32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Kaprizov to Crosby: The Big Questions at the US Media Tour

Episode Date: September 11, 2025

In this edition of 32 Thoughts from the US NHL Media Tour in Las Vegas, Nevada, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman unpack Kirill Kaprizov turning down a record setting contract offer from the Minnesota Wild. They also talk about Jack and Quinn Hughes being open about their desire to play together one day. Hear from Quinn and Jack Hughes as they sit down with Kyle and Elliotte. The boys talk about Sidney Crosby possibly leaving the Pittsburgh Penguins. Hear from Sidney Crosby as he sits down with Kyle and Elliotte. The fellas talk about Dustin Wolf extending with the Calgary Flames. They also touch on the latest with Rasmus Andersson. They talk about Michael Misa signing his ELC with San Jose and how some players will wait to sign theirs with the new CBA rules looming. The Final Thought focuses not he life of Ken Dryden. Hear from Charlie McAvoy and Jake Oettinger as they also sit down with Kyle and Elliotte in Las Vegas at the Media Tour.Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas.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

I mean, who wouldn't want to play with their brother? Elliot, I'm playing beer league this year with my brother. That's right. And what a great feeling. That's exactly the same thing. This is the same thing. So that's why you moved back to Calgary because you wanted to play beer league with your brother.

Yeah, yes, exactly. No, I know. I know this is not the beer leagues. This is the national hockey league. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra AT4X. Kyle, Elliot, and Dom back with you, and we come to you this edition from the Desert. As we are wrapping up this week, the 2025 edition of the NHL-NHL-NhLPA player media tour from Henderson, Nevada. Another opportunity to spend the last few days, Elliot, sitting down with a number of stars across the National Hockey League.

First off, before we get into the news of the day and some of the interviews that will run later on in the episode. Any wide-brushed thoughts, immediate takeaways from our last few days down here in Nevada? Always like talking to people, but there's big news out there, so we got to go. And the big news comes from a player that was not part of this tour down here in Vegas, Elliot. Carill Caprizov of the Minnesota Wild. It's so interesting because last episode we talked about some of the comments that owner Craig Leopold made recently. The joking about, hey, opening up the jacket,

and oh, I've got his deal right here in the inside of my pocket. There seemed to be relative calm within the organization. We talked to Matt Boldy the other day, Elliot, a teammate of Caprizov. And of course, he's going, that's not my business. I support the teammate. he didn't seem overly concerned about where things were at. But the report on Wednesday, the Caprizov turned down an eight-year deal that would have paid him $16 million per season would be the largest contract in the history of the National Hockey League. So where do things stand, Elliot, between Caprizov and the Minnesota Wild?

I'm not going to answer that question first. I'm going to answer that question second. My first reaction on hearing he turned that down was why? Because when I heard that that was going to be offered, my belief was in that situation, I kind of talked about this with people. You take that offer because it's so big. You have it.

You know it's there. You never have to worry about anything again. And if it goes wrong, then you deal with it. Like, for example, let's just say Caprizov takes the deal, and he's in year three of the extension. And say Minnesota is not very good and he doesn't have hope, then you say, look, guys, I want to trade. That's how you handle it. You have the money in your pocket. you have this huge deal in your pocket and you deal with the situation if it becomes untenable.

So for him to say no, convinces me of one thing, him or his representatives, and his agent is Paul Theophanas, they know something else is out there that's bigger. Now, for a deal to be bigger than 8 times 16 from the wild, assuming this is not a sign-in-trade, there has to be somebody out there with a 7 times 19 or a 7 times 20. That there's somebody out there who is setting up smoke signals saying, we can do better. That to me is the logical explanation. I was told there would be no tampering.

It's not tampering. It's... Smoke signals. Fearizing. Yes. That's right. There's no tampering in the National Hockey League. Look over there.

There is no gambling at Rick's Cafe. We had breakfast at Rick's Cafe. So that's my theory that, like a golfer, somebody has licked their finger, put it in the air, and they sense the way the wind or feel the way the wind is blowing there is somebody out there that is willing to make a better offer so now let's go to your question where does it stand between the wild and capris off well i think number one the wild we're a little bit surprised i i don't think there's any doubt about that and i think there's nothing first of all somebody said to me do you think he wants a shorter term deal no i don't believe that. I mean, I could always be wrong. I've been wrong before, but I don't believe that.

I think that when you have the injury history that Kareil Kaprizov has, I don't think you're interested in a short-term deal. And I think that's actually one of the biggest questions that the wild have to answer here. And that is, how do they proceed? Are they willing to take a gamble with a player who has missed quite a few games, or are they going to sit there and say, well, we're going to up our offer? You know, it's going to be, I mean, it was already a massive number. Are you willing to make it an even bigger number?

Or, and Caprizov has a no trade clause, do you go to him and say, are there teams you'd be willing to go to? Really, those are the options for Minnesota? They let it play out, see where it goes, they up their offer, or they deal them. And I'm sure that on Wednesday, that's what they were doing. They were running through all of those scenarios. You talked about just under a year ago,

and you'd first got wind that there was a discussion of a three-year plan in terms of where the cap was going. and the sizable jumps that it was making and the cautioning of this is going to throw a lot of things out of whack. Yes. I totally bought it then, but I did not see this coming where an eight times 16 would be,

eh, that's not going to get it done in this case. I have to say this. There's one guy out there who I think is really smart. The rest of you are all it is. There's one person. One smart guy out there. No, but there's one guy out there I really like talking to, and he's a really smart guy,

and he's a negotiator. And, you know, what he said to me is that the reason he saw this, he sees it happening one, for the first reason we said, that somebody out there is sending noises, is whistling in the dark. But the second thing he said is that players are competitive. of guys. Maybe they don't necessarily need the most money, but they don't want to be too far away from the most money. Like there's a lot of conversations that happen, whether it's at the top of the salary structure or even maybe at the bottom of the salary structure where players are like,

I can't believe that guy is making X more than me. And maybe at the bottom of the salary structure, it's $5,000 or $25,000, but maybe at the top of the structure, it's $4 or $5 million. You know, we, you know, we, I mean, we could be in a situation, especially depending on what happens with McDavid. And like I said, I think if McDavid stays in Edmonton, it's not going to be the biggest number. He's not going to, he's not going to put himself in a position where he says, We have to win and then takes a number where they can't win. But like if he goes to the market, then it's going to be deservedly a massive number.

I mean, whatever that guy gets paid, he deserves. But he's going to blow, like he's going to blow, you know, five, six, seven million dollars ahead of some great players. And this person said to me that there will be elite players out there who will say, yeah, I've got a great salary. but that guy isn't worth five or six million more than me. And, you know, he wondered if that played a role in Caprizo's thing, that he doesn't want to see people blow by him, or he doesn't want to feel that and his representatives don't want to feel he's leaving any money on the table.

The best players, they are competitive not only to win games, but they are competitive at everything they do, including where they rank in some salary scales. For sure, but I still don't think there's like the list of guys that would pull past Caprizov in theory would be very, very, very short. And it may not even be McDavid, as you say, if he re-ups with Edmonton on a shorter term deal. It's a different conversation and like the old Michael Jordan situation of, well, that's their business. This is a different set of circumstances. Yes.

I don't know about that one. But the theory of the whistling off in the distance of, have you heard these numbers? And would you be interested in potentially what else could be out there? That seems very real. I believe that. I completely believe that. That is my number one theory of today.

Okay. Anything else on this? Capriza conversation. I just think now, I mean, here's the other thing, too. The Wilde have said they are not going to be afraid of what it will take to sign him. And I have no doubt they went in there thinking, this is the best deal in NHL history. He's going to love it. And like I said, I'm sure there's a little bit of shock there and some disappointment.

I think my question now is how do the wild feel about raising the number? Hmm. Because you're going to be emotional, right? Like, you have to, the hardest thing right now is you have to take the emotion out of it. Right. The problem is they've been on record saying no one's going to offer them more. No one will pay them longer. I mean, it's true that no one can pay them longer.

But he said no one's going to offer them. the more. So let's just say for argument's sake, if you believe somebody's out there, if the wild believe what I believe, that somebody out there is thinking, eh, you know, maybe we'll go to 19 times seven, that's 133 million, or 20 times seven, that's 140 million. Is Minnesota going to say, okay, we can do that over eight years? instead of 16, we're going to go to 16 and a half or 17, or 17 and a half, and this is all going to be over. To me, that is the biggest question.

Is Minnesota coming back with more money? And the second biggest question is, is Minnesota going to say, that's what a hockey guy said to me today. the biggest issue with Minnesota playing a waiting game here is that he gets hurt and if you're the wild now you have to add in are we not taking a chance that he gets hurt this year remembering that the player has control I mean that's that's the biggest strength in any negotiation right the ability to walk away and now we're about to find out if

well first off we know how much that player means to that market they've got their superstar they found one a late round draft pick that becomes an absolute game changer for their organization

does it get to a point where they say can't go that high won't go that high. Yes. Big decision. Big decision. Right.

As you say, not a ton of time to try to flush it all out. That was a big one. It wasn't anticipating when we woke up this morning here on Wednesday that we'd be having this conversation, given what we had been hearing and seeing

the last week and prior. Hockey's back. All right, you want to get to the Hughes Brothers? Sure. Let's get to the Hughes Brothers. Okay. Because that was another one. Tom, what do you want to hear about the Hughes Brothers?

Are they playing in New Jersey or are they playing in Vancouver? Or is there the mystery box option that we haven't got to yet? Well, they're playing in both. Yeah. They could be in both. Quinn's playing in Vancouver and Jack's playing in New Jersey, and so is Luke, I assume. So this was the other one that, at least here in Vegas, got a lot of eyeballs and attention over the last couple of days. Jack came right out and said he would love to play with his brother Quinn someday, already plays with his other brother Luke, of course.

And understandably, I mean, who wouldn't want to play with their brother? Elliot, I'm playing beer league this year with my brother. That's right. And what a great feeling. That's exactly the same thing. This is the same thing. So that's why you moved back to Calgary because you wanted to play beer league with your brother.

Yeah, yes, exactly. No, I know. I know this is not the beer leagues. This is the National Hockey League. So what did you make of all this, Elliot? because you're coming off the season that Vancouver just had and it was like, all right,

we need a bit of quiet, we need a great start to the year, and hopefully for them some good health along the way. We haven't even got to the outset of training camp yet. And the rumblings have started again of what's going to happen to Captain Quinn Hughes, who still has, by the way,

two years, not one, two years remaining on his current deal. You're going to hear from Quinn Hughes in a minute. You're going to hear from Jack Hughes in a minute. We let you hear from Luke Hughes, but he was not at the media tour. It is very clear the way that Quinn sets this out. And that is that he wants to see improvement on this hockey team. He wants to win.

And two years ago, I don't even think this would be a debilts. debate as Vancouver was taking Edmonton to game seven of the second round, I think everybody would feel really good about all this. But because of the year that they had last year, we're now in the uncertainty zone. There was a lot of change. There was a lot of distraction. It just wasn't fun. And you'll hear it from him when we air the interview in a few minutes, but this is an enormous season in Vancouver. And I think that Quinn, a lot of what he's going to do is going to be determined by how this year goes. Like, you know, I really like talking to Quinn. He always

tries to keep pretty serious he's got that great smile and it comes out a few times but i think he's a pretty serious guy and he cares more about winning he loves hockey it's when you hear him talk about how badly he wanted to play at the four nations it's very clear he loves hockey he's the right kind of person to have as your captain but this year is critical it's a mission critical for the Canucks to get things right. You know, the one thing, you know, everybody was talking about the quote from Jack the other day, like, I get it. And Quinn said it himself when you brought it up, you know, who wouldn't want to play

with their brother? It's actually a bigger story of Quinn says, nah, I hate that guy. I love him as a brother, but he's a puck hog. I never want to play with him. I don't want to be around, Jack. You know, but the interesting thing that someone said to me was, it was it was it was it was kind of funny in the sense that he said i don't know if it would be the best thing for luke hughes right now if quinn was on the devils because number one

power play quinn not luke quinn um and you know it was it was just interesting that you know luke hughes took a big step last year and obviously he's a hugely important player to the future of the devils but you know they're both lefty shots and you know he was saying of course if they're all brothers and they wanted to make it work they would all find a way to make it work but he did say from a purely who's the alpha of the blue line question on the left side you know that might not be the best thing for lou if Quinn was there right now. I didn't even think about that.

Like, it was just funny. Somebody said that to me. Well, I'm sure they get after each other enough on the ice when they skate together in the summer. So if there ever was a scenario where all three were on the same team together, that ain't changing. I don't see that changing ever. That's the brotherly nature that they clearly have and what makes them great because they've been wired that way seemingly from. the jump. I'll just say before we get to Quinn here, Elliot, you touched on it. You always appreciate the opportunity to hear from him. I thought he was very open, very

candid. So for Vancouver fans out there that's looking for, again, another sense of where their captain is at and again, highlighting how important this year is for the Canucks, he lays it all out here pretty clearly. You know, before we go to Quinn and And we'll go to Jack. Just a note on Luke Hughes, I think these were conversations that kind of went dormant for a while. And I think they've picked up, if not recently, then right now. Obviously, this is going to, we're getting into the key critical zone here. And, you know, we'll see.

But, you know, Jack had some pretty pointed comments about the reporting. Like, I don't know. I'm not interested in picking fights with other. reporters, but I do think that they did take some time off talking. And obviously now, you know, the one thing I really do believe now, I don't think, people may say this, but I don't necessarily think that too many people get too worried as someone misses the beginning of camp, especially a guy who's got now Luke's experience, but not. Nobody wants anyone to miss games.

So it's going to be interesting here to see if there isn't something worked out in the next couple of days. What does everybody really believe is the pressure point? All right. With that, let's get to it. The first of a handful of interviews you'll hear on this episode of 32 thoughts. We begin with the Hughes Brothers, Quinn, the captain of the Vancouver Canucks, followed by Jack of the New Jersey Devils. So Quinn, I'm trying to remember a year ago when we sat down here, and you had just come from the Canucks Golf Tournament, and you had, what, like two near aces? You remember that, yeah.

And as we're sitting down, you tell us that your dad got one in the summer. Yeah, Jimmy got one. We weren't there. We weren't there, but my mom was saying that they were looking behind the green for like 10 minutes in the stuff in the bushes or whatever. And finally, you went and looked at the hole, and his ball was in the hole, so it was pretty good, yeah, happy for him. First seven wood hole one. Yeah, hilarious. Yeah, he loves a seven wood, so pretty funny stuff.

And how long was the hole? It was like 170 yards, I think. Okay, all right. Yeah, so. Great Rescue Club move. Yeah. That's so good. All right.

Let's do business before pleasure, okay? I mean, I want to put this kind of onto your lab first. Just in the last year, everything where does everything stand with you um it's a good question because obviously you want to say you're looking forward to the year and everything's behind you but you're still like i mean a lot happened and you're disappointed that never goes away i feel like um like i'm still in the summer was angry about missing four nations felt like i missed a cool opportunity there um but you just have to you have to move on, take what you saw from last year, what you learned, and try to

find ways where it made you better and how you can use it this year to improve. The Four Nations thing, I just remember you were coming and then you weren't coming. That was a circus. Like, from your point of view, like, how did it all play out? Yeah, it was frustrating because I heard it and, well, I tore a ligament. in my hand in December and I was playing with a cast in January which the cast was amazing

um shout out Dr. Hotchkiss in New York but it was fine I was able to play with that and I was playing really well in January and then I I got elbowed by Dadanov against Dallas I think it was like January 31st and I thought I got like the wind knocked out of me

like I thought it was nothing or whatever and then I went out and skated again I couldn't move and that's when I was like oh that may be probably a little bit more than like something happened there and then I went on for warmups two days later and I couldn't really

move again so I was like maybe this is something more and then we got that mine and whatnot and had the oblique tear but I still thought maybe like it was still eight, nine days away I think the first game was the 13th so I think everyone was showing up the 9th but first game

was the 13th so I was like the 6th and 7th I was like I don't feel great but like you don't know how you're going to feel on the 13th But I didn't want to show up and I'm like, yeah, Billy, Billy, I'm good. But then on the 13th, I'm like, hey, I can't play and then that hurts USA. Or I can play and then I get hurt or I hurt it more because I'm not ready. And then I come back to the Canucks and I can't play. So it was a tough spot to be in.

But decided that, you know, as the captain of the Canucks and we were, I think at that point, maybe in the playoffs, then I wanted to make sure I was healthy. ready to go for them but then um i was i think uh who got hurt charlie got hurt yeah and the whole thing with harley so they were like hey do you want to come play and i'm like of course like i'll play but i haven't been on the ice for like 20 days and jimmy was like i don't think you're going to be able to play in that intensity but whatever um the n hl was like you can't play because harley um i don't know someone was sick or like kale was injured and then something else happened morsey or thedore got injured yeah whereas we just had one guy out so they were like you can't play so that was kind of

everything that happened you know i'm glad you cleared this up because the rumor was the canucks didn't want you to play i don't i mean i don't think they did want me to play um just because they wanted me to be fresh right and they knew i wasn't 100 percent so i mean i can't really blame for that. They didn't block you, though. No, no. No. Okay. Okay. Sorry, go ahead. No, I'll just leave it at that. They didn't block me. They didn't. That's the truth.

Okay. Jim and Patrick were very respectful. Yeah. Okay. How close to get to you play? Like, did you have a bag pack? Were you starting to... I was skating it pretty hard. Yeah. Like, I was... I was skating hard. I was pushing it hard on... I think our last game was against Toronto on Saturday. Remember that morning, you wrote? I was out there, but then I was out there, the knife, like, pushing it hard. And I remember calling Billy, like, three times.

Billy was like, I need an answer, and I'm like, I don't know, Billy. And then he's like, oh, give me, call me in 30 minutes. And we did this two more times because I really wanted to go. I mean, an opportunity to pray Jack, opportunity to play Brady and Matthew, Larks, one of my closest friends. And then, like, Charlie, and then all these other great players. I wanted to play, but I didn't want to show up and, you know, to not be able to play her after game one and be like, ooh, I made a mistake and I'm injured,

and now I had to call up Jim Rutherford and be like, hey, like, I might have to miss a couple weeks here. So I didn't want to do it. No, it sucks, but it's the right thing to do. Probably, yeah. Yeah. But it's frustrating in hindsight because we ended up missing the playoffs. So in the summer, you're like, damn, missed a cool experience there,

but I still don't think I'd change the thing. Okay. I remember last year when you had told us about conversations you had with Roman Yossi and his big thing on the art of acceptance. So just everything you talked about, the Four Nations last year, how did you learn to accept what all happened? That's a good reminder for me. Oh, that's a good reminder.

No, you do. You accept it. And, I mean, last year, it was what it was, whether it was a terrific year or it wasn't you just move on and try to learn from it and I feel like I've done that I don't know I feel I feel proud of myself with all the challenges and the way I was able to play through that and I think I just you know I felt proud of myself and then as far as going in the summer just kind of needed a reset put the phone down for a bit and just refill for this year how you feel

I feel good and feel tired right now through the last couple of days but I changed my training up a little bit this year What did you do? Just didn't grind my body as much More stuff that would be I would say like athletic Trying to become a better athlete

More purposeful Things that would maybe relate to hockey a little bit more Which I think a lot of the top players are doing Like said and Nate with Andy O'Brien similar stuff to that and I feel good right now I feel strong and yeah

okay so I got a call this morning from a friend passionate Canucks fan says are you sitting down with Quinn today he said yes he goes there's only one thing I want to know

and I said okay what's that it was do we have a chance to keep this guy I think that's what every Canucks fan wants to know like what are you thinking I mean I've really enjoyed

Vancouver. I'm very thankful. I mean, when I came to Vancouver, I don't think anyone thought I was going to become, I have become. And that's happened because of the people in Vancouver management coaching. You know, I've had three great coaches between Bruce, Greener, and Rick. So, and management's been, you know, kind of gave me the keys to the kingdom a couple years ago, naming me to sea and very grateful. As far as it, as it, this year, I just feel like last year is a failure and I want to propel my game even further and propel my teammates even further and see what we can do. And as far as that question, I mean, I'll answer that, you know, with my actions next summer. But, I mean, you know how it is.

Anything can change. If we have, you know, a terrible year this year, that's probably not going to be very fun. But if we have a terrific year, you know, that's what we want. That'll be really fun. like two years ago was really, really fun. So just leave it at that. That's what I said to him. I said, I guarantee you this year is going to tell the tale. I bet you that's what Quinn's going to say. Yeah, yeah, which is true, I think.

So, okay. At any point were you worried or did you feel that there was no chance Brock was going to resign in Vancouver? Yeah, big time. I mean, he wanted to stay the whole time. Credit to him. Like, this is not a him thing. He loves Vancouver.

his girlfriend's from Vancouver he's got two dogs he takes him hiking all the time he just loves a lifestyle and he loves a fan base loves everything about it wants to be a leader on the team for years to come

I think that we both thought he was gone just because of how late it came down to him. I remember him calling me pretty upset that he wasn't gonna sign there and I think early that next day I think they got together

again, which he didn't think was going to happen. And I got it done, so I was happy for him and us. What about Pedersen? How does he look? There's a lot of rumors about the new, bigger, stronger, leaner, Pedersen. Yeah, I mean, I saw him for four minutes yesterday. But, um... Did you notice anything? You look bigger. I didn't. I didn't. I don't even know what, uh, six kilos is in terms of weight.

But, um, I mean, I don't, I don't care. Yeah, I don't care if he came five pounds lighter or five pounds heavier. I think like he's a gifted player. And we're very similar guys. I think he grew up and it was really undersized and I had to rely on his brain and I was similar to that. And I think he sees the game in a special way. I mean, not going to lie. I think that all the nonsense last year weighed on them heavily um from a personal standpoint and a professional standpoint and you know no one wants to deal with that you can make an argument that you have to find a way to perform through through that as well but um he's a really competitive person and i've said it a bunch of times that i don't think

you get to his level without having some ingredients inside you and i've seen them before so I expect him to have a great year because I just think he's a really good player. You know, one of your peers, one of the players in the NHL, he said to me, I'll make you a bet. And I said, okay, what's the bet? He says, I bet that Quinny is going to walk into the Vancouver room this year. He's going to say, guys, no more BS like last year.

We're not letting the noise get to us. We're here. We're doing our jobs, and we're going to do our jobs, and we're not letting our season get away from us like last year's did. He said he bets that that's what you're going to say to everybody. Yeah, I think that's a good message. I think we all learned from last year a lot, like every guy, and that's going to help us block out the noise this year.

There's always going to be noise in a Canadian market. But I think the big thing is just keeping everyone positive and on the yellow brick road and staying down in. You're laughing at me. Did you see Wizard of Oz at the sphere last night or something? No, no, I didn't. I just like the Yellow McRode. I like it.

Just staying on the same path and being positive and I don't even know like holding each other accountable, the word, but holding each other accountable until like having a good mindset and having fun at the rink every day. Because last year, there's some days it wasn't fun and that's going to happen with everyone. But, you know, trying to lift each other up and make it as fun as we possibly can't. All right. So someone who said you can handle the noise. I mean, have you gotten a kick out of all this. stuff the last few days about the idea of one day playing with your brothers like what do you make of it like I totally get why wouldn't you want to like just the idea of it conceptually but yeah

how have you made sense of it I don't really I don't even think it's a big deal like um I got off the plane yesterday and Victoria was telling me about it but I'm like what's he supposed to say that he doesn't want to play with me right like he's not going to say that um but like I would love to play both done. No one's really played with their brothers before. I don't know if that's, you're the stack guy. Sutter's. Stas. Stas. Okay. So, what, three of them? Yep. They have to go back.

Okay. But that's before you were born, so I'm not expecting you even know that. So, I mean, it'd be, it'd be very cool, but I mean, I'm really looking forward to this year in Vancouver just because I feel like it's a challenge to me to see if we can, you know, have a successful year make this a successful organization, which I think we can do. And I'm looking forward to that challenge. And as far as Jack, I think that he's going to do the same thing with New Jersey.

And, yeah, I know he had a great summer training and whatnot. So, yeah. Personal goal this year, anything you set for yourself? I know you're a team guy, but is there a personal thing? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I do for sure. I mean, it's really fun. it's really fun watching KL play because I think he's unbelievable and I always want to test

myself against that and push myself against him and so I always love competing against him I would say as far as a team goal I think our first 10 games trying to get out to like a 6 and 4 7 and 3 something like that that can propel us into the season but um just pushing myself against the best as far as the Olympics, the gold medal, and being an impactful player there, I think those are the things. Well, Jack, and looked like he had an awesome summer. Give us kind of the highlight reel.

What were some of the bigger, bigger outings for you? Yeah, just being good being home, you know, kind of recharging from the year and everything that went down and then, you know, getting ready to go for this year. So just nice to be at home with family and friends. All right. Okay, so every summer, the three of you guys go back and you lay waste to each other in different sports.

Who won this summer and in what? This was a funky summer because me and Luke had shoulder surgery, you know, so we didn't get up to too many of the normal things, but, you know, pool. Luke's kind of the master. He is, eh? Yeah, golf, me and Quimmer playing. We got some good matches going. And it's about it, though. That was kind of all week good.

Do you guys play, like, eight ball or do you play snooker? Eight ball, eight ball. Okay, and Luke's the best one? Yeah, Luke's like actually a good player. Is it? Yeah. You know, I remember, I used to spend some time in pool halls, and the guys who would sit there and they let you have the second last ball

and just set it up for them with your eventual miss. Is Luke like that? Or is you just run the table? I don't even know. He's more of a run-the-old. table kind of guy, but he's like, he could go to a place and win some games. Like, he's actually a good player. Okay. How are you feeling after, you say, the shoulder surgery and everything after, you know, another year, unfortunately, Ted went shorter than you would want. Yeah, I mean,

I'm feeling good right now and, you know, my body, my body's in a good spot. My, it's like my head's in a good spot too, and I'm excited for the year to come. I saw, we saw Nico in overseas. He looks massive. Have you seen him? I haven't seen him yet. No. Oh my God. Like he looked huge. Like I was like, I'll come back to you and I see him. Bless you. Like he like I think I said to him. Like he just looks like almost like a different guy. So I'm really excited to see what you guys do together. Yeah. I think that I don't know if he, I haven't seen him yet, but I know, like, if you looked them up last year on NHL, like, the NHL app, and had him at, like, 175 pounds.

But Nico's, like, a big, he's, like, close to 200 pounds, you know, so, like, it doesn't matter, but optically, when you're looking, like, playoffs, you're looking at sizes of some guys, and then you see, like, Nico 175, like, Nico's a big, strong guy. He, like, lugs a lot of hard minutes, too, and, like, he's, he's in really good hockey shape, just, you know, the minutes he plays and the type of minutes he plays. Okay. You look good. Yeah.

All right. Where are things at with your brother? How often are you talking to him about? You guys are the first ones of the whole... Really? Nobody else has? Not right. Like, first of all, I'm impressed that Kyle asked the question I didn't.

Break some news like Luke's signing today, right? I don't think so, but I don't know. I mean, eventually it'll get done. And when it does, it will all be really pumped for him. Yeah, so you're not worried about this. I don't think so. I mean, I think he enjoys playing in New Jersey. And, yeah, I think they just got to sort it out.

Okay. I remember, like, when Brady Kachuk was going through his new contract with Ottawa, and Matthew had the line about, like, you're not just negotiated if one Kachuk, it's the whole family. Is it similar with the Hughes, or do you let him handle his business? I mean, I'm given like really political answers here because it's what you're supposed to do. But even more so than Matthew, like I'm on Luke's team. Right.

So I want to see it get done. But yeah, like obviously I think there's a lot of pieces in play. And, you know, I think Luke wants to stay in New Jersey and he wants to get it done. All right. This is the last thing I go to this. And you can tell me if I'm going too far. but there was a report that they want your contracts to line up so the two of you were free agents at the same time is that something you guys have thought about yeah for sure i don't know

like i think that report i saw it too it's probably just a shot in the dark though i mean where is he getting his information from he might be right i don't know what i mean like of course if you look at the just from the outside like anyone at any bar talking hockey could be like oh i'm sure the hughes brothers want their contracts to match up like for sure but then there's so many things that come into play like money uh term the term and the money's always changing depending what it is so i don't think like that's a make or break thing i think luke like luke's his own guy and i want luke to set himself up for the rest of his life and if he gets a great eight year deal then awesome and if it's like a three year deal then it is what it is but uh i don't think

think that's like a game changer for us okay all right and then there's queen and um win is already off to a great start with the with the fun stuff going on rancourt with some great videos about it at the golf tournament just how much like there was the connects themselves that put it out there what was your reaction to that and do you guys talk about it much uh i mean yeah i was i think everyone was a little surprised when uh like rutherford came out in 70 sat right but uh he's probably like a pretty i don't know much but he's probably a pretty like i would assume a straight shooter and uh yeah like at the end of the day he's either going to stay or he's going to go that's that's how everyone is and um i know he's he's had a lot of great years in

mancouver and he still he still likes it there and wants to have a big year there i mean that's his number one focus is to you know lead vancouver back to the playoffs that's what that's where his mindset's at. So I'm sure you have him on the podcast. Yes. A couple hours. But, yeah, I thought it was just funny because when was that in June? Yeah. Yeah. And like the middle of June, everyone's in a media, like a frenzy just talking about like Quinn Hughes and like Quinn's on the golf course, you know, like not doing anything. So just funny how it all works out. You know, one of the things I really like about the three of you is, you're all different in your own ways. And you've always kind of been the one who's the most comfortable with all of this.

And Quinn, he's good at it, but he doesn't seem to like it as much. So I can imagine you kind of laughing at all of this. And Quinn's saying, oh, my God, I can't believe all of this is out there. I don't know. I mean, I'm the guy on the eight-year deal, you know? Like, I'm just like, whatever, for the next bunch of years. But Quinn, like, Quinn's not the one making any noise. You know, Quinn's, like I said, Quinn has one focus, and that's go to Vancouver, play elite hockey, and try to lead them to the playoffs. And obviously, Luke has no contract, so I'm kind of a guy, like, not much headlines going on, which is a good thing. How do you feel about your group? Yeah, I think, I think I like our group. You know,

I think our core pieces are, like, I think we have a good core, and they've been there. And We've been the young group that needs to take a step, and now we're all at a good age where it's time to really start to compete and be a, like, the expectations of playoffs. And then we look past that. And, yeah, I think we added some really good pieces this year. And I'm excited to get to New Jersey and see our group looks. I remember a couple years ago in 99 points, great year,

but you were saying, man, I would have loved the 100, like just the competitor in you. is that still somewhere often the distance in your mind of like one day would love to still be a hundred point no it's not even somewhere like in the distance like i think like yeah of course you want to be you want to um maximize the the player you're going to become and every year um you want to be better and better and think for me like you're so close and then i'm not saying that's like that's not like goal number one but personally like that is obviously a goal i want to achieve a lot of great players have done it and i want to be one of those great players too and

um that's definitely something and i think i've you know i think if i just stay healthy and i'll be able to accomplish some really good things uh i want to ask about sheldon keef one of the things i heard last year during the season was that his intensity was kind of off the charts compared to what a lot of people in New Jersey were used to. And then Tom did an interview at the end of the year. We kind of admitted that. What was it like? Yeah, I think that he's definitely intense, you know?

Definitely, yeah. Like, he pushes buttons. But at the end of the day, like, we play hockey. Like, one of my, the things I always say is there's not really a HR department in the locker room, you know? It's just like you pick what you do. This is our living. It's a little different than going to work at 9 to 5. Like I say, in our set with BX around, there's not much of an HR requirement either, has to say.

I mean, listen, he's a really intense guy, and, you know, he shows it. But I think we're all pushing the same way and we're pulling the rope and we all want to accomplish the same things. What was your best exchange with him last year? Like the one we looked back at and say? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know, but I think we're in a good spot and it should be gift this year.

So how do you view like your relationship with winning? Obviously you first come into the league, like there's so much new things going around. You guys have like that gray year where you get in, you beat New York and now groups a little bit older. You say you're in the middle of an eight-year deal now. Like that's not something necessarily on your mind. How do you view your relationship with the pursuit of winning

at this stage of your career? It's hard to say because you don't want to just, Just like talk to talk. You know, I think you don't know how hard it is to win until you won. And I think that there's definitely teams ahead of us that are, you know, more ready to win than we are right now. But I think we have a really good team and we got to come into camp and, you know, we got to get to work fast. And the expectation should be obviously playoffs but going deep in the playoffs and then seeing what we can do. So I can't sit here and be like, before day one, a training camp tell you, like, what we're going to be.

But I think that with where, like, our top guys are, you know, Luke going into his third year and myself and my seventh year, Nico and Brader going into their ninth years, I think that it's time for our group to take a serious step and, you know, hopefully become contenders. It's crazy here to say seven. I know. It's a season. No, we're really feeling old. But four nations last year, what was the biggest thing you learned? around that group of guys

I don't know if I like the biggest thing I learned but my biggest takeaway would just be like it was that was just really really fun hockey because I feel like like you guys obviously saw the brand of hockey the brand of hockey was unbelievable like especially those Canada US games just how like high pace they were

how fast they were but like for me I just think, like, being in the locker room with, like, just a bunch of, like, alpha dogs, you know, like a bunch of, like, the big dog from every team all in one room, like, that was pretty cool because it was just, like, in the locker room, between periods, it's, like, everyone's, like, talking, it's loud. There's a lot of energy. Then it's, like, you can just feel a lot of built-up confidence. And that's why, like, I want to, like, have a great start to the year because you want to be in the Olympics for, like,

how fast the games were and you know how good the hockey was but you also want to just be like in the room like a part of a part of a group like that like that's a special group and i was like that's the biggest takeaway i take away from it that's awesome to hear because i believe that a thousand percent so my follow-up is when you sat around there was there any one guy in particular like i didn't know this guy before but boy i'm really impressed with what i see I think everyone does it in their own way, in their own way. Obviously, the guys at Stanley Cups, they got the juice because they've won, they know how to win. I think that the guy that maybe for me, I didn't expect to be like as much as I thought, and I know him really well as Matthew Kachuk.

Like, I just thought, like, I know him really well since I was young, you know, through Brady and Quinn. but I was just, you know, extremely impressed with the way he acts and, like, his character in the room and just like a guy, like, he just drags people into the fight, and that was a guy I was, I was really impressed with. Okay, last one for me, that game in Montreal, as we got to the third fight, did you at all look down the Canadian bench and say, boy, if I have to go here, that's the guy I'm picking? I don't think so. I mean, I know there's probably, there's slim pickings for me.

Like, and there's a couple guys on that side that probably were looking towards me, if anyone, but, yeah, that was just, that was a crazy hockey game. And then you, like, you get this summer and, like, you see your friends back home. And then you're just, like, bumping into random people. And always the first question is, like, how was four nations, you know? Because that hockey was just, that was great hockey to be a part of. and, you know, that was just, that was great hockey. The always honest Hughes Brothers, Elliot.

It would have been great to sit them down together. Timing-wise of this event, it didn't work out. But either way, it was great to hear from them both this week. There's been a lot of talk about the Kachuk brothers getting a podcast somewhere down the road, maybe even closer than we think. I think a Hughes Brothers podcast would be sneaky good. How about the hole in one with the seven would? Yes, 170 yards out.

I just, there's a bummer that, as Quinn said, he wasn't even there for it. So we couldn't have got the actual description of, because you asked, you're like, did he just roll it on up, like a bit of a worm burner that popped onto the green and dropped? Or did he stick it in? I love that they were looking, what,

past the green for 10 minutes where they realized, oh my God, it's in the hole. There was aces everywhere this summer, hey? A lot of them.

We talked to Matt Barzell this week, too. He had two in less than a week. I saw Will Smith had one recently. There were others, too. You've come close. Came close.

Yeah. Actually, I have some golf coming up over the next few days. So give it another. shot. Good. You'll try for your ace then. Nice. All right, Sid. Okay. So Sydney Crosby, a year ago, we sat down with them. We wondered where things were contractually. And he answered everything gracefully, did not show his hand anywhere. A couple days later, the two-year extension was announced after saying the 8.7 thing isn't a big deal for me.

It was 8.7 on the nose. This time around, everyone's wondering again about his future. The penguins are now further and firmly in a position now of rebuild. They have a new head coach in Dan Mews. There's the natural links to, I mean, either A, we've talked about his buddy, Nathan McKinnon in Colorado, but also his boyhood team,

the Montreal Canadiens and the trajectory that that organization is on. And oh, by the way, Carrie Price's contract was just moved to San Jose not too long ago. That created some space as well. Where are your feelings on Sidney Crosby and his future,

one of the best ever that's still playing at an elite level? There was one thing that he, he said in the interview that really stuck with me. I think I know where you're going. And it was the line about, and I'm paraphrasing here, improvement or contending is not going from losing 6-1 to losing 3-1. It's about winning.

that line really stuck with me because I think a lot of people would look at the penguins and say, you know, how many times have we said on this podcast this year, Kyle, that they're the one team that's not trying to win. You know, everybody else, we want to get better. We want to get better. We want to improve. Pittsburgh is the one team that's not like that. they are they're throwing in the towel they're Mickey and Rocky's Corner

throwing in the towel and they and so this year I think from an on-eye standpoint if they lost a bunch of tight games people would say well that's what we expected

from the Pittsburgh Penguins this year that is not going to be good enough for Sidney Crosby. Now, I think there's a couple things here. Number one, this is going to be Crosby's call. This is not going to be the Penguins call. This is going to be Crosby's call. And as he says in the interview, he hasn't gone there yet.

Okay? I don't think it happens before the Olympics. After the Olympics, if they're out of it, that's where I kind of look at it and see does this happen? You know, Pat Persan, his agent, gave some quotes to Pierre LeBron. Like, I don't think Pat Persons said anything there that didn't make sense or wasn't perfectly understandable. But there's something about seeing them in print or online or whatever you want

to call it, like seeing them actually written down that gets to people. And I think one of the things, and I, and I, When Brousson said it, I wasn't surprised, is that people want to see Sidney Crosby in the playoffs. People want, people, not just the fans, obviously, or the media, like we all do, but the people who really know him and care about them and are part of his inner circle, they want, they see the way he played in the Four Nations last year. They know the way he's going to play in the Olympics this year, and they want to see that in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

and not only they want that for themselves, but they want that for him. But ultimately, it's going to be his call. Like, nobody tells Sidney Crosby what to do. So at some point in time, he is going to make that call if he wants to. And I'll say this one thing about Sid, too. And I think the people who've really been Crosby files, whether you're a Penguins fan or a hockey fan or whatever you are, The one thing I've really noticed about him over the last few years,

like when he first came into the NHL, he was like any young player, a little nervous, a little unsure, believed himself as a player, but was trying to find his way. I don't believe that there's a player in the NHL now who is more confident in their own skin than he is. I think he knows exactly who he is. I think he knows exactly what he wants. I think he knows exactly how to handle himself in any situation

that when the time comes, he's not going to be afraid of doing it. Everybody will understand, or if the time comes, I should say, he's not going to be afraid of doing it. Everyone's going to understand. I think he's going to know that. And he's going to do it in a way that's not, okay, suddenly I'm waking up one morning I'm doing it. He's going to have a plan if he ever does it.

And I think we just have to wait until he decides, if he decides, that day is going to be activated and then it's going to get done quickly it's going to get done for he'll try to make it done quietly and like it's not something that's going to happen where oh sidney crosbys decides going to be traded and it takes six weeks to do it no it's it's going to get done and you know i think this about a team like montreal you know montreal's talking about we want to make moves we want to make moves i don't know if you're montreal can you make a big move without knowing whether or not this can happen? I would say no, you can't.

Like, you know, like Jeff Gordon and Ken Hughes, they aren't afraid to do things and they want to do things. But are you sitting there and saying, we're not doing anything with an ex-player because we think, it may prevent us from doing a Crosby deal. And the other thing I think about this is, I don't think it's going to be like a prospect and a pick for Crosby. Like I could see, especially not now with the two years left on his deal,

I think Pittsburgh is going to say this has to be real. And the other thing I do wonder about here, and again, I think this is going to be Crosby's decision when and if this has. happens. But the penguins are about to be sold. I still believe this. I have no reason to believe at this time that the Hoffman sale isn't going to happen. It has definitely taken longer than I think people thought, but I think that's more of a due diligence thing than anything else. I can understand being nervous if I was a new owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and one of the first thing that happens on my watch is Sidney Crosby gets traded. But again, that's going to be

a Crosby decision. Right, because depending on what services, it's one thing to say, as hard as it is, it makes the most sense of where they're at in rebuilding. But that's going to be not a great move business-wise initially. Like you think about everything you could potentially be losing with now 87 no longer part of your organization. To your point, that's going to be, I know it's on Sid's terms here, but you can't, tell me that's not a big part of this whole conversation, too, is they figure out what they want to do here. There's massive implications on that front.

Massive. But, you know, again, the thing that really stood out to me was how comfortable he was discussing it. Yes. Because this is the first time, really, in his career, that there's tangible conversations like this going on. Yes. Well, there's always been conversations around him, but, like, even I ask him, like, I

heard you hate it and he's like no I get it he showed up on our set like we've got our two chairs and there was the couch for the player to sit on he's like oh should I lie down here should I just stretch out like he was the ultimate relaxed guy I have to tell you like I said there's nobody in the league more comfortable in their own skin than say it is nobody like for a lot of different reasons I think he's a really incredible person I really do with all that in mind and I agree with you wholeheartedly. Why don't we get to the interview then? Sidney Crosby, Captain the Pittsburgh Penguins,

on 32 Thoughts from Las Vegas. So, Sid, we're recording this on September the 9th. Do you recall by chance what you were doing 20 years ago today? This is my first camp? First contract was signed. Oh, yeah? So camp would have started a few days later, I guess. but I thought camp was like a little bit earlier than it is now, wasn't it?

Like around September 10th? Yeah, it used to be. And now the players have got to push back even farther next year. I like that. I like that. I bet you do. Yeah. But I like the earlier start with, yeah, earlier finish.

I always like that, like, a little bit better. And I think it's going to, like, the Stanley Cubs can be handed out like early June or saying that way. June. Not this year. Not this year, but, but, like, you're in the fall, right? Yeah. Yeah, I like, I like that a little better.

Starting the season in September? Yeah, I mean, I feel like we're all back after Labor Day, and it's like, it's just get right at it. Jesus. So 20 years, though, like, how vivid are those early days, like, showing up to your first camp in Pittsburgh and all that? I remember a lot of that. I want to say my first inter-squad game, it was, like, 9.30 in the morning, and there was, like, three fights. like right off the hop it was it was incredible and we uh we didn't have a lunch at the rink then it was like we had like a continental breakfast or whatever but then we'd usually go somewhere

for lunch and i remember going for lunch and all the guys who fought we were all like sitting together having lunch like nothing happened i was like this is this is hockey yeah oh yeah i remember it was Dennis Bonvey. Biz was there. Carcillo, Ryan Vanhambush, Andre Wah. Yeah, some tough cut.

That's quite a crew. Yeah. Do you remember who your linemates were, your first scrimmage? I played with Rex. I play with Mark Recky and trying to think who was on the right side. I want to say, I want to say, I know Johnny was a left-winger,

but maybe Johnny LaClair was there for a little, yeah, I think it was maybe Johnny, but, yeah, that, you know, those early days, so I remember, like, everything. Like, I was just, you know, trying to take everything in, and obviously it's a lot, but, you know, I remember just trying to, you know, just trying to learn as much as they could. I was going to ask this question later, but I'm going to come to it now. Like, I was watching you at that Olympic media conference at the end of August, and I think of all, the people I deal with in the NHL right now, I think you are the most comfortable in your own skin. Like you just seem in control of every room. You know yourself so well. You've seen everything. You've been through everything good and bad. And it just seems like you always are in control of yourself and your environment. And I just wonder, like, how long did it take you to get

there? Because your quiet confidence, it seems to be even greater than ever. Yeah, I'm still. working on it. I'm still working on it, but I think, yeah, there's certain things I don't think you ever get used to, but I think, you know, with this stuff or, you know, when it comes to hockey, I've been fortunate to be part of so many different things, you know, whether it's Olympics or international things or, you know, just, you know, the playoffs, the Stanley Cup on, all that stuff. And I think you just learn to embrace it to enjoy it. And I think as you get older, you're realize that, you know, the window is a little bit shorter, and I think you just, you try to enjoy it. So probably takes a while to develop that and understand that. But, you know,

maybe that's experience or, you know, maybe it's age or experience, but I think it's something that, you know, you just develop over time. We heard you talked about in some other interviews, like you're well aware of kind of what's being said on the outside with where you're at in your life and career where the Penguins are organization is at right now. I mean, how do you reconcile all of it after so many years of there's only one thing that you guys are worried about? Yeah, I mean, it's just a different challenge. I think, you know, the challenge before was, you know, the expectations are through the roof, you know, like how do you, how do you just kind of like stay in the present and be like,

don't get too far ahead of yourself? Well, it's kind of the same. It's just the expectations are the other way you know they're not high um you know there's a lot of noise as far as you know you know does he want to leave you know where can you go you know everyone's got the team they want me to go to i mean uh it's it's a lot of that so i think the challenge is it's different in a way but it's kind of the same it's just trying to like you know just try to to focus on the things that you control and and for me like I still go into every game, you know, wanting to win and every offseason preparing to be the best that I can. And those other things aren't really in my control, what the expectations are,

whether we just came off of winning the Stanley Cup or we've missed the playoffs three years in a row. It's not something that you can really change at this point. So, yeah, I think that approach is, and if I'm not all in on trying to be my best or trying to help the team and my focus and thoughts are elsewhere than, you know, I'm not doing what I need to do. And I'd rather just try to be present. And right now it's definitely not easy, but, you know, I've had some great experiences, too. I've been pretty fortunate to be in the playoffs and be in different situations. So, you know, I think you just try to handle the best you can, you know, given the situation.

All right, let's put a couple true or falsees here. True or false, you're well aware of the speculation. You're polite about it, but you hate it, true or false? Like, speculation about teams? Yeah, well, you're getting traded. I mean, I wouldn't say I hate it. Like, I just get it. Like, it's, you know, it is, it's part of it.

You know, that's the thing that sucks about losing. Because when you lose, it's like, you know that's, that's what comes with losing. Is that speculation. When you win, there's no, there's no speculation. it's like who they picking up or who's the deadline acquisition you know it's when you lose it's like who's going you know like that's that's the crappy part about losing that also i've heard like you kind of laugh it off a bit but there are people in your orbit friends of yours who are like say it you've got to be in the playoffs you have to go and you're like enough with that yeah i mean

i think anyone who knows me knows that's you know that's what i love the most like playoff hockey there's nothing like it and the opportunity to play for the stanley cup i mean you you you know you you work hard you you put as much as you do into into hockey like all of us do that's where all of us want to be every single guy wants to be in the playoffs like that's that's no secret especially especially me so um yeah when they say that it's funny because it's like like i know like impress me that's where i want to be um but yeah like i i I think that that's the hard part. Like everyone talks about, like, being competitive, right?

So, like, what is that, like, what does that mean? Like, that's, like, I think it's pretty clear. Like, you, you want to win. Like, being competitive isn't like, okay, you lose, like, 3-1 instead of 6-1. Like, oh, we were competitive. We lost 3-1. It's like, no, like, you just, you played a win. Like, it's, that's how it is.

And I guess the last thing I would ask you on this is, for me, is have you ever really seriously thought about it like have you ever gone to the penguins and said i'm thinking about no no i mean you know it's it's hard with all the noise and and just kind of you know trying to like trying to put yourself in the best you know place mentally to um to kind of handle all that because you want all your energy towards going out there and playing and and enjoying it you know like it's it's not fun when you lose you like i said earlier you know you know what the results of losing are

you know it's it's real you know coaches lose their jobs you know players get traded I mean it there's a huge like trickle down effect to that it's it's your whole I mean that's your whole environment that just gets you know rockered

a bit so trying to to be in that be supportive of the people around you you know make sure that you're in it but also trying to you know kind of deflect all that noise at the same time it's uh it's a lot of energy so it's it's way better to win i don't think uh sam ryanhart sitting here having the same conversation you know like it's uh it's way better when you win and i think i appreciate that

you know more than i ever have you know having gone through you know our situation i mean you spent a lot of years attached the hip with mike solvin and now as things have changed in that regard, too, in Pittsburgh. Like, how have you gone about getting to know Dan a little bit? Like, what's the path in terms of forging a new relationship with a new head coach at this stage? Yeah, I mean, you know, obviously, Sully, that's a pretty amazing stint as a coach, 10 years. That's, you know, that's pretty solid. And, you know, we had some great memories, and he's obviously had a huge impact on our team on me.

somebody that constantly push guys, you know, to be better. And as a player, that's what I love. You know, I loved being pushed and trying to get better and learning. So I appreciate, you know, everything that he did for us. And, you know, with Dan come in, I think it's an opportunity for everyone to have to prove themselves again, regardless of how long you've played or, you know, what you've won or, you know, none of that matters. That's something when you get a new coach, you've got to, you've got to kind of. prove that all over again, and for some guys to have a clean slate and a new opportunity, that's probably a good thing, too. So, yeah, I think there's probably a level of urgency

and healthy competition that comes with that, and that could be a good thing for us, I think. Have you thought it all about maybe being the last season with Malkin? Yeah, I mean, there's been a lot of talk about that. Yeah, I mean, I try not to think about too much just because, you know, when you're in certain moments or, you know, you're at practice or you're in a game, it's like, yeah, you want to try to take that in, but at the same time, it's just like, you just want to, like, we play together for 20 years. Like, you just want to be in it. And, you know, I think that we've had some amazing memories together, the fact that it could be that, it's crazy, it's gone by like that. But, um, I'm just going to try to enjoy.

you know, each and every day, and we'll see what happens. But I know Gino is, he's competitive and, you know, he's going to want to keep playing, I think. I always wonder if there's one thing you remember about you guys when you first started together. Like, I always loved the fact that he told you, no, I'm going out last because I have a pro season. But I just wonder if like, there's really easy. Like, if you look back, like, when you guys were really kids. Yeah. And you think about, oh, my God, like, if there's one thing I remember from our early times together,

Like this, this is it. Oh, I got a lot. But the first, like the first, I would say month, he just ate hamburgers. Like, I don't know if that's the only thing you could order, but it was just, it was unreal. Like, hamburger. That's always ordered, like, all the time. I was just like, man, do you eat anything else? Like, you're unbelievable.

Like, you're flying out here. But I was eating as hamburgers. So I started, like, ordering hamburgers to, like, like, do it work for you as well? I don't think it worked as good as him, but it was just like, I don't know if that's, all he knew like to order or all he trusted but that's all he would order and I used to laugh every time like yeah but no there's so many things with him I mean just uh you know coming into he lived with gonch so I live with Mario he lived with conch and just you know I'm sure you heard the story when he had the car on the tarmac and then all that stuff it's just yeah

it was uh yeah those those early years were were a lot fun okay so I was again going back in time back 20 years and of course your rookie year with the 06 Olympics and not making the team that year. And I was just looking through some of your quotes after that came out. And one of the things you said was it's a little tough because you don't know what's going to happen when you're 22 or 26. And of course, that was a look towards 2010 and 2014. And history of course showed that it was all okay those couple of years in the end for you. But now like 20 years later chance to go ironically or coincidentally in Italy. Yeah. I just wonder what that feeling is like at this stage yeah i just just happy because there was so much unknown like whether we're going to

get back there and um you try to be optimistic and and hope but you know it's something you don't really know how it's going to shake out so the fact that you know we know that uh you know the next two olympics are going to be there that's that's pretty cool and i think for the guys that have had to wait this long i mean i feel bad for them because i know how bad that they they want to be there so i know they're going to be more motivated than ever and yeah just just funny when you when you you know read those quotes though like you know that's that that's exactly where my mentality was though it's like you don't know and if there's a chance you're being talked about you don't want to miss miss that opportunity and it's competitively you don't know how you know the trajectory is

going to go and and things like that but uh yeah it's uh it's something i think that that's that's something i think you know if we can be there it's an incredible experience and it's great that we can finally go back all right here's the last one will milan be your second last olympics oh i like the way you flip that um we'll just worry about volon here we go then but uh i'm i'm really happy that i get the chance and the opportunity again but uh who knows um i don't like to look too far ahead but uh yeah that'd be pretty incredible if i get a Another one. You can do outside of that, I would, yeah, I'd be thrilled, but that's a, that's a stretch, I think.

So, Elliot, the other day, where we're set up there, right, we are, our studios kind of halfway between the one ice surface where things are happening and the other ice surface. So on one pad, Blake Bolden is there with ESPN, and she's doing a lot of the on ice kind of tutorial things with some of the players. And so I just happened to walking by. she had set up there was like a radar behind the net and she just had time to kill in between her time with players so she was just ripping the puck into the net seeing what was coming up in the clock and crosbie just happened to be skating by he was coming from another

station and he couldn't help himself he's like oh hold on let me try this he's like i never really did this before like you know never a harder shot competition guy so he put his helmet on and then took a few into the net i think the problem was they were having some tech technical difficulties with the radar, because what was showing up on the screen after he shot it, there's no way his shot was as low as what it was suggesting it was. Anyway, but I just thought like it was 87, right? But it, but it was coming up, it was like in the 60s and stuff like that. And like, there's no way it's, there's no way it's that low.

Maybe he's not a north of a hundred guy, but he's no way he's, he's in the 60s. But it was just funny, like it was the competitiveness in him where he's going, oh, there's an opportunity to see where I kind of stack up on something. Yeah, hold on. Let me try this. It was kind of cool. This does not surprise me one bit. No more competitive person.

See that? I got to try it. Yeah. So, so cool. All right. Was he getting angry at the 60s? Well, he's because he's looking in bewilderment. Like, he's like, it's broken.

And yes, clearly it was something was going on. because I'm watching him going, yeah, that's not a 63 mile an hour shot. He's got a little more zip behind it than that. And Blake was ripping him too. Like, they both can unleash the pill effectively. Unlike you and I, as we wrapped up on Colby's couch. Yeah. Muffins.

Muffins everywhere. All right. So here's what we're going to do. We're going to take our first break. We're going to come back to a little bit more in news. And then a couple more interviews from, our last few days down here in Vegas. So back with more news

after this. You're listening to 32 Thoughts, the podcast. All right, welcome back. So as the schedule was laid out this year at the media event down here, Elliot, we actually got a chance to talk to a couple of players a day early. Monday late afternoon, we sat down with Dustin Wolfe for about 15 minutes.

I had a lot of interesting things to say. At the end, though, you asked him about his future, naturally. He was going into the final year of his current contract. Stated his love for Calgary. But at the same time, didn't seem to be tipping his hand anywhere. The next morning, boom, there's the news. Seven-year deal. 7.5, but you had been here and some things were up prior to that.

Well, I asked him, I think the exact question I asked him was I heard you have told them or something along the lines, like I've heard you've made it very clear you are willing to stay there long term. I just didn't realize it was that close. And someone told me later that, you know, the Zari news had gotten out earlier on the weekend and I didn't realize that on Tuesday morning the day they announced it was their golf tournament and I guess the flames really really tried to create a situation where no one found out about this so they could announce it as their golf tournament or just as their golf tournament

was beginning and they accomplished that like they got that done so I mean it's a great day for It's a great day for their fans. You know, I think the thing about Quinn Hughes that's really interesting is that, you know, I think it's really stupid when people in Canada say American players don't want to play in Canada. I mean, are there some challenges to playing here in terms of scrutiny and maybe taxes? Yes. But there are still great opportunities. And if you take a look at the flames, two of the biggest off-season contracts they've signed, Matt Coronado, American player, and Dustin Wolf, American player.

And I just think if you create, you have to know the personalities of the people you bring here. Will they adapt to your city? Like the Jets have clearly, for example, you look at some of the players they've brought in who are American born. They've really worked hard like what they like their lifestyle. They'll like what we have here. And it's definitely worked. They have a very close-knit team. But you heard what Dustin Bull said. He said to us, I really like the city. He said he liked the people. And it just proves to me that if you create a good environment, people will want to play for you, no matter. where they come from.

And I think it shows what Conroy's done there is that after all the craziness of a couple years ago, and this is probably the best thing that Vancouver can look forward to, after all the craziness of a couple years ago, they're creating an environment that players want to commit to, with one exception. Yes.

Is that your natural transition to Rasmus Anderson? Yeah, I think everybody knows. there it's it's it's kind of time but those are big wins for the flames to get those guys locked up up and again we've talked in the in this pot about how these contracts are going up going up um you know those are good deals very you know players are going to make a lot of money cornado and wolf and good for them but though as the cap goes up those are not going to be back breaker deals right which is good for the flames for sure Dave known as just grinding people in Calgary.

Yes. Right. Very true to form for Dave. And for Dustin, too, like, there's also that aspect of Calgary picked him. He was one of the last picks of his draft.

Yeah. They picked him. Clearly, they've believed in him. Gave him a little extra time to marinate, maybe even in a situation where he thought, no, I'm ready for the NHL. Kept him down a little bit

longer in the American League, and now you're seeing, as he's blossoming here, they seem to really have something going. And for seven more years beyond this one, a lot to be excited about for Calgary. Okay, Rasmus Anderson. So first off, there was what Michael Backland said over in Europe a few weeks ago, who came flat out and said, yeah, like it's no secret. He's going to be traded here. We know the business side of things. Something's going to come to a head. here at some point over the next year with Anderson and the Flames. He did come out and say that the whole notion that he was only agreeing to go to one team was false. I think we talked about that, that that was not true.

Yes. Yeah. He wanted to make that thing very clear, said he did not want to handcuff Craig Conroy in the organization in that sense. But do you have any update on where things stand there? Yeah, I just think it's going to come down to do the flames get, what they want for them. And, you know, the thing here is it looks like it's,

it sounds like it's everybody here is doing their best to bend over backwards and be professional, right? Anderson showed up, he's ready, he's going to play. The flames obviously keep putting him in good positions where he gets a lot of minutes and he gets opportunity. So, and it, because he's, a good player, it benefits them to do that. So I just, I just believe that at some point this year, Craig Conroy is going to get what he wants to get to move him. And I, I think that's

simply what's, what's going to happen. You know, the other thing, too, is, you know, with the, The thing that might really help the flames here a lot is that, you know, Rasmus Anderson, there's the changes this here for the CBA, right, about the playoff, the playoff cap and the double retention and things like that. You know, Rasmus Anderson's contract is not one that's really going to make life difficult on people. His cap hit is 4.55. Like, it's not like he's a defenseman making $8 million or $10 million or something like that. He is a number that's manageable. You don't have to worry, like, you can do that very comfortably on single retention.

Like if you can say I've got a player of Rasmus Anderson's quality on my roster for just under 2.3 million if it's 50% retention, people are going to be jumping at that. So this is a player who's going to be available this year that the new salary cap rules, they're not going to be as onerous towards. And I don't think that's a small thing. I just think at some point in time this year, everybody will get what they want. Okay, so we're wondering about the timeline of Anderson's future and what's all going to happen there. Lucas Reichel of the Chicago Blackhawks, Elliot. I mean, it was another tough year, obviously, for the whole organization in terms of trying to take a step last season, didn't particularly happen. He had some opportunities over the season.

He was up with Bedard. He was down. He was on the fourth line for a period of time. A lot of people are wondering where this is all headed. What are you hearing in regards to his future? I just think that it's a name that's out there. That name is out there. And I think it's understood that the Blackhawks are willing to make the move

if they find a trade partner. And I think the player understands, it might be time too. So I've just heard that as we go into camp, that's just a name that's out there. Okay. How about Michael Mesa? Second overall pick from this most recent draft,

signs his entry-level contract with San Jose. He was a name that came up not too long ago for us, Elliot, because there's the whole idea of, as we get towards the time where the new CBA rules come into effect, your entry-level contract is going to be worth. worth more than it currently is right now. And will some players maybe wait to sign because of all that? Why do you think it ultimately got done?

And he'll have a chance to be part of a rookie camp and at least to start a training camp in San Jose. Well, the thing is, he is a chance to make the team. And if you make the team, then you're going to make up for a bunch of that stuff that maybe you wouldn't be able to sign for right now. So I totally understand. I think a lot of the people who are weighing his sign

are probably players who don't expect to make the team this year. I never thought that a guy like Mesa wouldn't sign simply because he has a chance to make it. So I'm not surprised at all. I saw that he said that he wants to live with Tafoli. I guess he wants to be part of that unit, the Tafoli-Smith-Severini, road unit that was together

and wants to be part of those road sleepovers. Yes. A lot of cots. A lot of cots in one hotel room. Yeah, yeah, we're checking in. We need one room, a king bed and three cots, please. A traditional room with king bed and 14 cots. I think an NHL team could get away with that,

but I don't think the average family checking in could get away with that. You know, I'm really curious to watch him. I'm curious to watch him in the preseason. I get mixed feelings on whether or not he'll stick this year beyond the 10 games. But I'm looking forward to seeing him give it a run. You bet. It's all in his hands right now. It'll be another interesting one to watch.

A couple guys to keep an eye on here as they enter their first NHL training camps. Should be a lot of fun. Okay. And with that, that'll take us to the. final thought, which is brought to you by GMC and Elliott, the tributes, the stories, the anecdotes, the respect continues to pour in with the news last week that Ken Dryden, one of the all-time greats, lost his battle with cancer, passing away at the age of 78. I'm sure you've seen the stats over the last number of days. For those that need a refresher, just eight seasons in the National Hockey League within that. that time, six Stanley Cups, five Vesna trophies, a con Smyth, called her for rookie of the year. He was incredible at Cornell as a goaltender as he was going to law school there. And his career was much more than just the game of hockey, an author, a commentator, an executive

for a time, politician as well, and just a really wonderful educator, all the same, Elliot. your thoughts on the legacy of Ken Dryden. Pretty incredible guy. Like, when you hear, when I hear you saying all those things, you realize what an incredible person he was. A lot of people are talking about the book, The Game. When people talk about Ken Dryden, they talk about the book, the game. There's another book of his that I went and re-read on the flight out to Vegas this week.

It's called Face Off. the summit. And that's from the 1972 summit series between Canada and the Soviet Union. Mark Mulvoy was a hockey writer at the time and later an executive was Sports Illustrated. And he went to Dryden and said, why don't you keep a diary of this series? And depending on what happened, we'll turn it into a book. And obviously that occurred. But you're reading Dryden's thoughts in real time of this incredibly historic. I didn't want to call it hockey series. It's more of a world event or a world sporting event than a hockey series. I think for people who are younger now, and I was only two years old when this happened, but the world was a very different place as I grew up with the Cold War and the Iron Curtain, you know, now everybody's connected, right? Everybody is connected to everybody else. Back then, it was nothing like that. It was the exact opposite of that. And as a matter of fact, when Dryden, one of the things Dryden talks about when they lose a game early in that series is the destruction of the myth about how superior Canadian hockey was.

But if you go back and you read that book, you read his thoughts in real time. And a lot of people expected Canada to win that series ate nothing and have it not be close. like they expected the NHLers to kill the Soviet players in those eight games. And with Dryden goal, they lose the first game in Montreal seven to three. Like they're winning two nothing six and a half minutes in and they get outscored seven to one and they lose seven to three. And in it, Dryden is very raw about his loss of confidence. And he writes about how is my style, like you have to imagine this. Like in the middle of, like the day after the game, he's writing about, I don't know if at my height and the way I play, I can beat the Russians.

Like, do I have to change? Like, I can play in the NHL like this. Like he talked about the NHL. He went out. He challenged the shooters. And the Russians, they would hold on to the Pock, the Soviets, I should say. They would hold on to the Puck until they found the perfect pass. And they would go back door on them.

They would go side to side on them. and the more he challenged, the more chances they had with these passes. So imagine, like, this is the number one goalie in the world at the time, a guy who was a year away from showing up out of nowhere to beat the heavily favored Boston Bruins in the first round and win the Khan Smyth trophy as a Stanley Cup champion after only six regular season games, and he's having a total crisis of confidence on the pages of this book. Like, it's really incredible read if you place yourself at the time. So they lose game one, they win game two, and they're in Winnipeg practicing before game

three, and he can't find one of his skates. And he writes that I noticed that my skate is being used as a stop to keep our dressing room door open it was wedged between the bottom of the door and the floor and another one of the players red baronson sees sees him looking at the skate recognizing who it belongs to and says well dryden that's the first thing you stopped all week like his own teammates are killing them and you know he says too he talks about how he can tell at practice the players are looking at I'm like, are you all right? Are you okay?

And he finds out he's going to get a second start, which kind of surprised him. And he, like, he says that at practice, the guys are like, good save. Like, good. He notices he's getting pity compliments and he's never gotten anything like that before. Trying to build him back up again. Wow. Yes, trying to build them back up. And then, so they're taught, they come back.

They're in Moscow. It's 3.3.1. They're going to game eight. And he gets the start. And he talks about how incredible. He's incredibly nervous he is. Again, like he's come. He's conquered the NHL.

You know, the Bruins would win the Stanley Cup in 70 and 72. They were favored to three people. We're looking back at it in 71, and he beat them. And he talks about how nervous he is and his uncertainty. And he found away and he won. and I would just say to everyone it's I reread it it's really incredible if you put yourself in it but the last thing about it is they're flying home they actually played a game in the former Czechoslovakia after they won the series and is they're flying home and they're all ecstatic

and he's feeling so much better about himself there's two of his teammates play for the then Minnesota North Stars one of them is JP Parize and the other was Bill Goldsworthy and they're imitating the great public address announcer at the Montreal Forum, I think Claude Mouton, and they're saying, North Star's goal scored by number eight, Bill Goldsworthy, assist to number 11, Jean-Paul Perise. And then they're like, North Star's goal scored by number 11,

Jean-Paul Perise assists to Bill Goldsworthy, like they're imagining themselves scoring on him at the Montreal Forum. And he says, when is this going to happen? 1975 and they look at them and they say no next Saturday night October 7th in the forum see you then and that's how the book ends and I looked it up Kyle November 10th November 7th 1972 at the forum that game did happen Canadians North Stars want to want to guess the result Dryden played yeah was that a Montreal and Ken Dryden shutout it was very good

3-0-30-saves 3-0-30-saves and in that game Goldsworthy had four shots on goal and Perise had two I'm looking up the old score sheet on NHL.com so he shut them down but

you know the thing I liked about Dryden there was a lot of stuff I liked about him he as you'll know he I was very big into concussion prevention. He once was criticized me in an interview because he felt I wasn't doing enough to about it, which is fine. I think that everybody's entitled to their own opinion. And that was the thing. Like with Dryden, if you asked him a question, he was going to give you

an answer because there were a lot of times I asked him tough questions and he gave answers. So I had No problem with him giving it back to me. I did get the chance early in my career at Hockey Night to host the broadcast from Montreal, where his jersey was retired. That was a big honor. One of the interesting stories I heard about him this week, though, I wanted to tell you, Kyle, was that he, when he ran the Maple Leafs, he always talked about it being a hockey team first and a business second.

This was a long time ago before, you know, things have changed in a lot of different ways. but he was a big believer in that this is a hockey team first and a business second it has to be that way and someone called me this week and told me a story that when he was president

of the Maple Leafs there was they sold the season they had a huge sale it was the Toronto Maple Leaf season brought to you by a major bank and I think

this person said they couldn't remember exactly, but they think it was at the time the biggest ad sale in Maple Leaf history. And obviously the people who sold it, they did a great job and they were ecstatic. Like they did a huge sale. And they were like, oh, we should just tell Ken about it

because, you know, he's the president of the hockey team. We should let them know we did that. And they said that this person told me that The reaction was not as positive as they were hoping it would be. And he said that to them. He said, we've got to remember this is a hockey team first. And I kind of admired that about him. He had aura before you really talked about people having aura.

I saw as his father Murray and talked about him from the jump having a very analytical mind, of course, right? Like always wondering the where and the why and just some things he could not accept as being as such. So I just think in a time now, Elliot, like where it is so easy to be programmed,

he was really just a guiding light when it comes to the power of critical thinking in so many ways. And I think that'll just be one piece of clearly here as you've all laid out and you look at the resume he leaves behind, just a really thorough and wide-ranging legacy. Yes, very well said, very well said.

I love to the Dryden family, and yeah, what an incredible person. It was really not well known. Like it was very, very private. a lot of people were shocked and yeah i mean a lot of people were shocked and as you said all the best to the family all the best that was the final thought brought to you by gmc and we'll take another break when we come back a couple of more interviews we recorded this week down here in Vegas and there are a couple of good ones as well you'll hear from charlie mackavoie and jake ottinger when we continue on 32 thoughts the podcast

All right. Welcome back. Now, I know we said last week that we are reopening the thought line, and we have 1-833-3-3-3-1-3-3-2 or 32 thoughts at Sportsnet.com. But with this being a jam-packed edition already with the number of different interviews, we're bouncing around between. We will do the thought line our first episode next week and then moving forward as we get closer to training camp. Elliot, also I will say quickly,

Griffin Porter kind of gave me a peek and what some of the submissions have been already. The thought line submissioners need no training camp, need no preseason, mid-season form out of the gate. So I'll just leave that as a tease when we do it for real starting next week. But okay, Charlie McAvoy and Jake Andre, we wanted to include these two, Elliot,

because, I mean, for a couple of different reasons, they had, and not always for the best reasons, big parts, big storylines at various points last year, and we were appreciative enough that they were okay talking about it with us this week. Yeah, I mean, they had, as you said, there were some things they probably didn't want to relive, but they did to some degree. And any information that they're willing to share is important

because it's not only about us who wants to hear it. And I think the fans want to hear it, right? So I just wanted to say I appreciate both McAvoy and Ottinger sharing a bit of detail with us because I think, you know, I think fans like to have an idea of what their favorite players are going through because it's never easy and it's never in a straight line and for Ottinger

it was an emotional battle and for McAvoy it was a health one which we're glad to hear didn't turn out to be as bad as it could have been all right well let's hear from both of them

now Charlie McAvoy defenseman of the Boston Bruins and Jake Ottinger goaltender with the Dallas stars will begin with McAvoy so Charlie I guess naturally the first question And how are you doing?

How are you feeling? Great. I got to a really good place towards the end of the season. Didn't make sense to play because, you know, and unfortunately we weren't really in the playoff hunt, playoff picture. It was better to prioritize health at that point. So for me, I've been healthy since, you know,

around late March, April. And that allowed me to just have a really great summer, and longest I've ever had an opportunity to work on a lot of things and going into this year just feeling great about all the work. Anything in particular you worked on? You said, this is what I'm working on this summer?

Nothing different from what I've done. Just more, I guess I would say. So, I mean, obviously I've had a few injuries along the way, you know, the nature of the game. But for the last few summers, you know, I've had things you know things in the gym on the ice off the ice that you know you kind of have to stay away from because you know it brings you discomfort things of things of that nature uh this is the first time in a long time this summer that i was able to just do everything there was nothing that i wasn't

able to do um so for me that meant a lot mentally just to know that i'm in a i'm in a state health wise where i can do everything i can lift the way i want i can train the way i want um and i think it just has given me some joy back in that aspect, but also some excitement to, you know, a little bit of going back to a feel as though I'm going back to the player that I am and the person that I'm. Well, it's good to hear. It's always great to see someone start the season in the best mindset. You know, we spoke to Hampas Lenholm in Italy a couple weeks ago, and he really detailed

some of the stuff that we didn't know about what he went through last year. I know you're careful about this, but there's a lot we never really heard what happened. Can you take us through as much as we are willing to about what happened last year? Yeah. Every time I complain about how long it's been since I've played, I have to remember Hambus because he went through his own, you know, battle there with an injury that was, you know, cost him his season after playing roughly like 15 games. And he means so much to us.

So we are such a better team when he's available to us. So I am very, I'm thrilled for him to be back and healthy. For myself, yeah, I just, yeah, it was, it was just unfortunate. We were having a great time playing in that tournament and, you know, really enjoying that experience. I ended up having, I had a grade five AC separation and my AC joint ended up going septic. So that was, that was what happened. um you know mostly my biggest takeaway was just really grateful that we were in boston um felt extremely blessed uh with the health care i received there and the doctors that are just world class

and um i just can't thank them enough for the job that they did getting me back to uh to to to full health um so take a if anything i'll take this opportunity to just tell them tell them how appreciative I am. If I could ask, there was a rumor that it was life-threatening or anything like that. Was it ever like that? Well, I mean, so it starts in your AC and now you're showing tracks of it coming closer to your heart. So now you're getting, you're getting worried. And there were sort of two sets of plans for if it had gotten any further, which is when it does become life-threatening, if it gets to your heart. And, you know, fortunately, we didn't get there. Okay. So, you know, we were able to to act fast enough to go in and, you know, get everything cleaned up before we got

to that point, you know, just, just another opportunity for me to say how grateful I am for the health care I received there, you know, at MGH. Glad to hear you're healthy, Charlie. That's phenomenal. Phenomenal. Yeah. And understandably, I mean, you're very emotional talking about it all at the end of the season with everything else going on how did you eventually just make peace with it all and look past it yeah uh it was just a tough time obviously i had a newborn at home and kiley and you know we were just you know we were going through some some stuff with him and then i had my thing so it was just a lot to to deal with but um our support system is so great with our families that we had you know all the help that we needed and

And, you know, just surrounded by so much love. So, you know, we're able to get through something like that. I think after when I kind of knew that my season was done, I think that was when I, you know, it was extremely frustrating. You want to play. It's still fun watching your team lose. They're going through it. And, you know, you can see it. They're trying as hard as they can.

And guys are putting their bodies on the line, trying to get results. And you're just not getting them. so you can't help you're out of the fight you're trying to get lost in the room you're trying to not be a distraction you know you're sort of coming in at different hours of the day so you're not in there you're not in the grind with them and that and that stinks to watch them go through that but it it helped me sort of find the love again for for hockey having it taken away um having a longer summer to train and and then put in a lot of work um so i just feel refresh coming into this year and I just I'm just really excited to get back and you know we're very

close and I can't wait for this season so my son's 13 now but I remember the early days Kyle like you was also a new dad I can only imagine that there were times uh when you weren't feeling great and then when you were feeling better we're just going home and and seeing your boy and I know at the beginning he only cares about the mother because the mother's doing on doing the feeding so that's right so he's like who's this other person i don't need them but how was fatherhood changed you like how do you feel when you go home now i can't wait to go home every day i think that's the biggest thing um you leave in the morning and you go to the rink and you know you do your lift and then you go and skate and all that and uh you know so now i've been gone at seven to one

and um i feel like i just can't get home fast without to go see them um you know and Kylie, for that matter, I think it just creates our family is everything to me. It's my happy place being at home. I think it's changed me in all the best ways you could ever imagine. That's awesome. So after the McAvoy jersey, whose jersey will your son wear second? Who gets to be the second Bruins jersey? So if it's anything like all the other guys on the team, I am not going to be his favorite

player because that that seems to be a common trend really yeah through all the guys i think you know yeah my dad's cool but you know i like pasta and i remember i remember i ran into kevin shaddenkirk who was here and you know i remember connor Connor was a big fan of mine um you know but when you just why did dad score tonight but maybe i did he was he was more happy that i did um did you ever say no offense but I'm better than your dad no his dad's the best oh my god I love that guy I think it will be funny

so in so many different cases like it tends that the kids love their dad right but you know he's somebody else he wants somebody else's jersey yeah so I assume he'll probably be a big Poshanuck fan that's probably an easy one yeah I think that's a good one to start with

I heard, right? Not about, and I love what you said at the beginning of the spring. I'm just like, what an opportunity. Like, so much change with the organization at the deadline. You know, all much of the ties to the 2011, the 2013 team, like Marshawn now in Florida. How are you viewing now? I don't know if you completely call it a blank slate within the organization, but the first time in a long time, like there's a different look to the Boston Bruins. Yeah, I mean, I think, You're not wrong. It does feel like a blank slate, I think. I feel like for the longest time, you know, when we had those guys,

we could always rely on that, that we had winners in the room, that we had guys that had been there, done that, and, you know, knew what it took. You know, well, now we don't. So now we have to become the guys that just trial by fire, just learning how to, to do it, how to win. Because we can't rely on them anymore.

So I think it's a different kind of hunger when you can't really fall back on that, that we all have something to prove to ourselves. I think we're going through a time now where we're trying to, you know, rebuild the culture, which will be built on all the things that those guys taught us.

You know, those are certainly going to be the pillars. That's not going to change. Maybe the messaging and how we deliver it with the new generation of guys, you know, younger guys now, it's just different from when I came in. There's really no way around that. Um, you know, so how we present it maybe, uh, will be a little bit different. Um, but it's certainly going to be built on the foundation that those guys created. You always knew Marchand had quite a personality to him, obviously, but it seemed like it went to a whole new level last year in Florida in the playoffs.

what was it like watching that as one of his friends someone who knows him well it was just awesome to watch um for me it was inspiring to see him um that's a guy that i've spent you know every second with since the moment i got into the league um it was just it was just fun like you know so you see a guy that's here and and you know It was just unfortunate what our season looked like last year. It wasn't what we all thought it was going to be going into camp. We, you know, it was hard. It was hard times.

We're not healthy and, you know, you're seeing the struggle that those guys are going through every day when we're not getting results. You know, guys aren't healthy. It's, you know, it's not the atmosphere that we wish we had on every other year when we've been a playoff team. so then you take a guy like marshy and you know you flip him to florida and it was almost like a little bit of a of a rebirth right um and you just saw it was sort of like a new lease on life type thing he was there he was happy he's playing on a team that's winning um you know his i can imagine his stress level was a lot less uh you know we asked a lot of brad to be sort of Mr. Everything for us, you know, in there, I think he slotted into a role where

he didn't have to do that, and he excelled in it. So watching him play with joy and have fun and be able to go win, it was just great. Oh. Does Jeremy Swamen always refer to himself in the third person, or was that just for recent media interviews? No, I don't always. He does? Always. Always. No, you're kidding. Seriously? Yeah, he's just, yeah, the bulldog. He's in third person. I saw that the other day, and I couldn't stop laughing.

No, he doesn't. He doesn't. Yeah. You had us now. I never heard him do that. You had us, that's for sure. I got a funny text the other day about that, and I didn't know what they were talking about. Oh, the team was even talking about it?

Oh, he's going to get ripped versilist. What is it? He made a video talking about it? Well, so, no, they were interviewing him at one of the captain's gates. You know, obviously the questions were about how do you feel this year? And it's like Jeremy Swamen feels great. Jeremy Swarman's... Oh, come on. No, I'm serious. That's what he said. Yeah, so... Yeah, I got a funny

text the other day about him talking in third person, and I didn't know what they were taught. I just thought it was funny. Now I understand the conduct. From talking to Hampus, it's pretty obvious you guys, I feel like you have a lot to prove this year. That this is a motivated, annoyed group. Yeah. Yeah, you're not wrong.

We got everything to prove. I think we've sort of, this is the first time in my career that we're going into this year, probably not being a playoff team by a lot of people's metrics. We're a playoff team every day of the week, in my mind.

I think we have more than a not, we have everything we need on this roster to be that. um so that's the goal and that's the objective and our standards don't don't deviate regardless of what people think we may or may not be um we went out and got guys that are going to make us a tough team to play against so i think we're going to buy into that as best we can and uh i think our our team objective is you know we're going to be a tough out every time you play the boss grows so jake i couldn't help but notice i mean you sit down here swayed shoes look great

all the way up to the jacket. We're moving into a new era now where the dress code to be a little bit relaxed going forward. Have you thought it all about what the game day fits will look like for you? Yeah, I'm pretty nervous about that.

Actually, I don't have a ton of, like, good-looking clothes other than suits, so either my wife's going to have to be, like, my full-time stylist, or I'm going to have to just go suit with no tie. So I got, like, a year now to figure that out, but, you know, guys like, you know, Kells are awesome Matthews.

They just, they wear whatever, and it looks cool. I don't feel like I have that swagger that they have, so I'm going to figure something out. Okay. So yeah, who's the Dallas Staros going to show up like Charlie Sheen and Major League with like the sleep? What's that? Ruppay hints for sure. Oh, yeah, he'll like wear stuff that I'm like

that's like the craziest thing I've ever seen and it looks so cool. But like if I wear that, people would be like there's something seriously wrong with this guy. So Rupa's going to be leading the charge for cool fits for our team. So you're hesitant to branch out is kind of what you're feeling right now. Yeah, right now, but I think it's good. maybe, uh, open me up a little bit and, you know, get outside my comfort zone. Yeah.

I, by the way, I wondered if your answer was going to be Jamie Ben, that he would be. He's pretty like, I feel like he just wears all black all the time. So I feel like, good, it's easy. Yeah, he's a pretty straight arrow. All right. Why don't we get to it? Last year, game five, the early hook. My first question is, did you talk to Pete DeBore at all after all that happened?

Yeah, I met with him probably like, uh, like, uh, like, week after the season ended okay how did it go what did you say yeah i mean it went pretty well i think um i mean both he and i you know shared you know i've shared how i felt and he shared or he felt and i mean you know it's that's just life it's not it doesn't always go how you want it to and i mean obviously you know i think looking back you know i'm just focused on what i could have done better and that's you know make a couple more saves and you know probably wouldn't have been in that position. So, you know, I try to look at it from that point of view and, you know, what I could have done to prevent it. And, you know, now it's all in the past. And I've moved on and looking

forward to the next chapter. One of the things I wonder about, Jake, is that, like, I don't have as much pressure on me as you do on you being the goalie of a great NHL team. But I understand now as a public figure, what it's like to have people, like, come at you, make fun of you, take shot, either rip my work or my appearance, which is an easy target or, you know, anything. But I always think, like, I have a really thick skin, but there's always going to be things that you're going to look at and say, over the line. And you're a very mild manner guy and you're a very calm guy publicly. And I wonder, did you think that was over the line?

I mean, yeah, I don't know, like, necessarily like the full reasoning behind it. I just thought, like, I mean, from my perspective, I would have liked to been able to, you know, stay in and battle and try to, you know, work my way out of that hole that we had gotten in. But, you know, like I said earlier, like, you know, I'm hard on myself. And, you know, if I make one of those two saves, then I'm in that game. And then who knows what happens after that. So I think, you know, with the job that I chose to pursue, you know, people are going to love you, people are going to hate you. You're not going to be best friends with everyone. And that's just how

it goes. And, you know, that's what I signed up for being a goalie. And, you know, at the end of the day, I try to look at it like I'm living my dream and playing in really important games on a great team. And, you know, that stuff's just going to happen and try to, you know, when bad stuff happens, try to, you know, make it better, make myself better. So it doesn't happen again. And you touched on at the end of the year, I mean, those first two rounds, you're playing incredible hockey. How many other teams around the league would have loved to be playing in a conference final? And yet, you know, the feeling once the season ends was not the one that you were after. So as the years have gone on, Jake, like, how have you learned to manage

disappointment? Yeah, I think it's hard. I mean, you know, there's teams and players around the league that have unbelievable seasons that, but at the end of the day, I mean, in my line of work, there's only one goalie that really got the whole thing done. And after I kind of moved on from that whole situation. I looked back and, you know, felt really proud of, you know, what I had done up to that point and the season that I had. And, you know, I felt like I got my game to the level where, you know, I know, I know, is one of the best goalies in the world. And I think I showed that for a great part of that playoffs and, you know, helped our team get to that position. So now I think just for me, how do I, you know, how do I do that all this regular season? And then how can I do

that, you know, for four rounds next year is kind of what I'm focused on. And, you know, in this line of work, it's like, you know, if you play for 20 years, you know, and you win one Stanley Cup, you feel like you did it all. But the other 19 years, you know, you fell short and that's kind of, I feel like there's no other job other than professional athletes where it's like that where, you know, the wins are so rare. So when you do get them, that's why they feel so good. You know, there was when I grew up in Toronto was a great baseball pitcher, Dave Steve, and he would have a line. He would say, if I'm 500, I'm a terrible pitcher. But if a major league hitter gets out, 70% of the time, they're a great hitter.

For sure. And I always thought about it. Like, it's all how you put it in your head, right? Yeah. If I make, you know, four mistakes, you know, we lose 4-0 and I'm terrible. But if a player makes 20 mistakes and scores one goal, they're the best player on the team. So it's kind of funny perspective. How you look at it like that, it's just it's a tough job. And one I signed up for and one that I love doing. You guys have a great team. You're one of the best teams in the league. The last two years, you've been in the Western Conference Final.

And one of the biggest storyline, last three years, right, the Western Conference Final, but the last two against Edmonton. Now, one of the biggest storylines going on right now is, is Connor McDavid going to re-sign with the Oilers? Are you sitting there saying, Connor, I'll be okay if you want to go to the Eastern Conference. I heard he's coming to Dallas. That's even better. Yeah, yeah.

I don't know what's going on up there. I would obviously... I'm not asking. There's more like, it's them, right? Like, they're the roadblock. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I look at it two ways, I think, you know, one, like, yeah, go sign with someone in the East. We don't have to see you in the playoffs, but also, like, I mean, that's what you want. You want to go through the best.

I mean, I think when it's all sudden done, he's probably going to be the best player ever. So, you know, if we were to win the Stanley Cup and that meant going through a guy like him, I think it would just make it that much more special. So as an athlete, you want to play against the best and have a chance to be him. So just looking back through like your workload the last three years, 58 starts, 53, 61, like in the era of kind of playing the long game when it comes to workload, I mean, are you someone that embraces the idea of being the guy that starts a lot more than you would typically see around the league? Yeah, for sure. I mean, I want to play. If they said you were playing every night, I'd say great. Like obviously, you know, health-wise, that probably wouldn't be the best choice. But I think, I mean, there's nothing worse than. sitting on the bench watching your guys go to battle and you feel like you're like a water boy. So I want to be in the net as much as I can and, you know, I have to play well in order to continue to get the net. And, you know, that's my only focus is, you know, what can I do for my body, for my mind to make sure that I can play a ton of games and feel fresh.

And I think for our team now, it's like, you know, we know how serious the regular season is and how important that is. But we also are looking to like, how can we be fresh come, you know, April, May, June. And those are all decisions that, you know, I go through every day and the stuff that I do behind the scenes to stay healthy is why I've been able to play that much the last few years and I don't plan on to change that anytime soon. Physically you're a big guy like Vaselowski is. I look at how much he plays.

And I have no idea how he, like those years he went, the two Stanley Cops went to the finals. I know there was, some of it was screwed up because of COVID, but the amount he played it, the size he is, Could you ever imagine having that workload? That's what I want. Yeah, I would love to have that workload and have to play in the finals year after year. So he's obviously a different animal.

That's why they call him the big cat. But yeah, that's what you want. I mean, I want to be the guy that, you know, guys on our team look at like, hey, he's going to, you know, give us 65 great games a night. And then I know he's going to be great for four rounds. So that's kind of my mindset and the type of goal I want to be. Okay, Olympics. strikes me during the playoffs. You did a post-game interview with our colleague, Scott Oak.

And at one point, he asked you, like, have you given much thought to playing for Team USA in the lot? And I caught me off guard because I never would have thought to. We're so honest. I never would have thought to ask that in the middle of a playoff series, but it speaks to how much of a better broadcaster, Scott is than I am. But the fact that you answered it, and you said, yeah, obviously, other than winning a Stanley Cup,

like, that's where your mind is at. So I just wonder knowing how deep that, position is for your country just coming off the orientation camp for USA where your head is up with that opportunity yeah i mean i've been watching like miracle on ice since i was like 10 so i've always wanted to be team usa's goalie at the olympics and i don't think like that should distract any players i think if anything it should excite you motivate you um but i know you know the only way i can get on that team is have a great start to this season and show them that i'm you know one of the best American goalies in the world and then from there you know you don't always get to pick

the opportunity you have right away but if I get a chance to go in then it's on me to play great and earn that spot so I mean to be the starting goalie for team USA at the Olympics would be probably the biggest accomplishment in my career and something that I do think about all the time and but you know I've been motivated by that for a long time and would be a lifelong dream what's the dynamic like we had jack Hughes in here earlier and he was like at the four nations amazing just to see a dressing room full of alphas so amongst the goalies what's the dynamic like amongst yeah it's great i think i mean both guys i played with you know we're great guys first and foremost great teammates i think i mean all three of us know that you know we all want the net

there's only one net you know i can't be can't be the third line winger and still contribute you know so it's either you're in the net or you're not so obviously like i said you just you know try to play great get the opportunity, you know, have a great game and then see where it goes from there. And, you know, if Hellies are in net or Sway's a net, then be the best teammate you can be. But, you know, if they call my number, then I got to go out there and show them why I should stay in the net. Last year, after Swamman signed, someone said to me it was only a matter of time. He set a contract template that made sense for you. Was it that simple?

Once you saw that get done, you knew that you were going to be an eight-year star? You have to ask my agent. I don't really know. I'll get past that green mustache, yeah. Yeah, seriously. The only thing I knew was, you know, there's nowhere else I wanted to be in Dallas. And I mean, when they offered me to be there for eight years, it was a dream come true. And, you know, obviously that's something that you always want is that security, but you never know in this league if you're going to get that. So, you know, when the opportunity came to be there for eight years, there was no question in my mind, you know, where I wanted to be here,

a part of that team that's going to be really good for the next eight years. So just could be more happy to be in Dallas and, you know, from Jim Nell on down to as good as it gets as far as an organization has ran and I just feel like very lucky to be a small part of it. You got way more? I was going to ask, before we started here,

you're telling us about the goalie group you skate with in the summertime. One of the names you mentioned was Charlie Lindgren. We had Pier Luke Dubois here and he said he is the most interesting teammate he has ever had. Do you have any good Charlie Lindgren stories? I don't have a ton just that he like, he's good for like breaking at least one stick a week in the goalie skates like and his brother

I know his brother really well Ryan I played with them at the NCP and just the most competitive like I mean it doesn't matter if it's July or you know game one of the playoffs those guys want to beat you at anything they do and I think that's what has made them so successful and Charlie was actually went to the same high school that I went to growing up so he was kind of the guy that I looked up too growing up. And I was like, always wanted to be like Charlie Lingren and the fact that we're now both in the NHL, both get to skate together all summer. And when you skate with a guy that's as competitive as him, I mean, it brings the juices

on you too. You want to be better than him that day. So it's just a fun dynamic and it's pretty rare. I feel like to get your competitive juices going like that in the middle of summer. Pierlu says he has an opinion on everything. Yeah, we don't get into too much. When we're talking about goalies and golf, usually, we don't get into too much extra stuff, but I should start asking him a couple more questions. Okay. So one of your teammates said to me

that if I ever wanted to write a good article for once in my career, it was as long. He said that I would write an oral history about the third period, the second remission, the third period, and the post game of the victory over Colorado. What it was like in the room, what it was like when Ratan took over the game, and then what it was like in the dresser room and the celebration. Yeah. What are the things you remember most about that night. Yeah, I think I just remember like when McKinnon scored to make it like two zero, I think it was.

Tana was like it might be running out of time here and then like you could just see like when Moose would go on the ice it like felt like he was like 10 feet tall like he had an extra gear and was like basically decided like hey we're now losing these guys and

I mean I've never seen in my career like someone take over a period like that every time you had the buck on a stick it felt like he was going to score and I mean, that amongst other, you know, things that he has done since he's been in Dallas kind of just shows you, you know, why it was so important for us to go get him and how lucky we are that, you know, we don't have to go against him anymore. So to have 96 and green and white for the next eight years is a goalie's dream.

And it was just so cool to be a part of and definitely memorable. You remember anything about the post game? And just a lot of, like, beers and cheers and just having a great time, yeah. So you can sense that from your end of the rank like from a teammate, I go, oh, he looks different right now. Yeah, yeah, like, you didn't even want to look him in the eye. It's kind of scary, but that's what you want. I mean, it's got that killer mentality and went out there and took it.

All right, a lot going on in this edition of 32 Thoughts, the podcast, but we appreciate you sticking through it all the way to the very end. That'll do it for us. We want to thank the NHL, the Players Association, the players for their efforts in making this past week down in Vegas and happen once again on the opportunity. to speak to a number of guys over the last two, three days. We will chat with you again on Monday.

Back to our regular rotation again of two episodes a week. Hockey time is here. And we hope to float in some more interviews from Vegas as we go along too. Also, keep an eye as the month of September marches on, the Sportsnet YouTube channel, the video versions of some of these interviews, will start to be sprinkled in throughout there as well.

getting close to the weekend. Have a great few days. We will talk to you again on Monday. Take care.