32 Thoughts: The Podcast - NHL Expansion Is on the Horizon

Episode Date: October 6, 2023

Jeff and Elliotte dive into the latest on the Anaheim Ducks, including what they've learned about Pat Verbeek this summer amidst the contract negotiations for Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale. They also discuss the very real possibility of NHL expansion and a rise in the NHL's salary cap (18:00). Next, Dustin Wolf is heading to the Calgary Wranglers (28:42), thoughts on the New Jersey Devils through the preseason (34:24), and reaction to troubling allegations made towards Wenatchee Wild Head Coach Kevin Constantine (43:41).Jeff and Elliotte answer your questions in the Montana’s Thought Line (50:29).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and Jordan McRae and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Today on the podcast is the last time you have heard me say it. Every time I say it, I will put $50 into the 32 Thoughts podcast fund, which does not exist, but I will start it the next time I use that phrase. Yes, today we're going to talk a lot about the Anaheim Ducks. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, Merrick alongside Friedman once again. And yes, we're going to talk about the quack. We're going to talk about lot about the anaheim ducks welcome to 32 thoughts merrick alongside friedman one again and yes we got yes we're going to talk about the quack we're going to talk about the bog we're going to talk about devon taves we want to get your thoughts on the new jersey devils as well perfect i know it's only exhibition but give the devils some fun elliot uh we'll talk about the devils i want to talk about patrick liney at center that is interesting. And Dustin Wolf back to the Wranglers. We'll talk about the

Calgary Flames coming up. But first, I am curious. I want to get into the contracts in a couple of seconds. So Trevor Zegers signs a three-year deal, $17.25 million for an AAV of 5.75. Jamie Drysdale, three-year contract, $6.9 million, $2.3 is the AAV. But here's the question for you. So we've seen Pat Verbeek go through it, along with Jeff Solomon, we should point out as well. Pat Verbeek go through it with Troy Terry, getting real close to getting into the arbitration room. And then pretty much taking it up, I don't want to say right to the very last minute, but pretty close, with Trevor Zegers and Jamie Drysdale. it up i don't want to say right to the very last minute but pretty close with trevor ziegris and

jamie drysdale what have we what have you what have we all learned this summer about pat verbeek pat verbeek was hired as the doc's general manager on february 3rd jeff but now 10 months later, October the 5th, we know who he is and what he is about. And that is that, now Terry had the leverage because he was going to be a UFA. But what we learned is that if Pat Verbeek has the leverage on you, you better, when you step in the room for negotiation, you better when you step in the room for negotiation make sure you have brass knuckles sharpened nail files a flak jacket and whatever other medieval weaponry you can think of a mace a sword and a shield and even then it might not be enough what the message that pad for beak and yes jeff solomon will get to him for in a second have sent is that the anaheim ducks will scratch and claw and use every facet of the cba when they have the hammer and if you don't like it that's tough bbs did we see that with zegras did we see that

with drysdale and as far as zegras goes you know we've talked plenty on this podcast about trevor zegras you've maintained from day one this is not going to be a long-term deal this is going to be a bridge deal and there it is it's a it's a three-year deal for for trevor zegras um your thoughts on both of these we will get to solomon here in a second but your thoughts on both these deals look zygris i think ended up getting a bigger number as they said you know and you you said i said from the beginning it was going to be a short-term deal um you know basically in the aftermath i think both pat brisson and verbeek admitted that that almost right from the beginning they knew it was going to be three years.

The really hard thing was getting to the number. You know, I just think that the Ducks, they grinded from the beginning. They were going to make this as tough a number or as tough a negotiation on Zegers as they possibly could. And it took a while for them to get to that 5.75. You know, one of the things that was, that's interesting to me is that after Zgris signed, one of the conversations I had with someone was, and it was another manager. And he said the thing that, you know, we all, we talked about Zgris, how he's a confident guy he's

not afraid to say you know what's on his mind but the one thing that he said and it's something that he's noticed in negotiations I thought this was really fascinating Jeff he said to me when he negotiates against a player or with a player whichever whichever way you want to put it, one of the things he tries to find out is who is the player close with? Who are his friends? Because what he says is you're not only negotiating against the player and the agent, but it's also the family. And the thing is, if a friend, if he's got other friends in the NHL, you look at what their contracts are.

And, you know, he talked about with Zegers, some of his good friends are Jack Hughes, who's eight times eight and Cole Caulfield, who's in the eight times seven area. there is there's probably some kind of a friendly rivalry there with zegras where he's looking at those guys and saying they got their full long-term deals and he didn't and that's not you know he said that's not anything that pat verbeek is going to care about or worry about but he says he thinks about that like in the long run he says if I really clobber this player at the table, is he going to be looking at his peers and saying, I'm not going to forget this the next time that I do a deal. So I think the whole thing is really interesting. Like I said, I don't think Verbeek cares.

I think he's going to do what he thinks is right for the Ducks, which is what he should do. But he really grinded Zegers. And I think at the end when it got done, right for the Ducks, which is what he should do. But he really grinded Zegers. And, you know, I think at the end when it got done, it took a long time for the Ducks to get to where Zegers got. I'd like to say one thing about Zegers too. You know, I've mentioned, you know, that he's a confident, confident lad. And, you know, someone said to me, when I hear you say that, lad. And, you know, someone said to me, when I hear you say that, it's almost like you're trying to say that like he's cocky, arrogant, and people don't like him. I'm not really saying that. I just

think he's a really confident guy and he's not afraid to say what he thinks. Now, are there some hockey players who don't like that? Yeah, I think it's been proven that some don't. But there's one thing I saw from Zegers. It was at the NHL Awards in 2022. And that year, I was part of the award show with a young man named Jake Tebow. And Jake Tebow presented the Calder Trophy to Morris Sider and Thibaut had been injured he suffered a severe spinal cord injury playing hockey and he's in a wheelchair great kid like just a great great kid it was a real honor to meet him and present with him and he wanted to meet Zegers Zegers was there and he said to me do you think I can meet Trevor Zegers? And there was a number of players who were like that.

And, you know, I walked over to Alex Gilchrist, who works for the Ducks. And I said to him, this is Jake and he wants to meet Zegers. And what Alex said to me was, just tell me a little bit about Jake's story. Because Trevor will want to know it. And I can have him prepared to meet Jake so he did he walked over and then Zgris came over and he was fantastic and you know we spent about close to 10 minutes with Jake it was you know like you're not a bad person if that's who you are so I just thought I would mention that story based on

somebody saying that to me. It's like, I'm wondering what you're trying to say about Zegers. I'm not trying to say anything bad, but I do think he's very, very confident guy and believes in what he thinks. And it's probably one of the reasons the guy's in the NHL. Now in the Drysdale case, as I wrote in my notes on Wednesday, I had Duck fans sending me DMs. I have the least interesting DMs in the world. They're full of Ducks fans asking why Drysdale won't just take a one-year deal.

I got the impression that the Ducks never budged on Zegers. Or if they did, they didn't budge by much like i have a feeling drysdale would have been more than happy to take a one-year prove it deal but i just don't think with the two years before he had arbitration i don't think the ducks want anything to do with that i again i thought that verbeek and solomon came in they were like it was like the anchorman brawl they came in with the chains wrapped around their fist one one with that and the other one with an axe and they said you know here we go and you're gonna lose this rumble and they didn't back down they said this

is what we're going to do and and you know i i think the really tough thing for drysdale is you know he's quiet he's not much of asdale is, you know, he's quiet. He's not much of a talker. I don't know him well, but I asked and I was told this. He's not much of a talker. And also, like, he missed almost all of last year. Like, this is a guy who needs to get in and play and wants to get in and play. And I just think at the end, he was like, I'm not going to budge these guys.

And this is it. And'm gonna take it you know sometimes as i say all the time jeff sometimes you have the leverage and sometimes you don't and in this case he didn't have it and and i will i will say this i think there's a lot of teams that are privately texting pat verbeek right now and saying way to hold the line thank you and and pat verbiek eiserman light you know as a player he was the little ball of hate and his negotiator he's a little ball of hate like he's he's consistent let me just uh pause this conversation then because he mentions the eis. This sounds exactly like Steve Eiserman. I'll be honest with you. Does this not seem,

feel, sound, smell? You don't need to scratch very deeply here to make this feel like a Steve Eiserman type situation. We talk about the last round of managers that came from Detroit.

You look at all the managers that Ken Holland graduated to big positions in the NHL, whether it was the aforementioned Steve Eisenman, whether it was Jim Nill. You take on some of the personality of the general manager that you worked with for a number of years. I'm looking at Steve Eisenman now and Pat Verbeek goes to Anaheim and maybe somewhere down the road, Sean Horkoff or Chris Draper end up managing a team. And I wonder how much of the Eisenman personality they're going to have because I'm looking at this deal, honestly, Elliot, and it does sound like this was a deal that was certainly obviously done by Pat Verbeek, but doesn't it feel like strategically it was similar, if not identical, to Steve Iserman? Oh, a hundred percent. I mean, first of all,

I think this is where we should mention Solomon. We've talked briefly about Jeff Solomon before, and he used to be a player agent, and now first he was with the kings and now he's with the ducks um he is widely widely seen as one of the toughest if not the toughest negotiator around and so first of all you get that in terms of what you already have there, and then you add Verbeek. It's going to be hard.

Everybody knows it now. And the thing about Verbeek that I think is most interesting, and another agent reminded me about this on Thursday, is that Verbeek twice had contract disputes as a player. And remember, he was the first player. And I don't like using the phrase holdout. Because I think if you don't have a contract, you're not holding out. You're in a contract dispute.

Now, the second one, I think, was actually a holdout. But the first one, he was the first player to say no to Lou Lamorello to have a contract fight with Lou Lamorello and so and he got traded to Hartford he goes to Hartford the first year he's their number two scorer behind Ron Francis he's second year there he's the leading scorer because Ron Francis gets traded to Pittsburgh so he passes him and finishes leading score and he's heading into his option year and he thinks he's underpaid. I think he was making about 600,000 at the time.

I searched the internet, which is never wrong. So I'm sure all this information is completely accurate, but I think you wanted to double it and the whalers wouldn't go past $700,000. That's what I found out there. So he held out and he didn't play and he ended up going to arbitration. And I think he ended up getting about $900,000 in arbitration, but he missed, I think a month of the season and they stripped him of the A. So I think it's always interesting to me, like, and I, like, I got no problem with that.

Like I, you know, I always felt you should fight for what you're worth. I do think once you sign a contract, you should honor it. But I also think if you're going to do something and you are prepared to handle the consequences of your actions, then that's the way it goes. And Pat Verbeek was well-known as a player, and he was a big member of the players association he was well known as a player that he would fight for every right he was entitled to under the cba

and because he laid it out there on the ice and he did like he was a hell of a tough player he fought for every dollar he felt he deserved to earn and it's always wild to me that a player like that now he's on the other side and he's just as much of a killer on the other end of the negotiation you know the other thing too we should say is hang on hang on we've seen this before like we've seen yeah kevin lowe mike gillis for example is a great example as an as an agent fought for every single nickel and dime for all of his clients and then when he became a manager he fought to keep as much money in the vancouver canucks organization as possible like it's just it's just different kevin lowe was the same way like kevin lowe absolutely he went to new york

and made more money and then he came back and he ran the oilers like it's kind of the circle of life it's the lion king jeff it's this it's the circle but still it always it is kind of funny to me that you go from one side to the other you know kind of depending on who's who's paying your bills i think there's a lot of people like that but you know like i said i i I think for beak has sent the message. Everybody knows who the Anaheim ducks are. And, you know,

I will say this, people think he's got a really good eye for talent before when he was behind the scenes and in Tampa Bay and, and Detroit. And, and, and, and,

you know, you know, that side of the world more than I do, but clearly they are putting together a really good prospect base. But I had one agent say to me, holy smokes, you almost don't want your kids to get taken by Anaheim because you know that the first two contracts are going to be murder. I think the one thing that Verbeek and Solomon have to deal with here,

and you kind of mentioned it with Troy Terry is what happens when the pendulum swings back. And I talked about it with this one executive the other day. And he said to me, the way you look at it is these are both three-year deals. And there's a lot that can happen between now and then like you understand that the player could be very upset right now zegras could be upset drysdale could be upset and but the thing is you believe if everything goes well for three years that will go away you make the player happy uh eventually hopefully things work out and the player grows with the team and they feel good about where they're going and the player grows with the team and they feel good about where they're going and the player wants to stay the one thing though is that the agent

never forgets the agent cannot wait for the next negotiation you know they're writing down in their notebooks agent zero ducks one and the next time out they want to even the score. And what he said to me is, you feel you can win that if the player is happy. He says, if you're going into a negotiation and the player's unhappy and the agent's unhappy, you're really in trouble. But if you're going into a negotiation and the player's happy, but the agent is like,

I'm going to get you back for last time, you think you can get that done. So that's going to be over the next three years. And like I said, it's a long time. We could all be hit by buses in three years. Then you can solve the hurt feelings for now. Okay. So there's the Anaheim story. So the other big story, the board of governors in New York, you were there um i want to start off by talking about uh what the commissioner gary betman had to say about a couple of things and you know you wrote about a couple of things in your latest blog at sportsnet.ca

i'm curious what was the bigger story to you the salary cap or expansion well i mean i think the fans care about the cap the most so i i would i would say that because i think it's the thing that the fans care about the most however to me it was as close as someone can say we're going to expand without saying we're going to expand yeah like like it's coming and you know i know a lot of people look at it and they say 32 teams is enough. We don't need any more. So if you take a look at the difference between the NHL and the NBA, Major League Baseball and the NFL, is that the NHL has the fewest of those teams in the United States. Now, there's more teams in the NHL than there is in Major League Baseball, say, and there's the same number in the NFL, but 25 teams are in the U.S., and that's less than the other three leagues.

And don't think for a second that the NHL isn't aware of that. What did Luke Robitaille say to us, Jeff, in his interview? What are the fastest growing areas in the nhl some of the non-traditional markets and he sees differences being made so i i think it's going to happen um you know here's the other thing too michael and lauer just paid 950 million yep to to do the to buy the Ottawa Sanitors. And Bettman referred to that. I said to him, I remember when the team went in for Vegas at $500,

and all of a sudden Seattle came on the radar. I remember the Board of Governors meeting where he talked about it, and I asked him, what's the expansion fee going to be? And he could not wait to answer that question and say $650 million. Well, he was ready for it again on Wednesday too. And I said, what's the expansion going to be? He said, a lot. And so what that says to me is that they're getting ready for it.

They're preparing for it. What did he come out and say? He came out and say he came out and said look if you have a building and you're ready to go come to me do you think that ryan smith did that interview with us last year without the nhl knowing about it oh i'm sure they did i'm sure that there was that's ryan's production of the nh So this is coming. And it's because the NHL feels that compared to the NBA and Major League Baseball and the NFL, there's pockets in the United States where they can still go to. And I think the sport as a whole feels that way.

And you know what? I look at that. I look at those numbers. And I think one thing. When the book is written on this chapter of NHL, when the book is finally written on what happened over the last, let's just take the salary cap, when the book is written on the salary cap era, and that's going to dovetail into this round of rapid expansion era again, I think one of the most crucial days was when they redid the expansion draft rules. That has introduced a bounty into the NHL because what we saw right away was because of those rules and the Vegas Golden Knights able to ice a competitive team that took them to the Stanley Cup final in the first season.

All of a sudden, you're Seattle and you're like, oh, do we get the same rules too? Meanwhile, Columbus and Minnesota and Nashville are sitting there saying, oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, where were these rules? And we had to struggle and struggle and struggle. And I really think, Elliot, one of the biggest days maybe in the history of the sport is when they redid the expansion rules to allow expansion teams to be competitive. I think that's fair. redid the expansion rules to allow expansion teams to be competitive. I think that's fair. And put aside the idea of, well, you're an expansion team, you suffer and bleed for 10 years, and then maybe you'll have a modicum of decency on your team.

That rule change has been so crucial to all of this. Now we're talking about a billion dollars. And here's another question for you, because here's what I thought of when I was reading your piece. Now we're talking about a billion dollars. And here's another question for you, because here's what I thought of when I was reading your piece. I thought, what am I thinking if I'm executive director of the NHL Players Association, Marty Walsh, and I'm hearing Gary Bettman talk about expansion fees being big? Now, I know that that means new teams come in, so new jobs come in, too.

Yeah. But we're talking about billions of dollars. And I know that there are hills to die on, and that'll probably be one where the NHL will dig in their heels. But Marty Walsh seems very much committed. Where Donald Feer liked to think that there was a lot of new money for the players found in international hockey, for example, it seems as if Marty Walsh, correct me if you think I'm off base here,

it seems as if Marty Walsh is more concerned with growing HRR. And if you're the executive director of the Players Association, are you not looking at expansion fees of $1 billion and saying, we'd like to get some of that in the players' pockets, thank you, in the next round of the CPA?

You know what's going to happen? When Marty Walsh asks for that, you know who Gary Bettman's going to send in? Hmm. Pat Verbeek and Jeff Solomon. And they can get their drills out. All right, Marty, you want something here? Here's Pat Verbeek.

Here's a little ball of hate and the toughest negotiator alive. Good luck with that. Do you have a thought either way or a gut feeling on, I mean, I think we've, a lot of us have sort of settled on Salt Lake City, but do you have a sort of gut on how this might happen? Any type of timeline for this? Because I'm with you.

I think the NHL is giddy, and I think all the owners are thinking of themselves like Scrooge McDuck about to dive into basements full of gold coins as soon as the NHL open the doors to expansion again. Have a thought on how this might play out? Well, you know, Pierre Lebrun asked him, like, is this tied in with solving Arizona?

And Bettman said no. But as I look from it, I don't see how it can't be kind this tied in with solving arizona and betman said no but as i look from it i don't see how it can't be kind of tied in one way or the other because salt lake city is probably your escape hatch for arizona if that doesn't get sorted out so you know look like basically like i said he sent a shot across the bow of anybody who's interested get ready because at some point point in time this year, they're going to have to make a decision on the coyotes. And then, then they'll have to make their decision on Salt Lake city. Is it an expansion team or they, are they moving the team there? So I think all these cities know if they're serious and you know, we're talking Atlanta, we're talking Houston, we're talking Quebec city,

you know, they've got to get ready. Now, we're a Canada-based podcast. Most of our fans in Canada, I know there's a lot of people up here who would love to see a team in Quebec City. I mean, I'd love to see it too. The one thing I just have trouble with is what's the effect on the business of the Montreal Canadiens? Ottawa got sold for $950,000. So let me ask you a question, because I know you travel in billionaire circles. Oh, yes, always. Yeah. If the Ottawa Sanders are at $950,000, what do you think the Montreal Canadiens are worth? We're in the billions here, Elliot, clearly. Well, thanks, Tips. What a guess. $950,000. Yeah, I think the Canadiens could be in the billions here, Elliot, clearly. Well, thanks, Tips. What a guess.

9.50. Yeah, I don't know. I think the Canadians could be in the billions. No, I'd say in the billions. Like once upon a time, the idea of the Montreal Canadiens being worth a billion dollars. We're old enough to remember when the league was worth about a couple of hundred million dollars, right? Now we're talking about billions of dollars. So I don't know.

Where do the Montreal Canadiens worth? $3 billion? $3.5 billion? I think 3.5 might be a little bit high I'm sure when that comment gets out there I'll be getting texts disagreeing from certain places but I bet you three and a half would be a little bit high but you know I don't think it's too far off from there and and and here's the question I have if you have a second team in Quebecbec what are the montreal canadians worth you think it devalues it that much yes yes you do eh i don't actually i would say this it's not my opinion here that matters i suspect that people more important than me

think it matters i just think back as I'm sure you do, of the old Montreal Canadiens, Quebec Nordiques wars on ice when it was not just on the ice competition between the two, but it was off the ice. It was a beer company war. It was a culture war. It was so many different... To me, this was the greatest rivalry in the history of the NHL.

With all due respect, the Battle of Alberta. Jeff, why do you hate Alberta? Rangers and the Islanders, et cetera. No, man, this was the greatest rivalry. When Jeff shows up for the Battle of Alberta, those fans are going to pummel you. That was a great one. I remember Tim Hunter and Jim Poplinski

taking them all on. Here comes McClellan. Here comes Mick Surley. Don Jackson will take you on tour. Dave Semenko. Mark Spector, who wrote the book on the Battle of the Alberta, just had a stroke and doesn't even know why.

You loved those Quebec, Montreal games. Of course. You could stop. But nostalgia doesn't sell expansion franchises. But it raised the value of both those franchises. I think you just have to convince people that it could work. That's all. Okay, a couple of other notes around the

NHL. But it's coming. The latest you wrote about Devon Tabes and the Colorado Avalanche. Anything further there? No, we talked about the last part. I think that I don't think there's a lack talked about the last pot. I think that, like, I don't think there's a lack of will to do this. Like, I think, as I said, in a perfect world,

I think everybody would love to get this deal done. Like, the word around the league is there's been no lack of trying here between Taves' reps and the Avalanche. But unless someone budges on term, it's a very hard deal to do very hard okay uh buzzing around the nhl um dustin wolf to the calgary wranglers uh we kept saying towards the end of last season they need to make a spot for dustin wolf he's proved everything he needs to

prove at the american hockey league level there's nothing left for him there he needs to prove at the American Hockey League level. There's nothing left for him there. He needs to play in the NHL. I know there's a goaltending glut there with Jacob Markstrom and Dan Vladar. But were you surprised to see Dustin Wolfe sent to the American League? Or is it just temporary? Or is it just temporary? You know, first of all, Jeff, we should give congratulations to the Calgary Flames and their fans. Yes. As, you know, like politics is nuts, but the kookiest politics are at the city council level.

The limited amount of time I have done politics, city councils are by a mile the kookiest people. Which is why I'll miss the Coyotes. That's why I miss the coyotes. If they leave. That's why. And that has certainly been proven along the way in this Calgary building saga. But the announcement made on Thursday, final agreement signed between Province City Flames and the Stampede to make the new arena official, according to Eric Francis, and the construction 2024 and the hope. And it's always good when you start about, as anyone who's ever done a renovation or a new house,

you know when the sentence starts with hope, you're always in a bad place. But hope is the arena will be ready for the 2026-27 season. But that's big for the Flames. You look up the road, their biggest rivals in the 93rd best rivalry in NHL history, according to Jeff Merrick.

They're in that beautiful new building. The Arena Edmonton is spectacular. You know that the people in Calgary hate Edmonton, have been slowly dying inside because of what's been going on

up the highway. Now they're going to have a beautiful shining arena of their own, and congratulations to the Flames and their fans. You know, as for Dustin Wolfe, here's the thing, Jeff. As talented as Dustin Wolfe is, he had to beat someone out of a job.

Like, honestly, I don't think it was really set up for dustin wolf to make that team i think he really had to give calgary a reason to put him on there because they have two goalies who need waivers both of whom are signed and they didn't want to lose vladar for nothing but the people who saw Wolf play more than I did, they said he didn't do enough to take the job. And that's what Dustin Wolf had to do. Like I'm looking around like Philly, Wade Allison wasn't on waivers on Thursday, but there was some talk that maybe Philly might have to do that because he's getting beat out by the likes of Bobby Brink. And when you're a young team like Philly, you know what John Tortorella is thinking he's thinking

if you're going to be on this team you're going to earn it I'm not lying to the players I'm trying to build a culture they know who deserves to be on the team and if you get beat out you get beat out and that's your problem I think with Dustin Wolfe, I think the Flames initially looked at it as he'll probably start the year in the minors, but I think if he really beat out on paper of Ladar or Markstrom, look, he wasn't beating out Markstrom, but I'm talking about on paper, then I think the Flames would have had

something to think about. It just doesn't sound like he did it. Now, I can understand the kid not being happy. There's nothing else that kid can do in the American Hockey League. He's been goalie of the year twice. He's been the MVP. But I think at his stage of where he is in the lineup where he is,

he had to beat someone out of a job. And just unfortunately, it doesn't sound like he did it. Just as an aside, as you mentioned, Philadelphia and Bobby Brink, throw Tyson Forrester into that mix too. And I wouldn't be surprised, Elliot, if they try to find a way to keep both of them. I know it would take a trade, but they've both played great. And I don't think that Danny Breer or John Tortorella, for that matter, want to let go of Brink or want to let go of Forrester and, and send them down to the American league.

I mean, path of least resistance. That's how you do it. But I, I, I have a, I just do wonder if they try to figure out a way to keep, to keep both those guys.

All right. Elsewhere around the NHL, you ever thought on the New Jersey devils? I know it's only exhibition season, but when you, when you, uh, when you run right through it and mow right through the competition, like a hog into truffles,

you have to pause and say, well done. And on Wednesday night, they beat the New York Rangers five, two in a particularly violent affair at times, Kevin ball on Ryan Lindgren and Jacob Truba on Tyler to Foley. Uh, so it's good to see that feud alive and well.

That is rivalry number 246 in the history, according to me. Number one, of course, Montreal and Quebec, according to Elliott Friedman. I want to get to Alexi Lafreniere on the Rangers side in a second. Do you have a thought on the Devils? That's becoming a big topic, that Lafreniere. We'll get there. But just have a thought on the Devils.

And listen, one thing really quietly here, he almost became, I don't want to say a forgotten part of the Taylor Hall trade. He was a second-round pick. But, I mean, Kevin Ball's really done a really nice job here for the Devils. And we know what hard-hitting defensemen can mean, specifically in the playoffs.

But anyway, your thoughts on the New Jersey Devils through the preseason. Look, you know me i don't place a lot on preseason results but you have to play the games and you know what did jack hughes say in our interview with him at the tour the media tour in vegas he said in years past they were talking about okay what draft pick are we going to get who's getting traded at the deadline but now they're excited for the year to start. Like they have something to play for. And to their credit, the devil showed up in a business frame of mind. I've heard players talk about this before. It's the first time you realize you have a chance to be good. Everything's exciting. You know, in the summer, you're excited excited you can't wait to come back training is exciting the the

training camp is exciting seeing everyone for the first time is exciting even for a change exhibition hockey is exciting they're in the glow right now they're for the first time ever they can say we're good like there's something to be excited about here we can win and you know somebody once compared it to me like that that like a little annoying kid who's happy about everything and you're like go away from me I'm depressed I don't want to see this happiness right now that's who the devils are they're so excited to play and they're so excited to show what they can do that they steamrolled everybody in the preseason.

What it says to me is you've got a team there that's showing up in the right frame of mind. That's what the Devils should be like right now. You know, I was out on Wednesday night, late, I had a glass of wine with a couple of reporters and, you know, I don't like to say who it is without asking them for permission first, but I just thought of it as we're doing the podcast, but I'll just mention one of those reporters said to me,

you're ready to go to Jersey to, for the Stanley cup final this year. I said, you think the devils are going to represent the East? And he kind of nodded his head and said, yes. And I bet you, he's not the only person who's thinking about that as the possibility.

And for the record, I'm very happy to go to Jersey in June. I'm happy to go anywhere in June, but I'm happy to go to Jersey in June. For the record, I'm very happy to go to Jersey in June. I'm happy to go anywhere in June, but I'm happy to go to Jersey in June. For the record, that would make the fans happy of the New Jersey Devils. That would make the players happy. That would make the owner of the New Jersey Devils, David Blitzer, happy, who, as you report, is now part of the NHL's executive committee. And as I say, I was about to ask you know why is this

significant or is there any significance in david blitzer now being part of the nhl's executive committee and then i'm reminded that he co-owns an mls team with checks notes ryan smith perhaps future owner yes the nhl well the in our interviews uh smith did talk about his history with blitzer so yes and also you know his partner in both the devils and the 76ers is josh harris who now owns the washington commanders so you know and but the other thing too is um i know that in this league uh some people look warily at the owners who aren't quote-unquote hockey fans like you know there are some owners in this league who are huge hockey fans and there are some owners who aren't necessarily seen as quote-unquote uh hockey people in terms

of growing up in the sport and blitzer is a real fan of his devils like he he really loves the devils and so i i think that's important to people you know basically he's on the executive committee because they had to replace unfortunately the late rocky wurtz but when we were told it was the guy i was like you know what that makes that makes a lot of sense okay alexi lafreniere new york rangers you know i have to say and that is excellent bilingualism jeff i love the battle of quebec elliott let's go back oh please you know you know i have to say um that someone asked me at the end of the board of governors meeting last night are you going to Newark for the Rangers Devils tonight? And I have to confess, there was a time in my career when I was younger and more eager that I probably would have.

But now that I'm 53 and coasting, I didn't go. It was my son's birthday, so I thought that was more important. But I have to say this i was talking to someone this morning i was going over some of the interesting conversations that are going around on some of these teams like who are some of the the guys who are a bit surprising they're still around you mentioned a couple guys in philly there's a lot of talk about fraser minton in toronto um you know, there are some players who have hung on a bit surprisingly, and, you know, a couple of people mentioned to me,

Leon Bischel, who's in Dallas. Um, they said, boy, that, that kid looks like he's a real find. Um, so, you know, you're always talking about the surprises, who's still around, who's still up there. And then you start getting to, okay, who hasn't looked great? And, you know, someone just said to me they've seen a few Ranger games, and I confess, I really haven't watched them much, but I think there's a lot of concern about Lafreniere and what's going on there. And, you know, like, the one thing I really believe is I believe the Rangers have bent over backwards to try to create the right environment for him.

It didn't work between him and Golan. Unfortunately, they made the coaching change. You know, Arthur Staple of The Athletic reported earlier this summer that he'd heard out of the draft, he'd heard some rumors about Lafreniere. And, you know, I had heard similar that, you know, maybe he would be out there, but the Rangers came back hard against that. There's some teams that hear trade rumors and they laugh it off or they just decide to ignore it

because they say, well, if I deny this one and I don't deny that one, people are going to say, oh, well, that one must be true I understand kind of the the trap that teams get in with this but the Rangers came out really hard on that Lafreniere report because they they really wanted to protect the kid and put him in the right mental frame of mind to play this year like everything they did this offseason was about how can we make him comfortable we don't want to give up on him he's still young he's only 22 is the number one overall pick

he's talented we want to make this work they they bent over backward and like i haven't seen him but you know people are starting to talk about boy he's looked really, really rough. And look, I think you have to wait until the play starts and you see what it's like when the puck really drops, but there's a lot of people concerned about the way this is going. And I'm going to wait to reserve judgment during the season, but people are talking about it like this is i i can't imagine the rangers aren't a little worried about what they're seeing based on what other people are telling me you know the other thing that happens jeff is sorry what's the what pronunciation are you going with for the young rookie from Boston?

Matt Poitras. So he's a second-round draft pick of the Boston Bruins from the Guelph Storm of the OHL. Did I not hear him called Poitras the other day? I've heard it flip-flopped back and forth. And it's funny, too, because I just went on the NHL media site to go look at the pronunciation guide, and they're calling him Poitras.

Well, somebody's going to have to do the Bob Cole and the Bob Cole was he'd go up to the player and he'd say, how do you pronounce your name? And the player would say, I don't care. You can pronounce it however you want. And Bob Cole would say, no,

how does your father say it? And that is the way that Bob would sort out the pronunciation. So we're going to have to do that. Anyway. Poitro was the kid that scored that gorgeous goal against Washington a couple of nights ago. Well, he scored again on Thursday night against the Rangers, the 2-1 goal early in the third period to put Boston ahead.

And unfortunately for Lafreniere, what happens is people see this young player score and he's been very very impressive for the Bruins and they're like oh there's another rookie making an impact like it's just a really really tough place to be and I think it's got to be it's got to be frustrating for him as a human being but I think it's also got to be really frustrating for the Rangers because they have tried to do everything to make it work for him this offseason. Now, the one thing the Rangers did try on Thursday night, Jeff, was they played him with Panarin on the right side with Panarin in their exhibition game against the Bruins. And if you're going to try to get somebody going, that's the guy to put them with.

He had a bad turnover that led to a two-on-one early in the game, but I wonder now if this is going to be the Rangers' plan. Let's try to make this work by putting him with Panarin because I can't think of a better way to get somebody going in New York. I think they're going to give Alexi Lafreniere, again, I think they're going to give him every opportunity with as many skilled players around him to try to make this work. There's a lot of jobs that Peter Laviolette has now,

Elliott with the New York Rangers, and trying to get this team going and get them back into a playoff position where they can do some damage. I think one of the top jobs is getting Alexi Lafreniere and Capo Caco, for that matter, going as well. 100% agree. We'll see where this one goes.

Another issue, we're going to see where it goes. I just love watching it because I love watching him in that position because it looks so unique. And at times, Elliot, I got to be honest with you, pretty dynamic as well. And so far it's worked. And that's Patrick Laine at center. Patrick Laine is centering Johnny Gaudreau and Kirill Marchenko with the Columbus Blue Jackets. And again, Wednesday night, Elliot looked really good.

I know it's only preseason, but can you let me get ahead of myself and say that I like the way it looks, Elliot? I want this to work. Absolutely, you can. I don't know that the Blue Jackets have ever stopped looking for a center. They were looking for one during the year last year. They were looking for one during the summer. In all the craziness of the start of their season, I had people telling me they were still looking to see if something they liked came available and maybe you know i have a lot of crazy sayings some of

them are good some of them are bad but one of them is if you really want to solve your problem the best way is to do it internally and i have no idea if this is going to work but if it does it is found money it's like opening up a pair of jeans that you've put through the washer and you find a 50 bill inside it that's what this would be yeah if you still use cash i'm one of the few that still likes cash well that's why you have that big wallet of yours that you lug around. That's your carry-on. It's actually your wallet. That's what we've noticed before.

Listen to the 32 Thoughts Podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. You know, one of my favorite things back in the early days of hockey Twitter were the Vancouver Canucks fans when I was new to Twitter and would tweet things out really late, and the hashtag became Merrick Late. It was awesome. I loved it. I still giggle about it to this day. Roberto Luongo actually mentioned it, I believe, one time when we were doing an interview with him, therick late hashtag how about this one though everybody late

todd mcclellan and the one-year contract extension that everybody's been late on one of the things i'm kind of wondering here is that is if the kings in their organization, they had some kind of office pool that said, okay, when are people going to figure this out? Like Rob Blake had August 17th. Yeah. Todd McClellan had, I don't know, December 1st. Who are the assistant coaches there? Jim Hiller is one of the assistant coaches there.

He had, I don't know, next April. Trent Yanni. Yeah, Trent Yanni, that's right. He had December. Luke Robitaille had the first day of training camp. And the winner is whoever had October the 5th. Hang on. This, by the way, has a Lou Lamorello-esque vibe about it, does it not?

Yes, that is true. It absolutely does. The thing is, the difference is here, Lamorello might not have actually admitted it. I could have gone to him and said, look, I heard this happened. I don't know if he would tell me. Eventually, this one got confirmed.

So I think everybody knew that LA was going to extend todd mcclellan what we didn't realize was what it was going to be and it's a one-year extension and the reason that's significant is because it ties him to the exact same length as rob blake rob blake signed an extension at the end of the 21 22 season that takes him through now until the end of the, takes him through to June 2025. And now McClellan, who had one more year left in his contract, he's tied up in the same way. So basically it's the Blake-McClellan duo.

It's like a ticket. It's like a presidential-vice-presidential ticket. Blake is the president and McClellan is the vice president, and they're going to try to win the next election. And if the election goes well, maybe they stay. If the election doesn't go well, who knows? But I actually have another theory on this one. And it's always good to try to guess and put words in people's mouth

or interpret what they might be thinking. Always productive. When it comes to Rob Blake, I think the question has always been, not necessarily will he ever be in trouble, but how long does he want to do this? And in no way do I underestimate the competitive nature of Rob Blake. For as quiet and polite a guy as he is he's a hugely competitive person but i think it like i've heard times where people have kind of

wondered how long did he want to do this job how long did he want to stay as gm how long would he want to uh enjoy or how long would he want to do the day-to-day grind? Like this is a guy who loves California, loves the beach, who wouldn't, tries to surf as much as he possibly can. And I think that's been kind of the biggest question. You know, right now, you know, the Kings just went through a little bit of a rebuild. They're back. They're in the playoff race the last two years.

They've run into the Oilers. I think if there's anything you're disappointed about with the Kings is some of their young players haven't panned out. But the bottom line is they're sort of back in the middle of it. And so they're back in the middle of it. And so I think it looks like the team is getting better i've had a couple of people say to me that they think that people are they think that the kings are being discounted and maybe that's just the product of the division they're in jeff but um i don't get

the sense that blake's in any trouble i think what most people like i said what they wonder is how long does he want to do this and now if it turns out that it's only two more years whoever comes in to replace him mark bergevin question mark if he wants to he can go his own way with the coach too well one real quick follow-up on the los angeles kings uh i love their forwards uh you know that kopitar byfield kempe line looked really good the other night. Fiala with Dubois looks like it's going to be a real special battery as well. Deneau, Moore, Arbitzen, like their forwards look really good. The Gavrikov signing we talked a lot about last year on the podcast. The Anderson-Doughty pair, you know, at times one of the best in the NHL

I think the only thing we can look at with Los Angeles and say is this maybe their undoing is between the pipes and that's with Phoenix Copley and Cam Talbot but other than that and I know that's a premium position

I know it's a really important position netminding Elliot but other than that I kind of really love this Los Angeles Kings team i think the reason they really like mcclellan is he's a true x's and o's guy and if you look at vegas which beat uh edmonton last year or you look like colorado was just a juggernaut two years ago. Like they're a great team. Like they can, they're one of the few teams where you put McKinnon and Makar out on the

ice with dry sidle and McDavid. And you can actually say, you know what? Like that's a pretty even battle. A lot of other teams don't have that. So if you're going to win in the western conference against vegas you've got to have two things you've got to have elite talent and you've got to be able to play a smart game against them an intelligent game against them and that's why vegas beat them last year i mean jeff how many Oilers told us that the

difference was was one their depth or they were just smarter they made the better plays at the most critical times they didn't beat themselves was it Evander Kane who told us that the Oilers kind of beat themselves in that series yeah yeah so you know one thing that McClellan does is he puts together a very disciplined system that they lost in seven two years ago. They lost in six last year. He's put them in position where they can beat them. And now they've been improving their roster. Last year it was Deneau.

This year it's Dubois. At some point in time, the players have to deliver. But I think when you look at the plan that McClellan puts together and the way he gets the Kings to play, they play the way they're going to have to play if they're finally going to beat Edmonton. And now with Todd McClellan's extension done, the two lone coaches on expiring deals,

Rod Brindamore in Carolina, DJ Smith in Ottawa. Okay, Elliot, one more thing here before we get to the thought line. As well on Thursday, the Bonacci Wild terminated the contract of Kevin Constantine. And they will now search for a new full-time head coach. Kevin Constantine, former head coach in the NHL, is now an ex-head coach again in the NHL is now an ex head coach again in the Western League suspended indefinitely for making derogatory comments of a discriminatory nature in front of his players there is a players hotline and email address that players

can use to complain about abuse I don't believe that players complained about it directly, but went to a staff member of the organization who used either the hotline or the email. And Wenatchee got on this one fast, as did the Western Hockey League, turned it over to an independent investigation. Constantine suspended indefinitely, can't apply for reinstatement until July of 2025. Well, first of all, Jeff,

you cover Junior a lot more than I do. I think it's only fair that if there's anything you want to say editorially, you go first. The one thing that I want to say about this one is it i mean there's been a lot of whispers and talk about you know what it was that kevin constantine said in the dressing room um what it was around and if all of those things are true it's absolutely disgusting and the punishment is warranted um so i was glad to see that this is that this was a decision that was made by the western hockey league jeff like you said we don't know specifics we've all heard the rumors but we don't know specifics and without proof all i can say is that what we've heard is disgraceful, like you said. Okay? So I heard recently that there was a conversation between the NHL and WHL about something that was going on.

And I heard someone in the NHL told the Western Hockey League, do you guys have any bleeping clue about what you're doing? And it's kind of my reaction to some things that are going on in the WHL right now. And I understand in that league, and Jeff, you can tell me if I'm wrong because you know this stuff better than I do, is that it's not so much a league as it's a bunch of fiefdoms that say,

we do what we do and nobody else can tell us. Am I wrong about that? That's how it's been for a long time. The problem with that is when everybody sits there and does their own thing and there's no coordination, then these incidents pop up and you think, and I'm talking about you, the WHL, you think it's a vacuum. It's just on the team and it doesn't reflect on the whole league. And I'm telling you, you're wrong. It reflects on the whole league. And I had a conversation with someone last week who I really respect, has a long history with the WHL and really loves that league. And I had a conversation with someone last week who I really respect, has a long history with

the WHL and really loves that league. And I said to him, the things I'm hearing out there really bother me. And it's not good for not only the Western Hockey League, it's just bad for hockey, which I think is a great game. And's offered me so much and it bothers me when stuff like this happens I don't like people to feel that they're not wanted and you know and he said believe me there are really good people in this league who really care about the kids and really want to do what's best for hockey. And okay, I trust this person. Like I said, I called him for a reason.

I'll take him at his word. But what I think those people have to do is they have to get a hold of this league. And they have to say, it can't be like this anymore. It can't be like a bunch of small nation states only caring about their own business and not looking at the greater well-being of the league and sport as a whole. And I think those people need to get control of that league or make their voices heard. You don't have to do it publicly. I know some people think it's grandstanding that's fine do it privately because i think the things that are happening coming out of the western hockey league right now

they're hurting a great sport and if you think that your self-interest is more important than the sport then you're not what hockey is supposed to be about. And you deserve all of the pushback and punishment you get. So I think that's the one thing I'd like to say about all this. You know, it really bothers me to do this. I don't like lecturing people. I'm not perfect. I've got my own flaws. I do plenty of stupid and wrong things myself.

But I just look at this and I say, we're taking a weapon and we're shooting ourselves in the foot with this stuff. And I think some of this stuff is preventable. I think if there was greater cooperation or communication internally in that league and between the teams, I think this stuff could have been avoided.

Hang on, just pause on that. Even between the teams and head office. Right. More conversation that way. I really do believe that that's part of the issue here. And Jeff, like I said, you know this better than I do. I think you're totally right. And again, I was told by someone who I think really knows that

league really well, that there are a lot of good people in that league who probably don't speak up as much. It's your time. They're about to hire a new commissioner. From what I understand, they've got some pretty interesting people who have applied. But if I looked at the way this league was run, would I want any part of it? I don't know if I would. I just think it's time for those people to stand up and say, we have to change the way we're doing business because we're hurting ourselves and we're hurting the sport that's all we'll be right back welcome back to the program gonna finish up today's show with uh some emails and some questions yes indeed it is time for the montana's thought line montana's barbecue and bar

canada's home for barbecue elliott friedman try the. There you go. And the deep fried pickles. 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca. 1-833-311-3232. Let's start off with some voicemails. Let's start with Tyler in Michigan. Kick us off, Tyler. Hey, guys. This is Tyler calling from Michigan.

So happy to be on the Montana Thought Line this week. And the persistent insistence of Elliott Friedman to try the ribs has left me to make ribs tonight because there's no such thing as the Montanas here in Michigan. That said, my question to you guys is, when you go to a hockey game, what is your favorite bite to eat? Jeff, rink fries do not count in this scenario. Keep up the great work, guys, and take it easy on the new producer. That's my go-to, though.

I don't really munch on much other than rink fries. I do have a thing about bad coffee, though. I do. Oh, really? You drink it? Yeah, I do. Good on you. Rink fries are usually pretty good

at hockey arenas all across North America. The coffee's awful. And I don't care, because to me, it's all about a good basket of fries and a really bad coffee. So that's the only place where I'll put up with really bad coffee because yes, Elliot, as you know, I'm a coffee snob, but I like bad coffee at a rink. What about you? Okay. First of all, before I get to answering Tyler's questions, two things. Number one, I will not be taking it easy on the new producer.'re we're pat verbeek and jeff solomon and dom you're in trouble secondly montana's get into

michigan what's going on here let's go you should be spreading your wings sowing your wild oats spreading your ribs spreading your ribs that's pretty I like that. Jeff, did you ever watch Man vs. Food? No, I've never watched Man vs. Food. Okay, so Man vs. Food was a show. It was, Adam Richman was the name of the guy, and my wife, Steph, introduced me to it. And Adam Richman, they had to stop doing this show because he would try things and finally his as i understand it and someone will tell me if i'm wrong about this

his doctor said to him you you can't do this anymore because and i loved it because he would try things like he was destroying his body. Oh my goodness. And I have to say, if you're going to go, this is the way to do it. I loved this show. This is a horror show for me. I can't watch people do this to themselves. I hate stuff like this. I can't do it.

I watched every episode. I loved it until they had to stop. But I like that. I will go in there and I will walk in there and I will say, what is either the craziest thing on the menu or what is the local delicacy? Like if I walk into this arena, what do I have to eat? And that's kind of the way I do it. I love hot dogs.

Like if I could have a ballpark hot dog or a rink hot dog anywhere, I would eat it. Like you, I don't care if it's bad, I'll hot dogs. Like if I could have a ballpark hot dog or a rink hot dog anywhere, I would eat it like you. I don't care if it's bad. I'll eat it. But I will always ask first, what do I have to eat here? Bad coffee and rink fries with, wait for it. A terrible hot dog.

Mustard. Hockey delicacy. Yes. Mustard on the fries. Let's go. Okay. Another voicemail. Let's go to Tennessee.

Good evening, gentlemen. My name is Maples from Tennessee, by the way, South Carolina. This is more a question to start a conversation. When can we finally put to bed the term non-traditional hockey market in regards to the South? A lot of places here, we've had hockey for well over 50 years. We have our own traditions. I think it's unfair to label us as non-traditional hockey markets. Good job, Jeff. Good job, Elliot.

Good job, New Amel. You're not Dom. You're New Amel. Dom, your name is now getting changed to that on my phone. New Amel. I like that. That one might stick. Well, it's kind of funny maples but i actually

use that phrase earlier in this podcast but but i love this voice message i love the fact that you're standing up for your market i have deep deep deep respect for that i will make it my effort now to bury the phrase non-traditional hockey market. Today on the podcast is the last time you have heard me say it. Every time I say it, I will put $50 into the 32 Thoughts podcast fund, which does not exist, but I will start it the next time I use that phrase. Maples, I respect you standing up for your fan base. The NTHM jar starts now.

The non-traditional hockey market jar begins today. Maples in Tennessee, thanks so much for the voicemail there. Let's get to Sherwood Park. Hey, guys. Rick from Sherwood Park here. I wanted to ask you, how does the whole waiver wire work, right? I heard Spencer Martin went on waivers and Tampa was looking to potentially acquire them, but Columbus beat them to it. But how does that work? How did Columbus get that before Tampa Bay?

Is it like who's quickest to get to like a computer and like that's great i like that let me know fellas and uh keep it humming oh that's a great one oh i got i got to my phone faster than you sorry julian breeze you know what i think that would actually be a great reality show. As in one person per team, and you put a camera on them, like a spy camera or your laptop camera. Every person sits, one person per team sits down at their computer at 2 p.m. Eastern when the new names come on the wire. And you see a name you like like it's a race to click on it first i love it how awesome would that be just i just just love it um that that is like a

americ versus wishinsky idea that is a little bit of mbsw you're not wrong there uh you want to explain how this one works and this one's interesting because waivers a great question now kind of has kind of kind of winks back at last season elliot you know i want to talk a little bit about something here let me answer the question first i want to talk about something else so rick the way it works is actually pretty simple it goes in reverse order of the standings and for the first month of the season, it defaults to last year. So it goes 32 to one. And whoever is in 32nd, like as many people as you want can put in a claim. So for example, let's say Spencer Martin, 15 teams wanted Spencer Martin. Then 15 teams would put in a claim.

And at the deadline, which is just before 2 p.m. the next day, whoever has the worst record dating back to last season would get him. Now, there is a point in the season, I believe it is November 1st. Don't quote me on that. I never look at these in advance, which is why I never have the best answers to them. But there is a point in the season, and I think it's November 1st, where it changes to points percentage. So last year's stats no longer matter and it goes

from 32 to 1 based on points percentage and that determines the waiver order now I have to say something about this I've had people say to me like don't you think that question is too easy or people should know the answer so So I don't look, well, I'll, I'll tell you why. Like I really, uh, I,

first of all, I agree with you. I think you're right. But second, there was a podcast I listened to last week. I don't always listen to the Kelsey brothers, Jason and Travis, but of course I listened last week to find out what was going on with Travis

and Taylor Swift. Right. Because that's the biggest story going in the sporting world right now. And even the NFL is trying to get their broadcast partners to put in free Taylor Swift commercials. The New York Post reported that today. So you've got like this incredible force, Taylor Swift descending on the NFL

and all of her fans are now interested and some of them know football and some of them don't but so the Swifties who don't know football were asking the Kelsey brothers about the rules and I just have to say like I think it would have been really easy for those two guys or anyone else to mock the Swifties and say, how could you guys be so stupid or how dumb can you be? Or what a terrible question, but no, they, for the part that I listened to, they answered the questions honestly and gave good answers. And to me, I loved it because football is a great game. And I think there's a lot of misconceptions about football, and I think the more people that get introduced to it, the better we all are.

I feel the same way about hockey. Great game. I think there's a lot of misconceptions about it, and the more people who get introduced to it, the better we all are. So I don't care how dumb you think a question is. We're happy to answer it, because Jeff and I, as dumb as you might think you are,

we're both dumber. That's the truth. And listen, no one ever that I can recall and man that I ask a ton of questions when I used to go to the Hockey Hall of Fame when I was a kid, like I told you the stories about my parents dropping me off at the Hockey Hall of Fame and like leaving me there for hours on end, you know, which is why they were never on the cover of Today's Parent magazine. But the Hockey Hall of Fame was my babysitter. And I'm sure I annoyed staff with the millions and millions and millions of annoying, very basic eight, nine-year-old questions. And no one ever talked down to me.

No one ever ridiculed me for asking really basic rudimentary questions for hockey. So who am I to do that to anybody else based on, you know, the 40 plus years that I've been following this sport closely or 45 or however old I am, I've actually forgotten. So yeah, everyone gets on at a different time in their life. Treat them all as you would have liked to have been treated when you got on this hockey highway. This comes to us from Victor.

Hey, Elliot and Jeff, we'll finish up on this one, Elliot. Love the podcast, especially when you guys talk about my Florida Panthers. Elliot, quick, satisfy Victor, talk about the Florida Panthers. I think Bill Zito would love to get Patrick Kane. Dun, dun, dun, dun. There you go, Victor. To finish off your question, my question for you guys is kind of a silly one,

but I want to know why the NHL doesn't use white netting for the out-of-play nets. Wouldn't having that make it easier for refs to see when the puck goes out of play, not to mention the cameras? Just a thought I had while watching some old videos. Thanks. Looking forward to the next episode.

I called someone in the league about this today. Yes. What did they tell you? They said it's to make it easier for the fans to watch the game. That is 100% true. For a change, someone from the league gave you a legitimate answer. Victor, that is the reason. The season hasn't actually started yet, so they're being truthful.

That's right. They're being honest. Wait until the puck drops and they can start lying again. Victor, Jeff is right, and the person who told me that is right. They did test. I remember when the netting came in. They did test white netting because initially they thought that made the most sense but it was actually the fans told them it was

harder to see through the white than the black and in that situation you know the netting is protective for the fans but you don't want to upset your fans so and i heard it wasn't even close like like i heard the feedback was massive uh pro black over pro white uh netting so that's what it was that uh the fans voted and they listened good question all depends on your perspective that one obviously from a referee and officials perspective make it easier to see the puck uh the answer from the fans' perspective, the people that have the nerve to pay the tickets, let's let them watch the game. How about that? Okay, so on that, we'll wrap it up.

This podcast returns at our usual Monday morning drop. We are only a scant few days away from the puck drop on the real NHL season. We're getting there. Elliot, I'm sure you've noticed the exhibition games, or sorry, the preseason games are starting to look a little bit more like NHL hockey. Not for the full 60

minutes, but the games are starting to look better, so it's time to cue the excitement. The NHL season is on the horizon. People to thank, our supervising producers Ryan Fabro and Cam Barra, Dom Schrammatti, or the new Amel, is our producer.

Jordan McRae is our audio editor. And Griffin Porter is our associate producer. Have a great weekend. 32 Thoughts, the podcast, returns on Monday.