32 Thoughts: The Podcast - From The Green Monster

Episode Date: January 2, 2023

We’re in Boston! Jeff and Elliotte chat about the Winter Classic from the Green Monster. They talk Bruins (4:10), Penguins (8:30), how players feel about these events (11:50), Heritage Classic in Edmonton next season (24:30) and Steve Mayer joins the guys to tour Fenway Park and talks about the All-Star Game in Florida (16:40).They also touch on some news including the contract extension for Joe Pavelski (25:30), J.T. Miller (32:00), the direction of the Maple Leafs (34:10), the return of Eric Comrie (36:00), the Blues (37:40) and the biggest takeaway from 2022 (39:40).GET YOUR 32 THOUGHTS MERCH HEREEmail the podcast at [e-mail] or call The Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailMusic Outro: Rudy Norman - Back to the StreetsListen to the full track HEREThis podcast was mixed by Mike Rogerson, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

That is so good. Beat on the glass. That's awesome. People are so good. That's awesome. Beat on the glass. Elliot, in my hockey life, because we all have a number of different lives,

but in my hockey life, there is nowhere that I would rather be right now, on January 1st, as we record this podcast at 3.56 Eastern than right here at Fenway Park in advance of the Winter Classic. Now, let me make sure I have this correct. Yes. You have never been to a baseball game here.

Maiden voyage at Fenway. game here. Maiden Voyage at Fenway. If you told 12-year-old me that I would be at Fenway Park, not to see a baseball game, but to see a hockey game, I don't know how I would have reacted. But here I am. I've always wanted to go to Fenway. I know you've been. Jeff, I am disgusted by this information. What are you doing with your life? No, I know. I know. It's ridiculous. I've always put off getting to Fenway, but here I am nonetheless. So here it is, the podcast. This is a pretty cool thing to do too. So Elliot and I are on top of the Green Monster right now. This is 32 Thoughts to Podcast brought to you by GMC and the Sierra AT4X. We're on top of the Green Monster. Tomorrow is the Winter Classic, but it is January 1st. And I want to ask you one bit of trivia that I got from Stan Narodka, our stats man at Hockey Night in Canada. Who holds the record for most goals scored by an NHL-er born on January 1st? The answer is in this game.

Oh, really? Who's a New Year's baby in this game? His name rhymes with meth martyr. this game his name rhymes with meph martyr jeff carter with 424 goals oh my god that was that was by the way your best bet that you've ever done on the podcast his name rhymes with meph marmer that was that was good thanks bobby holick is number two by the the way. That was really good. So if you've never been to Fenway Park, well, first of all, I should say that I believe this is the 18th outdoor game I've been to since it started again in 2003 with the Heritage Classic between the Canadians and the Oilers at Commonwealth Stadium.

And you just started thawing out after that. You just finally thawed. That was cold, cold, cold, but a great, great event. One of the highlights of my career, I went to the first eight and then I think this is the 18th I've been to. And, you know, I mentioned to some people that we were going to this today and they're like, ah, I've seen it. I'm not really into it anymore. Look, I get it. I get it why some people think that, but i used to think that too you know when i was going to all those ones early on i'd be like another one and then you'd get there and you'd be caught up in the excitement like we're here with our crew our great crew have

worked really hard today when we got into fenway and we walked out of that corridor onto the field it really does take your breath away and you get caught up in the excitement and you realize you're here and you look at Pesky's pole in right field and you realize the TV does not do that justice and you look at the green monster and like you said we're sitting on top of the monster seats and you see the rink here you get caught up in it this is going to be a lot of fun and uh i haven't been to as many of these in the last few years particularly ones that have been in the united states i'm really excited to be back the sights the sounds the games the music as well which is a big part of it the festival which is a big part of it as well the horns which, which is right now signaling for the Boston Bruins and their families to get off the ice so they can flood

and allow the Pittsburgh Penguins a chance to skate here. We're going to hear from Steve Mayer, by the way, NHL, who essentially Steve, I mean, one of his mini titles is chief content officer, but he puts a lot of these tentpole events together. You're going to hear from him in a couple of moments here, but I just wanted to get your thoughts on these two teams specifically and where they're at. Because I look at Pittsburgh and I look at Boston and there's a couple of symmetries here. I mean, there's the Boston Bruins.

Obviously, they're hosting. The Pittsburgh Penguins were owned by Fenway. We're at Fenway. And both these teams have an element of we're keeping the band together for a couple of more swings at this thing. We made a lot about Malkin and Letang re-upping. Crosby obviously still there. Brian Rust keeping the band together to try to squeeze some more out of this group

that's already delivered Stanley Cups. Say the same thing about the Boston Bruins. We didn't know that Patrice Bergeron was coming back. We didn't know that David Krejci was coming back. The David Pasternak contract question, that hangs out there and looms over the Boston Bruins organization and their future. Where is Elliott Friedman at with both these teams? Look, the Boston Bruins are number one in the league. They're a serious Stanley Cup contender. Now, there's a number of Bruin fans wondering about a report that came on

the weekend about David Pasternak closing in on a contract extension eight times 11. I believe that's premature. Now, I do think it's possible that that is a contract that the Bruins have to consider doing. Like, it wouldn't shock me if when this is all over that David Posnock re-signs in Boston for something that's right around 8 times 11. But I think it's premature right now. I don't think it's anywhere near close to that. But the Bruins know that that's something they're going to have to think about. And again, Jeff, I've said it to you several times.

I think they're going to have to do it, or at least something close to that. I really do. So I think Boston could win the Stanley Cup this year. I think the more interesting question is, what are they going to add? Like, do they think that they have to add a big piece? Do they think they have to add a couple of smaller pieces? When the Boston Bruins take a look at trying to win the Stanley Cup this year, which they're going to do,

I'm going to be very curious about what they see as it's important for them to do. You know, last year, the beginning of the season, when a couple of defensemen were making headlines, John Klingberg and Jacob Trickman, Boston was one of those teams that did inquire, a lot of teams did, about Jacob Trickman. We all know they did the hampus lynn home deal he's a huge part so i don't know that they take a swing for a big defenseman if anything like

anyone else like like any team that has an elite squad and has aspirations and expectations of going deep what are we always here depth yeah depth depth i don't know that i see boston taking huge swings here like bo horvat swings do you to me if they're doing horvat they're doing it because they think they can sign them and that might be an indication of one of the other centers as well like that's the thing like if you listen to this podcast you've heard me say things like the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior why Why did Boston do Lindholm? Because they could keep him. You know, one of the things that's happening in this market this year

is that you look at what has happened in the past couple years. David Savard got a first and a third rounder. Claude Giroux got a first rounder in Owen Tippett. Ben Chirot got a first rounder that looms very large right now and a prospect for Montreal. You're the draft guy. You know these players better than me. There's a lot of teams that aren't crazy about trading their first round picks this year. Yes. Now, I think this is easier said in January than it is in February or March, but I do get the sense right now that there's a lot of teams saying that

we think the prices paid the last couple of years were outrageous and we don't want to do that again i think it's easy to say i think it's much harder to do but i look at boston hang on one pause on one is that managers saying that or is that because i don't believe that there's owners saying that i think owners look at that and say it's just going to be a first round pick and you mean I might get a Stanley Cup out of it? I think there's even some managers who say that. That's why it's poker right now. I think some of these teams feel that there's going to be more supply

out there. There's a couple of elite players, but other than that, if you decide to go for depth, they think there's going to be some options. To me, if the Bruins are doing something like that, say for argument's sake, Bo Horvat, I'm wondering if they're thinking they're going to be able to sign him. options. To me, if the Bruins are doing something like that, say for argument's sake, for argument's sake, Bo Horvat, I'm wondering if they're thinking

they're going to be able to sign him. Curious, before we get to Steve Mayer here, because we want to play some of this interview, and the longer form will appear soon, a couple of things on Pittsburgh here then quickly. We wonder what the Boston Bruins might be up to now that the calendar is turned, and we have eyes,

pro scouting meetings are happening, and managers are getting all their ducks in a row and getting to business in advance of trade deadline. We talk about what the Boston Bruins may be up to. What about the Penguins? See, I look at the Penguins and I always start from the bottom of they're going for it, right? Because they always go for it. You don't re-up with Malkin in the tank. Without doing it. always go for it. You don't re-up with Malkin in the tank. Without doing it. I'm really curious to know, what do the Penguins think they are? Because they've had

some wild swings this year, and they've had some guys like Dumoulin, who I really like, hasn't had a great season. Kapanen, who I've always thought had all the tools to be a heck of a player, has had a wildly inconsistent season.

At times he's looked real good for each. Like, that's the thing. When I look at Pittsburgh, I just wonder about what do they think they really have here? And they're a team that doesn't have a lot of room and flexibility to do things. So I think if they do something, it's going to be close to the end before the deadline. So they have time to figure this out.

Like, one of the teams we talked about on Saturday night was Toronto. I think Toronto is taking a step back from what they thought they were going to do to now we have some more time to figure out what we really need. When I look at Pittsburgh, I still feel the same way. You know, what do they think they are and where do they think they really need the most help? Because like I look at a guy like Dumoullin in particular who i i really like as a player and the year he's had they're probably thinking we're not going to need to worry about this this year yeah and now unfortunately they've

kind of looked at it and said we gotta wait to see what we've really got here you know i i just don't know that after you do the deals with rust and Malkin and Letang, how you go into any season, approach any deadline, and not say we have to go for it. Like, that's why we brought these guys back. I'm not doubting at all they're going for it. I just wonder if they're kind of sitting here and thinking, like, for example, I got a call this morning, and this is just spitballing.

I don't want anyone to go crazy with this. But we were talking briefly last night about Jake McCabe. And, you know, the Athletic had a couple of really interesting interviews this week with some of the Chicago players, like Ian Mitchell, frustrated he hasn't been playing very much. I think the Blackhawks feel they're going to sort that one out. You know, Jake McCabe, you know, basically he's close to where he grew up. He went to Chicago for a reason. But, you know, he's been in Buffalo and Chicago.

He's never had an opportunity to win, and he wants to win. And I don't think the Blackhawks are in any hurry to trade Jake McCabe because I think they really like him. But I think they also recognize that this is a player who wants to win, and there are going to be teams, and I think Edmonton would potentially be one of them, that are going to call and say I think Edmonton would potentially be one of them that are going to call and say what are you thinking here and you know someone called me this morning

he said you know for argument's sake if I was Pittsburgh that would be a guy that I would be calling Chicago and saying look he's locked in you know what his number is is that a guy that would make any sense for Pittsburgh so but at the beginning of the year you're probably not thinking that so that's the point I'm trying to make beginning of the year, you're probably not thinking that. So that's the point I'm trying to make, Jeff, is that I think they're still going for it, but I wonder if they're trying to figure out what exactly it is they have to go after first. I want to hear from Steve Mayer here in a couple of moments.

Quickly, before we get there, we talk about checking boxes if you're a player, things you want to do. First goal, first fight, first Stanley Cup playoff game, Stanley Cup, all of the trophies how much does this mean to players now like when you join the nhl when you make it to the nhl how many of these guys are now saying by the time it's done i want to have played in at least one of these i think that there's a horn check the lights I don't know if I I don't know where on the list it would be

but the one thing I do think is that the players who do play in it really love it we can see with the families out there the family skate is big but also I think it breaks up your season it's different it's unique.

While we're recording this, they just ran a commercial on the video scoreboard with a guy in the stereotypical Boston accent saying how Sidney Crosby is not going to ruin the Bruins' day. And it just reminded me of another great moment I was very fortunate enough to have in my career where I was the sideline reporter, the ringside reporter for the game in Buffalo where Crosby scored in overtime to beat the Sabres. And, you know, we got the chance to interview Crosby at center ice right after he'd scored. And it was so incredible. There was light snow falling.

He scores the goal. I don't think it was light snow. It was at that time. It felt like it to me. The crowd was booing him, which he kind of laughed about a little bit. And he said he felt like he was in Gladiator. I always remembered that interview. That was a fun moment. I always refer to that as the snow globe game.

Because watching that one, I remember I was doing Hockey Night in Canada radio, and we were watching it. And I remember saying to Jeff Domet, our producer producer this looks like it's being played in a snow globe like and you know what that was what that one turned me on winter classics because initially i said when when when people were talking about and we had all we'd all seen the heritage classic as well at commonwealth but i remember the idea was, okay, we're going to try this, and if it's a success, we'll do more of them. And I was of the mind that this thing should be done once every four years,

like on an Olympic cycle. But don't burn it out. It's a good idea, but don't do it every year. But after seeing that one, I was like, no, no, no, no, no. This needs to be every year in the NHL. I believe every fan in every market should have the opportunity to go. And the NHL's trying to get there. I don't know if that'll ever happen.

But what was one of the more successful recent ones? Dallas-Nashville. Dallas looked great. Did you ever think you would see something like that? And it was a fifth-deck homer. You've got to let people have the opportunity to see this. Let me ask you about that Dallas one. Because the enduring image to me,

well, there was that. The image here was the long Corey Perry walkout. Whenever I think of that, Dallas. I had some nights like that in university. I think we've all had nights like that, Elliot, in our lives. But that walk by Corey Perry. like that, Elliot, in our lives. But that walk by Corey Perry.

That's what I think. It looked like Dallas looked fantastic. Nashville looked fantastic. But that was the enduring image for me was the Corey Perry walk of shame on that one. That was great stuff. You remember the first one, A, how cold it was, how brittle the ice was.

That's the story about that first game. The Edmonton-Montreal one? Yeah, Edmonton-Montreal. The no-hitter? The no-hitter. And you've told this story before on the pod. That game was close to not getting played. Oh, yeah.

And the players just said, no, the 50-50 is $300 million. We can't not play this. Now, there was an agreement, so everybody knows, between both teams that nobody was going to hit. I know hockey fans hate hearing that, but go back and watch the game. Montreal and Edmonton both agreed no one's hitting out here. It's too cold. But if you take a look at, for example,

and they've had some unfortunate situations like a couple years ago in Tahoe, which I thought was a great idea. Oh, it looks so good. I hate when people punish good ideas I thought was a great idea. Oh, it looks so good. I know. I hate when people punish good ideas. Like, it was a good idea. The sun was a problem. They had to reschedule. But I thought it was really a good thing. They're so much better now at putting the rink together.

They've come so far in the technology around it. I think it's something players really do like. Okay, so with the sounds of shipping up to Boston. This is the perfect soundtrack for Fenway Park. It really is. That and Sweet Caroline. Earlier today, we had the tour of Fenway from the one and only Steve Mayer, Chief Content Officer from the NHL,

giving us an idea of what we're going to see and also what we're going to hear as well on uh on on january the second around the boston bruins and the pittsburgh penguins let's hear from steve mayor some of that interview on the podcast all right the show it's the hockey and it's the show black keys black keys first intermission about a 10 minute set we're going to show you as we do our walk another stage and another Boston iconic organization, the Boston Pops. So the Boston Pops Orchestra, 72 strong, will be performing all throughout the game. That's our house band. So they're going to be sitting out here all day?

The whole game, they're sitting out there. Every time we take a break, rather than playing, you know, DJ music, we're going to the Boston Pops. They're gonna be part of the opening with the players' introductions and the Star Spangled Banner, and they're gonna join the Black Keys for the first intermission. So it's, like, really cool, very different, very unique. You know it's become a big part of these games, the sort of the music, the presentation, the entertainment. There's not a lot of cities where music like that would work. This city, it works. So I have to admit I had the pleasure in my

past life of producing the Boston Pops 4th of July on CBS. So I got to know them really well. In this city, they're rock stars. Keith Lockhart is their conductor. Super cool. And they connect orchestra music and pop music. So I think it works. I think it's going to be really different.

Sound huge. I mean, it's a full-blown orchestra. And I think it's something we've never done before. And we're going to give it a try. But here it works. Like this place, you know, we're going to do Sweet Caroline. We're going to do Shippin' Up to Boston. Sing along songs throughout.

And when they're singing along to an orchestra, I think the fans will get a kick out of it. I think that's super cool. I do want to stick with the theme of sound here. Elliot and I did about 10 or 15 minutes on the podcast a couple of months ago about hockey sounds and our favorite hockey sounds. To me, it's the crossbar. Also, the blades digging into the ice.

And in a traditional hockey arena, it doesn't matter where you are you can hear that this is a little more spread out you know you're right in the back how do you make sure that i can hear crossbars if i'm last seat at the the top of fenway here or i can hear blades in the ice so this is nothing against the sound system at fenway or the sound system at Fenway, or the sound system anywhere. We just felt, to your point, like the sounds of hockey are so unique. And, you know, again, in a big stadium, we want to make everything feel big. So you'll see as you look around this entire arena or stadium, you know, we've installed 12 speaker banks.

All the audio is produced by the league. We've got mics everywhere on that rink and we've brought our own audio in. And I have to admit, we pump it. Like we want you to feel like you're in the game, lean in. And we felt the best way to do it is to sort of manufacture our own audio system. It's actually funny. A couple of places that we've been have actually realized, wow, we could do our audio better. And after we've left, they've either inquired about keeping this system or doing something better. Because, again, I think everything we do is it's visual and it's audio. Like you can look at pretty pictures all day long but when you have the right sound it takes it to a whole nother level and hockey has the right

sounds like to your point you can sort of hear the skates the checks the boards the guy's just yelling whether you can make out what they're saying or not there's that constant chatter and it adds to the experience okay that's the sounds now we want to go to the monster take us to the monster steve let's go i mean this place is well known around the world green monster is is the the place everybody wants to see this thing. And it's really cool. I've been here now probably ten times. Will there be people sitting there during the game? There will be people on top of the monster. So the seats are available. Yeah, I just think it's so cool. It's just so different. Let's go. Let's go. Alright, so he's great. And we don't want to ruin too much so people can watch later today.

But there's one other thing we wanted to ask him about jeff and that is a rumor about the all-star game in florida yes next month correct so almost roll the clip is this rumor of a dunk tank at the all-star game true it is i am here to tell you it is not a rumor. I am here to tell you that you are completely accurate, and whoever is feeding you information is pretty incredible. Yeah, so we're going to do outdoor events, as we have done at other All-Stars, actually last year.

And, you know, we knew we wanted to do something that would feed to the you know fort lauderdale the beach the sun looked at a lot of different ideas we're going to actually do two events and then a third event which i've mentioned might involve an animal or two that's very synonymous and well known in florida i'm not going to say anything else because last time you guys got me in trouble. You got me in trouble. Yeah, so one of the events is an event on the beach that will be pretty cool. It combines accuracy shooting and getting wet. And therefore, a dunk tank, which I think will be a lot of fun,

is a part of our event on the beach. And actually, our other event, which I think is going to also be a lot of fun, you know, obviously Florida known for another sport, that's golf. And we're going to combine hockey and golf in a way that you've never seen before. There's a very famous island hole. Yes. And we're going to play hockey golf're gonna we're gonna play hockey golf we're gonna play hockey golf and i'll leave is there a happy gilmore theme happy gilmore inspired very well could be yes uh by the time it's done uh yeah i think the players will really have a lot

of fun uh we're gonna make it difficult yet you know they'll get a laugh or two and in the end of the day we might find their puck or their ball depending on where they're hitting from in the drink so we've got two events that involve water in some ways but we just want to have some fun

but at the same time it's a skills competition and we think in both the events that we're going to do outside, it really does test these guys' skills. Jeff? Yes? Will you go in the dunk tank? I'd go in the dunk tank. You would?

You wouldn't? No. This is life, man. You've jumped out of planes before. Yes, I have. And you won't go in a dunk tank. But I jumped out of a plane on my own choice. I don't want anyone.

Because you know what? Here's what's going to happen. If I go sit on the dunk tank, BX is not even going to shoot. He's going to run and push it, and I'm not letting him have that visual. This is life, man. You check boxes in your life. Remember when I did this goofy thing? Yeah, man.

Of course you would. So we look forward to that. One more thing about classics before I get to some news, although it is news and we talked about this last night and you guys had the story on Hockey Night, Heritage Classic, Battle of Alberta. Well, obviously I think there's a lot of people looking forward to this. The first one that kind of started this new wave was mentioned was 20 years ago in Edmonton. And so they didn't want to go in November again. They wanted it now. I had some people send me notes that October 29th of this year in Alberta, in Edmonton, it was cold. So they're trying it a

little bit earlier. So hopefully it won't be quite as cold. Not much, but I'm looking forward to it. Oilers, Flames, Battle of Alberta. Again, it's going to be a spectacular show, and everybody who goes is going to have a great time. Listen to 32 Thoughts, the podcast, ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Okay, so just some news. And the news today is Joe Pavelski.

And the one-year contract extension, it does very much feel like Joe Pavelski is going to be one of these evergreen players. I'm going to go year to year and just see how I feel. You know, Jeff, I have had a week of stupid. Truly successful people in the world are detail-oriented and they're always on top of things. I have had a lousy week of details, and I am more than slightly annoyed with myself.

So last week it was not being on top of when everybody traveled. And, you know, I worked the Toronto-St. Louis regional game without realizing that Toronto had made a false start. Early start. This week, I was working on January 1st. Anybody who signs a one-year deal is eligible to sign an extension. I was going around. I was making calls. I think Ethan Bear in Vancouver, I think they're going to talk this week. I don't think there's a guarantee that anything's happening this week, but I think they're going to talk this week. I don't think there's a guarantee that anything's happening this week,

but I think they're going to talk this week. I was checking on Dylan Stroman in Washington, and I just heard that there was nothing going on there. A little surprised because he's been good there, but I know they've got a lot of business to deal with. And I looked at Pavelski, and I'm like, okay, last year he signed on March the 11th. And I'm like, ah, I got time.

So I should have checked it. I didn't. Not that anyone might have told me anyway, but at least I would have checked it. And Pavelski to me is a phenomenal story. He's 38 years old. We're going to have a conversation about something we were talking about in a second.

But when you go back to when he left San Jose. They never recovered Elliott. San Jose made the analytic play. The analytics supported what San Jose did. Dallas offered him a three-year deal to stay. They had to offer four. And this is the thing. And I am not an anti-analytic guy.

I'm not an anti-eye test guy. But what I am not is I am not an anti-analytic guy. I'm not an anti-eye test guy. But what I am not is I am not a hard and fast rules guy. I believe the world operates in shades of gray, and you have to judge each case on an individual basis. I remember when Henrik Lundqvist signed at 31 years old. He got an eight-year deal from the Rangers. People murdered that deal, and he gave it to them. They got that deal over and over and over again. And that's the thing. San Jose knew

Pavelski, and they're like, nah. And now he's going to play three years, and he's already into his fourth, and next year will be his fifth. And the other thing that's happened here is he's consistently started to take less money. Initially he's signed from seven. This year he's going to be six plus bonuses, and next year the bonuses I think are 10 and 20 games. So assuming he doesn't get hurt, he's going to play for five and a half. So not only has Dallas gotten the money worth out of it from his performance,

he's helped make Jason Robertson and Rupert Hintz better players, but also Pavelsky's paid them back for the initial belief in him you know another advantage of a no-tax state too i think but credit to the guy now is he a hall of famer one before we get there before we get there you know where he helps what are we talking about with the dallas stars over the past few weeks they've done a rebuild on the fly. And there's wonderful young players. And there are more coming. What are we doing when we're watching the World Juniors? We're seeing Logan Stankovic.

We're looking at Wyatt Johnson. Some of us are watching Conor Bedard, but I know what you're doing. He's on Conor Bedard's line. But you know what I mean. They're a maverick bore. There are really good young players that are joining this organization.

They're either already there in Wyatt Johnson or they're coming. They've done a great job of scouting, drafting, developing players. Like we talk about pros, pros. Joe Pavelski is a pros pro. Like if you're going to have young kids joining this organization as often now as Dallas is going to, don't you need guys like Joe Pavelski? I'm not saying he's just there because, oh, he's a good guy in the room. have young kids joining this organization as often now as Dallas is going to. Don't you need guys like Joe Pavelski? I'm not saying he's just there because, oh, he's a good guy in the room.

Yeah, they don't flood the room. Ha, ha, ha. He plays and he performs. He's a first liner. He's a first liner on maybe the best line, with all due respect, maybe the best first line in all of hockey. He hits on so many levels for the Dallas Stars. Is he a Hall of Famer? So what were we going over?

Because he's what, two or three years away from 500 goals, right? So he's at 433 goals, 961 points, at 125 playoff points as well. So he's going to get. 450 and 1,000. He's going to get to 1,000 points probably next year. Is he going to get 39 this year? It's going to be close. He's going to get to 1,000 points probably next year. Is he going to get 39 this year? It's going to be close. It's going to be close.

And you know what? To get to 500 goals, he maybe needs a year and a half, maybe two years. A couple of nice tips. I don't know. Lucky bounce. So you know this is the Hall of Fame here. It's big-time numbers, right? We were going over 500 goals and 1,000 points, not in the Hall of Fame.

We came up with, what, Jeremy Roenick? So Roenick's 513, 1216 for points. I think he gets, and you think he gets in eventually? Keith Kachuk is 538 and 1,065. And I think he gets in eventually? Pat Verbeek, because these are all ballpark players that are in the conversation with Pavelski. Pat Verbeek, 522 goals, 1,063 points,

and just a little bit shy of 3,000 pims. So he did something every time he was on the ice. Well, the other thing about Verbeek is, my theory on Verbeek is, if Anaheim is successful as a team, his candidacy will rise. I don't disagree. No, I'm not disagreeing with you. I don't know that that's how it should be voted on. Yeah, I know. But this is just...

No, I know what you mean. He's still in the conversation and the resume continues to be built. But just based on his body of work, people have made cases. The other thing about Pavelski's seventh round pick... Great seventh rounder. You know, Roenick was a first rounder. Kachuk was a first rounder. Verbeek was ath rounder. Roenick was a 1st rounder. Kachuk was a 1st rounder. Verbeek was a 3rd rounder.

Pavelski's 7th rounder. You get 1,000 points as a 7th rounder, I think you're going in the Hall of Fame. Well, you mentioned Henrik Lundqvist a second ago. He's a 7th rounder as well. There's some gold in them hills amongst your 7th rounders. You know who else is a 7th rounder?

Henrik Zetterberg. And he's going to the Hall of Fame. I love, and his numbers are 337 goals, 1,082 points. Yeah, he's going to the Hall of Fame too. He's one of my favorite players. I have a hard time even entertaining the argument against because he's just one of my favorite players. A couple of other things around the NHL.

J.T. Miller and the commentary from Hockey Night and the performance on Hockey Night in a 3-2 loss at the hands of the Calgary Flames on Saturday. Well, Kelly and Kevin, you could tell they were really bothered by it. Even though Kevin couldn't remember Colin Delia's name. I was joking with Kevin. What was the more disrespectful thing?

Miller, what he did on the ice, or the fact that Kevin could remember his name? I think the thing is for me is I don't like one-offs. I don't like to judge people on one-offs. Everybody can have a bad day. Everybody can have a frustrating day. And I think sometimes we forget that. Everything happens so much in the public eye right now that we forget that not everybody is perfect all the time

and i try i really do try to remember that the thing i see with miller is it's happening a lot not even the delia thing yeah but just where a turnover happens and like harry neal when he was when i started working hockey night he was the commentator, number one color guy. He had a line. He said, who's the fastest guy on the ice? The guy that turns over the puck. And he would say that all the time. Should be the fastest guy on the ice. He actually did say it was, but you're right.

I think with Miller this year, and I have no problem with the fact that he can be a bit of an edgy guy or he can be tough to deal with sometimes. I don't have a problem with that. Not everybody is the same. It doesn't bother me. I can deal with that. I don't care. But the thing is, like, you can't constantly have those kinds of highlights, and there have been too many of them this year. And I think what the Canucks have to say to him is,

you want to be nasty, you want to be be edgy we're all good with that we understand that's who you are and you can't sign a guy to a 56 million dollar contract and expect them to change you sign him for a 56 million dollar contract because of that's who he is but what you can't have is too many of that and the thing with him and Delia those two guys have to deal with it themselves yeah but the thing with the not back-checking, that is an organizational thing where they have to say to him, hey, it's got to stop. You talked about the Toronto Maple Leafs off the top of the podcast and the direction that they may be going here.

Big swing, little swing, no swing. There'll be a swing. We watched some of the Penguins playing wiffle ball here. We're at Fenway here is will it be a swing or will it be a bunt i don't think they're doing nothing when muzzin got hurt because i don't think we're expecting to see muzzin this year when muzzin got hurt it was right up on their radar like i've heard toronto's had a pretty big presence around the league not pretty recently yep like just looking.

Some people have told me they've seen more Toronto guys than they normally do. And I think Toronto kind of looked at it like, we've got to replace Muzzin. We need that person. And that still might be the choice. But I think the way they've played with so many injuries, they've begun to wonder if, do they need to take a big swing at that like they have a limited amount of capital that they can trade number one they don't have a ton of cap room and number two they don't have they don't have a ton of draft picks they want to keep

their first and they do have a couple of good prospects but they want to keep nize in particular they don't have a lot of capital. So I think they were looking at it as we take one big swing on our blue line and then see what we can do with what's left. I think they're starting to sit back and say, wait a sec, is that the right philosophy or do we just let this play out a bit more? Like Colorado had more capital, but they went and they got Manson and they got Lekanen and they got manson and they got leckanen and they got cogliano and they got a bunch of different pieces i'm wondering if that's

what toronto's gonna say instead of using most of our capital on one thing and then seeing what's left over do we try to divide it up to a couple of things? And I know that there is a segment of the fan base, and I think some of the organization, that feels that it's not only defense, that the reason that they've had trouble winning in the first round, they haven't gotten enough goals when it matters. Okay, so Elliot, right in front of us here, on top of the green monster, the Pittsburgh Penguins,

or should I say the Peaky Blinder Penguins, are about to hit the ice. I love those chapeaus, sir. That's fantastic. They look real good. Really good. Penguins uniforms, beautiful. Yeah.

Just beautiful. I love the Bruins. Yeah. The Bruins look great. Everything visually looks fantastic here. A couple more things quickly. Eric Homry. Yeah.

Conditioning stint in Rochester. Stoned the Marlies on Saturday. On his way back. Yep. Do you have a thought on, not him, not Craig Anderson, but Uka Pakalukunen? We've had an extended look here now. I know the plan wasn't for him to play as many games as he did this season, but do you think that there's enough there that the Buffalo Sabres can say,

we think he is going to be the guy eventually. I mean, at the beginning, I was nervous. He looked really nervous. He did a lot better recently. Yeah, he started off really nervously. He's played some really good teams. If you look, he's played really good teams. I watched a lot of the Boston game on Saturday,

and not only would Buffalo win, but it's how they won. They blew it late. They were down 3-2. They had every excuse to lose that game, and they found a way to win it. Number one one you don't do that if you're not confident as a team which they are and number two you don't do that unless you have a goalie that can write himself which he is i i think they have to feel a lot better about him now st louis blues i mean that's one of the teams we're gonna we're gonna watch here as the calendar flips and we look at trade deadline. I had one person from one team say to me on Saturday, man, I got a feeling that St. Louis is going to be sending bodies out the door.

It's interesting. Like, everybody talks about Tarasenko, and everybody talks about O'Reilly. Yeah. But I had someone who said to me that two of the interesting guys in St. Louis could be Barbashev. Cause when they won the cup in 2019, he was a really good depth player for them. And the defenseman,

Mikola said like, he's a solid depth player. And both those guys are UFAs too. And he can play nasty too. And he can play nasty. And I had differing opinions. I had some people who said to me, yes,

those guys are all definitely going to get moved but I also had some guys who said to me that they're not convinced yet that they're ready to do anything that they might want to see this play out a bit farther but the other thing is you you know that what St. Louis is going to be asking for yeah is comparable to what you know Philly got for Giroux. And we'll see who's ready to do that. And don't forget Tarasenko in particular has say. The one

thing about O'Reilly, I don't know that this is going to happen, but I know there are people out there, and this is just me throwing it at the wall, there are some people out there who wonder if he has any interest in a short-term deal in St. Louis. Just because he likes it there? Because he likes it there. But I don't know that that's going to happen.

These are tough deals. There are so many teams in LTIR. There's teams that are capped out. These are big names. And like I said earlier, they're trying to talk a big game about we're not giving up what these other teams have given up. As we wrap up here, and it's a beautiful visual, Pittsburgh Penguins all lining up around center ice to have their pictures taken. You guys talked about this on Hockey Night Saturday. What stands out to you from 2022? Is there a moment?

Is there a person? You know what it was? I'll tell you what it was. It's bigger than hockey for me. We were back at the Stanley Cup. All of it. Yeah. The atmosphere in Denver, all the small things, full crowd,

Tampa, great fans there too. You know, Montreal, I think I went to four of the five games in that cup final. It was all full in Tampa. We didn't get the full Montreal experience, unfortunately. More than announced. Although I think they kind of defied the fire marshals and the government a bit. You know what it was uh Jeff it was the lasting image of me in 2022 was that was the return to a normal Stanley Cup final and you know what I really realized how much I missed it it's like

the old line you never realize how much you miss something until you don't have it a couple years about the Stanley Cup final I realize how much i missed it what about you it's like i always say to you elliot i can't miss you if you won't leave mine isn't anything on the ice although i really did appreciate that and that's cool like that's why we do all this that's the fun part right this is this is sports this is this is toys are us toys are us to me it was bernice carnegie that's a great call and the hall of Fame speech that she made on behalf of her father, Herb. We've heard some great Hall of Fame speeches before, Elliot. That's the best one I ever heard.

With all due respect to everyone who's given, there have been some great Hall of Fame speeches before. Even just thinking about it now. the horrible things that happened to him the things that he wasn't able to do the things that he was able to do the effects that he still has on the game right now and that the carnegie name has on the game right now and the family and all weaved with a sense of positivity and looking forward to me that was like a perfect moment. I never heard a Hall of Fame speech as good as that. Like, that's one. I don't go back and watch Hall of Fame speeches

very often, if ever. That's one that I will. To me, it was Bernice Carnegie. It's a great call. Hands down. I'm going back to the streets. That's where I belong. Alright, Elliot, before we wrap up here. Yeah.

So we're watching the Pittsburgh Penguins warm up here. And something I wanted to ask you about going back, I think it was about a week, watching a Carolina game and you and I were texting. How good do those yellow helmets look on the Pittsburgh Penguins right now? They look fantastic. Now, the Carolina Hurricanes are wearing red helmets when they wear their white jerseys, which looks fantastic. I know you and I differ on white jerseys, white socks, white boards, white ice,

all of that. Have you seen the way I dressed the last week? Hang on, hang on. All I'm saying is, are you now willing to snuggle up with your buddy Jeffy here and say, anytime a team wears white, they have to wear a colored helmet. I'm good with that. Those penguins, yellow buckets.

Yeah, they're actually, they look great. My work here is done. Taking us out from Fenway, something a bit smoother with Back to the Streets. Here's Rudy Norman on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Enjoy the classic. Who's gonna be the enemy You take Baby I'm giving Feel that pulse That'll make you move your feet

I'm going back To the streets That's where I belong I'm going back to the streets That's where I belong Fast lane Got no money Jazzman's trying to break down my front door

No brakes