32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Kicking Back

Episode Date: May 27, 2022

Elliotte is back in the car! The Battle of Alberta lived up to the hype. Jeff and Elliotte react to the Oilers closing out an absolutely wild series…and the controversial disallowed Blake Coleman goal (2:30). Did Markstrom lose the series for Calgary (6:15)? Was something up with Calgary’s top line (8:45)? The Flames are now left wondering ‘what’s next?’. In the East, Carolina players channel their inner Brind'Amour and keep the home winning streak alive with a big win over New York (12:25), and Trochek finally gets a goal (14:45). Despite a huge game and an incredible goal from Nathan MacKinnon, St Louis pulls off the win in overtime to stay alive (17:25). The guys wonder why have players stopped trying to cross centre ice before shooting for the empty net (20:15), and discuss Tyler Bozak earning his $750k in one shot with the huge game-winner (22:15) to force a Game 6. In non-playoff news, Barry Trotz, John Tortorella and others go through the interview process in Philly as the coaching carousel starts to spin (24:45), and Rick Westhead reports on some awful allegations surrounding hockey Canada (26:45).Get your limited edition 32 Thoughts merchandise line HEREMusic Outro: Skip Waiters - TherapyListen to our 32 Tracks playlist on Amazon Music. All the tracks you hear on this podcast during the playoffs are featured there.This podcast is produced and mixed by Mike Rogerson, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.Audio Credits: SportsnetThe 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.

What did you think? Goal or no goal? Leon is limping, Connor is scoring, and the Edmonton Oilers are off to the Western Conference Final. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the all-new GMC AT4 lineup. And Elliot, I am happy to announce the car casts are back, which means that my power has come back on. Yes, excellent. From the comfort of my basement.

We've got to start with the Battle of Alberta. Right. Now, first of all,ements we got to start with the battle of alberta right now first of all first of all before we talk about your opinion on the on the call yeah uh i i want to say this i don't think that any calgary fans should be saying they lost the series because of this call like edmonton deserved the win. There were two games where the Flames had 2-0 leads. Like game two, they were up 2-0 after blowing them out in game one. And again tonight in game five, and they couldn't hold them. You know, that's why they lost the series.

Not because of the disputed goal. And I think that's important to mention. Having said that, this goal will be discussed. Having said that, this goal will be discussed. You thought that the Marty Gelina goal in the Calgary-Tampa series was a source of discussion. Well, now meet the Blake Coleman. Did he kick it or did he not? After a video review, there's no goal on the plate. The football's kicking down now. what do you think i think that what happened here is he was actually bracing himself as his leg extended because both his feet got tied up with the pads and when that happens you scramble to stretch out your legs to get some type of a base with your feet.

Now, I will also say, I'm pretty sure that if I'm Blake Coleman in that moment, I also see a puck that's about that's heading towards the net. And as I'm extending to brace myself, I'm trying to gently make sure this thing gets safe passage past the goal line. It's going to be tough for a lot of people to handle that call. Yeah. Well, look, I understand the safety side of it. I do. You have kids, right? They're sharpening skates sharper than ever. That is true. So I do understand. I understand the safety element of it as well. I just, I don't know if it can be a situation where as long as the as long as the blade doesn't leave the ice as long as the blade stays on the ice and you're directing the puck in maybe it's fine that way because that's what the coleman goal was i like that you know as long as

the blade doesn't come up over the ice i mean if it comes over the ice maybe that's the point where you say no goal i don't know know. I'm reaching for things here. All I know is that one to me looked and felt like it should be a goal. And for that, I think the Flames got jobbed on that one. I don't think this thing should have got to overtime. Fair enough. You saw what happened on the air. I agreed with you. I think it's really funny, Jeff, that you and I, the non-athletes here.

How dare you, sir? You are less of a non-athlete than I am, but you and I, the non-athletes here think it's the goal because I thought the same thing you did. He ran into the pad. He was out of control. He was, as much as anything, he's trying not to crash into the net Coleman. And, you know, I, I just felt that it was, I just felt that that was not egregious enough. Like one of the things that's going around there is a goal that Chris Turney scored this year, which is much more of an egregious, uh, kicking motion than that one was. So I just felt I've seen goals this year that were kicked harder that were goals. But I think it's fascinating that the two elite athletes on our panel, Kevin BX and Jen Botterill are like, he knew exactly what he was doing. But like, I'll say this, like my phone blew up

from people who played hockey or watch hockey. And there were a lot of people that thought I was right. And there were a lot of people i thought i was right and there were a lot of people who thought i was completely wrong which is probably the way it was but i just feel with you that look like i said edmonton won this series they earned this series they deserve this series i just thought that that was a goal and I didn't like to see that one taken off the scoreboard in such a big, big game. And I'm sure that the commissioner of the NHL is not looking forward to his call from Calgary ownership tomorrow.

No, not at all. But at the end of it, it goes to overtime and it's Connor McDavid who even, you know, in his interview with Scott Oak, you know, talked about how this wasn't the best game by him but nonetheless sending the edmonton owners to the western conference final this was a wild one that second period was insane four goals in a minute 11 pair of goals 16 seconds apart three goals in 31 seconds this was This was a freakish Elliott second period. It was just another night of phenomenal playoffs. You know, we have been really blessed this year with, you know, the first round and now the second round.

And we have just been blessed with high, high drama games. And, you know, sometimes you get years like this and we're very lucky that we've been given the gift of it uh the quality of play has been so high i i but i have to say like i'm amazed at the way this series went considering you know you look at calgary all year you look at Calgary all year, you look at Edmonton all year, like things happened in this series that you just wouldn't expect. I can't believe how the Flames couldn't hold leads against Edmonton, a team that locked it down all season and has a goalie who will probably be the runner-up for the Vesna trophy this year. Let's pause on that for a second if we can. Sure. Are you comfortable saying that Jake Ottinger almost, almost stole a series? Yes. That he almost stole the series against the Calgary Flames?

Yes. Are you conversely comfortable saying that Jacob Markstrom lost a series for the Calgary Flames? No. The one thing that I can't help wondering is, how different is this series if there's better goaltending from Calgary? Well, I think it's definitely different. Like, I think the one thing is that

Ottinger almost won the series for Dallas, but Markstrom had no margin for error and played phenomenal. I'm not disputing that. He was excellent. He was fantastic against Dallas. Yes, I agree with that. I think that, you know, I asked some people around, like I know when Kelly's not there, I'm kind of the goalie expert on the panel.

But I asked some people around, you know, who know more about goaltending than I do, about what they saw in Markstrom. And they said he got knocked out of his comfort zone by Edmonton speed. They felt that, you know, all year long, Calgary could dictate where the shots were coming from and they could lock teams down.

They couldn't do that against the Oilers and Markstrom got thrown. And that's what the theory is. I mean, we'll see what he has to say. I think too, the Tanev injury, that threw off all of Calgary's coverage and pairs and things like that. Again, these are all things you have to deal with in the playoffs. And Edmonton, I just felt was the better team. McDavid was unreal. Dreisaitl was incredible. Oh my God, Dreisaitl.

Hyman was really good. Kane was really good. Pugliarvi had the big goal tonight. And you know what I thought? Their group of defensemen were excellent. They didn't make a lot of mistakes. Like early in the year, when Edmonton was really struggling, you would see a whole ton of mistakes.

I really thought in this series, they were excellent. They didn't beat themselves. And you know what you're getting with Smith. You're getting a goaltender who's going to have some players that are going to make you look like, what the hell did I just see? But he competes hard. And I think the players know that. They know that he's always going to compete hard for that.

And, you know calgary their first line i i don't know what happened there kachuk you know i i was watching kachuk with the puck in the in game uh five he never really carried it a ton he got it and he gave it to someone else like it was the whole thing was just very strange. They were really discombobulated. I've wondered about Kachuk going back to the Michael Raffle fight, if his hand is okay. We're going to get the big reveal here soon about who's dinged up and who needs what.

I've always, again, I don't know anything. I'm just wondering because I'm seeing the same thing that you're seeing. I'm just wondering about his hand since the Raffle fight. I don't know. Getting back to Markstrom really quick, one of the interesting things here is that Markstrom was almost an oiler. Edmonton was about two hours

away from believing they had Jacob Markstrom locked up, and then he went to the Calgary Flames, and Edmonton had to scramble, and a lot of things got scuttled. And they were angry about it. They thought they had it. They thought they had Markstrom.

Yeah. And I think, correct me if I'm wrong here, I think it was two hours before the free agency window officially opened and he's like, no, I'm out. Well, I don't know what the exact timeline was. I heard Edmonton had a deal for seven times five. That was always the story I was told. And Edmonton thought they had a deal for seven times five. That was always the story I was told. And Edmonton thought they had a deal too. And the night before, and then the next day,

I don't know what the timeline was. I heard they had no deal. But I mean, Markstrom has been great for Calgary. I mean, you can't... Vezna, he's going to be the runner-up. Shostakhin is going to win. You're right. He's going to be the runner-up though. For this series, I think that's the thing

that will leave most people looking about this series and saying, what happened here was just Markstrom who had no margin for error in Series 1 and was phenomenal. All of a sudden,

I'm going to go back and watch some of these games, and I'm still not really sure what happened. It was they won game one. They're up 2-0 in game two. It just slipped away from them. And I shouldn't say it just slipped away. Like, McDavid ripped it out of their hands, and then came the rest of the Oilers with them.

I'm sure the Flames are probably sitting here saying, what happened? Yeah. We're going to spend a lot of time talking about the Oilers in the days and probably weeks to come here as now they'll face off against the winner of the Colorado Avalanche St. Louis Blues Series. I know it's really raw.

Maybe we should leave it for a couple of days, but this was a great season for the Calgary Flames and we can't help but wonder what's next. The regular season was fantastic. The Dallas series was a great season for the Calgary Flames, and we can't help but wonder what's next. The regular season was fantastic. The Dallas series was a scare, and the Edmonton series out in five. Before we get into it, we'll do this on maybe the next podcast, Elliot, but do you have a quick thought on what's going through the minds of whether it's Treleving, whether it's Sutter, whether it's above both of them.

It doesn't feel good to be a member of the Calgary Flames organization right now, but you ever thought on where they're at and maybe where they're going? I think it's too soon. I think we'll do this on Sunday's podcast because right now I'm sure they're in shock. They never thought that this series would be over in five games. They really believed that they had the team to take them far. And yes, you're right. Now a lot of very difficult decisions have to be made. Goudreau, Kachok, go on down.

I want to think about it a bit more and see some of the reactions over the next 24 to 48 hours before we, we talk about this. Okay. So the West, what's the next episode for the Calgary flames comes up when we record the Sunday podcast. Meanwhile, game five,

true to form Carolina hurricanes and the New York Rangers, Carolina. I don't know what it is about playing at home. They look like they can't be beaten. That was such an impressive performance from the Carolina Hurricanes. You know, right from that, you know, the confidence that Jordan Stahl had making that saucer pass to Vincent Trocek. Game four.

Here's Stahl, shorthanded. Sonners one, and they score! A shorthanded goal. Trocek. He takes that sweet dish from Jordan Stahl over Keiondre Miller sliding. You only do that when you're a supremely A, gifted, and B, confident hockey player. And that to me was the Carolina Hurricanes all night long. It started with that goal. It finished up with the Sveshnikov goal.

And now the Carolina Hurricanes have the New York Rangers on the brink of elimination. 3-1 is the final score of the series now. 3-2 Hurricanes. Your thoughts on Game 5? I thought Brindamore was playing the way that Carolina played. Like, there were a lot of guys who reminded me of Brindamore on the ice. They dominated the neutral zone. They forechecked like crazy. You know, the Rangers

never really got unglued in this one. They were in the game, obviously. It was close. I thought the overrule was the right call. But I just think that the Hurricanes imposed their will on them and made it very difficult for the Rangers to get up ice. Like that was a Carolina game. And maybe we shouldn't be surprised because they're at home. Now these guys got to do it on the road. I just thought that was a game where the Hurricanes really imposed their will. They played like Brindamore played, just dominating them, checking them, disrupting their offense. you know, even though it was close, I just felt that it reminded me of some of those close games against Boston or even against New

York early in the series where they were one goal games. But I felt that the Hurricanes were completely in charge. And Rod Brindamore after the game, you know, talked about as much. He said that it's the kind of game we've been waiting for. He said everyone played well. Like if you looked, honestly, if you looked at that game, you would come away with, holy smokes, nobody's going to beat the Carolina Hurricanes.

They just played and it's not just the goals either. It's not just Trocek, Teravainen, and Sveshnikov, and Antti Ranta, who really wasn't that tested in this one. You know, he didn't have to make, you know, 35 saves or anything. But if you watch the game, Fridge, you're saying to yourself, yeah, wow, these guys are going to be a tough out.

Like, how do you beat the Caroline Hurricanes? But the question remains, man, why are they so different at home? They're perfect, 7-0. Why are they so different at home than they are on the road and it's not just against the rangers it was against the bruins too maybe they don't like hotel mattresses that's got to be it or uh hotel room service i don't know i don't sleep well at hotel i don't sleep well at hotels either so i i understand that really i didn't know you don't no i hate it i hate it frege you're a total i really do you know that you really are a weird guy i don't do well in hotels i can fall asleep anywhere you're you're nuts well not me well the other thing too for carolina

i thought that was important was you know trochek got a cookie i thought that was you know really important for them shorthanded yeah I really like the way Jarvis, he had an unbelievable pass tonight. And Trochek also, Ron pointed it out, if you watch the Jarvis pass that sets up the winning goal, Trochek actually goes in front of the net to kind of shield Shostakhin. So it's difficult for him to pick up what Jarvis was doing.

So I think Trochek having a good night is a good sign for the Hurricanes. There's no reason that they can't win this in six games, except they stink on the road. The other thing too is I'm just watching this series and I think the Hurricanes have shown, and they showed it tonight, that they have a higher level they can get to i i'm looking at some of the rangers forwards and boy do i think laugh i mentioned it last time what do i think lafreniere is coming on and i'm just wondering some of those ranger forwards i'm just not sure right now they have that higher level they've just been dominated in some games and you know now you know they've played a lot

of elimination games and done really well i i just some of them i kind of look at and i say is there more there i've looked at some of the hurricanes players and said oh there's more there but i'm looking at some of the rangers and i'm just saying are we getting the best that they can give us we shall see on saturday uh be a closeout for the Carolina Hurricanes or we could be going back to Raleigh. Okay, before we get, Elliot, to some news of the day, Colorado and St. Louis, you talk about barn burner games. That was one.

You know, if there was a hockey god, the Nathan McKinnon goal, the end-to-end rush would have been it. And that would have salted it away, and it would have been the perfect ending to that hockey game. But the problem is the St. Louis Blues said we're not going out that way. Overtime heroics from Tyler Bozak. Before that, Robert Thomas ties it up. A really nice play by Justin Falk to make sure that Gabriel Landeskog

cannot score into an open net. And we are going to a game six on Friday night free. Your thoughts on game five, the Avs, the Blues at Ball Arena. Well, one of the biggest differences to me was that the Blues, who completely lost their composure in game four, showed a ton of it in game number five. And that was a major reason they won. I thought Falk played an unbelievable game.

I thought some of their other guys did too, but I thought Falk was totally huge in keeping the puck in, for example, just before they scored to tie it in regulation. And also like, I was curious about this because Kevin and I had a conversation about it. Landeskog on the empty netter or try, he waited to gain the blue line.

Falk was able to cut them off and and knock the puck away I mean I'm not going to tell Gabriel Landeskog what to do but I thought he should have shot it what do you think most players do that now yes most players and so I I asked someone about this uh with an NHL team and I said like you know what why does everybody that now shoot because if you miss the net you're coming right back for a face-off. And the answer I got back was, first of all, you could completely end the game. So it's a smart risk. Two, if you skate the puck up the ice,

there's a chance that the puck will turn over, and that generally goes poorly for the team that's just turned the puck over. And thirdly, if it comes back to a face-off, it's 50-50. Or, you know, or 55-off it's 50 50 or you know or 55 45 or 60 40 or whatever like the odds are still in your favor that's the thinking behind why guys oh even though it's you know before center guys are just now more than ever because you know you play the probabilities and you play the math it says you know go for it chances are you going to be fine when we were kids jeff and i was a lousy hockey player get center yeah and get center like never ice it like that was the rule and somewhere along the way that has changed analytics analytics yes they said don't worry about if don't don't worry about a face-off don't worry about a face-off it's

a 50 50 plus you could kill the game right the game right there. This one person explained it so well to me. That makes complete sense. Complete sense. Sorry, you're saying about Stewie. I'm glad you cut me off because that was a good explanation. Just don't do it again. So, Stewie made the point that he thought the Avs might have been afraid of O'Reilly.

That O'Reilly was killing them so badly in the face-off circle that they didn't want to give him another chance, which might be true. Like, I mean, that's a good theory. That's a good theory. He's good. Yeah. No doubt.

So Stewie did a couple of good things. He figured that out and he hid the Twinkie that people were showing on Twitter. Oh my God, that was the best. That was the funniest thing ever. The Twinkie, Stewie. You know, I think the thing is, like all the pressure is on the Avalanche.

Like, I think they're okay to handle it. I really do. But, you know, now you've got to talk about it for another 48 hours. And does it get to you at all? Like, I don't think home road matters at all. You know, the Avalanche won a couple in St. Louis already. The Avalanche won a couple in St. Louis already. And I thought that McKinnon showed that whatever has fazed them in the past, it clearly isn't bothering him here.

But I think they're going to be okay. I really do. But the other thing, too, is I just wonder what that does for Uso. Because he really battled, and he needed a good result, and he got one. What's the mindset on the goalies? Huso probably feels really good about himself. How does Kemper feel? I think Colorado should be okay.

But that's a really smart, mature team in the blues and they already had their emotional screw up the series. Yeah. And I'm not expecting it to happen again. I want to ask you about Tyler Bozak. Now that line by the end really wasn't playing at all. Bozak, Barbashev, Walker, like they were not, they were not hitting the ice. So Bozak is the, uh, scores the game winning goal. A great tweet from his wife Molly you know who else is freaking out like what a what a wonderful tweet that was that was that was that was a lot of fun

and here's Tyler Bozak and a couple of things so he goes from being a five million dollar hockey player to going to free agency to watching the music wind down and no chairs available for him and it's back to St.is on a 750 000 bonus laden contract i think if you get through round one was a hundred thousand dollars round two i think is 150 uh for tyler bozak i remember talking to colby armstrong about him once now tyler bozak is a is you know an older player since playing with the maple leafs and tyler bozak and colby brought up the point that tyler bozak is a dream to play with as a center and I said why is that he said he does all the stuff that makes it easy for everybody else he said the game is really simple when you play with

Tyler Bozak said wingers love playing with this guy because the game is really simple up and down the ice. Do you have a thought on Tyler Bozak and what's been a really, I guess, wild last 12 months of his career? Well, you signed Tyler Bozak, so maybe you get a couple of moments like this during a playoff. Like a veteran who's seen everything and makes a big play for you. And that goal, that makes it all worthwhile. That's, that's, that's the $750,000 goal. That pays his salary.

Cause you're, you're sitting there and you're saying, you're hoping that when you're in trouble in a playoff series, I mean, you want to get into the playoffs, obviously, but Tyler Bozak is there because when you get into a playoff series, you're hoping that he can make some smart plays for you here and there and have a positive impact and doesn't get more positive than that. That was a huge one.

I was really happy for him. Yeah. I'm happy for all kinds of players like that that have their great overtime moments. Okay. So we'll look forward to game six between the Avalanche and the St. Louis Blues on Friday.

So some news and notes from around the NHL. Barry Trotz and the Philadelphia Flyers. So as you and I talked about on the radio show today, Barry Trotz has already had his interview with the Philadelphia Flyers. Elliot, I believe it was earlier this week, but I don't get the sense that Barry Trotz is

close at all to making a decision on where he wants to go. What have you been able to glean the latest with the Flyers and their head coaching search? Well, they've interviewed a few people already. They had Tortorella in there. I think they're going to talk to Talkett. Trotz, obviously, as you mentioned. Trotz, obviously, as you mentioned. Now that Calgary is out, I think Kirk Muller probably starts getting some interviews in both Philadelphia and Winnipeg, potentially.

But another name I heard that Philadelphia had some interest in, who they talked to, was Mike Vellucci, who's an assistant in Pittsburgh. I heard he was interviewed there. And there are some assistant coaches like, you know, Valuci's been around a long time. He's been in the American Hockey League. He's been in the Ontario Hockey League. He's worked as an executive and a coach. And I heard he interviewed with Philadelphia this week. And I wouldn't be surprised if he got more interviews than that one. As we're talking about assistant coaches, Jim Montgomery,

would that be a coach of interest perhaps for the Flyers? Yes, but he's still working. I kind of add them in as they become available. Not me. I get ahead of myself, Al. I just get way ahead of myself. You've already got new teams next year for certain players who are going, you're like,

you're like Stewie. He's got Valerie. You choose. You're good. Making eight times eight somewhere. Next season. Everybody gets all of that. That guy is going to get paid by the way,

though. But that's a, that's, that's for, that's for another story. That's for another story. Yes. But I,

you know, I, I think absolutely Montgomery is on the radar too. Absolutely. As we wrap up I wanted to mention the Rick Westhead piece on TSN so Rick reporting that a settlement has been reached and a lawsuit

accusing members of the 2018 Team Canada World Junior Team of sexual assault also named in the suit both Hockey Canada and the CHL the Canadian Hockey League. In the suit both Hockey Canada and the CHL, the Canadian Hockey League. In the suit, the unnamed woman maintains that Hockey Canada was aware of the assault and did not investigate.

Hockey Canada, meanwhile, maintains when informed, they informed police. Elliot. So I didn't have any inkling of this story before Rick reported it today. My reaction when i read it was probably the same as everybody else's the uh details uh unproven in court are are gruesome and very disturbing like hockey doesn't need these stories i think i feel the same way as everybody else does but i really don't want to say too much until I have more of a handle on it. And the key thing that came out tonight was the NHL announcing that it will be investigating if any of these players are in the league and if they're going to have any action in the future.

So clearly, this is not over and there's more to come. And like everybody else, i hate to read this this is the last thing the sport needs and nobody deserves to be treated this way i really don't have a firm handle on this and what the true details are and until i do and have a better idea of potentially where this is going i i don't want to say too much more other than that. Like everybody else, I found the story awful to read, and it's the last thing that hockey needs. I know it's a horrible way to end the podcast. I would just like to pass along that I hope that that woman is okay, mine, and I think all of our main thoughts are with her.

Yes, 100%. Thanks for listening to the podcast. We'll be back early next week. Flipping the coin and giving a tip with her. Yes, 100%. Thanks for listening to the podcast. We'll be back early next week. Thank you. I don't wanna feel the ground I don't wanna feel the ground When you're around My cousin is called to repent Thinking this is something we need at home I pay the mortgage instead of the rent I need money to stay at home

The price that made me upset So I gotta pray to feel at home No, I can't live with regret Baby, go with me so I'm at home My future's uncertain, follow the light Goddesses only, I gotta do right Bye.