32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Endangered Zebras

Episode Date: June 22, 2021

In a hotly contested Stanley Cup Playoffs series, officiating has taken centre stage as Jeff and Elliotte tackle controversial calls – or lack of calls – and tackle the question of what more can be done (6:24). But first, a surprise announcement and celebration spurs talk of hockey-inspired baby names (0:13). The guys then discuss […]

Okay. We'll keep it PG. Coming down in three, two, and one. Elliot, congratulations are in order for our man Amal Delich. Yes, they are. There will be no car cast this week, but for a good reason, we're going to do two regular podcasts this week, but for a good reason, we're going to do two regular podcasts this week. And the good reason that Amal Delich and his partner, Joanna, they had a baby boy on Friday.

Now the name is still under lock and key. We're not, we don't actually, I don't even know what it is. It's a, it's still a state secret, but it was a great day on Friday. Amal had his first Father's Day yesterday. Seven pounds, 14 ounces. Everybody healthy. And we want to wish them congratulations. Now, Jeff, believe it or not, Amal has used that as a lame excuse to take the week off. So we thank Christian Ryan, who's come in to pinch hit for him for these two episodes. But we're going to do regular episodes this week just to keep it simple.

And then Amal will have the bags under his eyes next week as he returns for the regular during playoff car cast. But Amal and Joe, we're really happy for you. We hope you have a great week with your beautiful newborn. These are days you're going to remember for the rest of your lives. And be ready to be more happy and more tired than you've ever been in your life. For all new parents, you know the feeling and it's wonderful.

Okay, let me share something from our group text on Friday night. So we're all texting back and forth, congratulating Amal and, you know, how's mom? How's baby? Everyone healthy and all that. And we get around to talking about the name eventually. And this is during Montreal and Vegas. And the third period concludes. And I just threw out there, dude, whoever scores the overtime winner, that's the name of your boy.

And for a while there, no one responded on our text. I could tell that Amel was kind of thinking about it like, hmm. Because he showed us a picture of his son watching his very first hockey game and i said well this is his first game ever amal whoever scores the overtime winner that's got to be the name of your kid so if the name is either josh or anderson we'll know where he got it from. So the famous story is that Nevin Marquardt, first-round draft pick of the Boston Bruins, 1983, later played over 300 NHL games,

almost all of them for the Bruins. He played 10 for Calgary. That when he was born, and he was born in 1964, his mother was a big Leaf fan. And she kind of said that the next Leaf who scores, his name is going to be my son's name. And the next Leaf who scored was Bob Nevin. So there you go, Nevin Marquardt. And I've heard that story, and the famous joke that goes along with it. Now, I don't know if this part is true. I've heard that it is the famous joke that goes along with it now I don't know if this part is true I've heard that it is but it sounds like one of those things that you don't know if it

actually is the famous joke that goes after it is thank god it wasn't Frank Mahavlich. Mahavlich Marquardt I love that name that actually has some really good Zarly Zalapsky alliteration to it I would have been fine with that. So you said it got to be josh delich when but i like anderson better anderson delich i think that has a real ring to it anderson delich sounds great josh delich i don't know man they both sound good to me anderson may have a better ring to it might sound a little bit cooler but i'd be good with either one listen it's his first game like he's got pictures of his kid watching his how much would you love to have a picture of you you know seven day old elliot friedman watching his very first hockey like wouldn't you be curious to find out which hockey game you actually saw before you were even

aware of it and then to be able to go back and find that game well think i was born since i was born in 1970 i wonder if it's one of the summit series games see that would make it even cooler because the the paul henderson's famous goal was one day after i turned two that was september 28th 1972 so you know i i wonder about that see to me it would have taken a little while because i was July 9th, 1969. So there was no hockey going on then. So I would have had to have waited for a couple of months. But you probably got right at it, as did Amel's son. And so will this podcast.

Again, congratulations to Amel and Joanna. Health and happiness to everyone and your families from all of us here at the 31 thoughts podcast. but also one, just before you kick it off there, we both know one thing. What's that? You, me and Amal might like the name Josh or Anderson.

Cause Josh Harrison scored. We all know Joe has the most votes and if she don't like it, it ain't happening. That's right. You do not have final say get used to it get used to it and with that we'll kick it off welcome to the podcast 31 thoughts presented by the gmc sierra in t4 We'll be right back. Anderson knocks it down. Paul Byron. Anderson scores! Game winner, Josh Anderson. Quick look at that to make sure, but what a play on the turnover. That should be all right.

I think Anderson, who's had such a tough time, he's been frustrated, hasn't been able to get much going, and that's gone over the shoulder. That's game over. Okay, welcome once again to 31 Thoughts, the podcast. Merrick alongside Friedman and Christian Ryan in for Amel Delic, as Elliot mentioned, off the top. Okay, the big story. The elephant in the hockey room is officiating. And it's Chris Lee and Dan O'Rourke who work games three and four

and seem to not be too inclined to call many, if any, penalties at all in those two games. First of all, just as a wide-brush comment, what do you do with these last two games, Elliot, between these two teams from an officiating point of view? You know, boy, I have a lot of thoughts on this one, and I mentioned them at the end of the game. The first thing is, you know, Kevin pointed out that the same referees do the back-to-back games.

And maybe the fact that they missed the high stick on Perry leads to very few calls in game number four. And I think in this particular case, we have to excuse the fact that they had to use back-to-back referees because of the quarantine situation. It's something we can't avoid, but that doesn't excuse the overall problem. As I said on the air after the game, I do not expect perfection. I am not perfect myself, so I recognize that nothing's going to be perfect, but I have a take that many of you have heard on the podcast that what changes most in the playoffs is not the refereeing it's the way the players play and you know a lot of people have been hitting me on twitter about that take about the last two games and i think it's first of all i want to thank you because

it proves that you're listening i really do appreciate it you You know, look, like I haven't liked what I've seen lately. It's that simple. I've never had as many people, players, coaches, executives text me during a game as they did. And someone asked me from a position of authority, they said, how many people is that? I want to know, like, is it four? Is it a thousand? And it's about's about 30 you know for 30 people to text you in a game from around the league that's a lot and you know I will say someone called me and challenged me on that he said well I had some people who said they really liked it and I said well we're just going to agree to disagree because I don't think that was good and the specific problem I have is and they said to me like what's your exact problem?

Because he's right about one thing. You can't just say, I don't like that. You have to offer a solution. And as you know, Jeff, one of the issues is going to be that there's some people who want nothing called. And there's some people who say the worst thing we're going to get is everything called because then people are going to say, oh, now you're calling everything. Well, I don't want that either.

So what's the solution? Well, you know, for me, I thought about it. I thought that was a fair question. I thought about it overnight and everyone's going to have their opinion. And this is mine. If you're having a game where you're letting guys play and there are hard fouls not being called, then you can't have as your first penalty the Nick Suzuki one on Alex Martinez, where he has his stick on his wrist. After almost two periods of no penalties being

called, you can't say that's my first call. Same deal as an Islanders and Tampa game three, that Adam Pellock thing on Nikita Kucherov. When you're having a hard game, you can't let that be a huge call in the middle of a game. That I don't like. And the second thing I said was you know I know that the league really concentrates on sticks around the hand which is a good thing the refs are fixated

on those though which leads to the call like we got on Suzuki which was a I just thought a completely out of place call for that game I think there needs to be an emphasis on boarding. I think too much boarding goes uncalled. And in the playoffs, because of how mean and tough the games are, that is a call I just think we have to be better with. I want a nasty, tough playoff game. I'm good with mean games. I like it. I think that we want our players to be

competitive and they are in the playoffs they are they they do not take games off i just say look you can't have ticky tack calls being your calls if you're letting everything go and b i think we need more of an emphasis on boarding. So that's my position. How do you feel? So a couple of things there. One, the player you're referring to, I believe, is Joel Edmondson and William Carrier, that boarding call, which was right in front of Chris Lee. Also, no check on Weber, which wasn't going to be called

until Weber cross-checked him a few times. And then they started pawing at each other and sort of forced the official into actually making a call. Because up until that point, everything was going to be clean okay you hit him he hit you we'll call it a wash and continue play yeah i know that edmondson had just been hit from behind by carrie as he came around the net so there's a hot player going into carrie from behind and my first thought on that one to to be honest, my first thought when I saw that was, even if it's not going to be a penalty,

I wonder if the Department of Players' safety gets involved. That's what I looked at on that play. But a couple of things to your point. Here's where I think, over the past couple of games in Montreal, here's what I think part of the danger is. When you have two teams that are hot at each other, and one of the examples that I think of immediately is Pittsburgh and Boston over Matt Cook.

When Cook-Savard happened, I mean, you remember, they're like the old Wild Wild West, you know, wanted posters that were up around Boston with Matt Cook's face. Like, you remember going into that game. That was hot. Everybody knew that was hot. Sean Thornton ended up fighting him and it diffused everything. But going into that game was hot.

And right around that time, as you'll recall, there were a number of big plays and big penalties that didn't get called. And there was a real question in the NHL at that time over what was a penalty and what wasn't a penalty. And I remember going into that game thinking, you got two hot teams, you got one huge issue, you got everybody in Boston howling for Matt Cook's blood, you got the Bruins howling for Matt Cook's blood as well,

and no one knows what the rules are. That is a recipe for someone to really get hurt. And I'll tell you, Frej, I felt that way going into the third period that no one knows what a penalty is. No one knows what the rules are. But all both teams know is they're hot at each other. And I said to myself, going into the third, this could be a recipe for disaster. into the third this could be a recipe for disaster and that's why somewhere along the way there needed to be calls like i i brian burke used to do this was all the time on wednesday night as you recall on the scotia bank wednesday night remember was first call with brian burke and brian would always stress the point that the one thing that managers want and coaches, players, et cetera, is the first call to be the establishment

call. Like this is the line. Okay, guys, like this is the message to everybody. And he said, always pay attention to the first call in every hockey game, because that's the message from the officials. That's the line. You can skate to it, but don't go past it. And we never saw it in these two games.

And to your point about, you point about the Suzuki Martinez situation, man, that's more frustrating than anything else. You look at it and you say, is it a call? Well, technically less, but contextually, how can you make that call? That was the complaint I got the most. I think that's when my phone blew up, Jeff, at that call. It was, how can that be the call? Yeah.

The overriding point from all of this in the past couple of games that I take away from it is, thankfully, I mean, Corey Perry and his nose may feel otherwise, but thankfully nobody got seriously hurt. Because I saw a situation where nobody knew what a penalty was. And when nobody knows what a penalty was, and the referees don't feel too inclined to establish a line then players really can get hurt out there that's my main takeaway from three and four and i wonder what happens in five now i wonder if right away like

normally before the first whistle we don't see a penalty i wonder if they get to one early in game five just to make an establishment call it's a good question i mean we'll see like there have been some times in these playoffs where we've been complaining about not just you and me but generally people have been complaining about officiating and you know then we get some calls and it kind of like the one on game two colorado vegas in overtime right and you know everybody's that says oh we don't want that call and it kind of like the one on game two, Colorado Vegas in overtime. Right. And you know, everybody's it says, Oh, we don't want that call. And they kind of back away for a little bit, you know, we'll see, you know,

I thought Kevin's point about the missed high stick on Perry and what that means, you know, did that change the game? Did they say, look, we missed that one. We have to let some other things go. You know, people are human. Maybe that's what it is. I don't think that should be the answer. I'm just looking for explanations why it could happen.

I don't know. I mean, I thought it was what I should do as a reporter was just say that there was a lot more unrest about game four than most games games i work you know sometimes as you know jeff you get one or two texts from people and they're like what was that this one was about 30 yeah so i think that's a greater cross-section so here's another question i have for you okay one of the things that somebody said to me last night was, in baseball, they add two umpires to the postseason. So there's a different thing they do for the postseason

than the regular season. Is there a way, I'm not advocating adding a third referee, let's not be insane here, but is there a change that should be made in any kind of shape or form for the playoffs you can't do it on the ice you can't put another body on the ice no no we're not doing that like i just said we're not doing that but maybe like for example that perry high stick should that be reviewable in the playoffs only? Should it be reviewable upon coach request or should it just be automatic eyes in the sky?

We have a penalty here. Let's get together at the penalty box. I know one of the things that everybody is still always sensitive about is this is supposed to be a flow sport. Let's not make it a stop and start sport. 100%. It's a big problem and the nhl has always been sensitive with that because that's part of the appeal of hockey like point blank that's part of the appeal of hockey is the action continues and transition and changes of possession

and back and forth that that's part of what the sport is that's part of what hockey is and now the nhl is sensitive about trying to change that. They don't want to change that. A lot of other sports are more static than hockey is. There's a play, it stops, everybody pauses and resets. Hockey really doesn't do that unless it's whistles, but there's a long time generally in between those whistles. You don't want, essentially what I'm saying is you don't want to increase the amount of stops and starts in all of this. So I am sensitive to that. Everyone has a different opinion of what an egregious you don't want to increase the amount of stops and starts in all of this. So I am sensitive to that. Everyone has a different opinion of what an egregious penalty is, which is why even if we go to an eye in the sky or a third referee who's existing above all of it,

who makes calls that can override. Maybe what it is, Jeff, is just simply that there's plays that are reviewable in the playoffs that are not reviewable in the regular season. Then there's going to be the hue and cry about, oh, you're are reviewable in the playoffs that are not reviewable in the regular season. Then there's going to be the hue and cry about, oh, you're changing the game in the playoffs. Well, it's already changed anyway. I don't want that argument. I'm not even listening to that.

No, hold on, no, hold on. They already do because they don't have shootout and they go right to overtime for as long as the players can still pump oxygen through their legs. So I get that. And even when they can't. and even when they can't, and even when they can't still get out there, come on, we need you to kill this off. We always talk about the law of unintended consequences. This would be the concern about

what you're talking about. Cause I think safe to say, we're looking at something like there is essentially an official or a collection of officials who exist above the game and not on the ice who are able to make calls. Once you open that door, can you ever really close it? You can say we're just going to do this for the playoffs. But can you really close that one? Because you know what the discussion point will be. It'll happen in the regular season and then the discussion will be, well, they do this in the playoffs.

Why don't they do this in the regular season? You can discussion will be well they do this in the playoffs why don't they do this in the regular season you can you can do it sure of course i'm just asking the question baseball changes the way they do some level of officiating because they put two extra umpires in the field is there anything you say okay we'll do that in the playoffs but maybe we don't do that in the regular season i people might tweet at me and say elliot this is the dumbest idea we've ever heard on any podcast in the world i'm just throwing it out there okay we look forward to the feedback uh on that one anything else on the officials before i move on no i i think we've beaten that one to death okay i don't know that we'll ever beat the robin leonard topic to death but this guy first of all great game by leonard on sunday he was exceptional uh hadn't

played since we saw his team get shelled for seven uh against the avalanche in the uh the opening game of that series and i thought were the interesting things like first of all i love leonard because it seems as if it's impossible for him to speak politically or lie or fudge truth or you know he just gives you blunt honesty just blunt honesty and he's he's one of the people I really think we should cherish in this game for a number of reasons for how he's uh very open about some of his struggles be it with mental health issues or with alcoholism all of it i think that's he's a commendable person even before he's an outstanding net minder but how did you feel hearing robin lenner talk about showing up at the rink four hours before puck drop and doom

scrolling for two hours to read how people are talking we have to recognize that that's who he is right yeah not every goaltender would would do that but he would hang on hang on pause on that one not the fact that he does it because i think a lot of guys do that but to come out and admit it like this is lenner like he's not the only guy that does this. It's very NBA. Because the NBA guys admit it. Kevin Durant, if you follow the NBA, Kevin Durant, which blows my mind. Like, if I was as good as Kevin Durant, and I made as much money as Kevin Durant,

I wouldn't care what anybody said about me. I'd just be like, whatever. But Kevin Durant is a guy who, like somebody with 12 followers on Twitter will say something about him and he'll create a Twitter account to clap back at them. And some people are just like that.

Not everybody's wired the same way. That's the way he is wired. Robin Leonard, remember the day he got the start against colorado and he sent out that gif of uh robert downey jr from iron man right yep like that's him that's the way he is and he's unapologetic for it and i like it i i think the nhl needs more of that i think that's what the next generation of fans really identifies with. Yeah, 100%.

And I bet you there's people in his organization who don't like that. But whether they like it or not, that's where we're going. And his engagement in this kind of thing, it's part of his personality. And I don't think that the motivation to think it's funny i laughed he says i listened to you guys talk bleep for me for for a couple hours i don't think that's the reason he won or lost the game just like i don't think the reason he sent out the gift before the colorado game was the reason he gave up seven goals. I think he is who he is and that's part of him. And whether people like it or not, that's good for where we're going in sports.

You know, I just wanted to talk about the, the Leonard flurry decision for a minute. First of all, Peter DeBoer, I'm not surprised he did it. Uh one, DeBoer has a spine, as I said on the weekend. If there's a coach in the league who, like I wouldn't have done it. I would have said Marc-Andre Fleury is my Vezina Trophy-nominated goaltender. There's a very good chance he wins it. He's gotten us to this point in the playoffs, and he's played very well. I wouldn't have done it, but I'm not surprised Peter DeBoer did it for two reasons. He wins it. He's gotten us to this point in the playoffs, and he's played very well. I wouldn't have done it,

but I'm not surprised Peter DeBoer did it for two reasons. Number one, he's got the brass ones to do that kind of thing. He's not afraid, and I think one of the toughest things to do in the world now is to go against the grain because there's such a social media pile-on effect for doing that in a lot of cases, and I admire his willingness to do that. Because there's such a social media pile-on effect for doing that in a lot of cases. And I admire his willingness to do that.

Secondly, but Jeff, and you can tell me if you think I'm wrong about this, it is clear to me by the way the Golden Knights of an organization has acted, is there's an uncertainty with Fleury. There's just something in the way that they feel about his game that, you know, if you have a guy like flurry you trade for leonard and then you sign him to a five-year extension that just says to me that you don't necessarily believe that flurry is the guy and i just think that's the way they think and they wanted to have an insurance policy and leonard they have a really good one and he showed it in game four so do you think then they are just further

to that point just waiting for that moment of opportunity to make the goalie change and it wasn't that first game against colorado because that was almost the here you get a free one you get a free pass we'll yeah we'll surrender game one as an investment for the remainder of the series but they were looking for that legitimate moment where they can say, now we're making the switch? Yeah. No, well, they let Fleury ride with it, and they did. But yeah, I believe that the moment the opportunity came for DeBoer to reconsider, he was going to do it.

And he proved that. Last summer, don't forget, there was a deal in place to get Fleury to Pittsburgh through either LA or Anaheim, right? And, you know, it didn't happen. But I think objectively, you can look at the situation and say that I think they're more comfortable with Leonard than they are with Fleury. That does seem abundantly obvious, as is your previous point about Peter DeBoer. Abundantly obvious, as is your previous point about Peter DeBoer. Peter DeBoer has always, and I'll go back to this example that I pointed out a couple of different times here on the podcast, going back to when he coached the Kitchener Rangers and when they had one of the elite teams in the entire Canadian Hockey League,

going to the Memorial Cup, all of it, he made the move to bring in Steve Downey. And everyone said, what are you doing? Like, it's a big, huge, bold, risky move. And Peter DeBoer's great line was, I'd rather tame a tiger than paint stripes on a kitty cat. That's Pete DeBoer. He makes bold moves. to some news from around the nhl okay so you raised some eyebrows once again on on headlines on hockey night in canada with some news about oliver eckman larson uh captain defenseman arizona coyotes is a trade gonna happen here this time ellie it sure sounds like it now you know don't forget his contract six years left at 8.2 million there's a 5.25 million dollar bonus not this summer, but next summer. That complicates things.

But I do believe that we will see a deal happen. Look, last year, he gave two teams, Boston or Vancouver. This year, from what I understand, there was a conversation between Ekman Larson and the team where everybody said, we have to make this work. You know, I think they financially, they're going to strip it down, but B, I think he also recognizes he needs a change. And I will say this, there are some teams out there who I've spoken to who said they think he's gotten a bit stale there and they would be very curious to see you know how he would be in a new environment it's complicated because of the contract and i think he's i said he's got six

years left he's got five but that's one of the things here is there's a willingness on everybody's side to make it happen and what they're going to do is the coyotes have the permission to shop the deal and then go to eckman larson who's got a no-move clause, and say, okay, how do you feel about this? And I think he's going to be open to more scenarios. So I think it's going to happen. One of the teams I wonder about is still the Bruins. What did Cam Neely say?

Minute eating left shot D? But they've been interested in him going back to when he was you know before he signed this monster contract with arizona there was always a talk that if he doesn't do the deal with arizona he's going to boston that's the team that has the most interest like this isn't something new between this player and that team correct no that's that's definitely it's definitely true there's no question about that. You know, do they still see him as the guy? I don't know.

But they've liked him in the past, as you said, and he's obviously very interested in going there. Let's see if we work it out. Sticking with Arizona, we've talked about the coaching situation there a couple of different times. I don't know how warm it is with Mike Van Ryn, who seems to be the favorite. Should I say if he wants it, should we go that far? I think that's fair. From my guessing, I think Van Ryan is probably the number one contender

if he wants it. He knows the organization. The general manager knows him because after Van Ryn left Arizona, he went to St. Louis where Bill Armstrong was. Van Ryn does have a very good reputation. I mean, it's not like it would be anyone would have a huge issue with him getting a coaching job. You know, he's got he's gained experience. He's very highly thought of. Some of the other names, I think Todd Nelson's in there. I think Andre Tournier is in there. I think there's a couple other guys. Someone suggested to me that maybe Nate Lehman, who we've kind of tied in with Buffalo, might be in there.

There's probably more. The biggest question is, are they going to wait to talk to Lane Lambert? I believe so. And then some other people have said it might not last that long. But I think it's fair from outside looking in to say that Van Ryan's at the top of the list. The one name that I've been told associated with Van Ryan, if he does end up going, is watch for Daniel Kachuk

to see if he ends up going as an assistant as well. How much are they stripping it down? Just a quick final thought. How much are they stripping it down in Arizona? Well, I think OEL, I think Kessel. The interesting one's going to be Kemper to me. You know, his name was all over the rumors last year. You know, he had a tough year this year with injuries,

but, you know, one of the things that happened was he played very well in canada winning the gold medal of the world so that one's going to be i think kemper is going to be an interesting one because i think he can get what they want which is picks or prospects right yes um so those are the three names I think about the most. I'm very curious to see, would they consider moving any member? Oh, I also think, well, we've talked about them a few times, Garland. So those four names are probably at the top of the list. I think Ekman Larson gets traded. I think Kessel gets traded.

And then we watch on Garland and Kemper. Because I think there's going to be interest, and they want to restock, and they can probably get what they want for both those guys. Am I finally going to get my Garland to Boston trade? Knowing full well I'm not going to get my Kessel back to Boston. It's a huge deal. Ekman, Kessel, and Garland go back to Boston in a massive trade.

Just give me one of these good old-fashioned Cliff Fletcher trades, eight players. All right, off the Arizona page. Dougie Hamilton talking to teams? What do you hear? What do you know? I think he is, but I don't think it's going to be anything imminent.

Interesting gamble by Carolina here. It's become more and more clear to me that Carolina sees this as maybe he doesn't get what he likes out there and we'll see hmm seattle talk it i i think it's talk it but there's there's at least one other person in there it's interesting you know talk it has been easier to track not because he leaks anything but because he's been interviewed by every team right so that it kind of gets out there because i think there were two finalists who went to seattle last week and met with the team and i

think talk it was one and i'll tell you um the second one was harder to pin down because i don't necessarily think it's someone who's had a lot of interviews with different teams. People suggest it was Kevin Dineen, and there's a fit there because he's obviously tight with Ron Francis. They played together. He was the head coach in San Diego last year, Anaheim's American Hockey League team. There's a feeling that, at the very least,

Dineen could end up on the Seattle staff, though I'm not sure it's a head coach. There was some talk that it might be Tony Granato, who is a former NHL head coach. You know, obviously, Cammy works in the organization. He's at the University of Wisconsin, and I do think they've talked to him. I just can't figure out if it was recent.

There's Joe Sacco, who they've definitely interviewed, an assistant in Boston, former head coach. There were some people who wondered if it was Dave Tippett, the coach in Edmonton, though I don't believe it was the case. I just want to knock that down right there. But there were some people who believed it was Tippett because he used to work for the organization so i think the second finalist is someone who hasn't interviewed as much elsewhere so it was harder to get to but it was talk it and one other guy it sounds like it's talk it but

until it's done it's not done okay uh moving along then uh maple leafs assistant coaching situation anything there um you know if there's one thing i wish i would have mentioned on saturday night sometimes i'm too careful and uh this one i probably would have said that the word promotion was involved i believe that there's one or two toronto assistants who have been interviewed for jobs that would be promotions elsewhere. And they're waiting to see if they get those jobs or that person gets those jobs. And then we'll see what the coaching staff looks like. We'll see what happens there.

But I'm not anticipating changes unless someone on that staff gets a promotion somewhere else. And you still think the Maple Leafs as a team are going to be swinging for the fence on someone oh yeah oh yeah i do big swing there okay um always interesting when someone wins an award for the first time who's sort of been flirting around it for a number of years and this year we we see Alexander Barkov win his very first Selkie trophy. Congratulations to Alex Barkov. Many feel that this is a couple of years overdue, but nonetheless, he's now very much

in the Selkie conversation every season because now he's won it. And that seems to open the door to include you every year. Do you have a thought on Alex Barkov, the Selkie and his future with the Florida Panthers? My bet is he signs. Because you've said from day one, Bill Zito takes that job. His job, number one, is outside of doing everything

that he did this year for the Panthers, is re-sign Alex Barkoff. You know, the best medicine is winning, right? If you're winning and they had a great year at the right time, I think they're going to be able to resign him. Like I've said before, I think some teams that were hoping to get him are under the impression that he's going to stay. But I think Barkov is very deserving.

As you know, I have generally felt that there's some good players who get undervoted. They don't get as many awards that they should win. And I think McDavid has been one of those players. And I think he'll make up for that this year with a second heart trophy. Now I'm beginning to think McKinnon is that guy. I might as well just admit this right now. I didn't have McKinnon on my heart ballot. I had him sixth and Barkov was one of the guys on it.

I know. Come get me avalanche fans. I know, come get me Avalanche fans. I know you can't stand that. It wasn't easy. It was very hard vote. My ballot gets revealed at the end. I think my ballot was fair, but I know some people aren't going to like that. You know, I didn't have Bergeron on my Selke ballot, I think for the first time in I don't

know how long, but I felt that um you know barkov really deserved it he was number one on my list and you know i think he's a great kind of unknown player and i'm happy he got some recognition barkov was i believe fourth on my heart ballot now i'm ducking i'm underneath my office desk right now. Yeah, Avs fans are coming, man. They get hot. You know what, guys? I get it.

It was a hard vote this year. It really was. I knew when I did it, it was an agonizing decision. I knew I was going to get it. I'll take it. Release your torrent of abuse. You just take it. You know, the one guy that I still think,

and I'll be curious to see if anybody else, I'm sure there would have been some, who would have had him on their heart ballot was UC Soros. I know some people who had him on there. I thought that was remarkable. They were out and dead and done. And we had David Poyle trading the entire lineup. And then UC Soros took that, like I said, get on my five foot, what is he, 11, five

foot 10 back. I'm going to carry you guys to the playoffs. I don't know, man. By definition of that trophy, I would have had UC Soros very much in that conversation on that list. Okay, we'll finish up with a couple of hashtag S31s. We haven't done these in a while and we'll start to do more

as the playoff series start to wind down. I know we get like a bajillion questions and we only have time for three, but we'll get to them and we'll get to more, as I mentioned, in the days and weeks to come. One, this from Tyler Van Dusen.

Elliot, hashtag S31. Does Calgary change its plans due to this offseason success of the Islanders and Montreal, where they actually stay status quo? I just think the thing with Calgary is that it's hard to be status quo when the contract situation says one of your most important players is going to be

unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Well, two of them, but I'm talking about Goodrow row in particular i think it's very hard to stay status quo unless you know what you're doing with good row or what he's going to do so my answer to that would be no i don't think that's really possible until you know what good row and giordano's situation is um jordano might be unprotected for the expansion draft so those are two franchise cornerstones the two g's uh the ggs the golden girls ottawa it's tough to say we're going status quo without long-term understanding of where those two players are from umar has there oh i love this has there ever been you can tell that this is my kind of guy elliot uh-oh umar no offense but i already

don't like you no no i like you buddy you're a good guy has there ever been consideration by the nhl to have the penalized player released early if their team scores a short-handed goal oh sing to me umar i i think we've talked about this goal, sing to me, Umar. I think we've talked about this before. I have to tell you, Umar and Jeff, this is not the dumbest idea that either of you two have come up with. I mean, I could see a rationale for it, but it's not happening. I remember specifically mentioning this to you. I think we were in the Lotus room on one of the Wednesday nights when I mentioned this idea to you.

And originally, I could this idea to you. And originally, I could see your eyes roll, but then as you thought about it a little more, you kind of thought, because normally you dismiss my ideas right away. I actually think it's not a bad idea.

I love it. And it encourages, listen, it encourages offense when you're playing a defensive posture, killing a penalty. And you look at how exciting shorthanded goals are.

Here's your reward. Umar, good for you, you're you were clearly raised properly and are a very well adjusted an intelligent person thank you umar and uh brady submits this one we'll end on this one uh what's the chance there's another world cup of hockey elliot i think there will be one everything has just kind of been thrown into um craziness because of the pandemic unfortunately but i think it will happen you know one of the first things we've got to sort out is the olympics and you know first of all i believe the all-Star Game next year is going to be in Vegas. Because what the plan, I think, they have is for the All-Star Game to lead into the Olympics as it kind of being a goodbye. Like, here's our Olympians.

We celebrate them. Now, goodbye. Go to China and enjoy yourself at the Olympics. It's still not done yet. And there's a lot of challenges. But the NHL feels it made the players a promise. And it wants to live up to the Olympics. It's still not done yet. And there's a lot of challenges, but the NHL feels it made the players a promise and it wants to live up to the promise. You know, I think that's where we are right now. I think the plan is to have all-star at Vegas and you go there from Vegas. The other

thing too, as part of that is the all-star game last year was supposed to be in Florida. It got canceled. I think Florida probably gets it next year. But, you know, I think it's not an easy, confusing situation because of everything that's happened. But I do think they want to go to the Olympics, and I do think you'll see a World Cup again. I want to do one more Ask 31, okay? Okay.

It's from Dej at Wildwing wing 89 and i wanted to address this because i saw this in my timeline a couple of times he writes thoughts on me being shut down when calling attention to the refs you know there's been some people who seem to think that ron is cutting me off i don't believe that's the case um I don't like this narrative because it's being used against Ron. I don't like it. I just think that people can disagree. And if he doesn't see things the way I see them, that's fine. Reasonable people can disagree. And I don't think I'm being shut down. I don't think I'm being disrespected. We just see things differently and that's fine. It's okay not to have the same opinion.

I know, you know, it's really hard to believe, right, Jeff? Like people can disagree. And if anyone shuts Elliot down, it's me on Wednesdays from here. Or BXA. Or BXA too, yeah. I can't tell you how many tweets and texts I get from people like, ah, BXA made you look stupid. What's going on about CJ's jacket swimming in Lake Ontario the other day?

Oh my God, I thought that was funny. I couldn't stop laughing. Wag your finger at BXA. He's the real culprit here. I want to end on a sad note today, Elliot. Tom Kervers, wonderful defenseman, wonderful executive as well, passes away at the age of 58 years old. It seems like it was not that long ago that I saw a rookie Tom Curvers suiting up for the Montreal Canadiens playing alongside Chris Chelios. Condolences to the family and the friends of Tom Curvers, who Elliot, as you mentioned, passes away at the age of 58. You know, there's a lot of people who are friends of his in hockey. Ray Ferraro, Brad Treeliving, Rick Bonas,

the entire Minnesota Wild organization. I think Todd Walsh, the broadcaster in Arizona, was really tight with Curvers. A lot of people. And, you know, we just send our sorrow and our condolences way way way too young peace to the curvers family