32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Good Call, Right?

Episode Date: June 1, 2022

What a start to the conference finals! Jeff and Elliotte recap the craziness that was Edmonton-Colorado (00:10), the Cale Makar (allowed) goal and what goaltenders we might see in game 2. The guys then look back at game 7 between the Rangers and Canes (18:15), wonder what we might see from Carolina this off-season, preview the Eastern Conference final (30:00), and touch on the Blues season-end press conference (36:20).Check out the limited edition 32 Thoughts merchandise line HEREMusic Outro: Born Ruffians - ChrysanthemumsListen to our 32 Tracks playlist on Amazon Music. All the tracks you hear on this podcast during the playoffs are featured there.This podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.Audio Credits: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM, Bally Sports Midwest and Bally Sports South.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.

Hold on one sec. Hey guys, how you guys doing? Big fan. Oh, thanks very much guys. Yeah, how you doing? Not bad. Just doing the car cast here. All right, awesome.

Have a good night guys. Take care. See you guys later. Bye. Well, we just got her open for the podcast. Oh God. The tap in. Elliot, I can't remember the last time I had a cigarette,

but I feel like I needed one after that game. Eight to six is the final. Welcome to the 32 Thoughts podcast presented by the all-new GMC AT4 lineup. 84 shots, 14 goals, three points from Connor, three points from Makar. Both goalies starting goaltenders out of the game. We end up with Fransos and Koskinen. First of all, before we get into all of this, let's just bask in the glow of what a glorious game one that was for each.

Yes, phenomenal. It was earlier in the day, someone sent me a note and he sent me a list of 10 of the best players in the game that night and said, you know, how would you rank these guys? And I was like, this is impossible. I did it, but it was impossible. And I was thinking how excited I am to watch this. And a lot of times it's like a movie or a play that you're really excited to see.

And you're like, oh, or a big game. And it just doesn't live up to your expectations, right? You build it up into such a hope or you're so excited that it can't possibly live up to it yeah that lived up to it that was phenomenal theater a great game and six more of that i demand it and the hockey world demands it the hockey world deserves it after the last couple of seasons the hockey world has been through, the hockey world deserves six more like that. So, there's a lot of things to get into. Let's just get the big one out of the way

early. The Kael McCarr 3-2 goal, nine seconds after Zach Hyman makes it 2-2. 22.3 seconds to go in the first period. Hyman's ninth. Abt's trying to take it back. They do! Oh! Kael! Kael! Right when you need him! There he do! Oh! Kale! Kale!

Right when you need him. There he is. Mr. Dependable Kale McCarr lets it fly, and the Avalanche have regained the lead. Connor, they're going to look at this for offside. Are you watching it? It's really close. It's Chushkin trying to get out.

He's doing everything he can. Woodcroft's going to challenge immediately. And they were looking down at the video camera that's on the ice or the video screen that's on the ice. Here's the call. After Coach's challenge for offside, it's determined that the play was onside. Therefore, we have a good goal. Wow.

I love being wrong. I mean, I've made a career out of being wrong. That is... I mean... Holy smokes. That'll work. So, Cale McCarr gives the Avalanche the lead back. I think most of us at that point said, how was that not offside?

Like, initially, I saw it and said, okay, that one's coming back for sure. Sure did. And then as, you know, the review started on Twitter and the questions started. And by the way, you know who did a great job online tonight explaining to people why this was a goal? It was Dave Jackson from ESPN. to people why this was a goal was Dave Jackson from ESPN, the NHL referee, engaging with people, answering their questions, showing why this was onside.

I thought Dave Jackson from ESPN did a fantastic job of that. How did you see it initially, and at what point did it dawn on you that they actually got the call right? Initially, I didn't think it was a goal. To me, the whole play is counterintuitive and i know why some people are really mad one of the things that made that whole situation worse worse was that shot on twitter of the one angle that makes it look like it's from i guess mccarr's left side that makes it looks like he's touching the puck i understand why fans share that but reporters shouldn't be sharing that because it's wrong you know we're not always right but our job

is to try to uh report the facts as accurately as we can like i think in that moment my job is to explain why whatever call is made gets made and you know that shot was wrong it's an optical illusion he wasn't touching the puck there there are much more clearer replays even some that are not photos but are video that show clearly he's not touching the puck at that time. So I think that whole thing made the situation worse, but look, like to me, Jeff, it's counterintuitive. That should not be a goal. And then I started getting texts. Like what was really interesting, Jeff was the split. I had a bunch of players, current and former who say, there's no way that's a goal. No way that's a goal but then i had a couple of video coaches who started saying that's a goal and i had two gms who said that's a goal like in general i think more people

disagreed with the coleman call in game five calgary edmonton than this one now there were that doesn't mean nobody disagreed there There were definitely people who disagreed, but more people disagreed with the Coleman call than this one. Just pause really quickly, just to refresh everyone's memory. That is the Coleman kicked in goal that Elliot is referring to,

just so we can all continue. I just want to make sure that we all remember that one correctly. Yeah, you're right. But I will say this. Most of the people who disagreed with this particular call were either A, their fans or b players like i was surprised about how many players current and retired said they they didn't think that was the right call and i suspect because i

engaged with a couple of them mccarr is so good you automatically assume he has possession and you say that that guy's got possession and that's why it's offside i'll get to that in a second but then jeff you sent me the bunting play yeah someone else sent me and that was from last year la arizona someone else sent me the thomas tatar from Vancouver, Montreal last year, and then John Shorthouse got off the golf course to send me a note about Charlie McAvoy, Boston, Vancouver. And all of a sudden, and the one thing the NHL maintained was that they maintained that they had seen enough calls about that over the years that they knew once they got a good look at it and said that is the proper call it's a good goal and i know a lot of people don't like it i know a lot of people really don't like it but after we started showing a bit more of those calls

and ron made the thing he did in the second intermission where he talks about chipping the puck in versus carrying it in on a delayed offside I think more people started to sway over but the ones who hate it really hate it yeah we interrupt this program to bring you a special report slight insert it's 1 46 a. Wednesday morning. We finished the car cast about an hour and a half ago. I'm home. I've been looking at a few things with this McCarr goal and texting back and forth. Another thing that was pointed out to me, a number of people on Twitter were sharing NHL rule 83.3, the delayed offside rule, as evidence that the goal shouldn't have counted.

Here's the only problem. It's not a delayed offside. If you go to wherever you watch the games, whether in Sportsnet in Canada, TNT was the broadcaster in the States, or your various international feed, wherever you're tuning in, thank you. Go look at the replays.

And the linesman who's on the blue line as Makar approaches, his hand is not in the air. And it shouldn't be because the puck isn't in the zone. So it's not a delayed offside. That rule no longer takes effect. As a matter of fact, when Makar crosses the line, you can clearly see the linesman waving his arms to say no offside. So the delayed offside rule

and whatever that means, it's not in effect. Now back to our program. Oh, by the way, Jeff, I should clarify one more thing. I did make one mistake on the air. I said that the on-ice linesmen have the final say on an offside review. They don't. The situation room has the final say.

The thing the on-ice officials have the final say on are hit with a high stick and major or a minor penalty. That's what they control. I made a I made a mistake there and I should clear it. What do you think? Initially, I thought there's no chance. Like I tweeted as such, like, oh, look at that. Nine seconds later, Makar scores.

And then I looked at it like, OK, but this thing is coming back on review. And then when it was ruled a goal, I was, like many people, I was stunned. And then my first question is, why am I wrong? Okay, so I start to look for reasons why I am wrong. And in situations like this, like I'll point out, you know, Dave Jackson, I texted with one other official as well, who both were consistent, like, no, that is a goal.

That one should count. And then like you, the examples started popping up. And then people started sending examples of the rulebook and pursuing possession in an offside position. And then as Dave Jackson pointed out to people online, that's only when you're already offside. If you're in an onside position, as Kale McCarr was, that's not pursuit of the puck. And then when it sort of dawned on me that don't treat it like a zone entry on the stick, treat it as if it's a dump in, what's the call? When I started thinking of it more as a dump in than a controlled entry, it started to

dawn on me that, oh yeah, he's not touching that. Nachushkin is just tagged up. If it were a dump in, we would have no problem with it. The problem is it's just a shallow chip instead of a usual dump in that goes to the board. So that's when it started to dawn on me and I started to change my mind on it. So it took a while for me to get there, but my head finally wrapped around why this thing is, uh, was, was called the way that it was. But initially I think I was like most people and I was like, you, there's no way that can be a goal. That was my knee jerk. And then when it

was ruled a goal, I tried to find examples of why it was ruled a goal. Anyway, I have to say, my buddies started saying to me, Jeff, we want some screen grabs of your DMs. Hang on. How did you describe? Anatomically impossible positions? What did you say on TV tonight? I said, Ron's DMs are closed. Keep saying it through your anatomically impossible requests.

So my buddies were like, send me some screen grabs. And first of all, there were a number of you who started sending me very nice dms and i think that's very nice of you and i really appreciate it it was it was a nice thing for you to do it was fine like it i wouldn't joke about it if it was really serious or anything i couldn't handle but it was like i appreciate the people who took time to try to send some nice messages but i I was sending some of them to my buddies and they, they couldn't stop laughing. Like they,

there was some stuff in there that was just, it was, it was just so far extreme. It was crazy town, but you know what? Like that's why we love hockey. This is part of what made this game so great. There was some controversy as they,

they call it across the pond. You know, there were, as I mentioned, 14 goals. Only one player scored twice. Elliot, do you know who that player was? Only one player scored twice? Only one? 14 goals and only one player had two goals. JT Comfer,

that's it. Oh, that's right. Comfer had two goals to make it. I can't, with that offside, I had no idea what was happening. No, but it's Oh, that's right. Comfort had two goals. I can't with that offside. No idea what was happening. No, but it's like it was a wild, fun, crazy game. And I thought I think it was was either you or Kelly who said, you know, just as you were going to the third period. I think Ron asked, is this game over? And I think both you and Kelly said not a chance. Not a chance.

There's no way. Like it's seven to four. The end of two periods of play, and I don't think anybody thought that this thing was over. And then Derek Ryan scores. Ryan Nugent Hopkins scores. Landon Discog with the empty netter, and it's 8-6. It was wild.

I thought they were going to tie it. I thought they were going to tie it. I was shocked that they didn't. I really thought they were going to. They had was shocked that they didn't i really thought they were going to they had some great opportunities what a game you know someone pointed out to me and i checked because cassian's previous goal was assisted by some of the others higher line players and archibald's had an assist and i think it was on an rnh goal i think that derrick wrangle was the first goal the others fourth line has scored all playoffs. So that was a huge goal at that time.

I mean, the whole thing was just fantastic. That Derek Ryan goal, that was right after a really tough shot block by Andrej Burakovsky. Yeah, so he left the game. Where you're like, whoa, man, that was a tough one. The one thing, and I don't know whether I'm just projecting this or not, I'm just thinking like, okay, if I'm the Colorado Avalanche, right now I finally got past the second round,

so I'm no longer carrying that luggage with me in the playoffs. It looked like Colorado played faster than we've seen them in the playoffs so far. They were flying up and down the ice tonight, specifically in the first and second, mostly in the first where they were getting up and down the ice quick. But that is like the quickest I've seen Colorado play, maybe all season, Freed. They overwhelmed Edmonton early in that game, Jeff.

You're totally right about that. The Oilers were really on their heels when Kemper left I just thought the Oilers really sensed an opportunity you know Smith had been chased and I didn't think this game one was the same as some of the other game ones I didn't like the first goal I thought he kind of lost his positioning and flopped a bit but generally I didn't look at this and say Smith was awful I think that Edmonton just got swarmed and were being badly outplayed at the time the Kemper thing is I hope it's not the eye I was kind of wondering about that you know we thought it was equipment and then he came and talked to Bednar and left the game. Kelly wondered if there was anything to do with the save he made beforehand. He made a big body extension save right before he left,

but it seemed like he was moving okay. I really hope it's not the eye. And Colorado in the past has talked up Fransos. They really do like him. Other teams in the league have talked about when he was. They really do like him. Other teams in the league have talked about when he was available, there was a lot of interest. I just got the sense

that the Avalanche weren't as confident when Kemper left the game. And I wonder if it's just a one game thing or it's something that continues as we move on to game two. We'll see. I just hope for Kemper's sake that he's all right. Yeah.

Fans at Ball Arena love Fransos. The Frankie chants were going hard on this night, Frege. I also got to say, I don't think this was the night that the Avalanche should have been ripping the officials. They got the benefit of the doubt. Okay, so here becomes one of the questions. I thought that Koskinen played good. I thought he did too.

Is there any chance he starts game two? No. You go back with Smith. Smith has got you here. Smith has got you here. He's the guy. And besides, like I said, I didn't even think Smith was, like some of the game ones, you know, he's not been very good.

Again, I thought the first goal was bad. But if you go back and you watch the first period after the first goal, it could have been 6-0. He made some big saves, and one of the things I heard they were concerned about was he was too wired to play the beginning of the series. I just didn't see that as a big problem. I think they got beat. The Oilers were on their heels. The Avalanche were skating all around them. This wasn't the same, and I don't think anyone needs to overthink it.

Okay, so two questions, and then we'll move on. First question, if you're Colorado, how are you feeling right now? And if you're Edmonton, how are you feeling right now? I mean, if you're Edmonton, you're disappointed you lost the game, but I don't think you saw anything there that makes you think you can't. You're going to have to show up and start the game better than they did for the first two periods. But I don't think there's anything there that says you can't play with them. And, you know, I feel the same for Colorado.

I mean, you know, the biggest thing here is, again, the Kemper situation. I'll also say this. I had a few people who sent me notes tonight about that Anunen, the third stringer. And they said, that guy is a good goalie. I don't know anything about him. I had one guy in particular who sent me a really good note about Fransos

who said that I wouldn't be too worried about him. But what I thought was really interesting was I had a couple of people send me notes about Anunen and say, if they have to go to him, that guy can play. So I think if you're Colorado, your biggest question is, what's with your number one goalie? And hopefully he's okay. We shall see. Well, game one delivered.

And to your point, six more, that's's we're putting down on our order carolina hurricanes and the new york rangers uh let's go back to that before we have a look at the eastern conference uh final uh which begins the evening when you're probably listening to this podcast carolina's home winning streak ends uh the New York Rangers stick it to them. And it was the story of the big dogs for the Rangers. It was Kreider. It was Zibanejad. It was Fox. And most notably, it was Igor Shesturkin for the New York Rangers.

We're going to get to what's next for Carolina in a second. But your thoughts on the Rangers game seven performance at PNC? I thought they were really good. I thought the Hurricanes really sag sagged that was the thing that really surprised me in a lot of ways was like i know the hurricanes didn't always agree with the narrative about you know the rangers taking over games they thought they played better for example in some of those games and they got credit for I saw game seven as a team that believed it was going to win against a team that, once things went sideways, got hit by doubt.

I heard the Rangers, you know, one of the players kind of hinted to me after the game, he says, we really thought we were going to win. We thought we were getting better. You know, they really believed in Shostakhin over Ranta. I heard that Goodrow coming back was just a big thing for them because he's a veteran who's been there before. And they really thought that was an important thing for them. And, you know, you look at the first minutes of that game,

Ajo takes a penalty Panarin makes a huge play on the on the penalty kill when Carolina has a chance going the other way and then they score and I thought Carolina just sagged and that continued I thought the Rangers just continued to get more confident and the play of the night for me, and I know in the grand scheme of things, it's not huge, but I think it told me what was ailing Carolina is when Natchez passed off to Svechnikov, and Svechnikov thought he'd shoot it. I looked at that, and what did Rod Brindamore say after the game?

Do we have elite goal scorers or you know maybe not but we have great players you know we're built a little differently than some other teams and that's okay that's rod brindamore after the game you know what that says to me jeff it's a team that all of a sudden got into trouble and was sitting there saying, what's our identity? Like watching Brindamore during that series and when the shots kept on panning over to him, he's a proud guy and you could see the frustration. And like that guy, it's almost impossible for him to lie.

His emotions are written all over his face. possible for him to lie his emotions are written all over his face and i think he was really stunned by what happened to his team and i think the hurricanes are looking at themselves right now and you have to be careful of the emotion you have to take the emotion out of this and that's what a guy like eric tolski is for but I think you have to look at it and say, what are we? And I think that's what they're looking at. And I think Carolina has got a really smart front office. They've got a lot of smart guys there,

you know, between Waddell and Aaron Schwartz and Darren York and all those people there. And I think they will be smart enough to take a deep breath and think. But I do think this is going to be a summer of the hurricanes sitting there and saying, are we not what we thought we were? That's the message that Brindamore is sending.

And I wonder how many of them are thinking about that because the clock dictates now, Jeff, they have to make decisions. I thought a lot about that because the clock dictates now, Jeff, they have to make decisions. I thought a lot about that quote, you know, since I heard Rod Brindamore say it and what it hints at to me is I look at it and I say, this is Rod Brindamore saying, you know, I wish we had the luxury of having someone that can score an easy goal for us because in this rangers series

i think what carolina they got to a place where they had to grind for every single goal and that takes a lot and if you have a player like the rangers have crider crider can score an easy goal crider comes down snaps it in bam yeah you just feel like it takes so much pressure off your team. Matthew scores an easy goal. Line A scores an easy goal. Tarasenko can score an easy goal. Kucherov can score it. Dreisaitl. There are players in the NHL who can score an easy goal. It makes the game so much easier because when you have to grind for everything, it's just exhausting after 60 minutes getting there. I looked at that and I said, I wonder if the in the off season. Now you might look at it and say it's a luxury, but I think that all the great teams have them.

You just need someone that can just come down the wing and snap it in and score an easy goal. One that you don't have to really work for. Just get in position and let the guy shoot. That's kind of how I saw that comment. I think that's a really good analysis. And I think it was exactly to the point of what Bryn Amor is saying. Look, I'm not trying to kick it Ron to here in any way, shape, or form. He won them a game seven and he got them to

game seven of the second round but i just think the rangers belief in shisterkin eclipsed what the hurricanes believed and when it's a game seven it comes down to do you think there's somebody there who's who can bail you out, you know, the Rangers believe that. And, you know, the Hurricanes once started things going wrong, you could see it. Now, there's some big decisions to make. I had heard there was an offer to Trocek this year. And, you know, obviously it didn't get done. I heard there was an offer to Natchez at some point this year.

It didn't get done. heard there was an offer to nature's at some point this year it didn't get done the one thing about carolina is they kind of go to where they think is fair and what they think your market value is and they tend not to go too far past that so it's going to be interesting to see if whatever they thought the trocheck nature's market value was are they willing to move off that you know trocheck's a ufa nature's is an rfa he really had a rough playoff like i think that guy is a really good player he really had a tough playoff so that's going to be that one to me is going to be interesting because that's a player, even though he could get an offer sheet, that is still more under team control than Trocek is. I think the other one is Ethan Baer.

I can't imagine Baer is too happy there. I can't imagine that he would want to stay after not getting a game in the playoffs. But they might lose some bodies on D. Who knows what's going to happen to D'Angelo d who knows what's going to happen to d'angelo who knows what's going to happen to ian cole they might need defensemen i'm just not convinced that you know bear is going to want to stay there after this you have a thought on nino niederreiter through all of this he's a ufa as well i haven't heard as much about his negotiation situation like to me nita rider is he fits their identity right he's a he's a four checker he's he's a grinder he he can score those

greasy goals like he's not a natural goal scorer like some of those other guys are but i think when you talk about the way a team played and whether or not a player fits the identity, he fits it. I guess it's like everybody else. What does he want and how do they value it? One thing from that Ranger Carolina series I want to get your thoughts on. I had Brian Engblom on the radio show, and I brought up Scott Stevens. Now, Brian Engblom was Scott Stevens' first defense partner when he played with the Washington Capitals as an 18-year-old.

So Brian Engblom watched Scott Stevens try to run everybody out of the rink, most notably every Philadelphia Flyer that moved every time the Capitals played the Philadelphia Flyers. And I wanted to lead him into a conversation about Jacob Truba because he had seen the shark in the water in Washington with Scott Stevens. And I was asking him his thoughts on Jacob Truba because he had seen the shark in the water in Washington with Scott Stevens and I was you know I was asking him his thoughts on Jacob Truba and we think about the hit that we saw in game seven against Seth Jarvis we've seen Truba really really lay into some guys this season yeah and

you know Engblom was you know correctly bringing up the point that it stands out because a lot of guys aren't like this anymore that those types of players like you're not expecting you step over the blue line you throw one on now you're not expecting to meet that yes because those types of players don't exist anymore but you're allowed to hit and it is a let's all remember still a violent and potentially dangerous sport because these are large men that moves at, that move at great speed. And Jacob Truba is a very unique defenseman in that sense. Do you have a thought on Truba as we're going to transition here to the, to the Rangers Tampa series,

a thought on Truba and a thought on the hit on Seth Jarvis? Well, it wasn't a dirty hit. No. The thing that surprised me the most is that Jarvis got caught so flush um you know he's a really smart aware player and there's two things that kind of happened here Jeff either he just you know for whatever reason wasn't aware that it was true but and got caught by him or someone else's theory. And only Jarvis can answer this is if he just said,

I see him and I'm going to take a hit. And unfortunately he got hit really hard and got knocked out of the game. You know, Trouba had a huge night too. He made a couple of other really good defensive plays to knock out scoring chances when the game was still in doubt. And he deserves a lot of credit for that. really good defensive plays to knock out scoring chances when the game was still in doubt and he deserves a lot of credit for that there is someone i am trying to get on the podcast and so far they haven't agreed to do it but i'm trying to get him on because i know he's one of the people who is behind an effort right now to get the players to change the rules.

He doesn't think that the hits that Trouba is making are illegal, but he just thinks that we have to move away from those kinds of hits. I like hitting. I like a tough game. I don't like to see players getting injured. a tough game. I don't like to see players getting injured. I do think that some of the responsibility is on the player to be aware of their surroundings and particularly if a player like Trouba is on the ice. But this is someone I know who's making an effort to say, you know, we can't have this anymore. And I think the players should have a conversation about what they feel is right and to this point he isn't talking publicly but I am determined okay and I do think this is going to be a conversation I don't see anything wrong with the hit that Truba made but I understand

when people look at this and say do we want players like Seth Jarvis getting injured or Sidney Crosby getting injured or Jujar Cara this year getting injured? All of these hits were hits that should not deserve to be suspensions, but I still think people look at it and say, how are we thinking about all this? Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Rangers.

Your Eastern Conference final is set. Yeah. And front and center. As much as we put the premium on goal scoring and speed in the Western Conference in eight to six games. Here comes Andre Vasilevsky versus Igor Shcherkin. Is this a series for the goaltending fans out there, Elliot? Well, we're all praising the goaltending. So the first game will probably end like 13-12. With both getting the hook. I'm looking forward to it. Shesterkin,

how can you not be impressed with that guy? You look back at game one of the playoffs, he nearly sets a record in losing a triple overtime game. Pittsburgh had him on the ropes. in losing a triple overtime game, Pittsburgh had them on the ropes. They had clearly broken him down and the coverage around him down. And he found a way. I mean, this guy's won two game sevens in a row, and that deserves respect.

That is a person who has earned respect. And I think the other things I really respect about him are a, he was, he looked to be in real trouble in the first round. And B, this is a guy who has not seen too many of these kinds of games. They didn't make the playoffs last year. He played 53 games this season. He's not used to this kind of stress-induced workload.

And he has delivered. And he has earned respect. I'm looking forward to this the challenge i see for the rangers is that you know tampa i never pick against them i never do i pick them against toronto i pick them against florida they just don't beat themselves they make it so that you have to beat them florida was never close. Toronto had them. And it was like the fish that slips out of your hand or slips off your line. You have to beat them.

They will not beat themselves. And I think that that's the thing. The Rangers, they're here. They've earned it. It's not a fluke. They deserve to be here. But can they beat a team that won't beat itself? That's what I need to see.

You know, one of the players that as the Tampa Bay Lightning continue here through the playoffs, I think we're going to have more conversations about, and we've already had some of them. We all know what happens with the salary cap and with teams. Players end up leaving because of salary cap considerations. end up leaving because of salary cap considerations. And the one thing that I wonder about with Tampa is, are we seeing the last of Andre Palat in a Tampa Bay Lightning uniform? Like I've always looked at Andre Palat and kind of said, even though the offensive production isn't at the same level,

he's kind of like a mini Marian Hossa for me. That's a great comparison. He's kind of like a mini. Marian Hossa for me. That's a great comparison. He's not as strong as Marian Hossa. Doesn't put up the offensive numbers. That Marian Hossa did. But he looks and plays. And feels like Hossa light. To me.

Do you think we might be seeing the last of Palat. In a Tampa uniform? The thing we've learned about the Lightning. Is not to assume. How many times do we think. Kalorin was done oh and he's he's still there at some point in time you're not going to be able to keep everybody right you're just not going to be able to do it it's not possible the cap is getting tighter and tighter i just think that one thing that we've learned is if players want to stay there, they always seem to find a way or try to find a way. Maybe this is an example of where they can't do it,

but the longtime guys, they've generally found ways to do it. And you're probably right. This might be it. I've just learned never to assume. Most important players in this series are the obvious ones, or do you say, hold on a second here, in a situation like this, you know what? Maybe Nick Paul is more important than we

thought. Nick Paul has proven that he's incredibly important in these playoffs. I just want to say something about Kucherov. Kucherov, where would you rank him in the NHL? Where would you rank him in the NHL? Where would I rank him in the NHL? Somebody said to me...

One of the best right-wingers in the league. Somebody said to me the other day, he is still, in his mind, Kucherov is still like a top 5 to 10 player in this league. There's a lot of good players in this league. There's a lot. There league. There are, but in the playoffs. Yeah, I know. He's great. I know. He really is.

I just wanted to bring that up too. The thing that I've always admired about Kucherov is he's a supreme, he's a supremely skilled playmaker. Those seams that he finds when he fires it fast from the right side, you know, finding either point in the middle or Stamkos on the far side. Like if you even think about those passes, I mean, and he fires rockets.

Like his passes are, I can only imagine like trying to take one of those passes, let alone one time at like Stamkos. I don't think we spend enough time honestly talking about how you one time a pass from Nikita Kucherov. That is a skill that Stamkos has that I just marvel at. But he's also like such a shooting threat too. And

he disguises the way he rolls his wrists. He is the master of deception. Like when he's on, there are maybe a handful of players that are better. Maybe a handful of players that are better, Elliot. I just think that this guy is

supremely skilled. And the thing about him for me is just how the puck comes off his blade. When he's passing it, it's a rocket. And when he shoots it, I swear, it's like he doesn't roll his wrists. He just, there's this snap thing that he does and it goes bar down. He's a he doesn't roll his wrists. He just, there's this like snap thing that he does and it goes bar down.

He's a remarkable player. Yeah, phenomenal. I don't pick against the Lightning. I'm going to pick the Lightning because they've earned that I do that with them. The Rangers are not incapable of winning this series. They just have to beat them. They will not beat themselves.

Rangers have to find a way to beat them. A couple of things. News and notes real quick. Yeah. St. Louis Blues media availability. Doug Armstrong, general manager, indicating no surprise at all that the St. Louis Blues are interested in bringing David Perron back. You have a quick thought on that one?

Everybody I talked to, we mentioned on the podcast on Monday that the word was that Perron wanted to come back and they wanted him back. You know, obviously you got to make a deal that everybody's happy with, but no one's really expecting David Perron to hit the free agent market. The one there that's going to be interesting is going to be one that we kind of talked about, and that is O'Reilly. He's their best player and he's a year away from UFA. And the one thing that someone told me about was that O'Reilly is a Newport guy and Petrangelo was a Newport guy. And that was a massive, massive negotiation that got completely screwed up. And, you know, as a result, Petrangelo walked. angelo walked and what another gm said to me was he would be surprised if armstrong didn't come out early and got this one going he thinks that the blues this is his opinion he thinks that the blues

got that one started on the wrong foot the last time. And if they're really serious about O'Reilly, and I would assume they are, he's a phenomenal player, and his bet is that the Blues start this one early and they are determined not to make the same mistakes. Now, Doug Armstrong made it very clear that he did not believe in full and total no-move clauses. So if that's an issue here, that's going to be a problem. But his position is that the Blues,

if they could do it over again with Petrangelo, would have started the negotiation differently. And his guess is that they will do that with O'Reilly. But if the holdup is that no trade, no move, like that's a different issue. David Poyle resisted for the longest time and then eventually had to relent. This is,

I don't know. It costs them Alex Petrangelo. Well, what this GM said to me was that there's a difference between having a philosophical issue and starting the negotiations in a good place. He felt that those negotiations started poorly and the Blues, his feeling is, and if I'm wrong about this, I'm sure I will hear it. His feeling is, and if I'm wrong about this, I'm sure I will hear it. But his feeling is that if the Blues could do it over again, they would have started those negotiations a different way. Okay, last one on the Blues.

How do you read this quote about Vladimir Tarasenko? This is from Blues general manager Doug Armstrong as well. He was asked today about Vlad Tarasenko. We all know about the trade request last offseason. His quote is, I'm not concerned about Vladdy for next year at all. I think, well,

I asked someone about that and they told me that Bucinavich made a big difference for Tarasenko this year. So unless I'm completely misreading this, which could happen. I mean, I've done that before. This person indicated to me that Tarasenko was in a better place and Vucinavich had a lot to do with that.

And just a better year had a lot to do with that. So that's the way this individual took it to me. We'll see if that is wrong. Okay. And finally, it might be a controlled fire, we'll just if that is wrong okay and uh finally um it might be a controlled fire we'll just call it but you kind of lit one this afternoon on the radio with me by mentioning dylan strome and uh qualifying offers with the chicago blackhawks oh why as in he might not be qualified as he might not be qualified for the Hawks. And when you talked the other day about Calgary, does Brad tree living have moves in his hip pocket, depending on what Goodrell and Kachuk say? I think the same thing could be in Chicago. Like how does some of their top players feel?

You know, what are their opportunities? I think that could determine it. There's a few cases around the league of QOs. You know, one is Strom, Kasperi Kapanen in Pittsburgh is another. Ethan Baer is another.

I've wondered about Buffalo and Victor Olofsson. Like, there's a few players around the league where if you look at their qualifying offers, you're kind of wondering, what are these teams going to do? And I think some other teams have also looked at it like, are there going to be more free agents here that don't get qualified by their current teams because they don't like the QOs? And Strom was one of the names I heard because it was clear that the previous coach in Chicago, Culleton, wasn't a big fan of Strom.

Now he did better under King, but there's no guarantee King's going to be back. So how does everybody here feel about this? I don't think anybody particularly knows. Um, you know, Strom was a guy who was available last year and Chicago didn't get the price they wanted. So it's not as if him not getting qualified is is an impossibility it might happen it might not happen you know my point was that there's some talk about is strom going to be free or is he not going to be free so that's a story for down the road

the story as you're listening to this podcast we suspect is what's happening tonight, and that is game one of the Eastern Conference Final. We had the 8-6 game. Get ready for a 2-1 game. Andre Vasilevsky versus Igor Shcherkin, but to Elliot's point, watch. This one's going to be 13-12. Taking us out, a band that formed almost 20 years ago in Midland,

Ontario. After seven full length records, born ruffians continue to put out great music while experimenting with new sounds. The band is currently on tour hitting up several hockey cities across North America. That includes Minneapolis, Denver, Phoenix, Seattle, Vancouver, Edmonton, and many more. With their latest single, Chrysanthemums, here are Born Ruffians on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Enjoy. Golden sun going down. Crescent of the moon.

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