light and a gentleman grabbed

me and he said don't do that and not in our city hippie no no No, no, no, no, no, no. And I said, I was like, seriously? And he told me, in that van is a police officer who gave someone a ticket for jaywalking. So I was inches away from getting a jaywalking ticket. I've never seen anyone get a jaywalking ticket. Yep, happened. Have you ever seen anyone get a jaywalking ticket? Seriously? No, not that I can ever remember.

Wow, you came that close. Yes. You were right there and he saved you from the humiliation of a jaywalking ticket. I would have committed a felony on the streets of Edmonton. Did you hear Elliot got arrested in Edmonton after Game 4?

Wow, what happened? I knew that if that happened to me, Biaxa would have had it all over the broadcast. Oh, yeah. He would have printed the ticket. Yes. So I'd like to thank the individual in Edmonton who saved me from the jaywalking ticket.

Elliot, do you even know, because I don't, what a jaywalking fine is? Well, Dom was good enough to look it up, because I didn't know it's 250 dollars that is not an insignificant chunk of change whoa that might get me walking to the corner how about you i'll stay i'll wait these i'll wait this late. Oh, okay. Yeah, maybe I won't just cross on red. Maybe I will walk to the corner and wait for green. Okay, good to know.

News. And keeping in mind, Elliot, there's not a whole lot out there today, but we were able to cobble a couple of things together here. And the news as it relates to the Toronto Maple Leafs is behind the bench. And Saturday it was announced that Guy Boucher would not be returning as an assistant coach, which makes us wonder about the Marc Savard's of the world. And maybe the Brian Wiseman's,

we'll see if he goes back to San Jose, but Guy Boucher out. There will be a new power play instructor. I don't think that's seen as a huge surprise. I think Boucher had indicated that if a coaching change was made, he would like to be considered for the position. I don't know how seriously Toronto did it or if he was a candidate. I don't have an answer to that question. The moment that they hired Craig Berube, I had a few people saying, just watch this one. How's Boucher going to feel and how's the organization going to feel? So I don't think it comes as a huge surprise to people.

And we'll see where Boucher's next move is going to be. There is news, I believe, about another of Toronto's assistant coaches from last year who's also out. And that is Dean Chenoweth. And the word is that he could end up as an assistant coach on Scott Arneal's staff in Winnipeg. I think there were a couple of teams that were looking at him. A couple of more things. A couple of AHL notes. First of all, a really exciting series so far,

even though there were only one game into it. Game one was outstanding. Coachella Valley leading Hershey won nothing in the best of seven. They win four to three on Friday. John Hayden, Ryan Winterton, each with a couple of goals. Game two, folks, is today at two o'clock Eastern. Hendrix Lapierre with one goal and one assist for the Hershey Bears in that one. And sticking with the American Hockey League, Elliot,

I'm told to watch Cam Abbott to AHL Chicago. He was one of the twin brothers, right, who was in Sweden? Yeah, you know what they used to call them? What's that? The reverse Sedins, two Canadian twins that went to play hockey in Sweden as opposed to the Sedins that went from Sweden to go play. No offense to those guys, but I'd rather it be the real Sedins than the reverse Sedins. I hope to those guys, but I'd rather be the real Sedins than the reverse Sedins.

I hope they don't get offended at that. Just keep your eyes on that one for AHL Chicago. Montana's Thought Line bails us out next. Listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast

ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Welcome back to 32 Thoughts to Podcast. Time now for Elliot's favorite. It's the Montana's Thought Line. Montana's barbecue and bar, Canada's home for barbecue. Try the ribs. Try the ribs. barbecue it's a song you can't get out of your head welcome once again to the montana's thought line and thank you as always to rick turner 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca 1-833-311-3232

once again these emails and calls curated by Griffin Porter. Griffin, thank you as always. We have some cleanup to do, Elliot. Before we get to new questions, Riley from Parts Unknown, when we last left Riley, he had a question dangling out there, a Corey Perry-esque toe drag at the blue line dangling out there uh crazy question let's uh say a no goal call is under lengthy review and a fan shot video turns up on twitter that unequivocally shows that it is a good goal would the league be able to use the

video as part of their review process to overturn the call on the ice we had mused that the answer was no you said you were going to check and you did what did your anthropology turn up great use of the word anthropology excellent tip of the cap you didn't even have to wear the hula skirt or eat the can of worms to get this information either mr anthropologist no i i did not i didn't have to use any any faux tools either like spoons or stuff like that excellent no basically uh i was told that if not an absolute no, it was unlikely. Reasons were obvious.

Like one of the things they talked about was that some of the stuff that's been posted online actually is parallax angle, hat tip John Shannon, that it makes it look like, for example, things are over the goal line or not over the goal line when the overhead camera shows differently. I talked about the Fogle thing the overhead camera shows differently. I talked about the Fogle thing the other night where there was a video that showed it cleaner than some of the

other angles did in real time. But number one, they say, look, they need things to be done quickly. And oftentimes these wouldn't get to them that quickly. And secondly, you're always worried about something being doctored. They were intrigued by the question, I have to say, but it just seemed very unlikely that something like that would be admitted as evidence, Your Honor. Riley from Parts Unknown, which took us down a conversation about Len Denton the other day, so that was kind of weird.

But nonetheless, thank you so much for the email there. Madison from Georgia. Hey, Jeff, Elliot, and Griffin. And Griffin. Oh, very nice. Nothing to doubt. Yeah, nice. Oh, I like Madison already.

My name is Madison. I'm a newer hockey fan. I've fallen in love hard with the sport since attending Michigan, and I'm currently working on a career in hockey journalism. I'm still learning the intricacies of trades and such, but something you said a few weeks ago on the pod struck me. Someone asked if you could just trade cap space and Elliot said no. And that's true.

But it got me thinking, could a team trade a player to another team and then have the other team immediately trade him back with salary retained? So for example, you use Tyler Sagan in the example. And so will I, if the Dallas stars want you use Tyler Sagan in the example and so will I. If the Dallas Stars want to reduce

Tyler Sagan's cap hit, could they trade him to Chicago, have Chicago retain, say, 25%, and then Chicago flips him back to the Stars?

Would that be something the league would allow? Also, how would that impact a player's status as to how many teams they've played for? Love listening to the pod.

Sad the playoffs are ending partly because it means we get less episodes now as a hockey fan from georgia some people would share that yeah i know i was gonna say you might be one of the rare ones here uh madison uh as a hockey fan from georgia i need all the content i can get maybe in a couple of years we'll be getting more madison also come down to atlanta to try the ribs thanks Thanks so much. And go pens. Okay, well, there you go. It's a swerve. Go pens. Madison and George, the question about retaining salary to reduce cap hits. Madison, great question. Here is your answer. If a team retains salary on a trade, they cannot reacquire that player for one year from the date of the transaction, player for one year from the date of the transaction with one exception, their contract ends prior to that one year. So if you trade a guy who's in the last season of his contract in,

say, December, you can bring him back as a free agent. You just cannot reacquire him on a trade on that contract while another team is retaining salary. That is the block. However, to give you another idea of something that can be done, because it happened with the Flames and Michael Stone, the Flames bought out one of Michael Stone's contracts and then brought them back signed for a lesser number. That you could do. You could not do that with compliance buyouts, but you can do that with regular buyouts. Excellent. Okay, one more here, and it is a voicemail, Elliot. I think you'll like this one. Hey, fellas. This is John down in Richmond, Virginia. Quick question while I was watching

the game last night. For a Stanley Cup final, you got one coach that's coached close to 2,000 games and another coach who's in his first year as a head coach. Is this the biggest gap between experience, between the two head coaches in Stanley Cup final history? I can't think of one that would be as extreme as this. And if there is anything close to it, I'd be curious to know who ended up coming out on top. Is experience key or sometimes beginner you know, beginner's luck?

But, yeah, thanks, guys. Keep up the great work and hope all is well. It's an interesting one, right? Did you research this? Paul Maurice, I had an instinct on one that I think is the only one that would come close. But I believe that Paul Maurice and Chris Knobloch is the largest gap between coaches.

And this is all just regular season games uh going into the playoffs Paul Maurice had coached 1848 games Chris Knobloch had coached 69 yes the only thing nice the only thing very good the only thing it never it'll never not be funny the only one that I believe comes close is 2002 so 2002 would be Scotty Bowman and Paul Maurice correct so Paul Maurice is involved in both

but it still falls short Scotty Bowman would have coached 2,141 games Paul Maurice at that point in 2002 would have coached 562. I believe, again, without going too deep into the weeds on this one, I believe that that is the only one that comes close. So Jeff, I admit this is limited research as I generally only do limited research in my work, I generally only do limited research in my work, but there's a couple I'm looking at here.

One is 2009, which is Mike Babcock and Dan Bilesma. Remember, Bilesma came on as an interim that year as well and got to the final with the Penguins. Babcock had been six years coaching at the time, but his first season, which was 0-2-0-3, he went to the Stanley Cup final with the Ducks and they lost game seven to Pat Burns New Jersey Devils now I'm gonna bet that the Maurice Knobloch split is higher than that but I would think that Burns Babcock and 0-3 was pretty close that would have been 855 games between the, between Burns and Babcock. So it's not as much, but it's close. I'm trying to look at some other ones here.

Glenn Sather, Mike Keenan, probably not as big a difference. I mean, Al Arbor, no, he had Pat Quinn, Glenn Sonmore, Roger Nielsen, Glenn Sather. Probably not that big a difference. And then, admittedly, I'm going back into the 60s and 70s. You look back then, St. Louis was Scotty Bowman's first head coaching job, and the 1968 Stanley Cup finally ran into Toll Blake. I'm going to bet that was a pretty significant difference

considering that was the last of Blake's Stanley Cup championships. So that one, I would say Burns and Babcock would be my best guess. But I would think in 68, Blake and Bowman would be up there too. Yeah, because that was his last season. So he was at 914, and that was Bowman's first season. So was that 70? 70 games? I'm going to look right now.

Did they play 70 games? 58. No, they did not. No, but remember, he didn't start the year as the official head coach. That's right. So what was that? So Toe Blake was? 914.

914. And Scotty Bowman's first year, he was hired during the season. He wasn't the head coach at the start of the year. So he was 58. So that says to me the difference is? 856. 856. So still doesn't catch doesn't catch pat burns by one and it doesn't catch maurice and knoblock either but that's your other one there's another one so john you made me do too much work on a saturday so i'm really annoyed at you for that

but i was actually really interested in checking the question. Will someone please get Elliot a fainting couch? He's had to do work on a Saturday afternoon. That's right. Will someone please think of the insiders? Will someone please think of the insiders? And that's the Montana's Thought Line. Montana's Barbecue and Bar, Canada's home for barbecue. We're back in a moment.

Chef Elliot and Tom on 32 moment 32 thoughts try the ribs today oh yeah Welcome back to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra Elevation. So I'm assuming, Elliot, as we're recording this at 1223 a.m. Eastern on Saturday evening, that once this podcast is done and C-Block is finished, that you'll be, um, meeting Shania Twain for some drinks tonight. Do you think she would let me within 350 miles of her?

No, her handlers won't let you come anywhere close to Shania Twain. Elliot, a question for you. Now we've seen it before, whether it's Crozier, whether it's Reggie Leach, whether it's Jean-Sebastien Jiguerre, given that Connor McDavid just broke a significant record in Game 4,

if the Florida Panthers win the Stanley Cup here, will Connor McDavid get some conspite love? I think he absolutely will. Like I was telling someone during the day that I might not, I don't believe I have a vote this year. I haven't been told about it. So I don't think I do,

which is totally fine. I voted several times in the past. Don't mind. Like Charles Barkley said on Friday night, I'm willing to spread the wealth. But I said to someone that my vote would be Bobrovsky. And he's on the Barkov train. He thinks that Barkov should win it. Now, after Bobrovsky got pulled, this guy texted me and he said, are you still voting Bobrovsky if you had the chance?

And I was joking. I was like, hey, I haven't seen Barkov do anything tonight either. But, you know, McDavid, the 32 assists, and I don't know if you feel like I did, Jeff. I didn't think I'd ever see that record get broken. I really didn't. I think you have to at least think about it now i think one of the things here is if you remember these cases uh ron hextall went to game seven of a final and seven yes and jager went to game seven of a final the only other player to win the conmythe in a losing situation was a goalie, Roger Crozier, in 1966.

And they lost that series in six games in overtime in the sixth game in a goal by Henri Richard. So if you take a look at the situation, three of the four were goalies. Two of the three of those goalies went to game seven. But the Leach comparison is fair. Now, it was 50 years ago, so I don't know if anybody will really look at it that way. I got to think. So what it says to me is,

like, if Edmonton really makes this a series, like, I don't think you can throw Bobrovsky out because of one stinky game. It's got to go back to Edmonton. I agree. It's got to go back to Edmonton. If he has a big night in game five and they go back to Edmonton, then win or lose, I think you can make the argument that he deserves more than just a couple of courtesy third place votes

leeches was impressive yeah i mean it's been broken but 19 goals in 16 games for reggie leach and that was such a great season for him 76 with uh you know 61 goals and 91 points like he was insane that season but yeah as you rightfully point out he point out, he's the only non-goaltender to win the conspire in a losing cause or a losing effort by his team. It's going to take two more games. It's going to take two more games for

Conor McDavid to be there. But you know what, Elliot? Could you not see it going back to Edmonton? It's not crazy. It's not crazy at all. I don't know if I can get behind the thought of Edmonton beating this Florida Panthers team four games in a row. Yes.

Just like the idea of beating Edmonton four games in a row. But if the Oilers can get this to six, and Connor, as we assume he would be anyway, is a major factor, then I think we're talking about it. Yep. Interesting. Okay. Enjoy the extra day.

Elliot, best of luck with travel. I know it has not always been your friend or anyone in the media's friend. Well, we're on the charter, so you can't complain. But Jeff, I want to wish you and all the fathers out there in the media's friend this well we're on the charter so it's you can't complain but jeff i want to wish you and all the fathers out there happy father's day it's a very very i always think about uh chris rock on father's day because his old comedy line is people shouldn't be praised for being a good father because you're supposed to be a good father that's right but i'm unfortunately i'm disappointed the only bad thing about the oilers winning on saturday is i won't get to see max on father's day

but for all of you who do get to spend time with your kids dom have you fathered any children i don't know about no i haven't okay so no that you don't know about any children I don't know about? No, I haven't. Okay. Or that you don't know about. Or that you don't know about. So no happy Father's Day to you, but to you, Jeff, I know you and Claire are devoted parents to three beautiful children. So everybody out there, have a great Father's Day. And remember, for those of us who are fathers, it's our most important duty. It is absolutely true. Best to you, Elliot.

You and Steph have raised a wonderful young man in Max. Happy Father's Day to you, all the fathers out there, and to all the women doing double duty. Happy Father's Day to all. From all of us at 32 Thoughts, the podcast.