32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Loser Thinking

Episode Date: June 7, 2024

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman get into a heated argument about the best course of action for Macklin Celebrini: Go back to BU or turn pro and join the San Jose Sharks? Then, Jeff takes time to highlight a few prospects he spoke with at the combine that really impressed him (11:28). Afterward, Jeff and Elliotte delve into the latest around Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov (18:54). Elliotte also provides the latest regarding the future of Jeremy Colliton (24:17). The fellas then turn their attention to Jake Guentzel and what the Canes are asking for his negotiating rights (27:49). Elliotte unveils that Buffalo's 11th overall pick is available (32:00) and the guys discuss how Igor Shesterkin's new deal will impact Juuse Saros (33:00). Jeff and Elliotte end the opening segment by congratulating Rick Ball on his new play by play position with the Chicago Blackhawks (41:41). The guys answer your questions in the Montana’s Thought Line (46:13).Jeff and Elliotte end the podcast with a quick preview of the Stanley Cup Final between Edmonton and Florida (56:26).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailThis podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Jake Gensel. There's a name. Dom, I'm going to tell Kyle you said that. Or you texted that to me. You go right ahead. Dom just sent us a text in our group chat. Kyle wishes he looked as good as JJ. I think it's the other way around.

You're just more vicious Vancouverite. What's with all the hostility in Vancouver these days? Why is someone so angry in Vancouver? You're one of these Vancouver people that just mad at everyone all the hostility in Vancouver these days I know you're one of these Vancouver people they just mad at everyone all the time what's good what's going yeah I mean supposed to be the West Coast they resource we so they're ripping each other they're ripping media members welcome once again to 32 thoughts the podcast presented as always by the GMC Sierra Elevation, Elliot Friedman in Florida, Jeff Merrick in Buffalo, Dom Schramatti in Vancouver. So there you go. All points are covered and we have a lot to cover today.

We're going to get to the Montana's Thought Line. We are going to get to game one, finally, on Saturday between the Edmonton Oilers and the host Florida Panthers. In the meantime, Elliot, a couple of things I just wanted to point out just really quickly before we get on with the news of the day, and the host florida panthers in the meantime elliott's um a couple of things i just wanted to point out just really quickly before we get on with the news of the day and we have plenty of it um today was day one of the interviews that we do with a lot of the prospects um here at the combine in buffalo tomorrow is day two and then the uh then the kids started sweating and grunting and barfing on saturday um And just a couple of guys that I want to sort of shout out here quickly, because the one thing, and I've been doing this for a while, as you know,

coming here to do interviews in advance of the draft. And the one thing that I've noticed, and it's really pronounced this year, is how much more comfortable the kids are talking and how much more comfortable they are having their personalities come out. I mean, Elliot, how long have you been talking about getting to a day where hockey players are as comfortable as basketball players when they're giving interviews? I'm not saying we're there yet. I've talked about it for a while. I know.

And Elliot, you will be glad to know we are getting there. I'm glad to hear that. It was good. So I spent the day with Sam Cosentino Jason Buchla Michelle my thoughts talking to a number of the prospects and just a couple that I were sort of one I feel bad for Michelle oh I know she had to sit there with us three shaved apes grunting out questions for the prospect she was the only one that made sense um all day long she's the only one that's gotten

your brain cells it's 100 true elliot so i felt so bad um so we talked to macklin celebrini who's going to go first overall and one of the things that i asked him was um any chance you go back to be you and what do you say i've been he said he hasn't made up his mind yet and it's not just his decision it's his advisors it's his family it's san jose etc it's a it's a big decision and one of the things that i've been wondering about with um with maclin celebrini lately is you know will smith just came out and so he's gonna play with the san jose sharks next year and the one thing that my career has to do now is start to surround a lot of these younger players with veteran players. And I just wonder if it's in, I'm curious your thoughts on this one. I'm wondering if it's in Macklin Celebrini's best interest to go back to BU for one more season while San Jose takes the next step in filling out this roster. You know, we seem to have this thing about first overall picks have to go right into

the NHL. I mean, Owen Power went back to play for Michigan. Power recently, yes. Yeah. Power is the obvious one. I mean, there are some other players that probably should have gone back to it and could have gone back as well and shouldn't have started their pro careers in the NHL. But I can't get this out of

my mind considering all the things that my career has to do here is it too much to have both will smith and macklin celebrini start both start their careers next year in san jose i keep going back and forth on it i see the pros and the cons do you have a thought on that one at all what's better for his development that's what i keep coming back to like who's he gonna play with in san jose like would it be better for him to go back to to to be you play at the world juniors again try for the gold medal play win the bean pod like all those national championship all of it like there's still unfinished things there for Macklin celebrini at Boston University I always think the only reason you don't put a player in the NHL at

that level with that guy's skill is if you think he is incapable of handling it and you would have to convince me that a guy who's been around pro athletes almost his entire life, whose father knows what it takes to be a success at the next level, as well as any non-sports playing parent could be, his father, Rick, you would have to convince me that this kid is not capable of handling what is going to happen to him next year. That is the only way you can now, now look, if he really wants to go back to school and wants to try to win the NCAA championship or whatever he wants to do, that's one thing. But if this is purely about is the kid ready for it, are you telling me he is physically incapable of playing in the NHL?

See to me, if your team is not good, okay, but Jeff, there are still lessons to be learned. There are still, you can learn what it's like to play a pro schedule. You can learn what it's like to play a pro schedule also in a place where travel is not necessarily advantageous. Like the Sharks are going to want him to be a Shark for the next 20 years. There's nothing wrong with learning what it takes to be a successful player with a far western conference travel schedule. You can learn what it's like to go up the best the NHL has to offer and get your clock cleaned periodically. Have some success but also have some humility happen to you and learn what it really takes

like how good these players are. He's going to be a marked man for his entire career. He can find out as soon as next year what it's like to be that target. There are so many things that are good for you, even if you're going to lose a lot of games. So you're going to have to convince me that it somehow doesn't make sense for Celebrini to play. That, to me, should not be the reason.

The reason comes down to, does he really want to go back to school? Here's my thing, though. I think Mack and Celebrini can play in the NHL next season. I just don't know if San Jose is ready for him. And compounding this is the fact that Will Smith has come out as well. I completely disagree with that thinking the question should not be is is san jose ready for macklin celebrini the question is does it benefit him next year like this is not about the sharks it's not to me the sharks are

almost irrelevant we know they're not going to be very good. We know they're far from being good. The question is, will this long-term make Macklin Celebrini a better player if he is in the NHL next year? And you would have to convince me that the answer is no. Do you not think, though? I don't care how good the Sharks are or not. Hang on.

Do you not think that part of the conversation macklin celebrini his representation his family and the san jose sharks part of the conversation is okay who am i going to play with who is going to be there like the one like let me hang on one second do you not think like like right now i and i can't get this thought out of my head because teams are so fast to tear things down and we're doing the rebuild this is how we're going to be do you not think the san jose sharks could really use timo meyer next year yeah could use tomash hurdle next year with these new kids coming this to me is all loser thinking like i think you are actually being a loser right now you are you are by trying to protect by trying to protect this number one overall asset and just like throw them into the

deep end here learn how to swim over there go like you you're telling me you don't think they can find some players i don't know elliot i don't know come on if you can't find players then you don't have like like you can find players there are going to be players available look the the Chicago Blackhawks do you think that they were much better but then you went Elliot Elliot you know the point is you're not just doing it for one you're doing it for two complicating all this is Will Smith has just come out too so fine so that doesn't matter it's your job as a front office to find players you know there's teams that are going to have cap trouble there's teams that are going to want to move on from guys do you think every free agent is going to

find a job the cap is going up four million so some people are going to do very well but there's going to be other players who get squeezed like to me that's the job as the front office like this is all this is all loser thinking to me this no this is protecting an asset it's not losing it's loser thinking it's loser throw him throw it pardon the pun throw him to the sharks yeah but you know what that's that's what the nhl is like you know okay maybe he could you put him in at the right time. You don't rush people to the NHL. Elliot, the NHL is not a developmental league. You put him in a situation where he's going to develop

in the best possible scenario. Yeah, you have to convince me that it's not there. You have to. Okay. Like Conor Bedard, where would you put Conor? That's one.

He's gone right into the nhl and they went out and they grabbed jerry hall he got injured cory you are never going to be you are but so they found players for one guy i'm saying in san jose you got two and you've just gotten rid of all your veterans so you can find more like jeff you are i am glad uh we have had this conversation because if i ever buy an nhl team and we know the chances of that happening are really high you are not even going to be allowed in the building as a broadcaster with this kind of loser thinking every one that works for an nhl team is saying there's one person on this podcast who is considerate and thinking about the best for our prospects, and the other just wants to throw them. I'm thinking about the best for Salabrini, too.

You're just throwing them at, just like tie some red meat around them and say, here, go run with the wild dogs. If he comes next year, you don't think there's going to be red meat around him? Of course there will. What's the difference between this year and next year? How much better is San Jose going to be next year? A tiny bit? Another year to pick up players and agents.

Loser thinking. One more year. All right, fine. Dom, we're ending this segment. This podcast is called Loser Thinking. Jeff's Loser Thinking. Jeff trying to protect an asset. Jeff trying to do asset management for an organization.

Loser thinking. Okay. A couple of other players I want to pull out here. You know who I was really impressed by and I'd never spoken to before is Zeve Buim who played I've heard a lot of really interesting things about he's great he's awesome wonderful bird I mean first of all he's an outstanding player national champion with Denver learned a lot about him his mom played basketball in Israel his mom like made all like incredible sacrifices again, like the

sacrifice story with all these kids, you know, driving from San Diego to LA so he could play two and a half hours there and back and, and buying a house when the kid went to Shattuck's like, it's a really wonderful story. Totally charming guy, outgoing personality. Like I got, I got a lot of time for, for Z William here it's a real real good case here um TJ Gilma so here so what do you think the conversation revolved around with TJ Gilma today are you going to be drafted by Calgary and are you going to be drafted higher than your dad and I asked him if he had a bet with his dad to see if he went higher than 11th because that's where Jerome went he said he doesn't have a bet with his dad but Elliot if he went higher than 11th. Because that's where Jerome went. He said he doesn't have a bet with his dad.

Maybe he's going to go home and have one now. Elliot, Elliot, he's getting drafted higher than his dad. Like, we're wondering. We're all wondering here. It's funny. Jason Bukala said, can you speak French? Montreal drafts fifth, by the way. And one of Bukala's questions was, do you speak French? Montreal drafts fifth, by the way. And one of Buchla's questions was, do you speak French?

Like this guy, well, of course. And listen, like he's had a rocket attached to him this year. His development this year has been through the roof. He was great. Sam Dickinson is a defenseman for the London Knights. And the London Knights just, you know, went through the Memorial Cup and ended up losing the last game to Saginaw. And the thing about Dickinson is, and we've seen this before, like when the London Knights won the Memorial Cup in Red Deer a number of years ago, you know, Olio Levy didn't do the combine. All the London Knights players, I believe, didn't work out at the combine.

And one of the first things we asked him was, are you going to work out at the combine? He said, yep, I'm going to do it. Even though he's already played hockey longer than most, if not all players that are at the combine. So Dickinson was good, great personality. Can't get the smile off his face. I will say, though, that maybe the most dynamic personality

of anyone that we talked to today zane parek who is a defenseman with saginaw who um now is a memorial cup champion he has if you've seen him play you know what i'm talking about one of the most creative defenders you have ever seen and by defenders i use that loosely because the accent is on offense with Zane Parekh like he he looks and plays in the offensive zone unlike anybody else in the draft class and his personality like Elliot when you talk to this guy when you get to Vegas you will love him like you're gonna love Ziv Buim who's fantastic you're gonna love dickinson and celebrating so polished and he's a pro i really think you're gonna like zane perak dynamic personality all of it he's he's uh he's got got quite a package there anyhow so you know what is not getting tested at this combine uh but he is

gonna be at another one there's a big get together we'll call it in florida 18th of the 23rd dan milstein's the agent who's organized all this and a few teams have told me about it there's going to be about 10 players there uh that no one has really seen in a long time because they're overseas based in russia there's a lot of teams that are going to be going. The rules there from the NHL sent a note out to all these teams and said, look, here's what the rules are. Anybody who's been invited to a combine, you can't test them because those players are only allowed to be tested at combines.

But there's going to be a bunch of players there that have not been invited to Combines, and apparently teams are preparing to bring down some medical staff, some sports science people. They're going to get a chance to meet and interview some of these players, like Dmitrov, Jeff, is going to be there. Now, I understand he's hurt. He's coming back from an injury.

I think it's an ankle injury, and he's not going to skate, but he is going to be able to meet with teams. So that sounds like it's going to be a pretty big event right before the draft. I think it's 18th to the 23rd. So that's another one a lot of these teams are going to be going to. Now, I was talking to a couple teams today. Are you a believer that there's going to be a big defenseman run after Celebrini? Yes, I do believe that. I think the lion's share of players this year are going to be defensemen after Celebrini goes.

I think there's a chance that Ivan Devonov goes second overall to Chicago. If not, Artem Levshinov, the big kid from Michigan State, the defenseman will go second, we suspect. But yes, I expect there to be a large run on defensemen. Absolutely. There's some great ones. You follow this closer than me, but that's what someone was telling me today. Yeah, absolutely true. You know, the Dan Milstein story with Zane Parekh is interesting, too.

Do you know how he got Milstein as an agent? No, no idea. He was introduced to him by someone he used to play with who then got traded to Ottawa on the OHL, was a first round draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks and that player is Pavel Minchikov

who was a first rounder and those two were pretty close when they played in Saginaw together. That's how Zane Perak got Dan Milstein as his agent. I thought that was pretty interesting there anyway. Oh, one thing I want to add about TJ Gimlet, which I thought was pretty interesting. He's grown up around hockey, right? So things that he doesn't find exceptional, everybody else will look at and go like,

holy smokes, that really happened? He told this great story about Nathan McKinnon coming over for Thanksgiving dinner at the again, his family obviously when his father was playing with the Colorado avalanche, like just the thought you look back and say like, Oh yeah, you know, young Nathan McKinnon was having Thanksgiving dinner with our family. And he talked about when dad was playing with the Calgary flames going over to Craig Conroy's house for Christmas

parties every year. And I think we're all thinking the same thing. How awesome would that be if the Calgary Flames, who just so you know, draft ninth overall, if he's still there, end up drafting T. Jiginla and former Jerome McGinley teammate, Craig Conroy, ends up drafting his son. You want to talk about stealing the draft, Elliot? If we get to the ninth pick and he's still on the board, the pressure on the Flames to take him is going to be immense.

It's going to be huge. Not that you base all of your picks based on the show business of it all, but first of all, if T. Jiginla falls to nine and you're Craig Conroy, run to the stage. Don't walk. Run to the stage and say his name. I'm skeptical that Ginnla is still going to be there at nine. I'm skeptical that T.J. Ginnla is still there at nine. I wonder if the Calgary Flames want him, if they're going to have to trade up to get him.

Okay, moving off the draft page, Elliot, the latest on the Vancouver Canucks, including Elias Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov. What do you hear? What do you know? Well, if Nikita Zadorov keeps golfing with Vancouver media people, there's going to be a story a day. He's on the golf course the other day with murph and now there's all of these scoops about what he's asking for how close they've been

are they making progress are they not making progress this is what i can tell you I think Nikita Zdorov has a number and the Vancouver Canucks and and I don't know when it was I I don't know if it was before the playoffs or I don't want to get into all of the infighting in Vancouver right now I just believe Zdorov has a number, and it might actually be a little less than he could get in the open market to stay in Vancouver. I don't think Vancouver is far away from it, but I don't think they've hit it. Now, I think they know what it's going to take to sign myers

and they can just park it like a sierra elevation when you don't mind use it you just park it over there and you say i'll get you when i'm ready that's what i think they're doing with Myers. When it comes to Zdorov, I don't think they're far, but they haven't gotten there. And because I think Zdorov is inclined to give them a bit of a break, they have to get there. I don't want to handicap it. I don't want to say it's this percentage or that percentage. I think Vancouver is trying to make the best deal they can. They're not there. And we'll see where we go here. I don't think this is impossible, but I think they have to get there.

Because I think Zdorov knows if he gets to the open market, he's going to be happy with what's out there. So it's going to be up to the Canucks to get to the number he wants. Okay. Okay. What about Elias Lindholm? So I remember a couple of weeks ago on the pod, I think it was actually during the playoffs,

we said that we talked about how the recruiting efforts from the Canucks players were pretty intense you got to stay you got to stay you got to find a way to stay I still think that that's going on I this is my guess okay I think the Canucks are willing to go in the seven times seven range. I'm just not sure it's going to get it done. Wow. I think the Canucks want this player. That's a big number, man. Yeah.

Now, I was having an argument with someone someone said to me someone said to me that why would you do that you've got Pedersen at 11.6 you've got Miller at eight why would you go to Lindholm at seven do you need your third line center making seven million and you know what i said to them jeff i called it loser thinking oh geez what is with you and loser thinking anything you disagree with is loser thinking remember we're supposed to say oh that's not stanley cub habits oh that's not a stanley cub habit elliot oh you got to clean that up it's not a stanley what's with loser thinking everything i disagree with is loser thinking you set a record for loser thinking at the beginning of this podcast

protecting assets is what i was doing first of all you pay for good players and and secondly secondly you pay for positions sometimes too, and he's a center. But the other thing is I see those three guys as flexible players. You can move them around. You can play Pedersen, Miller, Lindholm all down the middle, but you can move them to the wing. You can move them around. Look how good Vancouver looked with those three guys in their lineup if i have to stretch my dollars a little bit to keep those three guys in my lineup

i'll do it and then i'll figure out what i have to do to make it all work but i i this is my guess i think vancouver is willing to go into that range i'm just not sure it gets it done i don't want to speak for lynn holm but i heard as tough as it started in vancouver i heard he really liked it there now and he played great and uh it looked like he enjoyed it there and they enjoyed having him and i i'm with you on the flexibility i mean you can mix and match and move these guys around um the cement hasn't hardened around them in positions with the vancouver canucks um one vancouver adjacent story elliot what's happening with jeremy culleton so they've obviously made their head coaching change their malhotras and abbotsford i heard

there's a chance colton could end up with Sheldon Keefe in New Jersey. Hmm. I kind of wondered about Dean Chenoweth, too. Right. Because I think Dean Chenoweth's a good coach. But someone said to me, don't be surprised if it's Culleton in New Jersey. I'm kind of trying to figure out what San Jose's waiting for here. I,

it sounds like it's between Sturm and Warsawski. Blasio I heard at a second interview. I'm not sure that he's the favorite now. It sounds like it's between Sturm and Warsawski, but I'm just wondering what we're waiting for here you know there's another sidebar story to san jose and the coaching staff going on right now you know brian wiseman is allowed to talk to other teams as they you know wait to find out who their new head coach is going to be i'm told there's some there's for teams that are looking for someone that can help run a power play

there's interest out there in brian why we talked on the podcast a while ago how it was a top 10 power play team from like February on, which when you consider, with all due respect, when you consider the players that they were dealing with on that team, like they really did a good job on the power play. Just something to watch there that Brian Wiseman is out there. Also around the NHL. Are you watching the NBA game at all, the final? Right now, no.

I'm watching my computer screen in my lovely, tastefully decorated room in Buffalo. Oh, I'm doing both. And J.J. Redick just came on the screen. And for a second there, I thought it was Kyle Bukowskis. Great hair, eh? Yeah. Redick's got good hair. and for a second there i thought it was kyle bakoskis great hair eh yeah reddick's only one hair only one other person in sports i've ever seen with better hair that doesn't move you know that was remember vince cellini oh yeah vince cellini's hair never budged

man that guy had great hair oh did he ever had good hair? What is happening with Jake Gensel? There's a name. Dom, I'm going to tell Kyle you said that. Or you texted that to me. You go right ahead. Dom just sent us a text in our group chat. Kyle wishes he looked as good as JJ. I think it's the other way around.

You're just more vicious Vancouverite. What's with all the hostility in Vancouver these days? Why is someone so angry? I know. See, Dom. the way around you're just you're just more vicious Vancouver right it was with all the hostility in Vancouver these days I know you're one of these Vancouver people they just mad at everyone all the time what's good what's going yeah I mean supposed to be the West Coast they're supposed to be so they're ripping each other they're ripping media members like i've told you before my sister lives on the island like every time i go to bc every time i go to vancouver specifically or victoria i'm in a great mood it's awesome it's wonderful like the weather the jog it's great why is everyone so

angry it's a great place you won you guys won you get to live in vancouver you get to live in bc you won i mean i know real estate is really expensive well that's not yeah that's not great um what's happening with jake genzel i mean the sea to sky highway you got extra lanes what are you guys still so mad about that's a good one i made merrick have a coughing fit with that one oh jeez i gotta switch brands of cigarettes. These are making me cough. What's the latest with Jake Gensel? So it sounds like he's available for a mid-round pick.

I believe Caroline has let everybody know that if you want to trade for his rights, for the chance to sign him, that it's possible for a mid-round pick. A lot of teams lined up on that one? I'm sure there's a ton of interest. I mean, you've just got to know, do you think you're going to get him? So on your show the other day and on my NHL Network hit on Wednesday, we talked about our theories, and scott lachlan asked me for a wild theory and and i said chicago and i do think there's something to that now you said

san jose yeah maybe maybe sign cancel they celebrate you won't be too scared to go to the nhl they need to protect their assets instead of just throwing them like to the wolves like you would do as a general manager of the San Jose Sharks. Someone said to me, like, why do you guys hate Jake Gensel so much? You don't want him to win ever again? They'll turn it around. Both teams will turn it around. By the time, yeah, seriously, I kind of got a good laugh out of that.

I did have a couple of people say to me, San Jose is a long way away still. When it comes to Chicago, they were like, at the beginning, they were like, eh. And then someone said to me, Chicago's starting to make noises like they'd like to move things along a little bit here. I can see that. I don't know. They're getting another top player in a couple of weeks here. I don't think it's impossible that Chicago is considering this. Let's put it that way.

We'll see. We'll see where it all goes, but I don't think it's impossible. We'll see how it all ends up, but he's available. With Natchez, I wanted to address this too. Carolina is letting people know that they consider Natchez a budding star and that's the kind of return they want. A star that's on the horizon, like a star that's about to pop or someone who's already established.

Star power is what they want in return, I heard. Okay, so we're not dealing with picks and prospects here. Like we talked about the other day on the radio show. They want players. A middling pick and a B prospect? Yeah, it's not going to get done. Or a first rounder and a decent prospect? Like that's not going to do it.

Now, Carolina is indicating they are prepared to go ahead with Natchez next year. I'm not sure that Natchez is thrilled with that idea. Well, they got to get a contract first. This is the joust that you go through right now. But Carolina is letting people know that this is not a middling picks and prospects trade. They consider Natchez a a really good player and i think there's also like they recognize that just because he may not necessarily be built for offense the way

that brendamore plays it they recognize that if he goes somewhere else where he's allowed to rush the puck a bit more it's a bit more built into the offense, he's going to go to another level. And that's the way they see a trade. If you're a team that's really bad on the three-on-three overtime, Martin Natchez is your guy. And one of the things, Elliot, that was almost as automatic as McDavid and Dreisaitl on

three-on-three was Ajo and Natchez. If you're a team that needs help in the overtime, getting up those points, picking up those points, Marty Natchez. Yeah. If you're a team that needs help in the overtime, getting up those points, picking up those points, Marty Natchez is your guy. Anything new on the Buffalo Sabres? And we should point out, too, as Seth Appert joins Lindy Ruff's bench, Michael Leone, who spent a couple of seasons with Green Bay of the USHL

as both coach and general manager, is the new head coach of the Rochester Americans. You know, we mentioned on your show the other day, it's like Tom Fitzgerald went on the record with NHL.com and said his 10th pick is available. I think Buffalo's 11th pick is available too. I don't think they're just going to do it to do it, but they've got it out there.

And they said, if you are really interested in that pick and it's something that'll help us we'll do it like they've and the thing is like they haven't limited to we want this they're willing to move down get more assets they're willing to get a player for it like i think they're really interested in another top six forward that That's what I think they're looking for. And if they can find one, they will do it. That's what a couple of teams have told me. Now, one of the things that Buffalo has indicated is, you know,

they've got a bunch of their guys signed, obviously, but they have the next wave of players coming, and eventually they're going to sign have to sign those guys too and they don't want to walk themselves into cap problems but if there's an impactful top six forward out there they're looking i mean it's almost dumb to say like everybody's looking but that's what buffalo's really looking for. Okay. You know, one thing that I found interesting that you mentioned this week was UC Soros and the Igor Shcherkin contract. I actually didn't think this was a big deal. No.

You know why this is a big deal? Because you know where my brain flashed back to right away? 2021. The summer of 2021, the Oilers were doing an extension with Darnell nurse I think they were looking Elliot somewhere in the neighborhood of five times five I think some something like that oh and then all those other D's signed and then so that yeah so then um in So then in July on the 23rd, Seth Jones signed a deal. Eight years, $76 million, $9.5 million. And all of a sudden, the Darnell Nurse deal changed.

And it changed for a lot of defensemen specifically. That's why I think this is a big story again, much like the way that the Seth Joneses of the world changed the landscape for players like Darnell Nurse. Whatever ends up happening here with Igor Shcherkin is going to absolutely impact UC Soros if he allows it to and doesn't just rush to do a deal before Shcherkin sets a new bar.

That's why I think it's a big deal. Okay, so this is one of those things. I do a weekly radio hit in Nashville, which I really like doing. Carolyn Fenton and Willie Donick and Derek Mason, I really enjoy talking to them. So Willie asked me today, do you think the agent for Soros, talking to them so willie asked me today like do you think the agent for sorrows uh who's kevin app could wait for shisterka and i was like yeah sure i mean absolutely he could if that's what he wanted to do and this goes i filed this under one of those things that you just never know in the

social media world what's going to take off like there's things that you say you think they're they're just normal and they go kablooey and then there's things say oh this is going to be a huge bomb and it goes absolutely nowhere like there's no control over and this is one of those things i said this is perfectly normal like of course the agent could wait and the next thing i knew was going crazy and i was like wow i didn't think I actually said anything crazy here. Look, I believe that the one thing I said that I really stick to is that one of the reasons I think Saros' name got out in the trade rumors around the deadline this year. And at one time I said, I thought was about 50-50, is that if the negotiations had gone really well, I don't think there would have been any chance he was getting traded. And I do think the Predators and his representatives met and they talked about him being a Predator for life. And then when the two sides started talking about parameters of a contract, it wasn't in a place that Nashville was comfortable with.

And it's all negotiation. And, see what happens. And I understand that negotiations are rarely linear. So these things go on, I tend not to freak out about them. So when they brought up, could he wait? Because Shisterkin is going to sign a big number. I'm like, yeah, absolutely certain it could happen. But again, just because that that is a tactic of the agent and what he should do, it doesn't mean that that's the way it's going to end up. And, you know, that's the one thing here. It sure sounds to me like Saros and the Predators would like to continue this marriage. You just got to get to a number and Barry Trotz even said at the end of the season like don't be surprised if this goes past July 1st so I think even he like most general

managers is looking not necessarily where we are but where we're going so I mean I was a little surprised this this one turned into news. But you know, like in this day and age, you you never know what's going to be big. Like, like, I'll tell you something right now, Jeff, is that I have guys telling me that there are some defensemen this year that are going to hit massive paydays. Because you just look at all the teams looking for defensemen. I mean, Utah has nobody signed. Carolina has a bunch of guys not signed, and they've got two of the UFAs. You know, Dallas's spots, everybody thinks Toronto is looking for two defensemen.

Like, if you're a good D, this is the right time. Oh, and by the way, the other thing I should mention is one of the things that I was told to check in at the beginning of June and the calendar says it's the beginning of June is that there was going to be a conversation if the playoffs were high revenue playoffs between the league and the players association. Like we know the cap is going to 87-7.

Would there be any reason to go higher? Because the debt's already paid off. And you take a look at it. Edmonton's in the final. That's a huge revenue team. The Rangers made the semifinal. They're a huge revenue team. How'd Toronto do?

Toronto lost in the first round. Oh, sorry. Just tweet at Jeff Lee fans. huge revenue team how'd toronto do i'm trying to try to lost in the first round oh sorry just tweeted jeff lee fence and i'm under the impression that the league and the players association are talking about it a bit what someone said to me was if it happens it's not gonna be a huge jump a huge jump right but maybe they round it to 88 so maybe teams get like an extra 300k help the weekend go smooth elliot help the weekend i can have a really good weekend for 300 000 well we are going to vegas soon elliot we are going to vegas soon uh a couple of people want to make special note of here and and I think you do as well. Yeah.

Kevin Wilson of the Nashville Predators after 17 seasons. Like, in this, in what we do, we work a lot with people in the communications department, the media relations people, and the 32 NHL teams. And I've always said that, you know, there's a lot of great ones. Kevin Wilson is a Cadillac. Kevin Wilson has now Nashville does have this history as well. Like the entire organization is like this, but Kevin Wilson always sort of went above and beyond.

I just want to make special note because after 17 seasons, he's moving on to different challenges, Elliot, in his career. Kevin was, it was a huge help. There's a lot of teams in this league that, in Canada, you're used to getting all the attention. And in the States, there's some markets that are used to getting a lot of attention. There's some markets that really have to battle for it.

And I mean, there's a lot of really helpful teams in this league and nashville is is one of them it's going to be weird to not see him around nashville one of the things like i'm an old man now at 53 jeff and i don't like change and a lot of the media really a lot of the media relations people that i quote-unquote grew up with, they're starting to turn over. Like Rich Nairn, he left Arizona. I mean, I was happy to see that Jeffrey Sanders went to Utah with the team, but Rich Nairn, he left Arizona.

Mike Altieri is in semi-retirement in Los Angeles. Now Kevin Wilson leaves. Like Kevin Wilson's time in Nashville basically is my time at Hockey Night in Canada almost 20 years. So I don't like change. I don't like seeing the people I quote unquote grew up with leaving.

But I hope Kevin, he's got a young family. So I hope he enjoys a quieter, more at home life with his young family he won't have to hear from us so all of a sudden his blood pressure automatically goes down kevin yes tremendous job take a bow job well done um nashville is the the envy of a lot of people in the league one other, speaking of change, and this is a tough one for us, I'll be honest, Elliot, Rick Ball, Leaf Sportsnet, play-by-play voice,

handling the affairs for the Calgary Flames, is now the new voice of the Chicago Blackhawks replacing Chris Vosters. I think Rick is a hell of a talent. I don't believe anyone is irreplaceable, but Rick is as good as it gets. I saw there was, you know, one of the things that shows that you're really good at something

is when the announcement comes and fans are really sorry to see you leave. And that's what one person remarked to me on thursday is that the flames fans were really sorry to see rick go i i i think he's uh a really really good play-by-play guy and i think he'll do a great job with their paying in chicago the only advice i would give the Blackhawks here is don't give those two guys a company credit card because they will blow it on wine. They do enjoy the red grapes.

They do. But they'll be a fantastic team together. They'll be a lot of great Conor Bedard goals, goal calls or assist calls or spectacular play calls um you know i'm i'm happy for rick i i you know i just at our place i think one of the really challenging things at our place is there's a lot of really good play-by-play people and there are only so many playoff rounds you know we do like, like in the first round of the playoffs this year, we produce four series, and we pick up four called plug-and-plays.

And, you know, in the second round, it can drop to two or three, and then two, and then one. And you look at all of the great play-by-play people we have, from Chris Cuthbert to John Bartlett to Hanurayan Singh to Rick Ball to Jack Michaels to John Shorthouse to Mike Locke, who's done a few games with us. If I'm missing anyone, please excuse me. It's two months into the playoffs, and I can't even remember my own family's names.

But that's a lot of people for not a lot of spots. And one of the things I really do think, I do not envy the challenge that our bosses have of picking who gets to do what sometimes because you're leaving really good players on the bench and you know I I think it's a tough thing like I know what it's like uh one of the things I've started doing in the playoffs more is I take more nights off in the playoffs like I never used to take nights off in the playoffs now I'll take one or two and it's hard for me to do that i don't like being off the air in the postseason

it's the best time of year so i can only imagine for some of these play-by-playing and analysts and even the the ringside reporters sure um to not be there it's it's very hard and we have a deep deep bench so i'm sore to see rick go but the blackhawks at the beginning of the conor bedard era it's yeah how do you say no to that he's gonna call a lot of great hockey um rick congratulations we will miss you but we will not miss many if any of your games in chicago take a bow for the job you did at sportsnet we very much look forward to hearing you call the Chicago Blackhawks. And I would also say this, Jeff, like for the Flames fans who are sorry about losing Rick,

there are so many good play-by-play voices now that there'll be someone really good who ends up in that spot. It might take you a little bit to get used to them if it's not someone you don't know already, like a Harner Ryan or a Derek Wills, but someone really good will be in that spot. Absolutely. On that, we'll wrap up A Block.

Coming up in a couple of moments, Montana's Thought Line, and we'll have a thought on Game 1. Elliot, we're one day away. Finally. 32 Thoughts continues in a moment. Listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast time now for the montana's thought line montana's barbecue and bar bar Canada's home for barbecue. That's actually Elliot on the guitar in the background there.

Thank you to Rick Turner as always for the sounds. Definitely is not 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca 1 8833-311-3232 the way to get in and these are all curated as always lovingly by Griffin Porter the Montana's Thoughtline email and voicemail curator Colin from California hey y'all back in 2022 you answered a question of mine

about European coaches so thanks for that Colin gets in again I know how much y'all that's the second y'all let's calm down here love hockey of ye old times and hockey history questions and watching arenas full of fans in home jerseys this playoffs got me wondering when did the tradition of wearing jerseys to games start how and when did we go from showing up to a game in your suit and hat to today i'm sure it all happened around the same time as the other big sports actually hockey was a little bit later we'll get to that in a second and that has something to do with the teams realizing they

can make money from selling jerseys but i'd love to hear your guys's take thanks for all the hard work you guys put in listening to the pod is always a bright spot in my week. That is Colin from California. I think football was 70s, Elliot, but hockey wasn't until the 80s. It was that late? Yes, it was. Really? Yes, it was. Now, Minnesota North Stars, and I should have called Lou Nanny to ask him about it, but I think the Minnesota North Stars might've been one of the first ones,

but you really started to see in the 80s, remember those CCM Maska jerseys that people started to wear? I think they were pretty thin, thin material, but you started to see them showing up at rinks. Someone mentioned to me a long time ago that what began to pop hockey merchandise was the Mir on ice that because

after that you know humongous game in the history of hockey you know they rolled out you know jerseys and hoodies and hats and and all of it and that was part of that momentum going but i think that you can correct me if i'm wrong here I believe football was the first in the 70s where fans would show up with football jerseys. I believe baseball as well. But it wasn't until the 80s. And I'll tell you what, what I kind of find jarring, you know, when you look at old pictures and you see whiteboards with no r board advertising that it kind of jars you like this is what we grew up with right elliot but now you look back on it and it's like whoa you know one of the things that always jars me when i look at these old photographs no jerseys

there's not like no jerseys no hats no nothing like i remember reading an article online there was a there was a i can't remember the name of the blog, but one of the points that the author was making was, can you imagine if they were selling merch in 1980 at Lake Placid after that game, how much money they would have made as everybody would have wanted to grab a piece, a hat, a shirt, a hoodie, a a jacket of something from the Miracle on Ice game but it was the 80s and CCM were at the Vanguard of it CCMs were the CCM jerseys were the first ones who really get that ball rolling but I always look at that I look at the shots in the stands and that's one of the things that's jarring to me kind of like white boards where are all the jerseys where are all the jerseys I gotta tell you I am shocked that it was that late 80s yeah 80s go back and look at pictures of the 70s elliott there's not jerseys man they start to really show up in prominence in the 1980s wow yeah savannah pittsburgh pennsylvania hey elliot and jeff happy playoff

season i am a new fan ell, I love hearing from new fans. And learning a lot of things through podcasts. Despite living in Pittsburgh my entire life and being surrounded by Pens fans, I'm joining the bandwagon. It may be a bit past our prime of the last 10 years or so. My dad helps me learn the rules a bit.

That's awesome, Savannah. But he is very biased against fighting in games and I'm not sure I'm getting the best understanding of the rules around fighting in the NHL. Lately, in the games I've been watching, when I see scrums appear to start, it looks like the refs are starting to separate any would-be fights. Are you able to clarify why do refs stop fights before they start sometimes and let them go at other times? To my understanding, some teams have a designated quote tough guy who can fight rempy on the rangers and some other big dudes but i'm not sure i totally understand thanks

for any insight you can provide p.s the montana's thought line jingle has me really considering making a trip up north to try the ribs and she attached a canadian flag to it uh savannah thank you so much for that one fighting elliott's uh for savannah in pittsburgh referees and linesmen well actually not referees because they don't break it up linesmen breaking it up and who gets the fight and why honestly jeff sometimes i think it's if they feel it's a real mismatch or they sense that there's a player here who doesn't really want a part of it or they think the knight is going to get out of control they'll step in and just break them up i think they do that more than ever now i don't know that but just looking at it from my own eye test i think they break up more fights than ever

before they really start. Agree or disagree? I do agree with that. I do. I very much do agree with that. I think that there are some fights that officials look at, to your other point, about things getting out of hand.

They look at some fights and say, okay, you know what? This is going to be a release valve. Let's just let these two get it out of the way. It'll be the release valve. All that stress and pressure will be gone and we'll get on with playing the game the one thing that i do want to point out was was for savannah here who emails in is one thing you have to watch for and linesmen are told to do this um is if you're going to break up a fight the two linesmen have to grab the players at the same time

yes there's a lot of times i know that kevin collins used to always get accused of being overly aggressive as a as an official grabbing one guy and before his before his other linesman would grab the other player and obviously you know one guy's getting held and that guy's going to end up getting punched yes so you have to be careful and make sure that both grab at the same time. As far as designated tough guys go, I don't think it's really like sort of like a designation, like there's our fighter, although it does kind of exist. Like there are just some sort of, you know,

players that emerge that do it more than others, but it's not as if that is their entire and sole responsibility as a hockey player. Once upon a time, more so than ever, certainly, but not so much anymore. I think also, too, if a player loses the helmet, that's another one. Well, how many times have you seen officials, when players go down, grab the player if they've lost a helmet so their heads don't hit the ice? Yes. That's a big one.

I'll tell you what. You know who I used to really like watching was Paul Stewart. Paul Stewart, who we know when he played in the NHL was a real tough guy, and he became an NHL referee, and he hated scrums. I remember asking Stewie about that. He's like, I hated scrums. I couldn't stand scrums. If you're going to fight, fight.

If not, just get to the dot. And so I remember watching games, and Stew said oh yeah I did that deliberately he said if I saw a scrum break out I would pull the linesman out because the one thing that players love is oh the linesman's gonna break this up I can do the tough guy act but when you hear the referee pull the linesman out it's like okay you're either going to do this or you're going to face off all of a sudden people's motivations change and their behavior changes elliot i always liked when uh when when stewie used to do that um one more thing justin in new jersey elliot you handle this one i know the nhl is awarded the playoff mvp to losing players js shigera won against my devils in 2003 could have just as easily went to martin braduru shut out the ducks three times i'm still a little bitter lol but has the nhl ever awarded

the conspire to a player whose team didn't reach the cup final or is it a prerequisite or code to be in the final round try the ribs there's no prere. You don't have to reach the final. It's never happened. And you would have to have a ridiculous playoffs. Have you ever wondered about that, though? A ludicrous speed playoffs to do that. If some guy gets like 70 points, but his team loses in the conference final, he doesn't play in the Stanley Cup final, but he's like scotching the field for points. Have you ever wondered about that?

Would there actually be some consideration for that player? I don't think that there would, but it would be interesting. Well, if you think about it, remember McDavid, was it last year? He almost led the playoffs in scoring, even though they got knocked out. It was the Colorado year, 2022. He almost led the playoffs in scoring and they were out i don't think it would ever get consideration no i don't think so great question though and happy to have it on the montana's thought line montana's barbecue and bar canada's home for barbecue

we're back in a moment game one checks notes holy smokes it's tomorrow we'll be right back 32 thoughts thoughts the podcast presented by the gmc sierra elevation elliott we're finally almost there saturday night eight o'clock eastern flor Florida Panthers, Edmonton Oilers, Game 1. I mean, it feels like we've sort of exhausted the conversation leading up to this one because we talk on the radio together every single day and have had these conversations online and elsewhere as well. But before I ask you about what are you looking for in Game 1, what do you expect out of the Oilers, expect out of the Panthers, etc., favorite sidebar stories, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Is this too long? Is this too long between games? It is, but it's hard for me to complain about it because it's kind of television's fault. I get it. I get it. And you may not realize, but we work in television. The last time I checked.

I mean, all that happened was I just got really sour about the Blue Jays dropping games. But then, you know, they ended up winning a pair against the Baltimore Orioles. So by the end of the week, I was kind of feeling better about myself. But I've always of the mind that during the playoffs, just considering, you know, how it is the most important time of the year for your sport. You never want to give your fans any time to look away. Yeah, I understand that. A chance to find something else, you know? I get that. I completely get that.

But what are you going to do? Well, the thing is, like, I do know that if the Western Conference Final had ended in five and the East in six, there was a chance we would have started. I think tonight, Thursday is when we tape this. But because it went a little bit longer, they couldn't get there. I mean, the NBA did the same thing. They played game one on Thursday night, and I think they were off for a week, too. It all has to do with TV windows,

and probably more in the United States than with us. So we are kind of the villain of this story, but not as much the villain of this story. Blame America. Is that how the song goes but it is all about tv windows yeah in a perfect world this would have happened much much sooner i i understand why all the fans hate it and i'll say this again but i know the fans are going to hate the two days off. It's going to make for better hockey.

With the distance in this final, it's actually going to help. Yep, I don't disagree with that at all. Give me a good, healthy final. Well, as healthy as you can get, given the fact they've already played three rounds of playoff hockey. So how do you look at this one? I know that you just landed it. As we're recording this podcast,

Elliot has been in his hotel room for about before we started, a cozy 15 minutes. I don't even think you have exploding suitcase yet. You got in probably, I don't even know, you dragged a comb through your hair. I don't know what you did, but you got in the room and then you got your podcast

equipment ready and we've been barking it out ever since. But how do you look at this series? How do you look at game one here between these two teams we've had a lot of time to think about it that's for sure my standard answer has been i think again florida's the favorite but only an idiot bets against connor mcdavid to me the key player in this series is Stuart Skinner. If Edmonton gets the Stuart Skinner that closed out the Dallas series, then this is a toss-up to me. I think you'd look in goal and say that Bobrowski has the advantage,

but we all thought that last round too, and look at the way Skinner finished. I think the key is in every series he's played in, he's had at least one game where you look askance at him and you say boy that one wasn't pretty I think he has to eliminate that and and based on the way he finished the last series I don't see why he can't I just feel right now that they can't throw games away against the Panthers no um and this is the second time in a row we've seen against the Panthers. No.

And this is the second time in a row we've seen the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup final. It looks and feels and they sound, Elliot, the Florida Panthers, that is, like a different team. You know, last year was a sort of novelty of being there. Do you not feel like they're a more sort of measured and mature team going into this one like i know like i'm with you like it's the fool that bets against conor mcdavid um yeah i understand i understand that but there is just a a maturity and an understanding of what

is about to happen here that florida just seems very very comfortable with yeah they they were they were no match for vegas last year and i mean kachuk got hurt late in that series yeah it's crazy it really ended whatever chance they had of making it a series um you know i i think if you listen to akholm and he spoke in our last podcast we talked about this and then Ekholm spoke probably about it Florida is going to know that last year kind of ended before it started and Ekholm talked about how in 2017 with Nashville against Pittsburgh for them it really ended before it started because they went down to nothing if you're a team in the stanley cup final you cannot go down to zip um if if you're down to zip it it's it's very very hard at this point in the year to come back just because you've

already expended so much energy just to get here now i i think these two teams got rest, but I think this game one, both these teams are going to start like a house on fire. And whoever loses game one, I think they're going to play game two like crazy. So I see two teams here and Florida understands it a bit more like the Oilers are going to be told about it. Florida's lived it. The Oilers are going to have to match the way that Florida started this series and as we know Edmonton is one of the worst game one teams in the playoffs except for Dallas who they beat in game one of the last series. So Edmonton's got to start on time. I like to me this series is a toss-up. Pierre Biermann for aftonbladet always does a pick he asked about

200 people 250 people to make their pick and he's got some nhlers in there like saw nick lidstrom picked florida um and i you know who am i to argue with nick lidstrom but i took holders in seven i think this one's gonna go seven games i hope it does uh i i want to see it i want to see seven games of this one with the uh the fighter power and the talent on both sides give me seven august underway saturday that's tomorrow folks finally the drought is over nhl hockey returns eight o'clock eastern uh you can watch this one on hockey night in canada okay that's it we will now turn to our Stanley Cup final programming schedule, which means

you get a podcast after every single Stanley Cup final game. Our vow to you. So with that, enjoy the game on Saturday. We'll talk to you again. Jeez, Elliot, Sunday morning. Holy smokes. Alright, talk to you

Sunday.