32 Thoughts: The Podcast - March Madness on Ice

Episode Date: March 21, 2025

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman begin by unwrapping the latest around NHL expansion and the city of Houston (2:50). Afterwards, they delve into the Jets-Oilers tilt on Thursday where Connor McDavid and Stuart Skinner left early (11:39) and unpack a very tight playoff race in the Eastern Conference (16:34). They move West where Kyle and Elliotte touch on the Blues' taking hold of the final playoff spot after they beat Vancouver (24:10), the Flames' win over the Devils (31:17), and John Tavares reaching 1,100 career points (34:26). Next, replay fatigue and why there are too many goals coming off the board (36:48) plus Utah's push in the playoff race and how Ryan Smith is generating more fan interest (41:24). Elliotte highlights Andrew Brunette's pointed comments about his Nashville players (42:46) and the guys talk about Brent Burns playing 911 consecutive games (50:29). The Final Thought focuses on Elliotte's proposal to fix the advantage that the no-tax states currently enjoy (52:20).Kyle and Elliotte answer your questions and respond to your voicemails in the Thought Line (1:01:46).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates

I know some people out there who try to show that they're real music snobs or music geniuses. They'll look at an album and they'll try to find like the eighth or ninth song and say, oh, I have a really deep connection to music and I like this one. I am not one of those people. I cannot stand those people. Welcome to 32 thoughts. The podcast presented by the GMC Sierra 84 X Tom Schermati, Kyle Bacoskas, Elliot Friedman back with you.

Elliot Thursday was the first day of March Madness. It kind of felt like March Madness of the NHL 14 games on the schedule. Plenty was some serious playoff implications. We're going to get to all of that in a little bit before Before we get to the news Elliot, I just have to shout out quickly Spencer Shagru of Toronto Metropolitan University. Did you see this on Thursday? I did. I got a text from John Davis, friend of the pod West Coast hockey, whose son goes to school there and he told us about the game that was going into so

it's basically the quarterfinals of the Canadian University Hockey Championships yeah and the core the one game between TMU and Mount Royal is the longest game in the sports history it went what four over times the goals33 into the fifth overtime shagru ended it for TMU putting them into the semi-finals Well, the thing that's amazing about that is is Clark singer who's the coach at Western? he sent a note to me and he said that Mount Royal actually scored in the second to go up four to one, but after a review that fourth goal was called back.

So it's wild to see that this replay fatigue is not only hitting in the NHL, but it's hitting every other league as well because after TMU scored That overtime winner they reviewed it as well I don't even know what they were reviewing it for But they're celebrating and then they reviewed it and they got to celebrate again It was pretty incredible theater and i'm glad you brought it up Yes the uh the game in its entirety, you can watch it back. It's streamed on YouTube.

The video is six hours and 55 minutes long. If you wish to relive that thriller at the university cup held in Ottawa this weekend, such good hockey. So wanted to shout that out before we get started here. In earnest, Elliot, and we ought to start, as you like to point out, we are a news pod. So it has been felt for a little while now, Elliot, that it was a matter of when, not if, the NHL would look to expand again. The news coming down on Thursday. Dan Friedkin, a man with very, very deep pockets, is looking at bringing an NHL expansion team to Houston. What else can you tell us about this development? Well, Emily Kaplan was the one who reported the name from ESPN, and Friedkin has been

rumored to be around this for a little bit of time. She obviously got it confirmed. And the one thing I missed over the last few months was that David Beeston, who was part of Fenway, when Fenway bought the Pittsburgh Penguins and left around the draft last year, he left Fenway Group, but he joined Clear Lake Capital which had which has an affiliation with Friedkin and a couple of months ago in February he it was reported that he joined with Dan Friedkin in a sports only position

and right then I'm just out to lunch because the moment it was reported that Beeston was joining we should have seen this coming, that he was the guy. So yes, I think this report is 100% accurate. Now one of the things that's kind of gone on there is I think the NHL has looked at Houston for a while. You know, there's been a lot of focus on Atlanta because there's been a bunch of different groups including Anson Carter's that have spoken up about going back there but I really do believe the number one apple

in the NHL's eye is Houston. It's the largest market in North America without a team. It's a very, very major city and it's right near Dallas. It's a natural Texas rivalry with the Stars. I think there's a lot about it that appeals to the National Hockey League. Plus, Houston's got a hockey history. It was a good minor league hockey for a long time. The old arrows of the WHA where Gordie Howe played with Mark and Marty. Anyway, the big issue in Houston is that Tillman Fertitta, who owns the NBA Rockets, while he's shown some interest in the NHL, he's never showed it at the number the NHL wants. A few years ago, Fertitta met with the league and he said, I'm interested. And he wanted another tenant for his building, but his offer was low.

What he was willing to pay was low. I believe, although I've never been told for sure, it has been hinted to me that it was lower than the expansion fees that were paid Vegas 500 and Seattle 650. And the NHL is not going to go there. So Fertitta was interested, but at his price, not what the NHL wanted and at times there were some rumors and I've talked about them before on the pod that the league would go there with someone new who would build an arena and I think is Friedkin's interest grew over the last little while there were times that Fertitta's name kicked up again. And I think

people suspected that he was aware that there was some bigger competition for Houston coming, and he kind of got back into it, maybe more as protection against another building coming in. protection against another building coming in because there were also rumors that this other group might partner with Tim Laiwiki and the Oakview Group to build an arena and Tim Laiwiki is not to be trifled with in the arena building business. He knows what he's doing, he does very well and if that new building came in there it would be a big threat to Fertitta and the Rockets. So there was a time it looked like he was pulled back in, but now it appears that Friedkin

is ready to do this on his own. We'll see what we're talking about for a building here. I've heard he is talking about a number that would be more to the NHL's liking. I think the league would like to do expansion around $2 billion, maybe a little bit less. We'll see what we're talking about here, but I definitely- $2 billion for one team? Yep. That's what they'd like to do. Can they do it? I don't know Yep, that's what they'd like to do. Can they do it?

I don't know, but that's what they'd like to do. But, and I think he's closer to that ballpark than definitely if Fertitta was, and we'll see where we go. But I do think the Houston thing is real, and I'm very curious to see where we go here over the next few years. You know, the Commissioner said at the GM meetings that they are going to have talks with

the NHLPA the week of April the 1st. Everybody right now seems to be in a very good place. The financial framework with the cap is done for the next three years. He's working on a new Canadian TV deal. And the NHL has indicated to the Players Association that expansion is coming. We just don't know the timetable yet. We don't know exactly what we're looking at. And one of the things I'm curious about and someone mentioned it to me on Thursday after the story broke is they're kind of wondering how the NHL would feel about expanding by one team at a time, committing to two markets but one and then the other. And I think one of the things they're kind of talking about

here is, and one of the reasons they're kind of talking about this is, if both cities need new facilities, is there one that can go quicker than the other? And secondly, I think I've heard there is concern that there just isn't enough talent to expand by two teams at once. I think they're prepared to think about two teams staggered, but I'm not sure they're ready to do two teams at once. So we'll see.

You've still got me a bit shocked by this whole two billion notion. I mean, maybe I've been asleep at the wheel here, but I totally understand we were heading in the direction of the next expansion team would be at least around one billion with the sale of some of the other current franchises in the NHL the last little while, but now we're at two? How did we get there so quickly? Well, like I said, I don't know if they'll get to two, but I think they'd like to get close to there. Like, look, like Tampa sold for what, 1.8?

Yeah. So if you're selling your teams for 1.8, you can't expand for much less than that right yeah yeah like you know Ottawa went 900 Pittsburgh was around 900 I can't remember off the top my head you're not going backwards Tampa Bay just went for 1.8 billion. What do you think you're charging an expansion team for? You're not going to put a number in there that devalues your franchises.

Yeah. Fascinating. Fascinating how quickly those fees have caught fire. I mean, it has to be one of the great deals, the great bargains in NHL history is the expansion fee in Vegas as history has quickly shown us. And that seemed like a massive number at the time. That's right. And they immediately became a powerhouse financially and on the ice. Exactly. Exactly. So that's something to watch

there too and then in terms of the plethora of games we had here on Thursday night, Elliot, I suppose we should start in Northern Alberta, the All-Canadian matchup, the Winnipeg Jets and the Oilers. So Winnipeg winners in overtime, Kyle Connor the hero and OT there. But the big news, Conner McDavid, not only McDavid but Stuart Skinner also leaving the game with injury. Some nervous times around Edmonton

seeing those two players leave early. And Dry Cytl didn't even play. Right, on top of those two, of course. I actually, so first of all, I looked up, I worked Toronto Rangers and you know, you called it March Madness earlier. It was very comparable because Calgary had the phenomenal third period comeback that nobody saw coming. That's just not what Calgary does. Then Vancouver had the incredible Lake Gull by Besser to go into overtime. Then Montreal had the big comeback to go into overtime. Columbus and Florida went into overtime. Like there were a bunch of games that

time. Like there were a bunch of games that were spectacular in terms of their drama. Ovechkin scored 888 and the Capitals held on to clinch a playoff berth. The Maple Leafs held on to hold off the Rangers. There were a lot of things going on that were crazy. And I looked up and I saw Edmonton, Winnipeg midway through the second period. And the shots were nine to eight. And I said to myself, who kidnapped the real jets in the Oilers? Like these two teams, the way they play should not be at nine, eight, halfway through the hockey game.

I thought the others showed a lot of fight. No dry sidles as we said. As you said, McDavid goes out in the second intermission. Those guys could have packed it in. They could have said, not our night. Our two engines are not playing and they got the point out of it. I thought they fought really hard. Like, you know, it's interesting about this because

McDavid and Dry Cytl, because of how great they are and what they can do, they overshadow everybody else, right? And this was a moment for everybody else to say, And this was a moment for everybody else to say, we're not just the backup singers. We can lead the chorus. And they didn't win, but they got a point out of it. I thought they really played hard. But they said they didn't seem him all that concerned about Dry-Sidle. He doesn't miss a lot of games. I think you're always concerned about McDavid. Like if he leaves a game, you think that it takes a team of Clydesdales to drag him out of there. And we'll see where this goes over the next couple of days.

They play in our late game Saturday night against Seattle. Um, but I really thought that they showed a lot of fight to get that extra point. Um, you know, the one thing about McDavid is ever since the four nations where it took a lot out of them, like team USA was built to slow down Connor McDavid. And I love the way he battled through it. I, I really loved the way he battled through to, to win that tournament for Canada, but he was exhausted after it was over and it took him a while by his own admission to get back to where he needed to be. And now this injury happens.

You know, I don't think injuries right now, as long as they're not long-term injuries are going to be a bad for a lot of these guys who played the four nations. Like I don't think it's going to be a bad thing for some of these players to take time off with the caveat that it's not serious. Because I look, for example, I look at Florida now, you know, Kulagov got hurt quietly. He's a very good player for them. You know, Florida's guys just keep getting injured. And again, as long as these aren't serious, I don't think they're the worst things, but

you know everybody right now in Edmonton is holding their breath that this isn't that bad. Okay, and you touched on it there earlier. Yes, congratulations to the Washington Capitals, the first team to clinch a playoff spot this season, first team to 100 points this season and Alex Slovechkin as you say 888 he is seven away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's record. They win on Thursday night. I thought it was just to say Montreal ended up losing in overtime but in that comeback there you know Brendan Gallagher

scoring the tying goal in the third period you know he's been playing with a very heavy heart the last couple of days as the news coming out that his mom Della passed away recently. We saw after a big moment there in the Ottawa game earlier this week, Elliot, as he was you know pounding his chest going back to the bench. Just a beautiful bit of poetry there that he's the one to find the back of the net and a huge moment again for Montreal as they continue their push to the postseason and trying to stay in the race and lock up a spot. I mean that East, you look at the top, you look at the, aside from Washington, as you

mentioned, free and clear into the playoffs, that East, like all of a sudden, you look at the cutoff at the top of the Atlantic division and the cutoff at the wild card, this is going to be a race to the end of the season for everybody here. We joked about it earlier in the week. Last week, Toronto fans were like, we're doomed. We're finishing third. We're going to get killed in the first round.

And now three wins in a row. We're back. You know, they're, they're tied for first with the Panthers in points. Tampa is two back of them with both of those teams with a game in hand. And the Maple Leafs still play Florida, I think twice and Tampa once. Like this is going to be a brawl right to the end of the season atop that division. And then at the other end, you know, we thought Ottawa was free and clear. Has not been a good week for them so far, but again, no panic. Uh, they got pounded by Colorado though, on Thursday night, a game you were at,

just a reminder of how far there still is to go. But you know, the Gallagher thing was really spectacular. I think that was kept pretty quiet in Montreal, that the family was going through a difficult time to see him score big goals in back-to-back games and grab the jersey, as you said, was pretty incredible. Gallagher has been the heart and soul of that organization for a long time. I still remember when P.K.

Subban got traded and Nashville comes back for one of their first trips when Subban was returning and things were going really well for the Predators and things were going really well for the predators and things were going really poorly for the Canadians. And it was Gallagher that night who kind of, you know, battled Subban for Canadians' pride, even though it looked at the time that this was a disaster for them. I always remembered that about him. It's one of the plays I really remembered that, you know, things were going really badly for the Canadians, but no, he was going to stand up for them.

I remember under Marten Saint-Louis, there was a time where it looked like it wasn't going to work between those two guys, that maybe Saint-Louis wasn't sure where Gallagher fit in, did he still have a role, was he slowing down, was he unable to play at the pace that the Canadians were going to want him to play. And in typical Gallagher fashion, he never quit, he worked, and he's carved a role back for himself on a really good team. And as you know, Kyle, he continued to be a very good teammate to a lot of guys who play there. Like those guys really, really like him.

And, you know, you look at guys like Gallagher and you look at guys like Hubert O who scored a huge goal on Thursday night. And it's just a reminder that you know things may go badly but they don't have to stay that way and there are things you can do to try to pull yourselves out and you can never give up you don't I mean you don't have to accept that things will always stay bad you know sometimes you can't fix things but it doesn't mean you don't try everything you can do in your power to change it.

And you look at Hubert O., he's changed it. You look at Gallagher, he's changed it. And not only two, but he has the sadness in his family, but also the greatest gift, right? Him and his wife, they had a child. And you can only imagine all the different emotions that he's gone through. But where he's always been happiest, and this will change now because he's got a child and the child always takes first priority,

but where he's always been happiest before this is by showing that he can contribute on the ice and in the biggest games of Montreal season and there will be more of them, he has scored massive goals for the Canadians and nobody deserves it as much as a guy like Gallagher does. Remember how emotional Mark Bergevin got when he was taking questions after Gallagher signed his extension with Montreal? I remember their playoff run in 2021,

so we did a pregame interview with them before game one of that first round against Toronto. And at the end, of course, this was a time with no fans. It was a lot of isolation still then, and just said, you know, hey, anyone of the family that's gonna be just said, you know, hey, anyone of the family that's going to be watching tonight, you want to say hi to, and, uh, and he shouted out his mom, Della at the time.

And of course Montreal ends up winning that series. I didn't work the first two games in Winnipeg the next round when they played the jets, but then they go to Vegas round three, we get him for pregame interview before game one. And we're like, okay, we've got to keep this going. At the end of the interview, who's the family member you want to say hi to? And so he said somebody else that time, they beat Vegas in the conference final, go to

the final. And then it was like, without even needing to say anything, you knew we were going to interview Gallagher before game one of the cup final against Tampa and ask that same question again. And of course, you know, eventually the magic ran out for Montreal against the Lightning. But just remember that family connection for Gallagher throughout that whole run was a neat little piece

of a great few months for the Canadians and their fans after just a bizarre season under very difficult circumstances. So thought about that a bit this week as well. That's a good memory. That's right. Cause you'll remember that that whole Gallagher thing with his extension was crazy because they thought like they're thought there was traction being made.

And then something got kind of misconstrued between Mark Bergevin and Gallagher and his representatives and Bergevin fixed it that day. Like it was one of those things that was a controversy. It erupted at like nine or 10 in the morning and the extension was done by 6 p.m. at night and Bergevin as you said, he was bothered that anyone would think that he wouldn't want Gallagher extended. That was a crazy day. I remember because everybody was reporting, the Canadians don't respect Gallagher, the Canadians don't respect Gallagher.

And Bergevin was like, forget this, we're getting this done today. And he was emotional as you said that anyone would even question his allegiance or belief in the player. All right some other games and things to dig into a bit here after what we saw on Thursday night Elliot. It was interesting you pointed out in your latest 32 Thoughts blog about how the aftermath of the rumors around Braden Shen potentially being on the move, captain of the Blues, the players there in St. Louis made it clear, no leave them here we got a chance at making the playoffs and after things unfolded there Thursday night a big overtime win

against Vancouver though a valiant effort by the Canucks to get a point out of it but they'll wake up Friday morning in a playoff spot for the time being with 77 points as they kept things together post-deadline and are taking a real run at this. Well that was there were so many great things about that game like that was an unbelievably entertaining hockey game back and forth lead changes one team up then the other team up I mean the best or goal like it was wild. I saw the end of that Did you see the end of that game in regulation?

No, I was playing catch-up coming home from the Ottawa avalanche blowout So Justin Falk Has the puck with a few seconds left and he's in great shape to milk the clock. And it's just wild. Like he just flipped the puck into the bench and it was wild like it it stopped the clock and I was like wow like what happened there and then

Vancouver because if he doesn't do that the clock is running down and You know Vancouver Never gets the chance for Besser to do that. Now someone said to me later, I didn't realize this, it was Falk's birthday so maybe his mind was on the post game reservations or something like that or the post game dinner, but he just made a, he just lost his mind for a second. And so Vancouver gets the reprieve. And so a bunch of us are watching this game. There's two crews working on Thursday night. There's me, Nick, Justin and Dave working the Leaf game.

And there's Faisal and Jason Bucola working the other regional games. And we're all sitting there watching this. When Bessers scored, I'm not going to say who cheered because we're supposed to be professional journalists but it was just a wow moment because you don't see too many of those goals anymore where someone comes down the wing with two seconds left and blows one by the other goaltender to send the game into overtime. It just doesn't happen and it only happened in this particular case because of a weird mistake that nobody was expecting. Then the overtime as mentioned, they get the chance and first of all, Lankton

makes an unbelievable save. The Blues think they've scored, jamming the puck in on the line and he kept it out. He did not let the puck go over, but then Shen set up the winning goal for Broberg and won the game. And yes, as you said, like one of the things I was told at GM meetings was that Shen had some opportunities to go if he wanted to. And I don't think at the end of the day, Toronto was gonna happen. As I've said, the Maple Leafs decided they wanted to make two moves instead of one.

So they went with Lawton and Carlo. Like if they did Shen, they weren't gonna be able to do Carlo. I think there was another opportunity there for him, but I heard at the GM meetings that the word was that the blues players were like, you can't leave. Like we're still in this. And I think there might've been some understanding if he was going somewhere with Luke, but you know, Luke obviously got traded to Pittsburgh and then Winnipeg and

Those two and Braden Shen wasn't going to either one of those two places So I think once it became clear that Luke and Braden weren't gonna be united. I heard those st. Louis guys were like you can't leave us now We can do this and I think it was unlikely at that point in time, especially since Luke was going elsewhere that Shen was going to do it. But still, it was just a reminder of what this team thought it was capable of doing in that time. And we've discussed their schedule and how they like, this was their toughest

game of the next week and they're doing what they need to do they've beaten Nashville they've beaten Chicago they are they've now beaten Vancouver who's the best team they're gonna play and they have some more Chicago's and Nashville's coming up they are this is the stretch where they can take control of their own destiny and so far they're doing it. And you know, I thought it was interesting that story that someone told me at the GM meetings about how the Blues players were saying, hey, if you're not going anywhere with Luke, you're staying. And he

was like, you're right. And he had the big assist on the game winner. Yeah, and I just thought, going back to when we were around them for a few days around the winter classic, I mean you can tell, obviously we had a chance to sit down with Jake Neighbors, the impact that he's had on him already in his career. I understand business sometimes get in the way of things, and sometimes there's certain deals or offers that you cannot pass up because of a certain situation you are at with your team at a given time but that guy's a blue. He is a blue. I know he's been elsewhere early on in his career but man it just looks right at home there and I know it hasn't been a

perfect season. They've gone through a coaching change. Nothing is set in stone yet for St. Louis but the fit there seems too good. And I imagine the fact that Doug Armstrong left things be, and I know Shen had a bit of control, of course, and had a say in how this could ultimately shake out if there was going to be a trade to happen before the deadline a few weeks back. But they do look galvanized in some sense. They absolutely do look galvanized. By the way, was it the person that was cheering in the green room? Does his name rhyme with blavid glamor?

You know what? I make so much fun of him lately, like talking about the B12 shots he takes. I feel I should leave the man alone. You can say it without saying it, Elliot. Okay, it may. It's possible it rhymes with that. Looking at some of those other games on Thursday night, the flames, it's unbelievable. We're joking about this with the Maple Leafs before, like, we're in, we're out, we're in, we're out. But the roller coaster of the last couple weeks, the Flames look like they can't even

score. They get destroyed in Toronto on Monday night. They go into New York where the Rangers are waiting for them and they dominate the Rangers. And then they don't have third period comebacks basically since the beginning of the year they don't score a ton of goals and they score four in the third period you know when I saw Miramanov score you know you know I was like so you and I and Daniel Slater, our camera guy in Florida, we're driving back from the spring training game on Monday night or on Tuesday night and Hamenik scores

and you and Daniel look at each other like, oh my God, Hamenik scored and Dean Brown, who's calling the game on radio that we're listening to is like, that's his first goal in forever, right? Yes. So I know like people were joking, you know, Ottawa's got to win. Like when Hamenik scores, you're thinking, okay, they're going to win for sure.

And, you know, they didn't, but everybody was kind of smiling about the fact that it had been a long time. Like when Mira Manov scored in this game, it was or, you know, they didn't, but everybody was kind of smiling about the fact that it had been a long time. Like when Mira Manov scored in this game and it was a huge goal for Calgary, like you forget, like the one thing I was kind of thinking of, it's only recently since he's really gotten to play again. Like this is a guy, he didn't play, like for three weeks in January, he didn't play

and he played the last three games for Calgary, but before that he didn't play in two weeks. Like that's his first goal since November 15th. So like when he scores and Calgary comes back, you're sitting there and saying, is it still the blood moon? Like this is something you just don't expect to happen. And the other thing too is that's a money on the board game because it's Markstrom. Oh yeah. So there's money on the board for the Devils and there's money on the board for the flames. So not only is it a huge game, particularly for Calgary battling to stay alive, but it's

a pride game. I mean, you look at all these games, the Rangers, I mean, you can't believe what you're seeing from them right now. Like we've talked, they've got all the tiebreakers, but they are floundering towards the finish line. That Calgary loss was a bad loss. Yeah, and everyone was waiting for the response Thursday, and it didn't come. And it really, you know,

like Toronto was better than they were. Totally. They were better. John Tavaro's 1,100 career points, by the way. Yes. Point that out. What you know and what a you know we were looking at it so he's got 60 points this year. He had two goals and one assist. He's got 60 points this year. He had 65 points last year. You know depending on how much longer he wants to play and he still wants to play a bit. He's 34 years old. He's

going to be a top, if he keeps at this pace, he's going to be a, he's 68th all time in points now. He's going to be top 50 in two years. Wow. It's amazing. Top 50 in two years. And looking back over the length of this deal that's about to expire in a few months, Elliot, I know the team success hasn't been there for Toronto like many envisioned when he chose to sign there back in the summer of 2018.

But, uh, in a lot of ways, it's hard to argue that he hasn't held up his end of the bargain in terms of his own production. I know there's been some quiet valleys at times but he's been a very consistent guy over the course of the seven years and it seems like anytime you're wondering if has father time and the speed of the game finally caught up to the guy that was never really known as a burner when he first even broke into the league he's still finding ways to be on the doorstep of 30 goals or above yes and I remember when he signed people were like that's gonna look ugly at the end of the deal

no you're right and and now it'll be interesting to see what the number is going to be. There's an extension to be done there with Tavares. But number one, I think Toronto is trying to figure out some of the other things that's going to happen around there. And also what is the number going to be for him? But there is a deal to be made there. And he, I agree with you, as an individual, he has earned, he has repaid the deal to the Maple Leafs. There's no question about that. He's still an important player on their team. Florida, Columbus all of a sudden cannot score.

Florida beats them in overtime. Uh, the blue jackets again. I still think in this league, there are too many goals coming off the board. Oh, Paging John Carlson. Yeah. A fourth time this year. Fourth time this year. Yeah.

Fourth time this year, but there was the Montreal one with Suzuki. You know, there was there was one for the Blue Jackets tonight. There's even if these are all the right calls. This is what I mean by replay fatigue. There's just too many goals coming off the board. Can I argue that they're all the all the calls may be the right calls, but it's still not good? Can I make that argument? I think the Panthers thing though, you're getting worried about their health. More guys keep getting hurt. But they fight and they scratch and they claw. The Islanders

again beat Montreal. I heard Sam Cosentino said on Radio Thursday they're like zombies. That was a perfect description. It's like you think you think they're dead. No they're not. Mike Myers, Halloween. Exactly. They just keep coming back. Freddy Krueger. Yeah. Jason from Friday the 13th. Like they were, again, they were dominated too. When Pellick got hurt, like,

they probably just threw his arm back on with duct tape and just said, get back out there, and he did. Yeah, the Islander is another one. They just, they scratch and they claw and they fight and they, they hung on. Sorokin again, brilliant. I don't know. That Suzuki one, I have to tell you to me, again, you know, people might say to me it's Canadian bias. That's fine. I got no problem with that.

I look at that one and I'm like, we're slicing the onion too thin. That's right. They want more frames per second. We need less. That's right. So you can't tell whether is it offside or not. No, I like and I think Kenny Daniels was the first one to say it to me, but just like when you're already in the zone, the puck has to completely come out of the far side of the blue line for it to leave the zone,

entering the zone. Why can it not be that same edge of the blue line? You know, it's funny, I had this conversation at the GM meetings because people have heard me hammer on this one too. How'd it go? They said, you're insane if you don't think we're going to have the same arguments. I don't know. Well, you say video replay fatigue because you know you can't get rid of it completely. I think there's a lot that would disappear if that rule was implemented.

The argument to me was you're just going to have the same arguments on the other side of the blue line. No, because I don't buy that because how many are we looking if the players still? It's a no, but it's a fair point, Kyle, because it's going to be right now you're looking for white space between one edge of the blue line and the puck or one edge of the blue line and the skate. They said even if you change it to the other side, you're still going to be looking for white space between one edge of the blue line and the puck and one edge of the blue line

and the skate. But if the players still have the mindset of straddling the blue line for as long as they can until they think it's across and all that pucks got to do is just touch the blue instead of going all the way over. I think it would eliminate a lot of these reviews, not all of them, not all of them, but it would it would help with the fatigue Elliott it may nurture but I but I did have this I did have this debate

Yes, you and I are on the same page with this I did have this debate and I was told it's gonna be the same thing on the other side of the line All right. Well, you tall one too, by the way Yeah, they've got a bit of a steeper hill to climb. Yes, there's a lot of teams in between them. It's not just how many points they're back, it's how many teams are in between them. Yes, and a nice touch by owner Ryan Smith announcing Thursday that an affordable option for their fans to stream their chase to the playoffs here if they can try to get in. What, $1 to use their Utah streaming

services to watch all remaining games this season? That's not a bad deal, Elliot. Between that and the cheap concessions, how does Utah make any money? That's right. That's right. It's a good thing they didn't have to pay two billion. He's winning hearts. There's no question about that. He's doing the right things, building up interest. No question about it.

And what builds up more interest than anything else? Ws. And Utah got one on Thursday night. Now Kyle, Utah as you mentioned has a bit of a steeper climb. They're still in it, but they're competing. You know who thinks his team is not competing? Well, only because I'm headed there this weekend, I'm gonna hazard a guess and say Andrew Burnett, coach of the Nashville Predators Yeah, he was not very happy. So they lose to Anaheim and and by the way

There was one GM and of a Western team, you know Anaheim's not gonna make it their nine points out they have three teams between them and the last wild card, but You know what? there's one Western Conference GM who says they're starting to figure it out. Their young players are starting to come and Anaheim is actually finishing very strong but they beat Nashville in Nashville 4-1 on Thursday and brunette like where do you want to go he said we were way too easy to play against our own zone pretty soft back there where do you want me to go from here our forwards have to help our

defense out we've got a lot of guys that haven't been in this situation with our veteran guys. It's a drain, it's hard, but they're gonna have to be here a long, but they're going to be here a long time. Remember they have a long time on their contracts. They're supposed to be our leaders. Set an example of certain ways

so our young guys can see that. We have to handle ourselves a little bit more professionalism than they are right now. Oh boy. And yeah, it's really something and he basically said that the players just want the season to end, which is probably true, but you know, he just obviously feels like the one thing is that the thing I always loved about Michael Jordan and Jordan didn't really have any seasons after he really got going. That like this one went with the Bulls at least anyway. And he always talked about how there's somebody in the crowd tonight who is paying their hard-earned money to see me,

and I want to deliver. I think it was his dad who kind of talked to him about that. But he always had that attitude. And, you know, Kyle, I'm not comparing myself to Michael Jordan. I just want to make that very clear right here. But- Okay. You weren't sure. That's right. But I do believe in that mentality. For example, when people come onto this podcast, they're expecting something good. Now oftentimes they get disappointed, but that doesn't mean we don't try and deliver. And there's fans in Nashville, especially at home, they're spending their money, they're

going to these games. And I do agree with that. You do have to find a way to compete and those words will sting. They probably won't go over very well. But it's not like Burnett's going to care at this point in time. It's interesting, Barry Trotz asked some of those guys, even guys who have no move clauses around the trade deadline, do you still want to be here? And he got told yes.

Like even Raurali didn't have a no trade and he had a chance to go to teams like maybe Toronto and Ottawa. And he said, no, like I want to be a part of this. I signed here for a reason. I want to be part of the solution. I don't want to bail on this. And the players who have no trades and no moves, they also said they don't want to bail on this. They signed here for a reason.

But Trotz and Brunette are going to want them to deliver better at the end of the year. I think this could potentially be a really fascinating off season in Nashville in terms of when everybody sits down at the end of the season and kind of the emotion drops down from this year, where does everything kind of go? And those are pretty pointed comments from Burnett. And at different times this year, there have been some pointed commentary from all parts of the Nashville organization. Sometimes players, sometimes brunette, sometimes trots. And I just wonder when everybody kind of cools down after the season ends, I'm curious to see where this is all going to go.

Yes. It need a lot of ink to start to write down the answer to the question, where did it go wrong in Nashville? Yeah, really surprising. Really surprising. need a lot of ink to start to write down the answer to the question where did it go wrong in Nashville? Yeah, really surprising. Really surprising. You know, Nashville talks about looking for a center. The Canucks are talking about looking for a center.

The Canadians are talking about looking for a center. Where's everybody going to find centers? Centers are hard to find. Mm-hmm. Like, you take a look right now. Josh Norris is injured in Buffalo and I think that's caused a lot of internal concern for the Sabres. I mean they just traded for him and people say well, you should have known better. He's been injured that

didn't stop a lot of teams from looking at Josh Norris. You know Nashville was looking at Norris St. teams from looking at Josh Norris. You know, Nashville was looking at Norris, St. Louis was looking at Norris, Buffalo was obviously looking at Norris, San Jose was looking at Norris, Seattle was looking at Norris. You know, that shows you that how valuable these players are. They are so hard to find. You know what else is hard to find, Elliot? Sometimes. What? A good cup of coffee on the road.

That is why. Apparently not for Simon Benoit. Well, sometimes you have to take matters into your own hand. Sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands. And so the reason I bring this up because the most interesting image from that Wednesday game that we had on the network Toronto and Colorado was the

visuals that Sean showed of Ben while walking into the building that night and he had that briefcase with him. And then we learned Thursday before their game in New York when he spoke to the media the contents of the briefcase and he's even more into the coffee stuff that I maybe have guessed because I have talked to him briefly about it in the past and he said he loves going to like cafes on off days but we're not talking about an aero press here David Alters specifically asked him about that that's what I travel with we've talked about that in the past. He brings a

non-electric, a manual espresso maker. He said he loves his flat whites. So he brings a machine that's got like two levers that helps create the necessary pressure you need to have to pull a shot of espresso on the road. So I tip my hat to Simone Benoit here briefly, Elliot, and he coincidentally has overnight become one of my new favorite players in the National Hockey League. Did you buy a jersey yet? It's on the way, it's on the way. Spoke to Michael Rubin, past guest of the pod.

You probably asked for a free one. I would never do that. Yes, you would. I would never do that. I would. I would. I would. Hey, neat night for Brent Burns out in San Jose

of all places playing 911 consecutive games. Fifth all time. Wow. Fifth all time. He does not have a contract for next year. 40 years old, just turned 40. But I think he wants to play they're gonna have to drag him off the ice

Phil Kessel 1,064 It's a little more ways away two more huge Insurmountable gap not insurmountable that would be incredible Almost out of nowhere after that record. Well, first is Keith Yandle, of course, surpassing Doug Jarvis, and then Phil Kessel shortly thereafter,

and now Brent Burns could be in the hunt. And that's the thing, like that 2003 draft class, I remember asking Corey Perry earlier this year, who's gonna be the last person standing and you know Perry has no Interest in stopping playing anytime soon, but he mentioned Brent burns name and thought yeah, he could be Playing well into his 40s well into those 40s great shape great shape eats quail I think yeah probably it's a lot of stuff that we wouldn't consider a that's right never know what's in that backpack of us and he has those beautiful gold steel at the bottom of

his skates so that buys you at least an extra two years, gliding around on those bad boys. I like your logic. It's two years. It is science. Gold Steel, two years science. All right, well, let's get to the final thought, which is brought to you by GMC and Elliot, your headliner on the blog this week, your idea for rejigging the whole tax equation when it comes to the National Hockey League and the salary cap and who benefits and who perhaps it provides a bit of a hindrance depending

on which city your team is located in. So can you give a brief synopsis of what you compiled here and what was some of the reaction you got to it? The reaction I think it's safe to say it was very mixed. There were some people who were very glad I went there and there was a lot of stop whining, stop complaining about this, wah, wah, wah. You know, I'll say this. I think for Canadian hockey fans,

and that's a lot of our constituency, you know, we're both Canadian, we work in Canada, we live in Canada, it's a big deal. It's definitely a big deal. I think there are others who say, you know, suck it up. It's just life. There's advantages and disadvantages. One thing I completely agree with

is that if you have a great tax rate but you're a terrible organization, it's not going to matter. And I am 100% on board with that. And I am generally a person who feels I don't like complaining too much about stuff like this. I generally feel that everywhere you live there's going to be advantages and disadvantages and it's up to you to make things work either with them or in spite of them. As I've gotten older and I'm getting close to getting fired, Kyle, I would like to see a Canadian team, one of the seven, I don't care which one, win the Stanley Cup before I am thrown to the curb.

And, you know, is the tax situation the reason they haven't won? No, but it's become a bigger factor, particularly as the Canadian dollar drops. And, you know, I just I wanted to put something together. And I said people in the podcast will remember I said earlier this year, I was going to solicit ideas. And I kind of like this one the best. And basically, it works is that, you know, players in the NHL, for the most part, they become free agents either after seven years in the league or they turn 27.

Some players like McDavid Matthews, who are Celebrini Bedard, who are coming right away at 18, they become UFAs at 25, but generally it's 27 or 7 years. And I was saying that if you sign someone to a contract that takes them into that era of service, you should get a break. And if you're going to do a tax relief thing, that's where you get the break. And I used Matthews as an example. You know, Matthews gets drafted by Toronto. That's not his choice. Team doesn't get any relief. After his ELC, which is three years, entry level contracts are three years for him,

he signed a five year extension. The first four years of that deal, Toronto has the right, in theory, to match any contract that's offered to him. So it's not a free, he's not a total unrestricted free agent, no relief. But year five and the extension he signed after that, you can get relief. Because in that point in time, he is choosing to sign with Toronto. So that's where I felt that Toronto and every other team that has a higher tax rate than zero could get relief. Like Conor McDavid, ELC, three years, then he signed an eight-year deal. In his case you wouldn't get relief the first four years, but you would get it the next four years because he could have been a UFA.

And the thing is, I was suggesting is you take the tax rate and you look at the difference between the tax rate in the zero tax states like Nevada, Dallas, or Dallas is not a state, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Washington, and whatever the difference is between some of the higher tax states, you just say the percentage difference is the break you get. Now in a $10 million player, I think the biggest difference from what I had access to was the Rangers. 18%. Now I will tell you this Kyle, when people saw the Rangers, they were like, are you kidding? You're talking about giving the Rangers a break? And the difference with Toronto and a no-tax state team and a $ million dollar player is like 17% shouldn't say

it's not 18% it's 18 percentage points for the Rangers and 17 percentage points for Toronto and there again they're like really you're giving a break to Toronto and people some people don't like that there's other teams like Winnipeg like Ottawa that aren't the biggest revenue generators. And I did say you could put a cap on this. Say I don't care if it's 18 points, the most you get is 10 or maybe five, whatever. Other people smarter than me can decide. But I did put something together and I just wanted to throw it out there. And some of the reaction was positive, but some of the reaction was very, very negative.

It was about as crazy as I expected. So when you say credit, do you mean like additional cap room to work with? Well it would work one way or the other. I think probably what you would do is you'd say, okay, let's just make it easy, okay? $10 million contract and the max is 10 points. So if you were in a state or a province where the difference between you and a zero tax state is, say, five points, you get a 5% credit. 5% of the salary does not count against the cap.

So a player, a $10 million player would be 9.5 instead of 10. Okay. And if you're over 10 points difference from the zero tax teams, it would be a 9 million player instead of 10. Right. And for the player itself, nothing would change depending on where you're playing, you're subjected to whatever the given tax rate is of that state of price. Well, you still get the money, right?

So yes. The only thing that changes here is the accounting for the cap. I gotcha Okay. Now the one thing that I did mention here, too, is that I don't know how many people Like Batman has said in the past He's only making an issue out of something if a lot of people want him to right, right? And for example, look at those only making an issue out of something if a lot of people want him to, right? Right. And, for example, look at those no-tax teams. You think they're going to want Betman to do anything about it? Not a chance.

So how many teams are really going to go to Betman and say, do something about this? Right. Or how many players are really going to go to Marty Walsh and say, do something about this. If I was a player on a Canadian team, I would. Right, because it opens the door. But again, but that's all doesn't change the league. Yes. And this idea for the players perspective, it wouldn't change how much money they're pulling in.

It would just be about the flexibility potentially for the team to be more aggressive than maybe they have been in the past. Well I'm intrigued by your idea, Elliot. A lot of it is above my overall knowledge of a lot of things. Same here, I can tell you that much. Yes. But it is an interesting one to consider. The real key to the deal, as you say, is do you get enough people stirring up dust to

make the commissioner consider something. That's the big reason why, I mean, the whole cries for LTIR and using that hasn't really gone anywhere about curbing that, because there's not enough teams saying, we need to change this. And I imagine for something like this, it's absolutely the same. So with that, that was the final thought. Hope you could follow along. Brought to you by GMC. We will take our first break and come back with the Thoughtline. 32 Thoughts, the Elliot, I have to say the best DM

I got this week came from Max Newton when he wrote in saying, So can I send you guys the invoice for my new headphones? I had to throw mine out after hearing Elliot's kissing noises last episode. That's pretty funny. That's good. I'm glad. I had a few people who wrote to me about it. They were quite disgusted by the mental image that I would actually kiss anything. Yes. Well, your antics bring people together in some weird, strange way. That's what I'm here for, to bring peace on earth, just like John Lennon said. Yes, well your antics bring people together in some weird strange way. That's what I'm here for, to bring peace on earth, just like John Lennon said.

Right, so we love trivia at this portion of the show. When we were down at the GM meetings this week in Florida, someone put you and all of us into an absolute pretzel with one of the questions. So why don't you bring the listeners up to speed, share with us the question you got asked. So what we're gonna do is, we're gonna tell the trivia question, and we're gonna give the answer at the end of the thought line.

So if you wanna stop the pod or think about it, you'll have the opportunity to do it, and then you can resume listening and check the answer. So the individual was Barry Trotz, the GM of the Nashville Predators and he is a listener which you know we always appreciate and he listened to the thought line so he knows that we like trivia and he said I've got a question for you and I said, and he said, Who is the one player who scored in the NHL? Before they scored in the AHL and before they scored in junior hockey.

And my initially I blurted out Patrice Bergeron remembering that it was later a stupid guess because of course Bergeron played junior before the Bruins drafted him. And I also started order. Yes, it's that order NHL first, then AHL, then juniors and they scored in all three. You know, I eat and he said this person was an executive. That's the one hint he gave me. And you know, the first names I actually thought of because of Barry Trotz's Washington connections were Brian McClellan and George McPhee because both of those played NCAA hockey and I wondered if they played NHL then AHL and possibly could have gone back to juniors but both of those answers were incorrect so and you know what I'll tell you this I thought of some unique

answers we went through it and all I'll say is this so he saw me and told me the question on Tuesday night as Kyle, myself and our shooter, Dan Slater, were going to watch a spring training game between the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals. And until he gave me a hint that gave away the answer Wednesday morning at about 10 a.m. I was incapable of focusing on anything else. I couldn't focus on the baseball. I was supposed to write my blog in I was going to write it in the car. Yes, I couldn't even do that. I watched some games after the baseball game some NHL games. I couldn't focus on those It was Engel's birthday. So I went to have a beer with him. I couldn't focus on that. I had trouble sleeping It was ridiculous. My whole life was turned upside down by this question So there it is only player to score NHL goal before he scored an AHL goal, before

he scored a junior goal, and he scored at all three levels. We'll give you the answer and the explanation at the end of the Thoughtline. Good luck to all participants. All right, so you remember last Thoughtline, Elliott. We got the question of Dustin Buffland, defenseman scoring while two men short. Yes. Back in 2016, okay? So when we asked Sportsnet stats to check that, their data only could go back as far as the 07, 08 season.

And from that point on, Buffland was the only guy that checked all of those boxes. However, the memories of our listeners remain unmatched. Wow, someone came up with one. Oh, not just one. Jared and Colmocks. March 13, 2004, Fedder Tooten with the Rangers, his first NHL goal came while two men down

in a game versus the Florida Panthers. That is true. What a memory. That happened. Matt wrote in, game two of the first round of the 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Scott Niedemeier, his first game after serving a 10 game suspension, scored while Ken Danico and Sergey Nemchinov were in the box for the Devils.

That was also a game against the Panthers. They went on to sweep Florida in the first round. They won the cup that year, did New Jersey. And finally, Brian wrote in, January 30th, 1990, Phil Housley scores shorthanded for the Sabres at Le Collezais in Quebec City while the Nordiques were on a two-man advantage. Three more examples of defenseman scoring while a pair of men down. Wow. I didn't remember any of those examples. You listeners, you're great. Tip of the cap. Tip of the cap. All right. On to this week's stuff. Casey, good afternoon, gentlemen, and Kyle. Whatever that's supposed to mean.

I like that. After seeing you behave on the road, I think this is an accurate description. I don't know what you're talking about. I just need my ice cream and I'm in sleep by 10 o'clock. All right, Casey says, after listening to your episode and learning the record for games played in a year was 86 due to a trade With the NHL honor a broken record by a player who played more than 82 games in a season Let's go Red Wings time to end the playoff drought. Finally. Love the show. You know what honestly, I have no idea But what we're gonna do is you know Kyle do you have any idea? No, I don't but I

So this is what we're gonna do. We're gonna leave this in and we're gonna check it Okay That'll be next pod though. Not at the end of the spotlight We'll check it for now the interesting thing about that one is I like if you think about it Is there ever been a major record? Like if you think about it, is there ever been a major record that's been broken by a player who played more than 82 games? I don't think so. Nothing's coming to mind for me.

Like most goals in the year, Gretzky, and all that stuff, most points in the year, Gretzky, nobody's even come close to it playing extra games. Right. But it'd be interesting if there was ever a time where, you know, say there was a Art Ross race and someone won by a point, but they played 83 games versus the guy they beat that played 82. Yeah.

How does that factor into things? And I don't think we've seen it yet so far in history, but you never know. That'd be a good one to get to the bottom of. Yeah, good question. Monday's quad, we'll get to the bottom of it. Yep. Great question, Casey.

Okay, a voicemail next. Connor from New York. What's going on, fellas? Connor from New York, longtime caller. I read rumblings online that NHL teams could be going back to white jerseys at their home games. And it just got me thinking, why do we have to have one or the other? Why can't teams just travel with both sets of jerseys and whatever the home team decides, you know, ahead of time is the color that each team's going to wear. Like I wouldn't mind watching my Blackhawks where they're reds or they're whites. They're both beautiful jerseys at their home arena. So, you know, why not just make it a decision or a game time

decision for teams to wear certain jerseys on certain nights or even even alternate jerseys. Let's say a team has a black alternate jersey, have the other team wear, you know, whatever their dark is, and you could still have, you know, whatever their dark is and you could still have, you know, a green versus a black jersey. I feel like it's a little ridiculous to set one versus the other. Have a good one. Connor, the answer to your question is, it's just simply a lot to pack. And it may sound

ridiculous, but the hardest people working people on a team are the equipment guys, right? Like the amount of time they put in, like one of the things actually somebody told me about the four nations is that especially because of the logistics of the travel between Montreal and Boston with the snow storms and everything, they said you would not believe how hard those guys had to work. And they are used to working hard and people are used to not blinking at how hard they work.

But they told me that that day when we traveled in that terrible snow, it was a lot even for them. So people are sensitive to making them have to do even more. Now one of the things I have thought about because I think Connor, you're right about one thing is that I do think that fans should be able to experience both looks of their jersey. At home, I'm with you. So what I wouldn't mind seeing is maybe you have of your 41 home games a certain amount of year that you can say we're wearing our other jersey. And maybe what you do is you have to coordinate it with the team that you're playing against So either they can ship their other colors to your building in advance or

If you know your opponent's gonna be on a short road trip Like you can say just bring your stuff for this one like something like that I would like to see the opportunity Where teams can wear? that. I would like to see the opportunity where teams can wear both colors at home. I'm with you on that but you have to coordinate it. I'll tell you this though, I also didn't mind the whole four nations where everybody just wore one jersey. Now it's a lot easier to do that when you've got four teams instead of 32 but I did like

the look of that. Yes, the dark on dark? Yes. It was appealing. And the other thing too, because it's not just extra jerseys you'd be packing, it's an extra set of helmets, in some cases an extra set of gloves. So to your point, the amount of stuff, socks, it all does add up. And now that we're in the era of teams wearing ads on the jerseys and for some teams

You know, they have one advertisement for their home set Oh good point and that's part of the deal of if okay We're gonna sign you to be our jersey sponsor and you're guaranteed X number of games With that with your brand on our sweater so that can complicate things as well That's a good point I hadn't even thought about that one. I was thinking about I have thought about ways that they could do it and like I said maybe you could say five games a year you wear the other color at home but you just have to let your opponent

know which games they are gonna be so they can prepare in advance but your jersey sponsor idea is a good one as well. Same with helmet sponsors, same deal. Yep, yes exactly. You're absolutely right and we do see like instances where teams will request that sort of thing. Like we know Toronto has the the Bieber third jerseys and there's been times where they've worn it on the road and that's something that has to be set up ahead of time where hey we would like to wear these jerseys when we come into your building on this date and getting it all cleared before that road trip actually happens, so.

Lot goes into just what jerseys you're gonna wear on a given night, eh, Mike? You know what, don't you wish life was so easy, like you wake up in the morning, you look in your closet, I'm wearing this shirt today. And you don't have to ask anyone permission what color shirt you want to wear that day. Yeah tougher on these guys. Simple life here. Simple life

that you and I have. Brett from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Hello Kyle, Elliot and Dom. As an Avs fan we have seen numerous videos of Gabriel Landiskoff skating as he tries to make his return from injury. This week we saw him look better than ever skating with the team getting Avs Faithfuls nipples erect. We know the Avs are pushed up against the cap if they were to activate him to the roster before the playoffs so my question is could the Avs send him down to the Colorado Eagles for a conditioning stint before playoffs or would this affect their current cap situation? Love the pod boys. Go Avs go. Boy, this is a great question. I wrote my notes yesterday and this was in it. And I

actually do believe that we're going to get close to knowing that Landis Gogg is getting closer to playing that when he goes and practices with the Eagles. And because he's on LTIR, you can just send him there. He can agree to go there. And one of the reasons I feel that is that at this time of year, especially for a team like Colorado, with their travel is tougher, it is so hard to practice. And I think what Landisgog is going to need is

play is have several good skates in a row, like real legitimate skates in a row. And I think it's going to be really tough to do it with Colorado schedule. So it was actually it was it was one of the other GMs was saying this to me, that they wonder if he's going to end up joining the Eagles because in the AHL you can really practice like you have days off or you can practice and that's what he said he's watching for when Landiscah goes down there and he starts skating with the AHL team he thinks that's when we're going to know that this is very real, just his opinion.

Now right now, the Avs can't activate them because they don't have the cap room to do it. They would have to fiddle around with their cap situation and Manson's hurt, fiddle around with it to get it done in the regular season. But as everybody knows in the playoffs it doesn't matter and I hope Landiscaw gets a game in the playoffs. I think it would be a reward for three years of like this is a guy who's refused to quit. He says no I'm going to come back and play.

I'd like to see him be rewarded with at least one game and also it would probably let everyone know how real this is. After all that work you get into a game and you probably get a true picture of where you really stand. And talking to Chris McFarland this past week down in Florida briefly he did say because as Avalanche fans know it's been plenty of examples that they've seen from various times of here's Landis Gogh on the ice. Obviously, it looked like it was a bit of a different tempo most recently, but he did say he's making progress. Like it's not just continually a guy kind of stuck in neutral to a certain point of his rehab.

He is calling it progress, though. He wasn't putting a timeline on anything just yet. So he's not quitting like he's not quitting Really quite something to watch. Okay Madison in Calgary Hi, Kyle and Elliott and everyone behind the scenes when a trade happens and it's a player for future considerations Is there a deadline for the future considerations? If not, do you know which team has the longest lasting one? Also, completely unrelated to anything hockey, but following up on a past episode where Elliott mentioned he listens to Tate McCray, I would love to know what his favorite Tate song is if he has one. Oh, well, first of all, Maddie, I'll let you in on a little secret.

If you hear a trade is going for future considerations, it's not going to be anything. Nada. Nada. Not even a washing machine like on Semi Pro? Well, you know what? Maybe you could do that. There's no rule against a washing machine down the road. I would say that

I'm sorry So when Billy Bean in that trade was like you got a you got to pay for soda my guys soda for a year That's possible Dom honestly, that's funny. I didn't even think about that until you just mentioned it I guess anything can happen just mentioned it. I guess anything can happen but if it's future considerations like if you think like somewhere you're getting like a future draft pick or something like that, no it has to be declared there. So future considerations is basically there's no return. Before I named my Tate McCray song, so right now there's nothing that would answer Madison's question,

the longest lasting one, because it doesn't mean anything. But I was told by one team and they go, it wasn't us. Actually, a manager told me this at the GM meetings. He said, and I meant to put this in my notes, but I forgot. He told me that it wasn't a trade that involved him, but he heard that there was a team that offered a draft pick in the 2030s at the deadline this year. Oh, wow. I was like, what? He goes, yeah, that's the word that there was a team out there that offered a draft

pick in the 2030s. Geez. They'll be flying cars to attend that draft. That's right. They'll still be deciding, are we permanently doing their decentralized draft or not? Exactly. That's right. They'll flip flop eight times by then.

And what about your favorite Tate McCray song, Ali? You didn't answer that part. So I have to admit, I had to go back and listen to a couple of them here because I don't know the names of all the songs. I just listened to them. I don't know what some of them are called, but the one that has had the most recent plays for me is a bonus track on her new album, Siren Sounds. Wow. Catchy tune. Nicely done. So you don't just fall for the top 40 radio play spin.

I do, I do some. Like there's some music that I do love that's top 40. You're beyond the surface. Some people, you know, here's the reason why I hesitate to say that. I know some people out there who try to show that they're real music snobs or music geniuses. They'll look at an album and they'll try to find like the eighth or ninth song and say, oh, I have a really deep connection to music and I like this one. I am not one of those people. I cannot stand those people. So when I say that that's the song I like right now,

it's because I just like the song, not because I want it to sound like some Tate McCrae music snob. That's not me. Thanks for setting the record straight. You're welcome. Okay, last one. Mark from St. John, New Brunswick. Hello, Elliot, Kyle and Dom. I was listening to your conversation about Brad Marchand and his Hall of Fame won-iness. Oh my, the gift that keeps on giving. Yes, and all the work done in figuring out the Hall of Fame forwards average point per games. This sent me down a rabbit hole and I stumbled on Marchand and the fact that he is top 10 all-time ranking for short-handed goals.

This list features plenty of expected names, Gretzky, Lemieux, Iserman, Curry, et cetera. But just like on Sesame Street, one of the names was not like the others and kind of stood out. Dave Poulin, he is in the top 10 with 39 shorties, but his career total is only 205, so almost 20% of his career total came Shorthanded this leads me to my question for you Is he the player with the highest percentage of special teams goals for a career?

I suspect there will be plenty of players that had shorter careers But for players that had longer careers of over say 500 games that seems like a high percentage I figured the good people at Sportsnet stats or Kyle if he's bored could figure this one out. That's good I like that. I went to the good people at Sportsnet stats. Wait wait wait wait wait. No no no let me set the stage here. Okay. Because I'm not you think we've done it for this long I'm just gonna start spouting off answers and I'm not gonna let you guess? Well no because I was going to guess because I stopped when the question before he said special teams. I when he was talking about short-handed he said Dave Poulin had how many and how many? Dave Poulin had 39 shorties of his 205 career goals.

Okay, so I'm using a calculator because I can't figure this out off the top of my head. So Dave Poole scored 19%. Immediately, I thought of one other person who was a shorthanded ace, who I thought might beat that. So 39%, I'll tell you who it is if I'm right here. It wouldn't be special teams I don't think but it would be shorthanded. And no only 17%. Wow it fooled me. The name

was Dave Reed. Dave Reed he led the league in shorthanded goals one year with eight. He had 28 shorthanded goals of 165. That's only 17%. So that was actually lower than I thought. Okay, resume. Okay, good. Glad you got that out of your system. So here's one thing first, just to continue your theme of only shorthanded. We're gonna get to special teams here So for players that have played over 500 career games Mike Sullivan is actually the all-time leader 25.9 percent 14 of his 54 career goals were scored Short-handed like the Penguins coach Mike Sullivan. Yes

How much you what do you want to bet that somebody tells him about this and he walks into the Pittsburgh room and says to Sid, you think you're the only guy on this team that holds NHL records? Yeah I think, I think he would do that. I think they've been together long. I would. I would. I would. I would. I would point it said and I would point it Balkan. So you guys think you're the only two studs here, right? There's a third and his name is Mike Sullivan. Okay, so special team. So here, so it's 500 games played. And for the sake of this exercise, we've also done minimum 200 career goals scored. Okay. Okay. 500 games played, 200 career goals, highest percentage of your goals scored special teams,

either power play or shorthanded goals. We've got the top five sent to us. Okay. either power play or shorthanded goals. We've got the top five sent to us. Okay. Any names? Do you want to take a guess at this or do you want me to rip through them? Well, you know what? Like, is Ovi there?

No. So four of the five are defensemen. There's one forward in this list. Okay. So five are defensemen. There's one forward in this list. Oh, okay. So these are defensemen who were like power play specialists. Yep. Who was the guy in Edmonton, Bergeron, who had a big shot? Yes, but not enough of them. Oh, okay, he's not there, okay.

Four defensemen who would have had 200 goals. Well, you mentioned them earlier, Phil Housley? No. All four defensemen are in the Hall of Fame. Yeah, I figured that. Well, Paul Coffee? No. No, not Paul Coffey.

Oh, I'm trying to think now. Well, always like Larry Murphy. No, no, not Larry Murphy. We can I give you one hint? Uh, not yet. OK. Brent Burns. No. No, wait a second, no, don't get that.

He's on the Hall of Fame. What am I talking about? Stop that. Oh wait, you know what? I'll tell you this, Steve Duchesne. No. No? This is my most pathetic thought line ever.

This is almost as pathetic as my screen time. What is it? Okay, here's your first guess or first clue Number one on lists we saw him this week in Florida. Oh Rob Blake bingo Okay, fifty eight point three percent. I gotta say Rob. I didn't know you were that much of a powerplay merchant 136 career power play goals he did damage Would Shay Weber be on there he would be he's number five okay, okay nine point six percent

Okay, so Rob Blake Shay Weber, I'm trying to think other D that scored 200 goals And they're in the Hall of Fame. Well, the guy scored 400 goals, so it's gotta be, I mean, Ray Bork? No. No? No. All right, this is pathetic.

I don't deserve to guess any more of these. I'll do Doug Wilson, he'll be my last guess. Incorrect. Okay, hit me. This is a pathetic attempt. I'm embarrassed. The other two, man, just for whatever reason, it didn't click here. They're all good guesses, but didn't end up on the list. Number two, Nicholas Lindstrom. You know what? I actually figured it was too insulting to guess Nicholas Lindstrom. One of the top three defensemen ever. I thought it was almost insulting to guess him.

Why would that be insulting? I don't know. I just think that he wouldn't need the power play to score. No, but he did. Al McInnis 51.8% another guy I looked at him and said he didn't need the power play to score but wow really awful awful existence on this one and the low I hang my head in shame now the forward you want to give me the timeline for the forward multi-cup winner net front fiend in Detroit. Holmstrom. Bingo. Yeah. 50.2. Wow. Good finish. All right, so that's the end of today's submissions to the Thoughtline, but now we've got to reveal the answer to

Barry Trotz's trivia question. Okay, so here it is and so the question was in case you've forgotten who is the only player that scored his first NHL goal before his first AHL goal before his first junior hockey goal and you know there were some interesting ideas. Like, I started thinking about defensemen who maybe didn't score a lot and happened to get lucky and score in that way, but was eventually sent back down. It's not that. I actually thought about a goalie.

Because if you'll remember, Barry Trotz coached Chris Mason, who scored in both the AHL and the NHL but Chris Mason scored in the AHL first and even Alex Nadelkovich who scored in all in the AHL NHL and ECHL he didn't do it in that order and Chris Mason by the way did play junior hockey but it was a guy who played in the 90s who is an executive and the answer is Chris Draper Chris Draper was drafted 62nd overall in 1989 and he was drafted from the Canadian national team that's where he was playing at that time

He made his NHL debut with the Winnipeg Jets during the 1990 91 season he played three games that year and If you go back and you look at his game log, and I'm using hockey reference for this During that season

He played October 4th, October 12th and October 16th As a matter of fact the October 4th game his NHL debut he scored for the Jets in a 7-1 win over Toronto. And then he got sent down to the American Hockey League. It was the Moncton Hawks where he played seven games and scored twice. And then he went to the Ottawa 67s where he had 19 goals and 61 points in 39 games and 19 points in 17 playoff games. And that year of course in the OHL Ottawa went to the third round where they lost to Oshawa before Oshawa lost to the Sioux to go to the Memorial Cup. So that is the answer, Chris Draper. And I will tell you, it is an awesome question,

awesome question, but I was completely incapable of focusing on my life while I was thinking about that. It was something, because you got into the back of the car and you're like, I just got my laptop with me. I'm going to do some writing and the entire drive you were on your phone thinking of names going, it's not this guy. No, it's not this guy. You were completely wrapped up in trying to get to the bottom of this.

Yeah. It was fascinating to watch. Well done, Barry. That was good. And thanks to everyone who submitted today. 1-833-311-3232. If you'd like to leave a voicemail or you can email us. 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca. We'll take one final break and put this thing to bed. 32 Thoughts. the podcast continues after this. Welcome back.

Before we go, we wanted to give you a lay of the land for your hockey viewing pleasures this weekend. And there is a lot to take in particularly on Saturday beginning at 1 o'clock Eastern in the afternoon nationally 10 a.m. Pacific you can see the Vancouver Canucks and the New York Rangers from MSG JT Miller against his old team that'll be something to keep an eye on then at four Eastern two o'clock Mountain time The flames are on not in on Long Island to face the Islanders and then our Saturday night begins in earnest with hockey central Saturday Ron McClain and company at 630 Eastern 330 Pacific three early games at 7 Eastern Toronto in Nashville Colorado continues their road trip through Eastern Canada.

They face the Montreal Canadiens and another big game for the Ottawa Senators on the road against the New Jersey Devils. The lone late game this weekend at 10 o'clock Eastern, 8 o'clock Mountain. The Edmonton Oilers are home to the Seattle Kraken. Oilers general manager Stan Bowman is this week's guest on After Hours. Scott Oak is back. Louis de Brust will join him for After Hours at the conclusion of the Oilers and the Kraken. There are only so many hours in a day. We appreciate you once again spending a few of them here with us. Have yourselves a great weekend and we'll talk to you again on Monday. day.