32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Friedman & Bukauskas Injury Law

Episode Date: October 25, 2024

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle and Elliotte kick things off by discussing Jeff Vinik selling a majority stake in the Tampa Bay Lightning while remaining in control for three years. Kyle and Elliotte talk about the aura that is building around the Leafs-Bruins game this Saturday (7:45), and the fallout from the testy exchange between Brad Marchand and head coach Jim Montgomery (12:00). Afterwards, Elliotte unwraps his theory on Elias Pettersson's struggles of late (15:00). Kyle then highlights the Minnesota Wild who are undefeated in regulation this season (29:00). Elliotte briefly talks about the Rangers sending Matt Rempe to the AHL (32:45). Then the guys talk about the Detroit Red Wings who have won three in a row (34:13). The fellas talk about a possible connection between Chad Ruhwedel and Utah HC (38:00). The Final Thought focuses on Shea Theodores extension with the Vegas Golden Knights (41:28). Kyle and Elliotte answer your questions in the Thought Line (47:46).In the final segment of the podcast, Kyle and Elliotte sit down with defensemen Philip Broberg of the St. Louis Blues (1:10:04). Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailThis podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.  

Have you ever looked at, I guess, what would be the podcast album artwork of ours? Like if you took out 32 Thoughts and replaced it with Friedman and Bukowskis Injury Law, I don't think anyone would bat an eye. That's pretty funny. The way we got our arms crossed. Have you been run over by a bicycle? Call B&E. We'll take care of you.

No fees unless you get paid. At Friedman & Bukowskis Injury Law, you don't pay us for our thoughts. You pay us to win. This is not a real advertisement for paid legal services. If you call Elliot Friedman or Kyle Bukowskis to defend you in a court of law, you will lose. Again, please do not call Kyle Bukowskis or Elliot Friedman. No attorney-client relationship is formed by listening to this advertisement. Legal services provided are subject to the qualifications of the attorney.

Consult with an attorney for legal advice. Fees may apply. Client is responsible for cost regardless of outcome. Okay, welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast brought to you by the GMC Sierra AT4X. Dom, Elliot, and Kyle, all with you. Apologies if you were hoping for someone else. Yeah, you were sorry, not sorry if you were hoping for someone else yeah you were sorry not sorry if you were hoping for someone else but you know one thing I was wanting to do is I was listening to you read the open there and you know what I was thinking I believe GMC has been with us since day one longest serving sponsor for sure and and just want to say thanks it hit me as you were saying it just want to say thanks. It hit me as you were saying it. Just want to say thanks.

Great. And I honestly am not just saying this, Elliot. I grew up in a General Motors family. All of our vehicles. Not that we had a ton, but my dad is a bit of an old-time car collector. All from the general motors family as a kid whenever someone says this they're aiming for a free car yes

oh we've all got a little bit of that in us don't we what's our favorite price suckers for free yes yes yes if it's free we will come all right well a lot to get to in this episode elliot uh busy night in the nhl on thursday all 32 teams were in action on tuesday night before we get to what was going on on the ice on thursday elliot you reported back in august that jeinnick, the owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning, they were beginning a multi-stage sale process to Doug Ostrover and Blue Owl Capital. So bring us up to speed after what the organization announced on Thursday. Yes. So, you know, as we reported at the time, it wasn't going to be a single stage sale process.

And I think we'd mentioned that it was Vinik who was going to keep operational control for three years. Well, they formally announced that on Thursday morning, it's going to be three years. And eventually the new ownership group will take over control of the team. I think that was something that was very important to the league. The Lightning have gone from one of the franchises they were most concerned about to one of their most stable and successful franchises under Vinik and they wanted to make sure that stayed. But the other thing I heard on Thursday was, Kyle, is that 20 million of the sale price is going to be awarded as bonuses to the full-time employees of Vinix Sports Group. I think he's got about 300 employees there. Yeah,

300 employees there. And so there's going to be bonuses. It's probably around $50,000 a person, it's probably around $50,000 a person, but it's about $20 million he's going to spend and distribute to the full-time staff as part of the sale, which I think is a fantastic gesture. The question I immediately asked after this was, if I apply for a job and get it, am I eligible for one of these bonuses? Like if I decide, you know, Dave Randor's been there for too long or Paul Kennedy's been part of the broadcast for too long and I want to come down there and replace them, will I qualify?

And sadly, I was told, Kyle, that it's not going to work. I tried to look up, I did a quick Google search. This was by no means extensive. Has anything like this happened before? You know, the one thing you go back is when Maple Leaf Gardens was built in 1931, the carpenters were paid in shares of Maple Leaf Gardens Limited because, you know, Kahn Smythe didn't have all the money. So he paid them in shares, which turned out to be very lucrative for them. I'm sure there might be

other examples people might be able to tell us. But, you know, obviously, Jeff Vinnick did very well on the sale of this team. You know, when Jeff Vinnick bought the team, you know obviously Jeff Rennick did very well on the sale of this team you know when Jeff Rennick bought the team you know he accepts the risk he puts them on the financial power behind it he built up the area and if it goes wrong obviously he's the one that is in most in danger of losing out all of that said you're not successful without without a great team around you. And I like to hear and I like to see the fact that those people are going to be rewarded a little bit for how they helped build the lightning for what they were when he bought

them to what they are now. They deserve it. And I'm glad to see that happen. That's not the only consmith reference that will be made in this podcast episode, by the way, Elliot. And that's really impressive, too. I just wanted to add on to that. I mean, we hear the saying all the time that good ownership wins. And you think about, as you say, where the franchise was at when he first took over in 2010, the back-to-back Stanley Cups, two other trips to the Stanley Cup final in 2015, 2022, and I believe three trips aside from those ones

to a conference final too, a consummate team that's been in the playoffs, a full building. The other thing too, Elliot, and you know from doing games down there, they do an incredible job with some of their community hero programs, members of the military that they honor, every home game and the amount of money that is fed

back into the Tampa community through all of that. Having seen that for years down there, I can't say I'm totally shocked, though I am incredibly impressed when you say that that's what Finnik plans to do with some of the money here for the full-time staffers down there that's really neat well said very well said all right so that's what's going on down in tampa we'll actually go back down there in a little bit but first as we go through what went on Thursday night on the ice Elliot it's you know speaking of Tampa you know the Leafs beat the doors off of the lightning Monday night it seemed like nothing could be going better for Toronto Craig Berube and company when they left the building

Monday at home since then outscored 11 to three lost to Columbus on the road and then in what felt like it was a pretty sizable game with St Louis coming to town barubi's first time facing his old team they dropped that one five to one at home meanwhile you've got the Bruins they've lost four of five suddenly your game on Saturday like like you're going to Boston on Friday today. Suddenly that game that you're going to has a really big aura about it now. And not aura the way kids talk about it. Like you've got aura. Aura as around this becomes a really big game really early in the season between two teams who you

wouldn't think would be in the positions they'd be in well elliot because there was already some tension building around that game anyways because it's the leafs in boston it will be their first meeting since the playoffs last year and now you add in how the weeks have gone. This week has gone for both teams. There's a different feel altogether, and we're still a day away from it. You can feel the tension building both sides. Why don't we start with Toronto and what you've seen over the last couple of games where it's gone from the top of the roller coaster and it's taken a bit of a spill.

See, imagine Toronto as a car, okay? And you're on a highway and there's a fork in the road. And at one side, it's the fork that says, calmness, continue playing good hockey, all things going well. And the other side says, we can't have this. Chaos! And you know the Leaf car wants to go onto the calm side, but because it's the Maple Leafs, it has to veer into the insane side. It's almost as if there's a magical... The steering wheel's broken. It's like Christine, right?

Like Christine has Stephen King's Christine. It's the car. It's just taking control and going over to the chaos side. I mean, the Columbus game didn't bother me too much. You're going to have stinkers, and that happens. But that's the second time this year.

Remember, Toronto went into New Jersey, and that was a big game for Sheldon Keefe, and New Jersey coughed up a hairball in that one. And now, you know, Toronto, it's a big game for Craig Berube, even though he's down playing it all and saying he doesn't even know where his Stanley Cup ring is and all that stuff these guys have pride they want to win like if I was a player if I played for the Devils that night of Keefer I played for the Maple Leafs this night of uh of Berube it would bother me that having the results that we had.

And, you know, that's the thing. They didn't play very well. I mean, I could just imagine Oilers fans pretending not to look at the – their eyes burning off when they looked at the game summary and saw the first goal was Broberg and the second one was Holloway. So it was a bad night for the Leafs. It was a bad night for the Oilers. Their fans catching strays and they're not even there.

And you know, like all of a sudden, like the air of good feeling, like you said it, Monday night when they not only beat Tampa on the ice, they beat them up too. Like they manhandled them and they stood up to them and everybody was feeling great. And three days later later it's the crazy off-ramp again and we're going into Boston and they're going to be a wounded bear too like I

I cannot believe the Bruins like I I am shocked at this and I never would have predicted it they'd look completely discombobulated they can't stay out of the penalty box, Elliot. I believe they've spent the most time shorthanded in the league already this year. They gave up three more while a man short. And it feels like the last week, that's been the one thing Jim Montgomery is preaching. We've got to stay out of the box. Got to stay out of the box.

It was their Achilles heel again. Dallas got rolling in the second period. I was watching their broadcast, the Nessun broadcast, saying that that was one of the worst starts to a period they've seen from them in a long, long time. And on top of that, so Monday's episode, we talked about Jim Montgomery giving it to Marshan pretty good in the Utah game last weekend.

Thursday morning, Brad Marshan was asked about it for the first time. His response? I mean, people are very sensitive these days. You know, it's unfortunate how coaches are scrutinized over things like that. There's a lack of accountability nowadays because, you know, people can't handle the heat. And you make a mistake like that, you deserve to hear about it.

You know, I'm glad that he said something about it. If he didn't, we would have a much bigger issue. So, you know, the fact that that's something that we're talking about is, you know, it's disappointing. But that's the way things are today.'m not i'm not surprised by that one bit i he has said that before about things like people are too soft and they shouldn't be complaining about these things so and like i said at the time um like that wouldn't bother me now if it's happening all the time it would bother me because I think my team is falling apart but one-offs like that that wouldn't bother me at all Kyle and I'm not

surprised he felt that way what is interesting to me is that it's happening in a few different places right now. For example, in the second period the other night, Berube in that Leaf game we talked about, Berube gave it to the first line, didn't like the way they were playing. Again, it wasn't anything over the top, but he gave it to them. And that's the thing.

Seen it a few times already. Yes. And you know what? And you know in Toronto, to them and that's the thing like you know a few times already yes and you know what and you know in Toronto that's going to be a thing that that's going to be a thing but again like I don't see why anybody should have a problem with it and the other place where it's happening right now is Vancouver and the Canuck fans are agog about whatever happened in practice the other day between Miller and Pettersson. And I have a whole other theory on this. But I just find it really interesting that we're, you know, basically two and a half weeks into the season. And tempers seem, you know, really short. Really short.

And obviously it's not going well for Boston. It's, it started going really well for Toronto and there's been two tough games back to back. And what it says to me is that Craig Berube is putting his foot down right away. He wants the right habits. He's going to, he's going to hammer those habits into the team. But the Vancouver one is interesting because um you know they they've had some bad results but generally i think they're pretty good and they they just came out of their road trip really nicely with a couple of uh really good games but do you want to hear my theory on this whole pedersen thing i think the entire west coast has been waiting for

your theory elliot so yes well good because if not this was going to be a really short podcast it was going to be it was going to be over very quickly so do you know the difference between you know the difference between sales and service yeah okay so sales is we want your business so we're gonna do whatever it takes to get you in here okay whatever you want we're gonna do it until you sign on the dotted line and you're a customer services after we've signed you and we don't need you as much kind of hard to get us on the phone so it's always a joke the the everything is great when it's sales everything is much harder when it's service oh really where's all that great way you treated me when you wanted my business now that you got it not so good except at GMC service always great at

GMC I think this is sales and service on Pedersen. Last year was, we got to get this guy to sign. We want this over with. We want this done with. We want a commitment from Pedersen or we're moving on. You remember when I sat down with him last year before the playoffs, he said he never thought he was going to get traded i think there were people in the organization who were ready to do it but as pedersen said at the end of the day he was going to sign so he wasn't concerned about it okay so the canucks got their

sales done pedersen signs eight years 11.6 million he's a canuck he's a great talent signs, eight years, 11.6 million. He's a Canuck. He's a great talent. Now we're in service. Okay. Even though the Canucks signed Pedersen, I think they felt there were, there was another level or two levels that they felt they needed to get him to I think it was felt that as great as he is they needed him to be tougher I don't know if meters the right word but tougher now some people are not wired that way but I think they felt he was wired that way and is wired that way but they had to encourage him to get there and what I also believe young Bukowskis is that they didn't want it to be up to Rutherford or Alvin or talk it to do it they felt they really believe in their leadership group they believe

they they believe that Hughes is a strong captain and they believe that Miller is a strong alternate captain and that their group is a strong group and I think they said you guys are the ones that are going to have to do it and you know you know, Miller's obviously taking that very literally. I think in that practice, and I think there've been some talks off the ice, but I think Hughes is involved too. I just think that Hughes would take that so seriously as a responsibility of his is, I think you're insane if you don't think that he is trying to do that too now I think there are limits you um you know you you can't go too far but you know like we've seen Montgomery push Marchand we've seen Berube push the Maple Leafs I think the Canucks see it as as it might be better for Pedersen if it

comes from his teammates as opposed to the coach or the GM I think what the Canucks have said to their leadership group is Elias needs to get to another level you all see it and we want you guys to get him there and I think they see it they understand it and they're trying to push him there. And I think they see it, they understand it, and they're trying to push him there. And I think the message comes harder from some guys, Miller, as opposed to other guys like Hughes. But I think that's the goal here. I think they feel that tough love is the way, or like in the world, if we want to be successful, we have to be prepared sometimes for honest, maybe tough criticism as long as it's meant properly. We all have to deal with that from time to time.

And I think that's what the Canucks are trying to do here now I think there's a couple other things at play I you know I think that I don't think he always likes it I think they're hoping he will understand that it's to make them win but I don't think he always likes it I also think I do think there's I don't know how serious it is but I don't think he's a hundred percent so I can't answer that in terms of what percentage he's at but I think it's a factor the biggest thing I think he feels is you know is that you know I think a lot of players, they almost prefer it when the criticism comes from or the constructive criticism comes down the chain of command,

whether it's manager, coach. You don't always like it when it's your teammates because your teammates are supposed to have your back. But also teammates are as good as anybody, even in any, even where we work, Kyle, when you're acting or you're not,

you're, you're not yourself or you're not right. Or you're not performing to your best ability. Like sometimes I find it's my teammates who tell me when I'm not doing my best job. And I think that's the way the Canucks see it here. The other thing I would like to say is in the last podcast we talked about him being on top of social media too much well someone called me and said he didn't go far enough I go okay what

did I miss and he said his friends are sending him stuff too and telling him stuff. And that is the worst. The worst. So a few years ago, I think I've told this story before, Kyle, but in case I haven't. A few years ago, we were doing the NHL, NHLPA media tour. And there was a player there. And I won't say who it is. Although I will say one NHL coach texted me and guessed who it was he nailed it but you know he said I won't say who it is and I said hi to him

and he looks at me and goes I know what you guys say about me and I go what and he said I know you're being my friend I know what you guys say about me on TV. And I said, what are you talking about? And I said, look, like, and he had a really skewed view of it. And I said, like, do you watch it? And he goes, no, like my family tells me about it. I can't remember if he said his fiance or his partner or his family.

And I said, look, here's my number. If you ever have a problem with anything, you reach out to me directly. Secondly, I'm going to give you a piece of advice here. The next time a family member says to you or a friend says to you, this is what this person said about you on television. Tell them if they do it one more time, you are cutting them off from communication. And he laughed I go no I'm serious because I guarantee to you those people make it sound worse than that it really is they warp it they always make it sound worse than reality

and I'll tell you this so he said okay and the next time I saw him he said you know like I really appreciate you telling me that because number one, it wasn't as bad as you said. And number two, ever since people stopped talking to me about it, I feel so much better. I'm just not obsessing about this stuff or brooding about this stuff. And I said, totally true. And again, I told him, if you have a problem, send me a note. And he never has. So what I look at is this. If you're a friend of Pedersen's and you're sending him, like, I don't know, clips or transcripts or saying, this guy said something about you in Vancouver or Toronto,

wherever it is, stop doing that. You are not being a good friend. That makes the problem worse. He doesn't need that. And, you know, I think just at the end of the day, besides if Rick Dallowall says anything, nobody understands it anyway because he talks too fast. But I think at the end of the day

i the goal here from the canucks is if this guy can get a little bit of a thicker skin he's going to be unstoppable we need to push him to be that player you can't go too far there are lines you cannot cross but this is what the Canucks I really believe are trying to do the number one thing I would do if I was Pedersen is I would like I went back today and I watched remember his first game the goals he was scoring that the fun he was having he has to rediscover that he came over as this almost blissfully naive guy and started dominating the league immediately whatever that was inside of him at that time he has to get back to that i think there is still a great player there a great

player there and we've got to get that back out of him as i said on monday's episode too i just i hope he finds joy in the game again uh or continues to find joy in the game again that brings out, as you say, what we saw when he first came to Vancouver six years ago. My other takeaway from your theory, Elliot, and it's a very good one, is that you're trying to peddle the narrative that NHLers' family members are out to get you.

I will say 95% of the NHL family members I've met are great people, but they warp stuff that's said about their kids or friends or cousins or brothers or sisters. Don't do that. Only tell them the good things. Only tell them the good things. Yes. cousins or brothers or sisters. Don't do that. Only tell them the good things. Only tell them the good things.

Yes. All right. Very good, Elliot. So from all that's gone on in Vancouver, what's going on in Toronto and Boston, meanwhile, kind of widely here. Before, before we go to where you're about to go here, how patience do you think boston's gonna have they just made a lot of changes that's the one thing and you know what's and they're just not used to this too right so the last two years under jim montgomery they are a combined 16 one and one in the month of october like just incredible starts to the season the last two years.

Now, you're not going to do that every time. A regression from that doesn't mean you're a bad team. But this is just something they haven't gone through since Montgomery's been at the helm there. So I imagine there's a bit of a shock to the system here. So I just watching them. They're not the Bruins we're used to seeing yet, but I still think they can get back there. The penalties are a big part of it, though.

Like it just kills them when they're then they end up chasing the game. And as things are still coming together offensively for them, it's made it tough. It's made it really tough. I can't believe how undisciplined they are. It's amazing to me. But, you know, they made a lot of changes. I don't know how often.

Sometimes you got, unless you really think that somebody you got just isn't going to work there, you probably have to grind it out yeah and i think a lot of bruins fans are calling for a little fabian lysell action too for a little extra offensive scoring bump i saw that there seems to be a real desire to have him brought up generally i think you you don't do that you don't want to be forced into things like this but desperate times call for desperate measures and it's it's it's not desperate but it's it's getting there you know we're a week away from my november 1st stat you know it's very hard to make the playoffs right in this league if you're more than four points out on November 1st very hard the loser point makes it

really difficult and and they're starting to really look up at the rest of the eastern conference sorry bud where were you going I interrupted you no yeah it's all good all building towards Saturday night at the garden I was just going to touch on Elliot here quietly through all of this. The Minnesota Wild, they've lost a couple beyond regulation, haven't lost in regulation yet this year. They won again on Thursday, 4-2 over Tampa. You started your latest 32 Thoughts blog this week talking about Kirill Kaprizov.

He, on Thursday, two goals, one assist, over 22 minutes of ice time. Another night for him, as you say, been one of the most used forwards in the entire league out of the gate here. So they've played seven games now. He's got points in six out of seven of them. And in five of those games, it's multiple points points so he's got five games with at least two points one game with one and one game was zero and he's playing more than as you mentioned every other winger in the league and and this is a season and they're getting they are getting great goaltending flurry one like that was a big win flurry got them a win there and gustafson looks really good i don't know what the deal was

but i heard he was pretty close to getting traded this year they had something for him and they didn't do it in the summer uh i think it was yes i think it was in the summer i heard they had a deal where he was going and obviously it didn't happen and he's back um but and he looks fantastic like there's so much on the line this year in minnesota and we've talked about how they have to prove to him that they're good enough i think think the other thing, it's pretty clear, and we'll see how long this can last. But the other thing that's pretty obvious is that they've decided that one of the ways we could make Kaprizov stay here is he's going to get to play a lot. He's going to get to play a ton. He's going to get to play even more than he has played in the past.

He's going to get to play even more than he has played in the past. And it's like this year, it's like we're going to do everything we can to make him happy, including never tell him he has to stay on the bench. All right. You choose when you want to come off, Kirill. It was like that great Kovalev shift with the Rangers and Mike Keenan, where they were trying to punish him by saying, you stay out there for five minutes, and he didn't get it was a punishment he absolutely loved it like his caprizov's ice time has been going up every year it was 18 19 20 21 last year was 21 and a half this year he's at 22

but i don't know if this can continue but he's definitely going to play more than he ever has. It's, you know, like, it's all playoffs this year for Minnesota. And how are they going to do it? Kaprizov, you go out there and you don't come off. It's not a bad recipe for success. Hey, man, play your best player. Never bad. Good coaching strategy. Who's my best player? We're going to play him.

So a big win for Minnesota down in Tampa. We should shout out Sergei Bobrovsky, fastest goalie in NHL history to 400 career wins. Took him 707 games. Panthers beat the Rangers after i could watch those throwing down another playoff series that was just gonna say conference final last year and another great one on thursday night in manhattan oh by the way we should mention that the rangers sent down matt rampey after the game tonight now i have i don't know if there's another player game tonight now I have I don't know if there's another player like a depth player who would get as much attention for going to the minor leagues as Rampy would I think that I think that's credit to him and everything he's done in a very short NHL career but I you know the kid put in the work last summer and I can't find fault with this. And he needs to play. And it's pretty clear right now that, you know, he doesn't fit with what they're doing yet.

So I know he's a big name. I have no problem with this. If they think it's best for him to go down there and play, I can't argue with that. It's his age. And with everything he's trying to improve, he should be playing. 100% he should be playing. I argue with that. It's his age, and with everything he's trying to improve, he should be playing. 100% he should be playing.

I'm with you. Johnny Brodzinski seems to have the eye of Peter Laviolette in the meantime, and if that's the case, get him more minutes down in the American League in the time being. And when the moment comes that you could use the rempy jolt again, you have to think he'll be better prepared for it after actually playing as opposed to

sitting on the sidelines through all that time. So good point bringing that up. How about Detroit, Elliot? Like I feel this time last week, we were talking about them, the Sabres, Ottawa, those teams in the Atlantic that seemed to be spinning their wheels yet again out of the gate this is a huge week for the wings they beat New Jersey on Thursday they've won three in a row what are you seeing out of Motown of late I think they have should have a new strategy

concede 20 shots and see where that gets them like just give the other team right it's like the shot differential yes you you give the other team 20 shots like right away and then we'll start the game they got outshot what 27 to 10 by the islanders they won one nothing behind the savior alex lion and then yes they got outshot what what, 40-20 by the Devils, and Cam Talbot beat them. Markstrom had a rough night. He had a really rough night. Like, we talk about his caprizo of playing all these minutes sustainable.

I'm not sure it's sustainable for Detroit to win games like this, but it worked for them this week. And it was interesting at the end of the game, Rasmussen and Jack Hughes. Like, you know Jack Hughes, he's going to have that next Red Wing games circled. He's going to be like, okay, you got me there, but I'll get you back next time. Like, that thing about Rasmussen, I guarantee to you, like all those guys who work on the Detroit front office,

like the Isermans, the Chris Drapers, and the Sean Horkoffs, their nipples were erect after they saw that play. Oh, geez. Why did you have to describe it that way? There's so many other ways you could have gone with that. It's the first thing that popped into my head. I couldn't think of anything else. It makes it that way. There's so many other ways you could have gone with that. It's the first thing that popped into my head. I couldn't think of anything else. It makes it even worse.

That's true. It kind of does. I would bet that those guys who run the Red Wings are sitting there and saying that is the kind of swagger that we need. but and what else is rasmussen supposed to

do there on the empty net goal well you know there might be guys who might have ducked out of the way like you see it now like some guys do that but like if if you're the red wings like the red wings they have they have really talented players, but what's their identity, Kyle? What's their identity? Right. I think they're still trying to figure it out a little bit.

I think a play like that could go a long way. A long way. Like he stands over him. There's a scrum after and that was a mean game like Kovac evic and Sherrod had a fight what the poor the poor Red Wings TV they they thought the whole scrum was over and they're showing a replay and all of a sudden those two guys just dropped the gloves like they're

like the Red Wings that you can tell like they like those red wings teams when they were great they were still really mean like they had the grind line oh yeah they had shanahan they had konstantinov great player um like they were a mean team and they've been kind of i don't know bland for lack of a better term like a play like that you're probably sitting there in that room or running that organization and you're like man did we need something like that man did we need something that made us look like we have swagger a little bit of momentum going for detroit here now okay elsewhere Elliot, you had today, the Chad Ruedel was placed on waivers by the New York Rangers. I don't know, looking at the injury

issues that have come about Utah HC in recent days, do you see a connection between the two possibly there? I don't understand why not. I mean, the thing about Roedl is he's a solid player. He's been on a Stanley Cup team before, Pittsburgh. You need somebody in a stopgap. They really don't want anyone with term, and he's on like a minimum salary. I think to me it screams Utah, but we'll see. We'll see what they want to do it makes a lot of sense

he's not much of an offensive player obviously but he's a solid capable NHL player so wouldn't surprise me in the least bit and Kyle before we go to the final thoughts we should tack on a couple of things. Number one, my prediction this year for the Hart Trophy was Quinn Hughes. I got texted tonight and told I picked the wrong defenseman. That there is a defenseman this year who's going to win the Hart Trophy, but it's not Quinn Hughes. It is Kel McCarr, this person told me. The only defenseman ever to win the Art Ross trophy is Bobby Orr he did it twice he won the scoring title in 1970 and 1975 it is still early it is only a week before Halloween

but Kale McCarr leads the league in scoring and the one thing I liked about Colorado last week I don't have a lot of good predictions this year, but I've got two of them that look like they're going to stand really well right now. Number one, that Colorado was not rolling over. That they were still playing hard and they were going to sort this out.

They just swept a road trip, San Jose, Seattle, and Utah despite all their injuries. Goal scoring sensation Ross Colton got hurt this game. Jared Bednar said he took a slash on the hand and couldn't come back, but they still won. And I think the interesting thing here is now what's going to happen. Anunan has solidified their goaltending. Kaukanen is in the AHL on a conditioning stint.

I'm curious to see what's going to happen here. When Kaukinen is ready, do they carry three guys? Do they do something else? But Noonan solidified them this week, and Colorado sent a message they are far from done. And then there's another one of my good predictions. Winnipeg, now 7-0 after they beat Seattle in overtime blew a lead but still won the game the only perfect team in the NHL and we will see them on Saturday night against the Calgary Flames and I'll say something about the Jets too just talking to some members of the

Blues because they were in Toronto obviously on Thursday they were one of the teams that the Jets beat the Blues actually outplayed them for a lot of that game but the Jets scored three goals in 12 minutes and then Hellebuck made that massive save late in the third period they said the Jets are confident, very confident group, which is exactly what hurt them last year. They fell apart in the playoffs. They lost their confidence. They panicked against the avalanche. If they can keep that confidence, that's important for them.

Okay, that'll take us to our final thought, which is brought to you by GMC. The news on Thursday, Elliot. Shea Theodore, the Vegas Golden Knights coming together on a seven-year contract extension 7.425 million dollars is the AAV so just over a two million dollar bump from where he had been at for the last seven-year contract he had with Vegas? Any of this surprise you? Not, no, not really. Like during the summer, a couple of people had told me,

because you start to look at, okay, who's on sign going into next year. And I always thought that Dreisaitl was going to sign. And I've said that I thought Rantanen was going to resign. Although that one I do believe has been complicated by the dry sidle number. So that one, I think, has been a little bit harder than everybody expected and or hoped in Colorado. We'll see where that goes. But, you know, Theodore was right atop the defense list.

But I had people say to me, don't go crazy with this one. Like, it's going to get figured out. Don't go crazy with it. And I think it took longer than some people expected, but eventually it did get done. And, you know, this is the thing about Vegas. Like, they generally feel and they generally sign the guys that they want to sign. They gave them the big bonus structure. They gave them a lot of no trade protection.

They got a number lower than he probably could have got on the open market. I mean, there's always the question about no tax versus tax, but it's a great number for player and team. I mean, he's going to make $50 million, and Vegas gets him at a number that probably from pure cap point of view was going to be less than he was going to get elsewhere. But I'm not surprised it happened. I think Vegas really wanted to get it done.

You know, the whole thing here, and I don't know the answer to this question, but I was talking about it with somebody today after the signing was announced. You know, Vegas tried to get Marciso with deferred money, and Marciso had talked about that. That's not a new story. And I don't know if that was discussed here at all or not.

But someone said to me that the deferred money thing might not actually work for Vegas because they're a no-tax state. state that if you go somewhere else after Vegas then you could actually lose money by taking deferred amounts because if you go live somewhere which is a higher tax rate and almost everywhere would have a higher tax rate than Vegas it doesn't make sense for you so I thought that was that was very interesting they just said to me this is why the Golden Knights might have trouble doing this deferred money thing. Because it doesn't make sense if you're going to a higher tax area. But I'm not surprised about this one in the least bit. I think there were lots of teams that would have tried to go after Theodore if he was available.

The Golden Knights obviously knew that. And at the end of the day, he wanted to be there. Of all the moves that they did around the expansion draft back in 2017, that may turn out to be one of the shrewdest in getting Shea Theodore out of Anaheim. Don't you think looking back now? I think the Marcia So one was brilliant because it got the Marcia So and Riley Smith.

I mean, William Carlson was a great find. I can't argue with you. I thought that was a great one. And Carlson's supposed to make a season debut this weekend, but they had a few that they really used that expansion draft beautifully. They wrote a template for how to get it done and they deserve a lot of credit for it you know the one thing I do wonder about on their blue line now is

is Hague and you know you take a look at it you've got Petrangelo who shoots left and he's got two more years you know they just signed Hannafin he shoots left they've obviously just signed Theodore he shoots left um and and they've got Haig who shoots left and Haig is in the last year of his deal he's got one more year after this before UFA so he's got one year of RFA until UFA um you know I I gotta say like that Hague I think he's a really good player and you know we're talking to Broberg on this pod and Broberg talks about one of the reasons he was happy to go to St. Louis was because look at the left side of that Edmonton blue line like there's a lot of bodies there and so the more bodies you have the harder it is to a get playing time and

b get as big a salary as you want and the thing i wonder about with haig who's a really good defenseman and 25 years old is um you know what's this going to mean for his future they've got a lot of left-hand shots and you know they've got a lot of guys who are paid uh big money who deserve it and like i said vegas generally keeps who they want to keep but i i do wonder what this is going to mean for haig's future both in terms of what they can fit and you know what kind of role he can have but that's that's a question probably for another day all All righty. And on that note, that was the final thought brought to you by GMC. Elliot, I'm glad you brought it up

because we hadn't yet in this episode that later on we will be speaking with Philip Broberg, one of the newest members of the St. Louis Blues, had a chance to chat with him earlier this week. Before that, though, we will take a break. When we come back, the Thought Line. You're listening to 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime.

All right, time now for the thought line. A reminder, the phone number to call, 1-833-311-3232. The email address, 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca. And Elliot, as you know, and we can both appreciate, any good bit, as fun as it is, they all have an expiry date at some point. And I thought we had got there Monday at the Triangle. But there's one final entrant that was too good to leave out that came in the last couple of days. So I've got to read it here to kick things off on this one. Okay, you ready?

here to kick things off on this one. Okay. You ready? This is an anonymous emailer who works backstage for a major North American orchestra. Oh, wow. Okay. Now I have to say this, my son, Max, he does not care what I do for a living. He is completely unimpressed but when i tell him because he's very musically inclined when i tell him that someone worked at a symphony wrote into the pod for the first time in 13 years he will be proud of his father congratulations elliot you did it it's a warm feeling i have to say that okay here we go gentlemen i know you got grief on the triangle player metaphor on behalf of triangle players and their newly realized marginalized and offended group status however i don't believe the party went far enough in his or her denouncement people give the triangle player a rough time however let me position it this way. There are usually 22 to 26 violinists, 8 to 12 violists, 6 to 10 cellists, and 5 to 8 bassists on stage at an orchestral concert.

There is one triangle player. Now picture one of 26 violinists coming in a bar late. One of 26 violinists coming in a bar late. Now picture the triangle player coming in a bar late. That is why your metaphor breaks down. That one person is doing the equivalent of ringing a doorbell on stage at a classical music concert, and it can only make sense in that one moment. Tell me that's not pressure. String players have admittedly way more notes to play but they can sometimes play like lebron james and pick their moments and take a defensive possession off every

once in a while all in good fun and unfortunately i have to keep this anonymous because some of my best friends are string players you know what's going to happen now the string players are going to start writing in that's right you don't know how hard it is we think this is over this is not over no it's got to be over we have to move on i have i have to say this this is why i love the listeners of this pod we just took a triangle bit for two weeks if it wasn't for all of your greatness and creativity out there, the triangle bit could not have lasted for two weeks. Well said, well said. This has been fun and something out of nothing.

Those are sometimes the most fun. 100%. Okay, next. A real question here. Chris from Steinbach, Manitoba. Hey there, Elliot and Kyle. On Sunday, it was Brian Little Day for the Jets, and I've always wondered,

someone who signs a one-day contract to retire with a team and have a ceremony for them, would they technically be allowed to play in one more game? I'm sure Little has at least one more shift in him, wondering if it has ever happened or just not allowed. Always love the pod and keep it going. It is B, it's not allowed. These are special ceremonial contracts

that allow a player to officially, quote unquote, sign with a team and take the warmup as Little did. It's also good for availabilities. It gives a picture, a picture scenic some video the fans can see it at the press conference but it's purely a ceremonial thing and little would have to be cleared by both for both the salary cap and health wise because remember he didn't play for a few years while his contract played out he would have to be cleared in both those situations to play so it is purely purely ceremonial but you know what i do love

elliot it seems like we're seeing it more and more we saw it with brian little but when players do have their retirement night that's incorporated with a home game that they're putting the gear on they're actually getting out for the like we saw it it with Alex Edler with Vancouver. Alfredson did it a few years ago. He took warmups in Ottawa. Yes. When Kevin Bieksa, our colleague had his night, he came out on the ice in full gear again. Great moment waving to the crowd. I love that that's becoming more and more common. I think it's great. I think it's great for the fans. I think it's great for the players. I'm with you.

I think it's a fantastic idea. Fantastic. Yeah, so Chris, thank you for that question. The next one, a voicemail. Taylor in Victoria, BC. Just had a quick question about GMs and ownership. I'm wondering the last time we saw an owner actually perform as a general manager for their team I'm not a billionaire but I can't imagine it's

easy to give anybody hundreds of millions of dollars and let them just spend it how they want to anyways thanks for everything love the pot so I had to reach out to the Hall of Fame on this one, Elliot, because, I mean, gosh, my knowledge of ownership and team executives, certainly earlier than the turn of the century, is limited. So here are some names that I got. One of the current ones, not NHL related, but Mark Hunter, owner, also GM of the London Knights of the OHL.

There's one. I believe in junior hockey that would happen in a lot of places. Correct. Correct. So in terms of the NHL, Conn Smythe with the Leafs, owner, GM, coach for a time. Lester Patrick owned the Victoria Aristocats and Cougars. They were not part of the NHL. The PCHA. Wait a sec. The Aristocats or the Aristocrats?

Sorry. Aristocrats. I read that wrong. Mama, do we have to waddle like they do? Yes, dear. Think goose. Have you been watching jokes lately or reading jokes lately? Did you watch that movie recently? Oh, my God.

No, I haven't. Oh, my goodness. That was fantastic. Aristocrats. My goodness, doing this on the fly. The Aristocrats and Cougars. So they were in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. And he was part of management as well. You're not going to be able to get that out of your head now. I'm not. Okay. Good good one Lester Patrick okay and Leo Dandorand part owner of the Montreal Canadiens for a time and GM from 1919 to kind of the mid 30s those were the names uh that I was able to dig up to help answer this question we forget about the Aristocats though

what a franchise back in the day yeah yes we we certainly do it's funny before the pod we don't often check these in advance we'd like to we'd like to come in fresh but dom listened to this one and he he checked on what chat gpt and they were giving him answers like harold ballard and ted leons, people who were never actually GMs, but they were incredibly involved, which was kind of funny. You know, I will say that there have been occasional situations where I think general managers have either been offered or have taken like small, tiny minority pieces in teams. There was one not too long ago that everybody kind of suspected, but nobody really knew for sure. So I wouldn't be surprised if there were some managers who had

minority shares. But as for like actual majority owners being the GM, it happens obviously very rarely. There was a famous one in baseball about 40 years ago where Ted Turner, who owned the Atlanta Braves, actually made himself the manager for like a day. And then Major League Baseball stepped in and said, no more of this craziness. They banned it. Oh, wow. That's very Ted Turner. I didn't know about that. Yeah. Great memory on that one. And thank you, Taylor, for the question. It's a pretty famous story. I was too busy reading up on the Aristocats, clearly.

I missed that one. All right. Eric from Saskatoon. My question is regarding the cameras that the away team uses on their broadcasts. Does the home team have cameras available for the away team's broadcast? For example, when teams such as Florida make their way through Western Canada, I can't see them bringing all the cameras with them and having time to set up and tear down before they go on to the next city. Thanks for the great pod, great insider information and great hair.

I think he's talking to you about that one. It's hot air in the hair. It's back. You want to start with this one? Yeah. So it's a great question. I actually really do enjoy the television technical questions. And I actually also enjoy how much the fans are kind of interested in how the cheese sandwiches are made or the sausage gets made, whichever you prefer.

So they don't travel with cameras all the time but basically what it works is that it depends on the arena it depends on how much money you want to spend it depends on the team but for example if you're ever at say scotia bank arena because that's the arena i know best near Near the top of the lower bowl, there are about four pretty interesting like newish cameras that are always there and there's cameraman or camera people working them and those are the play-by-play cameras and basically the way it works is one camera is the home team. One camera is the visiting team. Sometimes there'll be another camera.

If there's like the French broadcast is there, the third team. And sometimes it could have like another feed. That's three or four of them. You'll see them the next time. If you ever go to a game at Scotiabank Arena, it's near the top of the lower bowl and you can't miss them once you're looking for it. But like now in this day and age where people are trying to save money a bit, especially top of the lower bowl and you can't miss them once you're looking for it but like now in this day and age where people are trying to save money a bit especially if

it's not like a huge game yes you can share cameras now the disadvantage is Kyle is that usually the home team which has more production there, they control those cameras. So your director if they want to can switch onto those cameras and they can use them or quote unquote borrow them and there's usually four or five a game that happens to but you don't control them. So you're at the mercy of whatever they put on the screen but it is not unusual for teams to share cameras like the buildings usually have dedicated cameras for the opposing broadcast but if you say oh I want a few more angles or I want to borrow some extra angles

then you can ask the home team for permission to use them when they're on. Yeah, that's correct. And typically, like the actual, as you say, the hard cameras themselves will not travel depending on the production group and how they want to go about crewing games when they're on the road. Sometimes they will have their own camera people that they will travel with, but that doesn't happen as often anymore, as you say, budget a big part of it. But certainly, like for us in the playoffs, you can imagine bigger games, a bigger traveling crew, both technically and on the production and commentating side. But that's part of it as well, because, you know, as you say, for the example, Florida

going up into Western Canada, they would likely rent a production truck that would be on site there for the day and hire a lot of their technical staff would be locals that are freelance that live in the area. And whenever, whether it's Florida, Carolina, Dallas, Los Angeles, when they come in through town, those people are often hired to work for that team's regional broadcast on that night. Well, let me ask you another follow up. OK, because I think this is interesting because you travel more in the playoffs than I do. I travel for the final and we have a big crew traveling for that. But for a like what's the basic crew that always travels for a game?

Like there's a producer that always travels. There's a director that always travels. Like what other positions do you always see? Like you're going to Boston this weekend. What other positions will always travel? So typically for us, for Leafs games on Saturdays, you're right. We have a producer that travels. The core production crew will typically always travel

and be on site with us every week. So producer, director, our statistician, our assistant director, so to help just keeping track of timing throughout the night, commercial breaks and everything. Obviously our commentators,

lead audio, our technical director, the person that's what's known as switching so actually pressing the buttons as you're watching at home that's making the cameras cut from one angle to the next or go to a replay or a graphic making all that happen our lead font coordinator also someone that's called an iso director so they sit in the back of the truck with the EVS operators. And those are the men and women that are tasked with turning around replays or any other archived video packages that we'll have ready to show at some point during the game if it calls for it, helping run all of that and be in constant contact with the producer as the the night unfolds so there's still a good amount close

to about 20 people also those that run the robotic cameras so different from the big hard cameras that that you pointed out elliot that you can see kind of on one side at the top of the 100 levels at scotia bank arena and a lot of buildings around the nhl um so again because it's the leafs that would be on the the higher side in terms of traveling production because it's the Leafs, that would be on the higher side in terms of traveling production, because it's one of the big shows for Sportsnet every week. And there's a higher number of resources that go and travel and be on site for the games. But also, too, just people on the engineering side and managing the production truck itself if anything goes wrong there have somebody that that we know to help troubleshoot that's also like those types of roles that you never see when you're watching a game from from your couch but critical to make

a broadcast work and run smoothly and in the play in, we travel what? 50 or 60 people for the final? Yeah, at least that. You're gonna get into Boston on Friday, today, and someone from the crew is gonna come up to you and say, you left out my position. I was trying to make sure I got everyone, yeah. I cannot wait to hear who says you left me out. I tried to get in as many as I could,

but I just went and looked back quickly here for the Stanley Cup final last year. Yeah, we were north of 60. Not all of them were directly involved with the broadcast itself, but it's a pretty big traveling party once you reach the Stanley Cup final, as you say, every year for us.

Good answer. Good job. Can't wait to see who you left out. Great. Thank you, Elliot. And seriously, thank you, Eric, for that question. All right. Kurt. Hello, Elliot, Kyle, and the 32 Thoughts staff. My friends and I were watching the Habs and Islanders game on the weekend. After seeing the teams get lower and lower into their lineup, looking for shooters, yeah, nine-round shootout, that one went, a question came to mind. Who has played the most NHL games without a shootout attempt?

We thank Ryan Suter, but I want to see what you come up with. Thank you, love the show. I am a new listener this year and excited for what's to come. Welcome, Kurt. Welcome. Glad to have you. Do you have a guess? Do you know the answer? I do. Okay. Okay. Okay. Is Ryan Suter the right answer? Yeah, they were bang on. number one good Jay Kurt is number one you should be hosting this podcast you shouldn't be listening to it you should be you should be the

co-host you can pick which one of us is leaving and you can take over yeah Ryan Suter when he said it I was like I can't even think of anybody better than that. Well, I'm trying to think, like, do you have a list of who else is close? Yes. Okay, hold on. Number two on this list. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Hold on. No, no, no, you hold on.

No, I would just say number two on this list behind Suter, it shocked me. That's all I would say. So Ryan Suter, 1,45 1451 career games no shootout attempts wow okay so you were shocked by number two is this an active player yes it is okay so it's somebody who you'd think of would be a score well it's just one of those like where you're going honestly he hasn't had one that was my first thought anyways you may think different oh really okay i don't know i would probably think similarly to you i am gonna go with ryan o'reilly oh good guess but no it's a good answer it's it's a good guess until he's absolutely offended, I guess that.

What, give me, narrow it down for me a bit. Okay, Metro Division. Metro Division. Is a forward. Okay, I was guessing that. You know what, there's probably some team's fans right now that's screaming it out there because they all know the answer. Started their career in Pittsburgh. Oh, okay.

I was, okay, hold on. That took away my number one guess, actually, when you said Metro Division. Who is it? Jordan Stahl. Really? He's never had a shootout attempt? You know what? This is going to be terrible because I actually forgot that Jordan Stahl started Pittsburgh.

I was going to say my first guess was going to be Sean Couturier. And then I was going to go with Connor Sherry once he said Pittsburgh. But I was like, he's not even in the Metro division. He plays in Tampa. Right. I forgot. I completely forgot he started in Pittsburgh. That's pathetic.

Yeah. Won a cup there in 09. I think five-time 20-goal scorer. And Joshua Lessard at our Sportsnet stats department said that he has appeared in 130 career games that went to a shootout never been picked now i wonder how many times where it's like okay you're up next but then the shootout ends like the guy before he would go but zero for a guy that's played over 1250 games color me surprised wow i'm shocked at that. That's a good one. Good question.

Good guess. They were right on it with the suitor. Yeah. Excellent. Welcome again to the podcast, Kurt. Yep. Future co-host. Okay. It's right. Dom Schmady will be in touch with you shortly. Okay, Elliot, we are finishing the thought line this week with not a question, but one thought was a neat one to wrap up with. Sean from Durham, North Carolina. Kyle, Elliot, and Dom. I was listening to the pod on my drive into work and caught the question about donated hats from hat tricks.

I work for a homeless service at a not-for-profit in Durham, Open Table Ministry, and we have previously received hats from the Carolina Hurricanes. The specific hat trick was Marty Natchez against the Avalanche this past February, a natural hat trick in the first period, I might add. The hats really make a difference for folks experiencing homelessness and are a point of connection for people who love hockey. I have had multiple neighbors I work with proudly show me their Canes hats. Just wanted to drop this quick line to say how impactful the work NHL teams do in their communities, especially my beloved Canes. Thanks for the pod, gentlemen, and let's go Canes.

How cool is that? Well, great job. First of all, thank you for sending in that note. We really appreciate that you would share that with us. appreciate that you would share that with us. Secondly, good job to the Canes and good jobs to any other teams that donate because I'm sure that the people who have those hats donated to

feel just as empowered and good about themselves as those people who got the Carolina hats did. So that's fantastic stuff. Really appreciate you sharing it. Yeah, wonderful stuff, Sean. Thank you again. And a final time, the number for the thought line, 1-833-311-3232, 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca.

When we come back, our sit-down interview with Philip Broberg of the St. Louis Blues. Stay tuned. okay welcome back to 32 thoughts the podcast as mentioned earlier this week elliot and i got a chance to sit down with philip broberg of the st louis blues uh the night before he and the st louis blues beat the Maple Leafs in their building, Broberg opened the scoring on Thursday night. But before that, and after bearing Toronto traffic to get to their hotel downtown, he was able to spend a few minutes with us. We talked about the crazy summer it was for Broberg with the offer sheet.

summer it was for Broberg with the offer sheet and Elliot had a great question about who he kept that news from until it all became public and of course the playoff run with the Edmonton Oilers as well so here now our chat with Philip Broberg okay I want to play true or false with you two questions number one true or false when you knew about the offer sheet you didn't tell your parents true why didn't you tell them because you never know it's going to happen until it happens so no need to speculate or when you never know if it would happen until, you know, it did happen. What did they say when they found out about it? Well, of course, they were happy for me and, you know,

wanted to hear what I thought about it and everything. So, you know, they were happy for me. Okay, second question, true or false, you went to Connor McDavid's wedding knowing that this was going to happen, but you didn't tell a soul? False. Okay, all right. Like, you know, you never know what's going to happen.

Obviously, I was at the wedding, incredible wedding, and, you know, you never know what's going to happen, obviously. Okay, okay, because one of the stories that we heard was like, you knew it was going to happen, but you're like, I'm not interfering with this wedding. I'm not saying a word about it. No, that's not true. Okay. Too bad, because it would have been a great story. So when did you get a sense, though, then, that, you know, this season you were

likely, or there was a chance you'd be somewhere other than Edmonton? When did that thought first start to come into your mind? You always hear noise, you know, that stuff could happen and, you know, stuff started to come up. It was a possibility and, you know, when it finally did happen, obviously I was intrigued and, you know, I thought it was a great opportunity for me and, you know, I'm glad it happened. I had a good time in Edmonton and enjoyed it.

But I think I was ready for a new chapter. It's interesting you say that because there are some players in the past that they've been asked by their agents, would you consider an offer sheet? And they said, no, I don't want to do that. So when Darren Ferris, who represents you, first said this could happen, was there any part of you that said, you know what, I don't want to be the guy who's going through this?

You always think twice. Obviously, it's a big decision, and you've got to think about all the possibilities and all the pros and cons. And, you know, I think, you know, I'm happy with my decision. I took my time to think about it and, you know, I'm happy to be blue. What was it like when it got out? What was your phone like? You know, it was busy, obviously, that whole week. You didn't know what's going to happen, obviously.

You know, friends reaching out and stuff. But, you know, I'm glad it's over. And, you know, it's not like that anymore. What was the funniest text or phone call or the strangest or wildest text or phone call you got? Nothing that really sticks out. Everybody was just wondering what's going on and what it meant. I think not everybody knows what it meant. So you just had to do some explaining,

I guess. Did you learn anything about yourself just going through it and something that is so public and that everyone was talking about? what was your takeaways after the dust settled um i think uh you know obviously it was a stressful time and you know i think the biggest thing was that you just gotta um do what you can control and you know just go to work during off season and go and train and do what you can do and not be on social media too much obviously not read as much were you good at that I was so I just tried to stay away I understand that Dylan took a bit more convincing and there was a big call that happened with you and Dylan and like I guess your representatives were on it did you talk Dylan into saying yes to this at all? No, like you said, we were on a call together

and talking about the possibility and everything that could happen. And we both shared our opinion, and we both ended up being blue. and we both ended up being blue. So I'm happy that I got Holloway with me to blues. I think that made the transition easier for both of us. Did you talk him into it? No, I think he has his own decision, obviously. But I'm glad that he came with with me I think that helped for sure

you know made the transition easier I didn't know a lot of guys on the team before so made it easier to have Halsey with me Now did like when this was getting close what did you think was going to happen like after it was

signed and Edmonton had the week like what did you think was going to happen? Did you think they were going to match or did you think they weren't going to match? Honestly, I had no clue obviously. I didn't really I actually didn't know.

I, you know, you sit there and wait for the decision I guess and you know,, just wait to see where you're going to be playing that year. What excited you about St. Louis? Because it was reported you have a couple of teams that were interested in the summer. What about

St. Louis? Well, I think they have a very good team and, you know, a lot of good young players coming up and you know, I think it's a good opportunity for me to you know looking to help the team in any way I can. Did you do you think of it as I've even though I don't have final control and decision I'm a blue I signed with the blues I would like to be a blue

like does that is that the way you think or do you think I can't get too excited about it because I could still be an oiler? Well, it's always a possibility that they could match, I guess. But, yeah, of course, when you sign it, you think that you're blue. But, you know, I think we took the decision to sign the off-sheet, obviously. And, you know, I'm just happy to be blue right now. So then, last one for me on this topic. Once it all kind of unfolded, who was the first, I guess now current teammate in St. Louis to reach out, and what was that interaction like? Do you remember?

Like the first person that reached out? Yeah, with the blues that would have said, hey, welcome. reached out yeah with the blues that would have said hey welcome um probably shanner uh reached out just uh text and uh we uh jumped on a call after as well so i think he was one of the first i reached out but a lot of guys reached out as well did any have any players like just outside of the owners of the blues said anything to you about it? Like talked about it? Yeah, or just spoken to you about it? Not really. And I think like everybody knows it's a business side to things in between players and, you know, everybody kind of understands

and, you know, wishes everybody well, you know, and good luck. Because one player who doesn't know you, I just got to talk to him and I sent him a note that we were speaking. And, you know, he said, tell him thanks. And because that's going to create more of this. And there's always one person that has to go first. And particularly in hockey, it's not easy to be the person who stands up and says, I'm going to do this. And his reaction was, tell him thanks, because we hope it's going to be the first of many.

What do you think about that? Well, I think it was a very special circumstance, I guess. You know, it's not a lot of off-sheets happening. But, you know, I think it happened with two players going to a new team. I think, you know, well, it was exciting for sure. But I guess we'll have to find out if it's going to happen more. And you're glad that you're not going to be the next one? Yeah.

I guess the last one on this particular topic for me is Kyle mentioned there were other teams. Did you think it was going to be St. Louis or did you think it was going to be someone else? Well, like I said before, you never know until it happened and I'm glad it became St. Louis that, you know, did it. And I'm glad to be blue. I take it you're not going to tell us who else was involved.

I actually don't know. Okay. Okay. You know, obviously I just wanted to ask you about last season. You had a great playoff once you got in. How did you feel after it was all over? Obviously we had a great playoff run there, and, you know, we came very close to the ultimate goal.

So obviously it took some time to kind of let that go, but obviously it was fun to get in and play some games during the playoffs. The Dallas series, right? You come in game four. I remember it felt like there was so much tension around everything going into that game. I mean, you guys had dropped game three. It was only 2-1 in the series, but it just felt the magnitude was so high. So you play that game you win but

your goal in game five to make it three nothing at the time on the road I just remember the whole building like everything changed there when you made it three nothing it was like the Dallas fans were going oh my gosh like the series is slipping away what do you remember about that moment and that night uh no obviously it was great to get into the playoffs there in game four. And, you know, I just remember it was off the face of it, I believe, and just tried to get it to the net. And it was, I was glad to see it go in, obviously, and went up winning the game and that series as well. So, no, it was exciting times for sure. Right. Posting in, like I wasn't just saying no it was exciting times for sure right posting in like it wasn't just saying it was it was perfectly placed yeah no it was uh yeah it was um posting in and you know just happy when in

what does that do for a player's confidence i wonder obviously you're waiting there patiently to hopefully get a chance and then to have a moment like that like how much does that change how you feel on the ice on the bench everything after that point um i think is to get into the playoffs and play and feel like you can help the team and it's for sure a confident boost and you know feeling like you could help the team win games and you know contribute and i think that's the biggest thing and for sure brings confidence. Having Paul Coffey to work with there in Edmonton, was there one thing that he said or advice that he gave you that you think, yeah, as time goes on here, that's always going to be somewhere in my mind?

Yeah, I think Coffey was always great. And I think the biggest thing was he wanted me to play my game and make plays out there and you know trust myself and you know I wanted to make plays and you know and yeah he's make plays pretty much. You can see the confidence grow on you as as the deeper Edmonton went you guys beat Dallas you go on to the final how did you feel differently after the season was over? Well I think is you start to reflect over the year and it was a very up and down year and spent a lot of time in Bakersfield and you know came up in the end of the season and got the chance to play in the playoffs and I just

tried to play as I did in the AHL and tried to bring that game and fast hockey and use my skating as much as I can and I think that for sure helped my confidence that I felt like I could play in the playoffs which was always fun. Too much left side in Edmonton right like you looked at it and it was just like there were too many bodies there is that what it looked like to you? Well I think yeah they have a very good D core in Edmonton and you know you have Ekholm great player Nurse also very good player Kulak the same and so I had to play a lot on my offside, and I've done that a lot in Sweden before.

So I'm used to it, for sure. But it's different playing the right side on the smaller ice. It's too fast. Yeah, it makes you kind of stuck in some situation, I guess, on the right side. But I've done it before, and, you know, I was comfortable playing outside as well. You know, one of the stories they told me was,

I guess you had a game in Bakersfield last year. You had played like 38 minutes, and they went up to you after the game, and they said, how do you feel? And you said, something like I could have played five more. And they kind of laughed about it. They said, this is a confident guy, like a really confident guy. Yeah, no, I remember that game. And, you know, I played a lot of minutes down there,

and it was, you know, a lot of fun. A great group of guys down there. And, you know, I think for sure it helped my game to kind of go down there and play a lot of minutes, important minutes, and, you know, kind of bring that game up here then. So I was looking, I mean, you've had three games in your career prior to this season of logging north of 20 minutes in a game.

You've already done that four times this season out of the gate. How different is the game for yourself when you're at that workload as opposed to something a lot less? Well, I think you get into games quicker and you start to feel more comfortable and confident out there

as well. You start to get into the flow I would say. I for sure think it makes you go and play on your instincts more, I would say. What's your VO2 score? I'm curious now. It was a long time ago since I did it, but I believe I was maybe 63, somewhere around there. So pretty, like Duncan Keith is like the legendary guy.

I think he's the guy who got into the 70s. Yeah. And Thomas Chabot is the guy who says, like, I can play 40 minutes because I don't feel it out there. You're one of those guys too, right? Like, you can just go forever? Well, I would believe I trained pretty hard in summers and tried to stay prepared.

would believe I trained pretty hard in summers and tried to stay prepared. But, you know, I think I tried to use my skating as much as I can and, you know, tried to, yeah, I think just kind of, yeah, I used to use my skating as much as I can. Is there anybody out there you've seen that you say that's the way I like to emulate? The way I like to copy or keep an eye on? To copy my game? Or just like the

way that has that high level of stamina that can play as much as you can or Shabbat can and you say that's what I can do. I can do something like that too. Well I as you can or Shabbat can, and you say, like, that's what I can do. I can do something like that, too. Well, I think you have a lot of D-men in this league that log a lot of minutes.

You know, you have Heiskanen, obviously, that plays a lot of minutes for Dallas, and you have a lot of other guys as well that, you know, logs a lot of minutes. So I think, you know, I think it's an advantage for sure. Swedes aren't supposed to say nice things about Finns, you know that. I know, I know. I heard you're a heck of a soccer player too.

Is that true? And perhaps does that play a role in your endurance as well? I wouldn't say I'm a great soccer player. I don't know who said that. I would say I'm an okay soccer player. So I'm not sure who told you that. They said, yeah, you're good at soccer and you think you're good at golf. That's what I was told.

That might be fair. Good. Do you win the pregame soccer a lot, the sewer ball? I call myself pretty average, I would say. I win sometimes and sometimes I don't. I play a lot though, for sure. But I win sometimes and sometimes I don't obviously who's good like that in on our team yeah um I think PO PO is good who who's not good and thinks they're good I uh who think they're they're good isn't. I'll say Holloway. And in golf, who's not good and thinks they're good? Besides you, apparently.

Right. Most people I play golf with are, like, that play hockey is very good, I would say. I'm always really impressed, like, just walking by sometimes and catching you guys playing sewer ball before games. Like, for hockey players, there's a lot of good ball control out there. I imagine the level of those games can get pretty high at times when you've got some good players when it comes down to the nitty-gritty of the game. Yeah, it gets intense sometimes. Some days are better than some, I would say.

But I think you play a lot throughout the year, and so I think it gets better for every game. I just want to ask, too, about your jersey number. So you're wearing six, and it seemed like you wore a number of different ones, right? You're 86 in Edmonton. I saw, like, 5, 4, 25, 2. What led you to six? Clearly, you're not superstitious about it. Clearly you're not superstitious about it. Well, I think, you know, a lot of the numbers I've had in the past were taken here in St. Louis. And, you know, I think, you know, I think it's a classic number to have a single digit number. And so, you know, it ended up being six.

And, you know, I like it so far. Great. Yeah. You look good in it, too. Best thing about St. Louis? The restaurants. I think they had some very good hidden restaurants, and, you know, so, no, it's been good. For the foodies who listen to this podcast, where do you have to go in St. Louis, and what do you eat there? A lot of pasta. A lot of pasta. I think they have a lot of good pasta restaurant. Are you a chicken parm guy?

No. I like ravioli. Ravioli is a favorite of mine. Meat or cheese? I think both is great, to be honest. Either is acceptable. And I guess I just wanted to ask you about the final last year. Like we've seen in the Amazon documentary a lot of interesting things about the Oilers at the final. What stood out for you, either in those two scenes or just in general? What stood out for you?

Throughout, like, the finals? Yeah. Well, I think the resilience of the group were down three nothing and you know obviously we came back to force a game seven so I would say that and I think it showed you know a lot of emotions in locker room I guess you know but I think you know it's it's all fun looking back to it and you know I think it was a great experience obviously we didn't win it but you know you try to take as much experience you can from that. Are you nervous at all about going back there this year as a Blue? No I think it'll be fun and you know. They obviously have a good team there, and I think it's going to be a good game.

Last one for me is you said you took a step in those playoffs, understandably. So what's next for you? Where would you like to go from there? Just get better every day. I think you try to take steps every summer, every season, and you get better. And I think you try to obviously take from the playoffs and go from there and try to get better throughout the year. And just last one for me.

Players go through a lot of things in their careers. There's ups, there's downs. You went through a thing this summer where there was a lot of attention to it for any player who might be nervous about anything like this in the future what's the advice you would give them um just trust yourself and you know don't be on social media too much obviously and just not watching your phone too much i I would say. Excellent advice. I think for everybody everywhere in the world, not watching social media on the phone is great advice.

Yeah. Philip, this was awesome. Thank you so much for doing this. Congrats on your start and all the best the rest of the way. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. Okay, so thank you to Dan O'Neill and the St. Louis Blues for helping arrange that conversation for us.

Thank you to Stephen Coyle, who helped manage all the audio technical side for that interview. That'll do it for us. This edition of 32 thoughts, the podcast reminder tonight, Friday night, you can see nationally on Sportsnet one, the Edmonton Oilers host Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Congratulations to Craig McTavish. He'll be honored going into the Oilers' Wall of Fame after the game on Friday night as well.

It gets underway at 9 Eastern, 7 Mountain Time. Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday. Hockey Central Saturday gets underway, 6.30 Eastern. We talked about it earlier. Toronto, Boston at 7 Eastern. Montreal, St. Louis, WIP and Calgary, all the early games, Vancouver, Pittsburgh. Double dose of the pens this weekend on the network is the nightcap.

Enjoy all of it. Have yourselves a great weekend. We'll talk to you on Monday.