32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Mr. 900

Episode Date: November 7, 2025

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman open the podcast with Pittsburgh acknowledging Alex Ovechkin’s 900th goal. The guys turn their attention to the struggling St. Louis Blues, where effort is being questioned and Jordan Kyrou once again finds himself in the middle of it (10:00). Elliotte explains why Jordan Binnington would have to fall off the map to miss Team Canada’s Olympic roster and who else could fill out the goaltending picture (18:45). The fellas react to Marcus Johansson’s controversial goal (27:00) and the Ducks’ surprising scoring surge (40:19). They discuss Auston Matthews’ best game of the season and the Leafs’ insistence that he’s healthy (45:23). Elliotte weighs in on the Owen Tippett rumours and draws parallels between Matvei Michkov’s current scrutiny and what Elias Pettersson went through last year (49:18). There’s chatter around a possible Trevor Zegras extension in Philly (52:50). Elliotte and Kyle weigh in the Vancouver Canucks' struggles (54:45). The guys touch on Arthur Kaliyev’s situation (1:04:27). The episode wraps with concern over the USHL’s uncertain future and what it could mean for the American development pipeline (1:10:11 ). The Final Thought focuses on Hockey Hall of Fame week and what it represents for the sport (1:17:05).Kyle and Elliotte answer your emails and voicemails in the Thoughtline (1:04:30).Today we highlight Anishinaabe indie roots-rock performer Graeme Jonez and his track Ride or Die. Check him out here.Listen to all the 32 Thoughts music here.Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates

In the future, if I'm coming back from a meeting, I'm not going to tell you my ETA. I'm going to make you just sit there and wait in a dark room or your red light, you can turn it on. And you can just wait until I get home from a work meeting, Dom. Oh, boy. Tell us how you're going to. Kyle, I will send you a note saying my ETA. Dom, you just have to guess. I don't want to get caught up in this love triangle.

too much for me. Welcome to the Hall of Fame weekend edition of 32 Thoughts, the podcast, Elliot, Kyle, Dom, back with you once again. Now, Elliot, normally, we wait until the thought line to get to those things in your save for later folder that cannot wait any longer. I'm going to open the floor to you here now to kick off the pod to get anything off your chest before we proceed any further. Yes.

So in the 32 Thoughts written, blog on Thursday, I wrote that about Pittsburgh's training camp and how Chris Latang called it the hardest training camp he'd been through in 20 years. And one of the things we talked about was the penguins had their drills and all their drills were competitions and the losing team had to do extra bag skates. And Latang said to Crosby, wasn't that exhausting? All those extra bag skates when you lost and Crosby told them not so bad my team never lost which is pretty funny but for whatever reason I credited one of the things that LeTang talked about was that they didn't do stops and starts on their bag skates it was more crossovers and because

the strength and conditioning coaches had said if we do stops and starts this early we're risking injuries, groin injuries and things like that. And I credited Andy O'Brien, who is a genius and a longtime personal trainer for Crosby and John Tavares. But there's one problem. Andy O'Brien works for the Florida Panthers. And someone reached out to me and said, Andy O'Brien is a great guy, but does not deserve credit for this.

And the person who does is Rich Rotenberg. who works for the penguins and apparently had a lot to do with Mews putting together that plan and making sure it happened properly. So I wanted to remove all credit on this from Andy O'Brien and give it to Rich Rotenberg. Yes, Andy's done a lot of brilliant things over the years, so. But not this one. credit, but this is not one of them. Andy, you are not brilliant for this. Rich Rotenberg is.

It was 99th, all-time meeting between Ovechkin and Crosby on Thursday night, by the way. Man, it's going to be sad when the day comes that that's no longer part of the tee-up when Washington and Pittsburgh gets together. We've got a saver. They are numbered now. Savor these meetings. And it was a great game, too, on Thursday between those two. Excellent game.

I mean, how many of those penguins fans thought that they were going to collapse again? Yeah. They're up big. They win the offside challenge and still the capitals come back to tie it. I bet you all those penguin fans were thinking, man, we didn't even get to the second period, second intermission before we blew this game tonight. But no, the penguins righted themselves and they found a way. Just take yourself back to 2010 Kyle Bacoscus.

when you were four years old and imagined that at a Pittsburgh Penguins game at home, they would be recognizing Alexander Ovechkin on the scoreboard. They did that in this one. They congratulated him for his 900th career goal, which came the night before. But I have to say that 15 years ago, Kyle, that would not have been happening. Penn's fans would have burned down the Jumbotron. If Ovechkin was on, never mind the fans, the players might have done it at that particular time. But everyone's older, everyone's wiser, and here's the thing I really believe is the factor.

They've both won. I think if Washington hadn't won its cup, I don't know if the relationship would be as cordial as it is now. They still want to be each other. They're still competitive. But you saw, you see the respect that they have for each other now that they talk about each other. And after the game, the photo of Malkin and Ovechkin with each other's jerseys. And we'll see where we're going here. But I really believe if Washington hadn't won to give itself a championship to go with the ones that Pittsburgh won,

I'm not convinced everybody here would be as. generous to everybody else. You both have to taste success for everybody to be ready to be super gracious to everybody else. And in a beautiful bit of work by the hockey gods, in all four instances, so the three Stanley Cups by Crosby and Pittsburgh, the one by Ovechkin in Washington, they had to beat the other on route to their Stanley Cup in the playoffs, which was really neat. And you, you talk about 15 years ago. 15 years ago, my life was forever changed by watching the very first HBO 24-7, at least the hockey one that they had done between Washington and Pittsburgh.

I always remember Max Talbot, they had the video crew in his vehicle. He was driving. They had played at home that night and they were driving to the airport. They had a back-to-back in Washington the next night. And he was just talking about like, you always got to be ready when you go into that building. Like, they don't like us. We don't like them. It was just a really cool bit up behind the scenes you see that stuff all the time now it was very very new back then and so that always stuck with me um hey i by the way i thought you're going to say you learned a bunch of words from bruce budro that you didn't previously know before when you watched that well there was a few but again my father worked in the forest industry most of his life by that

time I'd gotten a lot of the vocabulary by 2010 though Bruce may have made it a little more colorful in certain aspects some of those rants in the dressing room still one of the great lines don't just think you want it go out and bleep and want it hey I'm going to assume here Elliot I'm not going out on too much of a limb to suggest that Maurice Richard and Gordy Howe would be two of the most famous number nines in NHL history. Richard. First to score 500 goals. Gordy Howe first to play 1,000 games in the NHL.

Both of those milestones were celebrated on Wednesday night. Cadre, a thousandth game in Calgary, scores. Though Tavar's got his 500th goal a week ago, he was honored for it in Toronto, scored that night against Utah. Two players that don't wear number nine, but 91. Do you know the first player to wear 91 in the NHO? What year are we talking about here? Early 80s. Early 80s. Because you were thinking Federer initially, weren't you? Yes, that was the first name that jumped into my head. Multiple Stanley Cup winner. Got to be an oiler. No, it doesn't. Oh, I thought when you said 80s, multiple Stanley Cup winner would have been an oiler.

They weren't the only dynasty of that decade. Oh, Islanders, Goring. What am I talking about? Bada Bing. Butch Goring was the first 91. Oh, man, I'm about to get pocket. Okay, Islanders fans, before I get bombarded and attacked here, blame it on my Canadian bias.

Anyway, there wasn't a point I was getting to that. I just thought there was two great milestones celebrated on the same night. Ethan, the people's insider. He's going to kill me for that one. Oh, man. You got it coming. Hope you don't have any horses running in the Belmont Stakes next year. That's good, Kyle.

I like that. That's very good. Where are we going with this? well really nowhere in particular i just thought the fact that i was had to remind myself okay who's the first to score 500 goals who's the first to play a thousand games they wore the same number and the two players honored for those milestones on the same night both wore the same number 91 and stamcoe scored a big goal yes he did yeah he did then ultimately went for not because of a wild ending to overtime we'll get to that here shortly elliot okay where you want to go start with st louis they have been

a talking point for kind of all the wrong reasons here this week. They had lost 8 of 9 coming into Thursday. Big win over Buffalo, Joel Hofer, 28 save shutout. But the night before, 6-1 loss to the Capitals, you heard Braden

in the post game going, if you don't compete in battle in this league, you're going to get your butts kicked. We talked about Calgary and their struggles, and as you have said, Elliot, it's never an effort thing with them. It doesn't seem like you can say the same about St. Louis of late because of what

their captain said, because of what their head coach Jim Montgomery has said, maybe a step towards the right direction on Thursday, but it's just been, in totality, a real difficult start for a team that you thought had, a lot of positive steam headed in one direction.

It's interesting to me that every time the blues bench someone it's kairu right doesn't he always seem to be the guy well towards the end of the brouba era he drew the ire and now again this week he always seems to be the lightning rod he always seems to be the guy that they go to first. As you said, huge win, had to get it. At the beginning of the year, we were talking earlier today on the phone column,

the beginning of the year we're talking about how Hofer and Bennington looked good on that West Coast trip and, you know, Hofer and particularly stoned Calgary in one particular game. And lately, they haven't been able to stop anything until Hofer had the shutout on Thursday night, you know, the thing is that with Cairo here, like I said, whenever there seems to be a problem or somebody sort of gets in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, it seems to be him. It's interesting, his brother was just traded.

Dallas, he was in the American Hockey League for Dallas, and he was traded last week to Philadelphia. and you know here's the thing Doug Armstrong is out there I think he's trying to find out what the value is and what he can of his guys and what he can do to me like I mean you know him Kyle he's going to be miserable watching what's been going on

lately and and I just think he's out there trying to find out what he can do if he wants to do something and you know the thing to me about a guy like Cairo and I talked about this with Huberto the other day in my

in my notes Cairo's in year three of eight it's 8.1.25 he has protection uh in his contract

trade protection, but the thing about it is 8.125 isn't as big comparatively as it was even four months ago. The world is really changing, as we're all seeing, and everybody's getting used to how much it's changing. Now, obviously, Kyru has to want to do it, but all I'm saying is that I think last year him at 8.125 I don't know if it was going to happen I don't know how many takers there were but now with

where we've gone I kind of wonder if it's if more people might look at it and say hmm I kind of like this guy he's locked in for this and five more seasons actually the base salary starts to go down too

like he was over 10 million the last couple of years he goes down to I think eight and a quarter and then he's in the sixes to end the deal I'm not so sure that it's impossible someone takes a look at this And, you know, you remember how emotional Kairu got a couple years ago when the Fens really got on them? I have no knowledge right now that there's anything going on there. I just look at the set of circumstances and the way the caps change and the fact that his number is locked in and I look at it differently.

now overall. I would have said before the salary or the contract made it hard to move them. I don't feel that way anymore. It, to me now it becomes a, is there a fit out there? I really do believe that Seattle looked at it at the draft involving the pick that they they kept and took O'Brien from Brampton who was off to an incredible start this season in the OHL ultimately obviously the Cracken decided not to do it

they kept the pick it's just something to think about something to think about with him because I do think Armstrong is looking around I think he really wants to know what can I do out there what are my options like across the board looking around yeah wow because for tyro yeah i guess at times

he can drive you crazy to the point where a coach is going i'm not dressing him but i mean the guys eclips 30 goals each of the last three years he had 27 the year before that those don't exactly grow on trees he's 27 years old as you say the contract stuff is locked up for a long while beyond this season there's still a lot to like there it's not like he's completely production wise has gone off a cliff or anything i'm not this has got nothing to do with me saying the player's bad no no i know this has got everything with me to do with saying that every time like it seems like whenever they go through a tough phase or someone gets benched or someone takes the heat he always seems to be the first guy right yeah so what does that tell you what does that

tell you one of the things it tells me is that i wonder if the player at all says it's time i've had enough of this hmm it's my only point there for each was as you say if there's the canvassing being done going what's out there depending on where a team is at in their cycle you mentioned the contract stuff I don't think it would take much for someone out there to go yeah you know what maybe he drove you crazy at times in your system but I really think I could make this work with what we've got going on I don't think that would be a tough sell but well that's that's what I kind of wonder about I mean, he is still young. He's not an old man like me.

You know, he's... No. He's going to be 28 in May. You know, the other thing, too, is, like, his rep, Dave Gagne, he played. So, like, I think Gagne would have a really... real understanding of what benefits a player in these particular situations. Yeah, that's a really good point. So are we at the stage now?

We mentioned, you know, a hope for coming off a shutout that any time a Canadian born goalie has a good night, it's like, well, could he be in the conversation for Milano Cortina? Yes, because it's like Bennington to me, like you would have to, like Biddington would have to fall off the earth to not make this team. As much as he's

kind of struggled this year and there was that crazy scene in Washington the other night. What'd you think of that, by the way? Yeah, if it was me, I would have laughed it off. To me it was we stink, we're bad, I'm about to get pulled here,

this is terrible, and I'm just doing something defiant like I think there are some guys on their teams who are they kind of take it upon themselves when things are going badly I'm going to try to do something to change this right

and Bennington's like that he gets frustrated he gets upset he think they're playing terrible they're getting embarrassed in this game he's like I'm just doing something to try to spark us and if it was me, I just would have rolled my eyes and laugh

because that's the way I attack things like that. That's what I thought. You? Yeah, I just thought it was very on brand for who it is. Like it was fitting. I understand from a team's perspective, if you're going, all right, maybe if we haven't lost, this isn't our eighth loss in our last nine games,

you know, we've got more of a tolerance for it. And who knows, you know, really internally what they thought about it. But I just thought it was on brand. Yeah. But for the whole, I mean, of course. I'm doing something. Right. And of course he's doing it knowing he's going to get caught.

Yes. There's no way somebody doesn't see that. And anyway, you couldn't help but laugh about even his comments on Thursday about, yeah, I was going to give it back. And man, just what a great player and unbelievable played on the backhand. Anyway, it was, it was all, it all added up to Jordan Binnington. 100%. don't have a problem with you know I think the thing is like after what he did last year in the four nations

especially in that gold medal game nobody's questioning him like his spot is set now the other two guys on the team montembo is really struggled and hill is an injury question so i wrote on thursday morning that he's going to be out for a few months these things are so much murky. They're so murky. And it's not like Vegas is rushing to tell anybody anything. But like the word on him is around Christmas at the earliest. So they have to name the team. They have to submit their list New Year's Eve. So it's really, really dicey. And who does that throw to the forefront? A goalie who does that throw to the forefront? A goalie who did. deserves to be there on merit,

Logan Thompson. Now, Logan Thompson, 100% should be on this team. He, he's having a great season. The other guys are struggling. You cannot tell me right now he's not one of Canada's three best goalies. Okay?

So they didn't put him on the team, last year because there was real concern that he would not handle being a backup well. And I was told, and we were the ones who talked about it on this pod, Kyle, and I was told he was stung by that, that, you know, it bothered him. I think, you know, I think that would bother anyone. I respect it. I understand it. But I heard he was really bothered about it. he was upset that people would think that he wouldn't want to be on Team Canada and I've never confirmed it but I heard like he reached out or he had someone reach out

and he said look like I want to be there and I will do what it takes to be there and I understand that he spoke to the media after the game against St. Louis the other night and he kind of admitted that some conversations had happened, but he didn't say what they were, which is probably the smart play. Like he's probably been asked to keep it quiet.

So he didn't want to lie, but he didn't want to give away much. But I had heard that he'd reached out and indicated that he wanted to talk to them about it. I heard that his goal was to let them know that if he was on the radar, he would be really happy to make at work, and that would seem to indicate that that's what happened.

So, you know, the other thing, too, is, like, the whole Joey Decord thing, like, that loophole got closed. Decord is now a team USA guy. So that's another guy who's off the Canada radar. So, like, Thompson deserves to be there on merit. We'll see what happens. But I'd heard that there had been conversations to try. try to smooth over any concerns and Thompson at least seemed to confirm that on

Wednesday night. And that decords stuff, right. So it sealed it because he played for the U.S. of the World Championships past year. Yes. He would have to sit out now, I think for, I think he, I think it's two years. I have to double check what this is, but I think it's two years if you play for a country. But it's amazing that it all started with Marquesi just throwing that out there.

And it got to the point, like, Joey DeCourt and his family, like, they sat down and really thought about, okay, what do we want to do here? Like, they, they weighed the option. It was a very real thing. I know you said it caught hockey Canada by surprise at the time. But the Decord family, I said, his father, Brian, right from Montreal, was a goalie. They really looked at it for a bit. But ultimately, you know, Joey saw himself as an American from the jump, right? Was born there.

He looks back as a young kid, the 2010 Olympics. He cheered for USA back then. So it just felt natural to go that route. And I guess even when he was a teenager, his mom, as we discussed when the story all came out last year from Switzerland, the Swiss Federation had been asking about, would you play for us? would you play for us? But so long as the NHL dream was still attainable for him, he withheld that.

And anyway, he's a, he's a U.S. option now going forward. So while you were just talking about the cord there for a sec, I was looking at Ryan O'Reilly. Now, you were correct to point out he's done this before. Mm-hmm. You know, for myself, number one center, and just turn the puck over everywhere. and can't make a six-foot pass to save my life.

So I was not going to have much success if, you know, I'm playing pathetic like that. So it's stupid. I don't know the answer. If I'd won a good year in my career and I don't have any answers, that's for sure. You know what he's doing here to me? Do you think he's trying to deflect? A little bit.

Take the heat off everybody else. I'll eat it tonight. Like, I have no doubt that he's, disappointed and he's upset and they're not going really well all of that is true but he's saying tonight I'm the guy who's eating this one nom nom nom cookie monster I'm eating this one I'm gonna say like talk about stuff on yourself boy he was he did not hold back in some of the things he said again about himself six foot pass had one good year all of it

it boy Kelly Rudy line be kind to yourself be kind of yourself and I think the tough thing for Nashville has to be they lose the game

but okay let's do this you got a lot we weren't going to do this in the thought line but you got a lot of thought line notes about the game

the other night Nashville Minnesota and how that game ended And so my take on it, well, let's let the, let's let the audience set the tone here. What did you get? This is sort of like an emergency thought line, a non-thoughtline, thought line. Yes.

When the thought line submissions are so timely, they cannot wait. Yeah. Needs to go in earlier. So, because what will happen, as we know Griffin Porter puts the shortlist together for us. And for something like this, he'll say, look, we got a lot of submissions, and he'll include a couple. So we kind of get the gist, but the email isn't just full of everybody going off on how that game ended. So here's one. Eric writes in, hey guys, seeing highlights of the Minnesota overtime winner against Nashville from Tuesday night was wondering why Marcus Johansson's goal counted with the net off. I get that imminent scoring chances can be played out to completion.

when the net comes off, but would that not have ended with his initial attempt that hit the outside of the net and wouldn't have gone in had the net not moved? If he buried the initial attempt, like he should have, I'd have no problem with it, but thought that his scoring chance ended with that first attempt. If it had gone wide and he quickly grabbed it and scored, that still seems like a continuation, but more likely to have been blown dead. And it's interesting, Stephen Stamcoast, who is known as an NHL rules guru among the players, that was the big issue he took with how that all played out also.

I think Toronto ended up making the call. Obviously, one of the refs who called it a goal on the ice thought that our goaltender pushed the net off on purpose and therefore denied an opportunity for them to score. But obviously, there's two sides to everything. Our side thought, you know, obviously the net came off. but he missed the shot and it went wide and if the net wasn't off in the angle that it was at

the puck would have went behind the net and therefore he wouldn't have had a second opportunity so if we're staying true to the rule and our interpretation of it is if the net is off and it directly affects a goal that is scored then yeah we have no problem with that but the original shot didn't go in and the puck bounced back to him because the net was off

so that's where we were a little confused Yeah, you know, I have to, I have to say this, my initial reaction in the moment, I was watching that game where it happened. And initially, my reaction was, that's a goal, continuation, that's a goal, that the puck would have gone in. Like, I agree with the viewer who said, talked about the second chance. I think the second chance is completely irrelevant. That's not continuation. It shouldn't even matter, okay? But when I saw the first one, I was like, that would have gone in live.

That's a goal. And then I saw the replay and I was like, that was not a goal. That was not going in. So basically, in that moment, I think the officials have three options. Number one, do nothing, which is not an option. But I have to include it as an option because, Kyle, it exists. but really it's not an option you can't say oh weird play there play on you cannot do that so you really have two choices penalty shot or goal okay i in the moment i thought no goal i thought

no goal he he wasn't going to score he hit like i thought did the net go off the post no I looked for it. It wasn't going to count. You know, Gord Stelich had a good line. He talked about as a golfer. If someone did something to the hole when you were making your putt that forced you to admit, you'd count it as a goal or a made putt. True.

This isn't golf, but true. Someone else said to me, everyone's talking about how Nashville should feel. what about of Minnesota how would they feel if they lost the game after that fine I will just say in the moment I thought that was no goal because he didn't shoot it in I had someone else who said to me that they wondered if he missed the shot because he was like holy smokes the goal he knocked it off and it affected his shot like he rushed or something like that also fine but again in the moment I was like, wasn't going in, shouldn't count by rule.

The one thing I will say, and I always talk about how would game seven of the, how would I feel if this happened in game seven of the Stanley Cup, I would hate it. So my overarching point about this, Kyle, is that if every team is showing their goalie and their defenders, if you knock the net off its moorings, this could happen to us. We could lose a game because a goal is scored against us. I think it's a good thing. In the moment, I thought Nashville got host, but I think overall, it's probably the best thing for the sport that it counted.

You? I just, I see what you're saying, but if I'm used to Sandinen, I'm like, what do you mean this is a good lesson about knocking the net off? Like, what else is he to do there? How many times a game do you see goalies lean up against posts, use their scape blades to push off the post? Like that's to me where this whole play becomes compromise because the near side post. The rule says intentional or not. I know what, Kyle, I don't want judgment calls.

I don't. I know people are going to say they're all judgment calls. You're right. But I don't want a referee or alignsman saying, oh, do you think the goalie did it on purpose? Yeah, of course not. Like, how do you, how can you say that? So then it doesn't matter what Anunin is thinking.

I guess, but then that's my point of like, well, this could be a good lesson. Like there's no lesson there. Like sometimes. Well, unless he did it on purpose, then it's a really good lesson. To me, because at the end of the ruling, right, must be determined that the puck would have entered the net between the normal position of the goalpost. Okay. but I think the whole thing becomes compromised

because the way that one post flies off Uh-oh. Annen has no chance. I just want to say something. We'll get to the elephant in the room. All I'm saying, Annan has no. Don't call me, okay? Call Kyle.

Don't call me. Has no chance to push across his crease because the left post is now in the right corner of the ice. Yeah, but why is it there? Well, why don't we get to the elephant in the room now? Because, Elliot, I seem to recall a couple of years ago when Matt Murray was playing golf for the Maple Leafs. Now, there was a few instances that day where you're like,

oh, did he do it on purpose? Maybe. You could maybe make a little more of a compelling argument than what we saw Tuesday night with Eustace Annen in between the pipes. but that also happened to be in Minnesota. Right. Coincidence? Very well could be.

And I'm sure the ice crew there does a wonderful job to ensure the standard is upkept as it is in every NHL building across the league. So what I said at the time, but I said at the time was that there were some buildings that had the reputation of the nets were not as solidly. held as others maybe it was ice quality maybe it was the way that they were installed but there were some buildings that had the reputation that the nets came off the moorings a little bit easier and one of those was minnesota and i will say this i had people around the league who backed me on that one. Let's just say that Bill Guerin was not crazy about that opinion, and I heard it. So, Bill, if you are listening to this, and shame on you if you're not, this time, call Bacoscus. And if you need it, just text me, and I'll give you his number.

Oh, great teammate. Actually, I would welcome that. I would welcome that. I feel you're not truly part of the 32 thoughts experience without going through that at least once. Without half the league complaining to you. Yes. Last thing I'll say on it,

there's one thing that maybe favors just the unique situation of it all. If you watch that playback, Annen's sliding across because Caprizov gets the puck down low. Yes. And you always got to assume he's a shooting threat. Yes.

Now, I'm no goalie, and I haven't spoke to somebody who knows the position well enough to confirm or throw cold water on my theory here. But he's moving over as if he's like, I've got to cover off my post in case he tries to rip it short side. And as he's doing that, now the pass comes across to Johansson. So he's like in the middle of leaning up against the post to like, oh, shoot, now I've got to like push my. away all in one motion. Maybe it was just too much for the pegs to bear, Friege. It was too much for the pegs to bear. That was a heck of a image, though.

The Nets swung around. What would you have called? If you were a fishing there, what would you have called? And again, I guess goal, but like, by rules, rule, that was it. You could have called a penalty shot. Can you actually call a penalty shot? Yep. Yes, you can.

Yes, you can. Well, there you go. I just asked for confirmation on that, so I probably wouldn't have done that in the moment. Well, I would assume if you were actually refereing the game, you would know the rules. Well, don't rush to judge. But. That's right. judgment calls he just said that that's true anyway like i said in the moment i i understood like if i was in the middle of that game playing for the predators and like i said someone said to me how

would you feel if you were the wild i would be like the more i thought about it later i was like he didn't he didn't shoot it in the area but if i was if i was playing for nashville i would have been furious i would have been really really angry i just tried to look at things from a way they can benefit what is the best possible outcome that can come for this and if the best possible outcome is that people are terrified to take the net off its moorings because they are worried about that it's probably the best possible outcome just bizarre just bizarre and i i hope we don't see it again the rest of the here because it's just it is uncomfortable one way or another half of half of the audience is going home angry well not that night because

the game was in minnesota well there's the viewing audience at home too i wasn't saying they're not going around they're already home ah okay contrarian freed chair this i'm really i'm really i'm really in a mood tonight okay so like a couple other things um just from Thursday's games first of all ducks okay earlier this week we talked about a measuring stick who gets Vegas right red wings earlier this week at the end of a road trip one nothing game can't be too disappointed from that by by Detroit they gave them a real fight they just got beat one nothing who gets Vegas next Kyle who's got the on Saturday night.

Oh, Anaheim. The Ducks. The Ducks. Third team in the last 30 years to score at least seven goals four times in a season's first 13 games. Pittsburgh did it twice, 95, 96,

and 2019, 20. They are a scoring machine. Machine. The only negative, as they beat Dallas 7 to 5, Jacob Truba actually got a penalty. And they're getting cute with the empty netters now, too.

Oh, yeah. Beckett's sending out with the extra pass. And it's all clicking for them. Yes. The young, brash enthusiasm is working for Anaheim. Everybody's going there. The kids are scoring. The veterans, Crider is scoring.

Truba's scoring. You know, everything is going right for them. and now Vegas and you know we know that Vegas is is beaten up a bit they got some injuries um they're they're they're far from at their best but but Vegas just knows how to play right like that's the one thing about them they they they know how to play so even when not everybody's there i look at them i like i'd like to see the red wings against them earlier this week and because you're you're going up against a high intelligence team that knows how to play. And now I'm really curious to see the ducks against them as well.

Going to be a nice measuring stick game. You know, some other stuff here. I thought Canadians Devils, really entertaining game. Nice win for the Devils. Really nice win for the Devils. Has she out? Hamilton got hurt in this one. You know, we'll see what that means, but really, really entertaining game. We talked about Florida. We woke up the other day. They were last in the Eastern Conference. I'm not worried about them in the least.

They go out and they beat the Kings. Boston, five in a row, five in a row. Mason Lorry, five games out, out of the lineup. I don't know what to make of it I'm trying not to jump to any conclusions I just think that that's one of those situations where people start to say like what's going on here

what do we need to know is there anything up we'll see where it goes they're coming into Toronto they play here on the weekend but you know you can't you can't complain they've won five straight games, you're not looking at it and saying

we have to rush to change our lineup. Right. And Marco Sturm hasn't exactly been afraid to be bold out of the gate at the helm in Boston. Like the low ride thing was, he'd healthy

scratch middle stat early on too. Wasn't happy about it. Move guys up and down the lineup. I also want to give a shout out to Morgan Geeky that's now up to 10 goals already on the season two years ago he was cut loose by Seattle signs in Boston good role player uh really benefited from the elevated opportunity with everybody that was shipped out last season signs the biggest contract of his life and is following it up here so far this fall turned into a heck of a player really good player

and Tampa won again beat Vegas who were just talking about two weeks ago everybody was was writing their eulogies for the lightning funeral speeches and they're going

going really well again now Kutrov's going Hagle's up to he's scoring more again yeah they're really going you know the other one The other thing I think happened this week. Did you watch Toronto, Utah on Wednesday?

I did. Rare stinker from the mammoth. They've been very good this year, but they weren't very good that night. That was the best game I've seen from Matthews all season. Now, the Maple Leafs have maintained he's not hurt, so I won't go there. But let's just say this, Kyle.

Didn't he look? More right on Wednesday? On Wednesday, I would say he started to show signs of it dating back to Saturday in Philadelphia. Now, I know your eyeballs in mind was. Yeah, I was not paying attention. But I'll say it has been building over the last week, Fridge. Okay. But that game at least was the best one all year.

And he's the straw that stirs the drink there. He's, for those of you who are too young to get that reference, Reggie Jackson, New York Yankees, 1977, I'm the straw that stirs the drink. And I think each team has one or two guys that, no matter how well everyone else on your team is going, if that player's not going, you're down about 20 to 25%. And Matthews, for me, is that guy for Toronto. Tavares is a machine. Nealander's really talented, but Matthews, to me, is the guy. And they just looked like a completely different group

in that game on Wednesday with him really going. I guess it probably started, I would say, in the third period against Pittsburgh on Monday when they were down 3-0 and they came back. But I just thought full 60 minutes, Wednesday was his best. And we'll see what he looks like on Saturday. Saturday. You know, Minnesota, they lost again to the hurricanes.

Garin, I believe, in all seriousness is the other guy who's out there looking around. And I know there have been some reports he's been looking for a forward. I've kind of wondered about a defenseman too. You know, we'll see. It's hard. Like, you look in the east, like everybody's in the race. in the west there's some separation but in the east everybody's in the race it's going to make it really hard really hard for stuff to happen i'll say this too the other thing that really got me

interested this week was was allmark in ottawa he kind of spouted off a bit You know, I don't Go ahead Yeah, for the Chicago game a bit back Well, yeah, you know, like people were on them And he was like, I don't really care what people say Yeah I don't mind that

I think everybody's entitled to spout off once in a while But You know, I think it also It also shows you that You know, people are aware They know when The pressure is is turning up on them.

Especially in a Canadian city, you're acutely aware of when the spotlight is on you. You know, right? You know. And it's a big stretch for him. Very, very big stretch for him. And the group, too,

to try to stay afloat as they continue to play without their captain, got a point. Yeah, they weren't very good for a lot of that game, but they found a way to scrounge out a point. And next they get Philly, who's suddenly feeling pretty good about themselves. I got to say this, there have been a lot of rumors about Owen Tippett. I don't get that one I don't get that one I don't I don't get that one He's a locker room DJ now that Scott Lawton isn't around anymore

Well then you definitely can't trade him That's as good as a no move clause seriously I don't know I I have to tell you like I always look around and I always I always say this Like there's things out there I don't hear and I don't like to dump on other people's information because there's definitely things out there that I don't hear and everybody's got different sources. But I really can't find much Tippett talk out there. Like I don't, I haven't found any proof that he's out there. I think the thing that's interesting to me with Philly is a lot of the Mishkoff stuff because, you know, he,

He's been under a bit of heat there, and there's been the talk about the way he showed up, and then the injury had in the summer. It's kind of similar to what, you know, Pedersen went through last year in Vancouver, right? About the off-season training versus whatever he was dealing with. Same with Mishkov in this case. You know, I'll tell you something last year. I can see the flyers being really sensitive to the way that Mishkov gets. perceived out there because last year you remember he got benched for a game and we reported

that he lipped off to Tortorella on the bench. Oh, video, right? You could see it. Yeah. So I wrote about it and he got, he gave it to the players. He was, Torderella was upset. like he said like he gave it to the players i heard about it later like he was like how dare you guys let this get out and you know what happens on our bench and in our room is is is sacred and

reporters shouldn't be hearing about that stuff and you're embarrassing our player and you know one of them said to me later that it was kind of funny because it was torterell was mad at them but Mishkoff didn't really understand why, what was going on. So Tornorella was kind of tearing into them for something that Mishkov didn't really understand or care about too much. But he was just mad that it got out, right? Yeah. So I've kind of wondered if the flyers look back and remember that and they're like,

we don't need Mishkoff thinking that all of his bad stuff is getting out to the media. So I think they're I think they're careful about that But look, they're 8, 5 and 1 right now And they've got to be pretty happy with that Especially I remember after training camp In the preseason, the way Tocca was talking about the defense And some of the injuries they've had in goal

I would think there'd be a lot of people pretty surprised That the Flyers would be 8, 5 and 1 right now And I know internally, I think they're really being careful not to put the cart before the horse but Trevor Zegris has looked fantastic he has driven a lot a lot of what they've been doing

so I think I can't this is my guess they're talking to him about an extension I could see it I believe it he can sign it's early it's only been 14 games

he's happy they're happy Obviously, you've got to work out something. I think they're talking about an extension already. I just really like how he even admitted that, you know, he knew the market he was coming into about, I mean, how much Philly sports fans can love you, but how quickly they can get on you if you're a certain way. And he was like, yeah, like, I showed up here.

I didn't want to embarrass myself. Like, I knew which city I was coming to. I mean, good on him. Good on him. I say he's, even, you know, it was a tough game for them against Toronto when we were there last weekend for the game. But he was definitely a guy that stuck out for them, was great in that win against Montreal the other night. And, yeah, he's just, as I say, a driver right now early on for Philly. So good on him.

You can always change the narrative. Right, Fridge? You can always rewrite your story. Always, always. always. And kudos too to Kelly Rudy, who called Nazim Kadri scoring his one thousandth game. Yeah. Good on him. He doesn't stick himself out like that too often. 30 years of television, Kelly. You finally nailed it. What a way to go out. It's been a heck of a... No, Kelly's not going anywhere.

Okay, Allie, we talked earlier in the podcast about the St. Louis Blues being a team in the West that is struggling. And then there's the Vancouver Canucks. I don't know if we can go as far to say they are struggling in the tough loss in Minnesota last Saturday, kind of got goal lead the other night against Spencer Knight and the Chicago Blackhawks through two periods. That one got away from them. But there's the big win in St. Louis, the overtime win in Nashville, the start of this week, best for scoring just before the horn. I don't know. I mean, Dom Sharmati has been banging the table all throughout this recording, waiting for us to get to Vancouver here. So what are your thoughts on the Canucks?

Yeah, what's up here, Vancouver, Dom? Yes, yes. Go ahead. Well, among the myriad of things, the list that is concerning Vancouver Canucks fans, and it is long. I am certainly curious why Adam Foote refuses to publicly criticizes to publicly criticizes. his club when they have a losing record and I haven't really played that well in a lot of games. Do you know why he's not saying, I can answer this. I know the answer. Without asking anyone, I know the answer. Do you know why he's not saying anything negative about the team? Because last year was such a tirefire.

they are determined not to pour any gas on any of this year's fires. Anything he says that's negative is going to be pounced on and used. That's the way it goes, especially in Canada. That's the way it goes. He is not contributing to that. That's why you're not hearing anything negative. Okay. Here's the other thing, Dom.

How many guys are out of the lineup? I think seven at last check. How many, like, honest NHL centers are in the lineup right now? One and a half, I think. Is there a full line of HL players playing for the Canucks right now? True. okay how so look like the record isn't what you hope it would be they were four and three now they're seven and eight their goalies are playing unbelievable to save them especially demko

adam foot looks in his room and he's not going to insult anybody but he sees what he's got there right now how on earth is he going to have have, how on earth is he going to be able to go into that room and have any players listen to him if he's out there trashing them while their lineup is as torn up as it is? I'm not saying trash them. I just, you know, if hold players accountable. Well, the thing is, that's the one thing. Like, you don't know what's going on behind closed doors. That's number one. But I think this is purely about. do not pour gasoline on the fire,

especially when the team is short-handed. Like, I get it, okay? So, Kyle, what's your theory about the stuff from Hughes at the beginning of the year? Well, just how comfortable he was when we spoke to him in Vegas talking about the idea of, hey, if we get another year like a couple seasons back, we're in the playoffs, teams doing well, that's great.

But if it's the other way, that's not going to be a lot of fun. And everyone who's got a vested interest in the Vancouver market knows full well of their captain's contract status at this point in time and where it will be next summer. So I wonder if that's where maybe some of the apathy that Dom is speaking of is coming from. That's not apathy. That's angst. They're different things. And, you know, like, you're right. And I understand it from the fan lens and the media lens.

You're looking at every game. Every game is a vote. Every game is a referendum on how does Quinn feel about this? How does Hughes feel about that? They're picking apart every word he says. They're trying to decipher his facial expressions. Like, because of that situation that you described, everything is, is this going to impress Quinn?

Is this not going to impress Quinn? And they've had some great wins, like that St. Louis one that you mentioned. They've had some really tough losses, like that Chicago one that you just talked about. And, you know, probably they're, this is probably what they are. Like a team that has to battle and scratch and claw to win. Like a couple of years ago, when they went in that great run, to that second round series against Edmonton, they lost in seven. They could beat you in different ways.

In the first round, that Nashville series was grind, fight for every inch, scratch and claw for everything you could do, and they won. The Edmonton series was a bit different. It was a battle, but it was a bit more wide open. It was a bit more up and down, and they almost won. But that Kinnock team could play either. way against you and give you a real fight. This Kinnock team can't do that, especially while they're hurt. And you know what? Pedersen, he's got three goals and 10 points in 15 games.

And if he's not going to be able to be a 100 to a 90 to 100 point player, it makes it even harder for them to score. So I think that's another layer of this. They're not the team they were two years ago in the sense that they could pick different ways to beat you. So, Dom, like, I understand maybe some of the blah around there because it's harder for them to win, and they got a lot of guys out. But I think Futt, he looks at this, he sees he was not there. You know, Heedle was a guy that we're really hoping for this year. He's not playing right now, and we don't know what his situation is going to be.

There have just been so many big losses. I see a coach. If he goes out there and he says something, like let's just say, you know, pick a guy, Dom. Like, who do you look at and say he hasn't been great? Pick a guy. Avander Kane. Okay.

So if he goes out there right now and he says, Evander Kane hasn't been very good. Well, now everybody out there who's covering the team and the fans, who watch the team, they're like, see, the coach says Kane isn't playing well. Well, then, you know, foot knows, that's a thing. Your player gets upset. Your other players start to wonder, am I next? And in the middle of it, they're saying, we've got eight guys out of the lineup.

And we're battling for everything we can do. we don't need this right now we can't have this right now not while we're totally short-handed and foot who played 11 billion nchl games he knows that he cannot do that to his team right now reminds me when i was in montreal and learned about another guy that understood that part of it too was carrie price when he was at the height of his powers he knew what he said carried a lot of weight in that market. So when things weren't going good, either for him or for the team,

his postgame interviews, his media scrums, most of the time weren't all that compelling. And that was in a lot of ways by design. Because if he said anything of consequence in those moments, it would only make a tough situation even worse there. And Adam Fitt's got to be thinking, as you say,

the exact same thing. Yep. Now, Dom, if they got closer to a full lineup and it's not going great to me that's a different story I could be wrong it's happened like once

but foot the player he knows what those guys are going through right now he knows they're short-handed and every game is a fight Vancouver was the team for me that I pegged as the one being in the West that was on the outside a year ago that's going to jump back in. I'm not giving up hope yet. You can never give up hope. You have to stick with your prediction until it cannot occur. I will not allow otherwise. You're not the boss of me.

Yes, I am. Yeah, yes, some days I think you are. I think you're right about that. Okay, Elliot, this Arthur Calliab story, I mean, boy, it's a big one, first and foremost, just to read. Molly Walker of the New York Post had it there, I mean, accused of stealing thousands of dollars from an ex-girlfriend of his and allegedly owing plenty more money around the league due to a gambling problem. I mean, you touched on it in your latest blog. As you said, the league isn't talking, the players of association, the players' representation, not seeing anything, so is there anything else you can add here on this story? Well, first of all, I just want to stick to the stuff that's actionable. And what I mean by actionable, it's stuff that could get them in trouble with the league.

I just don't want to get into any of the other stuff aside from that, because I just don't know. Aside from anything that was in the story, which I'm not questioning in any way, shape, or form, I just don't know myself. When I read a story like that, my first question is, is there anything that can get this player in trouble with the league suspended or punished in any way, shape, or form? And so Calliye's ex-girlfriend made the social media post

that brought attention to this a couple of months ago, and at the time, the NHL was made aware of them, and Calliyev was interviewed. I don't know the details of the interview. I don't know who was in the interview. I don't know if it was in person. I just, I don't know any of this stuff, but I know they spoke to them.

And I've been told, and it was confirmed to me, that the NHL really worries primarily about two things. Number one, did you bet on hockey? And number two, did you bet illegally? Did you use anything you're not supposed to bet on? did you use a bookmaker anything like that did you do anything illegal and i was told that callio's answer to both questions was no now having gambling debts is no question that's a problem not not good and it can put you in position as we've seen some other cases around here where you can

be compromised but that in itself is not anything that's going to get you in trouble with the league and so they kind of parked it at the time and then when the story came out this week they looked at it again and you know I was told that as of Thursday Wednesday when I wrote it and Thursday morning when it came out that there was nothing actionable and you know one of the things that people have to understand is a lot of the times when something something does cross the line, it's the gambling companies that can alert the teams and the leagues because they have the data. They are the ones who say something weird is going on here or something that's not right

is happening here. That's, you know, if you take a look at some of the, the biggest gambling scandals that have happened in the past, you know, for example, there was one. in the 80s college basketball, it was gamblers who went to the authorities and said, there's something weird going on here. And that's happened a few times throughout history. With the situation in Ottawa with the suspension a couple of years ago, that was also, they had data.

The league was given data that said something is happening here that's not supposed to happen. And that was people had access to Pinto's account. and they were doing things that they shouldn't be doing. As far as I was told to, as we record this, there was nothing like that. And they had no proof he'd bet on hockey. And he's claimed he hasn't. So that's why we haven't seen any penalties yet.

It's not the same as the other case because there's no hard data. Now, the one thing I want to make you ever be aware of here is that when the NBA went through its awful situation a couple weeks ago, one of the players that was arrested was Terry Ruggier, who plays for the Miami Heat. And there were reports in the summer that, because it was reported that Rizier came up in an investigation, but there were also reports he'd been cleared by the NBA.

And what we heard and found out later was, maybe he was cleared by the NBA, but he wasn't cleared by the FBI. So while I sit here right now recording this on Thursday night and I'm under the impression that as of earlier this morning, there was nothing actionable, things can always change. But I was told that it was not the same as the other case because there was no hard data that said that Kaliav was doing something wrong. And that is the easiest way by far to catch someone. okay wow that's a lot going on there a lot going on so like I said he's maintained his innocence on the two things the NHL cares about and that's that's the last I heard that they had nothing that said there was anything different all right we'll leave it there for now then before we get to the final thought do you have a thought on some of the reports have been out there of the future of the USHL. Now this came up at times last year with the whole landscape changing rumors of specific teams may be joining the Ontario Hockey League.

But now there's talk of possibility of the whole league kind of merging under the Canadian Hockey League umbrella. There was a pretty big meeting in the NHL offices last week, right, with a number of junior hockey representation there. There was a report that suggested that this whole idea was brought up there. Do you have anything further on that front right now? Well, Kevin Dubet of the Journal de Quebec was the one who had the story. And it was a really interesting story. It's always good, Kevin.

Thank you for allowing me to practice my French. I could use Google Translate, but that's not as fun. I like to actually practice. So it's interesting when we had a pot in the summer where we talked about the challenges facing the USHL and Glenn Heffernan, who's the commissioner, reached out and we had a good conversation and he felt much stronger about the league's future than we talked at the time. He really talked up in defense of his league. So I made a couple calls after what Kevin said.

and you know what again I'm not questioning anybody's information he clearly like he reported that teams in the league the Quebec Major Junior League had been told this was a possibility and I absolutely 100% believe that what I would say though is that this is going to be a process and I think there's I do believe believe there's pressure from the NHL to sort all this out.

I think the league believes that its development pipeline is very important and it wants all of this to work and it wants players to be able to go on the right path and it wants hockey to be strong, right? I think it wants all of this. It's in the sports best interest to have a strong development pipeline and not a shaky foundation which I think everybody is worried

that there's the potential for here in certain cases. So I think this is basically the league saying we need this to get cleaned up. Now, last year, when there were the rumors about those two USHL teams moving into the Ontario Hockey League, USA hockey really objected and USA hockey has power

they said you know we're not interested in letting those teams move that's not what we want to have here so there's a lot of different stakeholders I absolutely where I think Kevin is right is I think that idea has been thrown around could it happen

maybe But I think there are a lot of hurdles, regulatory and also just how would this all work kind of hurdles that exist. And I think what a couple people said to me on Thursday after the story came out is, I think that idea has been thrown around. We're not 100% certain that everybody's in agreement with this. we don't know how it would all work. We need to know how hard it would be to do it. But what they did say was you are going to see changes. And the NHL, its basic position is,

we need all you guys to come up with ideas to solve this. We don't like the uncertainty, and we don't like the threat to our developmental pipeline. That's what a couple people told me. Especially when you consider, under the old rules, you had really, really highly regarded Canadian hockey players going down there, whether it was in Owen Power, Adam Fin Tilly, Macklin Celebrini played in the USHL at one point in time, with the idea of going off to college hockey. That's gone now. And even beyond that, players in their own backyards, like out here in the West in the WHL, Elliot, they're having players, you know, geographically in the states commit to coming to play for teams out in the Western League that they never would have heard from in the past because they would have stayed within their own more local feeder systems, whether it was just high school hockey or the USHL with the idea of going to play college hockey in their own country. but now, of course, they can come up and get the junior experience in Canada

and bounce back down to the states at the right time to play div one hockey as well. So we were all kind of wondering, you know, okay, who's going to get squeezed here the most? Where is this going to be impacted in the most negative sense with all the new rules in terms of eligibility? Unfortunately, you know, the USHL, it seems like they're feeling one of the biggest, squeezes as everything is trying to get sorted out here right now. Still a long way to go. See, I think that's where we're kind of going here is young USHL or similar league in Canada,

then CHL team, then if you want to go NCAA, go NCAA. Like, if you tell me in 10 years, that's what we're dealing with, I would believe it. The question is, what's it all going to look like in terms of who plays where?

And how do we get to that? All right. With that, that'll take us to the final thought. As mentioned, it's Hall of Fame Weekend, Elliot. the 2025 class going in over the course of this weekend with the induction ceremony officially on Monday night, Alexander McGilney, Zadano Chara, Duncan Keith,

Joe Thornton, our teammate, Jennifer Botterill, Brianna Decker, and the Builders category, Danielle Sovigio and Jack Parker, of course, was part of the Boston University coach staff head coach for 40 years. You have a thought on the 2020 class Hockey Hall of Fame inductees.

Well, first of all, Jennifer Botterill is working Saturday night's hockey night show. If I got inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, which we all know

is not going to happen, but if I got inducted in there, I wouldn't show up to work for a month. That's like instead of a birthday month, that's your own of a fame month. You want to work the day before you go in? Not only do I not want to work that day,

but I don't want to work for two weeks before and two weeks after. Yes, it's the Hall of Fame month instead of the birthday month. So great weekend. I really enjoy the Hall of Fame weekend. Banger of a class, like just banger of a class. Always excited to have a teammate go in, and I hope Jennifer and her family have a great, awesome weekend. Banger of a class, Kyle.

really like an absolute banger of a class you know people I worked an Olympic Games my first Winter Olympics that I worked as part of the broadcast team Daniel Sauvejo was there

she was calling women's hockey for Radio Canada so she was kind of around us quite a bit very intense person really knew her hockey um like it was it was funny like we would our area was kind of near them during games and she was really intense watching games like she was almost still coaching that's the one thing i i really

remember uh about working next to her you know a lot of these players i covered um duncan keith great player great player Sedano Chara, great player. As a matter of fact, those two guys, like, everybody knows about Chara's physical fitness, right? About what he's like as an athlete and what a great player, like just a great competitor he was, but also not only on the ice, but off it. And, you know, what he's done since then, the marathons, the cycling. You know, Duncan Keith, because he does not.

look like the monster that Chara does, he also elite, elite athlete. He was the guy who had the incredible VO numbers. Like the test you do, I think his number, I wrote a story about it once. I think his number was something like 72, which is insane. Like Kelly Rudy always did well in the VO test, and Keith's number was better than Kelly's. When I told, I reported years ago, when I told Kelly what Keith's number was, which I think was 72, even Kelly was like, holy. So, and Keith was another guy, like, he was always ahead of the curve in terms of what he was doing with his body and what machinery.

I think he was one of the first guys to use an art machine on his body, for example. So I think it's only fair that Keith and Chara should have to run a marathon this weekend. And we can see which one of them can actually win. Like two very different athletes, but the two elite of the elite. Thornton, there are a lot of stories about Thornton that I want to ask him. Like just things about him. And I want to ask him about them first about. like apparently just wild stuff happened around him like just crazy funny hilarious

unpredictable things um that's the one thing that people said about him and you know he was a happy go lucky guy off the ice but super competitive on it and just the but the other thing about him was when he was around just as a person you always had to expect the unexpected in a very very funny way but again in his own way super fierce competitor in that San Jose room you know Pavellski ended up being the captain at the end but Thornton always had a huge huge say on how things were run there you know I didn't deal with Breanna Decker a ton. I didn't deal with Jackie Parker a ton. I did have the opportunity to speak from them with them from time to time, but I didn't have a lot of interaction with them,

but just a banger of a class. I always love the speeches. Like, that's one of the things I really enjoy the most is, is the speeches. Yes. And of course, McGilneys will be done via video. We'd love to see him there in person, but yeah, you think of him being one of the first to the effect and the story that all would have gone into getting him to the NHL over to North America. Chara, most games played ever by a defenseman. Duncan Keith, the three Stanley Cups, as you say, fitness numbers through the roof. Thornton, one of only seven, 1,100 assist mark. Botterill, three Olympic golds, two-time Patty Kazmire winner.

and Brianna Decker, Olympic gold herself, six-time world champions, all of them. You think of just heights that the rest of us will never be able to reach. They set bars in ways that not many others could. So, yeah, banger of a class. You know, I forgot to mention McGilney. You know, he played in Toronto.

I remember watching him practice. He was one of the most fascinating guys I ever used to watch practice. like just the skill um he could do things so effortlessly that other people had to work so hard to do but i think the other thing about him was you know you could sense how worldly he was right like just because he'd been through so much and because of what he had been through so much and because of what he to overcome just to get to North America in the first place. There was a real, like, there's a famous story about Mike Keenan trying to intimidate him.

Oh, yeah. And him saying, like, are you serious? You think you scare me? Like, no. And like, every conversation you had with him, like, you really saw that this was a guy who saw a much bigger picture about things. He didn't worry as, like the stuff that we would freak out, oh, the teams lost two or three games in a row

or, like, none of that stuff ever bothered him. None of that stuff bothered him. Scott Gomez, he won a Stanley Cup with McGilney. McGilney was traded there from Vancouver in that Devil Stanley Cup in 2000. and then they played together for another year after. And I remember McGilney in Montreal when he was struggling, he would talk about how when things weren't going well in New Jersey,

it would, McGilney would do something, whether it was on the ice or off, you know, to pull him out of it. He was so instrumental in getting Gomez going when things weren't going right. I just always remembered how reverentially, Gomez talked about McGilney. I just have a, like, I don't even think of McGilney first and foremost as a hockey player. I think of him just like, I think about Jeremy and Don Luce, who were the guys that helped get him to North America. And I think this day is as much, you know, theirs too, because while McGilney was the player who did the job and the person who had to make the decision,

and those were the guys who helped. And the SportsNet feature that we did on those two guys, that's some of the best feature work we've ever done. Yes. If you can find it, it is worth the watch, especially considering the occasion this weekend. So congratulations to that class. Congratulations.

Also, Francois Gagnon, we received the Elmer Ferguson Award this year, and Darrell Ray, the recipient of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award. What a class. What a weekend. and should be a terrific celebration for everybody involved there. That was the final thought. And with that, let's take our first break and we'll come back with the Thoughtline.

32 Thoughts the podcast continues after this. All right, welcome back. Elliot, this edition of the Thoughtline is dedicated to Peter Bob. of the athletic after that tremendous, tremendous feature he had put together on the three chimpanzees that all starred playing the role of Jack MVP 25 years ago. It's amazing that kind of out of nowhere we bring up that movie. It's a nostalgia moment for those that remember. All the while, Peter had been working on this knowing that the 25 year anniversary of the film was coming up. It was really something to go through and get an understanding of,

What happened to the animals after the life in Hollywood. Anyway, wanted to shout Peter out. When we talked about that on the pod, I can't remember if it was the day the Rangers were in Toronto or just before the Rangers were in Toronto. But Peter was there for the morning skate and he said to me that it's unbelievable. You guys were discussing this. And I'm working on this story. And I said, can we mention that on the pod? or would you prefer we wait until you publish it?

And he kind of thought about it. He goes, I'd really prefer if you wait until I published it. And I respect that because if I was working on a story, like people might say, well, who cares if you spoil the fact that Peter is working on a story about the three chimpanzees and most valuable primate? Who cares if you get beaten to that story? And I'm like, nope, I understand this. It doesn't matter if it's a huge trait.

or the chimpanzees of most valuable primate. If you are working on that story, you want that story to be yours. So, Peter, we would not spoil your scoop. And I do know that you did that purely because you want to be in Kyle Bacoskis' good books. Oh, he's long been there. Peter's one of the good ones, man. This great piece notwithstanding, what do you got before we get started here? So I wanted to shout out a frequent listener of the pod, a dedicated listener of the pod, who prefers that they remain nameless, which I respect, but who from time to time out of nowhere will send me notes about stuff on the pod.

And I got a note from them meant to tell you something that you were wrong about on the pod last Friday. And whenever I get a note from this person, I'm like, uh-oh, what did I really screw up? What is that? And they continued to write. The number of times you would have missed the Hockey Night broadcast, if that were the consequence of being late for a prep meeting, would have been once or zero. Not half of the shows, as I said on the air. The only reason you are late is because there is no consequence. If there was, you would always be on time.

Life is always a choice between what hurts and what hurts worse. Missing it would have hurt more than the pain of becoming a punctual human. Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Now, this is true. As I've told before on this pod prior to you becoming the co-host, the worst dressing down I ever got on it was from Kelly Rudy, who tore into me at the Olympic Games in 2006 when I was 15 minutes late at the front lobby of our hotel in Turin. And later, Kelly apologized to me for yelling at me in front of everybody else.

And I said, you have nothing to apologize for. I was the one who was late and I deserved it. So I refused Kelly's apology and did not allow him to continue after he started. But I will say that this is the kind of message that cuts to the bone because I know this is true. And I have improved on my lateness. And people say if you're late, you don't respect other people's time. That's not true. Not in my case.

I just always think I have more time. And it's generally the way I look at life to say, I'll figure something out. Like if something goes wrong, I'll figure something. out. And so that's kind of the way I look at it. But yes, I don't like being late. I always hate to be late, but it's always because I'm either working on something else or I just think I'm going to solve the problem. Like while I'm doing this, Dom texts, you were 20 minutes late today. And no, Dom, I was not 20 minutes late today. As you know, I had a lunch meeting downtown. I told you my ETA home was 320.

It's not my fault that the traffic in Toronto was so bad that it's 3.30. I told you guys I had a meeting downtown and I wanted to give you an approximate ETA. In the future, what does E and ETA stand for? Estimated. In the future, Dom, this is what's going to happen because you just sent me that text. In the future, if I'm coming back from a meeting, I'm not going to tell you my ETA. I'm going to make you just sit there and wait in a dark room or your red light you can turn it on

and you can just wait till I get home from a work meeting, Dom. Oh, boy. Tell us how you're released you. Kyle, I will send you a note saying my ETA. Dom, you just have to guess. I don't want to get caught up in this love triangle. This is too much for me. I don't know how to handle it. How can you pick a size?

possibly between you two. But I love how you're like all the issues that people have with someone being late, you're like, that's not me, I swear. It's all for the right reasons. Well, you know what? It's no, no, no. Like, I'll just say this.

Like people say you don't care about other people's time. No, I don't think like that at all. I do care about other people's time. It's purely either I get distracted by something, which believe me with me happens a lot. It's a work thing or I'll just figure it out. But anyway, I like that note. I think it's, it cuts to the bone and I really like this listener.

So I wanted to read their note. Excellent. I have a guess of who it might be, but as you say, you want them. Hit me. I'll tell you if it's true. Kathy Broderick? Great guess, but no. Ah, okay. All right.

If it was Kathy Broderick, I would just say it's Kathy Broderick. That's fair. Okay, here we go. Ready? Yeah. We begin with Olivier from Moriel. Hello, Carl Eliot and Dom. I'm sitting here watching the Flyers versus Canadians on Tuesday night,

and during a shift, Garnett Hathaway lost his helmet in a puck battle and continued being active in the battle without his helmet for a couple of seconds. It was more than a couple of seconds. The play didn't lead to anything, but I'm wondering what's the exact ruling in that situation? Let's say the Flyers scored on the sequence. Could the goal be disallowed because of that? I guess I could Google the answer, but it's way more fun to hear you guys talk about it. Hardcore listener of the pod from Montreal.

Keep up the good work. Merci, Olivier. I always appreciate hardcore listeners. And yes, why Google or why use AI if you have Kyle and I here to get it right about 70% of the time? So yes, I totally understand that. The reason Olivier is that there is an exception. If you are involved in the play, immediately involved in the play, there is the opportunity for you to stay involved in the play, even if your helmet is off. So Hathaway is in a position because he was involved there, that he has the legal choice and the officials can allow him to stay in the play.

So that was allowed. Now, I will say this at various times with various officials, it can be a little different. I remember we did an Edmonton game once, and I remember because it was an Edmonton game, and I think it was McDavid, where McDavid's helmet came off, and you heard through the microphones, like you could hear it clear on the broadcast, the referee yelling, go to the bench. And later McDavid said, wait, the play was right there. Am I not allowed to stay in the play? But because of, you know, the fact that he wasn't engaged in a battle or anything like that, it was just around him, the official made the call, no, you have to go to the bench.

So there is a little bit of personal preference on this one, but because the puck battle was right there, there is a way in the rules that Hathaway is legally allowed to be engaged in the play. Yeah, even if it goes on for... multiple seconds it's not yes that's the thing but if the puck gets passed out of the way or kicked out of the way he can't go and pursue it he has to go to the bench at that point or put it back on yeah which is effectively what he did that night the puck kind of moved out of the corner where he was up against the boards there and then you can tell the officials looking at him going all right you had your moment to keep engaging in battle like now you've got to go and he did so olivier Thank you for that. From that, we go to a voicemail.

Josh from Fort Saskatchewan, AB. I just had a quick question about different levels of fines handed out by player safety. I noticed Malkin for his slash on Logan Stanley the other night, he was fined 5,000, which was said to be the maximum allowable under the CBA. But the other night, I believe it was Jackson Blake was fine for slashing. It was something like $2,300, which was also said to be the maximum allowable under the CBA. So I was just curious, is it based on player salary, experience, or what could the other factors be that would change the maximum allowable fine, even though it's for the same infraction? Go flames, and since apparently this is an NFL podcast as well, go pass.

That's Drake me for MVP. Thanks, guys. All right, Josh, first of all, I always say when it comes to a Patriots fan, are you a real Patriots fan or did you become one in 2002 when they won the Super Bowl over the Rams? Because I met a lot of Patriots fans who came out of the woodwork when the Brady dynasty began. And I also like that people are running with this NFL podcast joke. You guys are hilarious. I get a I get a good laugh. We didn't do us any favors last weekend.

No, we were definitely an NFL podcast last Sunday. Great time, great time. So this is basically why you're seeing that. A fine is up to 50% of a player's daily salary. And the daily salary is, I think the NHL day this year is, is a hundred and ninety five days so it's you know it's one of a hundred and ninety five and malkin is is not on his entry level contract and jackson blake is so if there's a difference that's what it comes down to and five thousand is the maximum uh for a first offense in a 12 month

period it can go up i think it's um uh i think it's uh 10 thousand after that uh but that's that's That's why we get where we are. Very good. Okay. Jason writes. Kyle, Dom, and some other guy that talks on the pod. Oh, God, Jason. Nice.

Can we talk about that Leafs Penguins game from Monday night? I was in absolute shock. The pens were playing great, pretty much dominating the Leafs in the first 40 minutes, and then lost 4-3, allowing all four goals in 10 or so minutes. So it had me wondering, in the modern day, and Jason considers modern day as the salary cap era, we keep getting older. The salary cap era,

what is the biggest comeback in the third period resulting in the team winning? Thanks, guys, and your other co-host. Hmm, other co-host. I like that. I love that, modern day, salary cap era. who I'm trying to think like what's a big I like that modern day salary cap era I like that that's very good I'm trying to think off the top of my head like what year are we talking about here so there is a five way tie atop the leaderboard really yeah what's the biggest so what is it four so four nothing and come back to win well not necessarily four nothing but trailing by four goals entering

Oh, you know what? Like I'll tell you this. I don't remember specific games, Kyle. But I remember in the first week after they missed the year in 0506, like in the first month, there were up three or four of them, where teams led like by four goals after two periods and lost. Am I right about that? Like early 0506?

Not as much as four. according to NHL Records Okay I remember there were comebacks trust me there were

comebacks well I say you've defeated sports net stats NHL records is your next mountain to topple okay

so what do they got I don't remember off the top of my note yeah so the Florida Panthers twice in 1920 well you know

you know what's one I think of of the one in the playoffs, San Jose Vegas. Yeah, I mean, I think this will only, the search query would only be regular season, but for sure, thank you for mentioning that, because that was four, right? Yeah. And they ended up winning that.

But the Panthers in the 2019-20 season and in 21-22 came back from four down in the third. The L.A. Kings in November of 2007 came back from four down against the stars, Minnesota against Chicago in 2010, and Philadelphia over Carolina in December of 2008. All of those, though, needed either overtime or a shootout to decide it. I know Toronto, it was only a three-goal deficit,

but impressive that they pulled it off within regulation. By the way, I'm not quite correct. about the San Jose game. That was 3-0 in the third period. Oh, why don't I think? It felt like four. Well, they scored four, and they went up 4-3, and then Vegas tied it,

and Barclay Gutero won it in overtime. So I'm not quite correct about that either. Okay. We have to dig deeper in the early weeks coming out of the lockout to see where those ones stacked up, but... There were some comebacks early. I remember I did a game

I think it was Ottawa Boston and Ottawa was leading Boston 4-0 after two periods and I interviewed Glenn Murray of the Bruins and I said you know Glenn there have been a lot of comebacks, big comebacks and there had been I mentioned a couple and I said you're down 4-0 after 2 do you see it

and he kind of looked at me and he goes yeah sure and I realized right at that moment he was like you're kidding we're not coming back from 4-0 against this team tonight and did they no and he he was like totally humoring me it was like thanks glad and but even though my coworkers were like are you nuts like that's not happening here I can't believe you were able to interview a player when they're down 4-0. That never happens now.

Times have changed. All right. Matthew from Coleraine, Quebec. Hello, Kyle Dom and Elliot the legend. There you go. Oh, nice. Look at that. I like that.

I hope you were doing great. I was listening to your latest episode, and I cringe when I heard you talk about the hand, foot, and mouth disease. of Chris Kreider. I'm 30 years old and never caught the awful disease until last June when my little girl brought it home from daycare. Daycare. Walk. The disease cesspool. Yes. For days, I completely understand why Kreider could not play. Matthew, I am so sympathetic to you. First of all, you correctly addressed me. And secondly, you had hand, foot, mouth disease.

that is the worst and daycare daycare is a great thing for working parents i think everybody should have accessibility to it but the one bad thing about daycare is it's the petri dish of everything that can clobber you in terms of sickness and i am not surprised that that's how you got it It is the worst, that hand, foot, and mouth. Oh, I feel for you, Matthew. I really do. He goes on to say, with that being said, I was wondering, is that one of the most random reasons for a player to miss a game?

If not, what's your most random or funny reason for a player missing a game that you can remember? There surely has to be some amazing stories that you could share on this topic. Big fan of the pod, keep up the great work. P.S. last year I was in Montreal and I saw Elliot at the Bell Center during Four Nations.

I did not want to disturb him because he was busy but I wanted to tell him that I'm impressed by the amount of work he puts in for this job while being capable of having a funny self-deprecation. It helps me with my day-to-day job. So thank you, Elliot. Oh, there you go, Matthew.

Well, always feel free to say hi. I always appreciate meeting the listeners. I have to tell you, last year during the Four Nations, Kyle, I can't, I can't, I couldn't believe how many people walked by and said, how are your nipples feeling tonight? Yeah. That was the big one. I was even getting at the other side of the rink. Like, hey, where's spree? Is his nipples hard? Like trying to prepare for my open. I'm like, I don't know. Probably. They always are. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Have you been outside today?

Um, I'm trying to think like I, by the way, I missed an all-star game once, uh, the doubt, the one in Dallas, uh, similar reason. I was, you know, I had a young niece and she had like a headache and there was a birthday party. And the next thing I knew, I had like a, a 40 degree fever. And, uh, and I was like, I was like, how did I get this? And I told the doctor and go, I guarantee you got it from your niece or her friends or, or, uh, and I was like, I was like, how did I get this? And, and I told the doctor and go, I guarantee you got it from your niece or her friends or her friends. And, something. I said, really, like, that bad and the doctor said to me, she's exposed to things in her daycare that you're not, like, you don't have kids, no. So you're not exposed to this stuff. And that's why it's knocking you senseless. Um, I'm trying to think, like, do you have any ones off the top of your head that you remember? So the one, I don't know if I categorize this as funny, but I remember, I think my first year covering the Ottawa senators, uh, before a game, one of the players. So when they do their Super Bowl warm-up in the hallway,

his calf caught, so at the Canadian Tire Center there, different parts along the walls down in the bowels of the arena, the electrical outlets stick out from the wall, and his calf caught the edge of one. Anyway, someone showed me the picture a while later of, like, the gash that it left. And anyway, he couldn't play because he had to get to the hospital, get that stitched up. Like, it was bad when you consider, you know, in most cases, how harmless sewer ball is getting warmed up before the game,

but was supposed to play and couldn't because of that incident. I got to tell you, off the top of my head, I don't remember anyone that are particularly crazy. easy. But I do remember, one of the ones I do remember was Glen Allen Hill. Remember the spider dream. Okay. Glenallon Hill was an outfielder, a major league baseball outfielder, and he fell through a glass table. I can't remember if he was, I could look this up, but I'm not going to. I can't remember if he was still with the Blue Jays at the time or he was with another team. but he fell through a glass table during a nightmare and said it was because he was being attacked by spiders.

That's kind of the topper. The topper that I always remember. Wow. That's tough to beat. I mean, there's some random ones like Cal Richie last week, right? Flight couldn't get there on time, couldn't play. Yeah, that was. That was up there.

But a nightmare about spiders. Now, I remember that. I can't remember if he was a J or not at that time. Like I said, I could look it up, but I'm not going to. Okay. All right. Well, Matthew, appreciate you taking the time to write in. So we're going to finish with this here, Elliot,

because the theme of multi-sport athletes has been there the last couple pods for us. We've got a bunch more people writing in with other names to mention. This was one I wanted to highlight. Comes from Daniel from Stockholm, Sweden. Dear Kyle, Dom, and E-L-L-L-I-O-T-E. Daniel stands for extremely long lectures interrupted only to tease Elliot.

Oh, I like that. Very good. Frequent listener, first time actually you miss someone, corresponded. I'm listening to your recent segment about athletes who excelled in multiple sports and I couldn't help but notice a glaring omission. One of the most gloriously

overachieving human beings in sports history, let me introduce Sven Tumba. Svenn Tumba. It's Tumba or Tumba? Anyway, with the Swedish action, I know I'm not Perfect at it, but I'm trying.

Hockey legend, soccer champion, golf pioneer, water skiing showoff, inventor, and national treasure. A Gergarten's I-F icon, Tumba played for the hockey team from 1950 to 1966, winning eight Swedish championships, including six in a row, leading the league and scoring three times. He was a cornerstone of the Gergarten's dynasty in the 50s and 60s. He represented Sweden at 14 world championships and four winner Olympics. At the world championships, he led Sweden to gold in 53, 57, and 62. His 186 goals in 245 international games remain Sweden's all-time record. And in 1999, he was voted, greatest Swedish ice hockey player ever. Now, most hockey players would probably call that a successful career.

But Tumba also played soccer, which is where it gets really. Ridiculous. In 1959, he won the Swedish soccer title with Gergarten, becoming the top score in both hockey and soccer the same year. That makes him the only player ever to win both hockey and soccer national championships for the same team in the same year. Tumba also played for the Swedish national soccer team. And then after retiring from hockey and soccer, he took up golf and won a Scandinavian international championship in 2004. On the 100th anniversary of the Swedish Golf Federation, he was named the most influential person in the history of golf in Sweden ahead of Anika Sorenstam. He didn't just play golf.

He also designed courses, including the first in the Soviet Union, 10 minutes from the Red Square. He founded the Scandinavian Masters, one of the largest European tour events. Oh, and he invited Jack Nicholas and Arnold Palmer to Sweden for exhibitions, because when you're Sven Tumba, the golden bear and the king, Return your calls. When he passed away in 2011, the Swedish Hockey League held a one-minute silence before every game that day. Talk about a legend. So, the next time you're discussing multi-sport athletes, remember, while Bo Jackson knew two sports, Sven Tumba knew them all, and then redesigned a few for good measure.

Keep up the good work, boys. Your podcast makes my week that much more enjoyable. Wow, I had no idea. I was just reading, I Google them while you were reading all. of that that is incredible no idea no idea and as i'm sure as you're reading like there's there's more i could have thrown in there and the fact that daniel included initially but i had to try to trim it down a little bit and griffin porter was telling us he even trimmed up a little himself before sending it on but it is a laundry list when you consider his resume talk about

just being an athlete so i thought i feel like i've accomplished nothing in my life I know. You're trying to defend yourself for being 15 minutes late. I am a waste of carbon compared to him. Okay, well, on that note, why don't we go get some air, take one more break. That was the thought line.

1833-3-1-31-32. If you'd like to leave a voicemail, or you can email us at 32thoughts at sportsnet.com. We'll put a bow on this edition of the podcast after this. All right. All right, before we go, wanted to give you the lay of the land, as always, for what's going on across the network this weekend, in particular on Saturday, Hockey Central Saturday, gets the night started at 630.

Eastern 3.30 Pacific, Ron, Jennifer, Kevin, Kelly, Elliot, and congratulations once again to Jennifer Botterall and her family, as this is Hall of Fame induction weekend as well. What an honor. Two early games on tap this week, little after 7ET, original six matchup. Boston Bruins are in Toronto and the Utah Mammoth continue their road trip into Montreal. A pair of late games this week, the heavyweight bout, Edmonton Oilers, hosting the Colorado Avalanche at 10 E.T. That should be spectacular. As well, the Columbus Blue Jackets are in Vancouver to face the Canucks. And as always, those games can be streamed on SportsNet Plus. Okay, taking us out today, a track from Graham Jones, who is an Anishinaabe Roots Rocker,

living in the heart of Toronto, Ontario. A member of the Cheguinda First Nation on Manitoulin Island, Graham fuses a love for traditional folk and classic rock music. with contemporary sounds and indigenous themes. Ride or Die is the lead single off his new album, Crossways, which you can find on all streaming platforms, including our playlist, 32 Thoughts, The Music, on Spotify. So here it is, ride or die, from Graham Jones on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. My mama swears we all go to heaven.

But everyone I know, turns the bones and dust death comes for all who live how much you got to give because when that great highway calls then right we must one day I'll know the kind of things no living man moves one day I'll reach the ultimate high a hundred miles to no maid's land For pride or lay my hand, and no worries about tomorrow, because tonight it's right or die. I started running just to get away from something. Ain't no freedom like that wide open room.

No destination, no direction, no way. I don't know where I'm going Could I got to go? One day I'll know The kind of thing's new living man knows One day I'll reach The ultimate high A hundred miles to no man's land

Full crowded in my hand No worries about tomorrow Because tonight Let's ride or die Some say we all meet our maker Some put their fair than the creator But me I got to guide them

They were riding by my side So what my hell Let's ride One day I'll go To the place no living man no One day I'll take the ultimate ride Full speed to dead man's curve Who will crash, who are burning

Who will see tomorrow when tonight It's ride or die Yeah, who'll be here tomorrow When tonight Thank you. You know, You know,