32 Thoughts: The Podcast - I’m Here So You’re Going to Be Here Too

Episode Date: March 22, 2024

Jeff and Elliotte kick this edition of 32 Thoughts off by recapping the NHL's GM Meetings from Del Boca Vista, Florida. They touch on how George Parros might involve more Managers from across the league to get additional opinions on rulings, the expansion of video review, and the advent of more video coaches for each NHL team. Jeff and Elliotte then turn their attention to Patrick Roy and the New York Islanders who continue to slide (20:40). They also talk about the Red Wings, who are in the thick of the playoff race, and how important it is for the league that they make the playoffs (28:00). That is followed by an in-depth conversation revolving around the situation between John Tortorella and Sean Couturier in Philadelphia (31:54). They wrap up the A-block of the pod by talking about the surging Nashville Predators (42:26), and Zach Hyman possibly scoring his 50th goal in Toronto this weekend (46:49).  The guys answer your questions in the Montana’s Thought Line (58:54). Jeff and Elliotte wrap up the podcast by talking about the tragic passings of Konstantin Koltsov and Chris Simon (1:18:00).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailThis podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Slow the game down to a crawl. It's bad enough that coaches have destroyed overtime and we'll get there. Now they want more and more video review and slowing the game down. And after every whistle, everybody gets the iPad. The NHL. I'm here. So you're going to be here too. What a slogan.

Welcome once again to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra Elevation. Jeff Merrick, Elliot Friedman, Dom Schramatti. So Elliot, I want to launch the podcast today by reading a tweet to you. It's going to remind you of the old iDesk days. Let's go down to Merrick and Morrison. Read some tweets, guys. Here we go, Elliot. Okay, let's go.

Here's one that I got on Thursday. Listen to the pod today. This is the podcast from the radio show. Okay, let's go. Here's one that I got on Thursday. Listen to the pod today. This is the podcast from the radio show. Love the video coach segment. This is the conversation, Elliot, that you and I had about video coaching on Thursday on the radio show. I love the idea of them getting praise

after the game in the locker room and stuff. Just wait until Torts healthy scratches his video coach after a bad review. That comes from jonathan morris i think that's probably a good way to set up today's 32 thoughts podcast uh we're going to get to john tortorella we will get to video coaches we will get to florida we will get to the islanders and the red wings and a lot of other things today but do you want to put a quick bow on the uh on the Florida GMs meetings?

I mean, this was about, in a lot of ways, GMs and GB. Gary Bettman, let's start with the managers themselves. Anything spicy for you come out of this? Well, I think the only thing, like I've written a lot about it and we've talked a lot about it. And one of the things that I do think is going to be interesting here is that there was some talk going in. Would there be a showdown between George Peros and some of the managers over some of the suspensions or the processes? I understand there was one manager who had some pointed questions. Now, it's all in the eye of the beholder, right, Jeff?

You know, sometimes people think, oh, this is a really intense argument. And other people are like, meh, it's just two alphas going at it. And I think that that was one of the things that kind of said to me, like, I did have some people say to me, wow, like Peros really got challenged. But I got some other people who said, really, you thought that was a challenge? I didn't think that was a big challenge. I just think it was two people kind of giving it to each other a little bit. And it really wasn't that bad. And also the commissioner was around for a bit of that. So people are always a little bit more careful whenever Bettman is in the room. So whatever the case was, and some other people said to me, yeah,

someone challenged Peros a bit, but he had good answers and he was ready for them. So whatever the case is, I don't think it was too bad. One of the things that came out of it to me is, and I didn't write it, someone called me about it on Thursday. And so I had a better picture was, you know, for example, at this meeting, they were shown 14 examples of plays at the blue line. And they wanted to know, like, do you think this wanted to know like do you think this is onside or do you think this is offside like Minnesota Wild fans would know there was a play with Marcus Johansson where he was ruled to be offside and some of the managers looked at it and said I don't know I think that should be a goal so that was one of the things they do here. And Colin Campbell is really well known for this.

If there's a goaltender interference play or a somewhat controversial play that they review, he will send it to a group of managers. He doesn't always do the same ones. I think there's some he's pretty consistent with, but I think there's others he tries to involve and just say, hey, at different times, what do you think of this play? How did you feel about this call? How do you think this play should be ruled? the same thing you know what you know do you want to send it out to a group and say hey this is a play that let's let's use for example Tom Wilson now you're not going to send it to Brian McClellan and you're not going to send it to Brad Tree Living because his team's involved but maybe

send it to a bunch of other managers and say Steve Iseman actually raised yeah raised Steve Iseman Steve Iseman is probably a good guess. I'm betting he sees a bunch of these. No, but I'm saying, do you send it to anyone for a thought? I mean, if they're competing for a playoffs, so I was like, do you think there should be a penalty on Tom Wilson? Steve Eisenman at the Detroit Red Wings? Absolutely, Koli.

No, you want to know something about Eisenman? I will tell you you and i've said this on this podcast before i think there's probably no manager who thinks uh who thinks referees should interfere less with games than steve eiserman he is a big let the players decide the game guy he like i think i've told this story before, but I heard, if you'll remember, and I'm going off on a tangent here, if you'll remember when Nicholas Cronwall was suspended for game seven of a Detroit Tampa series, Iserman was the manager of Tampa at the time. So it really benefited his team if Cronwall couldn't play. I said to someone at the league at the time, I said, oh, great, great stuff for Iserman. He must love this.

And they said to me, actually, he is the one guy who wouldn't do that. He would just say, you know, whatever you guys decide, I he's generally let the players play kind of guy. So I would say if there's one guy who might not actually say 50 games for Wilson while we're racing to the playoffs, it's probably Iserman. Anyway, maybe you send it to a bunch of Western Conference guys so that nobody who's in the playoffs in the East has a comment. But I do think that that's one of the things they talked about,

and I also think that Peros was receptive to that. I think he also kind of challenged the managers and said, hey, you know what, you guys don't really get involved with us. Instead of maybe, and this is my words, not from his, instead of complaining about it, how about you guys get more involved? So I think that's one of the things that I haven't written yet. And I don't know that's been written or said yet that I think is going to come out of this meeting.

I think that's going to be a big part of the future. And I've got no problem with that. A few other things. And they were, you know, minor tweaks that are suggested and have to go to competition committee and then get Royal assent after that, whether it's a high sticks or leg over boards or puck over glass or more video review or goldies dislodging nets uh anything jump out there for you or anything that you want to sort of sharpen a point on something else i want to mention and you point out a couple minutes ago you refer to the conversation we had on your radio show about how

video coaches are about to become even more important like hugely important is i had someone say to me i wonder if teams are going to start hiring referees either as consultants or to work with their players or their coaching staff about the rule book hang on because hang hang on, hang on. You know who did that in Winnipeg? The Jets did it. Paul Maurice did that. He brought NHL officials into the, because remember the Winnipeg Jets would take, they had like season after season

of undisciplined penalties and it just killed them. And he brought NHL officials into training camp to work with the players, which I thought was a brilliant idea. And good on Paul Maurice for doing it. I think the Jets have used Vaughn Rohde in the past or currently. Face-offs, I think, is what he's doing for the Manitoba Moose. So yes, there is an example from what I understand. You're right. Paul Maurice did it in the past. That's a very good call, Jeff. But this individual said to me, more teams should probably do it or think about doing

it, especially as this becomes more of a thing, especially as video review expands. I was talking to one coach today and I said, what do you think about it? And he goes, oh, I want more of it. I want more things to review any any chance like there are some coaches and past coaches who think this shouldn't be up to the coaches to get right there it should be up to the league to say look we're going to get it right the the penalty shouldn't be on the coaches he doesn't like that the risk is for the coaches which is fine but this coach said to me I want give me everything I can review give me a smorgasbord of reviewery and you know I said to him well what about how long games can get and he said yeah I know the

league has to worry about that but you know what I think I go why he goes i'm gonna be there anyway so it's not like i'm going anywhere so just give me more things to review he said he wants to review as many things as he can to review oh slow the game down to a crawl it's bad enough the coaches have destroyed overtime and we'll get there now they want more and more video review and slowing the game down and after every whistle everybody gets the ipad the nhl i'm here so you're gonna be here too what a slogan that's a great one that's a whole new campaign for next season. Okay, well done, Elliot. Our work here is done. Lunch, gentlemen. Okay, well done, Elliot. Let me ask you about, drill down on video coaches,

just to put a final bow around this thing. Are we on the precipice now of video coaches really getting paid? And are we on the precipice now of there being like a real competition amongst teams to get the best possible video coaches working for them. Like I threw out that tongue in cheek quote off the top about, you know, you know, John Tortorella benching or scratching a video coach who misses a play. But like these people are going to be more valuable than ever before. You've pointed that out here and elsewhere. I would have to imagine that compensation would rise commensurate with how important they're going to be. And I can't help but thinking, much like we see in the battle for every team's analytics department, the competition to put together a great video staff is going to be huge, Elliot.

Well, first of all, I like to see people get paid, so I hope so. But you said the word there, staff. For example, the Maple Leafs have two video coaches who've made some huge calls for them this year. In addition to getting paid, again, I'd like to see everybody get paid. I just wonder more and more, they're going to be hired. For example, one of the things that's going to happen here is that the more that is video reviewable, Jeff, the more these coaches are going to have to look at at the same time. So as good as some of these coaches are, one of them can't do it all. Yep. So you're probably going to need two or three people. And Jeff, we talk about these franchise-altering decisions, big-money decisions, under-pressure, critical moments for the video coaches.

Look at Vegas-Seattle on Thursday night. Vegas is up almost the entire game. They're up 1-0 with six and a half minutes to go. Jaden Schwartz ties it. And then Keegan Colasar puts in what looks like the winning goal with a minute 20 to go. And it's close. Like offside challenge, that's a close, close challenge. So what do they do? They decide to challenge it. And I would have done it in the same situation. It goes Vegas's way. The goal counts. Now you're down 2-1 with a minute 20 to go and you're shorthanded.

Vegas scores with the empty net. That's how pressure cooked these decisions are as Seattle's trying to win and Vegas is trying to hold on to the playoffs with the Blues chasing them. These jobs, they are not, not for the weak-hearted this is and i was making this point on the radio on thursday if you're someone who's aged out of actually playing hockey or maybe injured yourself or just your your on ice career is over but you want to stay in the game there's a lot of different avenues you can go down there's broad there's broadcasting there's coaching no don't do that don't we have enough broadcas's coaching no don't do that don't know we

have enough broadcasters don't don't do that okay scrub that one um but but also like stay out of my lane stay out of my lane yeah i guess uh stay stay behind the scenes and you know call offsides for teams here but no that's going to be like a a really big field and if you're someone that's you know considering a position in the game like if you've played hockey your whole life like there's a lot of knowledge of the game obviously you understand it and if you want to marry that with a love of you know staying in the game and you know working for a team and having the the winning losing juices pumping through your veins video coaching could be it because yeah as much hey listen as you made this point on on

thursday and i thought a lot about it since you said it and it's true as much as you know coaches go through the emotional roller coaster and as much as coaches are the ones feeling a ton of stress how'd you like to be the video coach that makes a call on a stanley cup winning goal you want to talk about stress level you want to talk about pressure you want to talk about you know being nervous and having to make that call when what's on the line here are millions and millions of dollars and it's up to you it's it's a honestly in hockey this could be elliot a fascinating field to be involved in it really really could be you know some is you know and the other thing too is some people they're adrenaline junkies right like some people are

not cut out for that you know and i understand it. Not everybody is capable of that kind of split second decision with so much on the line. You're not just, you know, it's not only the money at stake, but it's your team depending on you to make that call in the moment. And to be honest, video coaches have been doing that for a while now and even the the video reviewers i think you have to say have been doing it for a while now but if you want to be if you're not a pro athlete but you want to be in the thick of the moment and making a decision that can be the difference between uh the the glory of victory and the agony of defeat, that position is only growing more in importance. Real quick, no changes to overtime.

This one, upon much further reflection, doesn't surprise me at all. As much as we grouse about neutral zone regroups, I said my piece to you on the radio, I see that as a symptom of something else. Nothing is going to be done about it. Your thoughts on that one? Well, it just goes to, even though this one coach, his new slogan is, I'm going to be there, so you're going to be there with me too. I think the NHL looks at it as we are not lengthening these games any more than we have to. We are not adding any more whistles than we have to, unless you give us a good reason. And I think one of the things here

is that nobody has shown them anything that would make overtime better that wouldn't make it longer. And, you know, the ECHL, they looked at the seven minute ECHL overtime. That's a bargaining issue. I don't know where that would go, but it's not just happening out of nowhere. And I think there is a feeling, even though players are more careful and they aren't shooting generally as randomly as they used to, even with the regroups, the chances come back in most cases so I think barring a better idea this the idea of any of this change changing lost steam I really believe it did so you know it's funny Jeff this is one of the things I wanted to talk to you about we had I don't know was it five to seven rule recommendations that still have to go to the competition committee and the board of governors.

And, you know, these were the most since 0405 when they had the lockout year and really Colin Campbell and Brendan Shanahan at all kind of redid the game. there were some people who said to me after the meetings were over that um there are there are those in the nhl that don't like it when there are this many changes because it creates the impression there's there's something wrong with the game right and and i i in this case i don't agree i i think if you were making major changes, you would look at it and say, we've got a problem. But to me, these are a lot of minor tweaks, not a big deal, and nothing that says the quality of the game is poor. So I was interested in that. Somebody mentioned that to me. I was like, really? Wow. I don't see it that way at all. But it just shows you people are sensitive to that kind of thinking. And I don't look at that way at all. But it just shows you like people are sensitive to that kind of thinking.

And I don't look at this as in any way, shape or form saying that the quality of the game is not good. I think it's simply are there things we can do that are not major but can make the game even better? I saw it that way. Two things for me on that point. Number one, let's all say it together. Tradition is peer pressure from dead people. If you don't evolve and continue to evolve, your game will stagnate and die.

I know we all like to talk about, oh, the tradition, and this is passed on, this is a tradition that's gone back a hundred years. Tradition is peer pressure from dead people. I think it's your responsibility as a sport, whether you're hockey, whether you're baseball, whether you're football, basketball, whatever, to constantly review your sport

to make sure that you are reflecting the modern tastes of the modern sports fan. Sports fans' tastes are always changing. And I think it's the smart sports, the wise sports that reflect those tastes. Otherwise, they will vanish. So I don't mind this at all. To be honest with you, I worry when there's a period of, you know, five or six years when nothing changes, even if it's a small thing. I'm with you on that. You should always be trying to do a little something. Yes. I completely, I completely agree with that. I'm with you on this one.

Normally your ideas are terrible this one's good you just like tradition is peer pressure from dead people i know that's a great that's a great line that's a really good line i do like that okay um from there let's go to some of the games that we saw on thursday now elliot earlier on this week there was sort of an awkward moment between you and me i don't even know if you realized that it happened. What's that? I can't remember. It's like a Tuesday or a Wednesday on the radio show.

And I asked you something about the New York Islanders. And you said, I don't know what to say at this point. I can't give you an answer. And I'm like, you know what? He's right, man. We've been banging this one for so long now. I shouldn't have even brought it up. And it kind of made for like, I don't know, six or 45 seconds of awkwardness on the radio.

But nonetheless, here we are now. Is there still nothing to say about the Islanders after getting doubled up by the Red Wings, who now have 78 points. And welcome back, Dylan Larkin, with a pair of goals, and it's six losses in a row for the Islanders. And Patrick Waugh pulled his goaltender with 5.35, remaining in the third period because he's Patrick Waugh. And the song remained the same for the Islanders.

Bill Parcells, who's a New York legend. You are what your record says you are. And to me, this is, it's really stunning. It's been stunning to watch. They're officially now in the math is not their friend territory for a couple of reasons. They're at points they're five behind Detroit they're six behind Philadelphia yes they have a game in hand in both those teams but the other reason things are really bad for them is they have the fewest regulation wins of the which is the first tie breaker of any of these teams around there and by a significant margin they're 21 and you have you have talked about their record but the thing that really stands out is is just the way they've gone down

like you know that Islander identity for a long time was was was pure heart right they were the grind team of the NHL and and they were the team that grinded their way to victory in a lot of ways and Lou Lamorello is one of the toughest people in the league and Patrick Waugh is one of the toughest players ever to play and you know stunningly at the hardest part of the season, the team just has fallen apart. And I find it shocking. You know, there are some Islander fans online. I don't know why, but my timeline, that 4U tab lately, like Elon is clearly listening to me because that 4U tab is full of Islander fans saying, I told you this team was not very good and sometimes that's

just fatalism you know the the fans are fans and they're a reason they're we're all employed and i appreciate them for that but fans are generally a group of hey we're allowed to say our team is crap but if you say our team is crap we're gonna kill you and you know that's that's fans but you know they would say that they saw this coming i have to admit i did not look i i knew they could miss the playoffs i did not see it ending like this i i did not see it ending like this and patrick waugh you can see he's just at a loss for words. We talked about this on the last pod, that one thing that Patrick Waugh could not understand

is how in a big game, you couldn't be ready to be at your best. And, you know, one of the things, my favorite memories about Waugh was his last Stanley Cup win was in 2001. That was the avalanche over the Devils in seven games. Game four, Colorado was up in that series two games to one. And they were winning 2-1 at the time and had a chance to go up three games to one. And in the third period, he fumbled the puck behind the net he was trying to puck handle it and it led to a goal by Scott Gomez and then Peter Sikora scored late in regulation and it tied the series at two

and you know people who knew why and the Avalanche said because that was the big storyline I remember wah fumbles game wah fumbles game devils tie the series and I remember, Wah fumbles game. Wah fumbles game. Devils tie the series. And I remember the people who really knew Wah and the Avalanche were all like, big deal. You know, he's going to make up for it. And actually, the Devils won game five, four to one, in Colorado and had a chance to win the series at home.

Colorado and had a chance to win the series at home. Well, Waugh shut them out in game six and Colorado won game seven, three to one. And Waugh was particularly brilliant early in game six. And so, you know, one of the things they talked about after that was, first of all, it was a big game. So you knew Waugh was going to be great. And secondly, because he'd made a mistake, you knew eventually he was going to take over the series. And the Colorado players talked about that. And so that's Waugh, right? That's one of the reasons we all loved him. So I think he's got to be looking at this and just completely at a loss. I'm sure the Islanders organization is completely at a loss.

And, you know, if they don't write themselves, you know, they've got a lot of players signed there to big contracts, but they do, you know, they do have some that are coming towards the end. You know, people are going to look at this and they're going to say, OK, could this be a bit of a changing of the guard in New York? to make changes because you know someone like Lamorello and you know someone like Patrick Waugh are going to look at this and say we can't come back with the same group the way this year has ended because if there's one thing and I would bet you even the players there are the same you know when you it's one thing to lose at the end of the year it's one thing to go through a stretch like this and unless they really write themselves these are the kinds of endings to the season that bring change to your organization um i had ken daniels play-by-play voice of the detroit red rings on the radio show

on thursday and he gave me a money quote before this game um he's been on fire lately oh ken's been awesome he he always is but you're right he's really been on fire lately that call by the way in that columbus game of the showtime goal like with all due respect pat foley called some great ones but man ken daniels calling big moments by patrick kane holy smoke sign me up okay this is from ken Quote, this is about the Islanders game at Little Caesars. This is likely the biggest hockey game with as much meaning ever played outside of an opener at Little Caesars Arena. It had that feel like this was must win for the Detroit Red Wings.

They needed to create distance. Dylan Larkin was coming back. They could put a nail into the coffin for the Islanders, a team that's right there with a win. They would get a tight turtleneck around the Detroit Red Wings' throats. I think Kenny was right. Outside of an opener,

that was the biggest Detroit Red Wings game so far at Little Caesars Arena. When you factor in everything that was on the line. Now, if the Detroit Red Wings make the playoffs, all of that gets eclipsed. But leading into Thursday's game, this was the biggest hockey game by the Detroit Red Wings at that rink since it's opened. You know, there are going to be people who are going to be very happy to see the red wings in the playoffs should they make it and not just the red wings fans so you know our whole thing about expanding the playoffs and we talked on monday about how people said to me the way the east is going they should not expand the playoffs there are too many garbage teams i had somebody who said to me

at the gm meetings do not give this up even though betman hates it because it's just bad that teams like detroit and buffalo have not been in the playoffs for so long it's just it's bad for the markets it's bad for the league and it really damages their organizations in their city so and the other thing too is detroit that is a big revenue arena it does not hurt if that rep if that arena is collecting playoff revenues uh hrr ladies and gentlemen if you're a player who's not in the playoffs you cheer for the biggest market teams that can put the most money into the conference. And we should mention Larkin coming back tonight and what a big,

what a big factor he was. What a big factor. Simon Edvinson as well. You know, Steve Eisenman talked about, well, prices are too expensive at deadline. Actually, this was a clash of two teams that were silent at deadline, the Islanders and the Detroit Red Wings.

But Simon Edvinson gets the call up, and he looked fantastic on Thursday night. On that first Larkin goal, he was tremendous. I mean, great wingspan, the size, keeping the puck hot. He had a fantastic game on Thursday. Okay, you mentioned 2001. Friend of the pod, Ryan Hanna, feeling vindicated for all of his Simon Edvinson love. Yeah. Okay. You mentioned friend of the pod, Ryan Hanna feeling vindicated for all of his Simon Edmondson love. Yeah. Yeah. He proved it, man. He looked great. Okay. Um, you mentioned

2001, a couple of seconds ago, I want to rewind to 2001, uh, on a, on a different note, in 2001 in Tampa, John Tortorella was the head coach. Vincent LeCavalier was the star player. And Rick Dudley was the general manager. Things were not going, I'm going to give this a soft landing, swimmingly between Vincent LeCavalier and John Tortorella. To the point where the Tampa Bay Lightning had a deal worked out with the Toronto Maple Leafs to trade Vincent LeCavalier to Toronto.

Now, my former partner on Leafs Lunch many years ago, Bill Waters, told me the specifics on that deal because the Maple Leafs wanted to run a 1-2 up the middle of Matt Sundin and Vincent LeCavalier. The specifics of the deal were Vinny LeCavalier in exchange for Nick Antropoff, Jonas Hoagland, Thomas Caberle, and Tampa's choice, either a first round pick or Brad Boyes, their decision. That was the deal. Everybody went to bed on it thinking it was going to get done, but it didn't get done the next morning. Um, shortly after, I want to say like a month or a month and a half, Rick Dudley resigned as the general manager and in came Jay

Feaster and quite famously in Tampa, Jay Feaster went to both John Tortorella and Vincent LeCavalier and said, Vinny, I'm not firing John and John, I'm not trading Vinny. You two need to figure this thing out right now because neither of you are going anywhere. Now, that's an extreme example from John Tortorella's past, but it is part of it. How do you see the situation with John Tortorella and Sean Couturier right now? First of all, listening to that, you also remember that Vincent LeCavalier was nearly traded from Tampa to Montreal. There is a great story to be done one day on all of the Vincent LeCavalier trades that didn't happen, that nearly happened. But your story is obviously right. You had a great source on that.

So your story is obviously correct. This isn't exactly the same. At the time, Vincent LeCavalier was, what, two years into his NHL career, and there were a lot of years to come. This is later. I'm just trying to, Elliot, I'm just trying to capture the spirit of the thing. It's a week for that line, sorry.

And the one thing I do agree with is, you know, Daniel Breer is going to have a role he's going to have to play here. And that is brokering, I don't know, whatever it is, a piece, a detente, whatever you want to call it, between John Tortorella and his captain. You know, I have to say, Jeff, that this happening a month after Couturier was named captain has spawned a lot of conspiracy theories about what everybody

thought of the captaincy being named in the first place. You can only imagine all of the conspiracy theories being thrown around this one. You know, there's a lot here that's, you know, again, I've said this on your show and I wrote it. Nobody can be surprised at this. This is page one of the Tortorella playbook. There are no sacred cows. And if you can't do what I need you to do, or I feel you're not giving me the effort. And number one, there's no way that he's got a problem with Couturier's effort. As I, you know, I do feel, as I've said, this is a pace issue. John Tortorella, if he's not happy with your play,

you can't give him what he wants. He's going to take you out of the lineup. It's happened to kids. It's happened to veterans. It's happened to everybody. In a year where John Tortorella could be coach of the year, Philly, nobody thought Philly was going to be here. Nobody.

And he's had a great year. He's pushed almost all the right buttons. To me, this shows Couturier's popularity because there are a lot of other players that this could happen to and nobody would say anything or nobody would fight like this but it shows how popular a guy Couturier is how much he's beloved how much that he is respected for returning to play when it would have been very easy for him to retire and take the money, right? There are people looking at him and I actually do think that that has been one of the things that's been raised in defense of Couturier that you can't do this to him because of all of the effort he put in to even playing like he didn't quit

he continued to play and I and I wouldn't be surprised if Tortorella's argued well I've already given him benefit and grace for that but it's time so you know the I wondered if he might get back in on Thursday. I was live into your radio show on Thursday, and we were talking about it, and someone texted me who knows Tortorella and said, you know, be careful until warm-up. You never know if Tortorella is throwing the media a fake. He has Couturier skating on the fifth line, and then he shows up and he plays tonight. But obviously that didn't happen, and that guy texted me and said,

wow, he actually went through with it. I didn't know that he was going to actually go through with it. And, you know, they lost, and they played hard, and we'll see what this is going to mean for Saturday night. But, you know, there's two things about it. I think are weird. Number one, Jeff, I think it's weird that Couture didn't seem to know why he was getting benched because that's the thing about Tortorella, you know,

BX and everybody who played played for him will say we always know where we stand we always know where we stand and for someone to say I don't know where I stand that's weird to hear for me from him because that's usually not the issue and the final thing I would say is Tortorella not showing up after the game on Thursday to meet with the media and Brad Shaw doing it. Now, one thing I do like is that the Flyers give Brad Shaw and Rocky Thompson visibility. That's going to help those guys' careers. They periodically do it from time to time, and those guys get FaceTime. But especially after a loss, like these are situations where Tortorella knows he's the guy everyone wants to hear from. And especially after a loss, to not hear from him.

I always give the benefit of the doubt in the sense that there should always be a qualifier in the sense that maybe something has happened where he can't talk. Because if that turns out to be the case, I'm going to feel really stupid. But Jeff, it's weird that after that game, Tortorella's not talking. And especially after some people have been saying, and I actually thought about it on Tuesday morning, I thought he should have been face front after it was clear Couturier wasn't playing. You know, you just, you look at it and say, this is weird. It's just weird.

Does it not feel to you? And again, I'm basing this on nothing other than like, I think we're all looking at this and wondering, you know, the reason for this. And I know Tortorella keeps coming back to either i'm not going to talk about sean or i'm trying to put together the best possible lineup for two points yeah you know what but even if you're saying that you have to go out there and do that if that's the reason that's not a good enough reason to say no let me let me let me let me let me push this a little bit here's what i wonder about i wonder if john tortorella is trying really hard not to tell us

something that there's something that he might want to say or that obviously there is some type of reason here there is some type of issue here. There is some type of issue here. And he knows he's going to continue to get asked about it. And maybe for the benefit of the Philadelphia Flyers, he realizes no good will come of it if I explain myself. Well, that's what happened on Tuesday, right? He said, I'm not talking about Sean. I'm not talking about it. That's right.

Yeah. And I think you're probably you're probably 100 percent right. day right he said i'm not talking about sean i'm not talking about it that's right yeah yeah and because i think you're probably you're probably a hundred percent right i i would concede this to you without even arguing yes that is his way of saying i'm not going where you want me to go because i don't think it would be good jeff doesn't i think you're a hundred percent right yes i think you're a hundred percent right on that now you know I'll say this I'll say this too there's a couple other things here let's go conspiracy wild here okay oh okay so number one like in the aftermath of this I have heard a ton of conspiracy theories and I want to say

I just you know I don't know how many of them are right you know this is a podcast we throw stuff out there like spaghetti against the wall and and see what sticks number one one of the things and I could see this potentially being true is that maybe Tortorella's unhappy that Couturier's agent talked. And number one, as a reporter, I'm not going to complain about that because I'd be making that call too. And number two, it's Couturier's agent and that's his job to protect his client. But I did have people suggest to me that... Here's the thing, Cout like Katrina is the captain, right?

So it's always an even higher level of craziness when it involves the captain. And some people will look at it and say, well, that you even have to take more of kid gloves. Well, people will look at it the other way and say, it's the captain. They have to make sure they do less to create controversy, right? And I said, everybody's entitled to one day where they can be upset. And Couturier had it. But I did have people say to me that Tortorella might look at it as, you're the captain. It's your job not to create controversy and your agent spoke now not everybody is going to see that the same way and again if i'm a reporter actually i kind of am i'm making that call too but someone said to me look at it from tortorella's point of view and the other

thing and i'll say this uh there there's the other conspiracy theory out here is how much longer is Tortorella going to coach? And could Bradshaw or Rocky Thompson be the next coach of the Philadelphia Flyers? And is Tortorella simply saying, I'm happy to give these guys more time? I'm sure that one will go nowhere. I'm not so sure about that last one. Yeah. Anyway, like I said, it's weird. Like the, the fact that, you know, Tortorella didn't, didn't speak like, unless there's a good explanation, it's especially after a loss, like I'm surprised. I am surprised.

You know, as pissed off as I would be at something, sometimes if I was coaching after a loss, Hey, I'm the boss. I'm the number one guy. I'm getting paid the big bucks. I'm going out there to answer for it. You have to have a really good reason for me not to. And maybe there is one. You'd have to have a really good reason for me not to go out there. Okay. A couple of more things here before we get to the Montana's Thought Line. I want to mention the Nashville Predators and their 16-game point streak. They beat the Florida Panthers by a final score of 3-0. Jason Zucker and Nick Cousins, by the way, had their scrap. So Zucker got his retribution on Nick Cousins. And I will applaud Nick Cousins for obliging. Like, they lined up with the draw, and they both went and knuckled up,

and that's great. Nick Cousins has really taken it this year. Oh, yeah. And it's not, like, the thing about this is it's not media. It's his peers. Yes. That's different i mean you well you see you see players from other teams laying into them a little bit extra and former players and making sure they finish checks on nick cousins even if it's like a midweek game and a quote unquote, you know, small market or something like that, guys are gunning for him.

Yeah. Like there was a game not too long ago. It was Edmonton in Florida. How many times did Evander Kane go right at him? Hard. Hard on Nick Cousins. Real tough. And I think that's part of like how a lot of his peers feel in the NHL about how he's, you know, what he's done with people who they consider to be invulnerable positions.

That is their way of policing the game. Lankan in with 33 saves, picks up the shutout. Philip Forsberg, Mr. Consistency, two goals, one assist. Good on the Preds. I got to say, like we talk about teams grabbing a spot and taking the two points and, you know, grabbing their wildcard spot and running away and hiding. Nashville's doing it. 16-game point streak.

So you know what someone said to me on Thursday? When are you going to start talking about Roman Yossi for a trophy? Yeah. He said, stop with the Norris. Yeah, he's been excellent. He said, stop with the Norris. The Norris isn't going to be good enough. Yossi had another assist.

He's got 53 assists this year. You know, he's got 71 points he's a point per game guy 71 points in 70 games and he started slow yeah no the guy said to me the norris trophy is not good enough for roman yosi well as the pittsburgh penguins fall out of this thing and we wonder if sydney crosby goes trophy is not good enough for Roman Yossi. Well, as the Pittsburgh Penguins fall out of this thing, and we wonder if Sidney Crosby goes with him on the Hart Trophy race, maybe enter Roman Yossi into that discussion. But it's true. Even if you don't watch Nashville on a consistent basis, but maybe just read the game sheet every morning just to catch up on who's doing what.

You pick it up, and every game, it's like yosi one goal three assists roman yosi three assists roman yosi like uh two goals and one assist like it's just like i mentioned philip forsberg's mr consistency but so is roman yosi yeah every single every game elliot i'm glad you mentioned him because you're right every single single game, he's right in there. It was not his agent who called. I know people are going to ask that. You know what I'm wondering about on Saturday night? You want to hear something that would be pretty crazy on Saturday night?

Zach Hyman's at 48 goals. Where does Edmonton play on Saturday? The People's Republic of the Toronto Maple Leafs. You imagine if Zach Hyman hits 50 in Toronto? No, I know. The place will melt.

Absolutely. I know. But I think, hang on. Okay. Let me ask you this. It's pretty crazy. I think, hang on. I think Leafs fans would love it.

I don't know if they would love it. He would get a great ovation there I I do believe that but I don't know if love it would be the exact response put it put it this way he gets a so the perfect thing for the for a Maple Leafs fan on Saturday hockey night in Canada Edmonton's in Toronto to face off against the Maple Leafs It's a 5-4 Maple Leafs victory. Hyman scores two for the Oilers to give him 50 goals in a losing cause. So Maple Leafs fans can get their two points

and also see Zach Hyman get 50. Because I think he's still loved. I really do. Like I said, I think he would get an ovation. But the electricity coming from that building, if Hyman scored his 50th on Saturday night, and the electricity going from the social media fiasco that would enrage everyone online,

could power about 10,000 Neuralinks, I really believe. It's incredible. Hyman at 48 goals. And McDavid is closing in on 100 assists to become the fourth guy ever to do it. But Hyman 50 in Toronto, I kind of want to see it on Saturday night. I'd really love to see it happen.

And St. Louis, Vegas won two. They held on against Seattle. I know what I'm doing here. Vegas won two. They held on against Seattle. But St. Louis went into Ottawa and won. You know, Vegas still has a game in hand. But I'm glad St. Louis is at least trying to make this a race.

You know, Nashville has put themselves in excellent math spot. I think we're all kind of surprised that Vegas is right here. And it looks like hurdles getting close to skating here. So we'll see what his timetable is. But I want races. And the Blues, at the very least least are making this one a race. You know, Minnesota had an ugly game this week,

the six, nothing lost to the six, nothing lost to LA Brodine's hurt. Eric's a neck is hurt. It's not looking good for them. If anyone's going to give us a race in the west it looks like it's the blues and they they did their part on on thursday night all you can do is create pressure and you know what i actually speaking of la there was a there was a great tweet i saw i wanted to

recognize and it was a tweet from uh daddy kopitar on x and you know he pointed out yes now i assume this is a person because their name is daddy kopitar so i'm going with i'm assuming this is a he a he daddy daddy kopitar if that is indeed your real name so he tweets onza kopitar is about to break into the top 50 all-time points leaders, never had a points per game teammate in his career. Two Stanley Cups, two Lady Bings, two Selkie trophies, MVP finalists. This week he got the second game misconduct of his career. And he goes, he's arguably the greatest two-way forward of all time. That's pretty impressive stuff. Really impressive stuff.

And, you know, the Kings are a weird team. Like, there's games I watch and I'm like, oh, these guys are going to be a real tough handle for someone. There's games I watch and I'm like, what am I watching here? These guys are forgotten how to play hockey. But, you know, right now it looks like it's Kings Oilers first round for the third year in a row. And I don't know what Kings team we're going to get here yet. But boy, Kopitar, just consistency, consistency, consistency for 20 years.

Guy deserves the recognition. Best LA King of all time? recognition. Best LA King of all time? I think you'd have to say yes. I really do. At a time where another former King, Jonathan Quick, tied the record for most wins by a US-born goaltender by beating the Bruins. I think you'd have to say yes. I don't know who you would have put there before. Wayne Gretzky, even though he wasn't there for a long time. Marcel Dion. Marcel Dion. Dave Taylor. Rogie Vachon. Rob Blake.

Oh, my heart. Rob Blake. I think you have to say it's Kopitar. Yeah. And you know what? If I was Kopitar, I would say my statue needs to be at least one inch bigger than Dustin Brown's statue. I would do that. needs to be at least one inch bigger than Dustin Brown statue. I would,

I would do that just to be that petty. Okay. Just to be that. Let me circle back on one thing. You mentioned the St. Louis blues a couple of seconds ago. Congratulations to Zach Dean who made his NHL debut with the St. Louis blues,

a former first round draft pick of the Vegas golden Knights was the piece that St. Louis got in the Ivan Barbashev deal. Former gold medalist for Team Canada World Juniors, played his minor hockey in Newfoundland. Born in Alberta, family moved to Newfoundland. He played in Gatineau right across the way from Ottawa. So a real special moment there in his first game, I would imagine. There would have been plenty of friends and family. And as you like to say, Elliot, when there's that many in the stands, you are playing

for free. Free. Congratulations on your first NHL game. You're playing for free. Congratulations, Zach Dean there. Quick thought on Tom Wilson in person hearing the other high stick on Noah Greger. Have a thought on this. it was a bizarre scene because it even seemed to surprise Tom Wilson that he did that like the minute it happened like Wilson grabs Noah Greger as if to say I didn't really know what happened there like it looked like he was trying again this is gonna sound weird he was trying to swing his stick at him, but didn't think he was going to catch him in the face. You know what I mean? I think it even surprised Tom Wilson.

Yeah, but still, to me, what it says is that this is, they're looking at it like, this is a really tough one for Washington. You cannot afford to lose him, but you know you're going to, right? So, but they're simply going to say, you know know he's got a history and he has to control his stick better than this like he just has to do a better job and now we have seen this year we've seen big suspensions to players who weren't injured perron six games riley five games like it used to be to get this kind of suspension

injuries had to be involved now we're not there anymore perron and riley had no history right wilson obviously does like when i saw he got offered an in-person hearing i said to someone are we talking like 15 20 games here and i don't think we are i i think we're looking my guess based on and and i don't want anyone reporting saying he's getting this but my guess based on everything i heard today is that we're probably looking at 6 to 10 games like i don't think we're looking at 15 to 20 but it's it's amazing how in a short time things have really changed in the sense that we've gone from no history means you get something lighter to that doesn't matter and no injury meaning maybe you get something lighter to that doesn't matter because thankfully

Gregor is okay here this is a player with a history, and I think he's getting something, I would guess, between 6 to 10. But that's a massive loss for Washington, considering they're in the race. They've only got 14 games left, and now you're worried about losing. And you've got two games in hand on Detroit. You've got two games in hand on Detroit. You've got two games in hand on Philadelphia. You're already a team that has to fight and scratch and claw for everything you get, and one of those players who's so critical to your team, you might lose them for half those games.

You're right about all of it, and one other thing that I'll throw, one other log I'll throw on the fire here. When you look at the Washington Capitals and the the strength of schedule the teams they are playing against it's one of the worst possible schedules to have like at last check i think it was like the fourth worst schedule for any team to have like everyone around them like everyone around them on this uh final stretch these 14 games are winning teams pretty much this is a tough one this is a real tough one for the capitals and they're gonna have to do without tom wilson as you point out for a sizable amount of time now before we wrap up jeff actually somebody

so someone sent me a note tonight while we were recording the pod about something that we had discussed in a previous podcast. And that is that during the Seattle-Vegas game, Jared McCann tries to score off of Logan Thompson's mask. And they said, this is something that you have talked about. And I said to them, and this is an executive in the league who would have some juice. He sent us the note. My first response was, why are you listening to anything I say? My second response was, you know, and so I thanked them for sending me the note. And, you know, I did ask a couple of managers about this

and just said, you know, what do you guys think? And you know what the response to me was? I said, this one's going to be on the goalies. And I said, why do you think that? And he said, because if a player is shooting where he can score like if the goalie was standing with his head over the net and players were shooting at their mask then you'd go to the players and you'd say hey you can't do that. We're going to stop that. But if the goalie's mask is in a place where the player can score, you can't tell the players not to shoot there.

Yep. I agree completely. 100%. That's why. I know there is a sensitivity, obviously, around directing fists or sticks or, in this case, pucks at someone's head. But if the goaltender is going to choose to seal up a corner with his head and only leave a little bit of space,

players now have the skill to bank it off their heads. I'm the same way. If it's above the crossbar, or if it's like, we all remember the Wendell Clark Curtis Joseph. It's a blowout game and he comes down and blasts one off Curtis Joseph face. It's like, oh, okay. Like I always look back at that one, Elliot. It's funny too.

I look back at that one and think, wow, if Twitter was around then, how much would hockey Twitter have melted during that scene with all the takes? But as long as net minders and so far, like the other thing that I'll say is so far, we haven't heard goalies complain about it. We haven't had either an injury, nor have we had a goalie complain about it yet. Do things change if there is an injury or if a goalie complains about it? Maybe, probably, at least there's a conversation. At least maybe it becomes an agenda item at the general manager's meetings. I'm not sure. But as of right now, the only people that seem to be talking about it are podcasts or radio shows or intermissions on various games.

But I do wonder if there's going to be a goalie somewhere down the road and says, hold on a second here. What about my head? Why don't you protect mine here? And I think the right point is, well, don't stick it in places where players are trying to shoot. Right? A hundred percent agree.

Okay. On that, we will pause. When we return, we try the ribs. Montana's Thought Line in moments. Listen to the 32 Thoughts Podcast ad free on amazon music included with prime okay elliot time now once again for the montana's thought line montana's barbecue and bar

canada's home for barbecue, Elliot. It's fantastic. And if somebody goes to that much of an effort to do this, we're using it. That is the new try the ribs for the next little while until yes, my mercurial mind decides something else. So again, that is a Rick Turner from last week with his hit new single, try the ribs.

He's sent something along to the thought line, by the way, at 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca. Hey guys, hear the jingle on the pod. Thanks for the kind words. Wanted to follow up and say, I'm from Per ontario a buddy from brockville ontario leo deezenthuber help with the music production so leo thank you rick thank you as always for the try the ribs jingle 32

thoughts at sportsnet.ca 1-833-311-3232. With that, let's jump right in. And let's go to Scotland. Hold on, before we do that. Oh, wait a minute, yes, you have some updates. Four updates, four. Okay, oh, geez. Okay, four updates.

Okay, so, you know what? Can you tell Elliot had some time at the airport this week? Well, you know, I got to give credit to people, some of them who work in the NHL, some of them regular fans and listeners who hear things and they say, well, what about this or know this? So here, first of all, one is Ken Daniels, who you had on your radio show. He was great. On Thursday. He was great. with no goals on 106 shots that season and scored twice, including the final goal ever scored at that arena.

By the way, another broadcaster pointed out that Holco's defense partner that year was one of the greatest defensemen in NHL history. Paul Coffey. Paul Coffey, so it's all Coffey's fault. Okay. Yeah. Second, an unnamed NHL executive hearing the conversation about longest name on the back of a jersey mentioned Jacob Forsbacher Carlson. And he said, Jeff, that does not qualify under your hyphenated names because Forsbacca Carlson did not hyphenate those two names yes uh that's true and one of the reasons why I loved Jacob Forsbacca Carlson playing with the Boston Bruins specifically Elliot do you know why no why initials JFK come

on man like that's an obvious one, isn't it? Come on. It's kind of perfect. You know what, Jeff? I didn't even think of that. That's pretty good. Yeah. Okay, third one from a tweeter by the name of Tommy Garner. We talked about a player with four teams and a single contract.

Jamie DeVanbrough, Mark Archibald. Here's another one. David Perron signed a four-year deal with st louis in 2012 traded to edmonton to pittsburgh then anaheim before signing back with st louis so it wasn't one season like archibelo but it was a four-year deal where he ended up playing for four teams. Okay. Let me, can I add on to that one? Because I had one executive text me two names for that one. This one was kind of fertile ground that we found here. I love this cleanup aspect here of the Montana's Thought Line

about players playing for multiple teams on the same contract. One executive sent me two examples. One, Eric Goodbranson, who played for five teams on a three-year contract. And the other, and I'd forgotten about this. This is spectacular. UC Okanen, four teams on one contract. Here they are. This is 2017-18.

The Edmonton Oilers, the Los Angeles Kings, the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the Vancouver Canucks. Are you willing to crown him as our winner? Four teams, one year contract. Jeff, what it comes down to, I think to answer your question, is it more impressive to play on four teams in the same one year deal or four teams over a four-year contract, which you think would buy you security? Hmm.

I think it's the four teams on a one-year deal. Yeah, that's because you presented it. Tommy Garner on Twitter. I'm with you. And the last one, the last one is, see, Jeff's all for himself. I am all for the listeners. I'm team me.

Oh, look, there's my navel. Hey, look, another mirror. Let me just hop in front. So I was, when I was flying home from Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday, I ran into a couple of listeners. Their names were Brad and Jeff. They were from Montreal. Their names were Brad and Jeff.

They were from Montreal. And they told me that they went to a hockey camp where a friend of theirs who played goal had his hand broken by Gaston Gingras. There's another one? Another one. So it's not just Cassidy Sauvé who's now playing in Finland? It's not just Cassidy Sauvé, but there was another goalie. How many? And it was a shot from center ice, they said. They said they were listening to the podcast

when you were talking about Cassidy Sauvé, and they were laughing. And when we ran into each other on Thursday or on Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale, they said we were hoping someday we would get a chance to tell you this story. But their friend had his hand broken on a Gaston Gingras slapshot from center ice. And they also said that when Gingras would get upset at the players because they weren't paying attention,

he would turn and he would shoot. He would make sure nobody was there first, but he would shoot the puck over the glass at the wall of the arena to get everyone's attention, and that worked. Here's my question. As we go down these roads of hockey geekdom, I wonder how many hands Gaston Gingras has broken. How many goalie hands has Gaston Gingras broken? Well, we know two. We know that there are two. I suspect that there might be more. If you are someone who listens to

this podcast, obviously, and knows of any more victims of the Gaston Gingras slap shot, please inform us immediately. The way to get in touch is the Montana's Thought Line, which has now turned into like a detective service here. Find out how many hands Gaston Gingras has broken. 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca or leave us a voicemail. Maybe you've had your hand broken by Gaston Gingras.

1-833- 311-3232. This podcast is taking a weird turn. Any more cleanups, Elliot? No, those four. All right. Those are good. Let's go to Nile in Scotland. Hey guys, big fan of the pod from Scotland. Thanks for all you do. To me, you guys are like the news and chiclets are like the entertainment that's meant as a compliment to both. Anyhow, the recent chat around the Minnesota overtime goalie poll got me thinking.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. So, say we have a game late in the season between two bottom feeders, Hawks and Ducks, for example, although their last game against each other is this week. What would happen if we got to, it was Thursday night as a matter of fact, what would happen if we get to overtime between them and both of them think well wait a minute well we don't want one point let alone two and both pull their goaltenders hoping to go home with zero points and increase their lottery odds would this be allowed would the teams be penalized for lack of sporting integrity keen to hear your thoughts cheers Cheers and go Flames. So our friend in Scotland, Niall, is a Calgary Flames fan.

Elliot's. Two teams at the end of the game pull the goaltenders. Well, I think the Flames should bring him to Calgary to go see a game in person, don't you? Clearly. Absolutely. Get off your wallet. Bring our friend from Scotland to the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Lack of sportsmanship. we're not here for the points first of all i don't see any way how they could stop them from doing it if two teams really wanted to do it maybe they hear this podcast and ask that question and prematurely step out and say we're not allowing this to occur but as far as i know there's nothing that could prevent them from doing that there's there there's nothing other than you just get the wrath and the scorn from the industry. And here's the thing, too. We've talked about this before. As much as managers and perhaps owners as well may want the team to fold to get yourself the better lottery odds, get a better draft pick, et cetera, players don't think that way.

Like, I've always thought about this. If you had a scenario, the likes of which that Niall submits here, what would a player do if their coach told them, go score on your own net? We need to lose this game. What would that player do? Because my guess is the player would tell the coach to go kick rocks. I'm not going out there and doing that to myself. So I have, I have wondered about this scenario when a team

wants a tank, whether it was the previous, you know, Mario Lemieux sweepstakes that we all recall that battle between Pittsburgh and New Jersey. But I've always wondered, what would a player do if the coach, on instructions from the manager, said, we can't win this game. We need the better lottery odds. Go score on your own net. I'm guessing the majority, if not all, players on that team would say, not a chance.

There's no way I'll do that. First of all, I would say, not a chance. There's no way I'll do that. First of all, I would say before I do that, do I have an eight-year $64 million extension on the table? Good point. That would be my first thing. You know what? That would be the kind of thing where I could see the commissioner who does have some power over this kind of thing where I could see the commissioner who does have some power over this kind of thing

he would he would probably he would hammer a team with a huge fine that's one of those things that that is detrimental to the game and you if you can prove it which you probably would be able to prove just by the video itself you find a team half a million dollars something like that and you suspend the coach and i don't think anybody would protest that yeah especially not you know considering how um how sports wagering is such a huge thing not just in, but in all of sports as well. That the, and this wouldn't be subtle, the obviousness of poor behavior, or as our emailer submits here, Niall, lack of sporting integrity. I couldn't see it happening, but I always have wondered, what would a player say?

What would a player do? Okay, let's get to ricky in richmond british columbia hey elliot and jeff i read that wayne simmons signed a one-day contract to retire as a flyer i understand it is just a gesture to retire in a certain franchise but has any player ever suited up and played a game on a one day contract oh yes there has thanks for your time love the pod try the ribs change your oil hey elliot how about that he slides out let's catch it on nice there was one that i can think of who's that gordy howe hmm. You'll remember this, Elliot. He signed with the Detroit Vipers. Oh, yes, yes, yes. For one game.

So he could say that he played in six different decades. The Gordie Howe one day contract. That's the only one that I could think of off the top of my head. Maybe further research and examination may come up with some other examples but that's the one that popped to me right away gordie howe 1999 detroit vipers who by the way had one of the coolest looking logos the game has ever seen i love yes that was a great one oh beautiful i'm trying to think of if there's any nhl player who's played for, assigned a one-game contract. I mean, there's plenty of guys who've played one game.

Yes. Ken Reed wrote a great book about it. I'm trying to think about one-game contracts. I can't even think of anything like that. Nope. I mean, in some way, the e-bugs can be one-game contracts, but those are unique. Yeah.

That doesn't, I don't think that fits what Ricky in Richmond, BC is shooting for here. I wonder if Gordy's it. I really do. But we shall see. Let's finish up with this one. This is John from State College, PA, by way of Kingston, Ontario. Good afternoon.

As the Buffalo Sabres are in the hunt for a playoff spot, I can't help but think about Jeff Skinner. Many people like to discuss great NHL players who have never won the Stanley Cup, but I've never heard a discussion surrounding great NHL players to never make a playoff appearance. Jeff Skinner is in his 14th NHL season, none of which have resulted in his Hurricanes

or Sabres qualifying for the playoffs. The fact we had an expanded playoff in 2020 and his team didn't qualify makes this even crazier. This guy has played almost a thousand career games with over 350 goals and nearly 700 points, but we've never seen him play when it matters the most. And just to make things worse, Carolina made the conference finals this season after Skinner left. Rough.

This fact blows my mind every single year, so I'm wondering who comes to mind when you think of other longtime NHL players who never play on a playoff team. Take care and go Ducks. John is an Anaheim Ducks fan. There's a couple that come to mind for me. All right, why don't you go first? Ladislav Schmid is one, speaking of Ducks. Laddy Schmid would be one of those.

Currently in the NHL, not just Jeff Skinner, and he is the one that, you know, much like John State College mentions, I think about often too. Like I think a lot about Jeff Skinner and you look at the Hockey DB and it's bagels for playoff appearances. Rasmus Ristolainen is someone who's never played.

Well, the guy who did it last year was Sam Reinhardt. Yes. Sam Reinhardt was that guy. And then obviously he got traded to Florida someone who's never played well the guy who did it last year was sam reinhardt yes sam reinhardt was that guy and then obviously he got traded to florida and they went to the stanley cup final yep um there's two more that came to mind for me one guy charon who i think comes to mind for a lot of other uh people yes that's the one i always remember from when i was a kid same and then the net minder mike dunham uh never played a playoff game either I was a kid. Same. And then the netminder, Mike Dunham, never played a playoff game either. There was a few that were close.

But Mike Dunham was on playoff teams, right? So Dunham would have backed up Marty Berdour, but never gotten any playoff games. So maybe that's a technicality, Elliot. The other two that I think of who just have only a couple of games, a couple of playoff games, but they've played over a thousand NHL games. One of them is one of our favorites and that's Sam Gagne, who at the time of this recording has played 1,042 games in the regular season and 11 in the postseason. And Ole Okunin, who played 1,231 regular season games and six in the postseason. I remember that. It took Jokinen a long time.

But Guy Chiron was always the one I remembered as a kid because he had the longest one for a while. So that's kind of the one that sticks with me because i just remember it growing up ron hainsey was almost that guy right he listens to the pod so he'll be happy to hear you bring that up well i mean his streak was broken by winning the stanley cup like come on you go from not playing in the playoffs like how many players if you would say to any player okay here's a question for you you go to any player and you say okay here's the deal you're gonna have a 15-year nhl career you're never gonna make the playoffs until the one year that you finally do and you win the

stanley cup are you cool with that? And they'll all say 100% I am. Yeah, if I knew I was guaranteed a Cup win, it would be a hard one for me to live for that long. But if I knew there was gold at the end of the rainbow, I would probably do it. If you're Haynes, you're like, I'm slugging it out here with the blue jackets and thrashers and, you know, welcome back to Manitoba Jets and Carolina. And then bam, Pittsburgh Penguins. And I'm holding the Stanley Cup after all those years of frustration. If I'm Ron Hainsey, oh yeah. Oh yeah, I'm taking that. That's a game worth the candle right there. A hundred percent. So there we go. Great question.

Hope the answers were okay. And I do think about, I think you do probably as well. Just get Jeff Skinner into the playoffs, please. Thanks to everybody who either emailed in or called in as well. We'll get to some voicemails coming up on the next edition of 32 Thoughts.

This was the Montana's Thought Line, Montana's barbecue and bar, Canada's home for barbecue. 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca 1 8 3 3 3 1 1 32 32. Back in a moment. Welcome back to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra Elevation. Quick reminder, Hockey Night in Canada Saturday. Check the oil. I love it. You're forcing this.

You've walked into the hat shop. You've only found one hat, but damn it, you're going to make it fit, and I love you for it, Elliot. Edmonton faces off against Toronto. Ottawa faces off against New Jersey. Late game, the Vancouver Canucks host the Calgary Flames. To wrap up, Elliot, this was a tough week for hockey. The sport losing two players, Konstantin Koltsov and also Chris Simon. I talked to Mikhail Grabowski, who was close with Koltsov this week when he passed, and Grabo talked a lot about how they were roommates, they were teammates, wonderful guy. I think Grabo, like a lot of his former teammates and friends, were just devastated by the loss. And I spoke to Todd Warner specifically about the passing of Chris Simon. And Warner said something that I've heard

other people that played with Chris Simon echo, and that is when you first went into the dressing room with Chris Simon on your team, on the one hand, you're intimidated because he's such a large presence and a large man and was a scary, scary dude when he played. Nobody messed with Chris Simon. But then right away, he became A, your best friend, and B, the friendliest and best teammate anyone could ever have. You know, Warner told me all kinds of stories about, you know, this different side of Chris Simon that nobody got to see unless you were a teammate. And he would have, and they were there with each other with the Quebec Nordiques, have players, Elliot, just howling in like,

you know, your belly hurts laughter. Just a larger-than-life personality, loved by his teammates, certainly loved by fans, and missed by everybody, Elliot. First of all, those are great words, Jeff. I didn't know Colts love at all, but Colby Armstrong did. So, you know, reading and hearing Colby about him it's it's really tough the Chris Simon news is really tough I've dealt with suicide in my life I don't like it and I don't like talking about

it I would just say that in both Canada in the U S there is nine, eight, eight to call and text, uh, as they say, help is available. Someone is always, um, willing to listen. Um, you know, it, it, I have a lot of deep feelings about this that I'm not going to get into on this pod. It's very personal, but I think it's very sad. And, you know, one of the people I really think about here, and I haven't spoken to him yet, is Glenn Healy. And Glenn runs the NHL Alumni Association, and he takes incredible pride in being able to help as many people as he can. And I know that this would

be as hard a week for him as it would be for anyone outside of the families and the closest friends of Koltsov and Simon. And yeah, I mean, it's really hard. It brings back a lot of memories that I don't like thinking about. And I feel terrible for the friends and the family. And the one thing I would say is that there's always someone willing to listen, always. And I hope people who are going through a very bad place find that person. Condolences to the family and the friends of Konstantin Koltsov and Chris Simon.