32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Guy! Guy! Guy!

Episode Date: April 25, 2022

Le Démon Blond! Jeff and Elliotte remember the great Guy Lafleur and share some of their favourite childhood memories of the man who captured the imagination of the hockey world (00:01).They guys then get into some news from around the league including Ryan Getzlaf’s final game (11:30), a crazy game between Vegas-San Jose (20:00), the injury situation with Robin Lehner (25:30), and they discuss what this off-season might look like for the teams that were knocked out of playoff contention — Sharks (31:00), Jets (35:30), Islanders (42:30), and Blue Jackets (47:30).Jeff also tells us about his fun trip to Chicago where his son’s spring hockey team won a pretty big tournament.Music Outro: Chris Staples - Golden AgeCheck out more music from Chris Staples on SpotifyThis podcast is produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.Audio Credits: Bally Sports West, CBC, Sportsnet and The Sharks Audio Network.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.

The Ducky Canadiens fans will never forget the outstanding performances of the famous number 10, and we would like to show our appreciation and admiration to one of the greatest players in the history of the National Hockey League and of the Ducky Canadiens. Mesdames et messieurs, le numéro 6, Guy Laclau. Ladies and gentlemen, number 10 a premier goal scorer. The goal scoring award is named after him. There was a sense of defiance about Rocket Richard and how he played and how he behaved. He was the defiant French-Canadian hockey player.

And dovetailing him was Jean Beliveau, the stately hockey player, the gentleman. That's how we describe and how we saw Jean Beliveau, the stately hockey player, the gentleman. That's how we describe and how we saw Jean Beliveau. And coming off of those two players and those two gentlemen, Elliot, we got Guy Lafleur, who in a lot of ways captured what was a free spirit of the 70s off the ice and brought it on the ice. Elliot, whenever I hear that that name i can't help but just in my mind picturing him streaking down the wing with his hair blowing in the wind like pretty much nobody before him your thoughts on the late gila fleur first not surprisingly just a beautiful ceremony by the the Montreal Canadiens and their fans as they hosted the Boston Bruins on Sunday night.

And in a lot of ways, that was fitting that the Bruins were the team that would face Montreal in its first home game after Guy Lafleur's passing. They picked a perfect song, My Way, Frank Sinatra. The video was spectacular. the ovation was incredible i can still remember being in my basement when gila fleur returned to montreal and the forum as a member of the new york rangers and the ovation and the celebration after the video on Sunday night reminded me of the ovation after he scored his second goal that night for the Rangers against the Canadiens. ...with a bunch of play against the board by LaFleur. Now it's Miller, a centering pass.

There's the first goal! I remember being in my basement, watching that game. That ovation kept going and going. And Dick Irvin, who was on the pregame with Ron on Saturday night, saying, I can't remember a visiting player being cheered for like this. We don't have a tally of how many goals he scored in that net, but you know it's a couple hundred probably. But LeFleur showing the magic in front of the net. He's able to take that rebound and put it right in the net,

and what an ovation. Scotty, I've never heard the other team score an ovation like this ever at the McRae Hall Park. LeFleur gets right behind everybody right in front. Roy made the save, and he just gets it right over on top of him. LeFrenier on the ice with Miller, and there's the second angle as LeFleur gets the open net and throws it right in the corner. It just brought me back. It brought me back to a teenager

watching a long ovation in Montreal for a great player. And here I am in my early 50s watching a long ovation in Montreal for a great player. And I made sure as soon as we threw to the start of Toronto, Washington, our regional broadcast on Sunday night, which I was working, Jeff, I ran down the corridor to make sure I got to our green room to watch the start of the Montreal game. green room to watch the start of the Montreal game. God help you. If you were a tech,

the member of the technical or production crew that was between the studio desk and the green room, you talk about skating down the wing with the hair. That's what I remember. First and foremost to Jeff is that when we were kids and I was seven years old in the year that Gila Fleur scored 60 goals, I remember on my house league hockey team, our practices were early on Sunday mornings. And what we would do at the end of the practice was we would take our helmets off a few of us

and we would skate down the wing and we would like roll our head to sort of make our hair flow like Gila Fleur and the coaches would laugh and they'd yell at us to put our helmets back on because you're not supposed to do that at that age. And plus I was a left-hand shot and I couldn't skate or shoot like Guy Lafleur. Whether you liked the Canadians or hated the Canadians, you loved Lafleur. I think you said it, it's a great way of saying it, the way you put it. It's a spirit of the 70s and everybody boy or girl who played hockey at that age whether it was on the road or on the ice imagine themselves streaking down the wing and shooting like Guy Lafleur you know he was a perfect representation

of his era like and I and I always think of broadcasters that compliment the player. And I think of, I grew up watching, just like you, Elliot, a lot of, because we're kids of the 70s, so we in Southwestern Ontario, so we got a chance to watch

a lot of Maple Leafs games and a lot of Buffalo Sabres games. And I still hear the voice of Ted Darling anytime I think about anyone from the French Connection on the Buffalo Sabres. That voice is married to those players for me,

much like Danny Gallivan's voice is married to everything that I can see in my mind. Like every time I picture Gila Fleur skating down the boards, I'm hearing the soundtrack of Danny Gallivan calling that play. Boston four Montreal three Lafleur coming out rather gingerly on the right side. He gives it in to LeMire, back to LeFleur. And, you know, one of the interesting things to me about LeFleur, and I sort of mentioned this

with how Rocket Richard had that defiant streak and it was impossible for him not to speak honestly and from the heart. You know, Guy Lafleur was the same way. The one thing that always impressed me about Guy Lafleur, as much as many people from various teams alumni who assume ambassadorial roles with their team, it seems as if what comes with that is almost this idea that they need to protect the team or shield the team from criticism. Guy Lafleur was never shy that when criticism was needed about the Montreal Canadiens, it was in his voice. How many times did you hear Guy Lafleur talk about who should be the captain of the Montreal Canadiens? This is Guy Lafleur. Like that name, that person carries weight when he talks about things like who should wear the C for the Habs. I think he was one of the most important figures, certainly on the ice, that inspired a whole generation of hockey players, specifically Québécois hockey players, but also off the ice as well. He was someone that was outspoken,

and when criticism needed to be raised and brought to the attention of everybody about the Montreal Canadiens, he wasn't shy. He wouldn't just deflect and let someone else do it. Guy was the guy that did it, and did it in his own voice with his own words. I always respected that, and I think everybody else did. I can't tell you how many people were texting me during the ceremony on Sunday night just saying how emotional it was to watch it.

There's a story we told at the beginning of the broadcast on Saturday. So I went through LeFleur's autobiography over time, and I was reminded of a story. time and I was reminded of a story when LeFleur was in 1979-80 season there was a boy in Calgary who was the victim of a stabbing and he was wearing a LeFleur jersey at the time that he was stabbed and the jersey was destroyed as part of the attack and LeFleur found out about it and he sent the boy a new Jersey, but he also promised he would score a goal in his next game. And the next game was January 19th, 1980 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He scored twice in that game and he kept in touch with the boy. And eight years later, when he was a member of the New York Rangers, he went to Calgary and the Herald had a picture of LeFleur giving that boy an

autograph on the jersey. And that's the kind of power he had. And the thing is, you can use that power properly, or you can use that power poorly. And that was an example of how LeFleur used his power properly. And it was funny, I was reading the article because I was looking at it on the archives online. And the boy who was then 18 said to Le Fleur, I thought you were going to come back and play with LA this year. And he goes, no, LA is too hot for me. It was just a funny conversation. And the reporters could all overhear it. A few years ago jeff i was traveling from montreal back to toronto and i was in the air canada lounge and it turned out le fleur was there

and i saw him and uh you know i i just nodded politely and he nodded politely back and you know i don't like to bother people in those kinds of situations but there were a couple of people who came up and, you know, he was so gracious to them. It's very interesting. When you go back and you read that book, Jeff, it's really fascinating the conversations that it reveals at the time that he initially left the Canadians when he was unhappy and,

and Sarah Savard in his recent book talks about some of the things that he did. He was the general manager at the time. And if he could go over it, he would do it differently. But I think that he always made the public feel that he was a friend of theirs, even though he was this superstar player, the elite of the elite, as big a star as you said, not only in the way he played, but in the way he was perceived. But he made fans feel that he was one of them. And that's a real gift.

It's a huge gift. And Brian Troche, last week on the show, told a beautiful story of how he got a chance to see Mike Bossy one last time and say goodbye and steve shot also talked about how uh he got the opportunity to do it too and i'm glad that you know some of lafleur's close friends and bossy's close friends got a chance to have their closure consmith trophy winner two-time heart trophy winner three-time art Trophy winner, three-time Art Ross Trophy winner, five-time Stanley Cup champion. Our condolences to the friends and the family of Gila Fleur.

Okay, so welcome to the podcast presented by the all-new GMC AT4 lineup, Jeff Merrick alongside Elliot Friedman. Elliot, I'm flying back from Chicago. I know we'll talk about Chicago a little bit later on. Flying back from Chicago on Sunday night, and unfortunately wasn't able to watch Ryan Getzlaff's last game against the St. Louis Blues, but I'm following along on my phone and the game ends, St. Louis wins and Getzlaff gets the assist on the Adam and Rick goal. My whole time I'm following along online, I'm thinking to myself, wow, wouldn't it be great if Ryan Getzlaff scored in his last game? And then I saw the clip.

Every time Getzlaff touches the puck, they cheer. Here he comes. Great pass. Score! puck. They cheer. Here he comes. Great pass. Score! Henrik with the finish. Perhaps the final assist of the career of Ryan Getzlaff. And I thought to myself, what a perfect way to end it. What a perfect Ryan Getzlaff moment.

That's what they came to see. How fitting is that? What a pass that what a pass what a pass by Ryan Getzloff one final time behind the back around Justin Falk and an empty net goal for Adam Henry wow completely abandoned any pretense of shooting, which, by the way, he's done his entire career to make a gorgeous, in this case, behind-the-back pass to Adam Henrik, who scores.

And that's his last moment on an NHL game sheet. That was his last moment in an NHL game. Ryan Getzlaff retires. The Hall of Fame awaits. Your thoughts on Ryan Getzlaff. I agree with you. And that's the point that I was exactly going to make. You see, Jeff, great minds think alike right there.

Full seldom, full seldom. I was actually watching the end of the game in my driveway on my phone. Because, you know, it was about, by the time I got back, there were about five minutes left. So I figured, you know what, I'll just watch it here quickly before i go inside and i thought the exact same thing you did when you ask people about getzlaff a credit that maybe he didn't or something that he did well that he didn't get enough credit for a lot of the time the answer was his passing so for him to get his last point as an assist i agree with you i. I thought it was a very, very fitting ending.

A couple of things. First of all, when you get a chance, and when we do the podcast later this week, you can tell me, the last shift, he stayed on the ice. There was a face-off in the Ducks zone, but the Ducks broadcasters, I don't remember if it was John Ahlers who said it or Brian Hayward who said it,

but they were like, there's no way anyone's changing for Getzlaff on this faceoff. He's going to finish the game. But they take the puck down to the St. Louis end, and Barbashev, who's a really good defensive player, a really good player overall, he gets a chance to clear it out, and Getzlaff's on the ice, and he kind of flubbed at it, and he didn't get it out. And part of me was wondering if Barbasbachev sees gets left there and he's like yeah i'm gonna flub this to see if he can get a chance i'm sure he wasn't but it was just my conspiracy thinking mind i

appreciate that but yeah it's all you you're the reason i was doing this but like that the thing too about the beginning of the game like it was a really nice ceremony it was a really nice video he had a great speech post game but at the beginning of the game you know they had his wife and they had his four kids out there and they had team of salani drive an anaheim ducks dune buggy out on the ice for him that was awesome it was fantastic and now fans please direct your attention to the Zamboni entrance. On behalf of Henry and Susan Samueli and the entire Ducks organization, a brand new, specially outfitted Ducks custom talent designed not only to help your chores around the house, but also on your now famous chicken coop.

And perfect for fun with the entire family. And sorry, Ryan, tonight's professional driver is not included. Say hello to Taylor Saloni. Now, the first Jersey retirement ceremony I ever covered as a professional reporter was Isaiah Thomas as a member of the Detroit Pistons. He, of course, was the GM of the Raptors and the Pistons retired his number.

And I remember it was him and his wife, and I think they had two kids. And one of the things they did was they gave him and his family an all expensive paid trip to Hawaii and his two kids went bananas. Like they were, they jumped off their seats instead of jumping around. And I remember asking Thomas about it after it was over. And he said, I think that was the most genuine emotion that anyone showed in this whole event. He was laughing. And when they brought the dune buggy out, you had to see guest laughs kids.

Like they were so excited. And that's how you know that you've hit it out of the park with a gift when the kids are jumping up and down and they're really happy. So, I mean, I thought the whole night was really well done. I remember when the Sedins retired, I thought they should have finished in Vancouver. And then they went to Edmonton and it was such a wonderful sendoff. The Oilers and their fans gave me, I was like, okay, this worked out.

I think this is perfect the way it ended for Getzlaff. And I think it was also perfect that his last road game was against Los Angeles. Because, Jeff, as you know, those series when the Ducks and the Kings were at their best, those were incredible series. Must-watch games. And to me, that's what sports is supposed to be all about. To see Kopitar and Brown. Dustin Brown was the big one for me. And quick. of all series games oh and to me that's what sports is supposed to be all all about to see kopitar and brown dustin brown was the big one for me and quick i'll tell you what when when i saw

him with dustin brown just knowing how many years those two went at it and tried to do unspeakable things to one another the things you look back years later on your career as you laugh over a beer and say did we really try to do that to one another yeah you did and we all enjoyed what to me the dustin brown embrace was all of it that was the big one for me elliot in that king's game and jonathan quick too but but that's what sports is supposed to be jeff sports is supposed to be you compete against each other like bastards and then when it's over you shake hands and you say man i i love competing against you and that's the way i when it's over, you shake hands and you say, man, I love competing against you. And that's the way I think it's supposed to be. And so, you know, would the Ducks have liked to win on Sunday night

against that super great Blues team? Sure. But I thought the way it went with the speech after the game and him getting that last assist, to me, it was perfect. It was a great way for him to go. I'm just going to be blunt it's gonna be real drag not having ryan gets laugh in the nhl like i don't know there's any sort of sophisticated commentary or any type of insight i'm gonna share here other than i think that it

really sucks that i can't watch ryan gets laugh anymore i always loved him i always loved watching this guy play this big powerful skilled player who honestly, Elliot made things look easy, slowed the game down, made it look simple. And I mentioned the thing about the shot off the top, because man, I mean, I don't know how many times I would scream, shoot, shoot, shoot. And then he'd make a gorgeous pass. And I'd say, I should really shut up when Ryan gets that fast. The puck, because he knows way better, uh uh what to do with it than I do I'm I'm gonna miss him man I'm gonna miss watching Ryan gets that play hockey I love them just love them I'm with you on this you know there was a great highlight this weekend of Zdeno Chara pushing

around some of the Carolina Hurricanes and yeah I'm thinking about this like is there any chance that you know this is charles last week i think we've all thought about it yeah i thought about that when i saw that clip i was just thinking you know what's going to happen here so the way you feel about getzlaff and i feel like that too is the way i i i think about char So it's, I don't even know what to say it is really, but I've always liked the player who can affect the game in a lot of different ways. And Getzlaf could do it with his skill and with his power.

And Chara could do it with his skill and with his power. And I don't want to say it's a dying breed because I'm not sure that that's true, Jeff. I just think it's just becoming more and more rare. It used to be like everybody was like that, right? And now it's becoming more rare. Elliot, I want to have a conversation about Robin Leonard, but I also think we should have a conversation about the Vegas Golden Knights San Jose Sharks game, thing, event, tornado that we saw on Sunday night.

Sharks win in a shootout. Unbelievable. And Vegas is now teetering, Elliot. Before we get to Robin Leonard here, or maybe the two subjects are joined and we can't separate them and isolate them and talk about them individually but do you have a thought on what we just saw this sunday night it is 1 11 a.m monday morning eastern time jeff and i are finishing off this podcast and i cannot believe what i just saw

craziness four two in the third, Vegas in control, and San Jose scores twice, descending in the overtime. The last one with under a second remaining. And I just want to say this. I want to give full credit to Timo Meier because if you're going to talk the talk, you've got to walk the walk. This is the guy who came out the day before this game

and basically said, Vegas is our big rival. They can't stand us. We can't stand them. And even though our season is over, we want to damage their playoff hopes. And then he scores that goal with under a second left to send it to overtime. Timo Meier stick handles into the zone, centering feed, got through.

It's kept in by Bortolo. He's running out of time, sends it off the boards to Couture, back to Bortolo, cross-ice, burns. He throws to the right circle, a shot there by Meier. It's blocked by McNabb. McNabb on his stomach, tries to clear Canut, burns, shoots, just wide, rebound, score! tries to clear cannot burn shoots just wide rebound scar kemo meyer gets the tying goal as time expires and the sharks celebrate as it looks like we're going to have overtime here

at chemo but arena the question though is did time expire before the puck was in. It is awfully close, but it looks good. And then Bortolo, who's a week into the NHL, scores the only shootout goal. Plus, San Jose kills a penalty in overtime. And it's Thomas Bortolo for his very first career shootout attempt. Bortolo stick handles to the right. He's down the right boards. He's moving out to the slot. Reynolds to the right. He's down the right boards. He's moving out to the slot. He's stickhandling.

He waits. He digs. He shoots. He scores! Thomas Bortolo scores in the shootout. And check out the Sharks bench. They're flying out to congratulate a man who wears number 23, the same number that Barkley Goodra wore in the playoffs in Game 7. And Bortolo wins it in the shootout for the Sharks.

playoffs and gained seven and Bortolo wins it in the shootout for the Sharks. I mean, you can't ask for better theater for a sport than what we just saw in San Jose and Vegas, just an unbelievable last few minutes of that game. And I give Meyer all the credit in the world. He opened his mouth and he delivered. And that is the kind of guy who can play on my team anytime. You know, there was a brief couple of moments early in the season because Timo Meyer started off great this year, as you can recall, Elliot. And right, because how long have we been saying the next great power forward to emerge in the NHL might just be Timo Meyer. And there was some sort of, you know, whispers about he could be a stealth heart trophy candidate.

If he keeps this up, that's how good Timo Meyer was playing early this season. That is the great emerging power forward in the NHL. And this sets up a wonderful and tasty and delicious Tuesday night game between the Dallas Stars and the Vegas Golden Knights. With a regulation win, Elliot, what happens? The Dallas Stars are in. No.

Elliot, if Dallas wins in regulation, what really happens? Chaos in Vegas. Well, I mean, it's already been kind of chaotic with the whole lennar thing and i know we'll talk about that in a second but it's really an unbelievable story like just you know to be honest it's one of those stories where i think je, that as people decompress, everybody gets a little bit of time. We're going to get a better idea of what happened here. Vegas, ever since they got in the league, they're the model expansion franchise in any sport, really,

in terms of the immediate success they had and what they've done. And then this year, there was no reason to believe it would end like this. There was no reason to believe at all it would go like this. And injuries are certainly a big part of it, but obviously there's other things and there's something else. And I think over the next few months, I think a lot of us are going to be asking questions saying, I think over the next few months, I think a lot of us are going to be asking questions saying, you know, what kind of really happened? What happened here this year? And I think we all have a lot of theories now, but I don't think we really know.

And I think over the next few weeks and months, we're going to start to know. We will wait to see what happens on Tuesday. Huge game. Tune in for this one to the Dallas Stars. You can close out the Vegas Golden Knights. I want to ask you about Robin Leonard. Sure. And I don't know

that it's been a crazy 48 hours as much as it's been a crazy 72 hours as much as it's been a crazy week. I mean, I don't know. Fill in the blank. How long has it been tough to get hold of this Robin Leonard story? You talked about it on Saturday night with David Amber. What do you

know? What can you share? What's the latest with Robin Leonard? So there's a couple of things I'd like to say about this first, before we talk about this last specific week. Number one, you know, Leonard's been through a lot and I try to be very sensitive to that. He's a person who's been very honest about some of the anxiety and things he's dealt with. And I try to be very respectful of that. Number two, Leonard this year has been openly irritated

with some of the reporting of his medical situations about what his injuries are, what the timelines would be could he play or could he not play and that's made it even trickier because you're sitting there and you're hearing things and you're like you know he's had problems with the way this has been reported before so you're trying to be even doubly careful Leonard is playing with two possibly three really tough injuries like I do believe he's going to need surgery after the season you know one way or the other I just don't know if it's one thing or more than one thing. He's left the team at times he's been injured at times he's tried to play through it you know he's competitive

it's definitely affected his ability to be at his best. He's not at his best, but he's competing. Like I was at the game in Vancouver as part of the telethon where he got it out a point for Vegas and made a ridiculous save off Patterson in the last couple of minutes. And that was all just guts, really. You know, Logan Thompson Logan Thompson unfortunately had a really rough finish to the game on on Sunday night but you know generally he's been very good too because he's been the healthier of the two goalies and he's played really well and so Leonard's been hurt you know I think he feels and whether you agree or not I'm just talking about how Leonard feels

he feels that he's been unfairly criticized and he was not happy with being pulled from the game last Wednesday night after giving up one goal where Vegas beat Washington. And what I heard was on Thursday night that he told the Golden Knights he was done. He was frustrated. He was upset. He was hurt. And he told the Golden Knights, I'm done. He was frustrated. He was upset. He was hurt. And he told the Golden Knights, I'm done and I need to get surgery. And that's it for this year. And I first got wind of

this. I got a tip about it on Friday morning. And then when I started to look, one person got back to me and said, be very, very careful. This is going to be a tricky story, a very tricky story. be very, very careful. This is going to be a tricky story, a very tricky story. So there were two reports, two people reported before I did, Emily Kaplan of ESPN and Jesse Granger of The Athletic. And when I saw their reports, I was like, ah, they knocked it down before I did. And I was disappointed to be beaten to it. Again, though, someone texted me and said, just be careful here. There's going to be a lot of twists and turns. But the thing that I understood

where the reports were coming from was that I had heard that he had said that. And I do believe that he said that on Thursday night. But what I now know is in the last 24 to 48 hours after that, there was a lot of conversations between Leonard, the team, his agents, whoever else he confides in, you know, just about, can we get him to play? Can we keep him on the roster?

We kind of need him. And obviously he was there on Sunday night as Thompson's backup, although he didn't play. Now, again, on Sunday, after the Golden Knights said in the morning that we do expect Leonard to back up, someone said to me, don't make any absolute declarations because there are still going to be more twists and turns here. And even though we played Sunday night, we'll see what happens on Monday. But again, there were people suggesting that the story wasn't over and it still wasn't a guarantee that he would be able to finish the regular season so it's a twisting turning up and down story and you just have to be careful about making any absolute declarations but i think what it comes down to jeff is that he

was hurt he was disappointed and he said you know this is enough and they said you know robin you know for now we need you can we work this out and at least as sunday night he was still in uniform and you know we'll see what monday brings but the best advice i can say is the good advice that one source gave me which is this is a tricky story and it changes and it would be you would be wise not to make any absolute statements one way or the other. We expect many more things to happen between now and this huge game on Tuesday between the Dallas stars and the Vegas golden Knights. Okay. Okay, let's get to some of the teams that have been eliminated for playoff contention that we haven't spoken about yet. And one of those teams are the San Jose Sharks,

who we just spoke about in the context of facing off Sunday night against the Vegas Golden Knights. San Jose is an interesting team for a number of reasons and primarily, Elliot, because they're looking for a new general manager. Before we even talk about the roster and who's back and who isn't and what this team is going to look like next season, do you have any idea where they're at with the GM search? I think they're very early in the process.

I heard, Jeff, that last week they had the hearing with Evander Kane. And I think that took up most of their attention. Yeah. And so I think now they will turn to the GM search, which I don't believe will be a short one. I still think we're in the very early stages. You know, I'll tell you something about that Evander Kane hearing.

It's not over. They need more time. And now that the Oilers are going into the playoffs, it's possible that we don't see that continue until either the Oilers are knocked out or they win a series so quickly that they get some downtime. It's going to be a bit of time, I heard, until that continues. And the other thing I heard about that is there hasn't been a lot of talk in the way of a settlement, at least not yet, at least not as of the end of last week. So I don't know where that's going to go. But the one thing is, is that in the short term, the Sharks do seem very comfortable with the idea of Joe Will and Doug Wilson and Tim Burke,

and I should say more Doug Wilson Jr. than Doug Wilson, running the show and executing the plan until they pick the person. But I still think we're a little bit of time away from it. We've talked about the San Jose Sharks and what that marketplace demands and how the San Jose Sharks are a team that needs to be competitive to keep people in that building. We don't expect any of that to change next season, do we? No, I don't think that's going to change.

You know, it'll be interesting. I think, you know, do they buy out Vlasic? Is job number one in San Jose in this offseason the same number one job as it is in Vancouver, which is give the manager cap space? I think so. But the thing is, it seems to me that the job number one is to make this team competitive actually as quick as you possibly can.

So how do you do that? What's your path? How are you selling that path? To me, that's actually job one is how are you selling the path of, you know, we're going to get back in and compete as quickly as we can. That's the way I look at it. Like Pat Verbeek came in there and said, I'm cleaning house and I'm starting over. And the organization was like, we're good with that. I don't see that here.

So my question is, how are you doing this? Are you signing To meyer well uh he's he'll be one year out so you can sign him to a long-term extension yes yes whoever's coming in what's the path that they're saying gets us back to going as as quickly as we possibly can that's my biggest question is and i think it's too early to say this right now is for all the people who are going to interview for the job, how are you selling quick competition? What's your path? There's a handful of people that know this.

Certainly Joe will does. Certainly the owner and team president does. And so does Tomas Hurdle because they sold him. They sold him on this plan to the point where he re-upped with his team. Now it's a nice bump to just over $8 million a season, but still at the age of 29, when the contract kicks in, they've sold them on how they're going to keep this team competitive you know the other thing too i wonder about san jose what's mario ferraro's next deal rfa that's the other

thing i'm curious about there are they going term or are they going bridge he's coming off his entry level isn't he yes i'll tell you he's an important defenseman for them, though. Oh, yeah? He plays like 23, 24 minutes a night. He plays on the top pair with Brent Burns. He's someone that is good on the ice and the energy ball in the room as well. The guy that makes it fun to come to the rink

and probably one of the best-kept secrets in the NHL. Yeah. Okay, the Winnipeg Jets, Elliot. This has been... There's to come to the rink. And probably one of the best kept secrets in the NHL. Yeah. Okay, the Winnipeg Jets, Elliot. This has been, there's no way to sugarcoat it. This has been an awful season for the Winnipeg Jets. It's been terrible. Paul Maurice leaves the team. The team doesn't make the playoffs.

There was a lot of expectation that this was going to be the best team that Canada had to offer the NHL this season. There is some belief that perhaps Winnipeg has taken it as far as they can with this group of players and there needs to be major changes and maybe even major changes at levels outside of what we see on the ice. What do you think happens with Winnipeg, Elliot? I think top to bottom, they're going to make some hard decisions about their organization. I was one of the people who thought, remember at the beginning of the year, the first night of the season, I went on air and I said, the Winnipeg Jets are the best team in Canada. I will say, Jeff, that was not one of the greatest predictions

of my career. We all have them, Elliot. It's okay. There are Twitter feeds dedicated to noting when people in the sports media predict things incorrectly. So I think that top to bottom, on the ice and off the ice,

they are going to have some conversations about what they're going to do. I think there's going to be conversations about, are they going to have to make changes in hockey ops? What are they doing behind the bench? What are they doing with their roster? Who's in and who's out. And the word I got from somebody in the organization is there's fatigue. And the fatigue is just of the last couple of years, how hard they've been through COVID. Like a lot of us know they're no different than anybody else, but just the lack of success. And the fact is it's been the same group of people generally around each other. And what he did was he compared it to a marriage that is going

sideways. That at one time you loved each other and then all of a sudden it's like the things that you used to love about the other person, it's now starting to drive you crazy about the other person. And he just said, there's fatigue and everybody needs to figure out what that is going to mean. And, you know, the Jets are going to have some time to take a deep breath, sit down and figure out where they're going here and the other thing that he said to me is he thinks that also that fatigue stretches to the fan base too they came back to the nhl there was a euphoria and excitement and eventually you get to that point where the euphoria and excitement wears off and and suddenly you know the fans are saying you know we've kind of seen this before and we're we're not sure we're on board with it.

And this might be the first time that they're kind of going through that. It doesn't necessarily mean you're a terrible franchise or anything like that. Every franchise has their peaks and valleys. And this one, since the Jets returned, is probably their first really big one. And so I think there's a big audit going on.

I believe there will be players who will say, you know, Hey, do I want to stay or do I want to move on? And you know, those are, those are going to be big decisions. Let's pause on that then,

because watching you with David on Saturday night on hockey night, you talked about Pierre-Luc Dubois. Yeah. And the future there. Without the confines of the expensive network television, confining your words to 30 seconds on Pierre-Luc Dubois and the future there. Without the confines of the expensive network television confining your words to 30 seconds on Pierre-Luc Dubois, can you expand your thoughts now that these airwaves are free and cheap, Elliot?

Please, wordsmith away on Pierre-Luc Dubois. I don't think Pierre-Luc Dubois wants to be traded or anything like that. I don't think that the Winnipeg Jets are looking to trade Pierre-Luc Dubois or anything like that. But I think, the winnipeg jets are looking to trade pierre luc du bois or anything like that but i think you know here's a guy and we talk about this all the time when you first start the club has the hammer in contract negotiations you don't if they want to use it it's a long time until you become a common unrestricted free. And eventually that starts tipping over towards the player.

Well, Pierre-Luc Dubois is finishing his fifth year and he's two years away from unrestricted free agency. And if he does not want to sign long-term, you know, the power really slips to him. He has arbitration rights so that he does have that. He's starting to get a hammer here now. He's starting to get a hammer. Are. He's starting to get a hammer. Are eligible.

I think the jets would like to sign him long-term, but I don't know how he feels about that. And if he's not willing to do a long-term deal, what are the jets going to do here? And I just had a couple of people say to me, watch this one. The other thing that happens here is, you know,

what changes it? It's sort of like what you just talked about with Thomas hurdle, right? The sharks sold Thomas hurdle on what they're going to do. And he said, okay,

I think that that's part of the other thing here is you take a look at the jets, you know, HelloBox got two more years under contract. Shifley. And that's another going to be another interesting one him and wheeler got two more years under contract ehlers has three is dubois going to want to sign long term if it's not guaranteed that those guys aren't going to stay like how much does that all matter to him like i just said there's some people out there who kind of have a hold on things who just said to me you know kind of watch this one because

dubois is going to have a lot of say obviously and how much and how long he wants to sign for and if the answer is not long what are the jets going to do over that well that's the thing about the jets too that we're used to as well ellie and that is when you identify someone you want to keep you wrap them up long term which i think is a good strategy josh morrissey long term adam lowry long term nick ehlers long term kyle connor long there's a theme here like when they get their guys they want them there for a long time which i think is smart which is um and that's why i'm i'm like you i'm curious if pierre-luc dubois says maybe i'm only comfortable with a two-year deal i don't know what winnipeg does with that for someone of his stature certainly you can do it with someone down the lineup you

understand that but for someone like pierre-luc dubois like if he i'm with you if he doesn't want to do a long-term deal i don't know is that uncomfortable for winnipeg i don't know the answer i think they have some time to really sit down and decompress but i thought it was really interesting that the phrase i got was fatigue, that there's a lot of fatigue and how do you fix that? New York Islanders, speaking of teams that were underwhelming based on expectations, here's a team that, you know, before the season we talked about

and many talked about as potentially being a Stanley Cup favorite or someone we could see at least getting into the Stanley Cup final. That didn't happen. The New York Islanders did not qualify for the post season. And the questions began, which questions do you have of the Islanders?

You mentioned Chara earlier. We know that's a huge question mark out there. That's a future hall of fame question there. What other questions do you have about the Islanders now? I think one of the biggest questions I have is how did they see this year? Do they simply look at it as COVID and a long road trip ruined our season, but we still think we're okay. You know, that's number one.

Lou Lamorello has said they're going to look at some hockey trades. Like the tough thing with Lamorello is that we're all playing a guessing game, right? Like, what do you mean by hockey trades? Who are you talking about? Well, he's not going to tell us. So we all have to kind of figure this out. And to me, I look up and down the roster and I wonder,

I don't think they're trading Brock Nelson. I mean, I would be shocked, for example, if they traded that guy. He's so important to their team and he's such a great player. But the one guy I wonder,'s also it's for contract reasons and i know i'm dealing with lou lamorello here if you have time use it like i don't think the new york islanders are racing to trade like matthew i don't want anyone to say this okay like i'm not saying that matthew barzell's just say matthew barzell already but the thing is he's coming in the last year of his deal and then it's time right you know him and you have to decide yeah i'm just curious like do the islanders worry about this at all do like they

do they have any reason to believe or not believe that barzell's going to be a long-term islander you know that's one thing i kind of wonder about like i don't see them training pellick he's locked down they're obviously not training pulak he's locked down i'm with you on dobson i don't think that guy's going anywhere at all great season like honestly in in this season of darkness for the islanders he's been outstanding he's had a real breakout yeah really good like i still think they have a lot of really good players but like that's what i'm curious about like they say we're still okay we just had dynamic worldwide forces beat us the other one too is varlamov lamaril actually admitted he could have traded him.

Didn't. You know, Jeff, you and I have talked about it. There's not that many great goalies around anymore. I could see him being valuable. Like if you want to make a hockey trade that could make you better. Yeah. Don't you think he's a guy that could do it? And now you're in the place to do it because guess what's just

happened with the islanders do you not feel like ilia sorokin's not one of the best net minders in the nhl right now well he is but you got to have two right like i understand why they would not want to do it i do understand why they would not want to get it it's a luxury. I know. But what have we always said about luxury items? If you need something else somewhere else, you kind of look at this situation with Vrlamov and Sorokin and say, okay, having these two, that's a luxury. We just need to get back to the playoffs. We need to get back to where we were.

There were teams that were interested, of course. You don't think that the Oilers were interested of course I mean I'd have to imagine the Oilers would have called the Islanders on Semyon Varlamov yep this season and there would have been a couple of different teams that would have called on Semyon Varlamov as well all I'm saying is given what I think we all know definitively now about sorokin doesn't it just make trading of our llama off that much easier elliot again i think the only thing you're sitting there saying is we need to look i've already said it i could say it a thousand times you can get something for him you can he's a good goalie you can get something for him like i'll tell you this the names that stand out to me for hockey trades varlamov you know bailey again like like the thing with him again he's he's an islander did they look at him and say, fluke year. Everybody gets a reset.

I wonder about a guy like Wallstrom. So do they. Like, he's still young. Like, he's 21 years old. I don't like to give up on young players, but, you know, I'm sure there's somebody else out there who might look at it and say, well, hey, if the Islanders don't believe in him, we might. These are some of the names I kind of look at. And, again the only reason i i talk about barzell is just because the contract and are they worried about it at all but

you can't replace that guy okay elliot the last team we have to talk about here um the columbus blue jackets and you know i can remember talking to John Davidson toward near the beginning of the season and Columbus have been playing you know been playing all right and you know they're either in a playoff spot or flirting with one again it was very early in the season and I kind of had the conversation with JD around the idea that is there maybe a chance here that Columbus makes the playoffs in a very competitive metropolitan division? And he was very polite and very diplomatic about his team, not wanting to bury anybody,

but said something along the lines of, and I'm paraphrasing here. Yeah, we'll see. And we saw, and the blue jackets said didn't make the playoffs this season, but what we did kind of see this season specifically at the end, Elliot is what the future is going to look like for the Columbus blue jackets.

Certainly up front with three players, Kent Johnson, Cole Sillinger, and Yegor Chinnikov. Your thoughts on Columbus in the off season. Remember we talked about Detroit. Of course. And we talked about Detroit? Of course.

And we talked about them with when he starts taking the big swings. That's what I kind of look about with Columbus right now. You think Columbus is in big swing territory now? They played really hard this year. We all left them for goners, right? Yeah. We thought they were going to be

one of the worst teams in the league. And they played really hard unfortunately the east was kind of decided pretty early but i think they showed more staying power than we thought right oh they're hungry they hung around for a while that's what's bringing up the point about john davidson yes because i i kind of got the sense that he was kind of saying to me hey listen it's a long season we're not expecting huge things from this team they got warrenski signed and that was for their fans that was a message to their fans that we could sign warrenski and he's theirs and i really like that move i thought that was a great move you know they're gonna grow with the cylinders they're gonna grow with the johnsons they going to grow with the Sillingers. They're going to grow with the Johnsons.

They're going to grow with the Chinnikovs. Unless Chicago's got a top two pick, they're going to get another great pick, right? Yes. They've got Merzlik and signed. You know, they have really good young cornerstone players. Number one to me is, what are they going to do with lining rfa are they going to lock them up long term and number two who are they going to look at to play with these guys

you know they got voracek who's uh is a veteran player they still have corrali who's signed for a few more years veteran player but the thing i kind of look at is they've got a lot of capital to do things. And so I look at them and I say, what are the kinds of swings they're going to take this summer? Kekulainen, he is a furiously competitive guy. I know they have a plan, but sometimes people think that I say that this means the team is a bad hockey marketer.

They don't have good fans. I don't believe that in the case of Columbus. I think they have good fans, and they really understand what they're doing. I just don't know if they really want to have too many years like this. I don't know if Kekulainen's wired for that. And I just wonder if they say, we can't have too many years like this. So, like, who do they surround their young players with? And do they say, okay,

we just kind of continue going this path, or we maybe try to take a big swing this summer. Maybe the big swing is a big line-A contract. I always look at Kekulainen and I say that I think that guy is so fiercely competitive. He doesn't want this again. Not that this was that bad considering what it could have been, but I always just look at him and I think he wants to be better. Do you think I'm wrong? No, I don't. I just always wonder about winning cycles and where they're at. And I do understand

the sensitivity about being too bad for too long in certain markets. And I think there are certain markets that are long established where you can be bad for a certain amount of time. And at that point, fans will start to tune out, but they'll give you the understanding of a few seasons of going through it. There are some fans that just won't stand for it at all. There are some markets that ownership thinks that fans won't stand for it, even though they've never tried it. But Columbus is an interesting one to me. I think right now you're still in the process of selling hope,

and you're starting to see hope pop up in the lineup. I always wonder about taking a big swing too soon. I think you could be right on that. So with Columbus, I'm of the mind that I know things didn't work out this season, but that's okay. Because we're getting to the point now where all we're really interested in is how good is Chinnikoff getting? How good is Johnson getting? How good is Sillinger getting? I think we're getting to that

point right now with these guys i don't know that you want to move in a and again i'm just going to use this one player for sake of argument read nothing into it okay you don't need to bring in your jt miller right now or if i can couch it another way you don't need to bring in your phil castle with the maple leaves at that point right now they weren if I can couch it another way, you don't need to bring in your Phil Castle with the Maple Leafs at that point right now. They weren't ready for that. Like, I don't know that Columbus is ready for someone that should be a finishing touch. I don't know if they're ready to bring that in right now.

We've seen plenty of teams bring in the finishing touch too soon and it messes things up. I don't see it as the finishing touch. I see it as someone who can elevate them that they can have for a while. Okay, you know what my answer to all these things is usually? What's that? Is offer sheet Kevin Fiala.

Because I think someone's going to. So I always say to myself, wait, why doesn't Columbus just offer sheet Kevin Fiala? So I'll throw that one out for Columbus as well. Hey, Yarmulke Kalanen, go offer sheet Kevin Fiala. Hey, they wanted to do Marner. They wanted to do Marner. Hey, take Fiala.

We all know what's facing, you know, Bill Guerin's squad starting next season. So there you go. I'll add Columbus into the, your solution is an offer sheet for Kevin Fiala mix. Good solution. It's a creative one. Keeps guys like you and me talking. So Jeff, before we wrap up the podcast,

well, by the way, you know, we're recording this after, as you heard, we're recording this after Vegas, San Jose on Sunday night. So we'll do listener questions and there's a lot of good ones on Thursday with our next pod.

Yeah. But Jeff, you know, I want to just take a couple of good ones on thursday with our next pod yeah but jeff you know i want to just take a couple minutes congratulations to you and tj you had a great weekend in chicago you guys won your age group championship and you never you say what did you say you said you never trailed your team never trailed which proved to me one thing what's that you weren't coaching oh i was not but i do want do want to just selfishly get this out of the way because TJ's been with this group playing spring hockey for years. And that's the Next Level Hockey group.

And this is Shaz Ahmed's academy that runs here in Stouffville. It's run for a number of years, really. And a lot of kids have gone through and have had success. This is the first tournament that this group of kids has won stateside, which is a big deal because Elliot, you know, winning hockey tournaments in the United States is not exactly easy. So I just wanted to mention Shaz, a wonderful guy, great coach, and Daniel Torres, who was on the bench with them as well. Ryan Quinn and Sebastian Moreau Hernandez, those were the four coaches. So thanks to all those guys. Congratulations to your boys.

You had a good weekend? Listen, the boys had a great weekend. TJ was over the moon. He loved it. I mean, he loves these kids and he loves these coaches. It's fun hockey, right? It's spring hockey. Go, hey, play.

Go have a good time. See what happens. We had a great weekend in Chicago. You know, we got there. Like the minute we got, like we got to Chicago, got the rental car, you know, dropped the bags in the room, and then went right to, where do you think, Elliot? Wrigley Field.

Cubs game. Yeah. It is the coolest experience. Is it the first time you've ever been? First time I've ever been to Wrigley. Everybody has to go there once. I'll tell you what, it's the coolest thing in the world because you're walking.

I mean, you've been, right? You've been to Wrigley. So you're walking i mean you've been right you've been to wrigley so you're walking through this residential neighborhood and then boom there's wrigley field it's like a walking path fantastic like just you know nice nice beautiful you know sort of quietish street in chicago and then you look up and there's wrigley field and everything about it i mean obviously it feels like a baseball stadium like every inch of it feels like baseball not multi-purpose not we're gonna reformat this for a concert coming in next

weekend or this is going to be part-time football state like no baseball stadium like every inch of it and i just loved it just loved the first time I'd ever been there and you know we sat behind home plate and just had the the best time the coolest experience and listen the whole hockey team went pretty much and everyone really dug it but yeah just a great experience and the only unfortunate thing is wasn't really able to keep in touch with what was going on in the NHL a ton like I wasn't able to sit down and watch hockey games all night every single night um because the tournament was going on but uh it was a great time it was so well done the kids had a ball and special thanks to uh to david amber for

mentioning that on hockey night all the uh all the coaches and all the hockey moms and dads got a got a big kick out of that so thank you you, thank you, thank you for the mention. Congratulations, man. Glad you had a great time. Okay, quick note, by the way, before we get to the music, Elliot, Hey Berkey, episode three drops today. Check that one out, man. These things are so much fun.

Taking us out today, a musician from Seattle, Washington. During his solo career, Chris Staples has performed with several bands, including Telekinesis, J Tillman, and 238. Over the last 20 years, Chris has released five full-length records that showcase his musical skills. From his 2016 record, here's Chris Staples with Golden Age on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Enjoy. You don't have to be angry Turn it into something you can use You don't have to be lonely Find someone to talk to

You don't have to be tired While you're still going out every night? You don't have to try That's the only way You don't have to be quiet Go on, speak your mind You don't have to be defensive Unless you'd put some Pour a glass of wine Whether you wanna resurrect Thank you.