32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Marek Was Right About the Flyers

Episode Date: December 11, 2023

Jeff and Elliotte look back at a particularly violent weekend in the NHL that saw some nasty hits on the likes of Larkin, Zub, Barron, Brodin, and Gudbranson. How will the NHL react and can we expect the league to dial things down in the aftermath of this weekend? They also talk about Ethan Bear's future and how the Washington Capitals have emerged as favourites (21:22). Elliotte also suggests that Andrei Kuzmenko could possibly be shopped around by the Vancouver Canucks (23:40). The guys dive into the unravelling of the Carolina Hurricanes (25:24). Elliotte gives Jeff his flowers admits he was wrong about the Philadelphia Flyers (34:03).The guys answer your questions in the Montana’s Thought Line (37:13) and Elliotte sits down for a 1-on-1 interview with Nashville Predators defensemen Luke Schenn (1:01:32).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This 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.

Let me just say, let me just say, you were right and I was wrong on Philadelphia. This has been my worst year for predictions ever. Although Edmonton might end up making us all look good here because they're surging now. But I was way off on Philadelphia. Well, we hope you liked your hockey rough because that's what you got this weekend. And speaking of rough, coming up a little bit later on in the podcast, Luke Shen of the Nashville Predators.

Welcome to 32 Thoughts, once again, presented by the GMC Sierra, Merrick alongside Friedman and Dom Schramatti, our producer. And Elliot, whether it was Joseph and Kelly on Larkin, whether it was David Perron on Artem Zub, five in a game. We'll get to that in a couple of moments, in-person hearing. That's going to be done on Zoom. Eric Robinson on Justin Barron, Evander Kane on Jonas Brodine,

Nick Cousins on Eric Goodbranson. It was a whole lot of, and I'll throw in a Clockwork Orange reference because I know you love Stanley Kubrick, ultraviolence this weekend around the NHL they're gonna have to deal with the hits from behind we'll go to Larkin in a second but I guess just in terms of chronological order the thing that was the latest to deal with was Goodbranson and Nick Cousins and that was brewing all weekend uh the The Evander Kane on Jonas Brodine, Brodine injured, no penalty on the play. Ryan Hartman gets a retaliatory penalty.

The Kane made it very clear he was very unhappy with Hartman and what happened. When I saw the low angle shot of that one, I said to myself, that's the one that shows at the very least it should have been a penalty. Then Eric Robinson gets ejected, Buffalo against Montreal, and Kyle Ocpozo speaks up post-game and says, what's the difference? Why does Robinson get five and King get none? And we have to have consistency here. And then Cousins gets a minor, initially a major, then down to a minor, and Goodbranson goes after him when they're out of the penalty box.

And to me, what happened there was Eric Goodbranson seeing everything that happened around the NHL on the weekend and says, the only way that this is going to get taken care of is if I do it myself. Now, there are some people that don't have a problem with that. There's some people that do have a problem with that. But I think what I can say the league perspective is going to be is that we have to rein this in. And I'm very curious to see if we're going to have a whole bunch of checking from behind penalties this week. I think that's what everyone's going to be looking at

is that we've had the slashing crackdown, we've had the cross-checking crackdown. Jeff, this week, do we get the checking from behind crackdown? You know, this is a phenomenon that's been happening for a long time in the NHL, and every now and then there's a stretch where there's a number of hitting from behind penalties, and we have conversations like this. But this is is I don't want to say it's a recent

phenomenon or a new tactic or technique I remember talking to Mark Letestu about this years ago and I asked him so why are there so many players now more so than ever that turn their backs to hits like deliberately and he said well one of two reasons uh one it's the best way to protect the puck duh uh and two if we get hit we know we're drawing a penalty and it's our job when we're out there to try to draw penalties and put ourselves on the power play and i said but you could also really injure yourself doing that. And he said, I know that, but it's my job out there to try to get us on the power play. So I'm either protecting the puck or I'm putting us on the power play. Either way, we win. And you see it more and more. And I'm not saying that Justin Barron turned at the last minutes or Eric Branson turned or Jonas Brodine like flashes numbers at the last minute in front of a vanity.

Like, I'm not saying that. All I'm saying is now more than ever, players are pretty quick to put themselves in vulnerable positions. Now, it doesn't excuse the hits and I get I understand that. It doesn't excuse the hits, and I understand that. But there is a phenomenon now of players that put themselves in positions to get hit, the likes of which we saw on the weekend. It doesn't absolve the hitter, but it's concerning. Like, I remember talking to Craig Simpson about this, and I said, how do you teach his son Dylan? How do you teach Dylan to take contact and he said I tell Dylan when he's on the ice expect to be hit at

all times and prepare yourself for it that way if you're hit you're ready and if you're not it's a bonus but always expect to be hits I get the feeling now more than ever that i've watched hockey and maybe you feel the same way maybe you don't but there's a lot of players out there who don't expect to be hit oh no jeff we we have talked about that plenty especially when it came to guys who come over from europe where there really isn't anything like this. We talked about Slavkovsky last year and how he was getting hit. There was Topi Nimala, the Marlies defenseman in the American Hockey League, the Leaf prospect who got clobbered in development camp last year because he's simply not used to being hit.

And he comes to North America and he gets hit. I don't disagree with you on this. And I don't necessarily think you're wrong in the sense that one of the things the NHL clearly felt in the Brodine Evander Kane case is that Brodine knew Kane was coming and put himself in a shoulder check and put himself in a vulnerable position. I don't necessarily disagree with you on any of this. But basically what we're getting to right now is here's our choice. And I will say this.

Of the three, I thought Cousins was the worst one. Even though they downloaded it to a minor, I thought of those three plays, I thought Cousins was the one that I thought was the biggest penalty. And the one that had the biggest call, Robinson, the major. And I don't really have a problem with the call they made at all there. I thought it was actually the least egregious of the three when I saw the different angles. The NHL is a choice right now. They can say, we're cracking down on this for the time being,

or we're going to have more situations with Goodbranson. Your choice. And Jeff, what do you think they want? I don't think they want to take contact out of the game. Okay, so what you're going to say is, and I like a tough, I like a tough, mean, nasty game i i really do but jeff you then you're gonna have more scenes like a branson's i mean there's certainly the people are gonna say you're gonna have more fighting you're gonna have to you're gonna have to make room for

more seats but there's gonna be people who aren't gonna like that and secondly and this is the bigger question are we worried about a really bad injury it's all cons my fine right we have to stop all this fighting we're also gonna have to build bigger arenas um i'm more worried about the injury prevention like you know and now we'll tie in larkin to this luckily it appears like larkin has avoided the worst case scenario here but when he went down on saturday night there was a gasp in our room it was right before the intermission and when we saw him go down everybody was sick to their stomachs for a couple of seconds because he looked seriously injured and also you remember his history right so you know i think we all enjoy a physical game until we don't okay and i heard from some people who looked at the good branson thing and said

you know what maybe that is the way to police it if he's angry he should take it out with his fists you know generally i don't have a huge problem with the whole philosophy of if someone does wrong to you you have the right to get them back what i worry about is does it go too far and someone gets seriously injured do we simply have to say we have to dial this back again for a week and it wouldn't surprise me all. If we see 10 of these calls in the next three days, not at all. We've seen it get out of hand before, uh, in the NHL. And I don't think anybody wants to go back there. Um, and listen, I don't, I don't mind the idea of someone did you dirty. And so you go back at them. I think we all understand that.

And I'll swing that again back to the Ottawa-Detroit situation. I think what a lot of people have a problem with is when you pick the guy who had nothing to do with the incident in the first place, and that's what we saw with David Perron on Artem Zoo. Okay, we'll get to that in a second, but first I just want to say, would you want to see a crackdown or you just think it goes like it's been going i think this was a particularly violent weekend that there were like i don't know that that's enough for me to say that this is a trend in the nhl yet i mean saturday was a pretty violent night around the league and the columbus florida situation was

was on sunday i don't know i don't know that I'm willing to make a snap judgment on reversing how the game is officiated based on a couple of days in the league. Well, I think there were two things about this that was unique. Number one, Ocpozo spoke out about it. Yep. He said, what's the difference?

And then the next day, Goodbranson takes it into his own hands. You don't see that kind of thing back to back very much. What do you think? Which way do you think the NHL goes? Do you think there's going to be all of a sudden,

anytime someone gets bumped around the boards now? We're going to see 15 calls like that this week. That's my prediction. We'll find out on Friday's podcast podcast if i'm gonna be wrong we'll see how this plays out but they're gonna dial down the temperature they're gonna dial down the temperature for sure and they're gonna say at the end of the day we don't want a serious injury and what we saw this week when you have something happen for three days in a row, like these players, they're watching games.

Okay. You know, Eric Robinson, that's his job. Not to be dirty. I don't think the guy has any desire to be dirty, but he's there to be hard. Nick Cousins, that's his job to be an aggressive four checker. Right. So you see Evander Kane on Friday night, who's a very aggressive four checker, one of the best in the league,

makes a hard play and no penalty. What do you think these fourth line guys or guys who are there to be great four checkers are thinking? I can make that play. And I can just see the NHL saying, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. It's too hot right now. And we're risking guys getting really hurt.

Clamp down central. We'll see if I'm right. Do you think though that that is a tactical solution to a systemic problem though? And again, we don't have the time to go into a big huge debate about this, but the way that the game is played the speed at which the game is played our previous conversation about players uh not being shy about putting themselves in vulnerable positions the inability of anyone to hold up a four checker now and how it is no

longer a contact sport it is a collision sport to just say okay we're going to call a couple of more of these now and really clamp down i don't know that that's anything more than just let's just make a temporary solution here the real problem here is hockey and the way it's played and you're going to get situations like this and sometimes you're going to come in threes well that's like that's like saying what do we do do nothing do you think after this weekend they can really do nothing that's why i think you step up the calls you get everybody thinking about a little bit clearly what happened friday has got everybody in that edmonton games got everybody thinking i can do whatever i need to do right and it dials back a little bit on Saturday but then Cousins on Sunday and good Branson does what he does I just think there's there comes to times where

you can't simply say that's hockey you have to dial down the temperature a bit and we're really risking somebody getting hurt we'll talk about Larkin in a second because I don't think that's the same as these situations. No, it's not. It's not remotely the same as these situations. But look, Brodine's out. And we're fortunate that there wasn't anything worse. So sometimes I think you just have to dial it down.

It's a skill.'s like it's like parenting it's like being a teacher in a school when do you have to dial down the temperature this is dial down week not for david perron though look if i was david perron this is what i would do. I would walk into that hearing and I would say, okay, guys, I saw my captain was down. I thought it was him. I lost my mind. I didn't realize it wasn't him. I'm throwing myself on the mercy of the court. I thought I was standing up for my captain. I clearly made a mistake. I thought I was standing up for my captain. I clearly made a mistake. That's what I would do.

That's what I would do. I would go in there and say, I screwed up. I saw my captain down in the moment. I lost my mind. I did something dumb. I'm sorry. That's what I would do.

I think that's the only thing you can do well i but but i will say this before jeff if there was one situation hold on one sec there was one situation in the past couple years and i i they never confirmed it to me but i'm pretty sure i know which one it was where they were they were waiting for a guy to walk in there and saying guys i really screwed up and he went in there and he doubled down and he got that's big he got a pretty big suspension so i don't know it's 100 but i'm pretty sure that's what happened i think if perron walks in there and just says i I screwed this up. I thought it was him. It wasn't him. It dials everything down a little bit. I don't know what they're going to think about here.

Like it's a cross check to the head. It's a dangerous play. He's lucky Zub wasn't more hurt. I think his only chance here of not getting a massive suspension is I screwed this up you're i thought of right away when i saw that play what's that and you'll remember this because we're the same age 1987 new york rangers philadelphia flyers day brown thomas sandstrom yeah and that was that was a 15 gamer for day Brown I don't know that David Perron's getting

15 games I don't see they have the option to throw to throw a large one at David Perron here yeah you know look he he made a he made a really bad play in the emotion of the moment like you know like I said there's two plays in the last three years that have made me sick to my stomach that I can remember. One was Tavares, and I'm sure there have been more. They're just the two that jump into my head. And the other one was that one just in the moment. Because I remember all of Larkin's injuries and the way he crumpled to the ice. You couldn't help but sit there and think oh my

god there's there's something really wrong here and if i was david perron in that moment i probably would have snapped too but it doesn't excuse what he did and the only thing he can do is walk in there and say i thought i was protecting my guy but but I screwed up. That's it. There's no other way to approach this hearing. So the NHL announces on Sunday night that Goodbranson is going to have a hearing, an aggressor. And if you read the rule that they quote, rule 46-2, the aggressor in an altercation shall be the player who continues to throw punches in an attempt to inflict punishment on his opponent who was in a defenseless position or who was an unwilling combatant and so that's where he is getting the hearing for. It's not an in-person hearing.

If they don't announce it, it's not in-person. They have to specifically say that it's an in-person hearing. So this one can only be maximum five games, for example. I mean, I don't know. I'd be curious to see if they try to make an example out of Goodbranson. In the vast majority of cases, there have been very few where a player gets a hearing and doesn't get a suspension.

There've only been one or two in the last few years. I mean, like I said, I understand why good Branson lost his mind on this play. I do. And, but this goes to my belief overall, Jeff, that they are going to turn down the temperature.

They are throwing a giant block of ice in the bathtub. That's what this is. Turn on the AC. Cool everyone off. Get everybody out of the AC. Cool everyone off. Get everybody out of the sauna. We have seen a weekend where it boiled over, boiled over, and they are going to turn down the temperature. You know, I think the other thing that should be talked about with this is, look, there was a lot of anger online after and obviously because of the injury and I have no doubt the Red Wings are angry that they are facing the only extra penalty here

in terms of player suspension like it was their captain who was down who's injured and you know I think Larkin's gonna miss some time I think there's some testing still to be done here but the mood on Sunday appeared to be that the worst had been averted but you know we'll see how this plays out which I mean we're all hoping for we're hoping for Larkin's gonna be okay you know the Red Wings are pretty furious about it you know I remembered when he was injured we should check some of the other things that Larkin had been through the cross check from Jamie Benn and then I'd completely forgot about it but just the coincidence that Matthew Joseph was involved in a situation when he played for Tampa where Larkin was hit from behind

and then Larkin was so angry about it, he punched him and got a one-game suspension. And people were like, oh, Matthew Joseph has done this to him again. And I just think that's really wrong. I don't think Matthew Joseph is guilty of anything here except a play that went horribly wrong. And the same goes for Parker Kelly.

Like, the one thing I want to hear from Larkin or the doctors involved or Derek Lalonde or whoever is what exactly happened. Because to me, it looked like, I don't know if he was injured from Joseph hitting from behind or him falling into Kelly who gets him from the front or the way he fell or or what it's it's like look could they have been could Joseph have been guilty of a penalty maybe but that's a battle that we see a hundred times a game and there was no deliberate attempt to injure and i know fans are fans and they get upset um but this idea that joseph has something for larkin

and wants to injure him every time that they play like that's that's crazy to me that's that's just insane okay so we'll um we'll see where this one heads this week and what ends up happening here with David Perron. In the meantime, a couple of things from headlines before we move along around the NHL. Pretty busy weekend and a newsy weekend. And as I mentioned earlier, Luke Shen still to come here on the podcast

along with the Montana's Thought Line. Meanwhile, Ethan Baer. Where, oh where, will the the bear end up elliot where will the bear come out of hibernation he's close uh you know i think it sounds like it's going to be washington it sounds like the capitals um are the team here no 100 confirmation but um you know there were a few teams that were in on bear that pointed me in that direction said they think that washington um has been aggressive um the other thing that they said is that um they are like a bunch of teams are hoping to get Bear in for whatever they could this year and would then sign him to another contract in the summer.

And Washington, it sounds like, is prepared to offer a little bit of term. So instead of, and unfortunately for Bear, here's a guy who's seen the risk of short-term contracts. Last spring, he's on a short-term contract and he gets injured in the World Championships and needs surgery. Now, he had a really good insurance policy. It's an insurance policy that based him on a $3 million contract. So he's been

well protected and and good job by his agent there who's jason davidson but i think but that goes away once he starts playing and so i i think what what other teams believe the Capitals have done here is they have the ability to say, or they're prepared to maybe put some term on this. So there's an advantage to bear taking their, taking their offer now, as opposed to teams that will say, Hey, we'll sign you now. And then we'll do something in the summer because Because I can understand Ethan Baer wanting a bit more security after what he's been through. Now, we'll find out if all of this

turns out to be true, but that's what other teams suspect. Elliot, also on headlines, you talked about Andrei Kuzmenko. Teams are asking. We all know about what happened between him and Rick Tockett's previous 10 minutes and 36 seconds of ice time versus Carolina on Saturday.

Teams inquiring about Kuzmenko. Yeah, everybody knows that Vancouver is trying to clear cap room, right? They did it in the trade with Beauvilliers, and I don't think that's ended there. Well, now we see a situation where Kuzmenko is down to, you know, he's still on the number one power play. I would really be worried about his situation in Vancouver if he was taken off that power play.

That's when you know that Rick Tockett or whatever the case is had enough. He's still there. So to me, that's a sign that this is a team that has not given up on this player. But his ice time is way down. He had two recent healthy scratches. You're making 5-5 this year and next, although he has a partial no trade. Nobody wants that from a guy who's playing 12 minutes a game. You just,

it doesn't make sense in today's NHL. So I think there have been some conversations between the Canucks and teams. What are we thinking about here? And it's probably too soon. Although one thing we've learned about Vancouver, if they get something, they do it. Nobody makes more trades in the untradeable NHL than the Vancouver Canucks. So whenever I hear they're talking to someone, you know you can expect it at any time. So it's definitely a situation where they are talking to teams

and teams are talking to them about Kuzmenko. Okay, Carolina Hurricanes. The Canadian swing, not good. 0 for 4 after the vancouver game yeah on good a players only meeting um is it too simple to say that the carolina hurricanes are being undone by their goaltending first of all i was going to say that this is the worst swing through western canada since henry hud. And I thought I was so smart, except that some friends of mine who are actual students of history said that Henry Hudson didn't even get to Western Canada. They were like, Elliot, where's Henry Hudson on a map?

It's in Ontario. It doesn't qualify as a trip to Western Canada. So anybody who's got a better solution, let me know. I think goaltending is at the root of it. There's no question. Did you think Ranta was that bad on Saturday? I didn't. No, it's okay.

Four goals, but I didn't think he was that bad but goaltending is definitely at the root of it and and like i said um i i think they're under the impression that or at least they are prepared for the eventuality that anderson won't play this year hopefully that'll be proven to be wrong but I think they know that that's a possibility. So we'll see where that goes. They might have to go out and get another goalie. I think what Brindamore is trying to say is we can't just use goaltending as an excuse. Even if the goaltending is undermining our game we have to play a lot

better than this and the other thing is the reason for the team meeting brindamore he ripped them in that interview on the bench in edmonton he was critical after the game in calgary you know ultimately you reach a time where the coaches can't keep doing this over and over and over again. So I think the team meeting was like, we've got to take ownership. And I think one of the things he's trying to impress upon them, and I have no doubt this was one of the messages, that even if our goaltending is terrible, and I'm sure they're not saying that in front of the goalies,

we have to be a lot better individually. Like Carolina, and it's not just the losses, they don't look like Carolina right now. To me, the loss in Edmonton was bad. Calgary, you're up 2-0. I don't care if you're on the road. You should win that game. And Vancouver, they didn't play well.

They looked awful in the first period better in the second and Ron McLean to his credit called it it was 3-2 after two and he's like I think Vancouver's in trouble because Carolina is right there and they haven't played well they go right out and they tie it and they lose the game this is not the hurricanes we are used to seeing and you can't like no matter what's going wrong in goal you can't use as an excuse to throw up your hands and say okay we're doomed and i think that's what this is about like like look at toronto right now um toronto's got a 650 winning percentage and they're doing it they've got all these defensemen out like look at the bottom three defensemen they used on

Saturday it was Maxime Lejoie it was Simon Benoit it was Connor Timmons who's a talented guy who's battled a lot of injuries and they shut out Nashville like those guys are battling their hearts out right now and they're hearing trade rumors every day about who the Maple Leafs are going to trade for like you think all three of these guys know that Toronto isn't out there trying to find somebody who might take one of their jobs. Okay. But they're scratching and bitching and fighting their claws out. Like that's what you have to do.

Okay. Let's get there. You mentioned the Toronto Maple Leafs. So big win for them Saturday night, Nashville Predators for nothing. Austin Matthews with a pair. The big news of the day though net minder joseph wall is out with the high ankle sprain that one kind of surprised me that injury

did not look like a high ankle sprain no it didn't nonetheless i'm a podcaster not a doctor uh your thoughts on what the maple leafs do now i think they're just gonna wait it out one of the things about all this is that sometimes we forget and we say, oh, okay, they'll just go out and get someone. Well, you get to a point where someone else has got to be activated. Or eventually, Wool's going to come back and he's going to play. I know he doesn't make a ton of money, but he's going to come back and he's going to play. And so, you know, you just basically have to wait.

Like Martin Jones came in and stole them a game. He made a couple of really big saves, and that was important. And, you know, the other thing, too, I'm beginning to wonder about Samsonov. Like he's a roller coaster. Like that's what I heard about him from the Capitals. There's peaks and there's valleys, and you wish there were fewer valleys, but you've got to ride them. Well, I thought it was really interesting how Sheldon Keefe came right out on Saturday morning when Wool was hurt. And he said, look, this is Samsonov's opportunity.

And game one, he grabs it. Like, I just wonder if he's one of these guys that when the job's his, he's just better. When he's challenged, he's just, I don't know, not as good. Maybe he's just one of those people that set up that way. But, and we'll see. They've got some really tough games coming up. But maybe that's the way it is. It's my job.

I'm fine now. Now, by the way, Jeff, John Tavares goes into Long Island, going on Long Island on Monday night at 9.98. I love you Islanders fans. And it's great to see that your team is right in itself for now. But who does not want to see what happens if Tavares gets two points on Monday night?

I just want to see John Tavares has has reached a thousand points either on the scoreboard or announced in the building just to see what happens do you think if that happens they will announce it well you know fans now even if they don't fans now they're on their phones oh they know they're gonna know there's a there but there's that there's a difference between them just knowing and the organization announcing it you know what i in the building i don't even care so much about that i just want to see it happening i just want to see it happen because maybe jeff they don't even need to announce it maybe at that moment the stay puffed marshmallow man comes

walking through the building and we need to cross the beams to save humanity based on the reaction by the Islanders fans what what old man freedom is referencing is a movie called Ghostbusters kids it was remade a couple years ago they probably know

okay very good hey uh sticking with the metropolitan though and you mentioned the islanders let me finish on this we'll we'll get to the montana's thought line and the the luke shen piece um what's the biggest surprise here and again i know we should probably go by points percentage but if you just go by points what's the biggest surprise here rangers are on top of the metro okay we're used to that now philadelphia flyers are second with 32 points the caps and the islanders are tied with 31 i know i know what you want me to say and i will be leading and i will give you your credit. I will. But I do want to say the way Washington started the season,

if you would have told me they would have been here right now, I wouldn't have believed it. At least when Philly started the year and they dropped the puck, this was a team that was ready to play. Washington, at the drop of the puck of the season, was not ready to play. Washington, at the drop of the puck of the season, was not ready to play. Like a week ago, they didn't even get off the bus when they played Arizona. And they're right there.

Like I saw Brian McClellan at the Board of Governors meetings. I didn't get a chance to talk to him, but he looked stressed. Brian McClellan very rarely looks stressed. He looks, when he's out in public, he looks pretty cool. Like he's got the best poker hand and you're all screwed at the table. He looks stressed. That was the day after Arizona.

But you know, I give Washington a lot of credit because I thought they were doomed but let me just say let me just say you were right and I was wrong on Philadelphia this has been my worst year for predictions ever although Edmonton might end up making us all look good here because they're surging now but I was way off on Philly way off on Philly i thought they looked really good on saturday night against colorado even though mckinnon is scoring one ridiculous goal a night now every night yeah every night he's scoring a ridiculous goal but you know i i just think Philly, they play hard almost every game. We've talked about Walker. He's had a great year.

We've talked about Seeler. You know, Couturier being back. I think Sanheim, for the most part, has been excellent this year. Those guys are playing. I guess the quotes were coming out like nobody wants us to win. Okay, I think that's a little bit much. I don't think anybody doesn't want. You know teams.

What does every team say? It doesn't matter who they are. Everyone said we couldn't do this. Nobody believed it. No, no, no. I freely admit I didn't think they were capable of this. It's not like nobody wants them to win. That's a little much.

But every game, what you control is your effort, and their effort is great almost every night. That team competes hard. And when you compete hard, you win a lot more games in this league. A couple of things. As far as players standing out, the one guy that I keep coming back to on this team,

and it's been a fascinating watch, seeing him with the Philadelphia Flyers year in and year out, and hearing his name out there. I mean, how many different times has Travis Konechny been traded? He's got 20 goals. And here he is. He's got 16 goals and 23 points. Okay, not 20 goals.

Every time you watch Flyers highlights, even if you don't watch the game, like Konechny scoring. Yeah. Looks great with Couturier. The Tyson Forrester kid looks fantastic. Like, it's, again, like you're right. Like these guys, even if they don't win every game, they compete in every game. It's impressive.

It really is. Like, this is a rebuild for each? Yeah, I know, eh? This is what Philly calls a rebuild? Wow. Okay. On that, we'll wrap this segment. When we come back, the Montana's Thought Line

and Elliot's one-on-one with Luke Shen of the Nashville Predators don't go anywhere listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast ad-free on Amazon Music included with Prime. Montana's barbecue and bar, Canada's home for barbecue. Here's the important information for this segment to work. Here's how you get in touch with us. 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca, 1-833-311-3232.

Again, 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca, 1-833-311-3232. Here comes Elliot's tagline. Try the ribs. And the pecan salad and the fried pickles. And this is not going over very well, so let's get the emails uh hold on hold on hold on before before we go to the montana's emails today okay we're gonna play one game of is this weird oh okay okay so jeff i'm asking you and i'm taking an informal poll of the listeners okay is this weird so saturday night we finish the show we go into our clothing room to get changed yep bx takes off his socks, smells them,

decides they are not dirty or gross, and puts them back to be worn. Is this weird? I'm not going to prejudice anyone else. You can have an opinion if you want jeff because you weren't there well is this weird to me it depends on where he's going like if he's just going back to the hotel to go to bed well like yeah it is because no no he leaves the socks he has a drawer we all have a

drawer in the change room and he leaves a whole bunch of yes he leaves a whole bunch of socks in there no you gotta wash those dogs no you gotta you gotta those those go to the laundry sorry i as as i get older i'm like turning into it's like a low-key germaphobe i think so yeah those those go to the laundry wait wait wait wait that's not even what i'm asking is weird i want i want everyone to understand here what i think is weird it's not just he he could wear them again without washing he sniffed them did you completely miss the fact that i said he sniffed them yeah so what he sniffed his socks what did he do okay all right i don't think that's weird i think the part about yeah good still good to go after you've worn they got to go in the

laundry so we've got two decisions on if it's weird one he's gonna wear them again without washing them and two he sniffed them okay everybody feel free to reply as you see fit that's it that's the game that was it is this weird yes okay the only weird part was is that he's gonna he's gonna wear them again and you're not going to wash them. But whatever, Kevin BXO. Whatever, Kevin. Let us start with CO from Victoria, BC. Home of this year's edition of Hockey Day in Canada, we should add.

Hi, guys. Looking forward to it. Joseph Wall played 50 minutes in the win over Ottawa December 7th before getting injured. His time on ice was way higher than Martin Jones. He had the lead before injury and the lead remained, yet the W was credited to Jones. What is the criteria used to award a win to the replacement goalie

over the starter in the case of injury? Selfishly, this decision stung in my head-to-head fantasy league cheers. Oh, so the reason that Martin Jones gets credit for the win is that Claude Giroux scored with 153 to go to make it 4-3. And who was the goalie when the Maple Leafs scored their fourth goal? It was Martin Jones. One thing that people may not realize, some people realize it, some don't, is that in Major League Baseball, as long as the second team never catches up, the pitcher, when you get the lead, gets the win.

So let's just say that Jeff and I are on the same team, have bad clubhouse chemistry but we were on the same team and I was the starting pitcher and I left with a 6-0 lead and Jeff comes in our lead goes from 6-0 to 8-0 and then Jeff gives up seven runs because Jeff's probably terrible. Hey. I would still be the winning pitcher because I left with the lead and the other team never caught me. So even though it was 6-0 when I left, 8-0 under Jeff,

with him already in the game, and then he gives up seven runs. It doesn't matter that Jeff was pitching when they scored the eighth run. It's just who has the lead. Hockey is different. The winning goalie is the goalie who's in net when you score that one more goal than your opponent. So even though the Maple Leafs never lost the lead, they went up 4-2 and then Ottawa scored to make it 4-3, that's why Jones gets the win, because he was in net when Toronto scored the fourth goal in a 4-3 game. Hockey is different than baseball.

Yes, excellent. Glad to clear that up for you. CO in Victoria, BC. Maybe look forward to seeing you at Hockey Day in Canada. Let's clear this one up real quick too. Owen. You'll like this one, Elliot. Owen. Hello, rib lovers.

How... I like that. How are the Brandon Wheat Kings able to call up their top prospect, Jackson Jacobson? He looks really good too. He's only 14 years old, but he's in his 15-year-old season. Doesn't he need to be granted exceptional status to play in the WHL at that age? Great question, but here's the deal.

He's actually a 2008. He can play five games like any other 2008. He has a later birthday, so he hasn't turned 15 yet, like most of the 2000s and eight. But they don't need to create or carve out any type of exception for Jackson Jacobson, who looks fantastic, Elliot, and he's in grade nine, and he's already snapping in goals in the Western Hockey League.

The skill of the hockey league the skill of the kids the skill of the kids oh yes very talented really talented uh okay here's a fun one benji from the zoo hey jeff elliott and dom this week marks the two-year anniversary of the zegras milano flip over the net goal i was re-watching this goal and it got me thinking see i love when people do this it got me thinking would it be legal to do the opposite of what zegras did and pass the puck under the nets for instance say a player has the puck behind the net and they tilt the net forward so the back of the net comes off the ground but remains on the pegs then passes the puck under the net out to the slot not the slot area jeff thank you benji and a teammate receives

the pass there and scores would that be allowed keep up the great work with the podcast what do you think for each no you can't lift the net and do that it's not about lifting the net but you're right it's no goal okay what's the issue the issue is anytime the puck enters the net it requires a whistle no matter how it goes in the minute the puck is in that area in the net the official the referee is obliged to blow the whistle. Well, I would think you couldn't do that anyway, but you've got the rule there.

Yeah, the rule is the minute the puck is in the net, whether it came from the front, from the side, or behind, you have to blow the whistle and the play is dead. But I do applaud Benji from the side or behind, you have to blow the whistle and the play is dead. But I do applaud Benji from the Sioux for some great creative thinking on that one. I have to say some of the stuff that these people have been coming up with, our listeners have been coming up with lately

has been dynamite. It's so good. It's so good. I love that kind of stuff. Send more, please. I would not want to take on a lot of our listeners in a logic problem because I would lose. I would not want to take on a lot of our listeners and a logic problem because I would lose. Okay. Here's one for creativity. And you as someone who's covered

multiple sports will appreciate this one. Adam, good evening from the US-Canada border. I'm sitting here at work in the toll booth in the aftermath of the Otani craziness on Friday night, and a weird idea came to my mind that Jeff may love and Elliot will hate. Actually, I think I was going to be amused by this. And secondly, hello to all the border guards. I don't know about you, Elliot, but I've had some great hockey conversations with border guards over the years. Specifically when I go to the Combine in Buffalo. Some of the hockey conversations are great. So to everybody working at the U.S.-Canada border, hello.

I do not argue with border guards. I will do anything to avoid the words red flag next to my name. So whatever questions any border guard has for me, I am happy to answer it. So if you want to get your email read on the air just mention that you're a border guard and right away front of the line first episode yes listen listen to this one that adam presents it's an interesting one could or should a company that owns multiple sports teams be able to make an inter-sport trade if there's room on the caps

in both leagues for example mlse leaps raptors trade a hockey player to Kroenke Sports, Avalanche Nuggets, and receive a basketball player in return. While it would require way too much cooperation and coordination between the leagues to happen, it would add a whole new level of chaos and intrigue and great TV to trade deadlines and free agency. Now, how is that for a crazy idea? Thanks and great job to you all. Adam Bravo, Adam Bravo. The thing that this made me think about,

Bill Waters told me this story. I think I've told you this one before about the Curtis Joseph negotiations. So Curtis Joseph, who's represented by Newport Sports, Don Meehan. Don was talking with Bill Waters, who was at that time the assistant general manager of the Maple Leafs, and said, my client, Curtis Joseph, we're here to talk about a new contract. And Bill said, yep, that's fine. And he said, well, who makes more money for MLSC, the Leafs or the Raptors? And Bill said, the Leafs do. And he said, oh, okay. So who do you think individually brings in more money to MLSC, Vince Carter or my client, Curtis Joseph?

And Bill said, Curtis Joseph. At which point Don Meehan said to Bill Waters, well, in that case, we'll take the Vince Carter deal. That's the first thing that jumped to my mind when you put basketball and hockey together in trades or contracts. Your thoughts on border guard Adam and his crazy idea. The other one I think that was an issue with that is that

when Mark Messier was a free agent in New York after they won the Stanley Cup with the Rangers if I'm not mistaken Patrick Ewing got 15 million a year from the Knicks and obviously the economics of the two sports are different. But I was under the impression that one of the things the Messier said to the Knicks was, this guy just won you a Stanley Cup. And the Knicks have won two NBA championships. They won in 1970, and they won in 1973.

They made two finals under Ewing, although he was injured for one of them. You know, he was a great player. He deserved what he got paid. But Messier's point was, hey, I brought you a championship. And at that time, you'll remember there was no salary cap in the NHL. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean the Knicks or the Rangers were going to pay Messier 15 million a year, but he definitely believed his numbers should be enormous. And that's one of the reasons that he ended up in Vancouver.

I do like the idea, though, much like with either Curtis Joseph or Mark Messier, using basketball players as comparables for contract negotiations. There is a level of boldness to that that is almost unrivaled elliot oh yeah oh well when michael jordan and i know a lot of people saw the air movie there's some questions about the accuracy of that but if you want more to read about michael j arrival in the NBA and his negotiations, I've mentioned this book before, The Bald Truth by David Falk, who was Jordan's agent. One of the things that happened in that negotiation was Jordan wanted to be seen as unique.

And I think some of the shoe companies said to him, like, what do you think you are, a tennis player? I can't remember if the Air movie talked like that, but that's what was in the book. I always remembered that. What do you think you are, a tennis player? And his response was, I feel I'm going to be a unique player. Why shouldn't I be treated like a unique athlete? And so, you know, I think this stuff is fascinating fascinating jeff i think these kinds of stories are great obviously the economics of once like look i saw

all the comparisons to otani and what he got compared to what everybody else gets and he's a very very unique case he's a unicorn but i think this stuff is fascinating, really fascinating. So, Adam, that is a complete non-answer to your question, but we gave you some good stories. Just took us in. Yeah, good stories. Great stories, Adam. Let's do some good stories. And remember, we love border guards. Amen, brother.

Let's get to a voicemail. This one's fun. Derek in Tampa Bay. Hey, guys. Derek here. A Minnesota voicemail. This one's fun. Derek in Tampa Bay. Hey, guys. Derek here, a Minnesota hockey kid living in Tampa Bay for now. Since you recently crossed over and started talking movies, I had a question for you. Curious to hear about your favorite hockey nods on the big screen. I'm not talking about an entire movie like Youngblood or, you know, the American favorite Miracle, but just a regular old movie with a subtle hockey nod.

My example comes from the holiday season, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Clark W. Griswold coming down the steps in the 00 Blackhawks jersey early in the morning. So that's an example. We'd love to hear some of yours. Especially appreciate the podcast. Great that's an example. We'd love to hear some of yours. Especially appreciate the podcast. Great work to all three of you. Derek, thanks. If I can hop in quick and then I'll turn the recreation

over to you, Elliot. Mine is Alan Ruck, who played the character Cameron Fry in Ferris Bueller's Day Off wearing the Gordie Howe jersey. And that was never explained in the movie because the movie takes place in Chicago. So you think to yourself, why is he wearing a Detroit Red Wings jersey?

Part of the idea of Cameron Frye's character was he didn't have the best relationship with his father. So that was his way of rebelling against who we assume would be a Blackhawks fan. But he did, even though, and Ruck has talked about this in interviews, the idea was that he had a good relationship with his grandfather, who was a big Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings fan, and that's why he wore it. But part rebellion against dad, part pro-grandpa, Alan Ruck, Cameron Frye, Gordie Howe jersey, Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I think for me,

and there are a lot of people of my age, it's swingers. The scene where Vince Vaughn says he can make Gretzky bleed. Like a lot of us remember that scene. And I hope Wayne Gretzky doesn't listen to this podcast. And I would assume that Wayne Gretzky has better things to do

than listen to this podcast but I knew people that would then pick up the video game which was obviously the NHL video game and they would try to do it as a matter of fact I know one of my friends once wrote to, I guess it was EA, and asked for the backdoor code to let it happen. And he never got an answer. They never responded to him. But I think for a lot of people my age, Swingers is the one. Now, Dom, you have another.

What's yours? Go, Dom. In the opening credits for the TV series Entourage, in a split second, there is a scene where a Chicago Wolves jersey can be seen worn by someone on the street. Well, didn't Kevin Connolly also have an Islanders jersey in his office? Well, he's a huge fan.

Well, he's an enormous fan. That one obviously makes sense but that that could be an answer to this one too but Chicago Wolves that's a nice one very nice Dom um I want to finish up with one here it's a really good question but there's a preamble with it and it's a story about Elliot. Oh, no. What? Yep. You'll like this. Elliot, this is your past.

This is from Lee. Hi, Elliot, Jeff, and Dom. Elliot, I'm a big fan of your work and also a Western and CHRW sports alumni. Funny CHRW story for you. Back in 2008, I was volunteering for CHRW and did a phone interview with you to air during the intermission of Mustang's hockey and basketball broadcasts. You were just coming back from Phoenix doing some Coyotes interviews and you called me from your condo building's parking garage. You were so gracious with your time, I was too young and nervous to correct you when halfway through the interview, you started calling me Ben. I don't think you knew my then CHRW colleague and you're now Roger's colleague, Ben Nicholson Smith, so I have no idea why you

called me that, but I just went with it and cut out those parts when we aired it. It also gave me a funny story to tell my friends these days, but you spent 45 minutes with me reflecting on your Western broadcasting days. And we got a lot of mileage out of that interview, filling up several games worth of intermissions and snippets from our chat. I'm still so appreciative that you did that. Thank you so much. Is it Lee or should we call him Ben Elliott? I have to say this. I'm embarrassed to admit this, Jeff. It's not the first or last time

that happened. On Saturday at the morning skate, I called Cody Glass Cole. And I was like, oh my God, sorry. I know you're Cody, not're Cody not Cole and he said oh don't worry about it Cole Smith stall is right over there I don't know why I'm I'm better with faces than I am with names look Lee or Ben or whoever you are I would just say that it's funny I do that embarrassingly a lot it's it's it's sad it really is sad actually awesome okay well here is lee slash ben's question oh i mean it wasn't just the story it's no it's actually oh okay no he wanted a little little story before he asked this question like i like listen the one thing we know about people from the university of western ontario is they are pompous and loquacious at the same time

and they want their stories read before they take a step. You're lucky if we even acknowledge your presence, never mind call you by your name. Lee has come down off the mountain with this question. Here it is. I was thinking about what you said last podcast about how July 1st doesn't afford the time for teams and players to get to know each other well,

and that time has benefited Kane's decision-making over the past few months. Patrick Kane, Detroit. We also see MLB free agency moving exceedingly slow. I'm wondering, do you foresee a day where big-time NHL free agents take their time to decide where they want to go, which would then delay the lower profile names from signing their deals into later in the summer. Why are these two sports free agency so different when it comes to speed? It's a good question. There have been some times that were a little different you remember uh ryan suiter and zach parise when they signed together yep there were some players who were getting annoyed that year who said get these guys to

sign so the rest of us can get going here i i do remember that one happened um i mean everybody knew where they were going to go after a certain point, but it was still a matter of getting it done. I remember that year. I just think in the NHL, I honestly believe, like in the NBA, there's really nothing much else that summer. Like, they don't have salary arbitration things like that so they have their window and business gets done beforehand then there's one big day of craziness and then everybody can go enjoy their summer one of the things that happens in the nhl is there's still stuff to do in the summer there's development camps i know the nba has a summer

league but it's more of a fun thing where everybody gets involved. The NHL has their development camps. They have salary arbitration. I just think people want to get on with their summer and get going. I do believe that's a thing. I generally feel that it's been a long year. There's more to prepare for in the summer, particularly if you have arb cases and and people just want to go they they want to know where they are and i i know this is like i know jeff you joke about the casablanca thing there's gambling here i'm shocked yes i think people know in the couple days before what the market's gonna look like what so i know it's hard to look like. What? So, I know, it's hard to believe, I know. But it does happen, and I do think there's something, too.

It's the year's been long enough. We want to move on. Well, you know that, you'll recall this very well. Once upon a time, free agency in the offseason under Bob Goodnow, when he was the executive director of the Players Association, alongside Ian Pulver, everything was masterminded and controlled. This player was going to sign for this much, and then this, like, it was as a domino effect. Like, the offseason free agency once upon a time was completely predictable because the whole thing was being orchestrated by

the NHL Players Association. This player is going here. That's going to be this number, which means this player gets that number, which means that player gets this number. Now, this is all pre-salary cap. We all know that. But once upon a time, free agency was much, much different than it is now. All right. Lee slash Ben.

Ben Lee. Lee Ben. Whichever one is your actual name, I'm not convinced. His name is Lee. Lee, thanks so much for that one. Thanks to everyone who submitted questions and comments. And in this case, with Lee slash Ben, a great story.

That's the Montana's Thought Line. Montana's barbecue and bar. Canada's home for barbecue and great stories. We're back with Elliot's conversation with Luke Shen of the Nashville Predators. Next. Okay.

Welcome back to the podcast. Welcome to our last segment of the show today. A feature interview, Elliot Friedman in conversation with Luke Shen of the Nashville Predators. Now. Okay. Yes. I got to tell you a story about this interview.

Okay. Sure. So there were some people who really helped me out with good behind the scenes information. And he, he was actually, I'm not telling you. And Shen was actually impressed

that some of the stories that people shared. Was it Braden Shen? Actually, he didn't get back to me. Oh! Okay. Here I am talking about how great the Shens are and they're going to do a mani cast together someday and Braden Shen totally stiffs me okay

but i'm not bitter or anything no anyway anyway so one of the people tells me this story and to this moment jeff i'm not sure if this guy is pranking me or shen or both and i'm not going to say who it is okay i'm not going to say who it is he says to me and i'm getting the text right now so i don't misrepresent anything here james henry's like i won't give it to you he loves he loves to sing broadway musicals he will deny it to the bitter end but he has a great voice you just have to drag it out of him now I am looking at this text and I'm saying to myself is this true or am I being punked okay okay so I wait until the last question which by the way I told Dom to take out

so but I'm letting everybody know it's here it's just Dom to take out so but I'm letting everybody know it's here it's just it just doesn't work but I'm letting everybody know that it happened I wait to the last question I asked him and he says basically says if you want me to sing I'll sing for you but that's not true so he says it's it's not true and then I text back to the person who told me and they write back of course he denied it and the next day in the room I just you know I'm there at the morning skate I'm listening to what everybody has to say I say hello to a couple guys I say hello to Gustav Nyquist and he's like, I heard you tried to make Shen sing. I'm like, oh my God.

Like people know about this now. And he maintains it's totally not true. And the person who told me maintains it totally is. I think I got punked here. I believe I did. Like when you take yourself out of it and you think about what just happened here, I think I absolutely got punked. But the one source is

adamant that this is true but like shen he just looked totally bemused by it it was pretty funny i have to say hang on did he offer to sing and you said no i can't remember i think it was like off-handed like hey if you want me to sing i will but, but that's not true. I said, we've had people sing on the podcast before Jordan Eberle and Shen goes, well, he's actually pretty good. And I go, yeah. Hmm. What is it about Western Canadian hockey players and singing? Cause when, when you mentioned that, my first thought was to Brian Troche.

Um, okay. Well that mystery continues. Uh, well, other than than that the interview is excellent other than the part that elliot had to cut out at the end where he totally got stiffed on a question and asked it like a goofball anyhow uh the interview is excellent but don't let us tell you that it's excellent you decide for yourself here's luke shen the the Broadway singer slash defenseman in conversation with Elliott Friedman on 32 Thoughts. Enjoy.

So, Luke, as you do these things, you always try to find out stories that you don't know about Luke Shen. And we've been lucky in Toronto. We've learned a lot about Luke Shen. But here's one that came to me. In your rookie year, you went out for dinner with some of your Maple Leafs teammates, and they ordered some very nice red wine.

And you told them, I don't drink that. And they said, if you're going to be in the NHL, you're going to learn to like red wine. True or false? Fact. That is true. That is true. I don't know where you got that from, but I'm going to take a stab at it. Jamal Maris?

I never reveal my sources. You know that. I don't know where you got that from, but I'm going to take a stab at it. Jamal Maris. I never reveal my sources. Okay. Okay. But anyways, yeah. Being a younger guy, there was really no, I think the next youngest guy might've been like John Mitchell at 24, 25 years old. And so I was just hanging out with the veteran guys were so good to me, Matt Stajan and, you know, Koli Akabo, Alex Steen. When I first started Jamal, Mike Van Ryan, like, like you know just a long list of guys and they'd

always invite me for every dinner and you know I was sitting there in the corner kind of sipping on nothing and you know I'd be we'd play the credit card game or whatever and I'd be picking up the odd tab and they're ordering some nice wine and and guys were like you might want to start sipping on this if you're paying for some of these and I just just, you know, I never even thought of trying. Being from Saskatchewan, first of all, there's not a lot of wine drinkers in Saskatchewan. It's beer, yeah. So anyways, I started sipping on it.

And next thing you know, guys got me on it. And I've been a wine guy ever since, I guess. So it did happen. You are a wine guy? It did happen. That's a confirmed story. All right, so let's ask here. When you sit down, because there are

going to be some red wine connoisseurs who listen to this what is the luke shen bottle what is your favorite kind oh man i don't have a bottle i've been to napa a few times yeah i actually went for our honeymoon um and then one time well when i was playing with the kings we drove back did the like the the west coast oregon coast and stuff and stopped in Napa on the way back. And then one other time, actually, I went on there during vacation, went with Tyson Berry and his wife and Mike Smith and his wife as well, too. So I've been there a few times.

And randomly, we ran into there at the time. Derek Stepwan was there and Mark Stahl. So we actually connected with them. So all five of you and then your partners? We had a dinner together. Actually, funny story about Napa, though. And so we actually connected with them so all five of you and then your we had a dinner together actually funny story about napa though and so we went for our honeymoon and uh we went to the a restaurant called the french laundry super hard to get into it's like uh you know 12 course meal and world-renowned chef and all this sort of stuff and we ended up running into rick nash and his wife who'd played with previously in the world championships. And so my wife met his wife a little bit and they were there,

I think it was like, you know, a birthday or anniversary or something like that. So they were there, just the two of them. We were there, just the two of us. And we said, Hey, do you guys want to connect and do dinner? And they said, yeah, we'd love to. And so we said, okay, well let's do the French laundry tomorrow. And it's really hard to get into, but since he was a New York Ranger, they made it all work. And yeah, we'd love to host, you know, the Nashas and all that sort of stuff. So anyways, it was our honeymoon. So Rick started ordering some nice wine and, you know, probably under the assumption that he was going to pay for the bill and, you know, it being our honeymoon, he was kind of going all out. and it being our honeymoon, he was kind of going all out. And at the end of the night, the bill came, or they came out and said, there's no bill tonight. And we're like, well, who paid for this?

So we started figuring out. My brother called in his credit card and said, hey, I'm taking care of the dinner tonight. It's our honeymoon. But he didn't know that Rick Nash was with us that night and ordering the nicest wine he could possibly find. So Brayden got stung for a pretty big tab that night. And that's when we were playing in Philadelphia together. And off the face of it, Rick Nash went up to him one of the first games of the year and goes,

Hey, Brayden, thanks for dinner in Napa this summer. Brayden goes, Yeah, you're welcome. And Nash was making this huge money at the time. And Brayden was like a rookie and paying for Rick Nash's meal. So that was a pretty funny story that got stung with that that one but uh yeah I mean been to Napa and I don't know when I'm in Cologne in the summer just uh you know tour around the Okanagan here and there a little but what is the thing that when you look back now what is the thing that makes you laugh the most about rookie Luke Shen uh just how naive and delusional i was probably i mean um so my my

wife went to tmu here in toronto and um even though she's from colonna she went out here before i got drafted here and uh in my rookie year just they're not being a lot of young guys i kind of ended up at a couple college bars bars and hanging out with some of the local college kids in Toronto here. So looking back on that, that was pretty funny. That was, you know, just different. As far as looking back, I just think I was a little bit naive to the whole situation as far as, you know, what it truly meant to be a Toronto Maple Leaf at the time. I

think I had a bit of an idea, but looking back in hindsight and coming back for the second time around, it was, uh, it was, you know, quite a bit I was dealing with at a young age, but, um, you know, had some, had some adversity and kind of, um, you know, a lot of learning curves along the way. What was the best thing about it? By the way, could you imagine Twitter now, like if you were sitting out with the university students? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's dating ourselves.

But that was kind of really when social media was first becoming a thing, like Twitter and everything. But I just love, you know, playing in the Air Canada Centre every night and just kind of, you know, going out and going out with teammates after a Saturday night game, after a big win and just all the support, like people would be so fired up after a Saturday night when you'd go out for a couple of drinks with the guys and, you know, people would be coming up to you and talking about the Stanley Cup and it's just like the atmosphere is just insane how passionate people are and that's something that uh I've always appreciated all

right there's a couple of things I just wanted to go back when on your first tour in Toronto number one is I and a couple of your former teammates they kind of laugh about it it's the the two hands on the stick thing oh yeah and they said that you know you you came from an area where you played with one hand in the stick your whole career. And then they wanted you to play with two because the rules were changing. And they just said you were you work so hard. You were so earnest at it. But it was just so challenging. Yeah. I mean, you know, you're taught to play defense a certain way your whole life. And, you know, obviously you got to evolve. But this was like total revamping the way you want to defend.

And the skating coach at the time and the coaching staff, their thought process behind it was watching Nick Lidstrom. Nick Lidstrom was a guy who didn't really, he was so effortless and he actually did play that way. It's almost like he's kind of playing in a rocking chair where he didn't really have to move. There's so many different ways of watching good defensemen there's a guy like Duncan Keith who's flying everywhere then there's a guy like Nick Lidstrom where total opposite and obviously get a lot accomplished in their own respects but Lidstrom didn't really cross over a ton and always kind of had two hands on a stick and it was just kind of like right position and floating on top of the ice a lot of time. And when I was coming into the league,

well, my 18 year old year, when I was trying out for the team, they brought me to Joe Lewis to go watch Leafs in Detroit and sit in the press box. And they're just like, just watch Nick Lidstrom the whole time. Like this is what we want you to do. I'm thinking to myself, I'm like, watch Nick Lidstrom. You're trying to tell me what he like to do what he does. That's something's not adding up here. So anyways, uh anyways uh yeah it was just the whole two hands on your stick and no crossing over and you kind of i don't know i just kind of felt a little bit robotic in a way and i remember this one time you know i was working hard at it every day and this one time it was it was early on in the season we were playing pittsburgh and uh crosby came flying down the ice and and I was committed

I was like yeah I'm going two hands here no crossing over and he had me like inside outside and I got so lucky I think it like the puck just clipped the heel of my stick and I was like that would have been all over like you know the highlight of the night I was totally roasted in the situation but I luckily you know got the heel of my stick on it just almost by accident like he messed up a little bit with the puck and I came back to the bench and they're like that's exactly what we want that's exactly what I'm thinking to myself I'm like I got so lucky here and so it would prove their point of like yeah commit to this this is what works and you know then I get to Philadelphia and um um, Chris Pronger, he just had his eye

injury and he was on, you know, the LTIR, but he was kind of helping and do some video with me. And he started watching my video and he's like, what are you doing here with your stick? Like, what do you, I don't, I don't get this whole, and I was like, this is what I've been taught. And he's like, no, throw this out the window. So he kind of, yeah. So it was, yeah, lots of different things you, you're trying to pick up early on in

your career. And, uh, you know, you're listening to lots of different people and, you know, trying to figure out what works and, you know, almost trying to figure out what the identity would be when you're getting a few different opinions. You Pronger, I figure he's like, uh, the greatest thing I heard about Pronger was he's an excellent teacher. Yeah. The thing is that you have to, you can't listen to him when he's calling you a loser.

You just have to listen to him when he explains why you're a loser. Yeah, yeah. Is that kind of the way it went? Yeah, I mean, he was, for whatever reason, I mean, he was so good to Braden and I. Like, even that he was hurt, but he wanted us in the off season. We flew to St. Louis to go stay at his house. Really? Yeah.

He flew us there. He took us golfing. And it was like, let's watch video and do all that sort of stuff. And literally at one point, we were on his driveway with street hockey sticks. And he was showing us little stick positioning things. It was actually kind of wild. That's awesome. He was persistent.

You've got to come to St. Louis. And we're like, OK, well, we're not going to say no to this opportunity to go stay with, with prongs. But, uh, yeah, he was, he was really good to us and he just had so many little tricks with, like I said, stick positioning, or he was obviously, you know, on the dirtier side of things, as far as what to do, like, he's like, well, this is the spot where you can a little cross check right below you know the shoulder like the bottom of the shoulder pads top of the pants like get him right here on the on the ribs or you know top of the ankle achilles right off the face off or top of the foot he's like these little things that the refs aren't going to pick up on but this is where you do and obviously uh you know he was the best at it and he was mean so yeah it was uh pretty

interesting and a lot of a lot of things i'll never forget learning from him well of course you i have to ask now you picked that up when you got your brother yeah oh yeah yeah yeah in the ribs you mean yes yeah yeah yeah that was uh oh man that was not my proudest moment i had to deal with my parents and i was gonna say like jeff and rita are your parents yeah so i explain. Brayden comes back from broken ribs. Yeah. And it's an accident. Like, I've seen the play. Like, you barely touch him, I think.

Well, yeah. I mean, so. I shouldn't say barely, but it's not bad as what we've seen. Yeah. So he had been dealing with some broken ribs. Honestly, he was playing, you know. They told him originally he had one broken rib. So he started playing through.

And then he actually ended up scoring. And then the next night, it was a back-to-back. He was playing in LA. And he went out there and tried to take a face-off. And he's like, I can't do it anymore. What's going on? So they flew him back to St. Louis. And they looked at him.

And they did another x-ray or MRI. And they said, well, just put your arm up during it instead. And they looked. And he they did another x-ray or MRI and they said well just put your arm up during it instead and they looked and he had six or seven broken ribs oh my goodness it was one originally so I'm not sure who did that x-ray but anyways he missed some time he just came back and one of the first games back was against us in Vancouver I'm on the penalty kill he's on the power play we're just digging for a puck in the corner kind of a scrum and uh I just wasn't even thinking just kind of heat of the moment game a little little cross check right where prong said you should do it and uh it was right at the end of the period and I can just literally hear this gasp like out of breath and I'm like no I did not just do that and he comes

out he starts skating around the start of the second period and I look at him I'm like you all right and he kind of shrugs it off like didn't say much and so we played the rest of the game and they were playing on a back-to-back the next night they were flying to Calgary so typically on a back-to-back guys are kind of hustling out of the dressing room to get going to get to the plane and I'm in the hallway and I'm waiting around and he's not coming and guys are coming out of the dressing room and finally their trainer comes up to me and he's like are you looking for your brother and I'm like yeah he goes uh he's in your x-ray room looking at his ribs and I'm like are you kidding me so sure enough yeah that's not my proudest moment and I apologize a hundred times and it was an accident and I mean I would

never want to do that but instincts and yeah blame uh what did your parent what did your parents say well they knew too like you know obviously i i wouldn't do that on purpose but yeah i call my parents in the way or they probably talked to brayden first and i call him on the way home and i'm like i yeah i think i got his rib pretty good like what what the hell were you thinking my dad goes to him i wasn't thinking that's the problem so yeah so yeah he I think it wasn't as bad that time I don't know if he missed time after I can't exactly remember but um yeah you don't want to be the guy to you know take your brother out again that's for sure okay uh one from your first tenure in Toronto one last thing I wanted to ask they said that one and

they said they don't know if you will talk about this but apparently the practice before the day before Vesa Toskala got traded was a legendary practice where apparently some of the guys knew they were going to get dealt and uh it was like just like apparently some of the things that were said on the ice just around that practice were crazy do you remember that one as far as the coaching staff yes yeah i i'm man oh man this is what 16 years ago someone just said they brought it up yeah no i don't remember all i remember is like basically i don't know if it's the practice the morning something whatever but i think there's like some video or something like that and basically every guy that was going to get traded was the the highlight of the video in a in a not great way so it was like yeah I was staging like what are you doing here on this

you know battle or down low in the defense zone coverage and Jamal you missed your back check and then Whitey like what are you doing here and all this sort of stuff and we're like oh like I mean that was random that these guys are the star of the show and not the best way and then that that next day they're all shipped out of town so i think that was uh if i remember correctly but as far as on the ice i think it was more of a video thing okay if i remember yeah okay that's what one okay there's something like that okay but that did like something like the guy just said it was the most the couple like the next day when everybody got traded, everyone was laughing and said, oh, okay, now I know what's going on here.

Yeah, the next day everyone got traded and we're like, those were all the star of the show the previous day in video. So I guess good thing if you would end up in the video, that might have meant you're out of town. So the guys who stayed out of the video got to stay. Last summer, I just wanted to ask you about it. You play in Toronto. They get their first playoff win in a long time.

And you have choices. And what brought you to Nashville? What made you settle in Nashville? A combination of things. First of all, I've known guys who've played in Nashville before me. I'm good buddies with Shea Weber and Jordan Tutu and Cody Franson. And then current guys that play here, really close with Ryan McDonough, Tyson Berry, Ryan O'Reilly. Well, I didn't know he was signing at the time.

But on top of that, too, I think I've had a good relationship with uh Trotsky uh I played from 2009 I think world championships he might have been the coach and he's in the Okanagan in the summer and kind of every time we'd play uh the teams he was coaching whether it was Nashville Washington or the Islanders I'd always kind of chat to him in the hallway and I just always thought he was a really good man and obviously him coming in and new coaching staff it kind of seemed like there was new change of direction which uh you know was exciting and I wanted to be a part of that and just talking uh I think McDonough was a big guy talking to him a lot of the time and what do you say to you um you know just he had some really good conversations I think you know with Trotsky and kind of what they're trying to

build and sort of uh the game plan going forward and the guys he wanted to bring in as far as, you know, some veteran guys who've been around and had the chance to win before and some, what he referred to as, character guys and, you know, just kind of speaking highly of the type of guy he wanted to bring in and obviously bringing in a guy like O'Reilly and, you know, another good veteran guy like Nyquist, just the type of guys he was going after and mixing it with, uh, some good youth here. And, um, on top of that too, I mean, I always love coming to Nashville and it was, it was my favorite city coming in ever since

my first year in the league. I always, it was weird. I always thought to myself, like, this is literally my favorite city. I could see myself here one day. And obviously you never think it's ever going to happen, but just but just uh just such a cool vibe in the city and the games the the buildings rocking every night and yet you know you still kind of have a a different lifestyle than you'd have in a lot of other places too so um yeah I mean as far as coming back to Toronto I I loved every bit of it. Crazy how it went full circle. I, you know, the way things ended there, I enjoyed every bit of it, but had some growing pains as a young guy

and thought to myself, you know, it always be sort of a dream to come back and get the chance to play meaningful and play off hockey here. And the way my career went, you know, being up and down and in the minors and passed on, obviously you never think it's ever going to happen and when it finally did happen i was thrilled to get the chance to play down the

stretch and in the playoffs and uh i enjoyed every bit of it and then you know the business side of things take over and as we know there's a salary cap and you know they have to deal with some internal stuff and you kind of think in other potential landing spots and Nashville is at the top of that list and I'm glad it worked out there. There's a few places to go here, but first I want to just, the funny thing about Nashville is

I've had guys say to me, you come there as a visitor and then you go there to play and you realize you can't live your life in Nashville like you do as a visitor, but they talk about what a great place it is to live with a family. And so what's the difference between going there as a visitor and living there as a predator? Well, yeah, you don't want to find yourself on Broadway too often.

First of all, it's changed a lot down there as far as, you know, how the whole downtown has been redeveloped and it's, it's a full-time party I mean that's what it is it's you go down there on the weekend and shoulder to shoulder you can't walk and it's just people that are just having the time of their lives and um down there with friends and everything like that so you go down there for a couple dinners here and there and you know go out with uh maybe some other couples and enjoy it but then you kind of get back out to you know we live 10-15 minutes from downtown and it's unbelievable living where you know you get great houses and property sizes and and everything

is just different from a lot of other places where a little more space and everyone's so friendly and you know you got great golf courses around and great restaurants in your neighborhood in your neighborhoods and the schools are great for the kids and just uh even as far as like uh minor hockey i mean it's you wouldn't think of it as a great minor hockey spot but it's up and coming and like mcdonough and o'reilly myself we all got kids the same age um three and six year olds and we are on the ice with them every day, and no one would ever know or bother us. No one would ask us, hey, how are the Preds doing, or how was the game? It's just that you're kind of out there being a dad, and that's what is kind of cool, where you can play in the NHL and play in front of a sold-out building every night,

but then the next day you go to your son's practice, and you're just out there with the kids, and you kind of get the best of every world. Who will be the worst hockey dad of you, McDonough and O'Reilly? The worst as in the most intense? Yes. Like, oh, man, the one who's yelling at the referees. Why is my son not getting more ice time? Yeah.

No, my daughter not getting more ice time. Yeah. No, I don't know i think i think we're all pretty level-headed in that way we all got pretty good perspective but uh sometimes i'd like to see a little bit more out of uh out of the kids put it that way i'm kind of talking to both the guys on the side be like you know you think we can mix in this drill or you think if i went and said this to this kid, do you think he'd understand? Like, you know, not to be, you know, hard on him,

but just learning. And I think that's part of it too. It's like, you know, you're in the South, so minor hockey isn't probably what it is in Canada or in Toronto where maybe they're a little ahead of the curve as far as teaching. So you might want to add a little more impact on what you know without being overboard. So I enjoy it. It's fun. It's fun to go to the curve as far as teaching. So you might want to add a little more impact on what you know

without being overboard. So I enjoy it. It's fun. It's fun to go to the rink with the kids. Your injury this year, I heard there was a worry it was pretty bad at one time. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, no problem talking about it.

It was a knee injury. And, yeah, originally when I first heard the dying, you know, it was weird. I had a couple little pains in my knee prior to the season, and then I was warming up in the hallway in Tampa before the game and got some weird clicking going on, and I felt pretty strange. And then I played the game, and the next day my knee just kind of like, for lack of a better term, like it kind of exploded on me and just before practice had locked on me. And yeah, they were talking, there's two different procedures you can go.

It was a meniscus thing. So either you can remove it, which you can take it out or you can repair it, which is like a five or six month process. And I've actually talked to guys who have done it both. Quite a few guys have actually had it done and had long careers after that. Stan Kost was a guy who's dealt with it. I talked to Andrew Ladd, Shea Weber. Actually, Landis Cogg was a guy I talked to about some guys who have had some pretty good careers

and gone through some injury issues. And at the end of the day, just getting opinions and talking to doctors and that sort of thing and kind of made the best decision what I thought going forward. And yeah, I mean, ended up missing about seven weeks and yeah, starting to come around again. So it's good. Good. I'm glad to hear it. You know, it's very clear, Luke, when you ask people about you, you're a very popular teammate. You're a very popular guy in the league. And you know a lot about what's going on.

As a matter of fact, one guy said to me, if Luke Shane ever wanted to be an insider, nobody would compete with him for breaking stories. But the thing that people talk about the most and the thing they're happiest for you was, you know, there was a time in Anaheim that looked like you know they thought you might be done and they said you know give Luke Shen credit like he's like they talk he's a nice guy but he's a firm guy and he's a proud guy and he refused that to listen to anybody who said his career was over yeah well first of all you're in center common I don't know about that I I think I'm more of I have a pulse on things I have a pulse pulse on the league and what's going on but anyways uh yeah when I it was kind of trending and not a great direction for you know my last little bit in Arizona and then I signed in Anaheim as a free agent I thought I should be a decent fit to be honest you know I had a couple offers and i actually chose to go

to anaheim because at the time they had a really good team like getzloff perry you know ryan kessler cogliano silverberg like you know good decor to um lynn holmfowler but they lost bx and boshman you know two more physical defensemen. BX is addition by subtraction. Yeah, yeah. True, true. Anyways, they were looking for, you know, a bigger physical defenseman. So I thought, you know, this would be a decent fit and kind of went there and got out of the gates and was looking around being like, man, this isn't going well. And then I think I played maybe seven or eight games in two months. And, yeah, I was put on waivers for the first time in

my career and I don't need to name names but was was yeah basically questioned whether or not that would you know be the right choice to go down and go to the minors for the first time and or has the game passed me by and might have might have been a legit question, but in my head, you know, obviously there's a lot of things going through your head. But after kind of going down there and talking to people close to me, I thought I can go down there and work at some things. And I always told, you know, Braden and my dad too, I was like, I think I can play another five years in the NHL.

I just got to, you know, work on some things and, you know, fine tune some things and evolve as a player. Dallas Eakins was really good to me there. He helped me a ton in playing me and kind of helped get my confidence back. Then that's when I started working with Adam Oates. That helped a lot too. Yeah, it's been a heck of a ride since. It's almost a blessing in disguise.

I mean, it was some adversity. I think, yeah yeah you don't want to take no for an answer I thought I can go you know still make a career out of it I think I was 29 years old at the time and I still thought I had some time left to me and I looked at guys and teams around the league too and you know I might be the most biased guy ever but the teams who win are the guys, the teams with the big heavy decors. So, you know, I obviously had to work on some puck play and moving the puck, but you know, that, that element of physicality and size and taking care of the front of the net and being strong in the corners that, that never goes missing in a playoff series. That's, those are the teams that win. So obviously had some things to work on, but, you know, kept searching for answers and tried to get better. And that was my goal and my mindset was to try to get

better with age. A lot of guys, you know, I guess go downhill after the age of 29, 30 years old, but I wanted to kind of be in the minority of that and find ways to get better and, you know, still try to chip away at it today and work at things. There are things I always remember in my career. And one of them I remember was I texted you during that time. And I remember you texted me back and said, I don't want to hear you going on the air and saying my career is over. I'll never forget that. Yeah. Well, yeah, I think.

Yeah, it was I think it was a Saturday when when I got put on waivers and you know there's some rubblings that I don't know where the rumor came from that you know if I cleared waivers that you know I was potentially going to hang them up yes that's right yeah and so I think my agent you know caught wind of it and um I just wanted to so you heard it from me directly that that wasn't the case and I wanted to you know, go work at my game and give it a try. And, you know, put your ego aside and maybe swallow your pride and just, you know, get back to trying to figure it out. And, yeah, it was a strange time for sure where, you know, because you come into the league as a young guy, 18 years old, playing with the Leafs. And then people pay attention and follow your career,

and then they see things, you know, trending in the wrong direction, and, you know, the game going in a different way, and you're not kind of, I guess, holding up to expectations and maybe living up to what people thought. So it was a tough time, but in the end, I'm actually quite thankful for it

because, you know, without those tough times, I don't think, you know, would able to, in reality, have my name on the Stanley Cup and, you know, fight back to go through that adversity. And everything's kind of turned out the way I want it to be and, or not the way I want it to be. It's been a hard road, but, you know, And everything's kind of turned out the way I want it to be. Or not the way I want it to be. It's been a hard road, but, you know, I appreciate every bit of it.

And on top of that, too, I always say this, too. No matter where you are, you meet so many good people along the way, too. Yes. You know, whether it's in San Diego or Utica. And even people forget, too, when I was in Tampa, I played two preseason games and got thrown on waivers there, too, and I had to go down to Syracuse for a bit too so met a lot of good people along the way and a lot of people that you know help you out and support you and want you to get back and it's it's been a heck of a ride all right I got a couple more for you so then before you and Katie and Nick can go for dinner

so I'm not holding it too much longer but two dressing rooms I want to ask you about being part of. First of all, what was your best memory from celebrating either Stanley cup in Tampa? Oh man, nothing but good memories there. Just it was interesting because the first year in the bubble, like there was no friends and family, which obviously it was unfortunate, but it was just the guys which is that'll never happen again it was literally just the group of players and trainers and coaches and management that got to celebrate together and uh so we had the night in edmonton

for the night and we just stayed up all night and we you know celebrating we were in the dressing room with each other just drinking out of the cup with just us it was like no one around which seems strange but it was almost like intimate in a way where you're like this is you know no one's in a separate room with you know 50 other family and you know agents and whatever people that are in from out of town which is great but something to be said to just be with just the guys that you're in that bubble with for you know three months or whatever it was and then you know we flew home the next day we had a boat parade which was incredible so then you get to celebrate with everyone the family meets you there and that was pretty special I was uh lucky enough to be on the boat with uh Stammer and Hedy and uh oh I say boat it was it was a yacht with those two guys on there. But anyways, uh,

yeah, but just, you know, being those two guys had, he had the, the consummate, so he had that the whole time. And, um, you know, we had the cup on, on the boat for a lot of it, which is pretty cool. And, you know, you're just, people just can't get enough of it. Like just the whole thing that those parades are nuts and just how fired up people are and everyone and that was during covid where you know you're not supposed to get in contact anyone but everyone's drinking out of the cup so it's it was just a wild sort of uh situation then the next year too i mean kind of came back with the same group of guys and and uh yeah it was just 18 million over the cap exactly exactly yeah whatever the story was but hey we found a way and uh yeah not taking anything away from

that group I mean it was just uh special special group to be a part of and I mean yeah just the dinners we'd have like after we went to like I think we went you know five or six nights in a row like team dinners with the wives and like we just couldn't get enough of each other like everyone was just so happy for each other next day you'd wake up and guys were exhausted because you're not sleeping and okay we need to take a night off next thing you know five hours later nope we're back together we're celebrating and everyone's together and that's what a close group does is you know you to have success off the ice you got to be close group off the ice and I was talking and we played Tampa last night and you know you go over and you talk to John Cooper and Jeff Halpern and just the staff over there and the guys we're talking after the game it's

there's nothing like it when you're part of a winning group like that and you know even this year Alex Cloran came to town when he's with Anaheim. Me and McDonough met him for dinner. And then a week and a half later, Maroon and Bogosian came, meet them for dinner. It's just like when you win together, it's like you've got this bond that doesn't happen anywhere else. So unbelievable group of guys, and I was fortunate to be a part of that. What do you remember about Toronto beating Tampa in that room

after that game last year? That was also crazy too I mean that I it was I'm pretty sure Bon Jovi was in our dressing room like celebrating with us and stuff like that that was that was crazy because obviously I know the history of how much it means to the fans in Toronto to just obviously everyone wants to win the cup but it was like that curse of just winning that first round and so it was like this big weight off your shoulders and I was fortunate enough to you know be on the ice when John Tavera scored the the overtime goal there and just like it's almost like the weight of the world you know you could I could feel it a little bit

and I was there for a short time but just the guys who've been there for such a long time and deal with it on a year-to-year it was just an incredible feeling and at that point you think like okay this is our year because you know you finally get that that diverse series win but didn't work out that way but it was just that's an amazing group of guys too and fortunate enough to be a part of that and kind of was interesting to be on the other side of things playing Tampa in the first round and knowing you know how much how good they are in the playoffs and how they game it out in the playoffs every year and you know how good Vasilevsky is every year in the playoffs just the whole thing I mean that was uh that was an intense rival it was heated heated. It was emotional. I mean, like I just told you, these Tampa guys are some of my best buddies I ever played with. But it was kind of like war in the playoffs where you put all that aside and you just do whatever you can to help the Leafs win that series.

And it was awesome to be a part of that. Two more. Number one, tell me about the legend of your billet house in the Western Hockey League. Yeah, there's no other way to put it. They're a legendary billet family, Inger and Barry Davidson. They're awesome. They're just honest, down-to-earth, good people. And they got a long history of billeting, you know, great people and good hockey players. So it started um obviously years before i was there they had carson german i don't know if you remember the name he played at the flames

a little bit and then he moved out and they took on shea weber and shea was there for like four years and the year i got drafted you can get called up and played a few games but the year i got drafted um the rockets went to the memorial cup and so a few games. But the year I got drafted, the Rockets went to the Memorial Cup. And so they called me up for the playoffs. They wanted me to stick around. And they billeted me with shade just to kind of have a good mentor. How was that? He was so good to me.

I mean, I still remember how he took care of me. And we're still good buddies to this day. And that goes back, yeah, 14, 15 years old. And so, yeah, he took me around everywhere, let me hang out with the older guys on the team, which, you know, doesn't seem like much, but as a 15 year old, you know, those are things you don't forget hanging out with the older boys and them taking you in. And then, yeah, he moved on the next year where I came in as a 16 year old and I ended up taking over his room at the billet house. So he went to Nashville, I came in,

and then later on that year, we had Tyler Myers drafted, so they put him in with me. So Tyler came up at the end of the year. I think he played with Notre Dame. So he came with me, lived with me for a month or two. The next year, I stayed in the same Billet House. He had another Billet family and then sure enough we get another first round pick by the name of Tyson Berry so he comes and lives with me

and so we were together for a bit and then he moved out we lived close to each other and actually Jamie Ben just lived up the road so we were always hanging out and And then, yeah, I ended up playing in Toronto the next year. I move out and then Michael Backlund moved in. He came in as an import from Sweden. So, yeah, our billets just had this list of guys that were just kind of, you know, obviously good guys and, you know, just kind of sending guys off to the NHL, which is crazy. And for no rhyme or reason, just everyone kind of ended up here and pretty cool. And, yeah, we still keep in touch with them now. Shea and I get together with them and clone every summer and do barbecues and, you know, have them over for dinners and that sort of thing. And we always laugh because every single guy they've had, massive eaters. Like Shea and then Tyler. I mean, he's 6'7".

As a 16-year-old, think what this guy is putting back. And obviously myself. But they always said their biggest eater by a mile was Backland, which I found crazy. Really? Yeah, that's what I found hard to believe. But you can imagine. I mean, these billet families, I don't know what they're getting.

Probably a few hundred bucks every month. That's probably not even putting a dent in half a week's, you know, food bill with these guys coming through here. So great, great bill of family. And yeah, fortunate to live there. And they've had quite the run of players coming through. Who's a better grill master, you or Weber? Me.

I don't know. I mean, yeah, no, he's, we actually just lived, I don't even know, maybe 10, 15 houses down from each other in Kelowna there. And so I'll bring my kids, the odd time we'll, you know, paddle, even paddleboard down to his place or whatever. He'll bring his kids by and yeah, he's a great guy. He's, you know, it's crazy to, you know, back what was it 17 18 years we know when i first maybe longer than that when i first you know billeted with him and he's living down the street now and yeah it's uh colon is a crazy place here i mean all these guys are retiring there now too it's uh

it's uh you know quite the spot for retired guys and i always joke now it's the it's the ltir capital of the nhl you got price webb Webb, Seabrook, Ladd's there. Mike Smith was there. All these guys are retired hanging out there. So they're all enjoying themselves. But all guys that are obviously banged up and put their bodies on their line their entire career and earned every bit of what they got. And just great guys to hang out with.

Luke, thanks very much. I really appreciate it. Yeah, thanks for having me on. I appreciate it. Awesome. Okay, so that's Luke Shen of the National Predators. And Elliot, you know I'll never give you praise. So Luke Shen was outstanding in that interview. And I think that anybody listening to that can totally imagine in their mind Chris Pronger saying to Luke Shen what are you doing

what is that why are you why what's with the two hands on the stick guy you remember Elliot that was a huge thing with the Maple Leafs at that time and a lot of people pointed that and said that that was a real issue with Luke Shen specifically. A hundred percent. And we did a game in Pittsburgh. I don't think it was that game where he talked about him making the play on Crosby. I think it was a different game. But the building in Pittsburgh, and this was the old building, the way it was set up there was we did our interviews in a corridor

to the back door of the maple leafs dressing room and i was taping an interview with someone it might have been jonas frogren when he scored his first ever nhl goal and i could be off but i i do remember doing an interview with him and luke shen out there with Rob Zettler, was the assistant coach, and they were having a very animated conversation about something. And you could tell Zettler was trying to teach Shen about something. And they were with the two hands on the stick. And you could see Shen was really confused. He was really confused.

So I asked both of them later, and basically what it was was on the penalty kill, how to use your foot position to block passes if you had two hands on your stick. And Settler's a really good teacher, so he was trying to help Shen out, but you could just see how much of a challenge it was for him to process it that was a that was a really good piece uh i hope you enjoyed that one

he's a good talker he's a great talker he's coming for all of our jobs elliot we better hope that he gets contract after contract after contract in the nhl because he's coming for all of our jobs uh okay on that we'll wrap up. That was a long podcast. If you're still listening at this point, bless you. There's a special place in heaven reserved for you. So thanks for sticking around so long. The next podcast as usual comes out Friday morning.

Enjoy hockey over the next few days. We'll talk to you Friday. you