32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Everything is Happening

Episode Date: April 26, 2024

This edition of 32 Thoughts is dedicated to the late, great Bob Cole.Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman delve into the Florida Panthers taking a 3-0 chokehold on the Tampa Bay Lighting (11:26). That makes way for conversation about the Islanders-Hurricanes series where Carolina has also taken a 3-0 lead (19:26). The fellas park the game-talk for a moment to focus on William Nylander's absence (23:28) and the firing of David Quinn in San Jose (26:35). Elliotte reveals some information about the Ottawa head coaching job (31:38). Jeff and Elliotte talk about Patrick Kane and his good-bye tweet (32:45) and they also highlight the Utah NHL fan event where they introduced some of the players (37:08). The guys answer your questions in the Montana’s Thought Line (40:46).Jeff and Elliotte dive into the Bruins-Leafs series (51:45) and the Oilers-Kings series (56:04). They also talk about how dominant the Vegas Golden Knights have looked against the Dallas Stars (58:04). The fellas ponder over what's up with Alex Ovechkin's play (1:02:14), and they wrap the podcast with a look at Jets-Avs (1:04:30) and Canucks-Preds (1:06:12). 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.

Elliot, a little bit later on in the podcast, we'll talk about all the hockey from Thursday night and all the news and the games from Wednesday as well and talk about the weekend. But the big story of the day is Bob Cole, who we lost, passed away at the age of 90, began his career at CBC Radio in 1969, transitioned to television in 1973 and wrapped up in 2019. And between those years, there were about a million memories. Elliot, you and I are basically the same vintage. We were born right around the same time. We grew up listening to Bob Cole. All of our early memories of hockey involve that voice. I had a chance on the radio show today to talk to a number of people.

Harry Neal, Dick Irvin, Cassie Campbell-Pascal, Ron McLean, John Davidson, Mark Askin. show today to talk to a number of people harry neal dick irvin cassie campbell pascal ron mcclain john davidson mark askin i'm sure you've talked to plenty of people as everyone shares their stories and memories of bob cole but i'll just open the floor to you and by the way great piece that you wrote at sportsnet.ca about bob cole your thoughts on the legend, or as Mark Askin calls him, the GOAT. Well, he is the GOAT. That's the true and the great nickname. He is the GOAT. Very emotional day, Jeff, as you can imagine, for a lot of people.

And I think the great thing about Bob Cole was that it didn't matter if you knew him, like some of us in the business did, you felt like you knew him. Bob Cole was either a friend or a coworker, or he was somebody that was the voice of your lifetime. He described hockey to you. And even if you didn't know him personally, you felt you knew him because you knew one of his calls or you knew everything is happening,

or there was some catchphrase of his that you loved or there was some great hockey moment that he described to you so everyone felt like they knew him regardless of if they did or they didn't got a note in the morning from someone saying that they were hearing things, asked around, not too much, but it was more like I wanted to make sure that people at our place who needed to know knew as so they could be prepared for it in case it was true. I thought, Jeff, where the emotion really hit me was when we do our shows any of the features that are done in advance I never want to look at them I want to react to them live now not everyone's like me Kelly likes to watch them in advance Ron McClain likes to watch them in advance everybody

has different rules but for this one I wish I had watched it in advance because when we came on air at seven o'clock for lightning panthers and i saw that thing for the first time and at the end it came up bob cole 1933 to 2024 i almost lost it it was uh i i wasn't prepared for it and just of seeing it. And, you know, in my family, Jeff, we've been through a lot with death. I was introduced to it at a very young age. So my skin got thicker at a very young age. But professionally, fortunately, you know, we haven't had to deal with that a lot with the people that we've worked with so this was very new and just there were some text chains that went around on Thursday just from people talking about how hard it hit them one because like a lot of people we love Bob but also you think about your work group and now could be

affected I think it was I think it was a very emotional day there were some texts reminiscing like the thing for me about Bob is the times with him because the time of my life it was those were some of the greatest days of my life i arrived at hockey night in canada i was 33 years old um you know i it's such a as you know it's such an honor to work here to help broadcast hockey to fans um it's the biggest stage in the sport um and Bob was a big part of that because we worked on the same broadcast teams quite a bit together. And, uh, like I said, I think for a lot of people who were part of this group, it was, it was very emotional, very emotional. And i would also say jeff there were people who kept closer with bob than i did and for them it was especially difficult you know i i share your your feeling

about experiencing death quite young um in your family i went through the same thing when my mother passed uh when i was quite young and just a hockey hung in there with me at the darkest time of my life. And Bob Cole was that voice. And I was glad that on the panel on Thursday, Kelly talked about his experiences as a player and brought up the Easter epic. And it's one of those, where were you when? I can still remember exactly where I was. It's my friend's house party in Baby Point in the west end of Toronto. Everyone was downstairs partying, and I was up in the top floor watching that game, listening to the great call. And Kelly was recounting it on Thursday with you guys on the panel. And one of the things that really struck me was how lucky a lot of these hockey players have been.

You know, as I mentioned, Bob started at Hockey Night in 1973. Before that, he was at CBC Radio. Had a great call of 72, by the way, the Henderson goal. With all due respect to Foster Hewitt, Bob's call was better than Foster Hewitt's. But I thought about all the players and all those great moments. And one of the things that we tend to overlook or not think about is in these great moments that these players have, they had someone who was just as great making that moment. You can have the

greatest play in the world and you just hope as a player that whoever's calling it makes it even bigger than it is and i think all of us thought back to some of the great plays and the great calls and on thursday on the show you mentioned uh the 76 game between the red army and the philadelphia flyers yes you know that was a great booth with Bob Cole and Dick Irv and Denny Potfan. That's basically my first memory watching hockey, Jeff. Yeah, you mentioned that. I thought that was so beautiful, the way you talked about that. And I thought about, you know, in what we presented on Thursday, there was, you know,

smiling Joe Sackick and how many great, and we think of 2002, how many great Joe Sackick moments Bob Cole called. And I go back to the Mario Lemieux goal on the Minnesota North Stars where he dances with Sean Chambers and Neil Wilkinson. And he's just consumed with emotion and a perfect call comes out of it. Like that made that moment for Mario Lemieux and hockey even bigger because the call was so brilliant but i'll tell you elliot there's one that i came back to today and i've watched i can't remember more than a dozen times because the call is so perfect and it's one of the most emotional moments that we've seen in this past generation of hockey it's 2014 it is the new York Rangers and the Pittsburgh Penguins it's on Mother's Day

it's Marty St. Louis after his mother had passed away and he scores that goal and Bob Cole is you know overcome with emotion and then he says you've come through big time and Elliot it is so perfect wrapping in hockey and family and tragedy and grace and understanding and pride and it all comes in like six words from bob cole he was so economical and so perfect and i think that sometimes because i've worked booth a few times and it's very very hard um and i have a lot of respect for everybody that does it the thing that i loved about bob was that he spoke to the emotion of the game at the time and didn't get bogged down in names and numbers and trying to cram everything in. The game breathed. The game was allowed to have a breath when Bob called it.

Ron McLean always talked about how Bob didn't call the game. He sang the game. I mean, Bob was a symphony. Bob was melodies rising and melodies falling and rising again and like that was that was bob cole and i i keep coming back to the players at how lucky all these players were from 1973 to 2019 that for all their great moments they had someone who made their moments even greater all true true, Jeff. Great stuff. Nobody read the crowd and rode the emotion of the crowd better.

And I would also say, God help you if you did one of two things. Number one, gave him the wrong pronunciation of a player's name. You were doomed. And if the player said, I didn't care, Bob would say, how do your parents say it? And, or if you talk during play, that was whistle to whistle. That was Bob's time. You could do whatever you wanted outside of that. But whistle to whistle was Bob's time. And I never worked as an analyst sitting next to Bob,

but those that did, they knew that if they started talking during play, they were getting the Heisman. He would put his hand up in their face and say, not now. Didn't say it, but you knew what he meant. Just, you know, it's just um you know i i really like to think of these days i remember when when joe lewis the famous boxer died um i i believe whoever was doing the eulogy asked the audience to clap because he wanted everyone to think about Joe Lewis positively. I've always remembered that story.

And so today when I think of Bob Cole, I smile and I laugh and I think of all his great calls and all the fun moments. But like I said earlier, I think it was a heavy day for a lot of his coworkers, including, as I said, people who were closer than I was, because he was such a massive, massive presence on the show. And it's just a reminder that all of us are getting older. He made hockey better. Condolences to the family and friends of Bob Cole.

My condolences to the family and friends of Bob Cole. It happens. What a goal. What a move. Reveal. Oh, baby. Okay, welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra Elevation. Jeff Merrick, Elliot Friedman, Dom Schramatti along with you. And Elliot, two teams have their backs against the wall. Insert the cliches. Leave it all on the ice. No tomorrow. For the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders Florida beats the Tampa Bay Lightning five to three on Matthew Kachuk's empty net goal

and the Carolina Hurricanes have the Islanders back up against the wall courtesy of a tremendous game by Frederick Anderson we're going to get there in a second they grab a three nothing series lead and have a take a good dent and take a good chunk out of the islanders net minding in the process meanwhile we'll start with the the battle of florida and we are close to seeing a changing of that state's guard the florida panthers with a three nothing series lead holy smokes elliot could the tampa bay Lightning actually get swept here I never would have imagined it there was a note from one of our producers after the two games were over on Thursday night he said the Eastern Conference playoffs could be over by Tuesday what a sobering

thought that is sobering I I wouldn't have believed it, Jeff. I don't think that any – I never go into the playoffs thinking there's going to be a sweep. Never. No matter how many points there are between, say, a one seed and an eight seed or anything like that, I never believe there's going to be a sweep in the playoffs. And we could get three of them in the Eastern Conference. This series, Bobrovsky has been huge. He made another 10-bell save in game number three on Matt Dumba. Oh, yeah, the stretch, the stretch.

Matt Dumba is going to be having nightmares of this guy all summer, all summer. And, again, it's kind of like we've talked about a couple of these other series, like Carolina Islanders, in the sense that Florida's just a little bit better. And the guys who I'm really happy for after game number three are Kyle Ipposo and Steven Lawrence. These guys are only in the lineup because one, Ryan Lomberg is sick, and two, Sam Bennett is hurt.

And I mentioned it on the broadcast. There was a Raptors head coach, Darrell Walker. He was the second head coach in Raptors history, and we did not get along. But he always had one saying, and that is, one man's injury is another man's opportunity. He always said that every time there was an injury that would be his line as a matter of fact we after one point we started just asking him about injuries to get him to say that line but those two guys lorenz and oposo like think about oposo

it's pretty incredible when you really put it to your head. He leaves the Islanders. He's in the playoffs in 2016, his second last playoff game that year, which was against Tampa. He has a goal. And he signs a seven-year deal in Buffalo. When you sign that deal, there is no way there's anything in your mind, Jeff,

that you're not going to be in the playoffs for eight years. You're thinking, oh, this is going to be great, up-and-coming team, new home. The idea when you sign a contract like that, that it's going to be eight years until you make the playoffs, it is completely foreign to you. And he gets in, and he gets an assist, and, you know, Lorenz had a huge game as well you know kachuk scores twice but broski makes the big save but that line that was a that was a huge difference maker in game three and you know when you go on the road you're not going to get the favorable matchups you know there's going to be times out there sure where your fourth line is going to be caught out there against players they shouldn't be playing against and whenever

they get offense like that it's a bonus it's a bonus uh you mentioned that buffalo sabers and you and i talked about this on the radio show on thursday tyler myers the only active player in the nhl who played in a playoff game for the buffalo sabers if you're looking for a sobering thought elliot and that one comes from stan narodka yeah i know wild right tyler myers the only active players who have played in a playoff game with the buffalo sabers um okay you gotta come clean with me here because i'll admit it i'm willing to bet that anybody who watched the game probably thought it too when matthew kachuk scored the empty net goal, was there not a part of you that said, who's coming?

I did think about that, and I actually thought the end of that game would turn into a much bigger gong show than it was. So did I, Elliot. So did I. I really did. You know, I have to say also, too, that I know Bobrovsky made a good save, but the best goaltender in the game statistically was Stephen Stamkos. Stamkos. I didn't think he was getting up.

I didn't think he was getting up, and he stayed in the play. Here is Tarasenko. Move into the circle, and it's blocked by Stamkos. Reinhardt fires wide. Two chances at the empty net. Like I said, I don't know what's going to happen here. I don't know. It's still too soon, but you watch that play.

It's still weird to me, beyond weird to me, to think about the possibility of a Lightning team without Stamkos. And, you know, it shows how much he cares. You know, he goes down and makes that's road hockey that's how you go down and make saves in road hockey um i don't know the guy's got a big heart i mean we already knew that and we were reminded of that in game three that was a hard shot from vlad tereschenko yes and i uh when he ate ate that, and when he finally did get up, did you not think he was going to the bench? He went into the offensive zone.

I know. I know. It was incredible. He's going to feel that one tomorrow morning. Oh, man. Nails. And I'm sure you've played with guys before, and I know there's a lot of players out there,

men and women, who kind of think this way that if a non-goalie goes down to block a shot especially an empty net you're supposed to drive it right through them oh yeah even in beer league i've seen people do this which is ridiculous in beer league for people to do that it's a joke but you know that there are players and i don't know if tara senkel's thinking this or not but i would understand if he was they think you're gonna try to block this you're gonna regret it he's got a bullet of a shot to begin yes he does i i think he was trying like you look at the way he was moving and changing his blade like he's trying to score yes he's trying he's trying to ice that game i don't think he was trying. Like, you look at the way he was moving and changing his play. Like, he's trying to score. Yes.

He's trying to ice that game. I don't think he's like, oh, free shot at Stamkos here. Florida Panthers killed off four Tampa Bay Power Plays. That was a huge story here. But the big story, 3-0 series lead for the Cats. Stephen Stamkos may only have one remaining game for the Tampa Bay Lightning. I don't see it. I can't see Florida. I it. I can't see Florida.

I know. I can't see Tampa going down four straight, especially at home. A lot of my predictions this year could turn out to be very wrong, but I just don't see it. I just don't see it. If I would have told you Florida was going to go up 3-0, what would you have said? I wouldn't have believed that either.

Like I said, a lot of my predictions this year are atrocious okay carolina hurricanes three the new york islanders two and the star of this show was freddie anderson early completely robbed noah dobson and you think wow he can't do better than that and then in the third alexander romanoff gets robbed by freddie anderson as well and in between anderson awesome the hurricanes chasing ilya sorokin three goals on 13 shots in comes simeon varlamov again doesn't matter 3-2 is the final score and now the islanders with their backs against the wall fridge i would say the most shocking thing for me about this game was sorokin um There's a really good goaltender there. A potentially great goaltender there. Totally. But this is now a summer project

for the Islanders. This is now a player that, and he's got one of the best teachers of all time. You couldn't get a better teacher than Patrick Waugh. But this is now a goaltender who you have to say, I. But this is now a goaltender who you have to say,

Ilya, this is Varlamov's net for as long as we're going to go here, and you're going to work on your game in practice. And that's all you can do. Or even before practice, you go out there with no pucks and work on your net. Two of those goals, the second goal in particular, the third goal, were rough. You can't have any issue with WAP pulling him when they did,

but it's been shocking to me. Two months ago when I said I thought the Islanders were going to make the playoffs because they had the best goaltending of all the teams on that bubble, I didn't think that was one prediction that worked out without even intending it to work out because I was talking about him and not Varlamov. But, you know, Varlamov came in, he settled them down,

they had a chance to win or at least tie. And as you said, Anderson, who's been fantastic in these playoffs, shut them down. I'm less surprised of a 3-0 lead in this series than I am in the Tampa, Florida series. But again, I still don't see the Islanders going down without a fight. But this one has been more predictable. Carolina is just a little bit better.

Even without two key players now Pesci and Fost they're still a little bit better and this series has shown that quick thought on Freddie Anderson here he was tremendous in game three yeah he's he's he's been phenomenal it's interesting in the sense that I think people were expecting to see kachetkov at some point just because anderson missed a lot of the year and he's you know you're always very protective of him but you know i i think now you're going for your sweep and then you can just give him the time off if you have to i i don't see why you'd make that switch now. We should also mention Fost. Yes.

You know, I watched the Bally's interview in the pregame, and Trip Tracy is doing the interview with Brynden Moore. And when Brynden Moore says that Fost could be out for the year, you know, you could tell Trip was not expecting that answer. The look on his face, he was stunned. Because if you go back to right before the playoffs, Don Waddell and his regular season ending address, you know, he indicated that they didn't think it was that bad,

but obviously they found something between then and now that indicated he's going to be out for the year. Pesci, they're much more optimistic. I don't think his situation is anywhere near as dire. It was, I think it's kind of like a frustrating injury in the sense that it just takes a little bit of time. But the Foss thing, it really blew people away. Not only Tripp Tracy, you heard it live and was like, are you serious?

Okay, we'll park the games here for a couple of moments. But I want to start with the story of a player that everybody has wondered about, that you wrote about at Sportsnet.ca and sure made some enemies about at Sportsnet.ca in the process. William Nylander and the phantom injury keeping him out of the lineup well it's not a phantom injury it's uh it's it's a very real injury and uh you know there were a lot of people who are unhappy with me on thursday and you know what that's life in the big city you accept the consequences of your actions I knew there was a chance that was going to be the case, and I accept any reactions that are negative. I'll be honest.

I don't like talking about injuries around the playoff because unlike people who think that injuries don't get targeted, I do think injuries get targeted. I think it's naive to assume anything different although i'd like to think that concussions are treated differently um this one just got out of control it just got out of control and um and i and i just think that the amount the amount of scrutiny on this particular situation squeezed it out. And, you know, the thing about Nylander is I don't, fortunately, I don't have a migraine issue,

but there were a lot of people that do. Like, I do think one thing that happened on Thursday is after the story came out, it definitely changed a lot of people's perception on what was going on. Whether or not the Maple Leafs intended for this to happen, and I'm pretty sure they didn't, the way it was handled turned it into a much more clumsy story than it needed to be and i think now that there's some clarity on what he's dealing with i think there's much more understanding of what the situation is now let me just say that i still don't think as I wrote it that the Maple Leafs were exactly sure what the cause of it was but everybody kind of knew what the outcome is and that was he was dealing with

migraines so we'll see if he's able to play on Saturday for game number four I know there's a lot of hope he will be but like I said it's been difficult for them to get a handle on what they're dealing with. But I think at the very least, people have a better understanding of this now. And I just think there was a lot of skepticism and it was undeserved, whether people thought he was suspended or people thought he was more interested in going for 100 points than playing in the playoffs, which to me is, you know, quite frankly, ridiculous. I just think there's a better understanding of what he's dealing with now. Okay.

So we'll stand by and we'll get to the Boston Toronto series here coming up in a couple of moments. Elsewhere around the NHL, David Quinn fired as head coach of the San Jose Sharks uh Mike Rear General Manager firing him two days ago uh your thoughts on this one so far the assistants Elliot still remain so Ryan warsowski Brian Wiseman Scott Gordon still remain with the team this is um look look Jeff I think everybody has kind of a unanimous reaction to this. And that is that. What did you expect?

How could you have expected anyone to do better? Yeah. And I think Mike Greer acknowledged that. acknowledge that. I think the biggest surprise about this situation was that when Mike Rear came out last Saturday and said, you know, hey, we're still evaluating the coaching staff and indicated that they might not be back. I think it caught people in that staff by surprise. I think it caught people in that staff by surprise. I haven't spoken to anyone there yet. I tend to try to give people like a little bit of room before reaching out and wishing the best or asking for comment or anything like that.

But I have heard that that was a thing. Like it kind of caught them a bit by surprise. But I have heard it caught them a bit by surprise. i'm still trying to figure out where this is going one thing i absolutely believe jeff is that this year the san jose sharks went from we're in a retool to we're in a rebuild and i kind of wondered if that resetting the clock put quinn in a bad spot and that's one of the things i wonder here like they were just like no we've got to start all over again i also wondered if there's someone specific they're talking about i know some people have wondered if they're looking about someone young

like David Carl. Other people thought that maybe they'd go to a, because of the way they didn't defend well this year, which also is very much down to personnel, they could be talking about like a Todd McClellan reunion, someone who teaches a strict one-three-one that maybe teaches them how to play. I had some other people who said to me, Jeff, they wondered if Ryan Worsofsky, who you mentioned

a couple of minutes ago and was a hot young coaching prospect a couple of years ago, could be in line for this. So I'll admit I'm still wrapping my head around it and trying to figure out where the Sharks are going here, but there's no question that people were surprised because, A, Quinn didn't seem to indicate that they were thinking that way, and, B, you know, people looked at it and said, you know, Scotty Bowman wasn't winning this year.

So we'll see. I wonder, like one of the things I also wonder here, and this is just my own feeling is, I wonder if they're waiting to find out do we win the lottery, see if we get Macklin Celebrini and pick our coach then. Interesting. So the lottery is supposed to be i think may 6th or 7th so part of me wonders if if this is going to be let's see if we get celebrini and if the answer

is yes is there a kind of coach we're going to need to help bring him to the nhl you know one thing really quietly like i know a lot of people checked out on the san jose sharks this year when it became obvious that this was going to be the the celebrini bowl for them but if you try to look for some types of positives and you know i mentioned the assistant coaches a second ago san San Jose's power play. Technically it was 20, I think 21st in the NHL. And when you consider the personnel, that's remarkable. But if you look from February on starting February 1st, they were at 25%, which when you consider that person, that's Brian Wiseman, he handles the power play here

again it hasn't got a lot of attention because a lot of people kind of checked out but even considering the personnel and you know sometimes they had to run you know five forwards on their power play because you know bluntly they didn't have a defenseman to handle the

power play up high but Wiseman did a really good job with that power play. If we're looking for some types of positives here from the San Jose Sharks. Well, you're a positive guy. Oh, yeah. You know me. Sunshine lollipops. That's all me.

Elliot, speaking of coaches, Ottawa. Yeah. I have people just telling me to watch Craig Berube there. Bruce Garriott reported Dean Evason had been interviewed, which makes perfect sense. But I've had a couple of teams tell me they think that Ottawa really likes Berube. And they believe, I can't prove it, nobody's saying anything, but they believe they've

already interviewed him so we'll see where that goes um you know who i you know who i can see really liking brube who's that brady kachuk well there's a lot of history there right yes it's the st louis mafia totally all right All right. We'll see where that decision heads. I also think David Carl has had maybe two already. Lewis, I suspect one. Yeah. But I think there's others. I think there's others.

Well, he said, if you're going to make it worth my while, you got to really make it worth my while if you catch my drift because he's got a great spot right now. Okay. question for you does this sound like someone who's going to stay where he is quote this past year gave us memories we'll never forget is that patrick kane signing off from the detroit Wings thanking teammates and coaches and fans and then saying, quote, this past year gave us memories we'll never forget.

Yeah, I understand why everybody is saying this, especially when you combine that with his exit interview with the media in Detroit. I had people tell me, do not read too much into this, but I understand why it's hard not to. Look, I had one Red Wings fan. They sent me a DM. I've been reading my DMs a lot more this week, which is not always a good thing because,

you know, some of you are just you know very nasty but the the one person said to me like are you drunk talking about steve eiserman in term dylan larkin got eight years well dylan larkin's your captain like he'll give raymond eight years he'll give cider eight years if they have to. And he goes, yeah, well, he gave Kopp, I can't remember, four or five years. Kopp for five years. Gave Sherrod four years. I said, all of this is true. But, you know, Dabrinkit got four years in the prime of his career.

Eisenman is careful with term. He just is. And Patrick Keane said it out loud. Term is important to him. And we've talked about how he wants this last 12 months of a whirlwind to end. He wants some stability. I can see Iserman just being very careful with that. And again, I was just told not to jump to any conclusions yet. Now, I recognize what is true tomorrow might not be

true today. And all of this can change. change but again i was told don't jump to conclusions yet well that's no fun um like i said jeff it's hard not to it's based on the answers and the tweet i get it well the other thing too is like keen was good he was really good i think of all the big moments he had for the red wings this year i mean a lot of this The other thing, too, is like Keene was good. He was really good. He was really good. Think of all the big moments he had for the Red Wings this year. I mean, a lot of this, the night in Chicago was just brilliant. But think of the moments down the stretch. He was fantastic.

Maybe this is the world's greatest pressure tactic. We are going to find out if the mob can get to Steve Iserman. I mentioned Chicago a second ago, Alex Vlasic. We've both gushed about him numerous times. Really good defenseman. Six years, 27.6 million, 4.6 on the AAV for the 22-year-old 6'6 defender. Someone said to me, I didn't see the contract, $8.5 million in bonus money in the first 12 months.

It's a good structure. It's always hard to figure out what the sweet spot is for defenders. You know, he had 16 points this year in 79 games. Yeah. So he doesn't get the counting stats. But that's irrelevant to me. He's still a good player. But those contracts are always harder to figure out

because without the numbers, it's harder to make comparables. I look at it this way. I think it's a great deal for Chicago because it's not a ridiculous number. But it's a great deal for Vlasic because did you see that tweet that went around with his email? I'm sorry, I won't be able to finish my team project at BU because I'm going pro. And they're like, oh, good luck with that. Good luck with your hockey career.

It was fantastic. You know, I bet like a couple years ago, he's not sure if he's going to be signing for $27 million. So it's a win, win, win. And he's a good player. And I'm happy for Chicago. And I'm happy for the player. A couple more things quick here. I don't know how much of a peak you had at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City in Utah,

the NHL hockey in Utah event where Liam O'Brien became a cult hero to the surprise of no one. I liked a lot of stuff about this. I thought it was really well done. You know, I feel that, you know, just think about it a week ago, how upset some of these Arizona players were and how uncertain some of these Arizona players were. And, you know, we had Ryan Smith on the pod and he talked about meeting them and taking them for golf.

And then they went to Utah this week, like just the different feeling in that team in a week. Like if you, Jeff, it's been a week since this happened. Yep. And how much of a different feeling is there around the league? I knew we were really going somewhere when Bettman was making jokes at the Utah media conference about how much nicer it is to have a solid arena situation. Right. He has hit an early home run. You know, one of the things I've tried to do here is the players, sort of the agents met in Toronto this week on Tuesday. And I asked them, are you guys aware of any situations where any of these Arizona players are still unhappy and they said no and I checked again after the trip to Utah on Wednesday

and I and and they said and and people told me no and you know you're there obviously could be someone I don't speak to everyone you're at the mercy of the information you get. But it seems as if he's answered all the questions. I love the event. I thought it was really cool. I thought the fans of Utah came across extremely well. I thought each player individually introducing themselves, including Liam O'Brien, Spicy Tuna, was a very nice touch.

You know, it reminded me of a college pep rally. Oh, we're playing our homecoming game tomorrow, big game against State. Like that scene in Revenge of the Nerds before they're playing their big game at the end of the movie. You know, it was excellent. And, you know, at the end of of the day a lot of this is supposed to be fun and that looked that looked fun it did and you go back to liam o'brien as well i thought

that was a great bit of business for liam o'brien who is an unrestricted free agent come July 1st, and he just became the early darling for NHL Utah. Well done, Liam. He could sell Bitcoin after this. He should be a Bitcoin salesman. People would buy Bitcoin off of Liam. I don't know if someone told him to do that or he just said, you know what? I better ingratiate to myself to this crowd quickly.

They love whatever it was. Liam, you're the smartest guy there. Mission accomplished. Yes. Well done. That makes things easier for Andrew Maloney, his agents. Block two is coming up. Montana's Thought Line.

And then we'll get into the games from Wednesday and preview the weekend. Back in a moment. 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. Try the ribs. Try the ribs. You got to try the ribs. 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca

1-833-311-3232 as always thank you to Rick Turner for the lovely tunes 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca 1-833-311-3232 we will start Elliot with Bruce Toronto born

Willowdale raised now lives in henderson nevada i like this guy yeah i know i like him already i'm toronto born i was willow dale raised and i would like to live in henderson nevada and once a year at the nhl players tour we get to hang out in henderson nevada and it is a lovely lovely place. Okay knowing how much Jeff likes conspiracy theories and controversy here's a question for you. I know the original Stanley Cup is in the bank vault at the Hall of Fame. Actually the original cup itself is in the Hall of Fame. We're going to get there in a couple of seconds. The original bowl was retired in 1960. That is in Lord Stanley's vault at the Great Hall of the hall of fame.

But it appears there are Stanley cups in both the ESPN and TNT studios. Unfortunately, I can't get sports net broadcast down here. So I don't know if there's one in your studios as well. So just how many Stanley cups are there? I think I know of two, one that has mistakes in the spelling of names and a copy where corrections were made.

First of all, I was on breakfast television last week and the cup was there and I was disappointed to find out. And it happened some time ago. So maybe I should pay attention that the ring that has Jacques plant's name spelled incorrectly five times is now off the Stanley cup and is on the wall at the Great Hall. So no longer can we point to all those Montreal Canadiens wins where Plante's name is spelled incorrectly five times. There are two.

And when I read this question, I texted Phil Pritchard from the Hockey Hall of Fame. This question, I texted Phil Pritchard from the Hockey Hall of Fame, and he said they were at ESPN today, which would be Thursday, and TNT the day before. Sportsnet last week, New York earlier this week. Only one that is on the road, the one that you're seeing that's on the road, that's the one the players win. Pritchard is right now, I believe, in Nashville, going next to Chicago and then Montreal next week. So when the cup travels, there's another cup on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame.

But the ones that you see on the sets, the Sportsnet one, TNT, ESPN, that's the one the players win and celebrate with. And at times, Elliot, dent. And in Phil Bork's case, take apart with screwdrivers. So there's a couple of them. Here's one. That's a good question that is a very very good question um lincoln from miami manitoba hi everyone fairly recent listener to the podcast but now i can't get enough love the content you guys put out keep up the great work thank you you, Lincoln. Thank you for joining. Yes. Glad to have you aboard.

The Lindy Ruff hiring by the Sabres got me thinking. Has a new coach ever kept the previous head coach on staff, presumably as an assistant coach? Maybe they've worked really well together in the past, for some example. Thank you for your time. And go Jets, go. We have an example of that in the NH for some example thank you for your time and go jets go we have an example of that in the nhl right now we do we do but it's kind of a technicality oh my god i was gonna say how did i

not realize that there was something like this right now i thought i was like i'm the dumbest guy alive if there's something here i'm missing okay what's the technicality derrick king was interim and then luke richardson got the job and kept him on as an assistant ah okay you know what that's pretty good i have to say jeff i wouldn't have thought of that because yeah king was interim and not the head guy i'm like practically insulting Derek King. This is unintentional. I don't want it to come out as bad as it's sounding, but I wouldn't have guessed that one. I really wouldn't have.

So that one's right under our nose, hiding in plain sight. Very good. The other couple, and maybe you can fill in the blanks here too. Wayne Cashman with the Philadelphia Flyers. Okay. I was the head coach for one year this would have been i think 96 97 um i think even by his own admission talked about how he was overwhelmed by it yes i remember this now now that you're mentioning it demoted to an assistant well i think he's demote not demoted like we're punishing you. I think he wanted to get demoted to the assistant when Roger Nilsson came in in 97, 98. So I think he was only the coach for one year with the Philadelphia, the head coach.

You did some good research here. There's two more that I found. I'm sure there's two more. Two more. Two more. With every answer here, I am looking dumber and dumber. No. two more with every answer here i am looking dumber and dumber no there's the there's one that again technically is true and not true at the same time we're going to get there

um but the other one that i want to get to is lauren mulligan with the blackhawks was i remember was demoted he was controversial to say the least uh yes and got you know got punched out by george mhee in the exhibition game. He was demoted when Bob Pulford took over as the head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks. That would have been 1999-2000. Now, the other one, Elliot, let me know if this qualifies. Do you remember when Larry Robinson stepped down

as head coach of the New Jersey Devils? I do. And then he took a break and he came back as an assistant under Lou Lamorello he wanted him to come back does that wasn't the coach but yeah does that count yes okay 100% that counts if that counts then by my 10 minutes of research on this one I This is good. I've got four. I've got four. I wouldn't have gotten any of these.

I'd never. Oh, you know, you would have gotten. I know you love Larry Robinson, so I know you would. But I wouldn't have remembered that one. I wouldn't have remembered it. I would have chided you into getting it. I think you'd have given me enough hints. One of those ones where you get 97 hints and then you get it right.

Oh, I knew it all along. I wouldn't have gotten it. There are more, I'm sure. So if you want to send it along, please. We're only too happy to add. 32thoughts.sportsnet.ca is the way to get in by email. So send us either corrections or more of these examples as put forward by Lincoln in Miami, Manitoba. Lincoln, thanks for that one.

Now, here's a special something that I think you're really going to like, Elliot. Okay. Okay. This is from Roman in Salt Lake City. Okay. Yeah. Jeff, Dom Dom and Elliot. I've been a U S based Leafs fan for about five years, falling in love with the sport after of all things,

the Carolina hurricanes beating the Leafs on that fateful day years ago with their own Zamboni driver. You're kidding. This is Roman. He saw a Roman. I am. So there's, there's a,

He's Roman from Salt Lake City. Roman, there's an oral history to be done here about you becoming a hockey fan on that day, but also becoming a fan of the team that lost that game. Yes, yes. It's impressive. So the legacy of David Ayers grows. David Ayers growing the game. Good on you, David. In non-traditional markets, and now Salt Lake City has a team.

Way to go,id ayers um i've been basically what we just learned is without the zamboni driver yes salt lake city doesn't get the coyotes the butterfly flaps its wings in china butterfly classic it's classic um i've been based in utah for the past year and i'm very excited to have an nhl team a mere 40 minutes away from me oh Roman that's awesome congrats thanks for all the excellent information and intelligent dialogue well at least Jeff checks those boxes I like Roman I take this my guy I take it all back it's helped me learn so much about the inner workings and the history of the game now here's the money part i'm a barbershop quartet singer yes this is a real thing and a freelance audio engineer and i got the ear bug to write and

record a quick little jingle it's no full band production but i just had to send it your way full band production, but I just had to send it your way. Warm wishes from Salt Lake City. Roman from Utah is going to take us out with this. Jeff, Elliot, and Tom on 32 Thoughts. Try their ribs today. Whoa, yeah. day oh yeah

oh my goodness that is fantastic oh Roman in Salt Lake City Roman brought the NHL to Salt Lake City and he brought the Barbers to Salt Lake City and he brought the Barbershop Quartet to the 32 Thoughts podcast.

The Montana Style Line, Montana's barbecue and bar, Canada's home for barbecue. We're back in a moment. welcome back to 32 thoughts the podcast presented as always by the gmc sierra elevation elliott check your oil okay very good good psa there everybody um listen it'll be a really busy friday night it'll be a very busy saturday but before we get there and we'll sort of wink at some of the games coming up here with a peek backwards um the boston bruins and the toronto maple leafs we talked about how austin matthews

was the story in game two man the story in game three was Brad Marchand, which what a command performance by 63 on Boston. Yeah. I had some buddies of mine who were big leaf fans who were pretty, pretty mad just because we're leading up to that game at the right before puck drop. We all have one thing we all say, Kevin Kelly and I, and I said,

Marchand's had three assists, but he really hasn't imposed his will on the series yet. And then he went out to do it. There's been some interesting coaching commentary in this series. First, Jim Montgomery upset that they're spending too many days in Toronto, which to me is like, someone's like, does that, which to me was like wild. mean it's the playoffs you know which to me like i was like that's what we're complaining about now okay i'm not wasting any

time with that one and then you can tell now i know the leaf fans are mad about the officiating in this game. Number one, they got more power plays. Number two, they got to fix their own special teams. The only thing I thought was really egregious was I thought in the last minute, the Tavares penalty, I didn't think was a great call. And Marchand could have gotten a penalty right before the empty netter. And it's obvious what Keefe is doing here. He's trying to get some calls on Marchand.

He's a great player. He imposed his will on the game. You're right. Game two was the Matthews game. And I think there were some reports that he had food poisoning, which I believe is true. The night before game three, game 3 was the Marchand game. And, you know, obviously Game 4 on Saturday night

is a huge game. As you know, power play, penalty kill, the goal is to be at 100. The best teams are at 100. Toronto is at 59. The only teams that are worse are the Kings. They're at 43, but they're even in their series. And Dallas is close. They're at 66, and obviously they're in trouble.

Toronto has to get its special teams together. The other thing that Toronto's going to have to deal with here is Sheldon Keefe in Game 3 had an obvious strategy, and that strategy was get Mitch Marner going. He played him eight minutes in the first period, which was more than anyone else, and I understand what he was trying to do. He was saying, we have to get this guy going.

We can't win the series without this guy. I understand why he tried it. I completely get it. But what it does do is it throws off your rhythm with some of the other lines. And you could do that i think in game three i don't think you can do that now in game four um and again i know not everyone liked it and i know not everybody was crazy about how it worked out but i understood it you can't do that

again you have to go with your hot hands now. And by the way, Jeff, if you're coaching the Bruins, who's playing goal in game four? Swayman. Swayman. But I think it's going to be Elmark. But I said that after game one. But I have to say that after game one. Who should it be and who will it be?

I think it should be Swayman, but it's going to be Allmark. Montgomery said one very interesting thing, though, on the off day Thursday. He was asked, does the extra day off, there's two days off between games three and four. Yeah, he complained about that. Well, this one wasn't a complaint. He complained the other day. This was more about, does it make your decision easier to bring back, say, Swayman? I knew what the question was about.

And he said, yes, it could really do that. But then he basically said, I don't know that that still means we're going to go back with Swayman. I am with you. I would go back with Swayman. But I'm expecting a little more. Okay. Los Angeles and Edmonton. If I told you the Kings were going to win game two,

you probably would have said to yourself, hmm, that's interesting. I wonder if the score was 1-0 or maybe even 2-1. 5-4. Overtime. Andrzej Kopitar. I didn't think the LA Kings could win a track meet with Edmonton, but there it was.

Neither did I. There it was. Neither did I. I said it a couple times. I'm not sure they can win a 5-4 game. Someone tweeted at me. Oh, really? I was going into overtime.

We're about to find out if the Kings can win a 5-4 game, and the answer was yes. Let me just amend that to, I wouldn't recommend they try to do that four times. But, number one, they went back with Kempe, Kopitar and Byfield, and that made a huge difference.

Don't break that line up again. Don't break that line up again. I thought Mikey Anderson was a lot better in Game 2 than he was in game one. I thought he had a really rough game one, but you'll remember like Doughty is a constant. It's a given he's going to play well, but you'll remember when LA has looked good against the Oilers, especially in the playoffs, Anderson's been a very big part of that. And I thought he was a lot better in

game two. Skinner struggled. That was a big deal. Talbot battled. He gave them one more save than Edmonton's goalies. And that's all you can ask for from Talbot. You know, I still think there's a lot of people who can arrive in this series. I hesitate to say this because it sounds ridiculous. in this series. I hesitate to say this because it sounds ridiculous. I thought game two, Connor McDavid was really quiet. Really quiet. So you know what that means, Jeff?

He's not going to be quiet on Friday night. That was a game the Oilers will regret. Whoever was losing that game, game two, was going to regret it. And in this case, it was Edmonton. Don't look now, but vegas even though it's only two nothing it feels like they have dallas's back up against the wall going back to t-mobile arena um mark stone continues to be a story it looks like him and hurdle have played together forever yes this is a team just when we thought we were comfortable saying you can't just turn it on and off you need time to gel the vegas golden knights have flipped the

switch elliot they sure have my worst prediction this year could be the could turn out to be the stars if they go out in the first round and i know i'm gonna hear it look i thought there was a chance vegas could win this series i did not see it unfolding like this there's no way i would have predicted this and nobody out there would have predicted this unless you are paid by the golden knights and i'm not even sure they really predicted it. The one thing here, Jeff, is that defense is your constant. It's your effort, and Vegas does not cheat on defense. That is a team that is locked down, understands how it has to play in the postseason,

and they are committed to it. They did not give the Stars a lot in game number two. That was a really mean, nasty game. It was big boy hockey. I am perfectly fine with that. But the thing that I see is the Golden Knights are committed and they are dialed in defensively. And they are confident.

Confidence comes with belief in yourself and it comes with results they had the belief in themselves they're getting results they're sending a message to the league they held dallas to 21 shots at home yep like logan thompson's played well made the saves he had to make in game two but he only had to face 21 shots. You know, I like to talk a lot about sounds. My favorite sound in hockey is a crossbar, puck hitting crossbar. Love that. I'll always love that sound.

I'll take it all day long. I also like hearing hard passes on blades. And when you're a team playing at home and you can hear the sound of hard passes hitting blades, what does that tell you? The road team has taken the crowd out of the game. Elliot, that game was so quiet. Yes. I was stunned. Like, it was.

And listen, I'm used to going to Maple Leaf games. It was so quiet in there. It was so quiet in there for each. Vegas just smothered them. Took the players out of the game. Took the fans out of the game. Took everybody out of the game. It was incredible.

You could hear passes. You could hear passes. You could hear passes. The thing that would also concern me a little bit for Dallas is, remember last year Jason Robertson was really struggling, especially against Vegas? Yeah. He's looked really good, and he's the only guy that looks really good. The rest of their offense is really struggling.

They didn't do it and now maverick bork was named ahl mvp yes on on thursday night first of all congratulations to him very very impressive season i wonder i wonder well i wonder they got a couple of walking wounded here. Yes, Marchmont got hurt. Foxa got hurt. They didn't update them. But you need to jolt. And you can't wait. Oh, no.

You can't wait. You're down 2-0. You're going into one of the toughest buildings in the league. You can't wait. If you're doing it, I think you have to do it now. Okay, so a couple of games that we're going to see on Friday, Elliot. We's uh we'll start with the washington capitals and the new york rangers look i'll be honest one of the big stories not exactly a secret for the washington capitals has been what's up with alex ovechkin i didn't think that the capitals like when you broke down goaltending blue line forwards all of it that washington had much of a chance in this

series and it's going to be even harder if they're not going to get anything from alexander ovechkin game three rangers up to nothing friday the venue shifts look i think that they're they've game planned for him and there was a time that it didn't even matter if you game plan for ovechkin he would just score it's it's different now uh the the capitals are obviously not the high flying capitals of 5 10 15 years ago so it's not that it's easier to shut them down but if you're a really good defensive team and i I think the Rangers are a really good defensive team, they're a 1-3-1 team after all, they can do it. They've done a great job with it. I am really curious to see this game on game three, because one thing that very rarely happens to the Capitals is they lose the physical battle. And Panarin delivered the big hit the other day,

which again, I submit was the right call the way it was done. But the Capitals are going to be riled up. Like a team with TJ Oshie and Tom Wilson on it, and even Ovechkin, who's a beast, they do not get pushed around very often. And look, they're losing. They're at home, game three. They have their best chance to get themselves back into the series.

They're going to be wired to play. I would expect that game three that Spencer Carver is going to say, hey, guys, we were supposed to be the physically dominant team. Maybe we're not as offensive as we used to be, but we still don't get pushed around and we don't get bullied. And I wonder how the Capitals are going to come out, if they're going to try to come out and assert some physical dominance here. Now, that's not easy when you're playing a team that's got Matt Rempe

and Jacob Truba, but that doesn't mean you don't try. And Barkley Goodrow, etc. And Barkley Goodrow, yes. Okay, Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche. The venue shifts to Denver. This series nodded at ones. After game one, we had all kinds of questions about Georgiev. After game two, we have all kinds of questions about Connor Hellebuck.

What are your questions going into this one for game three for each? I think the main questions we have, Jeff, is after game one, we kind of expected that the goaltender under the most heat would be Georgiev. And you would have thought going in, if there was a goaltender in this series who was under some heat, he would be the guy well now after game two Georgiev recovers with an excellent performance and the guy who's under heat is the Vesna trophy winner and I don't think anybody was expecting that I really thought that Colorado, in this series, has done whatever it's kind of wanted to do in the offensive zone.

Whether it was the way they enter, whether the way they move the puck around or cycle, I think they've had their own way out there. And one, Hellebuck has to make more saves, but two, his team has got to be a lot better, whether it's in the neutral zone or the defensive zone, because those Colorado guys are doing whatever they want. That, to me, is the big focus.

Can Winnipeg slow down that fast moving, powerful machine? Elliot, and finally, we'll finish up with the Vancouver Canucks and the Nashville Predators. Now, the great money quote from Andrew Burnett after game two was commit to the pain. And we saw that in game two. I commit to the pain and we saw that in game two i commit to the pain every time i could do this podcast every time i get out of bed as i get older i commit to the pain to try to get through a day that is true too andrew brunette uh we committed to the pain now i have been led to believe that nashville has a commit to the pain t-shirt in the works. So if that is true, sign me up for a dozen of them because I love that.

Now, as we mentioned last podcast, that's a great way. And I'll be at a painful way to win a game blocking as many shots as Nashville did. I'm not sure if you can do that three more times to win this series, but we're going to find out starting tonight, game three, Nashville and Vancouver. So there was a report on Thursday night that Thatcher Demko was out for the year, which caught me by surprise because I had heard earlier on Thursday there was some optimism about Demko's situation. I think Rick Dallowall reported the same.

I mean, at this time of year, crazy stuff flies around. We'll have to see. But initially I was told with Demko, don't guess. Just don't guess. And again, I heard on Thursday there was potentially some optimism. And the other thing was he traveled with the team as Dan Murphy reported. And the thing about that is you don't travel with the team if you're going to be out a long time because then you're a distraction or you need either you've had a procedure done,

which we're not expecting, or you're so badly bedridden or whatever that you just can't go. To be able to go with the team, that's actually a significant and good thing. So we'll see how this all plays out, but I'll just say that one caught me by surprise because, like I said, I'd heard that there was actually some positivity there. actually some positivity there. But look, I mean, as you said, Nashville played a desperate, desperate, desperate game too.

Vancouver has to match that and Pedersen has to produce. You know, there were some people who didn't like the way I kind of defended Pedersen in the last pod. I don't think it's so much as a defense as I just don't like the fact that people say he doesn't care. He cares. But he has to produce. And the thing that I would be hammering if I was Rick Tockett is you have to be more aggressive.

This is not the time of the have to be more aggressive. This is not the time of the year to be unselfish to a fault. You have to be aggressive. You have to be more selfish. You have to say, I've got puck. There is net. I am not being stopped going to the net.

There were some things that happened in the last game I just don't think will happen again. I think a lot of those guys were trying to do 10-15% more than they needed to do because Demko got hurt. Go back to your identity, be who you are, and let the chips fall where they may. I really think that's one of the reasons that Vancouver lost that last game. This will be a crazy building. The Predators fans will be fired up. It'll be wild in there. Oh, yeah. Canucks, stay off Broadway, and we'll see where this goes. This is going to be a long series.

Hopefully so. This one's going to be a lot of fun. We've already had two great games. All right. Enjoy the action all weekend. Hope you enjoyed the podcast. Take a moment. Think about Bob Cole.

Maybe go back and listen to some of the great calls. He made the game better for all of us. And again, this whole podcast dedicated to the memory of the great Bob Cole. We'll talk to you again on Monday.