32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Go for a Beer and Explain Your Feelings

Episode Date: March 18, 2024

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman discuss what's on the schedule for the General Manager meetings in Florida, including a conversation around replay reviews (7:51) and an increased predictability with suspensions (11:05). The fellas then turn their attention to the Arizona Coyotes and their delicate search for a new arena (16:07). Jeff and Elliotte also delve into the Eastern Conference Wild Card race, highlighting the New York Islanders (25:16), the New York Rangers (31:08), and the Detroit Red Wings  (40:06). Afterward, Elliotte provides an update on Rod Brind'Amour's contract extension (48:07) and the guys talk about Mike Modano's new statue in Dallas (51:09).  The guys answer your questions in the Montana’s Thought Line (59:12) and Elliotte sits down with Buffalo Sabres forward Alex Tuch for an exclusive one on one interview (1:14:56).  Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailThis podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

We could do another segment Dom on Merrick tracking down people about things that they may not want to talk about from hockey. How about Merrick tracks down people who don't want to talk to them. I think that could be a really good segment. We could film podcasts with that. Before we went on air, we had that conversation about a conversation I had with an agent who was in no way, shape or form talking to me today. He did not want to talk to you either. way she performed today. Welcome once again to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented as always by the GMC Sierra Elevation,

Merrick alongside Dom Schrammatti and in sunny Florida, our man Elliot Friedman there for the general manager's meetings. And Elliot, before we get there, I want to refer to a previous podcast and pick up on it. Remember the thought line question we had about players that played for the most teams under the same contract? And we talked about Derek Broussard specifically. I got a note from Jamie Devan. Jamie Devan was the third round draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Played a couple of games with the Maple Leafs. Bounced around the minor leagues, the American Hockey League for a long time. Real tough player.

As a side note, okay, let's go deep in the rabbit hole here. You can find this one on YouTube. In the OHL, his fight was Zach Kassian. So Devan was on Plymouth and Kassian was on the Peterborough Peets. Now, the thing about this fight is hilarious. I'll send you the clip, Elliot. And everyone listening, you should have a look at it for one reason only. I mean, the fight is the fight and it's a hockey fight.

But the way it starts off, I've never seen anyone snap down their gloves harder than Zach Cassian in this fight. Like the gloves travel the distance of the ice, it seems like. That's how hard he snaps down his mitts off the face off in the fight with Jamie Devan anyhow you know what that means to me nothing that Zach no that Zach Kassian really wanted to fight Jamie Devan he was very angry and it was right off the face off yes something must have happened and he was very very angry and they got at it um anyhow uh Jamie Devan is now working for kaizen sports

um which is an agency you've talked a lot about clay stevenson the washington capitals prospect um that's one of their key clients as well uh anyway he sent me a note saying referring back to the podcast teams on one contract mark arco bello four teams in 2014 2015 great paul so it's the oilers nashville predators pittsburgh penguins arizona coyotes all on the same was he not with toronto that year because he the following toronto for a little bit the following season now i don't know if that was the same contract, though, or if that was a new contract for Archibald at that point. If it was the same contract, then we have five.

Otherwise, it's Oilers, Preds, Penguins, Coyotes. So always appreciate the input and always appreciate the follow-up. Now, you're in Florida. I mentioned that off the top. Oh, by the way, coming up on the program today, Elliot's interview with Alex Tuck of the Buffalo Sabres. That's coming up. And this is, by the way, before the Casey Middlestad trade.

Yes, we mentioned, yes. That is a key thing to mention here because he talks about Middlestad in the deal. Right, so it's before the Middlestad-Byram trade. Now, you're in Florida, general managers meetings. On the docket, a number of different things. Amongst some of them are replay. The Department of Player Safety will do a presentation.

We'll see how that is received by the 32 general managers. I understand visors will be spoken about as well. Anything else you can share with us at this point? You're going to like this. Oh, geez. I think the audience will too. Oh, boy. One of the things that I always try to figure out

right before these meetings is, are there any rules changes, proposed rules changes that are on the agenda? Because this is the one where the November meeting, which is the one right after the Hall of Fame, is usually brainstorming. It's not considered as serious a meeting. But this is the one where they put things on the agenda that they might truly, honestly be thinking about. So one of the questions I always ask at this time of year is, are there any potential rules changes on there that the group wants to debate?

Because sometimes there are some pretty fascinating and interesting ideas right up your alley often you know what someone said to me on saturday uh no okay there's no way you'd guess, and you'll laugh when you hear it. Okay. Someone said to me, yeah, we're all considering a rule that the coaches, the referees, the media, and the fans all have to go for a beer after the game and talk about what happened. I think I know who you're talking about. And that's because of the thing don't don't even guess and i'm not gonna guess story but i but hang on the sound i that tone i think i know exactly who you're talking about and that's okay so don't even guess but it was because of this pod and what i wrote last week about how the officials should speak and that's what he said

to me he said that's he said yes that's going to be the rule change everybody has to go for a beer and explain their feelings and i got a good laugh out of that and i still and but i will say this i did not back down from my feeling that the officials should talk. But suffice it to say, based on that response, that there isn't a lot of support among the managers for that to happen. Anyway, I laughed my head off when I heard that. Hey, by the way, I do think there is support from, I can't say all of, but I would imagine and I believe some of the officials to do that. Right. That would relish that opportunity to do so.

I think that's fair, and I said that on Friday's pod. I would shudder and hesitate to say that it's a majority of the officials that would say that because I just don't speak to all of them. But some of them would feel that because I just don't speak to all of them but some of them would feel that way and I and I have to say this I had some managers guessing to me about one person in particular and I said you guys are insane if you think I'm giving up any of these people but it was it was kind of funny anyway um but to be honest Jeff i i'm supposed to have a better answer than this but as i sit here on sunday night thinking about how newsworthy these meetings are or aren't going to be i really don't have a great handle on it because i think there's some things that they

are going to talk about but i don't know how much everything is going to change um you've heard about the reports about there's going to be a big conversation with department of player safety number one i would take if there was to be a fight between george peros and these gms i would have to say i would take peros in almost all, if not all, cases. He's 44. He's younger than a lot of these guys. He's still very tough. I don't worry that George Peros is going to be intimidated by this group, and we'll see where that goes. Obviously, there's always a question about consistency, but I don't think Peros is going to be thrown off by this group, and we'll see what happens with that. The one thing I'm curious about is I know that there has been a desire over time to have a conversation about replay.

to have a conversation about replay and where it's going and what matters and what should be reviewed and how it should be reviewed. I don't know for sure that it's going to happen here, but I know at times that has come up is where do we see review, where it's going and what happens with it. And then there's a bunch of smaller stuff I wonder about. For example, earlier this year, one of the things I know was there was a big hit and off the top of my head I can't remember which one it was, but there was a big hit and a player got a major and the other player was cut through their visor. And I know that has been a conversation,

that if a player takes a hit and their visor cuts them, should that really be an automatic major? No. And that, I think, is one of the things that comes up. But again, Jeff, I don't know that that's going to be a thing. And I just just as we sit here on Sunday night I know there's a lot of items on the agenda they're here for three days the the senior GM's which is a small combination there's six

of them there's Doug Armstrong there's Lou Lamorello there's Ken Holland there's Kevin Shevelday off there's Don W Waddell, there's that group. They meet on Sunday night, and the rest of them meet Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and we'll see what comes out of this. But it's hard to say on Sunday night if there's going to be anything earth-shattering that comes out of here. I know a lot of fans wonder about LTIR,

but that's really a collective bargaining issue. As we've talked about, that's not anything that can be changed here. Now, there could be some ideas of what to do with it, but that can't really change until the next CBA, which is up not after next season, but two seasons, 2025-26. But listen, Ken Holland is a general manager, a long-time general manager, and he's talked and been quite open about the idea of the salary cap during the playoffs, having to ice a cap-compliant team every night. You can go over the cap.

Not changing now, though. And again, you're right. That is not changing now, and I don't think either side have the appetite to open up the CBA again. One of the things that I wonder about in this Department of Players Safety meeting, just because we heard so many different shades of this and opinions on this and examples to try to refute this. How much conversation do you think there'll be around the Morgan Raleigh suspension? I think that's an interesting question. My feelings about it were pretty clear. I thought Raleigh was getting suspended.

I thought it was more than I expected. I think the whole Raleigh thing ties into what they want predictability okay they want more predictability i think a lot of fans want that too and i had a manager tell me he read the piece i wrote about it and he said that and this is rare he agreed with what i wrote most of them tell me i'm completely insane in the sense that the way that crosschecks has been judged in the past that was different for example one of the things they talk about is a ride up and in commissioner betman's response to that in the appeal he said well maybe it was a ride up but there was still a lot of force applied to the head and neck and that's different than what they've said in the past

and also i know that there were people who disagree with what betman wrote that greg shouldn't have expected it they're like any hockey player would have expected that even greg in the sense that people were going to be mad that he did that and again i don't want to relitigate this i really don't but i know there were some managers who disagreed with they said that that suspension was not predictable and obviously toronto was upset about it and i'm not interested in relitigating this i really am not it's over it's done with we've moved past. But I think in the overall scheme of things, I think they want to see if there can be some more predictability on what suspensions are going to be.

Like Detroit, for example, I heard when Perron got suspended, they were expecting four games and they got six. And they were basically saying, okay, explain to us how this happens. And so I think that's one of the things here, but to be honest, Jeff,

like I don't really know if this is going to be like, I can't imagine that all these guys are going to jump George Peros. First of all, like I said, number one, he could probably fight all 32 of them single-handedly. And second, I just don't think the league, like the league backs player safety generally. I just don't think that they're going to allow that to happen.

So, I mean, we'll see. We'll see where it all goes the uh the interesting thing and i said also i should say i've also said this many times jeff if you really want to look you can find predictability in what player safety does however there are you know some things that jump out differently but i and i think they would prefer that didn't happen, but I think you can find predictability in what they do. There is more there than what people really admit or let on. The thing that interests me here is the dynamic between the teams

and the Department of Player Safety. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong here. Teams have a say in how they want the game policed and how they want the game called. So if you're George Peros, do you not say, OK, are we having the conversation then about changing standards here? And if so, what are the standards you want changed? If I was him, i would ask that question see that would be my first defense if i'm george peros be like okay if you don't like this what are we gonna do we're all involved in this you're part of it i get that it's it's always a big problem when it's your bull that gets gored i understand that yes but do

we want to have the conversation about changing the standard either toughening it up or loosening it up i'm parents remember when shanahan came in oh yeah and shanahan came in and he eight games here 10 games here oh yeah here none of them like that nope none of them like that what eight games here. None of them like that. Nope. None of them like that. What? Eight games? Are you crazy? Yeah. That's a good question. We'll see where this one heads.

We'll be obviously on top of this one. I want to get to some of the games, and I want to get to some of the teams, I want to get to some of the teams because this was a really interesting weekend. But before we get there, I don't even know how to couch this other than maybe, you know, use an old war term or war analogy, which is, you know,

the flack is always greatest when you're right over the target. The Arizona coyotes situation seems like it's a very delicate one right now i think delicate is a great word to use an outstanding word to use so how do we try to pull any facts or truth or take a snapshot of what is happening right now with the Coyotes? Well, you said the word, it's delicate. And you know me, I'm careful, or at least I try to be careful. I'm not always successful, and sometimes I slip up and I'm not as careful as I should be.

But I was very careful on Saturday night. I had a few people say to me that, you know, it's the first time anyone's really said relocation is on the table. I think we've wondered about it and we've thought it could happen. I had people who called me on Sunday night or Saturday night and Sunday and say, okay, you said it's on the table.

What do you mean? Now, not necessarily yet, I should say. We're getting there. Here's the issue i guess i would explain it this way arizona has made it very clear they want to keep the team there in a perfect world the league wants the team kept there the league wants to have a team in arizona i've said it a billion times on this podcast. If they leave, they're coming back, but at some point, but they prefer not to leave in a perfect world. Arizona stays in the NHL market. It's a big market. It's a good market in the right area. They want it to stay there.

We know this, there's going to be an auction. there's going to be some details about that auction posted in the next week or two this is about not just just yeah just kind of just sort of listeners understand this is about land this is a parcel of land we're talking about that's what this auction is yes so a parcel of land story that's that's what you're talking about very good that's that's good details by you so it's it's an auction for a parcel of land that could potentially be the home of the next arena of the Coyotes. And it's not just that they post the auction, it's that they give details of what they're expecting in this auction and what could potentially happen with this land and what is expected to develop on this land. It's not simply saying, here's a piece of land, give us your money, and the winningest bidder will go. There also is, and I confess, I don't live in Arizona. I don't know Arizona politics, but I know enough to know it's not that simple. There is some expectation about what you're going to do with it. And that

has made, and the coyotes are clearly trying to work towards achieving all of that. However, once it's posted, it's 10 weeks. It's a minimum of 10 weeks before they can have the auction. So the auction won't be held until June. There's also, even though the Coyotes have made it very clear to everyone who's asked that they are committed to winning this, there's no guarantee. There's also no guarantee that even if they win it, what the timeline could be to a new arena. There's a lot of people saying that they know especially on social media but i don't know that anybody really knows and this is one area where i do have some expertise my father used to be a builder and i've seen how he had to deal with local governments and how it made him crazy he's sane now but he was crazy though um nice touch but but so there's a lot of variables

here and like i said in a perfect world arizona would win this auction they would build an arena and everything would be a-okay in a few years. And that's why people have said to me last week, do not discount the possibility that they play at Mullet next year and they win the auction. So you have to include that possibility. All of that said, like I said, there are a lot of variables. There's a lot of things that the Coyotes and the NHL do not control about this process because governments are involved and other bidders could be involved.

So we just don't know. It's an unknown. As a result, I think there's a lot of conversation about what could happen if that doesn't occur or and i should have said this more on saturday night so i'm saying it more here if it becomes apparent on the way that that will not occur and that's where i think relocation is a very real thing like someone said to me and they this is a person i think who would know, they said there's two paths now. There's the rink or relocation becomes a serious option. So that's where we are.

Now, there's one thing I do want to say here, and I want to make this very clear. One of the things, and I will say more than one person said this to me, about five people said this to me, and this is five people who would know. And they talked about Alex Morello, who's the owner of the coyotes and they said look i don't care what's been said about morello or written about morello in the past we deal in the now and what they say is that he's got a lot of pride and he's a self-made guy. And he there's there's a part of him and I've never talked to him about this. There's a part of him that wants to show that he can do this. So there's that's why it's delicate. I think, Jeff, it's it's just that there's a lot of moving parts, and you've got a very proud owner of the Coyotes who doesn't want to be embarrassed.

And so that's all of this. As you said, it's a very delicate mix because there are people who say to me that they're wondering if there's any evidence before june that this could go sideways if that this could happen sooner than that in terms of an announcement or a change or anything like that but there's other people that say no he wants to prove he can do it and he wants to go through the process so when you say it's delicate that's why people say it's delicate because it could go in a bunch of different ways here okay um so the story continues uh as you say yeah we will see where this one heads. And again, still a ways away from a decision either way.

Okay, so to some of the games this weekend. And, man, we saw a great – I shouldn't say we saw a great game. We saw a great second, third, and overtime period between the Edmonton Oilers and the Colorado Avalanche. I want to get there in a second. I have to say some people disagreed with me when i said the first period was a little bit too boring no it wasn't a little bit too boring because the expectation going in was this this was going to be uh this was going to be you know throw out the stop signs um throw out the

red lights uh throw out the uh you know throw it it was like the matador and the bull parrying they were looking at each other yeah not interested not interested not interested in the uh no not interested but feeling each other out yes heavyweight fight throw a few jabs there was not haggler hearns they didn't come right out and start throwing punches at each other i want haggler hearns in vegas the best three rounds of boxing you you have ever seen and will ever see um i want to get there but first you know who's really upset today really upset today patrick waugh who's that so I don't blame him I I do not blame him here's the week that was for the New York Islanders just when we thought they were chilled out and a little bit tucked

away and look at this the Islanders are marching to the playoffs I know their record looks kind of goofy when you look at it and you but if you squint that you say yeah maybe it's okay and they'll get there in the playoffs and they'll be able to do something here. Monday, shut out by the Los Angeles Kings, 3-0. Thursday, shut out by the Buffalo Sabres, 4-0. Saturday, lose to Ottawa in a game that Patrick Waugh says, we gave away 4-3. And then Sunday, lose to the New York Rangers 5-2.

So you're right. The Ottawa game, they picked up a point. But other than that, this team was blanked. And all of a sudden, the door swings open in the wild card race, more so really for the second wild card. Tampa's running away with the first wild card right now. But all of a sudden, the Caps have a couple of games in hand on the red wings we're going to get there in a couple of seconds maybe they're even chasing the philadelphia

flyers uh three points away with two games in hand the islanders have elliot allowed this to happen on their watch the other thing with the islanders that really hurts here jeff is the first tiebreaker is regulation wins and they're last on all those teams and 21 significantly last too like flyers have five more the lightning have eight more the wings have three more the capitals have five more even the penguins who are four points back of them have four more i told you so so it's they have well i understand that but you got 29 23 and 15 21 regulation but you have to... 29, 23, and 15. 21 regulation wins. But you have to clarify that

because regulation wins is the number one tiebreaker. So they've got to beat these teams outright. It's going to be hard for them to... A tie probably won't be enough for them. The thing about Wai is, you could see Wai blowing up at this because in big games, he was at his best. Part of the thing that Wa is saying here

is that he doesn't understand how in a big game like this, players couldn't be at their best. And Sorokin has struggled too. We've said a couple times on this pod, or at least I have, that I believe in the Islanders because they have the best goaltending. I think Sorokin's a great goalie, but he just had a tough week, and a couple of those goals against the Rangers,

you looked at them and you were like, wow, he's really struggling. So that adds to the problem here on all of this. Detroit at least stopped the bleeding. They lost to Pittsburgh, but at least they stopped the bleeding they lost to pittsburgh but at least they stopped the bleeding against buffalo you know philly is really struggling but nobody is catching them like it doesn't help detroit to catch them it doesn't help detroit at all detroit's got to go either get the wild card or they can't go up through the Metropolitan Division. So it's Washington, it's the Islanders, it's Pittsburgh.

I can't believe Washington. They're minus 30, and the Islanders are minus 20. I had Steve Fellin, who's one of our great stats people, I checked with him. In the salary cap era, the worst goal differential to make the playoffs is minus 24. And the Capitals are at minus 30. Dash 30. They might get in.

It's incredible. And the Capitals, they keep grinding it out. They got embarrassed in Edmonton. They won in Seattle. They won in Vancouver. They grind it out. But the thing about the Islanders is, did you see Vegas on Sunday night?

They scratched Nick Hague and Zach Whitecloud. And when they won the Stanley Cup last year, those were two really important players on their team, really important players on their team. And one of the things I wonder about is, are we going to tune into one of these Islander games? I don't know that the Islanders can do something like that, but I wonder what Waugh's going to do here

because he's not a guy to stand pat and oh good joke i didn't even mean it but i was shocked watching the outers on the weekend i was really shocked watching the outers on the weekend i i i have to say i thought after last week they were going to be okay i thought because of sor last week they were going to be okay. I thought because of Sorokin they were going to be okay. But I was stunned watching them. And, you know, the thing, too, about the Rangers is, like, the Rangers just took over that game. And when Sorokin suddenly looked human, the Rangers surged

and the Islanders sagged. I don't know what to make of New York here. I'm surprised at it, but now they're in trouble in a lot of different ways, not only in points, but in terms of regulation wins. They're going to have to beat these teams outright. Their next game is on Tuesday at home against the Hurricanes. That's a real gift. Hurricanes are great right now, too.

It's one of those nights where you always wonder, you know, what does the lineup look like? And look, Vegas could scratch those two guys, and they put in Alec Martinez and Ben Hutton. And maybe combined, those two aren't as strong as those other two but Alex Martinez is a hugely valuable player to that team and Ben Hutton is a legitimate NHL defenseman I don't know if the Islanders have the ability to do what Vegas did in that situation but like I said it's it's patrick waugh and you know by the what he said and the way he looks he doesn't understand

how you can't show up for a big game or you can sag in a big game because the games got bigger patrick waugh got better uh do you want to swing over to the rangers here real quickly i mentioned them a couple of sure ago and they had a weekend where they beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 7-4. Jonathan Quick with the win there. Shesterkin comes back. We just talked about the win against the New York Islanders. Jean-Gabriel Peugeot and the hit against Ryan Lindgren. Left leg didn't look good.

Not that I'm going to point fingers at Jean-Gabriel Peugeot and scream bad hit or malicious. It was just one of those things where two guys leaned into the boards together. I thought it was kind of fluky. And Lindgren ended up looking like he was in tremendous, tremendous pain. But listen, you mentioned the Carolina Hurricanes

a couple of seconds ago. They're surging right now. And the Rangers right now still on top of the Metropolitan Division here. Do you have a quick thought on the team and the Big Apple? Well, first of all, when Ryan Lindgren does not come back to a game, I assume it's like Kate Middleton. Like there's some mysterious, weird thing happening here

that nobody knows what it is because for Ryan Lindgren not to come back to a game, his leg has to be removed from his body i just assume that he's lying in the training room somewhere and his leg is no longer attached to him because that's the only way that ryan lingren is not coming back to a hockey game first of all i wanted to you know i wanted to shut out i wanted to shut out uh zach jones and the reason i wanted to shut out? I wanted to shout out Zach Jones. And the reason I wanted to shout out Zach Jones is because this is a guy who is kind of caught up in a numbers game there in New York, and Trouba gets hurt, and he gets an opportunity, and he has played great.

And, you know, Zach Jones is a young guy. He's 23 years old. And, you know, all that kid wants to do is play. And he's not going to whine. He's not going to bitch. He's not going to complain. The team is really good. And from what I understand, he's a really quiet kid anyway.

But he's been given the opportunity and I've been really impressed by him. And I root for guys like that. guys who kind of get squeezed out, not because they're not good, but because they get caught up in numbers games and suddenly you just get the opportunity. You know, there's been a lot of talk about how the Rangers could have gone for a guy like Gensel, and they decided not to. And what the Rangers chose to do was plug holes.

And, you know, what did they do? They went out and they got Alexander Wenberg. He turned down an extension in Seattle. He got traded to the Rangers, and he looks like he's a good fit for where they've slotted him in, in that third-line center area. They targeted Jack Roslevic. Now, they also went for Max Pacioretty,

and Pacioretty decided to stay where he was. So they pivoted and they went to Jack Roslevic. And they've got Jack Roslevic playing on one of their top lines right now, and it looks like it's a good fit. And, you know, suddenly you look at the Rangers, like Roslevic's playing with Kreider and Zbigniewicz, and it looks like it's a good fit. And Roslevic's an interesting guy because people have always said he's a really, really talented guy, but he's never been what everybody hoped he would be.

Lafreniere, we all know they gave him the spot with Panarin and Trocek, and Panarin's unbelievable. Trocek's having the best year of his career, and Lafreniere has really fit in really well. But suddenly you look at that lineup, and you look at who's playing where up front, and you say, all of those pieces fit. Like, the Rangers could have, I think they could have got Gensel. I think the opportunity was open for them to get Gensel, and they decided, no, we're not going to trade this one of our top prospects.

And we're going to try to fit pieces. And, you know, who knows what's going to happen when the playoffs start. But when you look at it logically, all of those pieces look like they fit. And it looks really smart right now. It looks like a really well-constructed roster. And they had a good weekend. They beat Pittsburgh in a really fun, entertaining 80s high-scoring game. And they beat the Islanders.

And the other thing I really like about, like, I really like Jimmy Vasey. He's a guy I really like dealing with. And, you know, earlier in the year, I think he told it to Molly Walker of The Post, where he said I read all this stuff about how we need other guys well I want to prove we don't need any other guys well Jimmy you're wrong you could always use more guys but I love the attitude I think to me like hockey is a lot of attitude I'm going to show and we're going to show we're good enough and still what the Rangers did looks like it really helps but it

shows that the guys there have the right attitude and you watch them this weekend and again zach jones gets the opportunity and fills in really nicely they just have a lot of pieces that seem to fit together really well right now of course it also helps that Shusterkin is back to being Shusterkin. That Carolina game last week was one of the best games of the week, the 1-0 game, and Shusterkin eliminates a lot of problems when he's at the level he can be. But I just look at that Rangers lineup, and I understand the logic of what they were thinking.

I understand what holes that Rangers lineup and I understand the logic of what they were thinking. I understand what holes that they were trying to plug. What do we always talk about in the playoffs? Third lines. You know, you mentioned the Trocek line. You mentioned the Zibanejad line. And there's a lot of firepower and a lot of skill, a lot of superstars there. But you mentioned Jimmy Vesey and Alexander Wenberg. And you throw in capo caco into

that mix like that's a really nice looking third line like i don't know about you but i always i always rightly or wrongly elliot measure up third lines with what bricky had with anaheim in 2007 sammy paulson right rob niedermeyer and Travis Mullen. That to me was the perfect playoff. Yeah, but this line isn't like that line. Hang on, hang on. But I'm talking about the key that made that line work is you had a two-way center. I thought Sammy Paulson could have won the consummate trophy. And I look at Alexander Wenberg and correct me if I'm wrong,

is he more like Sammy Paulson or less like Sammy Paulson? I don't think that's a good comparison. I don't think Wenberg and Paulson are a good comparison. I think Paulson was an edgier guy. I think Wenberg is a talented

guy and a good two-way guy. I think Paulson was a much edgier guy edge the whole line the whole line was edgier because of travis mullen yeah and they had and you know rob niedermeyer was a pretty edgy guy was a pretty edgy guy too i mean we'll see how this all works uh you know i i've got a lot of respect for vc because you know he was supposed to be this big score and he reinvented himself as into a really useful uh death player and the other reason i've always kind of liked vc is like that

year in the amazon thing he kind of got embarrassed right oh big time yeah you know you know there's two ways you can handle that you can go into a shell or you can say f this like i'm going to show that i'm better than that and that was unfair and he's gone root b and you know i would hope that that's the way i would handle it but anyway like when i look at the like when i look at the rangers i just see right right now in the aftermath of the deadline all the pieces they decided to try all the holes they decided to try and plug they look like they fit and shisterkin is shisterkin again which makes everybody look great absolutely um goalies make great erasers uh make great erasers um but i just have to say like looking at this east so i i gotta tell you tell you, I got this text from someone.

I got a text from someone, and he's going to laugh when he hears this. He says, I am watching this Eastern wildcard race. And every time you say you want to see the expanded playoffs, the Eastern wildcard race is why I never want to see it. He says none of these teams deserve to make the playoffs. Nevermind. Two more of them. That sounds like the commissioner. I don't care.

The commissioner is texting you this. It's not him. No. Do you think he listens to this garbage? No, but I know he doesn't like the expanded playoff. He doesn't like the expanded playoff. I said,

I thought he might just be saying, like, look at this. I said, I don't care. It's still better. It's still more entertaining. It's still more money. It's still a more valuable TV package. You are not changing my mind on this. N-O spells no.

There's going to come a time where you keep allowing teams into the NHL. You're going to have to expand the playoff format. And some would say we're already there now. And you're one of those people. Let me ask about another team here because they had a real sort of bunny hop weekend and that's the Detroit Red Wings. Now there's seven game losing streak ended with a four to one win over the Buffalo Sabres.

And then they spent around the next day and got doubled up by the Pittsburgh Penguins six to three undoing some of the work they did on Saturday when we talk about teams that have had opportunities to grab it and I understand the mitigating circumstance here is of course Dylan Larkin but uh right up around the top of that list, as much as we focus on the Islanders, has to be the Detroit Red Wings, Elliot. Yeah. You know, again, I would say the same thing about them that I would say about a lot of these teams

that are down there. I wouldn't say it about, you know, Tampa had an unbelievable game on Saturday. They pounced on Florida. Remember the last time they pounced on Florida, they gave up nine in a row and lost the game. They were outshot about a billion to six. And Vasilevsky looked like vintage Vasilevsky to beat Florida. But, you know, I look at the Red Wings.

I look at the Islanders. I look at the Penguins. I look at the Sabres. Like that was a big game for the Sabres against the Red Wings and they lost. And I look at the red wings i look at the islanders look at the penguins i look at the sabers like that was a big game for the sabers against the red wings and they lost and look at the devils you know the devils like jake allen since he got there he's given them now a couple of really good starts in a row they lost to vegas like i i look at all of these teams jeff like to me the capitals are different and like i said the Capitals are the one team I think is really overachieving. They have no business being anywhere near this. None at all.

And they find ways. But all these other teams, they can't build consistency. They have games you look at and you say say what just happened here how did they play a game like this and i would you know the flyers i give the flyers a bit of a break because you know even though they're still in there and they're in third in their division and they're in a playoff spot nobody expected the flyers to be there like this is all like now it would be a disappointment if they didn't make it because they've gone this far 68 games but overall you're looking at them and say Bravo like congratulations you guys are actually there nobody thought they were going to be there

but a lot of these other teams the Red Wings the Islanders the Penguins the Sabres the Devils you're looking at them and saying you know one night you're like okay they figured it out they got it and the next night you're looking at them going did these guys just forget how to play hockey i watched like i watched that i watched some of these games and i'm like i can't believe what i'm seeing here so i like it's you know who's going to be the consistent team? Who's going to be, who's going to, now, one thing about the Flyers is, you know, there's Drysdale, there's Seeler, and there's Ristolainen. Do they get any of these guys back? That could determine who wins this race is,

does Philly get some of their D back? If they get one or two of those guys back, that could be the difference maker for them. By the way, Ryan Johansson, he is on the Philly roster right now, and he's undergoing rehab for a hip injury, and we'll see where this goes. But right now, he's on their NHL roster because he's hurt, and we'll see where this goes but right now he's on their nhl roster because he's hurt and we'll see how it plays out okay uh a couple of more things i did want to mention again that colorado edmonton game on hockey night yeah and you know uh leckanen scores with with under a second remaining on just an absolute you know we talk about nathan minnon. We always talk about how much of a bull he is

or I like to compare him to a rhinoceros. Like when he gets a head of steam behind him, good luck, players just bounce off of him. That play between his skates and the stick and the backhand pass pinpoint laser beam to Lekanen who just taps it in. Like on the back check, Leon Dreisaitl concedescedes about how much do you figure

elliot about maybe one foot telekinon like that's how much room uh nathan mckinnon has to make that pass and it's a laser of a pass and he hits him perfectly it's it's a great player it's just a remarkable but from the skates to the stick to the spin and the pass and the like all of it and even getting and getting there was awesome too it was skill it was manson and day harney throwing down it was yeah it was like i got hurt you're walking away from it and you're saying yeah i want seven games of this thank you very much we've seen it two years ago want to see it again now yes uh dana got hurt he's gonna be out um that manson there's something about that manson blood don't make them dad was uh his dad wasn't dad was a kind of a fearsome guy no he sure was. I thought about it on Saturday night. So McKinnon talked about how Kucherov is the guy they all watch.

Remember when we did our interview with Ryan McDonough, and he talked about how he scored a big goal against the Islanders because they were coming to the end of a period, and Kucherov said, when that happens, you go to the front of the net and I'll find you. And McKinnon basically said that play was a fluke yes and no it was not a fluke because mckinnon did not first of all i made the skilled play skate to stick as you said number two he did even though there was one second left he said

there's time in his head he's like there's time to make a play number three he he he's basically says i'm going to do what kucherov does get the puck to the front of the net there's one second left what's the worst that could happen and they score and you know i'll say this watching that game the difference to me between the avalanche and the oilers still is that the avalanche they have like you you watch them when they don't have the puck they are committed to getting it back and it's not that the oilers aren't it's just the avalanche i think do it at a higher level watching that whole game that whole game was about the avalanche best players saying if we don't have this puck we're getting it back and you noticed it a lot like

they check and the Oilers I think are better at it but I I still think they have another level that they need to go to get to the avalanche agree or disagree I don't disagree that's a game of retrievals and that is one of the most aggressive teams on retrievals they swarm yeah they don't have the puck um and listen a lot of a lot of what they do is like that's a coach's dream like how many times like anyone listening right now who's ever played hockey and watches that nathan mckinnon play what are they all saying oh yeah my coach always said when in doubt throw it towards the net just get it to the net get it to the net get it to the net and well not always when there's one second left yes get it to the net get it to the net and how many coaches were saying you know uh it's everything you do away from the puck

that is the coach's dream and everything you do that's away from the puck that determines whether you win or whether you're going to lose and that's just a hungry team i remember joel quenville saying what turned patrick kane into an even better player when he lost the puck he got it back yeah that's what drove him to the higher level you know and we were talking about the playoff races there bad weekend for minnesota that lost to st louis they didn't play great and then vegas goes out and beats Jersey the next day. And, you know, Vegas is 28 regulation wins. That's ahead of Minnesota and St. Louis.

So Minnesota, again, they really don't have a margin for error here. Should shout out Sean Walker. Two goals in that game on Saturday. saturday yes um okay and edmonton took a long look at walker edmonton took a long look at walker and ultimately decided not to do it and colorado got him uh they did uh two goals later colorado beats the edmonton oilers on saturday a couple of things quickly go over a couple of things from headlines. The Rod Brindamore contract extension. Yeah, so I asked Brindamore on Saturday morning

about what it was, and he was very careful. Basically, he just said that he's optimistic, there's something, but a couple hours later, I made a couple of calls and someone said to me, do you remember what happened last time his contract was up and I was like no I don't and they said look at what one of the issues was and I went back and I looked and it was his assistant coaches and I said are you telling me it's the assistant coaches and this person said yes it is he wants his assistant coaches to be taken care of. And so I think that's what we're waiting for here, is for Brindamore to be satisfied that his assistant coaches are taken care of.

But he did not make it sound like there was a serious concern here that he wouldn't be back, is what I would say. You know, that Carolina team, I have to tell you, that's a confident group. Like you walk into that room and you look at those guys and now they look around and they see Gensel and they see Kuznetsov. And those guys who were there,

they feel very good about the ads. And now they got three goalies. You know, it was interesting. Ajo is a pretty big voice there. And, you know, I'd heard that he was one of the guys they went to about Kuznetsov. And he admitted that that was the case. And I just said, who did you talk to? And he said, Justin Williams.

And he said, when Justin Williams, who, by the way, is a co-worker of ours from time to time, when he's not too sick of David Amber that he refuses to attend Monday Night Broadcast, he said that when Justin Williams gave Kuznetsov the okay, he was good with it. But you can see in that room, they look at those guys and they're like, boy, we really added some talent here. And I'll say this too about Kuznetsov. It was the right time for him in the Capitals. It just looks like it.

You can see he's a different guy. And the Capitals have been successful too. It's one of those things where it works out. It could work out really well for everybody, which is what you want to see happen, but it's clear he needed the change, and they needed the change. Everybody was right here,

and in the short term, it seems to be a really soft landing, although I swear to God, you could time his shootout attempts with a sundial. I like that, though. I love that. I know you do. I know you do. A couple of things quick before I wrap up.

Half my family lives in Livonia, Michigan. And that's why I will forever be fans of Torrey Krug and Ryan Kessler and the man who now has a statue outside the rink Elliot's yeah Medano in Dallas that was awesome and the statues gorgeous the statues beautiful it's really well it's a really like I've seen some statues that you look at them and they're like are you serious you know there's like like you know what was notorious for that at one point in time was the cfl hall of fame they do bus and people would be like i remember i would go to that event every year and you'd be like looking at them and you'd say

all right no way and it was kind of like a running joke that they never looked like anyone but it's a great statue and um you know he's tight with novitsky who tweeted about it they met through steve nash but you could tell it was really meaningful for medano he was he was very very emotional about it it was it nice. It was really nice. TJ Oshie, game number 1,000. We always think of TJ Oshie and the shootouts. TJ Oshie. As well, it should be mentioned. One of the last pieces of the Washington Capitals

Stanley Cup puzzle reaches game number 1,000 on the weekend. You know, he had a really good quote because they weren't sure he was going to make it on Saturday night, and he's been beaten up a bit this year. He talked about how his teammates said that if we have to drag you onto the ice to play to get it this year, we're going to do it. You know, again, you know, Oshie is a guy.

He didn't do this the easy way. He plays hard, and he's battled a lot of things. But they don't win the Stanley Cup without him. There's a few guys, obviously, you could say that about, but I was really happy to see him get it. I also wanted to mention Tom Wilson lost his grandfather, Jake Avery, a couple weeks weeks ago and when they won the Stanley Cup in Vegas I went on the ice and I talked to his grandfather and his mother that's

his maternal grandfather obviously and just really nice people so I wanted to I wanted to mention Jake Avery and the Wilson family. But a great accomplishment for Oshie, who earned it the hard way, no question about it. And you know, Jeff, while we're going down this route, there's a couple other things we should mention. First of all, Marty Sanlui taking a leave of absence from the Canadians for a personal matter. And, you know, there was some revelation of it, I think, accidentally in the, in the game on Saturday night in Calgary, but you wish the best to the San Luis family and, but the, uh, you always want to talk about a positive Ryan.

Leslie did a fantastic interview with Lanny McDonald. Hang on, pause, pause, pause. Elliot pause. There are no bad interviews with Lanny mcdonald hang on pause pause pause elliot pause there are no bad interviews with lanny mcdonald when have you ever heard a bad interview with lanny mcdonald they're all great elliot i i believe i have a talent that i could do a bad interview with in everybody so i don't know i i would just say yeah well you know first of all you know, you know, Lanny McDonald is 71 years old and he just turned 71 in February and he just had a cardiac incident right after the all-star break. And he still looks better than I do. I don't know how that should be possible, Jeff. Like I went to the gym today here in Florida. You know, I did my squat benches and i did my one-armed lateral raises

and still like lanny mcdonald at 71 years old coming off a serious medical incident and he still looks better than i do but you know mcdonald said that he's walking 78 kilometers a day that was uh it was great to see and that was was a great, great interview with Ryan. I thought Ryan did an outstanding job. Love Lanny McDonald. I mean, I think we're all on the same page. If you don't love Lanny McDonald, good luck loving hockey. He was, Elliot, the first hockey player I ever met.

You're the problem. Yeah, exactly. Oh, yeah? Killsdale arena. Um, it was at a, I was playing hockey and then my sister was figure skating after, and he was there with his wife for both. And I remember like, honestly, like it was like, it was like, I couldn't believe that an NHL or was a killsdale arena in the West end of Toronto.

So that always be a special place in my heart for Lanny McDonald. One, because he's just an outstanding person. But two, he was the first NHL hockey player that I ever met. I remember being stunned and not being able to speak. I think I was seven, maybe eight years old, and couldn't talk. So great to see Lanny in great spirits and healthy. And you're right, Ryan Leslie did a marvelous job of that. UNB and U Sports Hockey Championship

and Gardner McDougall with his ninth championship, 10th championship for UNB. And this one, and they won the final game for nothing, beating UQTR. This one was remarkable because they, Elliot, ran the table big time. Yes, so they had a perfect season. They won last year and had a perfect season this year. They've won 47 straight games.

And Ben Steiner, I want to shout him out. He does a great job covering a U sports. He pointed out that they did not give up a goal in the university cup championship weekend, which I think was three games. The first time that's ever happened. 15 to love. The first time that's ever happened where a team won the championship weekend without giving up a goal. And you should also mention that he coached St. John's Seadogs out of nowhere.

Yep. To the Memorial Cup in 2022. They brought him in late in the year. Ringer. Ringer coach. Ringer. Remember we talked last week on the remember we talked last week on the podcast about being able to pick up goaltenders the chl used to do that where you

could add a goaltender for the memorial cup saint john ended up as a coach and one of the best in this country in gardner mcdougall so yeah memorial cup u sports hockey championships uh you name it congrats to that outstanding hockey program looks good on the reds now here's my only concern about gardner mcdougall okay at unb what do you do for an encore you just went unbeaten you didn't give up a goal. No, that's not enough. You have to find something even better. That's not enough. You have to give up. Next year when you win the championship at the University Cup,

you have to give up minus six goals. I was going to say, you don't give up a goal the entire season? Like you want to really dominate the league? I don't know where you remember a saturday night live when they used to have george went like doing the bears oh yeah the bears oh yeah yeah of course that's a great round great round table there was there was one year they came on they came on the night before they came on the night before the bears were going to play their season opener against buffalo and said tomorrow and they said what's the score going to be tomorrow?

He goes, Bears 31, Bills negative seven. That's what UNB has to do next season. Over to you, McDougal. Over to you. Alex Tuck still to come with the Buffalo Sabres. Montana's Thought Line is next. Listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime.

Time now for a big surprise for Elliot. Here we go. The Montana's Thought Line, Montana's barbecue and bar, Canada's home for barbecue, Elliot. Try the ribs. I don't like where this is going. I'm really glad you said that with such gusto and authority. We got an email this week.

Hey, Jelly Dom. That is Jeff, Elliot, and Dom. Love the pot. I know Elliot has tried many different ways of delivering quote, try the ribs. So I made a musical jingle version of try the ribs. That might be a cool change of pace. This is Rick Turner's jingle for try the ribs. Dom Schramatti, take it away I gotta say that's actually not bad I'm pretty impressed Rick nice job where's

Rick from I don't know where Rick is from wasn't I didn't include that in the email let me just double check the email actually here did not say no Rick does not say where he's from, but that sounds fantastic. It does. It sounds very country music. So I was wondering if he comes from somewhere

where country music is king, but it's quite good. I'm impressed. I am flattered. And normally when Jeff says it's going to be a surprise, it's a lot worse than that. So I will take it, Rick. Thank you very much. It's because it wasn't my surprise. All right, let's get to our first email. And Rick,

thanks so much for that jingle. I think we may have a new staple here on the future. Jose from Richmond, Virginia. Hey, Jeff, Elliot, Dom, thanks so much for everything you guys do. Love the pod calling for the first time from Richmond Virginia my name is Jose I was watching the Capitals Oilers game last night in which 2022 first round pick for the Capitals Ivan Maroshnichenko scored his second goal pretty cool story there with him coming back from Hodgkin's lymphoma his career in the NHL agreed there I noticed he's got 14 letters on the back of his jersey and was wondering what is the longest last name on the jersey in NHL for all time? Thank you so much. Take care. So Jeff, the first thing that I come up with is Letourneau LeBlanc. Pierre-Luc Letourneau LeBlanc is the longest name in the history of the NHL.

Or Jeff Drouin-Delorier, one of the two. But those are hyphenated. Okay. So what's the answer? It's Ivan Marashnichenko with 14 letters. I would have had no idea. I didn't know that. Now, while I was listening to you there, I just did a Google search.

Who had the longest last name? And I've come up with another 14 letter surname and google is never wrong and the name is john john brackenborough who played for the bruins in the 1920s so we have a tie hang on seven. Seven games. That's right. Retired due to an eye injury. So only played seven games with the Boston Bruins from Parry Sound, Ontario. Although, I have to tell you, according to UniWatch, which is one of the sites that does track these things,

technically, Mirosh Nchenanko holds the record. You know why? Why? Because when Brackenborough played, there were no names on the back of jerseys. This is very narrow. That is, again, it's totally me, but I don't like this one. No, no, no, no, no.

You don't like this one? No, I don't like that one. Because it's, no, no, no. You don't like this one? No, I don't like that one because it's still his name, regardless of whether there's a name bar. I would have bet $11 billion that if you came up with this, you'd be saying, Elliot, technically, that's not correct.

Well, actually, Elliot, we never saw it over his shoulder, so we can't say. We never saw it go wrist to wrist because it was so long. No, name bar, no. You're like bar comic book guy from the simpsons well actually well actually he pushes up glasses um no i don't like that at all

to me it's tied i'm sorry with all due respect okay i mean i'm good with this right the record is tied yeah that's a good one i had no idea brackenborough's got the cool nickname of spider so i always think that one i I had no idea. Great question. That's a really good question, but no, to me it's tied. Um, all right, here's another trivia one, and this is someone that actually I want to get in touch with and I'm trying to get in touch with right now. So I'll bring more information about him on the next podcast. I don't know who

this person is but i cannot blame them for not answering your messages i just want to say that right off the top to look into and to hunt this person down this afternoon so give me some time here man give me some time maybe you know maybe you know right out of the gate here from kyle d in alberta with conor brown scoring his first goal on his 89th shot of the season, it had me curious. What's the most shots in a row a player has had on net without scoring? I've looked, but I can't find the answer anywhere.

Thanks, guys. Love the pod. Keep up the great work, everyone. Kyle D from Alberta. Do you know? I do, but I had to hunt. I really, really had to hunt i really really had to answer steve holko 96 career shots on goal zero goals he also owns the record this from steve fell in a sports net stats owns the record for most career nhl games with zero career goals, 155. Now, why am I so fascinated

with Steve Holko? Okay. I don't know. He was on that university in Michigan team. And even though he wasn't on the ice at the time, because it was a power play for Michigan, I believe he was on the ice at the time because it was a power play for Michigan. I believe he was on the bench when Mike Legg scored the Michigan goal. He was on that team. He's from Bolton, Ontario. He's a Hartford Wheelers pick back in 1992 and played 155 games, had 15 assists, played with the Carolina Hurricanes, obviously Hartford Wheelers Association. Zero goals, 15 assists, 15 points,

71 penalty minutes. Four games in the playoffs, no goals, no assists, two minutes in penalties in the playoffs. Steve Holko. Because one thing is, there's definitely been players who scored no goals in a season

and had more shots than that. But I would assume those are players who scored no goals in the season and had more shots than that but i would assume those are players who scored like i remember robin regier had a year where he didn't have any goals i think i think i think in philly like brad mccrimmon the late great brad mccrimmon and brad marsh they would have years where they didn't score and had more shots than that but they scored other times so right that's not the answer you're looking for that's that's a great that's a great question that's a great answer i'm impressed you you found that so i remember situations where there was one year the exact reverse darcy hordachuk i don't remember who he played for at the time but it was like his 15th or 20th game of the season and he didn't have a shot on goal and

the first shot he took that year went in like that's the opposite that's the reverse i remember that happened to darcy hordachuk one year he didn't have a shot for like i said something about like 25 games and the first shot he took all season went into that well you know my favorite darcy hordachuk stat of all time it's my favorite fighter stat of all time ever tell you this one i don't know this would have been 2007 you know we always talk about the perfect player or the perfect stats or doing your role properly he um darcy hordachuk with the nashville predators i want to say it's either 2007 or 2006 had 60 minutes in penalties for the nashville predators

all majors 12 fighting majors he did not cost his team a single minute shorthanded it was the perfect fighters season ever. I think it was 2007. Tharcy Hordachuk. 12 majors, 60 pims. That's your season. My work here is done. That's excellent.

Steve Holko. That's a good pull, Merrick. I never would have got that. Never. I'm trying to track him down. There's one person I know who has teammates with him that I'm trying to go through to try to track him down. And I'll bring you more information on the next podcast. How do you think he feels about this to be honest? You're trying to track down somebody who?

Had no goals on 96 shots. Do you think I would be curious to know if he'd actually want to talk about this I'm not sure I Would I would see your hang on your America yours lost? I'm not sure I would. See, hang on. Merrick, get lost. You're assuming that I just want to talk about that. I want to talk about being on the Michigan team where Legg scored the goal.

Yeah, that doesn't really excite me either, I have to tell you. Okay, here's one from Mark Wong. Title, subject. We could do another segment, Dom, on Merrick tracking down people about things that they may not want to talk about from hockey. How about Merrick tracks down people who don't want to talk to him? I think that could be a really good segment.

We could film podcasts with that. Before we went on air, we had that conversation about a conversation I had with an agent who was in no way, shape, or form. He did not want to talk to me either. This is something that's normally very chatty, too i found quite funny that's very strange okay mark wong uh subject coach suspension uh hello just wondering what the rules are for a coach suspension is he allowed in the dressing room at all or is he not allowed to be with the team at all oh you're he's probably asking about John Tortorella. So the way it worked with Tortorella was on game days, he had to be out by, I think it was four o'clock.

So by four o'clock on a game day, he couldn't be around the team anymore. So that's the way it works. Unless there's something where they tell you you have to completely get lost, you're allowed to practice. You're allowed to game plan and prepare. But once it was four o'clock on the day of a game, he had to be out of the way.

You see, I was under the impression it was any team function whatsoever. So whether it was a meeting or a practice or video session or lunch or team build or anything that they weren't allowed to be around. I don't know if it's different in other situations, Jeff, but in this particular one, he had to be out of the dressing room and cutting off contact three hours before puck drop, and he was not allowed to communicate in-game. He was allowed to watch from the arena, but he could not communicate in-game. Okay, a couple more to wrap up, and I still have that Try the Ribs song watch from the arena, but he could not communicate in game.

Okay. A couple more to wrap up. And I still have that Try the Ribs song, by the way, that jingle in my head. I am really impressed with the ingenuity. I really am. Yes. And the creativity and the ability to actually create something,

as opposed to guys like me who just talk about things that other people did. Matt in Montreal, waiver-exempt player salary. That's the subject. I was wondering about the impact on a waiver-exempt player's take-home salary when they're being waived for a few days here and a few days there without ever actually leaving the big club. How much does it actually cost them over the course of a season?

And do players complain given it's by default young players who haven't made that much money yet yeah it can be an issue so for example if you have a two-way contract there's a change in your salary if you have a one-way deal which a one-way deal means you get paid the same amount no matter where you are whether you're in the nhl or the ahl or the echl for argument's sake you're getting paid the same salary so there's no change if you're waived and in the minor leagues or not but if you have a two-way deal which is your nhl salary and a lesser salary in the minor leagues there is a. And every day that you get sent down paper transaction for argument, Logan Stankoven is going through that right now.

Your salary does shift from, so if you're up with the big club for two days and you're sent down for one and called back up for that one day, you're on the AHL salary instead of the NHL salary now I can say this I do think in some situations the teams are mindful of that they recognize it can be a change but there are some cases especially now with the cap as tight as it is that you know teams look at it and say look unfortunately there's not much we can do here. But yes, it depends on if you have a one-way or a two-way contract. But if you have a two-way, there is a change for every day you're in the American Hockey League or elsewhere in the minors.

And that day or days that you're in the American Hockey League, you are not paying escrow just to make the computation that much more difficult. How about that? Yes, you don't pay escrow in the American hockey league. So you go to AHL, you actually get a raise. If you're on the one way contract, Colin in Burlington, Ontario,

CBA talk, Elliot, we'll finish up with this one. Everybody loves CBA talk, right? Hey, jelly Dom, you mentioned the next CBA,

which must mean you're open to taking questions about the next CBA. Oh God, already? Okay. Here we go. You're right. This is my fault. I opened the door. I have nobody but to blame but myself.

As we've said before, Elliot takes a CBA to the beach every summer. He loves talking about the CBA. I've got it at the pool with me here in Florida. With all the talk about expansion and expansion fees, is there any appetite from the players to include the expansion fee into hockey-related revenue? What could the league conceivably request in return? Thanks for being the soundtrack to my gym sessions.

We're just a health and fitness podcast, really, folks. Keep up the great work, Jeff, Dom, and Elliott. What do you think, Elliott? Is there an appetite? Absolutely. There is a tombstone-sized appetite for the players to get that. But just because they're hungry for it doesn't mean it's going to happen. I don't see it. The owners, obviously the players would love to get their hands on that.

I just don't see it. What the league looks at it and says look it's 50 more jobs and uh we'll pocket the expansion fees please and thank you but the so the short answer to your question is yes absolutely the longer answer to your question is absolutely but i would say very unlikely if not impossible they'd probably also want a piece of franchise sale too but i don't know that that's happening anytime soon. I don't think so either. I don't believe so either,

Jeffrey. All right. This edition of the Montana's Thought Line, the music courtesy of Rick Turner. Rick, that was awesome. Thank you so much. Great job, Rick. Thank you. Montana's Barbecue and Bar, Canada's home for barbecue. Again, the way to get in, 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca, 1-833-311-3232.

We're back in a moment. Welcome to 32 Thoughts brought to you by the GMC Sierra. We have a special interview section for this Monday's pod, and it's Alex Tuck of the Buffalo Sabres. It's a good interview, and I'm not just saying that because I did it and Jeff wasn't there, although by now you should know that usually means a better interview. Jeff was unable to be there, so I did this one. And the thing that's

really fascinating about it is it happened on Wednesday night, two nights before the trade deadline, March the 6th. The day after we did this interview, the Buffalo Sabres traded Casey Middlestat to the Colorado Avalanche for Bowen Byram. And the reason I mention that is there's an answer in this interview about Middlestad that we think, knowing this history, is pretty fascinating. I would like to catch up with Tuck somewhere down the road to follow up on it, but for now, because the interview was really good, Tuck is a great talker, we just decided to leave it so you can hear it less than 24 hours before Middlestadt was traded. It just adds another fascinating plot to this conversation.

Tuck's a good interview. He had a lot of interesting things to say. We hope you enjoy. Here he is, Alex Tuck. So you always want to start these interviews, Alex, by asking something that's going to make the other person laugh or smile or say, how did you know that? And the number one answer I got about you was, ask Alex Tuck what it's like to own the most beautiful house in Buffalo. Wow. Well, I guess that's quite a compliment then. That's really nice. But my wife and I just finished building our house August of last year. Well, I guess we moved in in August. I guess it was fully finished probably around November. Everybody who's ever done a reno or build a home knows

exactly what you're talking about. Yeah. It was a 17-month process before we moved in. So I guess it was around 20 months, uh, full start to start to finish there. And, um, you know what, honestly, uh, my wife did most of the heavy lifting when it came to the house. So, uh, she worked with an interior designer and, uh, she did an unbelievable job and we're really happy with it. And it's been, uh, it's, it's been awesome. And we just had our, our firstborn son. So to have him, uh, step, uh, step foot his, well, he has, he's not walking yet, but to be brought home into a kind of our dream house there has been something that was really special to us. Okay. So what's your wife's name? Kylie. And she's from Vancouver, right? Yes. Yes. She's from Vancouver. And what's your son's name?

Uh, trip trip. Okay. Great name. So the, so I said, well, what's so special about this house? And people said, well, it's beautiful. That's number one. But number two, I heard there's like a wine tasting room right in the middle of it. Is that true? There is. So we did like a wine cellar, but we did kind of an opener, more of an open space. So you can go in and we haven't decided what we're going to put in the middle of it, but maybe some seats and you can go in there and have some wine tasting.

And then it's connected to a bar that has a window between the wine room and the bar. So you can pass bottles of wine or you can keep some stuff refrigerated that maybe you can't keep refrigerated just in a normal bar. So we like the flow of it and we just wanted to make sure we can entertain as much as possible. Because there's two kinds of people, people that want others in their house and people that don't want anyone in their house. So I guess you're option A. You don't mind having people in the house. Yeah. Yeah. I come from, my mom's Italian and she's the more the merrier. And same with my wife. My wife grew up in a big house. Her mom loves to entertain as well. So we love to entertain as much as possible, as long as it's planned. No unannounced show-ups.

Well, you know what the saying is. Friends always welcome. Family by appointment only. I love that. That's fantastic. No, the more the merrier. We loved it. We had 13 family members at our house for Christmas time, and it was great.

Is there anything else that you built here that you're particularly proud of that's unique to maybe your household? I gave one little input in the whole building, except for I have my own little things downstairs in the gym. But away from that, it was my idea to do a breakfast nook, like a curved breakfast nook. So that was my one idea. Other than my gym and sauna, other than that, that was my one good idea. But yeah, other than that, nothing. Okay. And new son, sometimes I know players who've had their first children during the season,

and they're like, my game dropped off because I didn't know what I was getting into. Was there anything like that with you when Tripp arrived on the scene? You know what? He's almost three months now. when Tripp arrived on the scene? You know what? He's almost three months now. The sleep was a big thing and a big adjustment of, like,

understanding and getting into a rhythm. And it's not even like you expect so much. You don't really know how much of a big difference it is. So I think getting into a rhythm was a little bit harder. But I wouldn't say that my game dropped off too much. I think, honestly, our team wasn't the greatest at home as is. So I think that was kind of, I think, I mean, I could have been better at home, but I don't think it was because of my son by any means or anything like that.

No, I just think that adjustment with the schedule and kind of that, just making sure you're ready. Okay, there's a few things I want to talk to you about, Naz one of the things like just going through your history and stuff, there's a couple of things that happened when you were younger, that people say were really interesting. And one of them was when you made the U S national development team, I guess, and you were told that they were interested in you, it got to a situation where they said, we'd like to have you on the team. And your dad actually had a funny line, like, are you sure? Like, he's good enough to be on this team. And that's usually the reverse that we hear from parents and players. Can you take us through that process of when you

kind of got discovered? Growing up, I always just, I didn't play too much of my own age group, actually. We didn't have the strongest teams in Syracuse. And so I played with the 95 birth year for the majority of growing up. And then a lot of kids started moving away from home during midgets. I stayed home and played junior Bs in the Empire League, which is no longer exists. And then, but I would go to the national camps. I would do well. I had my first scholarship offer from RPI, Seth Appert, now the coach of the Rochester Americans. So he also coached my little brother at the U.S. program. So I got a long history with him. But I think it was just kind of just gradually over time.

And then I went to the 40-man camp. I was invited there after not getting the invite to the junior Olympic team, too, that previous summer. invite to the junior Olympic team too. Um, that previous summer, uh, they, I was one of the first offers right after 40 man camp after their early offers to like Larkin, Eichel, uh, and you all played together. Yeah. We, and we played together that, that week and, uh, they brought me in and offered, but I think part of it was like, I think my dad, uh, was protecting me and wanted to make sure that I, I got a good opportunity there and I wasn't going to be just another fill-in player. And I actually started off the entire first year as a fourth-line center there.

But another part of it, the reason was, is because I almost went to the OHL. I don't think many people know this, but I almost went to Kitchener to be with Steve Spott. I didn't know that. Yeah. Too bad Merrick's not here because he would really be into that. Yes. Yeah. So Spotter recruited me hard to come to Kitchener because when you were younger,

I don't know if it's still true now because of the new rules with NLI and everything like that, but you could play the college card. So you could pretty much pick where you wanted to go in the O as an American. Yes. And I don't know if that's the same as the dollars. Well, people still do it. Yes. They say, look, if I don't get where I want to go, I'll just go to college.

That still happens. So that was one of the places. All of us 67s because Shane Prince, who played for the Syracuse Stars, we were close to him and his dad and one of his coaches in Syracuse. I went up and I visited them as well. coaches in Syracuse, I went up and I visited them as well. And then the U.S. national program actually knew that I was visiting with some OHL teams, so they gave me a week to figure out whether or not I was going to go to the U.S. program. So kind of pressure, they were like, we'll give you a week, because 10 days later was the OHL draft,

which is kind of like, okay, if I decided to go to the U.S. program, I was most likely going to go to college route. If I went to the OHL, obviously that was college without the window. So I think I committed to the U.S. program and a couple of months later I committed to Boston College. Now, the other thing that was talked about was your second year with the national development team. You played with Jack Eichel and Sonny Milano, right? They are your alliance. The World Under-17s, you had a game against Canada where you guys were matched up against, I think, Connor McDavid. I can't even remember who McDavid would have played with at that time,

but it was like a 6-5 game, and people told me it was like one of the most incredible games they ever saw. Do you remember that? Yeah. So, actually, I've never actually talked. I don't really know him, but I went up against Darnell Nurse the entire night. It was him and I the entire night because he was matched up against our line. It was me, Jack, and I think Tyler Mott, actually.

Oh, okay. They had taken Sonny and put him with Larkin, I'm pretty sure pretty sure and one other guy i'm not positive on that but i had gone every single shift against darnell nurse and those who know darnell he was a beast yeah he still is but when he was younger he was it was a man against amongst boys and so we went toe-to-toe in the crease all night long um it didn't end up working in our favor, obviously. That was an incredible experience. The building, the atmosphere was nuts. And that was in Canada, New Year's Day or New Year's Eve game, World Juniors, Canada, USA. I mean, you couldn't write up a better storyline. And it was six to five game. I think Larkin had two goals late with like five minutes to go to get us within one.

And it was nuts. It was an eye-opener, though. It was probably one of the biggest pressure moments I've ever had playing in a game like that. And so it was definitely a learning experience for me. Do you and Darnell, when you see each other now, and obviously you're in different conferences, but is there still that look like I remember and stuff like that no I don't think so I don't know like I mean we've gone up against each other and there's been yeah out in the west and there was definitely some battles and we never got in the playoffs I think that

that would have shown up more if it was like a if it was in the playoffs I think regular season like you know you're gonna go in and battle hard but it's not kind of that doggy dog mentality that you have in the playoffs and that's something doggy dog mentality that you have in the playoffs. And that's something that I think that you can have in the regular season and it does come up at certain times, but it's not something that guys do 82 games out of the year. Playoffs is a whole another level that you get to. And I think if we met in the playoffs, that would have happened. One question I always like to ask is somebody's draft year. Did you know where you were going that year in your draft? Which part of the year? No, I had, um, when I started the year

off, I, well, I think central scouting had me at a C or a D and, uh, they had me at good, like, obviously good size, good skater for my size, like smart, but I think i was lacking this the up end skill or something like that i can't remember but and then it evolved into okay did you take that personally like did you are you the kind of guy who's like f that like i'm gonna show my way yes but at the same time i was just like i kind of ignore a lot of what you guys are saying it It's probably a good thing. I'm not offended, Alex. No, it's funny and it's interesting to see other people's opinions and stuff. And I like reading up on other guys too

and what the opinions are. And I read up on guys' draft and I was able to see a different perspective of my little brother. But the central scouting, I guess it was kind of a blur draft and I was able to see a little different perspective of my little brother and um but the the central scouting I guess it was kind of a blur because I'd met with I'd met with every single team every team so I was a guy that I could have slipped to the second round I could went earlier in the first round and I think it was between 10 and 20 was probably a good thing and 10 was very

optimistic and below 20 would have been probably a disappointment. So I think right on that, the 18 was probably a good mark. And I really actually thought that Philly was a real possibility. Why did you think that? That's where a lot of people were placing me right on that 17. And Larkin went 15. Milano went 16. And then I was looking at the board.

And I was like, oh, that's probably a good spot. And then we were in Philly. A lot of people had me ranked there. And obviously, they ended up picking up Sanheim, which they have long term, and he's a great player. And so after that, I was like, oh, well, OK, not Philly, not Minnesota. And then Minnesota came up. My agent looked behind. I saw the camera.

Because it's funny, because you can see the camera guys move around the rink yes i don't think many people understand that yes it's like except for the first couple picks they have multiple cameraman yeah but after that then you see the cameraman and so when it's not near you you're like oh it's not my pick but when it's near you i was so stressed out that day i don't know why i had a headache i it's your life i totally get it i know i know it is it's life-changing obviously but it's such a small part and you see guys like first second third fourth round i mean my draft honestly they said it was it was supposed to be the worst draft of all time that's also uplifting no i know and it was like it was like no high-end guys, like all these guys.

We had Ekba went one, Reinhardt two, Dreisaitl three, Bennett four. And then you go, you had Pasternak slip to 25. You had Braden Point go, I think, in the third round. I mean, Larkin 15. You had guys riddled in the draft that are now probably going to be future Hall of Famers. So that was something that I find it funny is you can see how the draft doesn't really matter. Yes. Honestly. Just get in.

Get your foot in the door. Yeah, I mean, it's part of it. And sometimes, I mean, even when you slip later in the drafts, you almost don't want to go drafted, become a free agent too. Now, did you ever, like, did you know Minnesota was,

like, how interested did you think Minnesota was? I thought they were one of the least interested teams in me. I had the shortest interview with them. I'm shocked at how many people tell me that. I had the shortest interview with them. It was quick. It was cut and dry. They didn't show any excitement or favoritism towards me at all.

And then after I got drafted, they said they had me going top 10. They had me going at like 8 or 9. I was like, wow, that's a huge compliment to me. That means a lot. And so, um, yeah, no, that was, that was, it was crazy. Yeah. When, when Chuck told me that. Now was there, did you have any wild, uh, draft interview experiences? Like any questions that you looked at back? Okay. The answer is yes. So what happened? So, well, I had, I had a really good interview. I believe it was Florida. I think they were, obviously they had the first overall pick and then I met with them and they had a really interesting question. And they said, um, it was, I've, no one told me, I know, I, I, I didn't know

that they were going to ask this. And they said, we're going to give you three options. Pick one and tell us why. I go, okay. It was a hypothetical question. They said, if you're in the Army, you pick between a medic, a sniper, and a helicopter pilot. Pick one and why. And I said, a helicopter pilot because I think that I can be on both the sniper and the medical team. And I'm a diverse person and diverse player. And that my that was my answer and they looked at me for a second and I

that I don't know why it came to me and that's why I thought it and I was just like that's kind of what I went for in those interviews is uh kind of a utility knife type of player and that's what I wow I have tried to transition my game into as time has evolved into a full 200 foot player that can play in all different roles and aspects. You know, you're I have to tell you, like, obviously, Alex, I've seen you around. I've chatted with you. You're a pretty deep thinker. I try to be like, what do you read? Like, I'm curious now, like, what kind of stuff do you follow? You know what? I honestly don't read enough.

I really I really don't i really try you know i was part of it is because i actually i took a class this past fall and so uh so i'm still at boston college actually still i'm getting my degree i'm a communications degree with a minor in marketing so it's it's pretty simple it's pretty cut and dry uh i really just wanted to do it because I set my mind to it in the beginning. I did two years, I did the summer classes, you know, I said to myself, like, I'm going to try to finish this. And at times it's been harder than others, but that was a, that was a pretty, um, I can't even remember the class I took actually now, but that was a pretty, uh, involved class. That was multiple days a week of like several hours a night doing it. So

the reading kind of has slipped off but i've tried to get back into it i've tried now to do uh one book on like to help me be a better person and and also like a better hockey player and then one book of like fiction or just something fun and interesting um i'm into i like stuff with like the the roman and greek gods and uh kind of that like history and mythology i've always liked that mythology i haven't when i was a kid i really loved it lately i haven't gotten into it in years but that was something that when i was really young i loved that kind of stuff now when you're talking about becoming a better person hockey player, that mental side or physical side, or what is that?

A little bit of both, uh, a book that, uh, well, I'm on some fiction book right now. Um, I just started reading it today, but my next book is going to be 25 ways to sleep smarter. So that's something that it's, and it's sometimes a grind for me to read through these books. Cause I like books. I like fiction books a lot better, but I think that's going to be a book that is going to help me. Um, I think a lot of times it's just shutting it down. Sorry. I'll shutting it down after games, uh, is something that, uh, it can be a struggle for me at times. I fell into a really good rhythm earlier in the season. Um, now with a like a son you have to you have to adjust and so just being able to find it and sometimes on the road you can maybe watch a show for too long or be on your phone for too long i think nowadays with all the distractions it's sometimes hard to fall asleep at night or fall asleep after games because all the adrenaline and all this everything that you got going through your course into your veins. We'll take a book recommendation here. What's the current fiction book you're reading?

Oh, I, no, I can't even say it. Cause there's some, I think it's some of my teammates will be embarrassed, but it was, I actually told my wife cause she had read it. And I remember she had told me, she told me about it and she's like, there's no way they've recommended this book. I'm not going to say who who did it but it's verity it's a i don't i don't know what the book's about i'm like 40 pages in it's about some author who is yeah is like becoming a ghost writer for to finish some novel i don't know what it's about and i'm sure some some of your listeners will be like oh my god there's nothing wrong with that no i know i apparently uh apparently yeah my wife

was very surprised that my teammates had read it honestly so i'm interested to see what it's about you know like i don't think people will make fun of you or anything like that like and and then again who cares if they do yeah that's one thing actually that some people told me about you is like so when you went to vegas you went with eric holla and everybody jokes with eric holla's nickname is eric holla famer because he's a very confident guy. But a couple of people told me, do not kid yourself. Alex Tuck is just as confident as Eric Holla. And that's why you are where you are because you really believe in yourself.

Yeah. No, I'm – yeah, he's got a – Holls halls is a great he's a really good friend of mine yes stay in touch to this day and uh i i love um him and his wife and uh they were great people and they really took me in honestly because i was a i was a 21 year old rookie who didn't know any better and um he was someone that really kind of helped me become a pro and taught me. And him and Kristen are great people. But no, I mean, that's part of it is understanding, I guess, like where you should be confident in yourself and where you should probably be humble. and where you should probably be humble.

And I think that as I've grown older, I've understood how to, maybe not humble, but I'm trying to think of the word for it, be less confident and kind of be more understanding of maybe you can grow in this area. But confidence is key in professional sports. And so you need to be confident in your abilities, but also understand where you can grow and get better. Because if you don't, then there is a ceiling. But if you know that you can always be better, there is no ceiling in your game. Well, it's funny. Like I've talked about this with people before. The way I always try to carry myself is polite, but firm. But when you're in kind of an alpha world that you're in,

myself as polite but firm but when you're in kind of an alpha world that you're in polite but firm doesn't always work like you have to carve out your space you have to believe in yourself and if you don't believe in yourself in the nhl you're gonna get run over no yeah that's that's definitely yeah you're right on that what do you remember about that first year in vegas it was a blur too much fun um no i mean i just tried to take it all in. I think a lot of it was I was able to live in the moment because I didn't know any better. I mean, like I had only played six games in Minnesota. So I was just getting used to the experience of playing in the NHL and going to all these different cities and playing in front of these fans that were unbelievable. And it was a lot of fun. And it was kind of interesting because as popular as a team got so early, so quick, no one recognized

you in the city. You can go out and do whatever you wanted and and really you were unbothered and you can kind of blend right in with the other tourists and um and then on the hockey side of things it was just i guess it was kind of just proving everyone wrong i mean personally like everyone was traded or picked up in the expansion draft not many i mean there's a couple free agents but even them it was kind of like everyone had that chip on their shoulder. And that's what made us, I think, so successful our first year is we just kept winning. And there was no, like, huge setbacks.

And there was no, like, there was no waiver in our locker room that we were a good team. It kind of kept us growing steadily and steadily because we were as unsure as everybody else. And guys started having career years. And you had Will Carlson who was a fourth line guy in Columbus stepped in and after five or ten games was pretty much a our first line center through and through he scored over 40 goals that year and it was incredible and um obviously there were some guys with that were really good in their

previous teams that had been in the league for a long time. You had guys like James Neal. I mean, Marcia Scrooge was 30 goal scorer and we had Mark Andre Fleury, who obviously was huge for us, but we also had a time when we had played through like six goalies too that year. I was just talking to, uh, uh, Eric Comrie about that. And we were talking, we were throwing names out of the goalies. And, and so, I mean, there wasn't, there was, sorry, adversity that we had to go through. And so honestly, there was just a lot of things happening at once. So if you were able to focus on just the moment, it was, it was really good. And our team was able to do that. You were single at the time, right? When you first got there. So what was it like for a young single guy in Vegas in that

first year? It was fun. I mean, I, it was, did you have trouble like keeping on a straight path or anything like that? Or, you know what? I mean, you have to, you do have to find a balance and I was 21 years old and you did have to find a balance. And I think that I really leaned on our veterans hard. And I wasn't perfect all the time, obviously. And no one is. And sometimes I probably had a little bit too much fun. And that's okay. It was a learning experience for me.

But we had a really good team. We had a group of guys that really cared about each other. And so guys were making sure that I wasn't being an idiot honestly when just being blunt honestly and it's um uh and so i mean i mean i've made a lot of really good friends there and uh and so i'm really thankful for them because my career wouldn't be where i am without them who was the best like what was the best advice like which player like whether it was eng or someone who was gave you the best advice? I don't I don't think James Neal roll out of bed score 20. That was my that was the greatest piece of advice.

No. Or fool another GM. No, I'm just kidding. Neal was awesome. And he was a guy that I really looked up to. The real deal was he was unbelievable. And let me tell you, there is not a more competitive person when it comes to the real deal was he was unbelievable and and let me tell you there is not a more competitive person when it comes to the playoffs either he was incredible

but um I just took little bits and pieces of advice uh from everybody and uh England, Flurry, Neil, Perron, Marcheseau, Smith, uh Halla I mean it goes on and on. Reeves, we got laid around in the year. And, um, I mean, these are still guys that I talk to and I reach out to if I have questions and I need help with anything. And I've also seen kind of, um, how they've handled having families in the NHL too. And I was able to kind of see that as everyone's kind of little brother and, and, uh, Uncle Tucky and, and to see all these kids and, um, these kids and how there was a balance. And so I've kind of learned about that, and now that I'm starting my own family.

So let's take us through the trade to Buffalo. Yes. So I was injured. I got shoulder surgery in July after the COVID year, because it pushed everything back. We lost to Montreal in the semifinals. I don't even think you can call it conference, but yeah. Yeah, whatever it was.

Whatever it was during the COVID year. Whatever it was, COVID, yeah. Yeah, thank you, Carey Price, for being the best goalie in the world that series. But no, we lost shoulder surgery. I was rehabbing. I came to Toronto actually where we are now for a rookie party. I was on the trip with the team. Everyone goes to on those trips and the article had come out like, oh, Tuck most likely to go to Buffalo in the Eichel trade.

And I came across Twitter or some people would send it to me and I was like, oh, I hadn't heard anything. So I called my agent. My agent hadn't heard anything so i called my agent my agent hadn't heard anything and that was actually the time that there was a deal in place that i think had gotten uh shut down by somebody else uh i think later and then the the a week later the deal finally went through um and i had gotten a call from i well i got a text from kelly mccream and hey me. And that's when I kind of had a feeling. So Kelly talked to me on the phone, sorry, but we had to make this deal. And we had a long conversation. And I thanked him for everything he had done because he was an integral part of why I was in Vegas in the first place and my time there.

And so I was very thankful for everything he had done for me. But you're not happy when you get traded, obviously. But now that was probably one of the teams that I was happiest about because I was going home, per se. I was going to go and play for my childhood team. And so that was something that I was really excited about. And then I talked to Kevin Adams and Don Granato that night and then uh the next morning obviously the news broke

um and yeah the rest is history what did your family say I don't know even I can't remember if I'd gotten a whole yeah I did actually get a hold of my parents I called them I think they were sleeping actually I was like hey just to let know, like I'm getting traded to Buffalo and they were pissed off and excited at the same time. Cause they wanted to go to Vegas. Oh, they were so pissed at Kelly. Sorry, Kelly. My parents were really pissed at Kelly. And then, uh, cause they loved it in Vegas and loved my time. And, um, they'd made a lot of really good friends and then they were like, oh my God, he's coming home. Kind of, I live two hours away from my parents now and they were so excited um so uh it was a dream come true for uh my my whole family and I honestly and uh to be able to put on that

saber sweater I mean I spent I don't even know how many nights I spent with my dad in our living room watching the Buffalo Sabres and Rick Jenner at making the calls and just everything about it. It was, I think the worst part about the entire trade was that I couldn't play right away. I was still injured. I was still rehabbing. So I came into the team and I was like, it was really weird for me because I wasn't playing with the team. I was just hanging out. I was trying to move my family across the country and you're trying to get integrated and then you're watching the Sabres play. even though you're on the team you can't play so that was tough I see the Bills hat what do you think Josh Allen Super Bowl someday oh I mean I think it's guaranteed I mean do you go to games much like do you I try to I try to go to uh as a team we go

I went to three this year actually so uh I went to to the home opener with my family and my in-laws. Does your family have tickets in the family? No, no. We were two hours away. It's too tough. I grew up watching them a little bit. I wasn't a diehard Bills fan growing up. I wasn't a diehard football fan growing up.

That was my team, the Bills. But I wasn't watching every Sunday. Like some of my friends back home, I was playing in a hockey in a hockey tournament right honestly i was playing a lot of hockey wasn't to have too much time to watch football but um no i went to that one as a team we went to the the jets game yeah actually in new york city we kind of made a whole trip before the season as a team camaraderie thing nice and then um they had us to uh the the bills invited us to a game later in the a couple weeks later i think at a home a home game where our whole team went. Are you a big Josh Allen guy?

Or do you know any of these guys? I played some golf with Josh and Gabe Davis. Kyle Oposo and I did. Yeah. A little two-on-two. Who won? They ended up beating us. Oh, that's tough.

I'm going to probably take the blame for that one. You had a rough day? I didn't have as good of a day as Gabe Davis did, though. Oh, he's a good golfer. He's been playing for two years. He's a 16 handicap and he's, he's got a beautiful swing. He's a, he's such a good athlete. He's Josh played well that day. Um, Okie played. Okay. I didn't play that great, but Gabe, Gabe had a really good day that day. Really? Yeah. Yeah, it took some money from us. Now, this year, Sabre, it's been a tough year,

and there was a lot of promise. Just I'll make it easy. What do you see, Alex? Because we see talent. What do you see? You know what? I hate using excuses, but we are still the youngest team in the league. We are. We will be there soon.

I know we will be. You see talent. I see guys that really want it. They really do. Each and every guy in that locker room. And it sucks. You know what? It was probably a lot of things that just didn't go our way,

a lot of things that we would have loved to have back. Maybe I could have given an effort in this situation or that situation, and there was a snowball effect. And when the team loses confidence, you know you can go downhill fast, and we were never able to get over the hump. We just had our first three-game win streak of the year the other day um and that's tough you can't win in this league if you aren't able to put back-to-back games together um and that was it for us that was the it was consistency and with a young group consistency is hard to find and so that's what

we're gonna have to continue to do is continue to mature as a team as a group and as a unit and I mean that's we're gonna get experience and honestly there's teams that we face this year that if you took five guys they probably have more games played than our entire team if you think about it so we're just gonna continue to grow as a team and mature and and we're just gonna keep looking to get better each and every day. And I think like a lot of times, I think as a young team, we were looking too much at the future, at playoffs and standings and what this opponent means and that opponent means

instead of just focusing on, hey, like just coming to practice and being the best that we can be. It's interesting you say that because a lot of veterans say that people still don't understand how hard it is to win in this league and what the learning curve is for younger players. So when you look at your team as a whole, what do you think, like Jacques Martin has talked about, if we don't learn how to play without the puck,

we're never going to win in Ottawa. What do you think is the biggest thing you guys have to learn as a group? I don't know. I don't think it's one single thing. I really do think it's – I really think it comes down to consistency. I think maybe that's probably the best thing it is. I think that – and consistency can mean game by game, but it can also mean shift by shift, period by period.

I mean, over a five game sequence. And that's something that really allows you to be successful is to consistently play the right way each and every night, consistently play a 60 minute game, consistently go out there and help make your line mates lives easier. And I think that that's something that we, we didn't get out of the group this year is having us play the right way consistently each and every night. And it's not one, two or three guys. It's, it's, it's groups of us and myself included and really not showing up for one another all the time.

And I think that at times we've been the hardest team to play against in the NHL, and at times we've been the easiest team to play against in the NHL. And that's, I guess, the inconsistency that we can't have on our team. You know, there's a debate. What do the Sabres do now? And I'm guessing from your answer, what you're saying here is what people have to understand is that you can't break up what you've got here core wise you feel strongly about that is that true i mean yeah look what we did last year we were one point out of the playoffs with pretty much the same the same team um and honestly i mean if you look at it like there's not a crazy amount of

discrepancy about our team like and production i mean obviously there's uh there's a lot of individual guys myself included that production has dropped but i mean our pk is better our defensive game is a lot better than it was last year offensively we struggled and um and our power play has definitely struggled this year and uh that can mean that's that's the difference between winning and losing a game that's's one goal here, one goal there. And if you take five or six games and you score a power play goal here or there, I mean, that's putting us where we are now to right on the edge of the playoffs or even in the playoff position.

So like you said, a lot of guys in this league say it's pretty much a game of inches. Honestly, it can go either way. And, and the learning curve to winning is, is not easy. You, I've heard you talk about the fans before. Uh, and I, I really like, I love Buffalo. I love going to games in Buffalo. Like I've sat in Buffalo for a lot of big games, going to the Stanley cup final in 99 to leave Sabres games where there were like 25 brawls in the crowd. It's a great place to watch hockey. And I've noticed a couple of times you've gone out of your way

to talk about how you understand how they feel. And I think that's interesting because I think it's hard for people to do. Nobody likes to get booed. Nobody likes to see fans not there. But you've really gone out of your way to try to say i get it and we're gonna fix it i've noticed that about you yeah i think that's that's something that we really you know what we take great pride in if you if you've noticed that our highest attendance games is rj knight ryan miller Knight, Okie's a thousands game. These are like,

these nights show how much people care. I mean, like there was not a single seat that wasn't filled during these nights. It was sold out beyond belief, standing room. People were trying to get tickets from all over the place and couldn't because they really care about Sabres. And sometimes it's hard when we're not in a playoff spot, when we're going on our 13th season of potentially missing the playoffs. It's really hard on people because it is a blue collar town and they take their time and money to come and watch us and cheer us on. Very seriously. A hundred percent. Now the booing, I don't know if I agree with. take their time and money to come and watch us and cheer us on. Very seriously. 100%.

Now, the booing, I don't know if I agree with. At times, maybe it's warranted, and at other times, it's probably not. And that's something that I've never agreed with, even as a fan, is booing at the team, booing at refs, different. No, I'm just kidding. You're going to gets, different? No, I'm just kidding. You're going to get four minors tomorrow night. I'm just kidding. I'm kidding, guys.

Hey, I think I'm pretty liked by the rest of this league. I try not to yell at them too much. But no, I mean, as a fan, I think booing your own team is a little unwarranted because a lot, I mean, the effort's there. You know what? The effort, if you watch our games, like we put in a lot of effort we really we're really i mean it's to to the last or to our last breath honestly and there's been a lot of tight games this year that we've really pushed and just haven't gone our way and so um we took we took a little bit of offense to some of the booing and to some of the chants that were being said during our games because we take great pride in that.

And we take the pressure and we put it on our shoulders. Do you ever go to a young player or anything like that and say, hey, they're going to be cheering you when things get better? Or do you need any help handling this? Have you ever gone to guys like that? I talk to a lot. I try to help our younger guys as much as possible. I think that I'm not one to just – I try not to speak up in between every period or anything like that

because we have – believe me, we have a great captain in Kyle Oposo that can do that. And we have an open locker room that a lot of guys talk in, but he's been unbelievable, and obviously Z and Dolls as well. But I try to help the younger guys out as much as possible, especially since I've had a couple different experiences on a couple different teams. I think just trying to give them my perspective and my point of view and just try to pull on my experiences as a player, because a lot of these younger guys have only

played for the Sabres. And so it's not easy for them to really understand the difference, I guess you can say, in playing for our team and different teams and in the NHL and situationally. So I try to help out as much as possible. I wouldn't say I go directly and say this is how it is, but I do have some guys sometimes come up and ask me, and we have open dialogue and conversation at other times and I think we have a obviously an unbelievable

leadership group now and we have a lot of good young guys that are coming up that are unbelievable leaders some that don't even know it honestly and who's one of those guys who's a good leader, but they don't even know it? Oh, Casey Middlestead. Tell me more. So he's obviously been our most prolific offensive player this year. And his ability to carry a game game i don't think he really understands i'm not saying that he's going to be a guy that's going to speak up in a locker room because he's acquired a guy but guys gravitate towards him especially when it comes to hockey he's going

to those high hockey iqs he can break down really high hockey iqs really high queen hughes kind of guy that kind of no 100 i mean he sees the game like nobody else, and he's really smart about it. And I love picking his brain about different plays and different things and watching clips and talking about it. I'd say him. And then, honestly, a guy who has come into a leadership role and kind of found his stride with our team is Jordan Greenway. A leadership role that kind of found his stride with our team is Jordan Greenway.

So that's a guy that I've known since we were teenagers. We were on the same agency camps, U.S. program together, played against him at BU. We were in Minnesota together a little bit. And so I seen him come in and take on kind of that leadership, older mentoring role. And it's been great. And he's been unbelievable for us. And he's been a guy that we can really rely on heavily. And he's played a lot more. And his penalty killing has been unbelievable. And now he's getting power play time. And he's been great in that. And so he's kind of come into his own, both on off the ice all right last uh side of questions for you this time of year alex what's it like are you talking about trade deadline yes well as long

as i can ask you about what your scoops are like i have to tell you it's like as i've gotten older i really i really do i wouldn't say worry about, but I hate the effect it has on people. Some people can really handle it. Some people can't. Yeah, and you see and you realize, you know what, and these younger guys will realize come Friday, or rookies like Zach Benson has probably been through it in juniors, but he doesn't really know.

I mean, if a guy gets traded, his whole family is uprooted. I mean, you don't know what's going to happen. You never know, unless you have a no movement clause, you never really know whether or not you're going to be traded. And so that's the nature of the beast.

We are in a business. It is not just a game and especially around this time this time free agency time and draft time it is a business and like you're we're in the business to win and so that's what each and every GM is paid to do that is what each and every player is paid to do and coach and everyone that's why we're paid is to to win. And if you're not winning, things are going to change in your locker room. And so, you know what? The two most stressful parts are about families and losing some really good teammates and friends, honestly. Unless you're the one being traded, obviously, you're leaving your team.

What was the hardest one for you that wasn't you that you remember like was like oh this one this one really rocked us i'm trying to think um flurry oh to from vegas to bought to chicago yeah that was probably one of the craziest things I've ever been a part of. I'm trying to think when that was. Do you remember when that was? Yeah, that was a couple years ago, like right before the season. I was still with the team though, right? Yeah. Yeah, I was still with the team.

So, yeah, that was pretty crazy. That was a crazy time for sure. That was something that was a big eye opener so i everyone thought he was going to retire in vegas or if not finish it in pit really quick finish his career in pit that's what everyone thought was going to happen and now uh somehow he's played in 1500 nhl games and he's had an unbelievable career obviously it continued on in chicago and many but that was something that that was not easy for a lot of people and obviously him and his family and it was a shock to a lot of us well look as you know at this time like teams have asked about

you and Buffalo said no but do you ever go to would you ever go to the manager or your agent and say can you just tell me what's going on here does a player ever do that i mean open dialogue is only you can only get so far because i mean you as a gm like you can't let stuff leak out you can't you really can't you have to keep it a lot of like tight knit because as soon as someone like you hears about it that can cause a trade to go astray honestly and so you really have to keep it tight. And if there is, especially the bigger ones, you have to make sure that they're not talked about too much, especially if it's a blockbuster and to a certain extent to make sure a trade doesn't go haywire.

But I mean, your agents are usually informed to a certain extent. And I think Kevin has done a really good job of keeping guys informed as much as possible if they're talked about or anything like that. So, I mean, but it is like you said, it is a business. And I've been a part of things when like you don't think you're going to get traded. And then the next thing you know, you're getting traded. So trust is only so far and you never know unless you have a no-movement clause during this time of year. But it's all up to the GM as much as they want to tell a player or an agent. Final one for you.

You've got a letter now. Do you ever imagine yourself as the captain of the Buffalo Sabres? Well, I wore a letter a couple times this year when we missing uh some guys for injuries um that was a great honor uh i it really meant a lot to me to see um that my peers thought of me as a leader um and you know what it would it's as much as it would be an absolute honor to be the captain of the Buffalo Sabres. It's not my end goal to just wear the C. It's not something that I'm pushing for and striving for. Honestly, I'm just looking to be the best person and player I can be each and every day for my family, for my teammates, and honestly, for the city of Buffalo. And just to try to win here. I don't care if I

ever wear a letter ever again. If C-A-K doesn't matter, I just want to win and I want to be the best player that I can be. Awesome. Alex, thanks so much. That's all for Alex Tuck. Thank you to him. Thank you to the Buffalo Sabres for facilitating and thank you for listening. We'll speak to you again on friday have a great week everyone