32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Edmonton Shake It off to Win Game 4

Episode Date: June 13, 2025

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman react to a wild Game 4 overtime win by the Edmonton Oilers, tying the series at 2-2. In the news and notes section of the podcast, Kyle and Elliotte delve into the Chris Kreider trade to the Anaheim Ducks (24:42), focusing on the Rangers’ side of the deal (34:54). Afterwards, the duo shifts focus to the Dallas Stars, who have been at the center of many trade rumors (40:44). Elliotte gives a brief update on Jonathan Toews and discusses what Colorado is planning this offseason (49:00). Kyle and Elliotte also talk about the Pittsburgh Penguins potentially being for sale (54:10). They then turn their attention to Vancouver, where Elias Pettersson chatter has retaken center stage (59:29), and touch on Jordan Spence of the LA Kings (1:02:52). The Final Thought focuses on two-sport prospect Mason West, who is "all-in" on hockey (1:04:05).Kyle and Elliotte answer your questions, emails, and voicemails via the Thought Line (1:10:47).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates

But Colson, nice pass across, here's Dyson, here's the scores! Leon, Dyson, what a... Endgame four for the Oilers and the series is tied at two. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra AT4X, Sharmadi, Friedman, B Bukaskis back with you. Elliott, we should have known watching Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey walk into Amaranth Bank Arena that something sensational was brewing on Thursday night.

First time since 1919, a team wins a game in the cup final, went down three nothing. We had another tying goal inside 20 seconds ago in the third period. They won 100th overtime in the history of the Stanley Cup final. Leon Dreisaitl coming off a game that he did not have a shot attempt for the first time since what? Deifin Baker was prime minister in Canada. He ends up scoring the fourth overtime winner of the playoffs. These playoffs, second in the final, four OT winners in the postseason, one postseason,

never happened before. In your wildest dreams, Elliot. Ha, ha. Could you have imagined what we witnessed on Thursday night? day night. I am exhausted and I didn't even play. Just watching that game I was emotionally spent. Hands up everyone who thought after the first period Edmonton was coming back. Liars. Ron McClain could put his hand up. You know, I have to tell you, Kyle, that there were a bunch of us, and I'll say it myself, I won't say who the others were. I'll say myself, I am generally optimistic. I thought Edmonton was done. There were others who are generally optimistic who

thought Edmonton was done and to their credit they tied it they went ahead like the emotion swings were crazy tied it went ahead blew it in regulation. Some of the chances in overtime, the Frederick kick that hit the post, and I think that would have counted. I think that when it's very clear in these playoffs, they do not want to take goals off the board, and I didn't see anything there that was so egregious they would have taken it off the board. And then the Bennett post, like if there's one thing that really alarms me

about Edmonton's game, they don't get the puck out enough. That happened on the game time goal and that happened on that play where Bennett hit the crossbar and then they won it. I did not think Edmonton was coming back in that game. I think I just looked at Florida and the way they played and I thought they were done in this game. And I'll say this, Stuart Skinner, he got pulled. I thought he was great in the first period. And even though he gets a no decision and pickered now

7-0 like unbelievably 7-0 Stuart Skinner's role in this game Should not be forgotten because that first period could have been a lot worse than 3-0 That could have been 5 or 6 to nothing. That was a vibe change poll. Yes. It was a vibe change poll Now I gotta tell you a little bit about Taylor Swift before we break. Yeah, you weren't too far away from them. We were so our seats were Dave and I said we sit at the top of one of the sections and her and Travis Kelsey's box was three away from us. So they were close like Dave and I walked down the hallway at one point

before I realized she was there. And Dave goes, which suite do you think Taylor Swift is in? And I started laughing because it was the one with two cops and armed military personnel outside of it. And in their suites, they had the black shades pulled on the sides. Like no other suite had the black shades pulled. And, you know, Gretzky got in there because he's Gretzky. Dave tried. He got rebuffed and. That's not true. He's in handcuffs. Yeah, he didn't try. Yeah, Dave was taken to the jail and they in the basement of the arena

No, no, so nobody else was getting in there. But the funniest thing was There was a guy leading forward who was a big guy with a beard and I thought it was Kelsey So I took a picture of it and I said to Spears, we should put this on the second intermission. Like this is how close we are to Swift and Kelsey and there's a picture of Kelsey and Spearzy's like, okay. And then he gets on the intercom to me like a couple of minutes later. He goes, you are an idiot. And I said, why?

He goes, that's not Travis Kelsey. So the guy I took a picture of Had it was wearing a black hat and I think a white shirt and Kelsey I think was wearing a white hat and a red shirt or something like that He goes you can't just send me a picture in the middle of the game when I'm doing like 19 things at once and say Oh, it's Kelsey put it on air He said basically the other people were paying more attention than he was and they're like That's not Travis Kelsey. Oh My gosh, so we came pretty close to putting a picture of

This guy on air and me saying yeah, here's how close I am when you can see Travis Kelsey So thank you to the other people in the control room. We're paying attention Yes realize that wasn't him. But everyone in there that had more journalistic instincts than Elliot, which is everybody. But like it was a, it was a great building. Like that was a great, like we talk about how great the Edmonton crowds are and they are great. Uh, this was a really good crowd for this Florida game.

Like they were invested. They were really invested the euphoria of the first period the shock of the collapse of the second The even bigger shock when Wallman scored to put them ahead the pride of armor Heights The euphoria again when they tied it the closed The close chances in overtime the up and down like it's a true heavyweight fight, punch, counter punch, punch, counter punch, both teams. And then the shock that Edmonton actually won the game. Those fans could not believe they lost. We talked about how momentum doesn't have to go from game to game.

So Edmonton proved it. They got clobbered in game three and they were by all intents and purposes out at the first intermission of game four and they won. And you know Florida, as stunning as this was to witness, they're a mature composed team. They will put this behind them and they will be ready for game five. This is the last game of the of the series where there will only be one off day between games. So it's a quick turnaround and you know, Stetcher didn't play after the first period. Four minutes. Edmonton was going short, but that's what you do at this time of year. Edmonton was going short, but that's what you do at this time of year. You know, the one thing I did want to say was, I believe it was Jake Wallman who pointed out that Corey Perry spoke up in the first intermission.

I heard it was, I don't know if it was exactly the same as McDavid post game two last year in the final, but I heard it was pretty close. It was like, it was one of those, what the bleep are we doing out there speeches? I heard it was very calm before the overtime. It was kind of like along the lines of, hey, you know, if we, if we would have thought we would have been in this position after the first period, we gladly would have taken it would have been in this position after the first period We gladly would have taken it kind of things. So I think they were calm but Like I said, I don't think it was on McDavid level of game two

But I heard Perry was in only the way Corey Perry can Not far off as angry as McDavid when we saw him last year in the Amazon doc Well, they dug in from that point on that's for sure I lost count of the amount of Craig Simpson old man's as that game wore on that's how Wild game for was It's epic. It is epic series three out of four and overtime one stinker of a game and It's just fantastic fantastic hockey no sweeps this year in the playoffs, you know, we already knew that No sweeps

Seven series that will end in five games and now we're either gonna get five sixes and three Sevens or four and four. That's the way we're gonna gonna get five sixes and three sevens or four and four that's the way we're gonna we're gonna finish up and also we're gonna have a chance at most goals in the third periods of any playoff year ever they're getting close to the record there's been some incredible finishes all playoff long and. The exclamation point has been three of the four games in this Stanley Cup final here. So the Calvin Pickard, Stuart Skinner dynamic, it was almost symbolic

a during warm up when Pickard comes over to Skinner's defense with Banachek in his space there during warmups. And as he was saying to Gene Principay in the post game, you know, I just asked him if he wanted to come stretch near where I was. And in a way, you know, it's Pickard that comes to, to Skinner's defense after it wasn't his fault that they were down three, nothing after the first, but taking over from the second period onward and was dynamite as you say seven and oh now in the playoffs and Talk about the ultimate journeyman You know like his whole career has been this like just trying to find a role somewhere for an extended period of time

And now I mean you you've got to think it's his net in game five I know here we were sitting after game three going, you go back to Skinner, you go back to Skinner, but I think you're going with Pickard now heading back home to all, aren't you? Yeah, you have to. You have to go back with Pickard now. He's your guy. And one of my buddies texted me tonight.

He said, you know, you mentioned you have a con smite vote. What if Pickard goes nine and oh or nine and one? Don't you have to give him the con smite? And I was like, maybe he gets a vote, but I don't think he's getting the con smite. I mean, I understand why my buddy said that, but I'm not sure that if a goalie plays half your playoff games, or actually it'll even be less, you'll get more than half your playoff wins potentially.

But if he plays only half your games, I don't know that you can do that. But I thought it was an interesting question. The Con Smythe vote kind of has been ripped open a little bit Dry saddle for overtime playoff winners McDavid being McDavid The one thing that would concern me if I was Florida is that? McDavid on the road in the Stanley Cup final. He hasn't I Know what you're gonna say're going to say game five last year when he had a big game, but. Like a massive moment in a major time. You know, he had a

puck that went over his stick and overtime tonight. Dry side will set him up and it hopped over a stick. And I watched him go to the bench after that and you could see he was so frustrated, so frustrated. That would just terrify me if I was the Panthers that just as Barkov hadn't made his imprint on this series yet, McDavid on the road in Florida. You're just like Sooner or later, he's gonna have a massive moment at a big time What a series though like just Great hockey Kyle and karma points for the Oilers. So I was at the skate on

Wednesday the the mystery skate and There was on Wednesday, the mystery skate. And there was a young boy who came up to me. His name is Owen. He's from, I believe he was from Halifax, but he and his mother, Amanda, were down in Florida, and they happened to walk by the restaurant the Oilers were having dinner at on Tuesday night and Paul Coffey saw them and he invited them in to spend a little bit of time around the team. And this guy was about 10 years old.

I think the father is still in Halifax. I think he's like a commercial lobster fisherman or something like that. So the wife and the son were down at the games and Owen's about 10 years old. And so Paul Coffey, I asked Paul Coffey about, they told me about it and I asked Paul Coffey about a post-game and I said, is this true? And he said, yes, it's true. And he actually said that it reminded him of when he was a player That sometimes the Oilers like Gretzky and Lowe and Messier and all those guys They would see a young kid in Edmonton around the team like a young oiler fan and they would do things like that and he said it brought him back to a time when he was a player and

that kind of thing would happen and So he not only did he get them to eat with them a little bit he gave them access to the practice on Wednesday and they were obviously so both so excited and You know, I think those are karma points. It's You do things like that you get good karma That's incredible. Like you met the story now that you've got for 10 year old Owen now the rest of his life. That's unbelievable. So cool. Really nice. So cool. Really nice. That's a good one. Hey, I also wanted to bring up too. There's a bit of a tough game three for Darnell Nurse,

but it really felt like, okay, game on when his goal comes to make it three, two, had an assist as well. Notice the other day we were talking about this, no beard this year in the playoffs. And I wanted, because I was thinking, I go on, I can remember him last year, he had it in years past he had the beard

Your boots on the ground you asked him about it the other day. What did he say? He said last year after last year have to change up some things So he went with no beard because of last year's playoffs Didn't like some of his struggles didn't like some of the numbers Said I had to change it up a little bit. I was like, Kyle, you're on the ball here. You noticed stuff. How come you're not here? We could use you.

No. Well, that's what you're there for. That's right. I actually, I have to work now because you're not here. Like I actually have to do things. No, you were bang on. Nurse said he had to change it up because of he didn't like the way

last year's playoffs finished. So the other thing too about his goal, Kyle, was it was like one of those goals that like Patrick Kane or remember Riley Smith, the one game that Vegas beat Edmonton, they were the only guys in the building who knew it was in. Like I didn't see it go in initially, but everybody continued to play and it was a couple seconds until the goal light went on. He went to go celebrate with whoever else was playing the point who passed it to him

and nobody else realized it was in except probably Bobrovsky. That was one of those goal scorer goals. Wow. Now did you know the Nugent Hopkins goal was in because that was like bang bang in and out too. Yes, I saw that one. I'm did you know the Nugent Hopkins goal was in? Because that was like bang, bang in and out too. Yes, I saw that one. I'm glad you mentioned him. He is far from 100%.

I think and I thought he played one of the best games I ever seen him play. Yeah, it was interesting how Kevin pointed out that he didn't like that Nugent Hopkins took the face off on that five on three goal. They gave up because he hasn't been taking many faceoffs. He's clearly got some hand, wrist thing and he keeps it pretty guarded. He walked into the building the other night, his hand was in his pocket.

There's obviously something there. I thought that was a really good point by Kevin, but I thought Nugent Hopkins was fantastic. I thought he had a great game. I thought there were a lot of players in that game, particularly for the Oilers who were great. It's great hockey game. I mean, there's just fantastic, fantastic hockey. And I think both of these teams are too smart, too mature to

let what happened tonight allow them to take their eyes off the prize. Too mature and too smart. Nugent Hopkins nearly 24 minutes, no faceoffs in game three, did take two in game four and the Florida Panthers, Elliot, I mean up until this series they were unbeatable when having a lead after any period in the playoffs. You knew that wasn't going to last forever but the fact that the Oilers have done it twice to them and in particular how it happened on Thursday it is really hard to fathom. Incredible drama. Unbelievable drama. We'll see what they do. Like with Stetscher going only playing four minutes do they go back to

Klingberg? Yeah. That'll be one. You know Evander Kane got benched. He took his penalty at 1038 of the first and after he got out of the box he didn't take another shift until 11 seconds or remaining And he kind of got demoted a little bit, you know, we'll see what that means Cane has had an excellent playoffs. He's hit a bit of a wall here. We'll see what that means for game number five just Can't wait long flight across the continent

Can't wait. Long flight across the continent, but can't wait for Saturday night. That's going to be a big hockey night in Canada. Big hockey night in North America. Big hockey night for hockey fans around the world. Kyle, big game. B-I-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G. That's a lot of G's. Big. Final Saturday of the NHL season. Game five from Edmonton. Final Saturday night. Oh, it's so fun. Not a bad one to wrap up with, I might add. No. Can't wait. I know you're all there cannot wait for this game. Super excited. I'll say this. You know me, Kyle, I don't like to complain about refereeing. And Edmonton had a lot of problems in the first period without complaining about

the refereeing. I didn't like that one. I didn't like the miss on the high stick on the third goal, the the one where Stetcher got hit. And I didn't like the no penalty when Bouchard was hit from behind by Verhagy. I thought that was boarding. There's a couple there. Yeah. The icing early in overtime. Anyway, it's a fast game. But you're right. Those two are like, okay, I know what a Vanderkane said after game three. It was like, come on. Like Edmonton walked themselves into big trouble in game three

and walked themselves into big trouble in game four. They climbed out of that hole. But those two calls, they or non calls, they sat with me a bit. I really thought in the Verhage case, they could have called the major and then looked at it. Sometimes I wonder if they're told not to use that call as a bailout. But I thought that was a situation where they could have done it. out but I thought that was a situation where they could have done it. Well especially with the way Bouchard went down too I don't think anyone would have there shouldn't have been much issue with them if they wanted to take a second look at that especially after seeing the replay. I agree. All right anything else in the game? No I think so. No I think so. Is that what I said? No, I think so. No, I think so.

Is that what I said? No, I think so. I knew what you meant. It's one o'clock on 30. You should just leave that in. No, I think so. Oh God. Actually, I did want to shout out Jeff Skinner.

I thought he was a good minutes. He disrupted in all the right ways a few times. That might've been the biggest game of Jeff Skinner's career. Might have been. He didn't. Yeah. And probably there. You're right. He didn't get the most minutes, but he gave them good minutes. I think he earned another game.

I agree. And Chris Knobloch has kind of built a bit of a reputation here, particularly in the playoffs, when he's decided to make some lineup changes. They have usually worked out, mentioned it was a tough goal for Troy Stetcher in this one, but Jeff Skinner, yeah, he, he gave the type of minutes that I think you would want from a player like that in this game and made the switch to Pickard and to begin the second period and that started the

whole topsy turvy way that this game ended up becoming. Okay, I got I do have two more things I want to say about this game number one You know me I believe in the value of mindset, right? Yeah What was Edmonton's mindset after? Game three where they got killed. Let's wash off the stink right away They were supposed to have basically an off day on Tuesday and skate on Wednesday. They canceled their off day. They had a full practice on Tuesday.

Like a lot of people who know a lot more about hockey than me were like, just get out on the ice, play with the puck, skate a little bit, make yourself feel good, get rid of that awful feeling you have about the way you are embarrassed in game number three. Jennifer Botterill talked about that. And a number of other people I reached out to talked about that. I love that. Then they have an optional on Wednesday, 16 guys go out, including your two best players. Like, be consistent. The most important thing in life is consistency. Even if at a terrible game, the fact is the orders are in this position for the second

year in a row. Something they're doing is working. What do all those guys do? They keep their habits. They love hockey. They go out in the ice and they win. I don't think those things are a coincidence. I think when you have a routine that really works for you, you try to stick to that routine as much as possible. So that really stuck out to me, really stuck out to me from what, how they chose to go about their business after the loss. And it worked for them. Panthers prioritize rest. It often does do them good.

Oilers wanted to keep working at things, and we've got a two two series headed back to Edmonton for Game five. OK, Elliot, let's get to some other news from around the league. So late November, you initially had reported that Chris Drury, the general manager of the Rangers, had let the other managers around the league. So late November, you initially had reported that Chris Drury, the general manager of the Rangers, had let the other managers around the league be known that Jacob Truba and Chris Kreider could be available via trade for those interested. A few weeks after that, we know that Truba was dealt to Anaheim and then on Thursday it became official, the rumblings were going on for days leading up to it.

The Chris Crider is also a member of the Ducks now as well. Crider and a fourth to Anaheim. Kerry Terrence, a prospect and 20, 25 third round pick go the other way to the Rangers. Is it a coincidence, Elliott, that Kreider, like Truba before him, both are now members of the Ducks organization? I don't think it's a coincidence at all. And you should add in Ryan Strowm there, someone who Kreider knows from his days with the

Rangers. And I've forgotten he was tight with he's tight with Trevor Zechers too, right too right so right all of those players obviously would have lobbied Kreider and played a role but I think the key thing here is is Joel Cuenville I think he played a huge role in convincing Kreider to go. Number one if you if you're going to be traded and leave a place, especially a place across the country, from where you're comfortable, from where you know, and where you have protection,

you have to believe it is set up for you to succeed, right? And no doubt, and I believe this 1000%, Joel Cuenville talked to Chris Kreider and said to him This is why you're gonna be successful here. This is what you're gonna be able to do. This is what we need you for this is how you can still be a very effective player in the NHL and this is how we are going to set you up to succeed and is how we are going to set you up to succeed. And that as much as anything else. Like, obviously, we tie in all the players he knows,

all of the guys he's friends with who are going to try to sell it to him. But the person who probably has to convince him the most is that person who's going to be giving him ice time. And I think Quenville did that. If you take a look at Kreider, he got shorthanded time. He got power play time. Like he played 17 minutes a game last year in New York. 17 minutes a game last year in New York, but a chunk of that, about four minutes, was on the power play and the penalty kill, almost five minutes actually.

So that's a guy who's used to playing special teams and a key part of his success, Kyle, is special teams. I have no doubt he got told, you know what, you're going to get a chance to play those minutes for us. And I think at the end of the day, that was just really important that he knew that he was going to be placed in a position where he could show that he's still like, he wants to show he's still got a lot to give. And that is the way he's going to have a lot to give It says to me also about anaheim and they've talked about it. So it's not a big surprise You know pat verbeek

He wants To make the playoffs next year. He he is running a team like a guy who needs to make the playoffs next year and like a guy who needs to make the playoffs next year and You know, he's he's adding veterans he's adding to Croyder I think he's gonna add more and so to me This is an Example of a player like pat for Beak is not going to add Chris Crider if he doesn't think the guy can help him.

And Chris Crider is going to be given every chance with the docs to show that and prove that he is still the can still be the player that he believes he is. Well, it makes sense. I mean, they made a jump last season for sure, finishing with 80 points, haven't made the playoffs since 2018. So they get Crider in there. I mean, you mentioned that they're not, you don't expect them to send Pat now that they have Crider. They're a team that still has a lot of cap space. So what else do you think Pat Verbeek is looking at here? So as we said he wants to make the playoffs

and look what they've got around them. They've got in his division he's got the Oilers, he's got the Goldenites, he's got the Kings who made the playoffs last year, and he's got other teams there, he's got the Flames who just missed, he's got the Canucks who want to be better. He's got You know, there's a lot of competition In that division and then you when you got the crossover President's Trophy champions in Winnipeg and you've got Colorado Dallas St. Louis, which was one of the hottest teams in the league in the back end of the season

You know, that's they're not gonna look at this and say okay. That's enough for now. I think we're still expecting them to take a run at Marner I've actually wondered if Toronto and Tavares don't work this out and there's still time here if Anaheim would be a team that would take a shot at Tavares, too. So I don't think that take a shot at Tavares too. So I don't think that Anaheim's done here by any stretch of the imagination. I think it'll be interesting to see with Verbeek what he does with some of his RFAs, the likes of McTavish and Dostal for example. You know, he's a bit old school and I don't mean it as a knock, just old school as a philosophy and that he really likes to make sure that players are ready to earn the big money. He's not scared of bridge deals.

If you're not ready to earn it right away, I'll wait. We'll see what he does with those players like Dostal, I think is an absolute stud. And McTavish is a hell of a player too. But you know, I think it's very obvious that he isn't done yet. And it's interesting, you're you starting to see that maybe a little more across the league to some degree in terms of handling those that tier of young players coming out of their entry level are still as restricted free agents where for a while there I mean of course the top guys are

you know they're gonna get term right out of the gate because as you say the price never goes down but that next wave where you're going very good player a lot of potential there in the past there was a six-year deal there, a seven-year deal there, maybe even an eight-year deal there, embedding on the potential. But now, I don't know, is there maybe more of a shift? I don't know if you want to call it a course correction, but more teams looking at that level of young player and say, we think he could be very good for us for a long time here, but we're okay going bridge in the short term.

Well, you know, we're getting close to labor peace here. I think it's going to be done in the next couple of weeks. And like, I think there were a bunch of calls just to start, you know, talking about where we are and what we're getting close to. But one of the things everybody is still figuring out is what these increased cap numbers mean for contracts. Like five now is gonna be seven. Seven is gonna be nine. Nine is going to be what?

Like I do think one of the challenges here is that one of the things teams are saying, like there was a manager who told me this week, he's got a depth defenseman. Like he says he's like a four or five on our team. And he says he's a really good player and he's a really good teammate and we really like this player. But the agent is going percentage of the cap and we're like, we're not doing that because this player, as much as we like him, we just don't think he's worth that much percentage of the cap.

And like a good example was Tyson Forrester who scored 25 goals, he couldn't come to a long-term agreement. Like they couldn't work it out the flyers and his representatives. And a bunch of teams were saying that contract says that's a good, the people are like, that's a good player. And we can't figure out what his long-term value is. And it wouldn't only be Philly in that situation, it would be a whole bunch of other teams in that situation. So like, like Lafrenier, we're going to talk about the Rangers, right? You know, the thing about Lafrenier is he signed at seven times seven point four five. If he does what he can do. That's going to be that contract is going to be perfect for a

team in this new cap era. And so I think a lot of young players are like, let's wait to see where this goes. And that I think we're having trouble finding the sweet spot. I don't think it's because people don't want to go along, Kyle. It's because in a lot of these cases, the agents are aiming higher than the teams.

I mean, it's always this way. But the agents are trying to use percentage of the cap in the old way. And teams are like, we'll give you a bit of a boost. But we think what you're asking is too much and they can't find the sweet spot. Oh, yeah, I can see that. Interesting. OK, so then how about the Rangers side of all this, Elliot? So one of our longest serving members, Chris Crider is now in Anaheim. It was a tough season for them. They got a new head coach there. What's next for them? Are they a team when

you think offer sheets this summer? Could that be part of their approach potentially? I think the thing is really interesting is that the words offer sheets are getting mentioned with them. And they're not really having a problem with it. Like they're not Sometimes you hear like about offer sheets. Oh We're not we don't believe in that or we're not gonna do that or we're not interested in that The Rangers don't seem all that bothered by the fact people are linking them to offer sheets

So I'm curious to see where That's all gonna go Like I think the one thing is like you can't do what you what they what they did with Joe Sackett Were you giving 15 million up front or what happened with Sergey Fedorov when? Carmanos gave him 26 million in a year, right? You can't do that anymore. There's rules about variance from year to year that prevent that, but you can still put poison pills in, like signing bonus and things like that. And the Rangers have the financial ability to do that so I you know I think

the Rangers do make teams nervous we'll see if it's real or just a fake you know the thing is is that when you look at free agency this year number one I think a lot of people expect Bennett to go back to Florida. Nothing is done until it's done. So that leaves you Marner and then Ehlers and then where exactly are we going here, right? Marner, I think if he leaves Toronto, he's going west. I freely admit I would be surprised if he would be in the east if he leaves Toronto is going west. I freely admit I would be surprised if he would be in the East if he leaves Toronto. You know, Elers will see. There'll be an interesting race

for Elers for the teams that don't get Marner or aren't in on Marner. It'll be a very interesting race for him. But let's just say the Rangers don't get any of those guys, then maybe Offer Sheets is what they're looking at. We'll see. They want to be aggressive. I think this, Miller, a couple other teams told me that the reason we're hearing a lot of Miller's names a lot of Miller's name is that They don't want to give him term They've indicated if they sign him to an extension

It's not gonna be a long-term extension and that's why his name is out there lafreniere. I'll tell you I get pushback on it Like I have teams telling me they don't believe. Let's take what we said about William Carlson the other day. If he's available, if it's not widely known. If LaFreniere is available, it's not widely known. Like we, I got big push back on Carlson and I got big pushback on LaFreniere. So that's what I'll say about those situations. One of my favorite LaFreniere-Kreider stories,

they were in Ottawa a few years back and in the room after the morning skate and a reporter was talking, I think it was Zavana Jad, because him and Kreider, of course, had their stalls next to each other. And he's asking Zavanajad about Lafreniere, but he's referring to him as Alex. He's saying, oh, you know, well, with Alex this. And Kreider overhears him, and he cuts the reporter off, and he goes, who's Alex?

And the reporter kind of stops, and he points down the restroom, and he goes Lafreniere and Kreider looks at him and goes, it's Alexi. And corrected on that. Wow. Good teammate. You know, I remember Kreider 2012 playoffs just covering that insane run he came on that insane run he came on when he first showed up. Like the Rangers fans, they loved Kreider. And it was interesting because Kreider went after the hard year the Rangers had this year. You know, everybody here went out talking nice about everyone else. The Rangers did what they should do with the proper credit and tribute and video for Crider and Crider. Thank the Rangers for how they handled this.

And I'll say this. Never as we were waiting for the delay, once it first got reported, it happened. Never once did I get the sense it wasn't going to happen. Like everybody I spoke to and they were all from kind of different points of emphasis. No one ever suggested to me that they thought it was in trouble. So it's been a hard year. It ended at least the right way with the proper respect. And you know, we'll see where everyone goes from here. You'll be motivated.

And I'm really curious about the Rangers. They don't have a ton of cap room yet, but they seem to want everyone to realize they're prepared to be aggressive. We'll see. OK, Elliot, the Dallas Stars. So they've got a new head coach to find. And there's seemingly a lot of other chatter around them over the last little bit.

We've talked about Jason Robertson on this podcast. His name has been out there elsewhere. What do you think is going on at this time with Robertson's name being out in the public? Okay, you wanna do Robertson first? That's where I get a sense, like, you wanna do Robertson first. Yeah, why don't we start there?

Okay, it's late, it's 1.52 a.m. I'm starting to run out of time. I'm on fumes here. Okay, so it has been a wild week around Jason Robertson. I think everything that was reported during the week about him. Was accurate. I think Dallas was reeling after their great wins over Colorado and Winnipeg,

their shock and disappointment at the way they lost to Edmonton and how the last game unraveled to the point where Peter DeBoer got fired. And I think they let it be known that they were going to have to consider some things. And I don't think anybody who reported that there was noise around Robertson was wrong. I got a call during the game on Thursday night saying that Dallas is dialing this back a little bit and we'll see. Here's why I think Robertson, his name was out there. Dallas has some decisions to make.

What they want to do and how they're going to deal with some choices on their roster. And I think they wanted to have an idea of what was out there for their players and should we make any decisions before we know what some of these market values were. And I think Robertson was one of those players. And to me, Robertson, I think if he would have gotten traded, it would have been for one of two things. A great player in return, obviously. Or two, could they recoup what they gave up to get rantin' which would allow them to get draft picks, maybe get a good young player, replenish themselves, and either keep all that and use because they're really good at drafting and developing

or, you know, maybe move it for something else. Whatever. I think I think there was two things that was a, do we get a great player for him or B, do we get we replace what we lost when we acquired Ransom? I think there's also the question of. What's his next number going to look like? of what's his next number going to look like? Does Dallas feel that his next number might not be a number they like? Well, judging from what I'm hearing on Thursday night,

I think Dallas is prepared to find out what that number is. Can they make a deal with him? He's under contract for one more season But he's got two more years of team control before he's a ufa. He'd be arbitration eligible for that second year He is eligible for an extension on July the first My sense is based on this this information which came from another team is that they've kind of been told Dallas wants to see What his long-term future is with them before they make any decisions So I think the Robertson stuff is now on hold

Until we figure out if he extends or not. That's my latest update as of Thursday. Well, that's now Friday morning at 1.56 a.m. about where I think this stands. I had mentioned they wanted to keep Grandland. I'll say this, I think it's gonna be tough for them. I think there's a sense that Grandland can do better on the open market than what they're willing to do.

Let me just give the caveat that at this time of year, things change really quickly. But that's what I heard as of Thursday night. So I think they're going to I think they're going to see how Robertson's contract talks go. I think it's hard to see them keeping Grandland. I still think they want to try to take a run at Duchenne. I don't know what the chances are. They may have to move some other people out to get all this done. And, you know, we'll see what happens with Mason Marchman. You know, we'll see. We'll see. But that's the and the other thing too, is a coach told me tonight because I went on an HL Network which we

air with Katherine Tappen, Mike Rupp and Jason Demers and I said that Alann Nasreddin has a shot at that job and if Nasreddin gets it maybe Neil Graham the AHL coach joins the staff as an assistant and another coach told me the word is that the stars want to interview both Nasradine who I believe has been interviewed and Graham who I don't think has been interviewed but I don't know for sure but is apparently getting one. I think Neil wants to talk to his two internal, and I don't know if there's anyone else internally I don't know, but I think he wants to talk to his two internal guys first and then see where he's going But I think that I think Kyle

That's where the stars kind of are Like I said, I checked with a team called me they said I Think the Robertson stuff's being dialed back and I checked with a team called me. They said, I think the Robertson stuff's being dialed back. And I checked with another team and they said, yeah, they think so too. Which of course means we'll drop the pot at 9 a.m. Eastern on Friday morning and he'll be traded at 9.01. Exactly.

And it was just kind of a strange year for him too, right? Like it was slow start, you know, it probably cost him a spot on the four nations team. Then he really got going. Then he got hurt slow, initially coming back in the playoffs. And then, you know, he ended up kind of being the lone guy for Dallas that was finding it offensively against Edmonton as things kind of crumbled there. So it's tough to get a real read of where the next step in his game was. So I can understand Dallas wanting to take a bit of a bit of a more patient approach here for a little bit and they do seem to be a team that that

likes to if they've got a homegrown talent and they believe in them they find a way to hang on to them. Yes and I think the other thing too is I think the whole week shows the wild emotion of what Dallas was feeling and never make decisions, major decisions when you're angry, right? Like Jim Neal has been around longer than Dirk, right? So like he's smart. He knows what to do. I think he's a really a competitive guy, but I think he's a really level headed guy when it comes to these kinds of decisions. And that would that

would make sense. Certainly does come across that way. Whenever you listen to him publicly. All right, a couple things before we move on to Pittsburgh here and stuff. Jonathan Taves sounds like it's a couple teams here. I think Winnipeg's in there. I think Colorado's in there. You know, it's interesting about Colorado. I was talking to someone about them and like there's all this noise around Natchez now all of a sudden. And someone said to me, if you look at Colorado's situation, depending on what happens with drew and that's I'm not really sure what is going to happen there They really only have one or two players to sign they don't have a lot of cap room But they've got to sign Sam Malinsky

Who's a very solid young defenseman? Yes, other than that they they don't have a lot of business they necessarily have to do. So I know people are looking at their roster and saying, they got a clear space, they got a clear space. I don't know that Colorado feels that way. I think they kind of look at it like, there know, there's a lot of rumors about Charlie coil. It sounds to me that's a lot of teams looking at Colorado's roster and saying, well, they have to do something. I could see the avalanche just saying that like, we're good like this. Never have too many centers. we're good like this. Never have too many centers. The one thing I've heard like they they traded for Lindgren, who's probably gonna go to market. I've heard they wouldn't mind

another defenseman with a bit of jam or edge to them. But I've heard they're not they they don't necessarily, just because other people may look at them and say, oh, they too tight to the cap. They got to make a move. I'm not convinced they think that. No, especially how they started last year with all the injuries. And now teams are going to try to tell them, look, well, you can't go into the season with all those players. Yeah, no, you can't go into the season with all those players

Yeah, no, I'll take that over the alternative. Thank you. Yeah, I I'm not sure Again, it's always one of those situations where it could be proven to be wrong But I don't think Colorado's convinced they have to do anything. They they like They like how this how this looks on paper. One of the other teams I suspect on Taves, Lightning. Oh, that makes a lot of sense. But I'm pro Winnipeg on this one. I'd like to see that.

Yeah, any of the three you mentioned would be a great story. Yeah, but there's some romance about the Jets. Sure, I know you're a romantic man. I'm an old romantic guy now, eh? Right, especially at this hour. Give me the notebook and some popcorn, I'm happy. Oh boy. Rachel McAdams always finds a way to your heart.

That's right. And you say that like it's like it's a bad thing or wrong. Oh gosh no. Are you kidding me? Only right. Oh and you know before we go to Pittsburgh here and we talk about the sale I should say like I mentioned Tavares before I could see Anaheim potentially being interested. I still think there's there's time here now. Look, it's it's June 13th, right? It's Friday the 13th.

Yeah, it's there's there's time here with Toronto. I still think they're they could do a Tana style deal with him here. I don't think that's impossible. a Tano style deal with him here. I don't think that's impossible. Let me explain something to everyone here. We did a bunch of this podcast today early and we did a bunch of it late. It's a bit of the Frankenstein monster pod. Dom has to piece it together. It is 2.07am, Friday June 13th. Let me just say thank you to my father to be co-worker Kyle Bakoskas for staying up late and my producer father possibly nobody really knows Dom for it's the west coast Dom it's only 1107 but still just want to say I appreciate both your efforts. I smell a future thought line submission. Dom's a strange son. I wonder if it'll be an anonymous voice.

Anything is possible at this point, gentlemen. Anything is possible at this point. Gentlemen, anything is possible. All right, let's get to Pittsburgh. Okay, Pittsburgh, Elliott. Could they be for sale again? Fenway Sports Group bought them just back in 2021, four years ago, but the reports out there that the old ownership group, Ron Burkle, Mario Lemieux, David Morehouse too, could they be looking at reacquiring the franchise? What are you hearing there?

So Pierre was the one, Pierre Lebrun was the one who came up with this on Wednesday. I have a couple of different thoughts about it. Number one, Fenway Sports has indicated, and apparently they did it again on Thursday saying that there's only a minority share of the team available. I'll say this. The hockey business world as it is, is skeptical. They think this began as a minority share sale, but let's just put it this way, they wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being a bigger or full scale. So the best answer is, let's see where this goes. Not everybody believes here that only a minority share is available. It might have started that way. We'll see how it ends.

Do you have a thought that of maybe how we got to this place? Elliott only four years later, like, I mean, gosh, owning a sports franchise is a in most cases pretty good business nowadays. Now I know Fenway, they would be ones that I mean, they've got some big entities that they've got under their umbrella. But how do you think we're at this point? You know, only four years after they initially bought them. One of the theories out there is that they have another purchase in mind.

There's always a bigger fish. Yes, there's always a bigger fish. And that's one of the theories out there. Again, we'll see. Um, on Lemieux, Burkle and Morehouse, uh, I believe what Pierre said is true. Uh, I don't, Pierre, I don't think you're a liar. I believe what Pierre said is true. I don't. Pierre, I don't think you're a liar. I believe what he said is true. I think they have looked into it or like I don't even know what the proper word is.

Have they met with them? Have they made an offer? I think have they looked into it is the best way to put it. The Tampa Bay Lightning just sold for $1.8 billion. You have to think if they're going to be selling the Penguins and there was some land that made the Lightning very valuable, it's going to be around that number. I don't necessarily think it's going to be more than that number, but I think it's going to be around that number. So let's just say $1.7. So they sold the team depending on, I think the published number was 900, sold the team for 900, buy it back for 1.7. That's

not what they teach you at Ivy, at the Ivy School of Business at Western. It's a big purchase. I don't know. All I heard in the aftermath was they've looked into it, but they wouldn't be called the favorites. It sounds like there's at least two other groups that have looked around this, Kyle. And it sounds at the very least there's one that started talking about a minority share that's now talking about a majority share.

We'll see. God, that is amazing. I mean, if Fenway doesn't fact sell, buy it for 900. And over this time, it's basically been the most futile stretch of the Crosby era other than his rookie season. And you could make that kind of profit on it four years later. You know what, well it just shows you sports teams are good business right now right? Like the NHL is, we just signed

a big new Canadian TV media deal with some company I've never heard of. And they've got a lot of business going very well. Their revenues are high. They're about to do labor piece. There were some meetings and some calls this week. We're not far away. And it's a good place to be. And if they do indeed sell, they're going to make money on their purchase. You know, Mark Casey said to me today, do you think they're selling it?

Cause it hasn't gone very well on the ice. And my answer to that is if you're an owner and you know, FSG, they own lots of sports teams. They're not foreign to this. If you're an owner and you buy a team and you're upset because the team goes badly, you know, you're not very smart. I mean, you have to know that that can happen. And you had to see with the Penguins, even with the greatness of Crosby, how that could happen. So I tend to think that the Fenway people are smarter than that. How about in Vancouver?

What do you want to touch on there? Naturally, there's a lot of Elias Pettersson chatter in the BC West Coast. When it comes to Pettersson, he came back from Sweden to meet with Adam Foote when Adam Foote got hired. What did they ask him to show a bit more investment into the team? They took that as investment into the team.

They really liked that he did that. that he did that. I just feel that Vancouver is only doing this if it solves their center problem. Like that's the only way I think Vancouver is doing this they everybody knows they're a part on suitor what the market looks like it can do for suitor Vancouver doesn't want to go there they would like Hedl to either be their 3c or a top six winger. I think in a perfect world, that's where they see Heedle playing. So if they trade Peterson and they don't solve the other holes, I don't think they believe it makes any sense for them.

So they asked him to show a bit more investment. He's doing that. And I think they've made it clear that unless it really makes sense for them to fill their other holes, they don't think it's good business. That's where I think it stands. All right. So for Vancouver as a whole then, as we're kind of starting to look towards the summer of the seven Canadian teams, I mean, they've got to be up there in terms of wanting to do the most in the off season to at least put themselves back in the conversation of

being a playoff team, knowing what could be coming with their captain shortly over the horizon. Would that be fair or how are you looking at them right now? I think they want to be a contending team. A hundred percent. A hundred percent. That's why I think this Pedersen move is as we just described it. That's why I think this Pedersen move is as we just described it.

How do you trade that guy and go backwards and not solve your problems? I think it's a perfect way to put it, Kyle. This is a time where you're looking to solve your problems, not creating more problems for yourself. Yeah, there's been enough problems in that market over the last year. It would behoove them to be in solving mode as things move forward for the Canucks. I totally see that. They want us to talk about them less next year. Yes. I think everyone here, producer included, would be okay with that. All right, some other things to kind of keep an eye on

as we go through some names that have been out there or could be out there. Jordan Spence of the Los Angeles Kings. What do you got on that? Yeah, I think that's a name to keep an eye on. Spence, you know, Ken Holland, you know his, how he feels about his blue line. He likes a big mobile blue line. I think if, I just don't think that the Kings feel that Spence and Brant Clark on the right

side together works. And they're both right-hand shots. They both need to play. And I just don't think they feel there's room for two of them. And Clark, I don't believe is available. Spence, I think, is. So that's a name to keep an eye out for. All right.

That'll take us to the final thought, which is brought to you by GMC and Elliott. When this podcast drops on Friday, it will be two weeks before the NHL draft in Los Angeles. And so, I mean, Ron and Kevin had a couple of the top prospects and- It was a good interview. Really good. Misa and Schaeffer. The name Mason West out of Minnesota seems to be a really intriguing one. So Mason, not only a high school hockey player, also a high school quarterback who plans to play in the fall at Adina.

And as he said at the draft combine, he won a state championship in hockey. He would love to win one in football, but as he says, he is all in on hockey after the fall season on the gridiron wraps up. Think of a guy like Anders Lee, who apparently they connected not too long ago. So that's kind of neat for Lee to reach out to him. But Mason West pretty clear that this is a guy who's, I guess the best way to describe him, Kyle, is he's kind of got his own list on each team's draft board. And the way it was explained to me was every time a team gets a pick from kind of like the second round on he'll be part of the conversation is now the time we take him like he's really he's really raw but

he's big he's obviously a great athlete and he can score he scores goals and you know what if he pays on the power play too I think someone told me that they saw I don't know if it was video or they went and they saw and he was playing point on the power play because he could really shoot the puck. So like, because you're always looking for big mobile guys, everyone's watching him. There's so little eye test against really good players. He briefly played in the US HL. He's planning on going there, I guess, for the back half of next year, that he's the biggest

wild card in the draft because he could go boom. It really could turn out to be a great pick. What a couple teams told me is every time your pick comes up, you're going to be sitting there and saying, and he's not going to go high first round, but later, every time your pick comes up, you're going to be sitting there and saying, and he's not going to go high first round, but later every time your pick comes up, you're going to be sitting there and saying, if we don't take him now, is somebody else going to jump in and do it? Are we going to lose our opportunity? So that's going to be the question is when is the first team going to say we have to do this now because we won't get another opportunity to do it later. I'll give you what somebody compared him to and it's not exactly the same, but the situation

is similar. When the Maple Leafs drafted Nyes, they didn't have a first round pick. They took him with their highest pick in the second round and it was after a year. Nice was a top prospect and he had a terrible season in his draft year and he fell. This kid doesn't have a long resume or a longer resume like Nice did, but you can see the skill and you might regret it if you don't take him because he's a big guy. So does he go higher than normal because some team says if we don't do it now, we're never going to get up. Now the same team told me that they wonder about those teams with multiple first rounders. Are they just going to say like a team like Nashville or a team like Philadelphia, do

they look at it and say, look, we've got multiple first rounders. We're just going to do it. And probably higher than anybody else would do it. But because you just look and you say, we're taking the chance because we have all these opportunities to do it. So I think teams are a trying to figure out who's really serious about this guy and be where do we take this player? It's going to be fascinating. I was told biggest wild card of the draft biggest.

Wow. Little Dion Sanders little Bo Jackson. I'm actually I'm actually glad you mentioned that because, like he's, as you said, he's determined to play football again for another year, right at high school. Yeah, take another chance to try to win the state championship. Like right now, one of the reasons he's looking harder at hockey is because he might not play quarterback at the next level. What if he has another year, a really good

high school year this year and someone says, okay, we'll make him a quarterback. Now do you sit there and say, oh, geez, we, we just took this pick on this guy. Right. Because as you're highlighting all the physical attributes that make him attractive in hockey. A lot of the same would apply to football programs looking for a quarterback. Hal Gill, also a great high school football quarterback. Very good. Yeah, I think this guy's 6'6". Yeah.

So, you know, but that's the one thing one team said, like what happens if you take a high pick on this guy or one of your only picks on this guy and he lights it up next year and someone says, oh, okay, we're going to give him a shot at quarterback now. So it's always, I mean, and like who knows how an 18-year-old or a 17-year-old is going to feel. So there's a lot going on here, but that's one thing, like just talking to people about the combine. I had a few people tell me like, this is the ultimate wild card and it's going to be fascinating where he goes. And it was interesting how he pointed out that, I mean, hockey,

there's more of a developmental path at that stage for him, like the ability to go play in the USHL. He'd said, there just isn't the same equivalent in football for him. So I think that's part of, as he was suggesting, part of the reason why, as he said, all in on hockey, while also a talented quarterback at the same time. So yes, Mason West, keep an eye on that name as we approach draft night in Los Angeles. That's the final thought brought to you by GMC. We'll take our first break, come back with the thought line.

The mystery continues with the anonymous voicemail. We'll get to all of that in just a bit. You're listening to 32 Thoughts, the podcast. ["Thoughts"] Okay, welcome back. Time once again for the Thoughtline. Elliot, you alerted me earlier today and it was fitting because we have made the odd spaceballs reference on this show in the past. The teaser trailer for number two, what 30 years later, 2027 it's supposed to drop. So we'll have fresh material to reference in two years. Excellent. It's about time. You only have to wait two more years for fresh material on this podcast.

Wow. Okay. Still a lot of intrigue around the anonymous voicemail and trying to get to the bottom of who is behind it. We're going to save that for the end, this thought line, if it's okay with you, Elliot. Okay. Get to the other questions first, because there's been a new development and I don't know if it helps us at all or only makes things a new development and I don't know if it helps us at all or only makes things more confusing. But anyway, we'll get there in a minute. So we begin this edition with Hayden from Prince George BC. Hello, 32 Thoughts Gang. I am currently watching game three of the cup final and I got to thinking about how

this is Chris Knobloch's second cup final in only his second season as an NHL head coach. My question is simple. Has this ever been done before? I know there are rookie coaches who have won in their first year like Dan Bilesma, but has there ever been another rookie coach who has gone to back-to-back finals regardless of winning or not? Scotty Bowman. Yes. St Louis blues. Correct. So that was the most recent time before Chris Knoblock. There were four other instances. So I I'm just going to throw names out here.

That's gotta be like in that era we're talking about, I don't know if any of these rhymes gonna throw names out there. Okay. Punch-Em-Lock. Bingo. Excellent. Nice.

Are there any more? There's three more. Oh, so there's five in total? Other than Knoblock, yes. Oh, so four in total. Well, no, you got Scotty, you got Punch-Em-Lock, and there's three others. So I, okay, I can can guess people but I can't figure out English and math. Okay okay so Punch Imlak, Scotty Bowman, I'm gonna

think of some big-name coaches. Toe Blake? Yes. Okay two more? Yeah. I mean the big one, Dick Irvin. No. No. Didn't. Now, do you want a little bit of help? Sure, sure. So if I gave you the team, Z, in both cases, these two coaches were behind the bench of the Detroit Red Wings. Sid Abel? Nope. Back Adams? No. Oh, I'm trying to remember who the other coaches were on those teams. Oh, Wilson. Not Ron Wilson's uncle, I guess it was. I'm trying to remember who the other coaches were there.

Tommy Ivan was Chicago. Tommy Ivan is correct. Is it? It is correct? Yes. 1948 and 49 with the wings. Alright. I think they lost both of those to the Maple Leafs. They did lose both.

So Tommy Ivan was right. What other year is it? 55-56. So it wasn't Johnny Wilson? No. I'm sure it was 55-56. So it wasn't Johnny Wilson? No. 55-56. You know what? I don't remember. I honestly don't remember. Jimmy Skinner. Oh Jimmy Skinner. Only three years. I should have known that because he was the last coach to win Stanley Cup for the Red Wings before Bowman won them.

Right. And so he won his first year, lost the next year. Toe Blake won both of his first two years with Montreal. Every other coach on this list lost their first and second appearance in the Cup finals. So Knoblox trying to buck that trend this year. That's a great question. Very good submission. Yeah.

All right, Alan. Hey, thoughts team. Last pod, you mentioned Marshawn's inevitable face turn and brought up Hulk Hogan as an example. I immediately thought of Randy Orton as another example. However, I think you missed the most obvious answer. Kyle's buddy, Adam Copeland, Edge was the embodiment of opportunistic heel you love to hate.

And just like Marshawn, towards the end of his career, the world loved him. A related question to you guys would be as follows. My favorite wrestlers from that era are the Hardy Boys. Which current active NHLers, doesn't have to be siblings, would you equate to Matt and Jeff in their on and off ice

presence, talent, etc. First off, let me say yes, I blew that one. Late Night Brain took advantage of me there. I should have had Adam Coughlin because he was a great, a great heel and has become one of the most beloved guys across the world now. But Hardy Boyz. Like I said, my wrestling knowledge is not as contemporary. I was more of a 70s, 80s, 90s guys. So it's more Kyle's fault than mine that we missed that very obvious. Yes.

No, I'll wear that one. That's not on you. I don't know a current NHL-er. I don't, off the top of my head, I'm not as sure, but you know when he was in his prime in Toronto, would have been a great Hardy boy. Darcy Tucker? Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking of.

Yeah, yeah, that's a good one. Yeah. I mean, if it doesn't have to be siblings, because we had kind of a, remember a similar question earlier in the year about kind of a fatal four-way tag team match and trying to come up with brothers who would, you know, fit the roles of previous great NHL or WWE tag teams. So we had some fun with that. I mean, the Kachucks kind of.

Okay. So I got one for you, Kyle. Okay. Current NHL-er, Hardy Boy, Ryan Lomborg. Oh, nice. Nice. You know what I was kind of thinking too? Connor Garland. That's a good one also. Because like the Hardy boys were always undersized, but no fear put themselves through the most brutal of circumstances and spots. They never said no. And neither one of those guys says no.

All right. I don't mind that at all. Our Lomborg and Garland are the new Hardy Boys. The new Hardy Boys. Yeah, that's good. To celebrate in their first game against this year, Flames Canucks, they'll probably bite someone. That's right. Swanton ball off the bench. Very good. Thank you, Alan. And sorry, Adam, I blew that one. Should have had you from the beginning. Keegan from Calgary. Hello, Kyle and the rest of the strange voices in my ear pods. Silly question here, but every time we go into overtime, everybody on the panel guesses their overtime winner and Ron is always writing something down. Does whoever guess it right win a prize or have to buy dinner or something?

Who has the most wins so far? If you don't know, then you need to start a tally. Love the show. Go flames. Don't know we don't keep track except to brag about it in the moment. So Kevin had dry sidling in game one and this might not surprise you to know he really brags about it. Puts it right in our faces. I had Marshand in game two. I am slightly less obnoxious than Kevin is. He's slightly.

I brag about it a bit and then let it drop. But unless Ron keeps a scoreboard, I have no idea what the overall tally is. All right. Well, at least for the final, we know where things stand. Should we see any more overtime between now and the end of the series? And there's nothing on the line. Like there's no prize given out for the winners. Just bragging rights, bragging rights, bragging rights. One, one thing I'll say about our group, our group is very generous. You do not have, there's nobody who hides when the bill comes.

There's a lot of people who like to fight over bills. So it's it's never really a situation where you say, oh somebody has to buy dinner because everybody likes to buy dinner in this group. As a matter of fact, occasionally there have been times where we've told someone you've bought enough stop buying. Yes, never ceases to amaze. Alex in North Vancouver, hello gents. Never miss a pod and sometimes find the time to catch up as I rock my little son to sleep. Young parents know the ups and downs of naps and bedtime routines. With LTIR being part of the conversation as we inch towards a new CBA, has there been any analysis of the actual cap hit ice for playoff teams when the puck drops for game one as well

as the teams that make it to the final? It would be interesting to see what this has been over the past few seasons compared to the regular season salary cap. What is the highest cap ice for a Stanley Cup champion or lowest? Thank you for what you do. Did look into this a little bit. You're welcome and thank you for listening. I assume the highest one has to be Tampa Bay, right? The year they were 18 million over the cap. 18 million. Yep. And, you know, to be honest, like there's been a lot of talk about the taxes. I actually think

that there are people who consider the LTIR thing more serious than the taxes. And that's why I do believe it's going to be changed in the soon to be signed CBA. Vegas was over when they won a couple of years ago. Tampa obviously was over. Florida has been over and they are again this year. Chicago was over the year that Patrick King got hurt and they are again this year. Chicago was over the year that Patrick King got hurt and Vermet show was they traded for Vermet. The lowest that's a good question. I

honestly don't know Kyle. Did you look this up? Kyle Larkin The lowest champion I went from 2013 to now to kind of when the last big I know they redid it during COVID but the last big CBA deal. Yep. Lowest cap hit, if my math serves me correct, was actually Tampa in 2020. So the year before they went 18 million over, they had to- Yes, yeah. And were they still over or were they- They were over by just over 500K.

A close second was St. Louis the year before, 574 and change over. So nobody under the cap has won the Stanley Cups since 2013. Correct. There's been some finalists that have been under. Who was under? So the Bruins in 13, the Rangers in 14, the sharks in 16, the predators and 17 ruins in 19 stars and 20. And that's it. Everyone else has been over my

head, I would bet those were all teams that didn't have injury problems. Right. And that's the thing like as especially now as we turned in from 2020 onwards, Elliot, that's the thing, like, especially now as we've turned in from 2020 onwards, Elliot, that's where you're seeing the LTIR adjustment really come into play compared to 2019 and earlier. So to your point, what's the bigger issue right now? I think it's that one. I agree with that. I agree with that. All right. Before we go, I have to check in on the ongoing saga that is Mr. Anonymous.

First though, we've got to get it. This one submission was very good from a listener who cares. Elliot, I write this in light of celebrating my Abbey Canucks making the Calder Cup final. Sadly, the celebrations have been dampened by the ongoing mystery of Mr. Anonymous and the threat to your relationship with David Amber. Desperate for answers, I drew on connections made while playing the saxophone in my grade six band.

It is with a heavy heart I can confirm that triangle players everywhere have not forgiven you two for the months of disrespect suffered earlier this year. Perhaps a downcast percussionist is pitting you and DA against each other in a twisted attempt to get even. I know you and Kyle have apologized to Triangle players around the world, but deep wounds take time to heal. Perhaps reconciliation is the key to uncovering this mystery and protecting your relationship with your co-hosts. That is outstanding. We have considered the fact that this is a completely anonymous person, that we have no idea who it is. Yes.

I will say, we are hoping it is someone we know. By the way, did you, Kyle, see the day in the life of Jean Principe that was done? Yeah, I saw the, I guess, the highlighted version of it. I still gotta watch the full one. They're doing one of Amber today oh wow yeah it'll be the most boring day in the life ever I wake up I do 40 push-ups I have breakfast I do 30 push-ups rub myself in oil yeah that's right I go to the buffet at the arena Get Kyle or Luke to shave my head

Yeah That was the afternoon before game seven of the cup final last year. I had David Embers sitting in my hotel room And I was shaving his head with his electric razor. They brought from home that ran out of juice midway through He had like a little cul-de-sac going. Okay, I don't want to hear the rest of this story. Let's just move on. It was, of all the things I didn't anticipate doing on that day, that was one of them. So, Caleb from Tampa, and he wasn't the only one. Is it Caleb Joseph? Well, he didn't include the last name, but we can't write that out. Does Caleb spend time in Tampa in the off season? No, he's from Tennessee. Oh, okay.

But he's a former baseball player. I assume every former baseball player has a Grapefruit League home. That's true. Okay. Caleb from Tampa here. I've grown up in the sound and audio engineering world my whole life and it's giving me some special tools I figured I'd use here. I took some tools I

have at my disposal and attempted to unscramble the original voicemail you guys got from a couple episodes ago. This is as close to a regular human tone as I could get. See if you recognize the voice. Now Don before you play it, I should say so this is from the original episode at RAND. You're going to hear laughter in it, it's just yours, Elliot, when you were reacting to it. Real time. Wait a second, is this real or is this like a joke? I don't know what to believe at this point, Elliot.

I really don't. But Caleb is, and he wasn't the only one, a couple others sent in, tried to send in an unscrabbled version of this to try to get it. I like these people. Good on, Caleb and others, I like this. Mark and Brian were the other two that also submitted according to our good man, Griffin Porter.

Thank you, Mark and Brian. So don't be thrown by the laughter. It's just yours. And again, as I teased early on, I don't know if this helps our case or just further confuses things. So Dom, let's roll it. Hello, Kyle, and Elliot. This is anonymous.

I have a question. You often mentioned how your colleague and I suppose friend you often mention how your colleague and a suppose friend David Amber is so high maintenance exactly is it that makes him so high maintenance what does he do and are you trying to tell me that you were not high maintenance Elliot for a for now, gentlemen. Did that do anything for you? If that's real, that's really good work, I have to say. Not so much for me. Does it do anything for you? No, honestly, I'm listening to it. I'm like, that kind of sounds like me a little bit, but I know it was not me that did this.

Well, I don't think I recognize that person. Me neither. did this. Well, I don't think I recognize that person. Me neither. As I said, and as I've thought more about it, like when this person initially sent in the voicemail, like were they anticipating us to run with it and therefore they were planning to send in a second one was an all part of their ploy from the outset I just twisted twisted into a pretzel over this still that's not I got it will hear it maybe someone will hear and say I know who that is. That's why we put it out to you, the listeners, as we try to move this case forward.

We can't leave this in a filing folder somewhere in a basement for 30 years. We've got to get to the bottom of this sooner. somewhere in a basement for 30 years. We've got to get to the bottom of this sooner. And if the Oilers, well, if they win this thing, they said they would reveal themselves. Okay, the mystery continues. That'll do it for this edition of the Thoughtline. Thank you to Griffin Porter for helping curate it, and everybody who writes in, who leaves a voicemail where you can do it at 1-833-311-3232 or you can email us at 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca. One final break before we wrap up this edition of 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Elliot and everybody around this Stanley Cup final just has one day now to make the

mad dash back from sunrise up to Edmonton and Northern Alberta, 4,100 kilometer trek because game five from Edmonton comes Saturday night as usual. Pre-game show on the air at 730 Eastern, 530 Mountain Time, puck drop from Marauder's Place just after 6 Mountain, 8 Eastern. It is a best of three for the Stanley Cup. Thank you so much again for taking some time out of your day to listen to us and we will be back with you in the aftermath of Game 5. We'll talk to you again on Sunday morning.