32 Thoughts: The Podcast - La Fine

Episode Date: February 22, 2026

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman recap a sensational Gold medal final between Canada and the USA. They talk about Hellebuyck having the game of his life (5:56), and how Canada will suffer this one and move forward (13:40). They touch on Jack Hughes' heroics (20:25). Kyle and Elliotte update you on how close Crosby was to playing. Plus the other injuries that may come out of this (24:44). They give their flowers to Auston Matthews (32:04) before discussing the state of officiating at these Olympic games (36:00). The guys talk about their best memories from Milano-Cortina (45:05). The Final Thought touches quickly on how the trade freeze will lift at midnight eastern (52:30). In the final segment, Kyle and Elliotte wrap up all their last shoutouts from the Olympics (55:40).  Listen to all the 32 Thoughts music here. 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

Kyle, I have a solution to make sure Canada never loses in the Olympics again. Oh, yeah? Yeah. I can't wait to hear this. Don't award the games to Italy. Yes. There are two best-on-best losses in the 21st century, 2006, Turin, lost in the quarterfinals,

2006, Milan, silver medal. Never again, Italy, sorry. We're cutting it out of the map, and we're throwing it out of the garbage. No more games in Italy. Winter. And also do not hear BX's Italian impression anymore. Oh, my God. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast, presented by the Toyota BZ, go all-electric and a winter-ready Toyota B-Z at your local dealer today.

Dom, Elliot and Kyle with you one final time from Milan, Italy as we wrap up our Olympic coverage here on the podcast. Oh, Elliot. Ugh. What a game. What a thriller. What great. drama, and Jack Hughes, in overtime, missing parts of his teeth, face-blooded, is the American hero to give USA their first Olympic gold medal in men's hockey in 46 years to the day of their

win against the Soviets in 1980. Man, oh man, this was a hell of a hockey game. I don't know how Elliot, it could have, with all the hype, with how great it was of four nations a year ago, set a different bar. But it did. As heartbreaking as it was for Canada, it did. Unbelievable finish to this tournament. Your thoughts. When they came down the X3 on 1, I had a bad feeling it was over. That goal was scored at the end of the rink just below our broadcast site.

and look, Jack Hughes is going to get credit for scoring the goal. And he deserves it. It was a great goal, a great shot. He took what Bittington gave him and he found a spot to score. Minutes after Brother Quinn had been robbed by the Canadian goaltender. But the truth is, young Bacoskis, that that Jack Hughes play was only the second biggest play he made in overtime. When Connor McDavid was bearing in on him

and saw that he was charging towards the net against a forward, Jack Hughes was vulnerable. And the fact that he did not let McDavid win the game right there, tied him up enough to force the puck up the other way and didn't let McDavid gave away a good shot, Well, maybe Jack Hughes is always going to be a hero for the goal, and he will be. But to me, the even more incredible play he made, Kyle, was on McDavid. It was, man, you knew, I know the rules are set up 20 minutes of three on three OT until a goal is scored.

No shootout in the gold medal game. Look, we all hate it. It wasn't going to take very long. But there's no point complaining about it. No, I mean, everybody knows the rules going to be. That's not where I was going. That's not where I was going. I think you were going to complain.

No, I thought we talked about this like early in the tournament going, don't love the idea of three on three in the medal round, but it benefited Canada against the checks. Yeah. U.S. got by Sweden in the quarters. So, no, my point was you just had a feeling it was not going to take very long. No. I mean, with a brilliant as Connor Hallibuck was and we saw the big save by Bittington on

Quinn Hughes early on, something was bound. to break here. So I cannot believe watching that game like that the only real context we have comparable is that four nations final last year with these groups of players. It's almost exactly the same. But it's different in that I thought Canada played 10 times better here on Sunday than they did in that four nations final. The thing is about it is a year ago, the U.S. should have won, right? They should have won in overtime. And Binnington would not let it happen.

And finally Canada figured it out and McDavid scored. This one, the U.S. should have lost. But Hella Buck, that's the great subplot here. So you'll remember last year, a day before the goal of the goal, the gold medal game or the championship game in the Four Nations, we did sit downs with Bennington and Hallibuck. And we asked them to say something about each other. And they were like, no.

It was clear they had no time for each other. Not a lot of respect. Well, maybe respect, but they didn't show a lot of it towards each other. But there's a real personal rivalry between those two guys. Bennington stole that game for Canada last year. Hallibuck, he played the game of his life. Did he ever? I'm always happy for people who overcome whatever it is,

a rough performance, and get to the top and climb the top of the mountain. I always think the harder the job, the journey, the sweeter the taste of champagne, I'm happy for Hellebuck. So, Elliot, you want to talk about how unbelievable Hellebuck was here in this gold medal game. We've talked about, actually, we've learned there are certain coaches in the NHL that really value the stat goals saved above expected, right? Yes. So hellabuck in this gold medal game.

By the way, not to get two in the weeds, but goals saved above expected. So in the case of sport logic, it's somewhere, you know, you're taking stock of the shots, where they're coming from, scoring chances, and they've got their algorithms to determine the percentage of all of that,

how likely of it going in, right? Case by case. I don't know if I did a good job explaining that. But basically every time you look at a shot that goes towards the goal, where it's shot from, all of those factors, what's the likelihood that historically that puck goes in the net? So goal saved above expected for Connor Hellebuck. 4.63. It would have been normal for the quality and the amount of chances that Canada put up in this gold medal game that they got upwards. it could have been six on the board for Canada, five or six goals. Instead, it was only one.

And it got the U.S. a gold medal. That's great stuff, Kyle. I think even the Jets who know how good he is, those players would tell you that as many games as he's stolen for them over the years, he outdid himself in this one. Absolutely outdid him. himself. How many nights have the Jets fans and their players said, oh, Connor bailed us out

tonight? Uh, Connor did it for us tonight. Uh, he was our best player. But never, as good as he is, never was he as good as he was in this game. The best performance on the biggest stage. You know, Quinn Hughes told a story about in the post game about how Hallibuck fell asleep on the bus going to the quarterfinal against Sweden. And Hughes said, that's when I knew we were going to be okay. Nobody's ever going to question Hallibuck again. Nobody. It's over. That's what you said about Biddington a year ago.

That's true. And look how right that turned out to be. But I never questioned Biddington again. I will never question Hennelbuck. Buck again. And I think it's important to say this. If Canada was going to lose this game, I would be okay with it with the way that the Goodrow family was celebrated. That was beautifully done. Like, in all facets. First it was the Jersey. And then, you know, one of the things that happens at the Olympics is they're really tight on security.

Especially for the gold medal game. Especially for the gold medal game. And what they did allowing the young children to get on the ice and be part of the team picture, I've been at Olympic Games where they would say, I don't care what the reason is and I don't care who you are. You are not going out there. And for the U.S. team to think about it and for the security to step back and allow it to happen, that was beautiful. I'm a Canadian.

I want Canada to win. I'm disappointed Canada didn't win. But I'm more than good with that. If it allows the Goodrow family to be celebrated in that way, I thought that was beautiful. And I thought all those players were responsible for that. I can't give them enough credit for doing it. I can't.

Dylan Larkin had a great line after the game. It was almost like some sort of shield around their net, that there was no way a second puck was going to get across the goal line. And he goes, it's kind of ironic because that's one area of the ice. You would never find Johnny was around his own net. But of course, says it with all sincerity and love. So it was neat. I mean, you know, you knew he was going to be along for the ride and Matthew, for that matter.

It was part of Four Nations. The jersey was in the dress room again, all tournament here at the Olympics for USA. You know what's great about that, Kyle? Sorry to cut you off, but you know what's great about that? How many times have we seen that if you lose, you say, what do we have to change? You know, for example, they did that at the Four Nations. It would have been, quote, unquote, very hockey for them to say, look, we lost with the Goodroo jersey there. we're not doing that again.

So that's another thing I'm glad about the Americans, as they said, is they didn't go. Yes, sorry. And I should point out, they did that of the world championships too. They had the jersey out after they won gold in the spring. So it's good that they carried that forward. Good call. Yeah. Don't say, uh, we lost with it.

We're not doing it. Fantastic. Fantastic. You know, Kyle, like the thing, the other reason I can't get overly upset about it is, Canada has won everything best on best over the last few years. 2002 gold, 2004 World Cup,

2010 gold, 2014 gold, 2016 World Cup, last year's four nations. Sooner or later, you're going to lose. And they lost in a game that was overtime, in the Olympics in a game where they played really well.

Like the last two periods of the game, the second and third period of regulation, might have been their best periods of the entire Olympic tournament. I still have no idea how Hellow Buck made that save on Taves. Oh, man. You want to talk about you being in the spot to see the overtime goal kind of develop? I was right on top at that end zone high above for both the Taves chance and the McCarr miss, or sorry, not the McCannin miss later in the period.

And it did not compute from my vantage point. Yeah, both Taves and McKinnon, they're going to be thinking about those ones for a long time. But sooner or later, Canada was going to lose one of these tournaments. Somebody was going to catch them. And, you know, this has been a great Olympics for U.S. hockey. They won the gold medal for women. They won the gold medal for men. And I do want to mention the Paralympics are coming up.

No country is won all three. And the U.S. are going to be the favorites entering that tournament as well. And it's a great time for them, especially if they win the third one. But, you know, like I talked about with Hellebock, the harder the journey, the sweeter the champagne. Canada will suffer this one, but you know they will come back and they will feel some pain and the champagne will taste sweeter next time. It's bound to happen. It felt like you mentioned some of the other recent wins for Canada. They had to have it in Salt Lake, 50 years. They had to have it in Vancouver.

Yeah. On home turf. I don't know if this was a had to have for the U.S., but just in some of the, it was pretty close. It was a had to have. Yeah. I like the best collection of American players, I think, like the most talented team, no question. There were people ready to jump on them for roster selection. And look, people were critical of Canada's roster selection too, but Canada didn't

lose this tournament because of their roster. As a matter of fact, like I said, they played 40 great minutes of hockey where they swarmed them. They got beat because Helobucks stolen them. I thought the U.S. had to win this tournament. I think people were poised to rip their selections. Look, guys like Miller and Trocheck on the penalty kill. Yes. Did an unbelievable job that five on three.

Brock Nelson, yes. All those guys. They had a role for that list. They had roles, and in this game, they achieved their roles. I thought it was a must have for the Americans, and they got it. You know what the amazing thing was, Kyle? I stayed to the end of the bronze medal game between Finland and Slovakia. And as I was asking a bunch of players as they were walking off, Canada or U.S. tomorrow,

and they were all like, I have no idea. Like, how do you pick? How do you pick? and one of them, and it was Joel Armia, he said, you know what's going to happen? Somebody's going to get a bounce. And the bounce went the U.S. ways in overtime in terms of Makar not getting to the puck, and they almost blew the three-on-one, but they got it over to them. And he was right.

It came down to one way, the puck going in one way, not going the other way. It was everything we could have ever asked for in a final. Everything. Yeah, it was terrific. And there was, you know, some neat scenes down in the mix zone afterwards. I mean, you know, you got the Chuck brothers doing interviews together. You've got the Hughes Brothers embracing. Matthew had one of those old school looking home video cameras, but it's not old school,

if that makes sense. And he's running around interviewing his own teammates. So, you know, the party was on already for the U.S. You know, it was interesting, Elliot. The other thing, too, was so Canada comes through first, obviously, is the losing team, and those interviews don't last nearly as long, understandably, especially in a gold medal game like this. But Crosby doing some interviews,

and he was kind enough to come over to our setup at the CBC location and to just talk about what he saw the game, And he was like, you know, we were ready, we were battle tested. He thought that was their best game of the tournament. I don't know if anyone would disagree with that aside from the result and talked about how close it was for him to get the play. But, you know, as you had been all over all day, he was not going to put the team in jeopardy by taking a spot from somebody if he didn't feel he was good enough to get through it all and to be somewhat impactful. but nice of him to come through. But the timing was such that he was kind of one of the last guys doing interviews

along the rights holders row, if you call it that. And the U.S. players are starting to come off and they're on top of the mountain and hooting and hollering and the energy is up. And you could tell a few of them, like as they come around the corner and they see Crosby there, still doing a few interviews. Like there's, you know, almost, okay, we just paused for a sec, just out of respect to being around him there for that little bit of time. You know, that was neat to see, considering the moment of it all.

Also, so Pat Bell, who's a wonderful camera operator from Canada, he was working for another outlet over here for the Olympics. He sent me some photos. I know Jackie Redmond had put out the same ones too. once the overtime started, the U.S. scratches. So Jeremy Swayman, Jackson, Lecombe, Kyle Connor. They were all in their gear, you know, ready, anticipating if they had won to go out and celebrate with their teammates. But they were initially, they were watching the game on one of their cell phones.

They were streaming it. And thankfully, I think somebody at the OBS said, hey, we've got like a monitor here around the corner. You can sit and watch here. So a slightly bigger screen to watch. but as you say, Elliot, how tight security can be and where you can stand and where you can't stand, that's how they watched Jack Hughes score the winner in overtime.

I would have gone, they should just gone out and stood by the rink and made someone move them. I don't think that, like, there's understanding what I know now about how they run it at the Olympics, zero chance of that happening. There's no way they would have let them hang by the glass.

They had to stay under the stand. behind closed doors until the game was done. Fight until you get arrested. That's what I would have done. Yes. As I see you so often, cigarette in hand. You can't stop me. So let's talk about Hughes for a second, Jack.

Okay. Did you see his comments after the semifinal about how well he was playing. Yeah. Because some of them were, I asked him about it and I know I wasn't the only one. When he said,

when he said people may not watch the devils but I've been playing pretty well this year. Yep. I'm happy with my game. That's when I know he's going well. I think you have to understand that's the way he's wired.

that's him there's a chip on his shoulder there's a fierce a fierceness inside him there's a fire there and it's been a really hard year in new jersey and a lot of that coincided with him getting hurt at that team party right and one of the big internal conversations that they had for team USA hockey is, they felt last year that Jack didn't have a great tournament and how could they put him in better position to succeed. And I think the biggest thing that happened this year was whatever happened in the Four Nations, Hughes was readier for this. And I think that's what life is all about. You know, you take your disappointments and you, you, you take your disappointments and you don't dwell on them, but you learn from them. And you say, this is why this went badly,

and this is how I'm going to fix it. And, you know, I think that's kind of the way that Jack is wired to say, to not show weakness, to say everything's all right. And you guys don't know what you're talking about. And I'm going to make this work. And I understand it. I know, I understand the way he is. But the biggest credit I give Hughes, aside from the defensive play and the goal, is that as this tournament went on, he got better. And whatever he felt didn't work or Team USA felt didn't work last year, they fixed it. And I think the team and the player deserve credit for that.

When I saw that answer, Kyle, where he said, like, basically you guys don't watch devil's hockey, so you don't know. what you're talking about. That's when I said, this guy's going to be a problem. He's going to be a real problem in this gold medal game. Yeah. And you see the quotes after this game about from Quinn coming to his brother's defense. How about the,

what did he tell Jason DeMeres, couldn't sleep because he was thinking of scoring the gold medal winning goal? Yes. So I guess the two were kind of rolling around in their beds as roommates in the village the night before. Yeah, Jason DeMers and James and Coil is here They're doing interviews with the NHL network And a bunch of other content

And yeah, I guess if I'm recalling the story correctly, as DeMers told it to me, Jack says you up, Quinn goes, yeah, what are you thinking about? He goes, scoring the overtime winner in the gold medal game. And then he did it. I don't know, I mean, it's one of those where you could be like, oh, sure, I'm sure that's exactly what he said.

But between those two guys, Jack especially, I can totally see it, totally see it for all the reasons you just laid out. Confident guy who believes in himself, believes in his ability, and he was an impact player through this tournament. One of the guys from, I would say, the opening game against Latvia, all the way through to capturing gold. Number of times each game, he was a noticeable, noticeable player for USA on a roster full of great players.

So let's talk about Crosby for a minute. Okay. He was the one who made the call. And I want to make something very clear. Team Canada did not lose because Crosby wasn't playing. Team USA did not win because Crosby was out. Both of those are 100% fact. and I will not allow anyone to say any different.

I can't help but wonder, though, if somehow Canada gets that second goal, if Crosby plays. Do you know what I'm saying? Wait. No, I don't. What are you getting that? I'm getting that good things follow him around.

Positive results follow him around. Oh, I see what you mean. Yes. Had he been in the lineup. Had he been in the lineup, somehow kind of gets that second goal. But again, I will stress, they did not win because he was out and they did not lose because he was out. I just, the Crosby Karma, he always seems to get Ws.

Somehow they score if he's in. Now, he made, Doug Armstrong confirmed what we reported, that he made the call. I had heard yesterday, someone told me yesterday he was going to play. But I didn't, you know, report it because you just never know what happens. He had a big saying it. Ultimately, it was his call. It was interesting because Cooper told us that Canada would not dress him as a ceremonial cheerleader. They were not taking a Crosby out to be there for.

or say like a Jarvis who was 100% healthy and ready to play. They were not doing that. And I think that was the right call. But I was surprised. I heard they tried everything, everything. They just ran out of time. And I think one of the things now, and we've talked about this, like, Ranting got hurt here.

I think he's going to miss some time. I don't believe it's season ending, but I think he's going to miss some time. one of the interesting questions is going to be when we get back who's in and who's out and who's out for how long. Right. Like that's what I was thinking. If, as you say, every stone was turned over to try to get Crosby into the lineup and feeling comfortable. If the answer was still no, I know it was only a few days ago when the injury occurred.

Be it thought, oh, so what does this mean when we get back across the pond and the regular season? kicks up again. I'm wondering about some of the Florida guys too, Kyle. Right. You had said, hinted at when this is all done, Olympics, I mean, who are some names to start to pop up that go, yeah, this is going to be shutdown mode. We'll see you next fall.

We'll see. There are a few guys I'm wondering about nothing confirmed, so we'll wait to see how things unfold. I thought Bennington was great. Hell of a play by Boldie on that opening goal. Yeah, oh man. Boldie was, Bollie made a great play with an incredible stop on Quinn Hughes.

Just fantastic. Just fantastic. Connor McDavid, MVP, you know, Olympic MVP, Konsmite trophy winner. They should have given it to Hellibuck. That's fair. When I heard that, I was like, what? Somebody's got to be able to overrule people and say, wait a second. Look what we just watched.

like McDavid fine, no problem, but Connor Hallibuck is the MVP of the Olympic hockey tournament. I agree. As a matter of fact, I think the other American players should pay to make him an MVP trophy. That's right.

Well, the guy staying in our hotel that I'm sure could put something together. Shout out Aaron Logan. No, I just thought, you know, gosh, and he was, incredible again these Olympics but Olympic MVP Konsmyth award winner

and in both those instances you don't get the one you're really after I mean we talked about and he hinted towards it in that Players Tribune article that came out just before we all came here to Milan you know

a year ago he needed that win and and he's again you know searching for for another big one through no fault of his own though because he was incredible for for Canada and it was because he was probably among the most if not the most publicly vocal about this needs to happen again NHLers at the Olympics for years leading up to it. You just knew how badly he wanted part of something like this and I are heartbroken

for all the Canadian guys that did everything they could and it didn't happen, but him especially, given how long he's waited as one of the preeminent players in the league to have a shot at this. But as Nathan McKinn said, now we've got to wait for years. The thing about this, Kyle, is that I can handle this defeat,

and I think some Canadians can handle this defeat because of all the success they have. but for the players, you know they are so demanding of themselves and they have so much expectation of themselves that they are going to be thinking about this for a long, long time. Well, especially when you can see, Elliot, who knows what the landscape's going to look like four years from now in terms of picking the roster?

For a lot of these guys, this was because of not going in 18, not going in 2022. This was their one chance. Their one chance. And I can only hope. Uh, maybe a stretch. One more Olympics for Crosby.

Please. Yeah, I gotta say this. I assume he's going to be a 2028. Yeah. There's no, Sid, there's no reason you can't come back for France in 2030. Yeah.

Sid and Marie-Philippe-Pelan while we're at it. Yes. One more for both he is. One more for the road. French Alps. How can you say no? Exactly. Other people I'm really happy for, Austin Matthews.

Mm-hmm. He needed a W. He gets a W. And the Hughes brothers, the Hughes brothers, they're like Jimmy Hart. In wrestling. They're the main. of the managers of the players.

Hey, you cheated to win that match. No, he didn't. It's, it's, people are like, people are like, Austin Matthews, what do this mean? They're jumping in saying, who cares what this means? He's a champion now. That's what you should be talking about. Oh, great reference.

Great, great reference. I'm happy for Matthews. You know, it's. It's interesting the way Matthews, Matthews reminds me a lot of Sundeen. Like now everybody in Toronto loves Sundeen, but always then he kind of wondered. But, you know, Matthews is the captain of the Maple Leafs and the captain of Team USA twice now, on best on best, for a reason. And the reason, maybe the people outside don't believe in it or see it or whatever,

but the people inside sure do. He gets that sea for a reason. You know, it's interesting about Matthews. There's the questions about should he be the captain or should he not be the captain? He's the captain of the Maple Leafs. He's been the captain of the U.S. twice, best on best. Obviously there's something they really see

that he does behind the scenes, that the group rallies around him. He was asked about finally having a W post game and the Hughes brothers were like the mouth of the south, Jimmy Hart. It's like mean Gene Oakland asking the wrestler, you cheated to win that championship and before the wrestler can say, no, I didn't.

The mouth of the South jumps in and says, that's a terrible question. Why are you even bringing that up? The Hughes brothers were like, that's not even when the megaphone. He's a champion and that's all you should be discussing. But Matthews needed a W and he got one. You played very well this tournament.

There were some shifts early on in this game where he kind of owned the ice against McDavid a little bit. Obviously that tilted on its head in the second and third period. But I thought Matthews had a really good tournament. and Kyle, that smile he had in his face when he spoke to you after, it's the most genuine smile I think I've ever seen on him. Yeah, that's what I was just thinking, Elliot. Like, you know, for a whole host of reasons,

whenever you talk to him publicly in a setting like that, interview cameras, microphones and all that, you always get the sense that there's always a part of him that he's keeping under wraps. Yeah. He's only given you a little bit of him, which is 100% his. Secret Santa, secret Santa.

That one there, and in the celebration, of course, was as raw and him right in the moment, present, soaking in everything he was feeling. So good on him. Yeah, it was well deserved. And to your point, you know, similar to McDavid a year ago, guy needed a W in a big moment and he's enjoying every bit of it now, especially in a year that's kind of been

that's been tough in Toronto. There's no question. Even as his plays picked up over the last six weeks or so. So there was one other thing I wanted to talk about with this tournament, Kyle. And it was pretty interesting. I got a DM from a gentleman

of a large Thorsel, who's a big listener to the pod. And I talked about it with some of the reporters who were not from North America. and a lot of the media that covers these tournaments from Europe or overseas and a lot of the fans who watch these tournaments from Europe or overseas for the first time they watched an international hockey tournament really taken over by the NHL

in terms of rules and interpretations and officials and things like that. And they did not like it. It's very obvious to me. They didn't like it. And I spent a couple days asking around and talking about things with some people. And I think one thing everybody's going to have to get used to

is if the NHL players are coming, this is the way it's going to be. And, you know, I saw a lot of people complaining online about, you know, they couldn't watch highlights or things got taken down. Hey, CBC, who we both worked for here, they pay a lot of money for those rights. And other countries, those broadcasters, pay a lot of money for those rights. And the NHL doesn't get to use those highlights. And I know the NHL doesn't like that.

But one of the tradeoffs they've gotten is, and this is what a few people told me, they have a lot more control over how this specific tournament is run. And that's not going anywhere. Like I think the tournament on this ice, even though it was a little smaller than what we're used to in North America, is much better than big ice. I'm sorry, but it's better on this tighter surface.

Now, we can talk about the mix of referees, One of the things that made the European fans crazy was they feel very strongly that no official from a country should be able to officiate a game of their country. Like the Finns were angry, the Finnish fans were angry about the one call late. I don't care about that as much. I think if you're a good official, you should. should be able to officiate a game. And I think it's a lame excuse to say, that Canadian official is biased for Canada,

or that American official is biased for the U.S., or that Swedish official is biased for Sweden. I think if you're a good official, you should be able to handle it. But it's very clear that these European fans, they hated that. Now, one of the things I talked about at the end of the bronze medal game, and I got to tell you, the Finnish guys, they were great to deal with,

and I was very happy for them. And Granland in particular was so proud, so proud that he won a bronze medal as the captain of Finland. Like, he was beaming about that. Of course, like, that bronze medal game is so hard to play because you're so crushed about the semi-final. final loss and you have to turn it around. And those fins, they were still really disappointed.

They lost to Canada. But they were proud. And I asked them like 24 hours later, did you feel that you got cheated? Because a lot of your fans and media do. And they were all class. They said, no, you know, with more time to think about it, we don't think we got cheated. We could have killed the panelie. you know, the

the brakes go both ways. We got some, we didn't get some, and as a matter of fact, what the Finn said to me was if there's anything they regretted about the Canada game, it's that the way they played, the style. They wish they would have gone harder after Canada in the second and third period.

And they blame that more than anything else. and I think that that's one thing. Like, look, we can disagree about calls and, you know, Canada didn't get too, too many men called for them, one that could have knocked them out of the tournament and one that could have happened in the gold medal game. It goes both ways. So I think the international fans are going to have to get used to that. the one thing I really felt is that I have never seen, and I know a lot of these officials pretty well,

and I watch them, and I'm like most fans, there's times I like them, and there's times I disagree with their calls. I've never seen them so nervous before. For whatever reason, I thought this group of officials was really nervous. And maybe it was just the fact that we were back in the Olympics with the pros.

I don't even know if you can, I don't even know if you can work on that. Maybe it just comes with experience. But in the final, you know, they called the two high stickings late. Those were obvious calls. And high sticking was really strongly called all tournament. That was the one thing that stood out to me. It wasn't what country they were from.

I don't think that should matter. And I think if it becomes a normal thing, I believe that's okay. I would say this. I've never seen them as a group so nervous. You could see the moment was really getting to them. Do you think I'm wrong at all about that? No, I don't.

The only reason why I agree with you is because it was almost, we talked about having, you know, the international officials come. be part of their training camp of Buffalo before the season and trying to get everybody on the same page so it's not this is the international way or this is the NHL way.

That's all great. I got to be honest, how many times it wasn't even, oh, they're letting this go a little more because they don't want to be international style. It was even beyond like, I go, that's a penalty in the NHL and they're not calling it here. Whether it scrums after the whistle

or they're not taking a guy, some of the stick and fraction, the hooks that were let go, the can openers and such like that. Some were called, but I was amazed at the amount where we're let go. And maybe, again, that speaks to, as you were saying, the nervousness of the group of just not wanting to make the call that's like, wait a second, why is that all of a sudden making the arm go up?

It almost felt beyond the NHL in terms of how much players were able to get away with. I mean, to say nothing of the double IHF stand. standard. I almost wonder if the international officials would have been less nervous because they don't see these guys. Yeah, I mean, we'll never know, but I mean, it's no question, a different game. You said the ice surface, get the NHL players involved now, best on best. I totally get why they wanted predominantly NHL referees and lines people working these games.

I was surprised by a lot of cases the standard that was set. But all that said, this is where we're going at the Olympics. Maybe the World Championships will continue to be a different tournament. maybe the world juniors will continue to be a different tournament because those are on both at the same time. I think we've definitely, definitely in this tournament, we moved to a closer kind of game, less double IHF, more NHL, which was their goal.

But if you're not comfortable with the NHL feel at the Olympic level, you're going to have to get there because I think this is the way it's going to be. from here on in. What are your biggest memories? What are going to be your biggest memories from your time here in Italy? Oh, good question. I think, I mean, our crew that we worked with, because those are just the people that, uh, sorry, Dom just sent something to us. We just got a message from Dom that we're not going to be repeating, but that was very good. It is, yeah, Dom submitted the correct answer, but I can't, I can't repeat it. I mean, the crew, Elliot, for one, because we were at the rink every day, which is great.

Like, that's what we were here to do. But everybody from our group to, you know, the people helping to work the mix zone, this was all, I had nothing to compare it to. First time at the Olympics from me. I'll be honest, there's like certain smells, I guess, of this unfinished arrangement. certainly back of house and walking through every day that I think is going to stick with me for a while. But I think seeing in particular as the men's tournament wore on, and certainly there was the emotion attached to when covered a bit of the women's gold medal game a few days back, but understanding the impact that this has on the players and people involved,

both when you win and when you lose. You know, I remember after Canada knocked off Finland in the semis and the late goal by McKinnon late in the third and the Finns come off afterwards and Antipennan and their head coach, you know, he's been requested, you know, do an interview here, do an interview there. And sometimes with everyone kind of making their way through the different stops, whether it's a player or the coach, you've kind of just got to hang out and wait. And he was waiting between interviews to get to the next spot. and I could see, you know, just the red in his eyes.

And for him as the head coach of Finland knowing, like, man, how close they were to knocking off Canada and it didn't happen. And even interviewing some of their players after winning the bronze, which is, you know, nothing to feel small about, you know, Sebastian Ajo or go down the list, how many of those guys 24 hours later, it was still very fresh for them, you know, how close they came to playing in. this gold medal game on Sunday and not having a bronze medal around their neck, but maybe something greater. That hadn't left them. So, you know, the beauty of that was really impactful and to see it up close, you know, the appreciation to be around that was certainly not lost on me. I will say, Elliot, I've never, and maybe you felt this in other Olympics that you've covered,

I've never felt more disconnected from the Olympics as a whole than the one that I've actually covered. It's incredible. But we get into the bubble of you're doing hockey every single day and you don't have the ability to sit back and throw on CBC gem and to see everything going on throughout. It is a different experience. But one, yeah, just from the beginning, as I said, just very honored to be asked to be part of.

What were your takeaways? I agree with you. We were pretty detached from the rest of the Olympics. I've never been to one that was so spread out but the group was fantastic I spent See I have this thing I think that there's a limit

to how much time people can spend around me No I I'll push back against that No I that's very kind of you but I feel very strongly about that. And so there were some times I had to get away from people because I'm just like, nobody needs to see me right now.

Nobody needs to hear from me right now. But I love the group I work with. Like the best thing about the job is you know, Kyle is the people, right? No question. And the people you hang around with, the people that you spend time with, the people that you have a beer with,

the people that you're on air with. with or work with. And this was a different crew. This was probably a group of people that will never work together ever again. And it was, it was really a fantastic time. I just, I just really enjoyed it. I love, we didn't get a chance to see a lot of Milan, but we had a couple really good nights out.

Like the food here is spectacular. Like, I love Italy. The food is spectacular. The, the ngronies are spectacular. Cool. The breakfast buffet at our hotel was spectacular. I mean, our hotel stay was a little unique for reasons I'm not getting into on this podcast because I don't want to cause an international incident. Kevin.

But is he on the other side of the wall? But the breakfast buffet was outstanding. It was. And there was always like a few of us that were kind of down there. once it was we solved a lot of the world's problems there over breakfast yes we did we solved a lot of the world's problems here at uh over breakfast and late at night you'd go and everybody would be downstairs uh like i've been at some hotels where they shut you down they're like no we don't want that but this hotel was like you guys get back at midnight everybody wants to hang out in the area by the lobby and

have a beer or a glass of wine it was it was never a problem yeah They were great. They're like, we're not going to serve you. We're not going to serve you, but if you want to bring, you go do it. You know,

the jokes about the smoking and I don't smoke. Like I saw them all. They were really funny. You know, it was, the Olympics are special. Like, it's a really special thing to go cover.

And I was honored that they included me. And, Like I said, I wanted Canada to win so badly, but US1, fair and square, they earned it. That's the way it goes. Yeah, they sure did. And it was also just neat to how many Canadians you run into and just the different stories too, right? Like I'm sure we'll have some shoutouts to do a little bit later on, Elliot. But, you know, whether they simply live in Canada, they're like, hey, we just, we booked a trip and we wanted to come see this or they originally were.

from Canada, now they're living elsewhere, be it in Europe or somewhere, and thought, oh, this is not too bad of a drive or it's a short flight and we're going to come take this in, but all coming for, you know, the same common motive. That was, that was really neat too. You know, it's a long time away from our families and stuff doing all of this. but it was it was kind of neat to need to feel a taste of home at various points kind of throughout this whole experience too. You know, I just, I never, until you get over here, you just, you don't know what that is going to feel like and the impact it'll leave behind.

But that, that was another one for me in terms of the highlights of this whole experience. All right. Well, with that time now for the final thought presented by the Toyota BZ go all electric and a winter-ready Toyota BZ at your local dealer today. Elliot, this hockey schedule waits for nobody. At midnight eastern here on Sunday, the trade freeze will lift. Activity can continue.

Before you know it, we will be at trade deadline. I know your focus has all been here in Milan, as all of ours has, but anything you kind of got your eye on in particular as things start to pick up and will pick up very quickly once we return across the pond. Yeah, I'll be honest. I had one thing I was chasing, but I was told it wasn't true.

So I'm not chasing it anymore. I've been so focused on this. I'll switch it back over the next few days. And I'll, like, I'm landing at one Eastern on Monday. And I'll be right back into it. So we'll return with our next pot on Friday. And we'll have more NHL stuff to discuss. So I'd love to talk more NHL right now.

I just am not plugged enough in and I don't want to be guessing. I already had one thing denied to me. So we'll see where this goes and I don't want to throw anything out there that's wrong. I'll save that for the other pods. Yes. It's nice to have a brief reprieve from being incorrect. You know what you're focused on? What's that?

One final meal at Nona Emilio. Is that where everybody is tonight? I don't even know. I haven't even checked. I would like to do that. But the thought of it sounds lovely, doesn't it? I, one of the things I always laugh about is people who send me notes saying, how am I going to watch two NHL teams this week after watching that?

Oh, buddy. I mean, I feel Chris Cuthbert's got to work the Toronto. game in Tampa on Wednesday. That's a pretty tight turnaround. He may still be on the long time. I can't believe he's doing that. If I was Sports Night, I would just say, Chris, go home. Maybe Chris feels he needs like a tan.

Yeah, well, we didn't get much sun over here. I'm looking too pallid. I need to go to Tampa. Yeah. You know him. He's always Jones and for a good bronze. And with that, that was the final thought. Presented by the Toyota BZ.

We'll take a quick break. some final shoutouts and wrap up one final Olympic edition of 32 Thoughts to the podcast. Stay tuned. Elliot, here we go. One final batch of shoutouts from over here in Italy. I have to say, walking around the venue here on Sunday, it was incredible how many people said hi, how many people said love listening to the podcast, the majority of them Canadian, of course, Elliot. But it was so chaotic as I was moving from one position to the next. and trying to get to whatever our next hit was or interview and all of that, I just ran out of time to be able to say, what's your name, where are you from, to give them a proper shout out.

But as I've touched on a few times, it blows me away the reach that this little show can have. But nevertheless, a lot of warmth within the Santa Julia arena, all tournament long, culminating with how. how many red and white colors we saw among people there on Sunday. Who you got? So the first guy I want to shout out is Sean Rourke, who's the editor of NHL.com. And the reason that I want to shout out Sean Rourke is that I was really struggling

to find something to bring back for my wife. And then I ran into Sean and I saw what he was carrying. and I'm not going to say what it was because I don't want to spoil it. But when I saw what he was carrying, I was like, where did you get that? And I went and I purchased one. And I wanted to say, Sean, not just one. That's your story to tell, not mine. I wanted to say, Sean, you saved my marriage.

I really appreciate it. He's a great guy, big, metal listener. So you know, he's a good guy. You saved my marriage, Sean. Thank you. Other people, Omar from Australia, who now lives in London and the UK. Connor from Ireland. Matt, A.J. and Todd from Lethbridge and Calgary. Now working in France, they came down. Those are the people I wanted to mention. Wasn't it, no, it was, wasn't it Matt, Mike, and Ryan?

Is Matt, Mike, and Ryan? Are you sure? It was Matt and Mike, I know for certain. Okay. And I think- So I had written down Matt, AJ, and Todd. So whatever your guys' names were, you guys know who you are. Yes, those are the ones that I wanted to make sure I got into.

What did you think their names were? Matt, Mike, and Ryan. Okay, so you guys have to write and say, is Kyle Wright with Matt, Mike, and Ryan? or I'm I right with Matt, AJ, and Todd. Hopefully with those names put together, we're like 66% right. We got them right. We got two out of three.

Oh, geez. Elliot, have a safe trip back home. You too. Before you know it, it'll be Thursday, and we'll be doing this all over again. You know what I'm excited for? I mean, I'm going to need to set aside, I don't know how many hours.

I can only imagine the size of the thought line mailbag, Griffin Porter is going to be setting us after putting that on ice for a few weeks. We've missed it dearly and look forward to getting to all the questions, the ripping, the ideas, all of it later on this week.

You good? I'm good. All right. Travel safe. You too, bud. Everyone have a great start to the week. Wonderful time. Again, so glad.

to see NHL participation in the Olympics again. 12 years was a long time to wait, but boy, they did it ever deliver. NHL regular season picks up again in a few days. We will talk to you again on Friday.