32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Everybody Has Gloves off at the Garden

Episode Date: April 5, 2024

Pre-2018 nostalgia was on full display on Thursday as Crosby and the Penguins took on Ovechkin and the Capitals with playoff implications, and Jeff and Elliotte made sure to open this edition of 32 Thoughts talking about just that. Once the fellas took care of the newly minted "doodlebug derby" in the East, they changed their focus to the brawl on Broadway between the Rangers and Devils (12:00). That convo made way for the Martin Pospisil major penalty on Thursday night that will most likely land him another suspension (23:27). Jeff and Elliotte also discuss John Tortorella's open and honest press conference this week in Philadelphia where he laid out his method amid questions about his coaching style (25:09). The fellas then talked about the Nashville Predators who have quickly become a team no one wants to face in the Western Conference (35:00) and Jeff and Elliotte make room to discuss the latest behind the Arizona Coyotes search for a new arena (41:00). The guys then crown the Dallas Stars as the deepest team in the NHL (44:00) and round out the A block by highlighting newly minted San Jose Shark Collin Graf (50:30).The guys answer your questions in the Montana’s Thought Line (54:31). Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailThis podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

What organism goes backwards and slowly? And I've been told the answer is doodlebugs. They only go backwards and do it in awkward fits and starts. So the bottom of the Eastern Conference is now known as the doodlebug derby. I have a question for Elliot Friedman as we kick off 32 Thoughts, the podcast, presented as always by the GMC Sierra Elevation. Elliot, my question is a simple one.

Is the question, Elliot, which unpopular take are you leading with at this podcast? Are you saving all of your unpopular takes for the radio show appearances that you make during the week, or are you saving all the bad unpopular takes for the radio show appearances that you make during the week or are you saving all the bad ones up for this podcast we can discuss apparently i had one on twitter on thursday night i didn't think that crosby as a potential heart trophy winner if pittsburgh makes the playoffs is a bad take but apparently it it is. Because when I suggested to it, immediately, immediately,

I was set upon by the interwebs. They came after me. I've told you before, if the Pittsburgh Penguins make it into the playoffs, I see three groups. The one group is the, oh my God, I can't believe they're piling up these points group, which is McDavid, Kucherov, and McKinnon.

The other group is, as I like to call it, the hipster group, and that's Connor Hellebuck. Mainly that group is population one. And then there's the, I can't believe he got them into the playoffs all by himself, Sidney Crosby group. To me, I look at three distinct voting groups for the Hart Trophy if, if Crosby can get the Penguins into the playoffs. And that kind of winks at the question I wanted to ask you to kick off the pod today, and that is, Elliot, what year is it? Is this a trick question?

No. What year is it? If it's not a trick question, I'm going with 2024. Okay, correct. Now, the follow-up to that one is, if I may a follow-up if we're allowed follow-ups what year did it feel like tonight watching the washington capitals face off against the pittsburgh penguins in a meaningful game in checks notes early april it felt like pre-2018 because the Penguins generally won those.

I have to say, Washington, again, they just, they couldn't get there with Pittsburgh in this game. And the Penguins got, in games like this, Merrick,

one of two things happens. Either the stars dominate. Remember Crosby and Ovechkin in that double hat trick game in the playoffs 15 years ago? One of the best games of the generation. That was a great game. Yeah.

Or, or the absolute unexpected player or players play the biggest roles. Michael Rupp, for example, game seven of 2003 stanley cup final was a big hero as the devils beat the ducks so i'm watching into this one it's my personal game of the night you always pick one game that you focus on more than the others and in the first 11 minutes it's ryan shea with his first nhl goal and pierre olivier Pierre Olivier Joseph with his second of the year at 11-0-3. And the Penguins never look back. And it's been a hard year for Joseph in particular.

The Penguins have had him out there. It's been pretty common knowledge. They were looking to move him. And I think potentially he, too, was looking for a fresh start. I haven't spoken to him directly about that but that's kind of been out there too didn't happen before the deadline we'll see what happens this summer but in a big game like that one he scores a massive goal that turns out to be the winner even when Ovechkin scored to make it three to one just after Brian Rust had been stopped on a breakaway

I never felt in this game that Washington threatened Pittsburgh after Pittsburgh scored those two goals early I never felt that they were in danger of losing that game that's how good they were the moment for me Elliot where I felt exactly how you felt, was you mentioned the Brian Rust breakaway. Not only was that a breakaway, that was a breakaway while the Washington Capitals were on a five-on-three power play. And at the end of it, he almost had chances to score again. He got his rebound and almost worked his way

right back into the front of the net. It was wild. I'm like, this is this is well out of hand i was wondering if alan may was in that beautiful studio ready to rip off his shirt and tie and go on the ice and hit somebody i'm going to do something about this now i may not have played an nhl game in years but damn it i'm going down to the ice now and then again like the the dagger from former washington capital lars eller uh the four to one goal to to salt this thing away for the pittsburgh penguins and now um after the new york islanders took care of the Columbus Blue Jackets, doubled them up four to two, all of a sudden, Elliot, we have some movement in the standings.

There is some movement here. And now all of a sudden, the Islanders are in the second wildcard spot with 83 points. The Washington Capitals are on the outside looking in. They have 82 points tied with the Detroit Red Wings, and they have the tiebreaker there and regulation wins over the Detroit Red Wings and trailing everybody here,

the Pittsburgh Penguins, who keep on clawing their way up the standings. Big game coming up for them Saturday afternoon on Sportsnet against the Tampa Bay Lightning. I want to mention that a little bit later on in the podcast, but all of a sudden, things in the Eastern Conference around that wild card spot, the second one, all of a sudden got real interesting for each. Detroit's still there. Philadelphia is still there,

although they're up at the top with the Penguins and the Islanders in terms of games played at 76 and they've definitely been wobbly, but they're still there. Again, the weakness Detroit has compared to these other teams, Washington, the Islanders, Pittsburgh, and Philly, is Detroit can't go up through the Metro. So their only choice is they've got to win wild card two. They can't. The Islanders have two shots at this. The Flyers have two shots at this.

The Penguins have two shots at this. And the Capitals have two shots at this. The Flyers have two shots at this. The Penguins have two shots at this. And the Capitals have two shots at this. That's Detroit's disadvantage. So we'll see where it all goes. But, you know, looking at the Islanders, a couple of things have happened here that are interesting. One of the things I think that really helped them was Wa going to Varlamov a little bit more. things I think that really helped them was Waugh going to Varlamov a little bit more um you know I I didn't know that this like when he started doing it I mean yeah I'm really gonna second guess Patrick Waugh and the goalies no I don't think Patrick knows goalies very well so I think

this is crazy for him to take out Sorokin he needs needs your advice. Yes, he needs my advice because he doesn't know goalies. But I think now that turned out to be a smart move by them because it looked like, it looks like Sorokin's starting to play a little bit better. Maybe he was overtired.

I have no idea. But that turned out to be the right call. And Horvat, Barzel, back together has certainly helped them a lot too. You know, I have to say that I didn't know if I saw this coming from the Islanders two weeks ago. But by the way, we called this a turtle derby. I was told that that is actually not a proper term that should be used. Because turtles, they always go forwards.

They're slow, but they go forwards. Okay. So here's how I referred to her on the radio show this afternoon. This is the great moonwalking. This is the great moonwalking. This is the great moonwalking of all these teams. Everybody going backwards into this playoff spot. You see, here's the problem with saying moonwalking. Who do you associate moonwalking with?

Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson was greatness. He is one of the greatest talents in the history of the world you cannot associate this race with michael jackson itself it's just the idea no no it doesn't matter you know what jeff i credit you it's a good idea okay all right but it is disqualified however i asked someone if i can't use turtle race turtle derby right if a turtle derby turtle race whatever like go away with the accuracy turtle what organism tap in merchant all these phrases you have what organism goes backwards and slowly and i've been told the answer is doodle bugs they only go backwards and do it in

awkward fits and starts so the bottom of the eastern conference is now known as the doodle bug derby i just googled that man these things are ugly too holy jeez i've never looked well then they fit on this podcast really well oh yeah no right this way we have a we have a table by the window for you mr doodle bug oh yeah yeah those are ugly so what we have here is the islanders probably should have been done. The Penguins absolutely should have been done. The Devils, I don't see it. Buffalo, there's four teams in between them and they're like Detroit. They can only go up one way. They don't have the two shots I'd say unlikely but if you're the Flyers and you're the Capitals and you're the Red Wings and the Devils to some degree but especially those other three teams you are looking even Detroit too I should say you are looking at Pittsburgh

and the Islanders and you know what you're saying this is our fault we let these teams off the mat they were drowning they were struggling they were in big trouble they should have been out but we couldn't put them away and now they're back and it's not impossible that the Penguins and the Islanders will be the two teams that grab those playoff bursts. Fascinating. And as I don't care what anybody says, if Pittsburgh gets in, Crosby's in the heart race. He is in the heart race.

He may not win it, but he's going to be in it. Huge game all of a sudden now between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Buffalo Sabres on Friday. Huge game now for the Washington Capitals on Friday as they face off against the Carolina Hurricanes who got punched in the nose by the Boston Bruins on Thursday night. Huge game Friday between the Detroit Red Wings

and the New York Rangers. So all of a sudden, Friday got really, really interesting because Thursday set it all up. Now, before we go forward, we have to look backwards to the event of the week. All right, Elliot? Okay. Wednesday night, nationally broadcast on TNT,

Madison Square Garden, the hometown New York Rangers taking on the visiting New Jersey Devils, and the story that was not just the one fight to open up the game, but five. No undercard tonight. Rempe and McDermott, the main event to open the hockey game. Both sides. Lazar went the other side as well. Jimmy Vesey and Lazar Goudreau has dropped them with Kevin Ball as well.

Now it's five on five. McDermott and Rempe exchanging blows. But everybody has gloves off at the garden. Everybody came for Matt Rempe and Curtis McDermott. They got more than they bargained for and got their full value if they came to see a fight.

They saw a bunch. Everybody's had their takes. Everybody's had their say. Most have been predictable. All the lines on hockey fighting have already been drawn. The argument is very predictable at this point. But how did you see everything on Wednesday? I mean, there's a lot of different layers to it.

And what comes afterwards? And is this the best rivalry in the NHL? What does this mean for next season? What does this mean for the offseason for the New Jersey Devils, if anything? How did you see all of Wednesday? So I was in Winnipeg on Wednesday we were taping some playoff features I was there for a couple of days the puck dropped I had my radio hit with Bob Stauffer and as we were on the air it all started and so I'm on the phone I'm trying to figure out what's

happening because the TV monitor has Toronto Tampa Bay Bay on. Obviously, we're in Canada. And I'm trying to follow it on Twitter while talking to Bob. And I'm starting to see your tweets. And I'm thinking to myself, this entire situation has hit Jeff Merrick in all of his erogenous zones. I don't get as excited as I used to about events like this, but. Oh, man. It doesn't happen very often. You were glowing.

I couldn't even see you. All I had to do was see your tweets. And I know that you're glowing in your man cave. You're inches from the television. You're really into this i mean look barely enough loose skin to blink yeah yeah yeah keep going elliot okay look nobody in that building was unhappy they were all standing and cheering uh you know the the tnt guys put out a great video of the reaction in the studio among lundquist and and Colby and Anson and how they were reacting to it as it happened.

I'm not really interested in the whole debate over it. You know me, I like a mean, nasty, skilled game. I want everything to be part of hockey. Tough, mean, skilled, great plays. Like that's what I want. I want hockey to be all of that great action great entertainment great ferocity and that was all of that and the game continued that way look it's not like we get those things all the time in the 70s they used to happen every second game now they happen what three times in 15 years basically so we had that we had washington new york we've had new jersey new york that was and then we had vancouver calgary but you're four times in 15 years it's i don't see a problem with it happening once in a while people loved it i'm still not

convinced i mean it was obvious that what New Jersey was doing. They were saying, look, you didn't do it last game. You're going to do it this game. And, you know, Curtis McDermott is one of the toughest players in the NHL. Oh, boy. That's one thing about that. When New Jersey went out and said, we're getting someone to deal with Matt Rempe, they didn't go, they didn't dip their

toe in the water they dove all in they said we're getting Curtis McDermott and he is one of the toughest players in the league and the only thing that I still wonder about Jeff I don't know if like sometimes you know what's going to be a line brawl that Vancouver Calgary one. They all knew it was going to be a line brawl. I'm not convinced. Everybody thought that was going to be the case last night because there were some players. I just don't think would have been out there if they knew everybody could get ejected. Keandre Miller and Jacob Truba and john marino and john marino yeah like those are

guys you're not necessarily putting out there if you think everybody is getting tossed or you think everybody's gonna fight if you're thinking everybody's gonna fight if you're new jersey you probably would have put brendan smith out there too that's right absolutely and i want to say something else travis like travis green and peter laviolette i know they were mad at each other that's fine i love it when the coaches go at each other i remember john tortorella yelling at peter deborah and peter deborer was just standing there completely ignoring him. I mean, that just adds to another level of fun and intensity for the fans. Nobody's turning away from that.

Hang on. Can I throw a couple more in just to jog everybody's memory? Bruce Boudreau and Patrick Waugh. Patrick Waugh, yes. Patrick Waugh's first game behind the bench for the Colorado Avalanche. And this is going to go back to our days, back in the Norris division, Elliot.

You remember Jacques Demers and John Brophy. Yes, and Barry Melrose and Pat Burns. That's right. Yes, when Burns jumped down and we all thought he was going to get at Melrose on the kid's bench. And Melrose just kind of stood there and didn't do anything and just kind of stood there and didn't do

anything and just kind of ignored it but John Brophy man he was John Brophy was as tough as it got but so and the thing about that is Green is right in the sense that if they would have fought last game none of this would have happened but what everybody has to remember here is the rangers were right to do what they did what were we all like rempy is in a lot of ways a great story but what were we all talking about this guy he was getting beaten up he doesn't know how to defend himself like even even John Scott was weighing in. He's got to learn to do this better. And John Scott, he did that job.

He knows. Cam Jansen. Cam Jansen. PJ was telling me that. Biexa. And the reason that he didn't fight that time was I think the Rangers were trying to dial it back a little bit. And the Devils and their fans may not like that. Fine, I get it.

You're prerogative. But the Rangers were right about that. The Rangers were right. Because it was too much, too quick. And the days of players having as many fights in their career as Ty Domi did, those days are over. We're not going back to that. And I think what they were saying at that time was too much, too quick. We're doing this

on our own time. And you cannot fault for the Rangers for that. And you have to understand why they did it. And if we had to wait one more game that was perfectly fine and 95 of the people loved it and again i hope the rangers stick with this they keep saying we're gonna limit the amount he's gonna do this i think that's the right thing to do normally that calms down after the first season once you have you know the one tour of the island once you go around the league or go around the main tough guys and have a look around the league matt rempey's gone through the lion's share of them and i don't think anyone expects him to have to do that every single year like i've looked at matt rempey and said okay

you're gonna do and we saw this in preseason when he fought Ross Johnston. Like that's what got everyone's attention originally on Matt Rempe. Remember that preseason game, the Islanders and the Rangers? And we're like, ooh, Rempe's going to fight Ross Johnston. Oh, he's biting off more than,

oh, actually, oh, yay. This, hey, this kid's doing all right here against one of the toughest players in the NHL. But he's fought the lion's share of everybody i don't think anyone should expect them to do it again generally these things calm down after one season and you saw what everybody said after that game you know rempy rempy took a few and he handled it really well and mcdermott said i give the kid respect so it's over.

Okay, here's one of my questions through all of it. We've seen teams before when they go through a violent encounter and they're not prepared for it. And you can make the argument that New Jersey wasn't after the Nathan Bastion hits. And that's when they went out and got Curtis McDermott. And then the Jonas Siegenthaler situation happened. And as you point out, Matt Rempe was under orders. Under no circumstance was he to fight in that game.

Then inevitably what happened on Wednesday happened. And now one of the questions that I have, considering we've seen teams disarm themselves sometimes and then eruptions happen and they go back and have to get a slugger. I mean, Pittsburgh did this with Ryan Reeves, right? And gave up a first round draft pick and barely used them and then let them go. We've seen it before where teams disarm themselves and then these types of things happen.

So here's my question. If you're the New Jersey Devils at this point, knowing that this rivalry with the New York Rangers isn't going anywhere. And the Rangers aren't going anywhere. This is going to be a good team for a long time. And you're playing in the same division. You're going to play them a lot. And Matt Rempe's not going anywhere. If anything, he's going to improve his skills on the ice and the fighting is going to become more infrequent,

but he's still going to be there. Curtis McDermott is a UFA. If you're the New Jersey Devils, do you re-sign Curtis McDermott or do you disarm it's a good question I think you I think you have to have someone like that I agree especially in that division especially in that division where just about everybody whether it's philadelphia or columbus or the rangers like at the islanders in that division i think that's the one division where you're you really run the risk if you disarm yourself especially when you're involved in these powder kegs like the devils and the r. Well, look, they already went out and did it this year. Do you think Rempe's going to be back next year?

Yes. Yeah. So you got your answer. I do want to talk about one other player that's starting to get a name for themselves and not in a good way, and that's Martin Pospisil. Oh, he's facing another one here. This is the hit on Josh Morrissey in the Calgary Winnipeg game.

And Morrissey tries to clear up a camp. Pospisil holds it in. He scored the 2-2 goal. Pospisil, a huge hit as he hammers Morrissey. Yeah, it's a bad hit. For me, he leaves his feet. And the thing is, one of the things you're always kind of told to check is does a player leave their feet on contact or are they already leaving before the contact and in

this case it's it's clearly b he's leaving his feet before the contact. Now Pospisil has become a bit of a fan favorite in Calgary this year. He plays hard. He drives other teams crazy. You're supposed to do that. But he's been suspended once. And he was ejected from the game against Winnipeg for this on Thursday night. This pot will come out before there's announcement. But would anybody be surprised if there's a hearing for this one?

I just wonder, are we going to be in a situation here where the department of player safety is going to have to say look no martin we got to do something about you here because you can play hard but you can't do that yeah that was especially since there was just a suspension recently um josh morrissey on thursday uh cole perfetti back in uh in september um and then as you mentioned already having the suspension the three gamer for the uh for the hit on vince dunn so not exactly a stranger here and yeah very much earning a reputation we'll see where this one goes um let me ask you about again rewinding um let me ask you about the john totorella press conference we saw the other day this is the i'm not being confrontational i'm being conversational

john totorella and like there were a lot of flyers fans who watched this and were like after that press conference i'm running through a wall for john totorella as he explained himself what he's trying to do what he's trying to do, what he's trying to do with the flyers, saying things like, we got to cut the BS, like we're here, like this is who we are, this is where we are, and this is where we need to go. We need to stop sort of, you know, being surprised that we're here or intimidated that we're here. This is us and we are here. Like it was a pretty, it was one of the more interesting pressers that John Tortorella has given.

And that covers a lot of ground because he's given some pretty impressive ones so far. But again, this wasn't confrontation. This was conversation. And John Tortorella explaining himself. How did you receive that presser? I thought it was an interesting media conference. You know, one of the things that someone asked me was actually a friend of mine they said do you think that you could play

for john tortorella if in some alternate universe you were actually an nhl player oh he meant hockey yes oh can you imagine if john totorella was like our producer you know that's a good one if john totorella was your producer could you work for that person it's actually a good question i'd have to think about that one for you no well like i i look at it this way you know the one the the one first of all my short answer is yes uh in the to me one of the things that i always like knowing is like i'm not always successful in it but i'm generally a very low maintenance employee i don't like talking to my bosses i like talking to my peers and my co-workers but i don't like talking to my bosses i like talking to my peers and my co-workers but i don't like talking to my bosses and you know they have a job to do and i have a job to do

that's always the way i've looked at it be seen not heard is kind of the way i look at things and someone like tortorella who you always know where you stand I like that now the one thing so that's the base answer of all the things that Tortorella really said there it surprised me was that he doesn't have one-on-one meetings with players to be honest that was the thing of all the things that I thought he for the most part I think he's right about everything he says. The one thing I actually thought might be wrong is that, because I just think in this generation, I figure this generation likes to be told one-on-one what's right and what's wrong. They don't like it in a group.

They don't really believe in collective punishment or collective explanations. From what I've been told by almost everybody who deals with them, they like to be told one-on-one, like, don't embarrass me in front of that guy. Tell me what you need face-to-face. So actually, I was surprised at that to me in a lot of ways Jeff results speak you know results speak the Philadelphia Flyers are in a playoff race that they have no business being in and the other thing that he is completely right about is that he has players that have no idea what it takes to play in these games simply because they've never been in them before. And another thing he's

completely right about is success is hard. If success was easy, everybody would be successful. So a lot of what he says really resonates with me we all need people in our lives that push us i think where he can get caught is i remember one time ryan kester told me he didn't like when alan vigno criticized him publicly because then it gave everybody license to do it. Now, what that means to me is that doesn't mean Ryan Kessler needs to escape criticism from his coach. It doesn't work that way, but you've got to be judicious on when you do it and how you do it.

And I think that some of the times that tortorella says things publicly like i don't i'm sure everybody's different some guys don't care some guys care but i think the reason he apologizes with a guy like apologizes with a guy like samuelson is because he knows that social media sees that and they start dumping all over Samuelson. And that's why he apologized for that one. So I think that my overall position on this is he's right about almost everything he says. And we need people to push us to get the greatness out of us. But sometimes I think the biggest challenge is is and i don't like saying this

as a media member is that in his case too much of it might be public and that's where i like we can't criticize people for being boring and then rip them when they're honest like tortorella is for sure internally like i think there are some players who look at the way tortorella does things and they're like he's been great for me i don't mind especially some of those young kids like look at how many of their young players have taken big steps this year urson and he was went out of his way to praise urson on thursday morgan frost cam York, and there's obviously a few other ones that have come a long way this year. Now, there are some that haven't, and there was, of course, the thing with Sean Couturier. So, I think when you look at his overall record this year,

you cannot argue it has been anything but a success. I just think internally, I wonder if they're saying, can all of our guys handle this? And I'll tell you something else. I wonder if the Flyers on some level are grading their players to see who can handle it and who can't i think john totorella has already told us that didn't he tell us that after the last game you know we're gathering information yes these games are important to us we're saying i but you and i have talked about this before i see so much of what John Tortorella has always done

and specifically is doing with the Philadelphia Flyers as a test for all these kids during a rebuild. And where they're at, good. That's great. That's gravy. That's bonus fries. That's like, hey, this has found money. This is awesome.

Let's enjoy it. To me, these players are all going through a test. That's how I... And it started... You mentioned Cam York. It started with him. He got cut from training camp. That going through a test. That's how I, and it started, you mentioned Cam York, it started with him. He got cut from training camp. That was the first test.

And then he got called up, and all Tortorella could do was praise him right away. Praise, praise, praise. Pass the test. I look at so much of what Torts is doing, exactly what you're talking about. You see, and I get really torn on a lot of this stuff. And the reason is is I generally feel that everybody needs a hard kick in the ass once in a while.

And I don't have a problem with that. If I, as long as it's fair, in my case, as long as it's fair, I case as long as it's fair i have no problem with it if i deserve it it's delivered fairly and it's honest and met with my best interest in mind i'm never going to have a problem with that and i think the thing is in this day and age everybody tries to keep that private because this generation is very different in the way they handle it. And also because if you do it publicly, it contributes to the noise, right?

And in the NHL, what do people least want around their teams? Noise. But Tortorella is not like that. And I'll tell you something too. Keith Jones. One of the things I've spoken to him about is he loves the fact that everyone's talking about the Flyers again.

He's got that Ed Snyder, Bob Clark way about them. We love people talking about the Flyers. Don't ignore us. They like that. Keith Jones likes that. Now I have to say as a media member, I love that. I don't know if I was a Flyers player.

I'd always love this stuff. But, but if you understand Philly, that's big there in Phillyilly you want to be talked about and that's why the rewards are so high if you're successful there and and jones in particular briere too they know that and that's that's what they're trying to say but the bottom line is could i play for tortorella absolutely i could absolutely okay should we be talking more even though we spent a lot of oxygen on this program talking about this team should we be talking more about the nashville predators

and did that doubling up of the St. Louis Blues on Thursday. Cement has it hardened in that wild card spot around the Preds and congratulations to Roman Yossi. Second time he's cracked the 20 goal mark. Jeff, I hereby pronounce the Nashville Predators

in the playoffs. You have waved the magic wand over the first wild card. Nothing could possibly go wrong. With any of your predictions? Look, they're now eight points up on the Blues. They've got the tiebreaker too. As a matter of fact, even if the Blues won all their remaining games in regulation

they cannot catch nashville in the first tiebreaker regulation wins they have 29 the predators now have 36 so i pronounce the predators in the playoffs It was a wild game. A true Soros classic. The shots were 47-29 for St. Louis at one point. Biddington's had a great season. That was one of his rare off nights. Soros was fantastic.

They jumped on them. A huge goal. The Blues took a bad penalty late in the second period. And they scored on the power play. I think that was Beauvilliers first as a Predator right before the end of the second period to go up 3-1. I thought that was a huge goal. They got to 4-1. St. Louis pulled their goalie with 12 minutes to go in the third period. They got within four to three, and then the Predators put it away.

It was funny. I was doing my radio hit in Nashville, and they were nervous. I said, you just got 18 games in a row with a point. You've lost three in a row, and you guys are freaking out. And they were freaking out. But Nashville's in. They're in now and you know the other thing when you look at all the teams are going to make the playoffs this year we talked

about you know philly they're not there yet but if they get in people are going to look and they're going to say they're playing with house money nobody thought they were going to be there nashville's playing with house money the west is going to be brutal those are going to be killer playoffs but nobody thought they were going to be there nobody and now all that matters is the last time they made the playoffs sorrows got hurt right and they just didn't they didn't have a chance against colorado without them now maybe you give them one or two games and you bubble wrap them or whatever you do you don't let sorrows get get hurt again and you go into the playoffs with them and you take your shot. But I think a month into the season, they were in 31st place. And Yossi's got 20 goals.

Uyghur scored his 19th in the Calgary-Winnipeg game as the Jets clinched the playoffs. We were talking about how crazy the Hart Trophy is going to be now with Crosby back into it. But that Norris, Yossi, Makar, and Quinn Hughes, obviously that's going to be another really, really tough vote. Like to me, Quinn Hughes has been the best defenseman in the league game one to now. And the challenge is going to be that, you know, Makar's up there in points.

Yossi's up there in goals. But from game one, Hughes has been the best in the league this season. And we'll see where all the voters go. But it's going to be a nightmare. Good on the Predators. Nobody saw this coming. And they earned it the hard way i know they're not in yet but it would be a monumental collapse not to get there now and uh jeff let's

just chat about the jets for a second on the night as we mentioned they clinched their playoff berth go back a year very disappointing first round series wiped out by Vegas Rick Bonas very disappointed in the group the uncertainty the Dubois trade which was a very good trade then right before the season Hellebuck signs Shifley signs. There were definitely tea leaves that Hellebach was going to stay. Shifley was more of a surprise. Big lift to the start of the year. For the most

part of the season, it was really strong. Then they go through the ugly losing streak, some ups and downs, bonuses health, a couple of times he had to leave the team. And of course, all of the questions in the background about attendance and the message the Jets were sending.

And look, it wasn't always easy. At moments, it was completely rocky. I really liked their trade deadline. It's one of those years where you make the playoffs and you should feel great about yourselves and the fans should feel good about yourselves. If it's easy, you can't enjoy it as much if it comes without its challenges.

This wasn't easy. This was a hard ride, but it's a great night for the Jets and their fans they earned this berth and I just think that in a year ago you would go back at the end of last season and you were really unsure of who you were and where you were going. I think a playoff berth this year, especially with the signing of the two players, it's a real victory for them. And I hope for one night, or a couple, they enjoy it. Okay, quick little detour to Arizona. And the Arizona State Land Department posting the auction for the place where the arizona coyotes hope to

build their new rink and entertainment districts um and also there were reports this afternoon on thursday about alex morello investigating snooping around taking the temperature for a sale what is happening in arizona look i don't think that report is necessarily wrong it came from john gambadoro who's who's been a long time radio guy in arizona but what i think is this i and i have said this many times on this pod if you've listened to me talk about arizona you have heard me say that that before that what they're doing, it's a two-pronged thing. On one side, they have the auction, which as you said, is now set for June 27th. They go out and they win it, and the team stays in Arizona forever and ever.

Amen. Okay? But on the other side is the second path, which is either they lose the auction or something happens and they never get there. And the NHL says, we have to relocate now. This is our last plan. We can't do it. So when you tell me that Morello has been talking to other people, I think number one he should because that's what you do and number two I think it's I think it's also just an admission that if they have to go the other way he and the NHL needs to know what options are out there but when he comes out and says our first goal is to win the arena I believe it because that's what the NHL is prepared to

allow him to do. And as I've said to you before, nobody thinks he can pull this off. So he's even more determined to pull this off. So I don't think that story was necessarily wrong. I think as a concept, it's right that there are two ways, two forks in the road that the NHL and the team is investigating here but right now their goal is to win the auction June 27th Jeff that's late if they go through with this whether they win or lose I don't think they're gonna be able to move the team next year so it now says to me barring anything falling apart before the auction we're in arizona for next season things that could look bad in in the rearview mirror two months from now but i just you know for example when they moved atlanta winnipeg it was right at the beginning of june yep this is later let's end

a block here with another big proclamation from you elliot the deepest team in the nhl is it's dallas is that just because of the five nothing blanking over the edmonton oilers where now wyatt johnston has 30 goals and it seems like everybody else on the team has 20. It's like the 77, 78 Bruins all over again. 1 to 20, they're the deepest team in the league. Now, one of the biggest problems is that Ottinger had been struggling this year. Now he's going again. And you're hoping if you're a Dallas fan that this isn't just a blip.

That he's found his game. They have a great goalie coach there Jeff Reese I generally feel that if goalies have a problem Jeff Reese can solve it you know Peter DeBoer as a coach has a reputation as being really tough on his goalies but I really believe that Reese knows what he's doing and so hopefully for them they've got them sorted out because I I think 1 to 20 the deepest team in the league with their goaltender playing at his best is Dallas they are they're going to be a tough tough tough out in these playoffs a lot to handle a lot and that game against Edmonton was a statement that was a big statement and you know teams get up to play the Oilers because they're a true measuring stick they pounded them I will say this the Oilers have looked have they not looked kind of slow lately sometimes outside of the obvious yes people on the team they do look slow yes but that's nothing new though i've kind of always felt that way about the oilers and that's fine because they're

you don't have to be the fastest team on the rink to win every hockey game i mean connor is obviously blazing speed um but i mean outside outside of the burners on that team, they've always kind of looked slow to me. Interesting. I don't know if I felt that. I've just noticed it a bit more lately. Maybe I'm just slow getting around to things. Well, let me ask you about one more thing then.

Yeah. Circling back to dallas wyatt johnston yeah it's a 30 goal scorer in the nhl yeah like if you thought last year was a fluke guess again i never thought it was a fluke i i never really thought it was a fluke. But, you know, the one thing I really think about a lot, Jeff, is that 2021 NHL draft. Yep. Yep. And the reason I think about it is Wyatt Johnston, in that year, he didn't get to play.

Wyatt Johnston played 53 games in the year leading into COVID, and then he didn't play. And that's- Just for our listeners, though, the OHL didn't play that year. The OHL didn't play. And that's why Wyatt Johnston didn't play. You know, like, it affected Shane Wright an incredible amount. And that...

So there's people who deserve credit here. First of all, the Stars deserve credit for making the pick, right? Because they were doing it not having seen the kid play for a year and i i give johnston a ton of credit too because we we've seen a lot of players who were in the OHL at that time really get affected. Wright being a perfect example. And here he is

now. You look at his draft class and he's the leading scorer. Yeah. And don't forget another thing. The Dallas Stars traded down. They traded with Detroit to get that pick.

Yeah. Like they were originally supposed to draft 15th. They moved that pick to Detroit. They took Sebastian Costa, the goaltender, who's looked great in Grand Rapids, by the way. We should point out he really does look good. But they felt that Wyatt Johnston was their guy and they could still get him and pick up a second round draft pick they took that pick and turned it into

Artem Grishnikov who they turned into Chris Tano but in the second round they took Logan Stankoven holy smokes like we talked about you know the 2017 draft and how all the scouts for the dallas stars should be given lifetime contracts after that have a look what they did four years later the 2021 draft this is the general manager jim nell this is rich peverly this is joe mcdonnell and his staff like this is so many different levels like this is how it's all supposed to work right this is what we keep hearing about about how you know organizations working in concert with one another dallas stars are painting a beautiful picture here for how it's all they work they are they've done they've done a great job but i give a lot of credit to johnston because

i think there's been there's something like 25 guys from that draft who've played and by the way four of them are in Arizona which is pretty amazing but only three of them from the OHL Johnston Mason McTavish and McTavish actually that year went overseas he played a few games in Switzerland or else he wouldn't have played at all that season and the other one is brant clark who's played i think 25 games and he also went overseas he played like 30 games in slovakia but johnston who didn't play that year at all i think it really says a lot about what this kid is made of that he's the leading scorer from that draft out of a league that didn't play in his draft year really

says a lot about that kid okay from one prospect who is hit to another that i'm sure the san jose sharks are hoping he will hits and that is col Graff. Your thoughts on the newest member of the team in teal, Elliot? Of all the free agents that were coming out of the NCAA, and I think including the CHL and maybe overseas too, he was probably the one that had the most attention and the most interest. One of his teammates, Jacob Quillen, was another another one and he signed in Toronto on Monday night Toronto and Boston went hard at Quillen that was a an Atlantic division rivalry on the ice and off

the Bruins really liked him Toronto got him Colin Graff there were there were close to 90% of the league had spoken to him at one time or another. And initially, I think it was supposed to be done before Quinnipiac played be ready because if they went to the Frozen Four, it was going to go into the last week of the season. And so the whole plan was whenever they got knocked out, he was supposed to make his decision. And he took a couple extra days. I think it was, look, it's a life altering decision. He's 21 years old. I completely get it. Again, when I was on Stauffer's radio show on Wednesday night,

I mentioned San Jose. I'd heard that they were big into him. And, you know, honestly, it makes a lot of sense. There's a chance for it. They have good prospects, but there's a chance for him to step in and play right away. You know, basically they traded for Henry Thrun a year ago from Anaheim because Anaheim was so loaded on defense. San Jose could say, Hey, we've got a spot for you. And basically the same thing happened here. I'd heard the same rumors that East seemed to be

preferable, but he definitely talked to Minnesota. He definitely talked to Colorado and obviously San Jose to the point where the night before someone had said to me, look, if you're talking about teams where he could be going, don't leave out the Sharks. And ultimately he slept on it on Wednesday night and chose them. One of the interesting things here is that there were some reports that boston really wasn't that interested and i was kind of surprised at that surprising yeah junior bruin you know what i did i i kind of looked into it and i don't know if it was that boston wasn't interested i just think that boston went hard afterillen. So he was their preference. And also just, you know, someone said to me where Graff would be successful are kind of the roles that Pasternak is in, like on the power play and stuff like that. And as good as this young man might be, he ain't wrestling David Pasternak out of a spot on the power play.

So someone explained it to me that way. It just wasn't the right fit. And I think the Bruins knew it, too. And they had a preference in Quillen. So it works out. It works out well for the Sharks. I'm sure it works out well for Graff. But those were two guys, Graf and Quillen,

were definitely two of the names that people were keeping track of. And I think Toronto had interest in Quillen for quite some time. I don't think it was new. I think it was something that they'd been on for a little bit. And they were obviously determined to win that race, which they did. Congratulations to the San Jose Sharks. I know there haven't been a lot of great headlines around that team this year, Elliot, but that is going to be one of them.

Congratulations to the player and the team. Montana's Thought Line is next on 32 Thoughts. Listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Welcome back to the podcast. Time now for the Montana's Thought Line. Montana's barbecue and bar, Canada's home for barbecue. Waiting for Elliot to start his anti-vegan campaign called Own the Ribs. Anyhow, 32 thoughts at Sportsnet.ca.

That would be me. 32 thoughts at Sportsnet.ca. 1-833-311-3232. As always, thank you, Rick Turner, for the jingle there. Jason in Vanderhoof. We'll kick it off with Jason here. Hello, Dom, Jeff, and Elliot. Enjoying a full Saturday on my couch. Watching game 3.5 of the day.

Two more to go if the time lines up. Now that I'm not on a minor hockey bench in some far-off rink. Watching the Leafs versus Sabres game, Simpson and Cuthbert were talking about the kid Skinner playing in his 999th game. This caught me by surprise as I think of him as young too. Maybe I'm just getting old. This made me ask who the youngest player to a thousand games was.

Quick math says a player would at minimum be in their 12th season and possibly 29 and make them second on the iron man list love the pod thanks for keeping me company on the road while the kids sleep in the back nhl put this one out do you know who it is i'm trying to think the first time is always the worst again my answer for this and it was right in a previous case I think last podcast is Patrick Marlowe uh no but he's third good guess Elliot man you're good well he started young right i'm trying to think of guys who started when they were 18 very good it's not steve eiserman is it uh he's in there but no it's not steve eiserman okay i i give up he played for winnipeg and Philadelphia. Dale Howarchuk? Dale Howarchuk. 30 years. You know what?

That makes sense. 306 days. Yeah. You know, I concede that one. That makes sense. So here's the list. Youngest players, time of 1,000, the career game. Dale Howarchuk, Vincent Damfus, your guest, Patrick Marleau.

Good one. Brian Bellows, Pierre Turgeon,geon andre kopitar chris gratton wow stevens yeah gratton right scott stevens steve eiserman luke richardson and then jeff skinner at 31 years 322 days it's got to be a few years right i guess kopitar would be the last that's five years that's not too bad but a lot of those guys, I'm thinking Howarchuk, Domfuss, Bellows, Scott Stevens, Iserman. Those would be last century. Richardson would be close to last century too. Richardson's 2001.

Kopitar was, to your point, 2019. Your guess, Patrick Marleaulo was 2011 dale howard chuck 1994 there you go one of our favorites around these parts the great dale howard chuck okay here's one this is a celebrity hockey player one frankie mcphail in Wellington, New Zealand. Hey guys, hitting you up from New Zealand, an ex-CWHL player now living hockey through the podcast. Frankie, by the way, she played with

the Arrows and she played for the Furies and she played at Niagara University with Emily Castonguay, who's the assistant general manager with the Vancouver Canucks. Alright, diehard Canucks fan discussing with the Vancouver Canucks. All right. Diehard Canucks fan discussing with my rugby playing Kiwi husband on the upcoming Canucks playoffs and discussing the players and team's experience. Our question is, we're wondering when's the last time a team won a Stanley Cup without making the playoffs in the three to five previous seasons? By the way, shout out to all the women playing professionally in the PWHL.

Amazing to see, but for all the other female hockey players, I own and run my own whiskey distillery in New Zealand. There is life after hockey for everyone. Jelly Dom, the drinks are on me. When you make it down, keep it up.

And thank you, Frankie, so much. Thank you so much for that email. As far as like three to five years, I kind of drilled it down to just one Elliott, and there's a handful of them. There's the Rangers in 94,

who missed the playoffs the season before. But they were the number one team in the league two seasons earlier. Two seasons, remember? And then they just, they totally fell apart that second season and Neil Smith had to sort of beg that the team not get

completely blown up. And they did. And Marc Messier was a big part of that as well. Just like, don't blow this up. Don't blow this up. We're better than this. And then they won the Stanley Cup.

Now, how do you feel about this one? Carolina Hurricanes in 2006. Now, they missed it in 2004. Technically, there was no season in 2005. Do you count them? Yeah, that's not bad. Okay. There were the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991,

who didn't make the playoffs the year previous and won the Stanley Cup. And then, of course, one of our favorite topics, and that is the St louis blues in 2019 those are the ones those are the ones to our friend frankie in new zealand i'm trying to think if there's any other ones i can think of those are more recent but before that i don't think there would be too many, would there? Well, considering we're doing this one off the sort of top of our heads here,

I mean, I'm sure someone out there who wants to pay more attention to it than we do probably would come up with a couple of teams, but those are the most obvious. I'll say the one thing I do believe, Jeff, is I bet you could find a number of finalists that. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. That didn't make it before or after.

That I could see. Yes. Frankie, thank you so much for that one. And thanks for living hockey now through the podcast. Okay. I've been waiting to get to this email with you for about two days. Okay. Franco in Switzerland.

Hello, Elliot, Jeff, and Dom. I know you're usually talking about players or teams, but I have a ref question. Oh. There are lots of NHL players with beards. Well, besides the Islanders, I guess. This made me wonder why you never seeL players with beards. Well, besides the Islanders, I guess. This made me wonder why you never see refs with beards. Is there a special rule about it? Or is Lou Lamarillo the head of the refs?

Anyway, thank you, guys. Cheers from Switzerland. Go Leafs, go. Is there a referee code? What do you think? I gonna say yes you are correct that was a guess i i didn't know that pure guess well you were 50 50 on it and you guessed right no i i i applied logic to the situation i just okay very good, very good. Because as the questioner said, there has to be a reason. You'd think there would be one referee who'd want to have a beard. Yeah.

Okay. So as per the NHL's, the NHL Officials Association CBA. No kidding. A well-groomed mustache is the only facial hair permitted. No kidding. I was, honestly, Elliot, I was stunned. Free the officials. I had no idea.

Free the officials' facial hair. We want playoff beers on the officials. I had no idea. Free the officials facial hair. We want playoff beards on the officials. Unless, as Franco in Switzerland maintains, Lou Lamorello is head of the Referees Association too. But I'm with you. Players can grow playoff beards. Why not officials? Taking it right to the end to see those final officials

with their lengthy playoff beards free the refs free the linesmen okay that just made my day that just made my podcast everything else is gravy here on in uh i just love presenting that one to you today that is a great question i never would have thought of that in a million years. A well-groomed mustache is the only facial hair permitted. That is per the NHL OA CBA. All right. This is an interesting one for you. This is an opinion one. Ronald from North Vancouver, British Columbia. Dom Jeff Elliott, still loving the podcast. You're the bug in my ear when I'm on the bus or sky train when I'm commuting to work.

Loving the opinion, loving the ideas you bring forth. My idea I want to bounce off you is the idea of changing the NHL playoff format to allow teams from one conference to cross over to the other conference and take over a wildcard spot when and if at year's end team standings, the ninth place team in one conference has a better points or a win-loss record than the team in eighth place in the other conference the cfl does this and it has actually happened when a western team that would have ended up in fourth place did cross over to be the third place team for the east division by virtue of better win-loss record and drew play through the East Division playoff picture.

By the way, if the season ended today, as I write this email, the St. Louis Blues, a ninth-place team in the Western Conference by virtue of a better win-loss record, would be the team that could cross over to be a wildcard team in the Eastern Conference. I'm curious as to your thoughts on this and whether this could fly in the NHL.

And I'll defer to the person who was a prominent member of the cfl on cbc and that is elliot friedman the recreation is yours yeah that is correct i remember those very well and actually i liked that playoff system i thought it was good i thought it was creative and in a small league like that one i I thought it really made sense. I would say it's extremely unlikely. And the reason is travel. was a reseating of the Stanley Cup semifinal. One versus four, two versus three. It wouldn't necessarily be the top two teams in the Western Conference against each other, the top two teams in the Eastern Conference against each other, and the winners play for the Stanley Cup.

It was proposed that you take the highest seeded of the four remaining teams, put them against the lowest seeded of the four remaining teams, and then the other two, two winners face off. And they scrapped it because of travel. That was the major reason. There was also a bit of a feeling of, if you're going to create conferences all year, you should stick to conference championships. But travel was the big one.

They didn't want, say, Vancouver-Tampa in the Stanley Cup semifinal. They just felt it didn't make any sense. So I would say they wouldn't want a situation where say la could play montreal in the first round of the playoffs but that would be pretty cool though i'm not saying it wouldn't be cool i understand the reasons i get a bit of a nice little nostalgia trip back to 1993 in the Stanley Cup final. Great question. And always great fodder for a podcast like this. David in Quebec City. Hey guys, David calling from Quebec City, where we are patiently waiting for the return of the Nordiques. Love the show. In fact, you've been

part of the inspiration for my new musical, Skates Randolph Gets the Blues, which will have its premiere here in Quebecbec city in late may very cool i know that half of your team likes silly questions so here goes which i don't think this is i don't think this is a silly question actually two players collide heavily and their sticks go flying player a gets up and grabs the closest stick, which happens to be the stick of player B, then skates down the ice and scores a goal. Does the goal count? Is there a penalty or is it just not cool and against the code?

Love the try the ribs jingle. Nice hearing Elliot sing along. That is not allowed. It is a penalty to use another player's stick. Yes. The goal is not allowed. I hate it when somebody thought of one of these crazy situations and completely ruined the fun of it, but somebody did.

Yes. No goal, and the player who used the other stick is called for, I believe it's interference on that call. I believe that is the call for that one. I could be wrong about it, but I have in my head that the official call for that one i i could be wrong about it but i have in my head that the official call for that is interference if you grab another player's stick well you know what jeff there is this wonderful invention it is called google's a rule book and there's Google. And it is, it's two minutes for playing with an illegal stick.

I found a case on scouting the refs where, oh yeah, I remember this. Chris Letang, 2016. He picked up an opponent's stick and used it. They were playing the lightning and he was given two minutes for playing with an illegal stick. Very good. I go to box and feel ashamed. I was wrong. Django in Bend, Oregon.

Nice. Hey, Jeff, Elliot, and Dom. Django from Bend, Oregon here. I had a question about waivers and specifically Jack Campbell. If he stays down in the American league for the remainder of the season, does he start next season in the NHL because he's on a one-way contract? Does he need to clear waivers again next season or could they start him in the AHL again? Great job. Keep up the great work. Django. Awesome name.

It's a great, it's a great question, Django. It's an excellent question. Waivers resets every season. So next year, Campbell would be on the Oilers roster again. He would come to training camp as an Oiler, assuming that everything stays as it is right now. And if they wanted to send him down to Bakersfield, he would have to clear waivers.

Great questions. Thanks to everyone involved in this week's edition And if they wanted to send him down to Bakersfield, he would have to clear waivers. Great questions. Thanks to everyone involved in this week's edition of the Montana's Thought Line. Montana's barbecue and bar, Canada's home for barbecue. Back in a moment to wrap up the pod. welcome back to the podcast 32 thoughts presented as always by the gmc sierra elevation elliott wash your windows the bit lives all right hold on before we go on this i when we were in winnipeg i had a great dinner with scott oak and i had a great lunch with ken weeb nice ken weeb well the reason i'm saying wash your windows is ken's car ken you're a wonderful guy take that thing for a wash couldn't you have told them that private i did on your john twitter telling everybody

i did i want all the laundry i want everyone to tell ken his car needs a wash um one other follow-up then how is the mayor of winnipeg scott oak he's great it was it was really great to see him i hadn't seen him in a while uh we had a great great dinner on uh tuesday night it was it was great to see him wonderful man all the time in the world for scott oak we all have all the time in the world for scott oak um all right so earlier in the podcast we ran down a number of the games we look forward to on friday tonight's going to be good, folks. Also, Saturday's going to be delicious, too. Like starting first thing in the afternoon, Elliot, 1 o'clock Eastern. You watch this one on Sportsnet.

The Tampa Bay Lightning facing off against the Can They Do It? Can Sidney Crosby get them their Pittsburgh Penguins? Then at 3.30 Eastern, we've got the Florida Panthers facing off against the Boston Bruins. That one should be juicy. Then on Hockey Night in Canada, we have the Toronto Maple Leafs facing off against the Boston Bruins. That one should be juicy. Then, on Hockey Night in Canada, we have the Toronto Maple Leafs facing off against the Montreal Canadiens. The New Jersey Devils taking on the Ottawa Senators.

A couple of late games. One of them, the Battle of Alberta between the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks take on the Los Angeles Kings. Now, I wanted to run a couple of things under your nose.

Run a couple of things by you because on Thursday night, we saw two goals specifically, and I want to thank everyone who listens to this podcast and interacts with us on social media. One of the wonderful things about this podcast is when things happen that we talk

about, people remind us about it on social media. For example, still to this day, Elliot, whenever Daniel Sprong scores a goal, I get tweets and I continue to thank people for it. I love it. Makes me feel good. People are listening, paying attention, having fun. Let's do it. So whenever a player now banks a puck off a goaltender's head and in elliot we get tweets yes and we got tweets on thursday about it now there were two goals specifically one

in the columbus and new york islanders game karel marchenko banked one in off ilia sorokin and then anton lundell in the florida ottawa game banked one off Jonas Corposalo's head, to which I threw out there, considering this is happening now with more frequency, and it's not just Jack Hughes, and it's not just Connor McDavid, and it's not just Sidney Crosby, it's a lot of other players now. This is becoming part of the bag of tricks that everybody has. Well, I shouldn't say everybody, a lot of players have. Brave shooters have. Much to the chagrin of a lot of goaltenders. And so I thought to myself,

this thing better get a name, right, quickly. Like there has to be like something that identifies what this play is. Like for the longest time, Elliot, how should I phrase this? You know when a player gets speared in the part of that player's body that is how shall we say most a man you know that area of a body that is most a man i'm familiar with it yes thanks

whenever you're welcome whatever player gets speared there i always refer to that as the cowbell right like that to me is like oh he got cowbelled and it's never really caught on but he gets a chuckle every need more cowbell need more cowbell i don't think anyone needs that kind of cowbell i don't think anyone wants that but nonetheless so i think that this thing needs a name so i fired that out on twitter x and got a couple of interesting ones and i want to get your thoughts on them okay so you play judge jury and perhaps executioner depending on how you feel about these so here's one um the bonk submitted by pucks and mutts the bonk do you like that one five out of ten okay john poston submits sucker pucked

Okay. John Poston submits sucker pucked. Don't know if I really get it, but I like it. Okay. That's better. All right. Tyler Surlis submits the coconut. I like that better than the bonk.

Okay. Hold on to the bonk. We're going to revisit that. Two people submitting something referring to jack hughes so jeff and mo uh jeff submits the hughes i think he's done it three times maybe two not sure anyone has done it more mo submits the jack hughes duh how do you feel about just calling it the jack hughes i i don't have a problem with that he was the first guy to do it or maybe you call it the devil because the michigan guy was the first guy to do the michigan but we don't call it leg yeah that's a good point that's a good point okay

how about with the jersey like they're like they're jersey jersey okay all right hold on to that one you mentioned the michigan sterling wil Wilson submitted this one. It's the Ohio. Not as good as the Michigan, but it'll do. Oh, harsh. That's actually really funny. Tribute to Kirill Marchenko. It's the Ohio. Not as good as the Michigan, but it'll do.

Okay, Dom, when you put this podcast out on the various platforms, delete the last 15 seconds from any subscriber from Ohio. I don't know if you can do that. Mario submits the Radek because it's bonk off the goalie's head. I'll hang up and listen. Okay, all right. No? Okay. Okay, Arlene submits this one bask bounce off the mask

not bad not bad at all okay ring the bell from boulder 63 i like that one okay chris k face off face off it might be something there here's one that i like this from darth quint the bobblehead okay that's your pick the bobblehead do you think the bobblehead could stick i know but i like the idea okay one. Oh, this is dark. Phil and Dallas. More dark than somebody named Darth whatever that guy's name was. Darth Quint? Yeah. This one's dark. Phil and Dallas submits the Oswald.

Oh, only somebody from Dallas could submit that. Well, considering I got in trouble when I made a comment about Lincoln and that happened 160 years ago, I don't think you're going to get away with calling it the Oswald. Okay. Well, very good. So discuss amongst yourselves, but this thing does need a name. Or submit another one. Or submit more. Yeah.

I have to say that Ohio, not popular among Blue Jackets fans, but I love the rationale. I laugh pretty hard at that. That's the kind of humor I really like. No, I know, because it insults a fan base. I know you enjoy that. Oh, yeah, that's right. All your favorite answers have to come with some sidebar of insult and a side dish of insult.

All right, on behalf of the crew here, thanks as always. By the way, we should say I have no problem with this play because in all these ones I've seen, where was the goalie's head? Under the crossbar. It was in the frame of the net. Yeah, under the crossbar. Totally fine. It doesn't matter if it's from distance, like we saw,

like Jack Hughes has done it from distance. Lundell really did it from distance. Or in closer, like we saw with Marchenko on Thursday, goalie's head is under the bar. Like, I'm sorry, the melon is fair game at that point. And guys are getting creative. And as of yet, Elliot, and I asked, listen, I asked the goalie whisperer about this on the radio show this week,

Kevin Woodley. I said, have you heard any goaltenders grousing about it? And the answer so far has been no. Everybody is Fonzie about this one. Enjoy your weekend. Lots of great hockey on the horizon. Talk to you again on Monday.