32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Five More Days

Episode Date: April 10, 2023

Playoffs are around the corner! Jeff and Elliotte break down a crazy fun-filled weekend of hockey with the Frozen Four coming to an end (1:00), the St. Pats forcing a Game 7 and the playoff race in the Eastern Conference tightens up (14:30). The guys also discuss Calgary’s tough outcome (5:00), Winnipeg getting closer to securing a playoff spot (9:45), Bo Horvat post-game (17:40), the Maple Leafs call in their EBUG (21:00), Martin St. Louis asks to be part of Team Canada’s coaching staff (26:00), several colleges signings including Matthew Knies (27:00) and Lane Hutson (30:40), the search for a president in Philadelphia (33:00), major injuries to playoff teams (35:45), and some Norris Trophy talk (39:30).Plus, Elliotte sits down with Noel Acciari (44:00)of the Toronto Maple Leafs to talk about his dedication to hockey, playing with Keith Yandle, his mother's hand gestures, tells us a fun wedding story, and talks about the Maple Leafs as an organization.Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call The Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailOutro Music: Wild Beasts - All The King’s MenListen to the full track hereThis podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.Audio Credits: CJOB, MSG, NHL Network, Sportsnet 650, Sportsnet 960, WBZT and WXDX-FM.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. 

I had a choice between Michelle Mathot or Kyle Bukoskis as a driver today. Took Mathot. By a mile. Smart move. Kyle probably drives like a grandmother. Elliot, we'll start with the scene set. We are in Ottawa. We are at Brook Street.

Spent a lot of great nights here. When I first came to Hockey Night in Canada, did a lot of Saturdays games. Same here. So this was the first hotel that I stayed at. My first night doing ringside on Hockey Night in Canada. Used to stay out here. So this was the first hotel that I stayed at. My first night doing ringside on Hockey Night in Canada. Used to stay out here. December 29, 2008, Ottawa Senators facing off against Bruce Boudreau and the Washington Capitals.

So I have a soft spot in my heart for Brook Street. I remember a late night party that ended up at the Yacht Club, and that is a story for another podcast. Was that for a summer special when we have nothing to talk about? Elliot's Yacht Club stories? That'll be one of my last podcasts I ever do. All right. Welcome to 32 Thoughts,

the podcast presented by GMC and the Sierra AT4X. Delich, Merrick, and Elliot Friedman. Congratulations, Bobcats. Quinnipiac, heck of a game on Saturday night,

the big comeback. And for those, I got the tweets. I'm sure you did as well. Screen cap of Rod brindamore in the stands at emily arena he made it so congratulations to the brindamore family to skyler and to uh quinnipiac they are the national champions unbelievable game ran pecknell who's been coaching there for a long time so we were watching it on one of our feeds along with the

other games we're watching and when he pulled the goalie with about three and a half minutes to go people were debating whoa that's early that's early and they scored you know then i think he said after the game he might have even done it earlier but it was a gutsy call and then of course they won on the the face-off play in overtime and kevin bx actually took a little whiteboard and diagram the play for us and he showed us exactly what happened and how they were able to get the one player so open to score the winning goal it was uh it was a great game I mean you know right now we're all focused on the NHL because we're heading into the last week of the season but you get a great NCAA final and you've got Regina Saskatoon,

Conor Bedard game seven on Monday night. There's some other hockey out there providing some incredible moments. Some fantastic hockey too. And I do want to point out, I got a lot of tweets about this. I'm sure you did as well. I'm sure they did a hockey night. The second intermission was a little bit light this week.

There wasn't the gravity of information that people are accustomed to in the early game. But nonetheless, we'll get to all your points from Saturday night as well. Wait a second, wait a second, wait a second. First of all, before we talk about that, I wanted to say we tried to give you a shout-out. Oh, I know.

And you gave us bad info. Bad information. I'm sitting there at the rink in Kingston, so my son's team, the Stovall Clippers, are playing in the OMHAs. That's the provincial playdowns. And I'm texting with Elliot. Normally, when you and I text with each other, I kind of get the sense that we're sort of

using maybe a quarter of our brain when we text with each other. I was using maybe about a half of that and texted you that he plays for the Stovall Spirit. He plays for the Stovall Clippers, the Stovall Spirit, the Junior A team. That's where Zach Corte, one of our bosses, Rob Corte's son, plays. And I love the Stouffville Spirit and shout out Kenny Burrows and the whole crew there. But I had that on my mind, so I apologize. Bad info coming from me, but I'm a bad broadcaster and a bad hockey dad. How about that?

Two for two. It's a good combination. You know, Jeff, one of the things I want to mention about Quinnipiac is they've got some players. Skyler Brindamore, Rod's son. The Oilers have to make a decision. The thing they like best about him is he's a Brindamore. I think Brindamore's going to have to decide,

is Edmonton the best path for him? Because like I've said before, I think the Vultures are circling the way he's played shocking I think there's going to be some teams saying if you go free agency we're interested and there's a couple of other the guy who scored the tying goal Colin Graff undrafted I've heard a lot of teams have looked at him and the goalie yenev paretz from quebec i've heard like florida's a team that could be interested in those kinds of guys but i i don't think they're going to be the only ones all right so we're going to get to some of the second intermission things that you talked about as well and a nola chari interview coming up at the end of the podcast you sat down with nola chari the the Toronto Maple Leafs last week at the Maple Leafs practice facility.

In the meantime, all 32 teams in action on Saturday. Plenty of storylines, plenty of drama, some heartbreak for some teams as well. More questions heading into a new week, whether it was, you know, Nashville, Winnipeg,

whether it was Carolina Buffalo, whether it was Panthers Capitals, whether it was Penguins Red Wings, whether it was the Islanders Philadelphia, or whether it was Calgary and Vancouver, no shortage of storylines here. A lot of teams holding serve, some taking a slight step backwards. And let's start there. The Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks,

that's one that Calgary needs to win out. They do. And the thing about Vancouver is Rick Talkett and Ian McIntyre did a really good interview on sportsnet.ca where Talkett basically established that we have to have a mindset. There's a certain way we have to prepare to play. And there's a big debate in Vancouver about rebuilding or trying to make the playoffs. And I really like Talkett It's answer about that.

Cause I think it encapsulates how a lot of coaches think that he says it's, it's my job to win games. Basically. It's my job to put the mentality and the framework in place to win games. And Vancouver has done that. And, you know, to me,

that's the most maddening thing about the Calgary flames is you just don't know what to expect. They got killed in that game in Los Angeles. Then they came back and they got hot. They put themselves in position. They lose that game to Chicago on Tuesday. Nobody can believe it. Even the Blackhawk fans are mad

because they want the best odds at Conor Bedard. Then they come back and have a really tremendous performance against Winnipeg, and then that. There is Toffoli. He's a Canuck killer. He needs to score wide onto the left wing. In on Demko. Shoots the Canuck.

Goal tender. Stopped him. Vancouver wins, and they stick a dagger into the hearts of the Flames' playoff hopes. Good game by the Canucks to play spoilers. Calgary probably needed more early they didn't show up until the third period and I think it bit them in the butt and that's part of the part of the problem they've had all year just not showing up enough you know I don't think there's any shame

in losing to Vancouver but I don't like the way it happened they started slow they were down to nothing they came back they get a point out of it the overtime was absolutely bazonkers it was great entertainment to watch but 16 overtime or shootout losses this year for the flames which is incredible but i think whenever this flame season ends and the jets need just three points now in their final three games to clinch the final berth whenever this season ends i think calgary is going to look back at a bunch of games this year and say we should have won that one and played well enough to win it but lost you mentioned the shootout and overtime losses and I kind of there's one stat that people talk about a

lot certainly this time of year and say they're learning how to play playoff hockey you know one goal games or playoff style and I kind of look at that sideways, Elliot. And I say to myself, if you're winning a lot of one goal games, how good are you? I get that. It's a three, two league, Jeff. I get that. It's a playoff score, but I'm much more impressed with, you know,

we rattled off three wins in a row, each by three goals. Like you're playing. Who wins games like that? Some teams do. Like we just saw Winnipe but who wins games like that? Some teams do. Like we just saw Winnipeg before they played the Calgary game last week and you saw how they were curb stomping teams. I always look at teams

that are winning one goal games and say, you're playing with fire. All I'm saying really, Elliot, is I don't put as much stock in how many one goal games we've won as a lot of other people do. But nonetheless. By the way,

to the idea of coaches coaching to win at all times, I don't know that we've ever had this discussion and this is purely anecdotal. And I'm sure maybe someone's done the research for it and can say that I'm either full of it or I'm on the mark about this one. That stopped being a thing around the same time that it became too difficult for the GM and the coach to be the same person. Because the general manager can do certain things with the roster to not assure losses, but massage losses. And when you have that dual portfolio as coach and general manager, you can do things that will help at the manager's suite more so than the coach's level. You agree with that one? that will help at the manager's suite more so than the coach's level. You agree with that one?

Just anecdotally, I don't know if you've ever thought about it, but once the separation between GM and coach became profound and you can't do it anymore because the responsibilities are too large, the idea of coaches coaching to lose, because we have seen it before, Elliot, that kind of went away.

You know, I think the only way you can coach to lose is number one, is if you have incredible security. Like if you're in year one of a five-year deal, I don't think you coach to lose, but I think you at least understand where your team is and its evolution and you can tolerate it a little bit better. I think if you're in an organization that expects to win

or you're coming to the end of a contract, it's a lot harder to accept that, you know, your team might not win or your team might not care to win. So I think it all comes down to your security. And do you feel that you have a guarantee from your organization that it won't be held against you if your team has a terrible season. That's the only way you can do it. Winnipeg beats Nashville. Yeah. Onto the far side for Shifley.

Up top. Nemesnikov. Dropped it for Shifley. Rotates. High slot. Right down Main Street. Shooting. Score!

Mark Shifley with his 40th of the year! That was a great game by the Jets. Great game by Nick Ehlers, too. Ehlers was fantastic. Shifley finds the back of the net for his 40th. The Winnipeg Jets create some separation here. And man, I feel bad for the Nashville Predators. Inching closer, inching closer right there. And then they run into that Winnipeg Jets team on Saturday.

I agree with you on Ehlers. I've always been a big Ehlers guy. I think the guy is really gifted. I thought a lot of Winnipeg's great players were really good on Saturday night. You know, Jeff, when on Saturday nights it's very hard for me to pay attention to games before the end

of the second period because we're working on our segment. And when you're not there and I don't have my security blanket, Merrick, it's even worse i'm even less i'm even less paying but hip charlie brown reference there every time i looked up in that game between winnipeg and nashville the jets were swarming and having unbelievable chances like i think hellebach should win the vesna he's guy. I know it makes me really popular in certain markets in the NHL right now.

But, you know, Saros is close. And the fact that that game was only 2-0, he was under siege all night. Ehlers hit three posts. But I just thought Winnipeg's best players exerted their will. And that makes that loss to Calgary the other night even more ridiculous to me

because they've done it like three times in the last week where they've just pummeled teams, just pummeled them. And I thought once they got going on Saturday, they were better. I'm really curious to see this Winnipeg team if they get in because I think that in these teams, once you get in, you take a deep breath. And you're like, okay, the pressure's over. We're in now.

If you're like the seven or eight seeds. And I'm really curious to see if Winnipeg gets in and they can reset. Will we see this more often? Or will a good team just dismantle them because you know Brian Spear the producer showed a graphic they were tied for third in the league in the middle of January oh yeah now I've looked at some of the numbers and I've had people tell me they felt that was a little bit of a mirage which is kind of why I think that Hellebuck is the Vezina guy, but they're better than they've shown since then.

And I'm curious to see it if they get in, but I watch games like that one and some of the games they've had this week, and I can't believe where's that been. The other thing, Jeff, is I really feel is watching Bonus the last couple of days, like I've been in media, I can see, like because he popped off that one night after San Jose,

because he was so pissed off. The questions are okay. When you're asking the question, you're wondering, are you going to get an answer that's along those lines? Cause it's the big soundbite, right? Bonus, but going out of his way to sound more positive, more upbeat. They need that now. Like, I'm watching Cooper in Tampa, and, you know,

he's really grinding them right now. And, you know, Cooper's a great coach who's got the pulse of that team, but I'm a person who believes it can go too far. In this generation, you can't throw the hammer all the time. And I think Cooper sees it right before the playoffs he's worried about toronto but i think that team is so mature that you you have to say okay i have to let off the rain and i i think bonus saw that too in winnipeg doesn't that speak to what we talked about last podcast about winnipeg and how they're wound tight and they need some type of release valve?

Yeah. Coach can either give you the release valve or not. Yeah. And clearly there's a release valve there. I had a boss and he was the kind of boss, and Kelly Rudy used to say Al Arbor was like this too. When you did well, he was all over you. When you had a bad day or something went wrong, that's when he was at over you. When you had a bad day or something went wrong,

that's when he was at his best in terms of treating you well and making and uplifting you. Now, he can't always be like that. Like, I understood why Bonus reacted the way he did that night in San Jose, but I do think there's a real skill to that, Jeff. It's like it's going badly. I can't make it worse and i think bonus hit that point eastern conference and the theme has been hold serve yeah and we saw this

like this is coming right down to the wire here uh everybody in contention when everyone with playoff spots right now wins so as panthers over the, 4-2, Matthew Kachuk with his 40th. He can't clear it himself. Kachuk a long shot. He scores! He scores from along the boards! Matthew Kachuk! He intercepted the goaltender's clearing attempt. He put it on net and he scores! And the Panthers take a 3-2 lead with one minute to play! Alex Lyon continues to be a story with 22 saves.

Pittsburgh Penguins over the Detroit Red Wings, 5-1. Tristan Jari, 19 saves. Sidney Crosby, congratulations on getting to point 1,500. Feeds Crosby at the left circle. He'll rip it. Scores! And shine that spotlight on Sid,

the 15th player to 1,500 points in NHL history. Two goals and one assist there, and the Islanders, 4-0 over the Philadelphia Flyers. Islanders trying to get it out, can't, Seelers, left point shot, got the back glass with five, to the far boards now, Flyers, one last chance, the horn sounds, and the New York Islanders shut out the Philadelphia Flyers by the final score of 4-0 for Ilya Sorokin. It's his league-leading sixth shutout of the year, and he has his 30th win of the season.

Bracket the Islanders conversation for a second, Elliot, because I want to get to Bo Horvat in a sec. But your thoughts on, and we should throw Buffalo into this mix too, Rasmus Dallin, who was fantastic that entire game with highlight after highlight with three points, sec but your thoughts on and we should throw buffalo into this mix too rasmus stallion who was fantastic that entire game with highlight after highlight with three points casey middlestadt with a pair of goals as well they beat the carolina hurricane shade them four to three this thing's coming right down to the bitter end for these teams and i'm all for it i want entertainment

please me jeff please me you know you know the Western one, it looks like the Jets have a stranglehold on that one. We'll see. But the East one, we're all checking schedules. Who's got who? That Carolina-Florida game on the last night of the season, what if both the division and the playoffs comes down to that game? Yeah, I know. That's one of the things I'm looking at here.

Colorado-Winnipepeg if that game matters what kind of lineup is colorado gonna have on there for the jets like that's the big debate i remember in baseball this used to happen all the time like if one team's out in september and the other team's in trying to battle for the playoffs do you dress your best lineup, right? I think you do what's best for yourself because I'm very selfish. But I think this East race is phenomenal. I think it's fantastic. It's what we all want.

It's what we all need. We need entertainment now. It's April. We need entertainment. I mean, Florida's got the toughest schedule. Yep. Like I said, I think the Islanders are getting in because they've got the best goaltending.

My question is, Florida or Pittsburgh, who gets more saves? You're saying this is more interesting than last season in the East when we knew the playoff teams by Christmas? And Bettman said this is why you're never getting a play-in because they were 20 points back? Are you going to make the case for play-in again? I'll make the case for playing until I croak. Bo Horvat, after the Islanders-Philadelphia game,

talking to Shannon Hogan, said this. How does this rank for you in playoff pushes, the excitement of this building, and the fans' involvement over the last couple of games? Yeah, I mean, it's been unbelievable. It's a lot better than Vancouver, I'll tell you that for free. Thanks, Bo. Thank you.

Guys. I look at that, Elliot, and I say, that is a guy who might have wanted to say this all along when he thinks back at the frustration that he felt with the Vancouver Canucks, and it just came out. I don't think this was anything planned. I think this was maybe someone that just got caught up after a big win and just said, bleep

it. It's how I'm feeling. Sometimes I think people forget that these are going to go viral, right? It's like the player who's from the Czech Republic who does an interview with a small town media outlet or newspaper in back home. And they think no one's ever going to see this

and it goes viral and i would bet that's what horvat thought he thought he was speaking just to the islander faithful and it would never go anywhere but of course because he's poking vancouver and you know how the canucks fans are going to react like a roman candle i know it's like oh bull red cape i said this on saturday night and i'll say it again like we all complain oh hockey players are too boring they never say anything and then when they say something everybody jumps all over them like big deal chris weidman also stepped in we're getting there don't worry we're getting there okay we'll get there in a sec but you know the one thing about horvat i really think is that, and this is my opinion, Jeff, and you can tell me if you think I'm wrong,

I think he's happy in New York. I still think there's probably some level of I can't believe how it ended in Vancouver. Totally agree. I remember I went on the Donnie and Dolly show early in the season. You know, they asked me, what do you think Bo Horvat's number is? And I said, Sean Couturier, which is 7.75 or whatever it is. And I said, look, he's a top center in the NHL.

And he hadn't even scored at the pace he was scoring at yet this year. And people out there were like, you're nuts. Like, he's not even a $7 million player. And I don't think the Canucks ever got anywhere close to that number. Has he moved on yes I think he's moved on but there's still probably a small part of him that's like you know what I'm I'm disappointed or hurt or whatever that I didn't get that offer it was never close and the fans seem to understand it and you know I think that's all baked into that pie but the number one thing i

really think and and ron said this on saturday night and i think he's right is he thought he was just doing an interview to the crowd in long island and he was sorry not in long not in long on on long island and he was pumping them up and next thing you know it's all over the internet that was a surprise a shock for everybody, I assure you. Okay, so you mentioned Chris Weidman. So this is, the Maple Leafs had their way with the Montreal Canadiens. On Saturday night, they bring in Jet Alexander, who's the e-bug. Ilya Samsonov, I mean, there were questions whether he was going to come out for the third as well.

So Alexander goes in in the dying minute of the game and Chris Weidman asked about it afterwards says they'll get what they deserve in a few weeks, referencing the history of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the first round. First of all, we now know that Chris Weidman has bet

on the lightning. Uh, you know, obviously I disagree with him on this one. I think it's a great moment. Jed Alexander. There's some people who think this whole e-bug thing or ATO,

in this case amateur trail thing, is ridiculous. I don't know. Like, I think it's such a good story. Like, look, you have to manage the cap. There's some people who think it's ridiculous. There's other people who, whenever I talk about things like this, say, hey, there's 32 teams out there with a salary cap. They have to manage the cap so we don't want to hear that this isn't right or anything like that the other thing

to me that was weird about this night was keep saying that at what point did you start considering putting jet in the game uh it was not my decision and uh word came down to me about 30 seconds before the whistle came and made it happen. Whose decision was it? It's not important. Like that was creating something out of nothing. It was kind of weird. I thought that was a whole weird thing.

But how can you not like that? How can you not be happy for somebody like that who gets that kind of an opportunity? It's a 7-1 game. Kid might not get another chance. Like, is that what we've come to? Could you see where the other team, like, it's one thing to get pumped the way Montreal was,

and then you bring in the e-bug. I'll get to that in a second. Like, is that the equivalent of, like, a big celebration on goal number seven in a 7-1 blowout? No's not well there's another thing in this game like i guess some people were upset that the least had their top power play out there yeah in a 6-1 game that one i've seen cause problems before you know who's referenced that before john troterella yeah with the philadelphia flyers there have been times when the Flyers have been getting pumped and the other team has put out PP1 in a blowout in the third period. And Tortorella has said, noted, this will play itself out later.

And you'll know why. Like I'm very closely watching. Like when the Philadelphia Flyers turn a corner here, I don't know when that's going to be. But I'll be very curious to see how they treat other teams that have taken advantage of a very weakened Philadelphia Flyers squad because there have been teams that have thrown out power play one in blowout games.

And Twitter Ball has always said, noted, watch what happens in the future. Like I get that one, but like, like you know where are we that you know this kid gets a dream moment the players were happy for him on the leaves the fans wanted to see it like what about the kid in edmonton like it was not berlin what have we come to that we have to crap on moments like that kid's gonna remember it for years his family's gonna remember it for years gonna be a great memory. I don't understand people who need to dump on moments like that. Now, the Weidman thing.

He very much feels offended. Like at that point, you're turning this game into a fantasy camp moment for a player who otherwise wouldn't be in the NHL. Okay, look, while I disagree with Weidman's stance on this, the thing that I'm talking about more is I made a mistake of looking at the discourse on this on Saturday night. Oh, come on. That's fun. No, and I was like, I cannot believe people who are dumping on this.

Like, be happy for someone. Okay, Weidman, I disagree with his point, but I do understand that. Like, Jeff, I'll tell you this. Like, I think it can be true that what the least did for alexander was a great thing and if i was on the other team i'd freaking hate it i think both things can be true i think like if you're a competitor and you just lost seven to one and the team is dancing all over you like the maple east did and you see that guy going in, right after a game, I would be pissed off. Like Pizzetta, Pizzetta's celebration, sitting here as a media member,

when he scored and did the Tiger Williams after the shootout, I loved it. If I was on the other team, I might have wanted to run over him in my car after the game. I think both things can be true. Again, I don't understand why people have to dump on people's great moments. I don't get it. The reason I love it is because it adds a layer of animosity. And what have we talked about? Meaningless games create another layer of animosity.

There's going to be a response from Montreal. There's going to be a time where, and who knows, Montreal's looking real good. You look at some of the young players they have on the horizon and say nothing about the players that are already there. They're going to be good. And I wonder what the payback is going to be because you know that in the back of Martin St-Louis' mind, he's not going to forget about this.

Bring back the hate. He's not going to forget about this at all. Speaking of Martin St-Louis, flattered, but no thank you to Team Canada. Yeah, Team Canada asked him, and I figured they would. I mean, he's obviously done a really good job in the short term. He's distinguished himself fast, hasn't he? In Montreal, and he's building what seems to be a really good culture there. Like, Ron asked me, do you know, was it the head coach role?

And I don't. And part of me wonders if it was even discussed. I think initially they just said to him, would you want to be on the staff and you know he's been away from his family and he politely declined i i don't think anybody would have a problem uh with that answer but he was approached and to me it's a very smart smart person to approach listen to the 32 thoughts podcast ad free on amazon music included with prime okay other notes that you had on saturday matthew nye's and the toronto maple leafs so obviously on saturday night nye's really crushing defeat. Everybody there just devastated.

Yeah, that's a tough, tough, tough loss. They had that game and they lost it. You know, he went back with his teammates and then he signed with the Maple Leafs on Sunday, I believe. So this got really complicated. And part of it is just the natural grinding of negotiation. You know, Jeff, when your representatives,

when your high-powered agents negotiate with Sportsnet, everybody grinds to the best they can, right? That's why my money makes noise in my pocket. I like that long, quiet green that you have. So you go as hard as you can, or your reps go as hard as you can to get the most you can, and Sportsnet goes as hard as they can to give you the least they can. I think that was going on. But people take that to mean it's bad. No, it's not bad. That's what everybody's job is here. I don't think there was ever a question about Nyes not wanting to join the Maple Leafs. I don't think

there was ever a question the Leafs didn't want join the maple leaves i don't think there was ever a question the leaves didn't want nyes i just think they had to negotiate it through and i heard it got really complicated when matt murray got hurt and then yarn crow got hurt it got really complicated and basically because they couldn't put anyone in ltir they were kind of stuck and i think one of the things they talked about was when Charlie McAvoy signed in Boston from the NCAA in 2017, he signed a tryout agreement with Providence of the AHL, and then he rejoined the Bruins for the playoffs

when the cap was gone. And I think they proposed that. I think the Maple Leafs proposed that and denies wanting to go to the Marlies, and then you will go to the NHL And I think they proposed that. I think the Maple Leafs proposed that and to Nyes, why don't you go to the Marlies and then you will go to the NHL when the playoffs start. And I do think that was considered, but it was actually another coach who pointed out to me first, and then I asked about it,

is that if you're Matthew Nyes and you want to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs and you want to play now because it benefits you to play now and you want to play, how on earth do you think everybody's going to react if you show up for game one of the playoffs and they've got to put you in the lineup somewhere? Yep. Like that is a no-win situation for Nyes. That is a no-win situation for the coaching staff.

That is just a no-win situation for the coaching staff. That is just a no-win situation, period. So the big battle came over the bonuses, and he won't get performance bonuses because it was going to cause too much problem down the road. I think there was a battle over would he get the max signing bonus, and he did, and he got a max salary. so i think a lot of this stuff about nice is the nice is exactly what they need is an awful lot to put on the shoulders expectations for this kid kids joining the nhl but i'm excited to see him in a couple of nhl games everybody forgets that people were down on him when toronto picked him And it shows why you have to be very careful when you make judgments on 18 year olds who've had one bad year.

Now, I think there's some fans who are wondering about Logan Cooley. I think he's going to take a couple of days. You know, Faber obviously had pretty much made his decision. Niles had obviously made his decision. Niles actually flew back to Minnesota with the team and then the Leafs set it up where he could fly

back to Florida to meet the Maple Leafs on Sunday night. Cooley, I think, wants a bit more time. The word is he'll make his decision midweek on the Coyotes or going back to Minnesota. Lane Hudson as well. Montreal Canadiens, Boston University. Going back. Yeah, I'm not 100. Montreal Canadiens, Boston University. Going back. Yeah.

I'm not 100% confirmed as we record this on Sunday. Last podcast. I think I threw out that. I could see him going back. I think he's going back. He's leaning towards going back, but it's not confirmed yet.

His brother plays there. And, you know, Jay Pandolfo is the coach there. And like a lot of people really, you know, obviously Pandolfo has a coach there. And like a lot of people really, you know, obviously Pandolfo has a big resume as a pro player. And I think people really like the way that Pandolfo prepares kids. Interesting note about Jay O'Brien of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Now, I remember that draft specifically you do as well. That was 2018. The Philadelphia Flyers had two first round picks. Joel Farabee they used on the first one and Jay O'Brien on the second some people thought that was a little bit too high to be taking O'Brien at the time but your scouts say you believe in the player yeah you uh you make the pick they will not sign him and the Flyers get a compensatory second rounder yes so there was a player duncan siemens a couple defenseman yeah a

couple years ago there was a trade deadline deal i think it was michael bodker that went from arizona to colorado and as part of the trade colorado traded the rights to duncan siemens to arizona and they didn't sign him so it turned into a compensatory second round pick. And basically it's 32 picks lower where O'Brien was taken. So nobody loses a pick. Like people were asking me, does the team that signs them lose the pick? No, nobody loses a pick. One extra pick gets added to the draft. And the one thing is I did say 2023 on Saturday night.

I have to double check all this because I think it could depend on when O'Brien actually becomes a free agent. Because if he's not a free agent in time for this year, it would have to be a year from now. It was pretty clear that the Flyers valued the pick more than they valued O'Brien. I think it's also very clear that O'Brien saw the writing on the wall in Philadelphia. And now the thing is, he's going to be 23 years old and he's going to get a chance to pick his team. So I think this works out best for everybody involved that O'Brien gets to pick his team

and Philly gets another draft choice. Speaking of the Philadelphia Flyers, president position, inching closer or taking time? What someone said Yeah, well, I think. Or taking time? What someone said to me is, I think they're going to start talking to people soon. What someone said to me is that Philadelphia does not want this to be a long process. Now, the challenge here, and you've said this before, but the challenge, and I heard that again this week,

but the challenge is that you don't always control everything, right? It's like you plan God laughs. You want to get this week. But the challenge is that you don't always control everything, right? It's like you plan God laughs. You want to get this done, I think as quickly as possible. But if there's people you want to talk to that aren't available, sometimes that pushes you longer than you want to go. So I think the biggest thing is, is there anybody Philly absolutely wants to talk to that they're going to have to wait for? If not, the word I was told was expeditiously. Expeditiously. I want to get to a couple of injuries here in a second,

but Toronto-Tampa opening round, back-to-back games? No, I don't think anymore. But so I always have to be careful with this one because my corporate overlords or our corporate overlords. This is all Elliot bosses. They don't like it when I ask them schedule questions. I don't like asking them schedule questions because then the NHL thinks that they're telling me information

that they shouldn't be telling me but I was asking somebody about this the Toronto Tampa schedule is dependent on the Raptors I think the Raptors are in the uh the play-in which the NHL should have but the Raptors are in the play-in couldn Couldn't resist. No, and they have to win twice. They play Chicago on Wednesday, and if they win that game, they have to play another game. And if they win those two games, they're in the regular playoffs. If they don't make the regular playoffs, it's a very normal Toronto-Tampa schedule.

But if they make the regular NBAba playoffs it's an abnormal toronto tampa schedule from what i understand one of the things i'd heard was initially when they were doing the grid and another team told me this was that there were there was a back-to-back in toronto tampa and tampa did not not Tampa did not like that. And I think as it stands right now, it's not there, but I heard Tampa was not crazy about the idea of a back-to-back against the Maple Leafs. And I think that would definitely benefit Toronto over Tampa,

especially with the injury situation. I was going to say, speaking of Tampa injuries, Tanner Jeannot. They all played the other night in Ottawa. We were all curious to see I was going to say, speaking of Tampa injuries, Tanner, you know, they all played the other night. Not a, well, we were all curious to see who was going to show up to play. And they all play as a circuit chef for the best possible reason. He's coming to dad and, and you know, and when, when I saw, you know, get hurt with that collision with Mayfield, I was like, we won't see him until next season, but the way he went down on that right leg was just bad.

Now, nobody would say the injury, but i heard that the word i got was it wasn't as bad as it could have been i think it's incredibly unlikely he shows up for the beginning of that toronto tampa series i don't know what the likelihood is he plays in it at all but all I was told was that it wasn't as bad as it could have been, which is great news for him. So he could still come back late in the series and crush Toronto Maple Leafs fans' dreams. That's what every Maple Leafs fan is thinking listening to you say that. It's impossible to figure out the timeline. I know, I know.

I would be stunned if he played at the beginning of the series, but I just heard don't write him off at some point in the playoffs depending on where Tampa goes. Good news, bad news? Karel Kaprizov's back? Bad news? Joel Eriksson. Yeah, people told me, like I said on air, Brian Spade, the producer, said he wanted me to check injuries.

People told me that the one that was most concerning recently was Eriksson X. And again, they won't say what it is, but you kind of wonder if it's fibula, tibia, something like that. And those take a long time. That didn't look good when it happened. No, it's terrible. I know you can't bubble wrap hockey players,

and I get it this time of year. Everyone's all sensitive and cautious about it, and pucks don't tickle. People say rest guys, and I agree, but you have to have the cap room to do it. Yep. Like Boston's called up a whole other team for their game on Sunday night. At this point in time,

you can do whatever you want after the deadline. You can have a 70 man roster as long as it's underneath the cap. Landeskog, your buddy. Yeah. Well, I was going to ask you about Colorado here. So Landeskog,

Kale McCarr, this has kind of been this, you know, this has kind of been the story of the Avalanche this year and where they find themselves at the end of the year. It's kind of where we thought they were going to end up anyway. I mean, it's a great success story given all the injuries for the Avalanche, their players, and Jared Bednar.

He's done a really good job through all these injuries without the captain all season long. Rantanen. Kael McCarr. 50 goals. Rantanen's been great. McKinnon's been outstanding taves uh devon taves fantastic you know who else has been really good and i don't he's not going to win the

trophy but we might want to park a little place to have a look jt comfort yeah he's had a great conference been really good for the abs this year anyhow um we'll finish up this part of the podcast avalanche injuries yeah it doesn't sound like there's a ton of concern around like Makar and like that sounds preventative, but Lattice Gog's not going to play this week. So he's going to go the whole regular season without playing. And I was very careful how I talked about him in the playoffs because like someone said to me, use the phrase when, so you're going to convince he's going to play. My response to that was, it's more like I don't want to use if.

Yeah. Because people. Yeah. I thought when was a better choice for words than if. Because nobody shut him down, and if you say if, people are going to think, okay, well. There's a chance he won't. You've been told there's a chance he doesn't play.

And I have not been told that. I know people have speculated that. I have had people say to me they believe this year that Lannis Gog will not play. But one thing we've learned is don't underestimate hockey players and their will to do things. And number two is what might be true the other day may not be true today.

So I don't like to guess like that. So before we go to the interview, did you listen to Kevin BX and talk about the Norris? No, I missed that. Well, it was Kevin was talking, so it's good. You missed it. It was terrible. No, he's anti-Carlson for the Norris.

Because of the. The amount of time he's been on the ice for goals against. And they're far away from the playoffs. But the one thing we kind of both agree on is that if he gets to 100 points and he's at 98, it's kind of tough not to vote for him. It's Brian Leach territory, man. I get it.

I think there's a lot of other defensemen in consideration here too. Yes. But that's a tough one to overlook, 100 points, man. The other thing too is i have to count it but someone was saying to me he's like been on the ice for like 20 or 25 empty net goals against this year that's not insignificant and you know he said they're losing which is true when adam fox won the norris and he deserved it that year. I voted for him with the Rangers when they missed the playoffs. Like to me, you know, that opens the door.

The precedent is there. It was an easy thing for me to do at the time, but I thought it was the right thing to do. So I did it. But the thing is, Jeff, I like, there's a ton of guys out there this year. Like this is the hardest vote this year, the Norris. Like go through it. Hayskin, Hamilton, Fox, Vince Dunn, Quinn Hughes. Hampus Lindholm. Hampus Lindholm, Charlie McAvoy.

Devon Taves is another one I think. He's absolutely deserving of it. Like I think there's a long list of defensemen this year, and I know I'm leaving some names off. John Carlson could probably win it this year because we learned how good a defenseman he was. That's if they had a heart for defensemen specifically, he would probably win that. But Dallin is a guy who I think deserves a look.

Absolutely. It's a really hard vote this year. For me, the Norris is the hardest one. It's the really hard vote this year. For me, the Norris is the hardest one. It's the hardest one. You know, I look at Carlson getting 100 points, and again, I'm going to count the empty net goals. I think if he gets to 100, it's really hard to vote against him. Really hard to vote against him.

And I would say one final thing. Yes. The best defenseman in the NHL is Kael McCarr. Like, he could win this every year. Yes. defenseman in the NHL is Kael McCarr. Like he could win this every year. Yes. Well, what have we said about Kael McCarr? If Conor McDavid were a defenseman, he would be Kael McCarr. Yes.

And I will say this. Over the years, games played has been a major factor in my voting. You know, he's going to end up around 60. I've always given the edge, the benefit of the doubt, to people who play a full season because I think it's really hard to play a full season in this league and i don't think you should be penalized because you played more games and i'm big in that it's it's a tough one it's a tough one this year for sure so jeff one thing i want to explain about this achari interview yes there's one challenging part for the listeners and that is that achari explains some hand gestures

that his mother edna gave him when he was i was gonna say you're familiar with some hand gestures i get a lot of them from you and all so as this is an audio medium, although the YouTube version will come out later, it's going to be tough for people to do it. So he's going to refer to, the first one he's going to refer to is like the pinch, or it's also known as like the Italian hand gesture with the thumb held up with the two fingers. And then there's also come on, get going, two fingers. Yep. And then there's also come on, get going.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is wheels on the bus. Like, come on, get going. Wheels on the bus. The wheels on the bus go round and round. Yeah. There's also thumbs up,

which is easy. And there's also, like, throwing your hands in disgust. Like, this is garbage. We've seen every coach in the NHL do that countless times. So when he's describing

the hand signals that Edmund makes, have those in your head. All right, well, keep that in mind as we listen to Elliot in conversation with Noel Achari of the Maple Leafs. I don't know if anybody watched the Masters on Sunday, but I'm officially calling that Ekblad's Revenge. Okay. I heard one story about you and I hope it's true.

So play along, even if it may not be true. I was asking her, what's the quintessential Achari story? And I had a couple different people tell me, if you want to know who he is, there was one time, and I don't know where it was, you showed up to either a practice or a game, carrying your equipment and you were bleeding. And apparently you had been in a car accident, but you didn't want to be late for practice or

the game. You're nodding at me. This story is true. Yeah. What is this story? It was, I think it was a Saturday and we're driving to Bridgeport in Massachusetts for a game. So this is AHL? No, no, no.

This is, I had to have been maybe 10, 11. Oh, wow. And if you're driving to the Bridgeport rink, you're on a main street and you're taking a left into the arena and there's a jail across the way, like on the right side of the street, and you're taking a left. And apparently an inmate had gotten out. So there was searches and everyone's kind of driving

and kind of looking over, and we're stopped, waiting to take that left in the minivan. And it's me and my brother in the back. My parents are driving. And one car was just focused on the sheriffs and everyone looking for whoever, and we get rear-ended pretty good, kind of caved in the back of the whole van.

And me and my brother are sitting in the back. We had the TV down in the middle seat. And I hit my head on the TV, cut my head a little bit, bleeding. And for me, for any kid, games are, you don't want to miss a game. Yeah. Especially if you're driving an hour plus to go to a game you want to play. game yeah especially if you're driving an hour plus to go to a game you want to play so obviously we wait for the police emt show up and and i'm like i gotta get to the game i gotta get to the game and like you can't open up the back of the the van because the back door's caved in so i just

reach in kind of grab my bag from the back seat and pull it out and i'm just starting i told my parents like hey the rink's right there. I'm going. And my parents, like, they can't leave. They're trying to figure everything out. And I just start. I grab my stuff, keep walking. And one of the parents saw me walking.

And I'm like, they're like, get it? What happened? They see our van because they picked me up, brought me in. And they're like, what's going on? And I'm like, nothing. I just got to go. We got to go. I ended up playing the game, scored a couple

of goals and I don't, I don't even remember how we got home to be honest with you. If we drove that car, what happened? Well, first of all, I didn't realize it would happen when you were 10 years old. I almost feel terrible joking about it now, but that's what people told me about you. If you want to know about Noel Achari, a car

accident is not going to keep him from hockey. No. No. Yeah. What did your teammates say to you when you walked in? They were more just in shock. Like one that I'm, they're like, what happened

to your head? Cause just bleeding and, but kids will be kids. You just, all right, we got a game now. We got to go play. I want to talk about you about growing up a little bit. You mentioned your parents in the first answer and you've talked about your mother, Edna, and how she was hugely influential in your career.

And you've said before that she used to have hand signals in the crowd if you weren't playing well. Like what were these hand signals? This one was like, what are you doing out there? Like that was probably the worst one. Or it's one of those where she looks away, like you make eye contact, and then if you get the thumbs up, you're doing well.

And then this is get up, like start doing something. And so those were her main, I think, signals. And also the facial expressions kind of gave away how she was feeling. So she was the parent who really drove you through your hockey career. Yes. My dad was more of the very supportive. I couldn't have a bad game. He was just happy.

I was out there having fun. And then my mom was like, what are you doing? You played awful out there today. So it was a good balance and when you said that when she didn't talk to you that was the worst that was yeah because it was like you just thought about it and you just you try and talk she's like she's just like no looking back it's like oh she drove all that way there and back and it's like but uh she was a great support too she was my biggest supporter and can't thank her enough.

Now you go to Providence College, you never get drafted, but when did you start to think that the NHL possibly could be on the radar for you? You know, I, that was a dream of mine growing up always to play in the NHL. And after, you know, I had a hiccup my freshman year I had a sit out red shirt and um and then after that sophomore year it was actually really good that I didn't have to lose a year of eligibility so I knew I had my four years and and I took that year basically off from hockey but I think after my first actual playing year I think that next year, I was like, a lot of talk about people interested. And I just like, just wanted to continue my game.

And, you know, I think Coach Lehman in Providence does a great job of getting guys ready for the NHL. And the way he coaches and, you know, just how defense first. And I think that's helped me specifically, you you know being my role of maybe starting in the d-zone for a lot of draws or just being relied on to keep pucks out of the net and be be good in the d-zone and you know blocking shots and you know he was big on every finish every check so I think he he kind of helped me mold me into the player I am right now. But, yeah, I think after that first year, I kind of thought I could do that. Now, do you remember the first team that ever came to talk to you

or anything like that? I did go to Calgary's development camp after my first year playing, and then I think that kind of was like, wow, okay, I can play. I can do this. And I think that gave me a little more confidence going into next year. I would say, if anything, Calgary was the first to give me a shot when I went to their camp. Now, people talk about you from Providence was the victory over Eichel

and his team that year. What do you remember about that game? It was a wild game. Everyone remembers the big way we flipped the puck in and goalie dropped it but uh you know going into it Lehman had pre-scouted and said that uh he'd let a lot of funky goals in like that from off angles or just kind of you know just flips that I mean just I don't know, whatever it might be, but, uh, it was a great game start to finish. And for us, I mean, Jack being the player that he is and he's unbelievable.

He, he had won, I think every award that year, every championship he possibly could accept the national championship. And, um, I think for us, that was, you know, I mean, not to take away from the whole BU team. They were, they were great as well. A lot of good guys came out of that school like that year and who they had on that team. And, but we just kind of, we found a way and it was a big win for us and our school. And it was great, great day. Somebody told me that the amount of talk on the ice that day between those two teams was unbelievable. Do you remember much about it?

I just know, I mean, we had good rivalry during the year. I think they may have had it two to one because I think we played them three times. Or maybe it was two, I don't know. But we split. But we knew those guys. We played them. We were in the same division or same league, Hockey East, and we knew it was going to be a battle.

And with our team, we were, I think, a little more grittier in a sense of like, and I think that's credit to Coach Lehman, just kind of making, we were going to play hard every shift, but I don't remember the talk back and forth. I was wondering, did you and him have anything going on with each other? No, no, him and I were, you know, I was more just trying to keep up with him and stop him. But, you know, I think he had a couple of goals or at least one goal that game.

And again, he's, he's a great player and he won every, everything he possibly could accept that. So it was unique for us to. When you would play Buffalo or Vegas, would you ever say to him, Jack, you won he possibly could accept that. So it was unique for us to. When you would play Buffalo or Vegas, would you ever say to him, Jack, you want everything you could accept that. So I have a tattoo on my back national championship and I worked, I work out with him and skate with him sometimes in the summer and he's like, Hey, don't take your shirt off around me. I didn't like, but he's, he's a good sport about it. He's he's good guy.

Now you could have gone anywhere. Now I heard one of the reasons you ended up in Boston was John Ferguson was working for Boston at the time. He lived in Providence and he saw you quite a bit and he really pushed the Bruins to sign you. Was there anybody else? Like, was there a big decision for you to make

between where to go? I think once Boston was on the table, being from New England, I think it was kind of a no-brainer. And especially with Fergie kind of in my corner being a PC guy and being an assistant GM and being in Providence, I think that was a good fit for me. And the style of play that they play I think helped me kind of elevate how I play and you know and be able to play with some of those leaders like the Bergeons, the Charas,

Marchands, all those guys. I think that helped me as a player on and off the ice and you know being able to watch those guys win a Stanley Cup in 2011, cheering them on, to be able to eventually be in the locker room was special for me. And again, being from New England and playing in New England, it couldn't get much better than that. What was your first Marshan moment? He's an awesome guy. He's typical. You hate to play against him. You want him on your team.

Yes. Would give you the shirt off his back if you needed that type of guy. He's typical. You hate to play against him. You want him on your team. Yes. Would give you the shirt off his back if you needed that type of guy. My first, he was always just great to me, joked around. And I think Kray Teach was one that kind of threw me for a loop. He's an awesome guy. I got to know him really well. And the one thing was when I first got called up, and I didn't know his dry sense of humor at the time because I'm young, I'm new,

and I just want to kind of— Be quiet. Yeah, and we do a drill, and I don't know if I missed the pass or I gave him a bad pass, and then he looks at me and he goes, that's why you're in that color and I'm in this color. Ritchie said that to you? And I was like this, just like't know what what to say or just okay i just like i want to go back to providence but he joked around like big smile after but like i didn't know that at the time and he's he's a big jokester and and he's a great guy like and

once you figure that out you can give it right back to him and he's, but that was my like first moment. I was like, oh my gosh, what's going on? But no, it was funny. Tell me the story about Keith Yandel at Frank Vetrano's wedding. That was a great time. So Frank Vetrano got married a couple of summers ago and we were at his golf course. And so they had these cabins on the golf course that

the Andals, the Ekblads and myself stayed at all in the one cabin. And, you know, we golfed that morning of the wedding, had a great time on the course. And then, so there's this giant hill going up to our cabin and we had golf carts. Like you could just take the road, walk the road. Easy. Keith thought he could at, I don't know what time it was, thought it would be easier just to walk the hill. Was there alcohol involved? There was a little alcohol involved.

Okay, just checking. Yeah. Thought he could get up the hill and next thing you know, like we're watching from the wedding and like, what's Keith doing? He's trying to go up the hill. Next thing you know, there's a ton of fescue, probably hip high. Next thing you know, we look back, like, where'd Keith go? We're like, we don't see him anymore.

So we go down, check. Keith, he's laying in the fescue. And so we're like, we get him up, get him back up to the cabin. I don't know why we ended up climbing up still. We were determined to get him up there. But yeah, he went up to the cabin for a little and then popped back out and made it back to the wedding. But finding him in the fescue was the icing on the cake.

I wondered about, um, there was, when you got to Florida, there was a question about Yandel staying in the lineup. What do you remember about that team meeting? Cause I heard you guys really fought for Yandel's streak to continue. Yeah. It's an incredible accomplishment, you know,

to play in so many consecutive games and and when things were getting going for camp and stuff and seeing that he's on the he's the seventh eighth d or he's not in the group and like preseason we were all kind of like what's going on like we had a little group and we thought we were like this isn't right like there's no reason why he should not be playing so some of the assistants went to coaches GMs and was like hey he's gonna play so we basically were like we want him to play he's we need him that next day he was in back in the like 60s and uh he was back out there and didn't miss a game but uh we just felt that he should have been out there with us. He's a big part of the team, and he brought the energy every day.

Even when this was going on, no one knew because that's just the type of guy Keith is. He's not going to put a sour face on. He's going to come in, be happy, goofy like he always is, and that's why he's such a good locker room guy. We felt that we need him here. Last one. What's the biggest thing you've noticed since you got here about this team? Just how on top of everything they are.

Anything you need, you have. You know, I think Kyle's done a great job with just making sure that we have everything that we need to succeed. And I think that helps us and goes a long way for the players. And just how family oriented it is like it's just a big group and everyone just wants to make sure everyone's good and I think that's that's really really important and for guys that especially for coming over from trade they were very adamant and getting families here to make us feel as comfortable and kind of make the transition as

smooth as possible and the locker room, the guys have been great. And I think we have a special team, and I think we know that and, you know, how close they are. And they just kind of, we jumped right in and just kind of took off. And we just want to make sure we're all focused and having a long run here. Thanks so much, Noel. Really appreciate it. That's Noel Achari of the Toronto Maple Leafs

in conversation with Elliot. And a special thank you, Elliot, to Keith Yandel. Taking us out today, a band from Leeds who formed in the early 2000s. Wild Beasts have garnered a great following but called it quits in 2018 after releasing their sixth studio record. If you ever got to see the band live, you know their show was basically

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