32 Thoughts: The Podcast - OH MY BOB

Episode Date: June 9, 2024

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman recap the Panthers 3-0 Game 1 win in the Stanley Cup Final over the Edmonton Oilers. Afterward, they delve into Gary Bettman's press conference. They begin with the Four Nations Face Off (17:45), and also touch on the salary cap increase (18:22). Jeff and Elliotte discuss the attention being turned towards the next CBA negotiations and what the players might fight for (19:56). Elliotte talks about the futures of Joel Quenneville and Stan Bowman (23:29) and also gives an update on Jonathan Marchessault's quest for a new contract (25:39). Later, the fellas talk about Brendan Dillon and his intention to test free agency (31:18). They then turn to the latest with Jacob Markstrom (34:24) and Juuse Saros (36:53). Jeff and Elliotte wrap the A block with more commentary on Macklin Celebrini's future (38:32).The guys answer your questions in the Montana’s Thought Line (48:22).Jeff and Elliotte close the podcast by talking about PWHL Champions Minnesota and how they are now without a General Manager (1:00:44). Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailThis podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Stanley leans in against McLeod, the puck is down, the final seconds will tick away. 3-0, the Panthers take Game 1 of the Cup Final, a 33-save shutout for Sergei Bobrovsky. The Panthers take a 1-game 10-on lead in this 2024 Stanley Cup Final. What about Bob? Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the, yes, and great title for the podcast. I'm sailing. I'm sailing.

Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra Elevation and driven by Kathy Broderick, who, as we record this, Elliot, is driving you back to the hotel, as Kathy did last. this Elliot is driving you back to the hotel as Kathy did last Kathy's done so many different things and has never complained about it and always had done it well although I can't imagine this is on her list of favorite things she's done at hockey night in Canada I'll say this that when I told everyone that I was going back with Kathy so we could do this while she was driving the general response from the likes of Dave Amber was are you trying to make her fall asleep while she's at the wheel those were the general responses yes um they were calling her St. Kathy too like

this it's it's an audio lullaby here it's a hockey audio lullaby for Kathy Broderick. All right. Um, to the game, game one, first of all, before we get there, you were there.

Give us the taste, like give us the atmosphere, give us the vibe, uh, give us all of it before we start breaking it down and talking about Bobrovsky. I think the most disappointed person in the entire building all night was Kyle Bukowskis, because I sent him an Instagram post that indicated that Ariana Grande was here. And he said that his where he was standing, his reception was so bad for either Wi-Fi or cellular that he didn't get notification until late and couldn't work on finding where she was in the building.

So the Oilers lost the game, but Pukaskis had a worse night. I believe it was when Doug McClain ran the Panthers that she was on the Zamboni, right? Yes, I believe that's true. You know, it was not the loudest night, I'll say, in Florida. They were obviously very excited when they scored early, but because I think Edmonton was the better team for such long stretches of the game and Bobrovsky was so spectacular, I just don't think the building was as energized as it could have been, simply because the life got sucked out by how dominant Edmonton was at times.

Obviously they were happy at the end of the game. They were really excited by their goaltender. It just wasn't the loudest, craziest building I've ever been in. And I think the Oilers had a lot to do with that. It's pretty loud for the empty netter. Like when Lister Manion scored that one seemed pretty loud, Elliot.

Yeah. And you know, the other thing, too, about this one, like obviously the big star was Bobrovsky. He was the best player on the ice. He won the game. But I actually thought there was less, even though there were some big scrums, especially at the end of the second period,

there was a lot less of that than I thought there was going to be. You know, people pointed out that Florida really out hit the Oilers, but, you know, just because they didn't have the puck all night. They were, you know, they were outshot almost double, 33-18. Edmonton controlled the flow of the game. To me, it just wasn't one of those nights where the home crowd could really drive the bus because Edmonton had so much control of the game. But Bobrovsky was great. I'm surprised the crowd didn't get more into it.

Like when he, like, I'm sorry, like when, when Bobrovsky did the cartwheel attempt, like that, that cartwheel attempt on the Ryan Nugent Hopkins one timer, like, I mean, again, I wasn't there, but it seemed like that crowd popped pretty big for that moment. Yeah, they definitely popped in moments. And a lot of jerseys. I tweeted out the best one I saw.

I saw that. Two guys in rows right in front of each other, one wearing a Jager jersey and the other wearing a Jill Thornton jersey. There were a lot of Kachuks. There were a lot of Kachuks. There's a lot of Kachuk jerseys. There were a lot of Barkovs. I saw a lot of Bennetts. But the whole building

was full of jerseys. And Jeff, the thing I liked about it was there were a lot of different style Panthers jerseys. There were some of the obvious ones, the regular ones. There were some of the obvious ones, the regular ones. There were some of the blue palm tree ones. I know you, you liked them,

but the broadcasters hate those. And there were a couple of the real dark blue ones. I actually think they should wear more. I think those are really good uniforms. Those are great. Okay. So to a couple of things here. One of the hot button issues coming out of this one,

as you mentioned, Sergei Bobrovsky is going to be the number one story and he should be. He was that game. Yeah. But another story in this one was the defense pair of Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci, who on the two goals,

over Hagee goal and the Rodriguez goal, just flat out, they got beat. They got beat with bad decisions. They got beat with bad decisions. They got beat with puck watching. They got beat losing battles. They got beat chasing. Those were the two that were exhibit A and B for the Edmonton Oilers.

I know it's tough to criticize defensemen when you don't score any goals. I get it. But that was a problem on Saturday night for Florida. Kevin did a great job on the first one of breaking down how they turned that three-on-two into basically two separate two-on-ones. But the second one I thought was the really tough one simply because Nurse didn't have his stick on the ice, right? That was the mistake there. they could put the pass by them by him because

he didn't have his stick on the ice and that's the one i think most people would look at and say that was the more egregious of the two it'll be interesting to see how knoblock practices them on sunday assuming they even skate at all uh but what he shows either the next warm-up or the next morning skate or whatever he does here because he basically went back to them after he went away from them as they were successful against Dallas. And it was interesting. You know, Knobloch, one thing that Knobloch's done

in the last couple of games that he didn't always like doing earlier was change a winning lineup. He put Fogle back in um he he put Broberg uh he he had Broberg on his strong side but he had Kulak also on his strong side and Kulak had played the weak side very well in the back half of that Dallas series the other thing I just wondered about too is it's not like Broberg's been bad or anything like that. He made a beautiful pass to set up a great chance for Edmonton. I just wonder at some point if they feel that they're going to need Darnay's size against Florida, that great forecheck they have. So I would be surprised if we saw the defense deployed the same way on Monday in game

number two. I like, by the way, McDavid had a great line in the postgame. You know, maybe it was the hockey gods getting us back for that game six, you know, where we probably didn't deserve to win. I thought that was a really good line. I think, you know, Skinner, I thought, was fine.

No issues there. The way I look at it is, Jeff, this is one of those games where if you lose a series, you sit there and you say, everything we could except score on this guy. And I'll tell you, Gretzky was on the first intermission, and he was fantastic. He was really good. And he talked about how he'd go blocker side.

I was texting guys during the first period what do you do here and uh you know there were they were saying if he if you if you get him going side to side go five hole and then i had a couple guys text me in the second period and one of them just said you know what this is one of those nights there's nothing you can do there there's nothing you can do. There's nothing you can do. And one of them joked, he said, maybe you go get a guy suspended. Say, okay, here's the 18th guy on the roster. You have him go paste Bobrovsky into the boards and get him suspended, and you lose the guy for the rest of the series,

but it gives you a better chance to win. What year did you text? Did the text just come back from like 1986 i take the worst guy on the roster and i get him suspended running into mabrovsky but we could have played till four in the morning they weren't beating him tonight yeah he was uh he was outstanding like there was there was one um there was one person that i was uh texting with who's who's a coach who said to me, you know, the way that the Florida Panthers, you know, when they're on their game, the way that they forecheck,

he said, look, I don't care if you're the Edmonton Oilers or who else. It's just so hard to move. But the thing is, until the third period, I didn't think Edmonton had much trouble at all. I thought they did everything they needed to do. When they get their forecheck going, it's a tough one. But here's did everything they needed to do. When they get their forecheck going, it's a tough one. But here's the thing about that, Elliot. So you can look at that and say one of two things. Okay, you know what? Edmonton's fine.

They control that game. If it's not for Bobrovsky, they win that game. But then isn't there a part of you that says there's no way the Florida Panthers are going to play that poorly again? I absolutely believe that. I absolutely believe that. I'm with you totally. One of the big storylines of this series coming in was both teams saying, we know what it's like to be down 2-0 in a series, in a final. You can't let that happen. So this game obviously takes huge meaning for the Oilers I think it's

just amazing that it was the first time in franchise history that Florida had a two-goal lead in a Stanley Cup final game now I recognize this was only their 10th final game in franchise history but you would have figured at some point they had a two goal lead and they didn't at all. Well, um, back in 96, they got swept and we all know what happened last season and what happened early against the Vegas golden Knights. Um,

is there anything else about the game that you wanted to mention? Cause I want to mention something that happened before the game that you've probably heard before. And I can hear eyeballs rolling about. No, you i know i know what you're talking about here and i completely agree with you and i actually support your desire to see this happen and why don't you introduce it and i can tell you a little bit of the backstory okay okay i absolutely loved seeing the Stanley Cup on the rink before game one. Now, I don't want to see it before every single game. No, just the first one.

For the first one. But I do think that the Stanley Cup should be visible in the arena for every single game. First of all, NHL, great touch having it on the ice. That was phenomenal. Who's ever, who's ever decision that was give that person a corner office and a raise well done, but I want it visible. I don't know. Maybe you make like some type of podium and enclose it in glass. I don't know, but somewhere in the rink, Maybe you have it hanging somewhere. I don't know. So whenever you do like cutaways, I don't know.

I'm just throwing ideas out here. This is like a brainstorming session. Don't judge, Elliot. Just throw the ideas out. Just throw the ideas out. No, I'm judging. I know. That's your default position.

I know. You cross your arms and you just turn into Stadler and Waldorf. But just to have the visual of the Stanley Cup, like at every single moment, all those players should be able to see what they're playing for and the fans should all be able to see what they're playing for.

The days of hiding it in a box until the dying moments of the last game when it's going to be presented, for me, are long gone. You see, Jeff Jeff you know what you know what you're like you're like that person who no that's the opposite of what you're like you're like that person who is given a win but they can't just be satisfied with the win they need more of a win like you you present your child you what, my child's been good this week. And you say, I'm going to give them a candy bar.

And you go home, the kid's like, Dad, that's a great candy bar. Can I have five more? That's what you're like here right now. No, no, no. Like you don't – like one thing I understand is, first of all, I agree with you it should have been on the ice before game one. I love the touch. I thought it was a great touch. However, don't overkill it. It doesn't have to be everywhere all the time. It doesn't have to be on display all the time. It loses the luster. One of the

great shots we have in the game is when it arrives back on a night where it can be awarded. Allow that mystery. And I'll say this too. Oh, it's a real – I wonder what's in that box. Oh, look, it's Phil Pritchard. Oh, wow. I wonder what he's reeling in here. It's a real mystery, Elliot.

It's not the mystery of that. that is the magic of the shot. It is the magic of the anticipation. It's back. It's it can be awarded tonight. No. Once again, Jeff, hang on. You take a good moment and you overkill it. Let me just finish the story here.

Let me just finish the story here. They have been talking about this for years. Steve Mayer is one of the people who wanted it. Phil Pritchard, who, as you mentioned, the keeper of the cup, is one of the people who wanted to do it. But there was always, always pushback. The players and the teams didn't want it. I actually thought this was going to happen last year,

and I heard at the last moment, I don't know if it was the Golden Knights or it was the Panthers or someone else or both or another person. But it was supposed to happen last year and it got blocked at the last minute. This time they got everyone to agree with it. There was supposed to be. Now, I also heard that one of the things was discussed would be like a speech about it like this is the what you guys are playing for kind of thing but i heard someone drew the line there it was like okay you're getting your victory the cup's gonna be on the ice don't be americ and be greedy and ask for more. Just get your cup on the ice.

Now, the other thing is, and I could see it from where our perch was. I don't know if it came across on TV. Did you notice what the players did when the cup was brought on the ice? No, I didn't. What did they do? They all skied away from it? They moved away from it like it was a piece of uranium. Yes.

I could be contaminated by that. I don't want it. So that really stood out to me. I thought that was funny and it was interesting. I could see the players, they wanted no part of it. But what they did to this night was they moved the line. They moved the line. They moved the line. They got the Stanley Cup on the ice at the start of the series.

And I thought it was a great touch. And I know it's something you wanted. So congratulations on your victory. Pigs get fat. Hogs get slaughtered. Don't be a hog. It's like my buddy Lou Skizis always said to me, the market can sustain a bear, the market

can sustain a bull, but the minute you see a pig, get out. But this isn't a case of being a pig. So here's my thinking on this one, Elliot. The NHL has the greatest trophy in all of sports. Nothing compares to the NHL Stanley Cup. There is

nothing that compares to that trophy. It is gorgeous. It is instantly recognizable. And to think that you would want to hide that, to think that you would want to tuck that away for however many games and not have it on display as a reminder.

You know what that is, Elliot? Loser thinking? That's loser thinking. That's what you're doing right there. That's loser thinking there. Loser thinking. That's loser thinking. That's what you're doing right there. That's loser thinking there. Loser thinking. We've got to hit single here. Oh, we can't play

it though. No, we've got to tuck it away. No, bring it out for every single game in this Stanley Cup final. Be grateful. To do otherwise take the W. I don't know where I'm getting this from loser thinking take the w let's move on

let's move on a wonderful first night in the Stanley Cup final congratulations the Florida Panthers draw first blood we'll get back together for game two on Monday in the meantime news now this section is going to be divided into two parts.

We recorded a lot of this earlier on Saturday afternoon, so the audio will sound cleaner. In the meantime, we'll start the news by talking about Gary Bettman, commissioner of the NHL, who had a press conference along with Marty Walsh before game one on Saturday. And amongst the things that were discussed, the four nations face off, Boston and Montreal, February 12th to 20th. So they got it done with Montreal, Elliot. Yes. I didn't think this was an incredibly newsy media conference.

There are only a couple of things that really stood out to me on any real level. One is that they officially released the schedule, the final, as you you mentioned that we start off in Montreal we finish in Boston the championship will be in Boston the first players the first six players on the four teams will be announced during the draft on on June 28th so we so we know that you know the other thing that I thought was newsworthy was the cap. And we talked about this on Friday's pod.

I didn't think it was going to be announced this quickly. I had heard they had hoped to announce it earlier than last year, but I didn't think it was going to come this quickly. But you'll remember December at the Board of Governors, they said cap 87.7. And then on Friday, we mentioned it might be rounded up. It was rounded up. So an extra $300,000 per team, $88 million next year. And that means that next year's cab by CBA is going to come in around between 92 and 92.5, unless they adjust it even more.

Okay, so those were a couple of things from this newser. A couple of more that I want to point out as well. Something from Marty Walsh's point of view, the executive director of the Players Association, was asked if he's ever asked Gary Bettman about another team in Toronto. And he said, no, he hasn't. I've always maintained I would love to hear the conversation

when the point is raised about how much money the Toronto Maple Leafs have spent in revenue sharing. And now there's going to be a new team to muscle in on their turf. But nonetheless, the other thing that Marty Walsh said that I thought was pretty interesting was that the PA really needs to take some time here and start to focus on the next CBA. And I know when you say CBA, that is a glaze over and tune out for a lot of people. But I mean, Elliot,

this is the first time we've heard one of the sides say, we need to start spending some time and thinking about the next CBA, which expires at the end of not next season, but the season after. Well, the league actually, when Bill Daly joined Batman, they talked a little bit about the LTIR. And it's obvious to me that that is going to be a conversation too. I'll tell you something else I have heard that a couple agents have told me about, about the next CBA.

And that is that there are some agents who believe, and maybe even the PA believes it, we'll find out more about it, that the draft should be shortened to four rounds. And the reason they feel that way, Jeff, is because they want you to interview fewer players. No, I'm kidding. That's not the reason. The players have complained.

The reason is that there's so few players from like rounds five, six, and seven. If you look at the players who don't get contracts, very few of them are high picks, right? Most of them are high picks right most of them are later picks yeah right and it's the position of some of the people across the players association and by that i'm including agents and players and all that that why would they want players to be tied into teams for two to four years and then not get a contract. They almost think it's like holding up a player from really beginning their NHL career or putting themselves in the best situation. Like what someone said to me is, would it be better for there to be four rounds and then everybody who's done with the draft

become a free agent. And that way you can pick your organization and sign with them. You know, there is a school of thought, and many people have put it forward that there shouldn't be a draft in the first place. You have a salary cap, so you have a way to construct a team.

Well, that's a CBA thing. I don't expect that. No, I know. No, I know. No, hang on. What I'm saying is there are some that say there shouldn't even construct a team. That's a CBA thing. I don't expect that. No, I know. Hang on. What I'm saying is, there are some that say there shouldn't even be a draft. Players that are turning pro should just be free agents. You have X amount of money to dedicate

to various players. Everyone has the same playing field. Why not just treat everybody like a free agent? I don't think that'll ever happen, but I know people are there. I don't think it will, but it inches closer to that. Like hearing you talk about this, all of a sudden now, you're getting rid of three rounds of players that won't be drafted,

whose rights won't be secured or held by teams. They become free agents and are able to sign. I understand this position is not about that. It's not about abolishing the draft. It is about, you know, why tie up a player's rights for two to four years if odds are they're not going to get signed anyway. Right. We'll see.

We'll see if it goes anywhere. It's interesting. You mentioned LTIR a couple of seconds ago, and pretty obvious that one is not going to get dealt with until the CBA talks. Yeah, it sure doesn't sound like it Sure. It doesn't sound for anyone, anyone who wants a grouse about Kucherov, cane stone, all of it,

just nothing's going to happen. Nothing's going to happen for a couple of seasons. Yeah. It sounds like this is going to be a bargaining issue. You can do, if you don't like it, you can do two things, nothing and like it.

That's it. Anything else from the, from the, the from the presser that stands out for you? Yes, there was one other thing I wanted to mention from the media conference. So Commissioner Bettman was asked about Joel Quenville and Stan Bowman, and he said at this point in time they were not eligible to return, although he did say he's going to have to make a decision soon. There's been some reporting that there's been communication between the league office and Kyle Beach

about how he may feel about their return. And, you know, this is not something obviously anybody should be guessing on. I would really, really be wary of reporting anything that Beach would have to say without talking to him first. So I want to be very careful about that. But I did try to find out if there had been communication between Beach and the league.

And the league didn't want to talk about it. But someone did confirm to me there has been a conversation, at least one, between Beach and the NHL, although they stressed to me that nobody was going to violate what was said. So at the very least, the league has had a conversation with him to see how he feels about the entire situation. Although, like I said,

nobody would indicate any way and shape or form of what was detailed in that conversation. Absolutely. Okay. So that was the, the, the presser on Saturday, Gary Bettman, Bill Daly, and Marty Walsh from the Players Association. Okay, one other bit of news before we get to the other part of the news section, Elliot, we recorded on Saturday afternoon, and that is Jonathan Marcheseau with the Vegas Golden Knights.

the Knights. Now, the last time we spoke about him was after he gave comments saying how he was surprised, disappointed. I'm paraphrasing here. I hope I'm portraying this accurately. A little bit surprised, a little bit miffed that there hadn't been any conversations about an extension. He seemed quite eager to talk with Vegas. Has there been any progress there? I don't know if I want to use the word progress. I just don't know enough to know. But it's clear from some people I heard from at the Combine that those conversations at least have started. So as I said at the time,

I can understand how a player gets frustrated and flustered, but teams will say, look, we still have time. And I'm under the impression, based on some things I heard that at least the conversations have begun and we'll see where they go. Okay. Now the remainder of the news segment, along with the Montana's thought line and our closing block as well, was recorded earlier on Saturday. So the audio is a little cleaner. We talked about a number of different things coming up in this segment here, including Elliot setting the scene in Florida at his hotel.

I understand you are doing this in only a towel. Is that true in your hotel room? That is correct. I just got out of the shower. I shaved and I feel refreshed. Actually, in all seriousness, there is something I do want to shout out that's going on at our hotel. While you're in a towel. While I'm in a towel. But there's actually something here. It's pretty inspiring.

It's called Empowerfest 2024. It's going on at our hotel at the same time as we're here. And the sponsor of it is the hanger clinic. It's H A N G E R. And many of the people staying in the hotel with us this week are, are using prosthetics. I just got out of the gym a while ago and it is packed with people who are being trained by specialists and teaching them how to work out whether you're

wearing the prosthetic or not while you work out, but they're just all over the gym learning how to, you know, use their bodies, stay in shape. I mean, some of them are in absolutely incredible shape, much better than I am. I met one couple that works for the company. He's from Brazil. She's from Florida. And they're big Canadiens fans. I said to her, you're from Florida. How come you like the Canadiens?

And she pointed to him and goes, it's his fault. But they're big Canadiens fans. But I just wanted to mention that this event in the hotel, I mean, being in the gym i i'm sitting there and i'm you know bench pressing like 35 pounds on each side and like i'm just like oh my god this is tough and i'm watching what's going on here and it's like suck it up and do your reps don't complain yeah it is very inspiring to see the people here and not only some of the people who are clearly patients, but also some of the people that are help, that are there to help them learn how to train, help them learn how to do tasks that a lot of us take for granted. I just have to say that there's a lot of people here that just, you know, seeing them work out in the gym, it was, it was very inspiring for me. It is. It's instructive and educational and inspiring for all of us as well.

The will to continue to move, Elliot, I think you're probably the same way. It's something that always inspires me. I can recall years ago, Elliot, when I was hosting a radio show at 640, AM 640 in Toronto, got to spend an hour on the air in studio with Rick Hansen, who is a track and field athlete, Paralympic Games, a real inspiring individual. His story was a car crash and he sustained a spinal cord injury

when he was 15 years old, became a paraplegic. And the one thing that you know about Rick Hansen is A, he was 15 years old, became a paraplegic. And the one thing that you know about Rick Hansen is A, he's an inspiring person, always positive, always upbeat, always likes to lead by example. And I remember asking him towards the end of our interview, I said something along the lines of, you know, you're such a positive person considering everything you've went through in your life and all the challenges that you've had. I said, is there anything that makes you upset or gives you cause for pause or reason to just not be this happy, upbeat Rick Hansen that we all know? And he said, and I'm paraphrasing here, something along the lines of one thing that does,

maybe upset is too strong a word, but one thing that does, maybe upset is too strong a word, but one thing that does sort of give me pause sometimes is when I see people like you taking the escalator or the elevator, because I would love nothing more than to get out of this chair and walk up those stairs. And Elliot, I don't know if you've ever noticed, but you will never see me take an

escalator. And it's because of that conversation with Rick Hansen. I was like shamed into it that I have these legs that I'm able to move. I will never take an escalator again. If there's a stair, thank you Jeff for making me just feel 53 years of shame. I incur it. Listen, I was, I was 30s, early 40s when I had this conversation. And it was at that moment where I said, you know what? We take so much for granted. So to your point about your situation today in the gym and the Great Hanger Clinic and all the work that they do, let that be inspiration.

When you're in a situation like that, let that be an inspiration and a reminder to you. If you have the ability to move please do so okay news hard transition here we go defenseman left shot Brendan Dillon Winnipeg Jets what do you hear what do you know I just heard he's going to free agency I think there were some conversations between him and the Jets and you never rule anything out, Jeff. But I don't think there's going to be any re-signing with Winnipeg before the window opens. So I expect Dylan to hit the market. And like I've said, it appears to be a very good market for defensemen. There are some defensemen who are really going to hit it big here. And the other thing too, Jeff, I'm also hearing is that it's also going to be a very good market for depth forwards

who can play multiple places in your lineup and play that kind of heavy hockey playoff game. Dakota Joshua, I think think is the poster child for that but also the likes of Jordan Martinook, Stefan Nason, William Carrier those kinds of players I've heard there's there's a big demand for that type of guy so the defenseman and the heavy portable forward who can go up and down your lineup sounds like a lot of them are going to do pretty well you know what's really interesting elliot you know we're in an era right now in hockey where everybody can skate like the one thing like doesn't matter what level you go to like you know junior hockey division one youth hockey minor

hockey whatever one of the things like at the top level of, of all these various levels of hockey, one of the things that you notice is the bad skaters are all gone. You know, like once upon a time, like there were a couple of guys that could really skate on the team. Then there are a couple of good skaters and a few bad ones as well, but they can still mix in with the team. By and large, all the bad skaters are gone. Like you look in the NHL, everybody can skate.

Everybody can shoot. Everyone can play make. People can defend, like all of it. It really does feel, and, you know, mentioning like the Nasons and Joshua's and Martinook's, that the pendulum has kind of swung back in a certain way. Now that there's a leveling of the playing field to some extent by way of ability,

it's almost like teams are saying to everybody out there, okay, now everyone can skate, now everyone can shoot, now everyone can play, what else can you give us? And it seems as if that intangible that everybody is looking for, and again, I just got back from the combine yesterday and what is everyone looking for outside of, you know, skill? They're looking for snarl and they're looking for some toughness and they're looking for players that can play that, as you put it, heavy game in the playoffs. It does feel very much as if that's now become this one much desired intangible in the NHL right now, now that everybody can play and everyone, the playing field is leveled out a little bit more the one thing that everybody wants as well the one thing everybody is well a lot of teams anyhow are looking for is net minding and so much of the conversation there has for the past six months i suppose maybe longer revolved around jacob markstrom and the calgary

flames is there a latest on jacob markstrom and Calgary Flames? I think the thing is here is that it was so crazy during the season. Calgary is trying to do this as quietly as possible. And that's not going to be easy. I mean, good luck with that at this time of the year. Put this on the podcast. Put anything on the podcast saying they're trying to do this quietly. Put anything on the podcast saying they're trying to do this quietly. But they just know what a roller coaster it was for everybody involved, including the player and themselves. And I think they're really, really trying to avoid it. But there's definitely something going on.

I mean, New Jersey, Fitzgerald's on record as saying he will consider moving his 10th overall pick. And I know a lot of people are looking at goal. A couple of other teams I wonder about there, too. You know, anybody looking for a goalie, but a couple of teams I wonder about. Toronto, and I know deals with Toronto and Calgary are kind of complicated. But the GM in Toronto is the guy who signed Markstrom in Calgary are kind of complicated, but the GM in Toronto was the guy who signed Markstrom in Calgary. And just on paper, a Markstrom-Wall combination is a pretty good combination. So I look at that and I say I could see why a team like Toronto

would be interested in that potentially. And the other team that I think is in on almost every goalie conversation is Ottawa. Now, I don't know how Markstrom feels about that, but I was told like every conversation that involves a goalie, you have to have Ottawa around it. Now, the thing about Markstrom is trading for him, he's basically a two-time-six player you're trading for. And if your choice is trading for him. He's basically a two times six player you're trading

for. And if your choice is trading for a goalie, especially him with that contract or going out or signing someone in free agency, that might be a bigger number. You're very happy to take that. So I can understand why there'd be a lot of interest in Markstrom. But obviously a lot of people are suspecting New Jersey and there's a few teams that suspect Toronto and Ottawa as well would be around that. Plus, you know, I mean, Toronto kicks tires on everybody, so it makes sense. But, you know, some teams wonder

if it ends up being a bit more than that. Okay, Elliot, one final wrap here on netminders. You mentioned Markstrom. The other hot topic is UC Sar saros of the nashville predators i don't know if this is going to become a daily podcast update but what's the latest here you will not be surprised uh to hear that uh some people were not happy with me last week i i said and i really tried to defend myself and say, I really didn't try to do anything here. There are times where, believe it or not, Jeff, there are times when people have reason to be angry at me. This, I do not think was one of those times.

Yes. Never me. But it happened. So someone called me and they were really annoyed at me like they were really annoyed at me and they said there's one thing you got right and i go oh yeah what's that and he said the player wants to stay and the team wants them to stay and everybody involved is choosing to look at it optimistically for that reason this person who i think would know he seemed to really be optimistic that sorrows and the predators will work out they will find a number that will make everybody here happy regardless of whether or not Shisterkin signs beforehand or not.

And then he sighed and hung up the phone. The sighing part is the nice touch. It's like my grandfather when he used to get mad at me. Just so you're, I'm so disappointed in you. I know. Oh, it's so, it made me feel so low. By the way, I would have lost this month's mortgage payment. I thought for sure you were going to begin the news section

by bringing up what Macklin Celebrini said on Saturday. You see that high road over there, Elliot? That's the one that I'm taking on this podcast. You never take the high road. You see that one over there? See that high'm uh i'm going right up on that one um that got a lot of feedback um i got a whole lot of you're an yeah you sent them to me i got i got i got a couple of i'm on your side um that was really one that sort of divided the room but listen, when we talked to Celebrini, he talked about this, about not being 100% yet on what his decision is going to be. Does he go back to BU or does he turn pro?

And he mentioned as much at the Combine. So we'll see. Nothing is got a, I got a note from one person and actually I got, I got a DM from someone making the exact same point, which was, uh, I wonder how much of this is a reflection of looking at the New York Rangers with Alexi Lafreniere and Capo Caco and saying, what's the rush? Like one of the people that I talked to who heard our, who heard our conversation, if we could call it a conversation, it's the two guys just dug in their heels and launched grenades at each other. Who said, you know, Elliot, you brought up his father who's been around elite level athletes for pretty much his entire adult life and understands all the pressures and the expectations on athletes. And so Macklin's been surrounded by it.

He's grown up in that environment. And this one person said to me, I've been thinking about this point ever since. And he said, you know, is there a chance that maybe the family decision here predicated on, you know, his father being about all these elite level athletes,

maybe the conversation is look, there's no rush. We've seen a lot of players ruin careers by getting in there too fast. I don't know that we've seen as many or any players ruin themselves by taking their time. will say which is always yeah i'm ready yeah i'm ready yeah i'm ready yeah i'm ready i mean when i hear celebrini talk like this and again he may go to the san jose sharks next year he may turn pro right but even just the fact that he's having the conversation leads me to believe that this is like first of all a very highly intelligent young man that he's not just doing the the quote-unquote hockey thing and saying like yeah i can do it yeah i can do it yeah i can do it get me in there get me in there he's taking a really smart measured educated

approach to this one and not rushing into any decision and i honestly elliot i can't help but thinking part of that must be in discussions with his father who's been around these athletes for again as i mentioned for years yeah i i don't disagree with any of that i i watch celebrating scrum he seems like a really you know bright guy he's really intelligent he's a smart look if if he wants to go back to school i i totally understand that um you know one of the players i think about the most is Tim Duncan. Tim Duncan, who's one of the best players ever to play basketball, he stayed in college for four years. And after every year, even his first year, people were like, you should come out and be a pro. And he was like, no, I don't want to.

And he stayed for all four years, and he really loved it. Certainly didn't hurt his career. He won five NBA championships, and he's in the hall of fame and maybe the greatest power forward ever the good team man that's a fun you know and later on he actually told a story i believe his mother passed away and he had made a promise to her that he would stay in college so uh yeah obviously that's a great great great reason to do it. You know, it was kind of funny when I read the quote today and you sent it to me. Someone sent me the same quote.

Oh, did I send you that? Yes, yes, you did. And someone sent me a quote a few minutes later saying, I look forward to your next pod when you call Macklin Celebrity a loser. And I said, oh, you'll keep waiting. You know, the one thing I stand at 100% is that if I ran a team and the number one player said, like, I don't want to come because I don't think you guys are ready for me,

even if you're not worried that he's not going to sign with you, I don't know, it would just bother me. I would want to have a team that everybody would want to come play for so you know maybe i'm wrong celebrating is making me look pretty bad right now but uh but that's the way i feel i would just hate to be someone running or owning a team where a good young players might say you know what they're not they're not ready for me so that's where i come from on that okay let me come down off the high road now no no no no no i was shocked you didn't bring it up i i have to say i've worked with a lot of people that would

not have the that would that would not only not be able to do not do it but would have done it the first second the microphone turned on my my uh my moment for that was sending you those quotes that was it i did i didn't need to do it publicly because i knew elliot and this makes me an even worse person i knew that it would be a dagger if i did it privately and that's why i did it that way so don't think that's pretty good don't think that i'm really taking the high road because that to me was that five seconds of satisfaction. That was a skillful lunge and stab, Mr. Send that one to- Death of a thousand cuts.

So Merrick, one guy said to me, he sent me the quote and he said, I hope Celebrity listened to the podcast and he hates you forever. Oh, geez. I hope Celebrini listened to the podcast and he hates you forever. Oh, geez. If he does listen to the podcast or any of his family members listen to the podcast,

Elliot was just using Macklin Celebrini to yell at me. It could have been for anything else that Elliot had problems with. Celebrini. Don't let me off the hook, Jeff. That issue just happened to be there. That's very kind of you. Don't let me off the hook. Sometimes you just got to take your L. We'll see.

We'll see. All right. We'll see where it goes. So let me share something with you as well. We had, so Michelle Mathot, as I mentioned last podcast, Michelle Mathot was leading the conversation, thankfully. And then it was also Sam Cosentino and Jason Bukla and myself doing interviews with a lot of the prospects over the Thursday and Friday in Buffalo.

And there was one – there's a few players, and I mentioned some of them on the last podcast that stood out. There was one kid, though, that hit it out of the ballpark. And he's like – you know, you say you look at some kids and you say, yeah, you know what? Maybe when the career is done, maybe television or media could could be on the horizon this kid could do it now who's that so he's a finnish kid aaron kivaharju so he's a defenseman little on the smaller side 59170. we're all crossing our fingers i know i am so i'm doing the interviews this year the draft i'm crossing my fingers that he goes in the first round because he's a tremendous interview but that's not what I want to mention to you well first of all tremendous interview you're gonna let whichever team gets this kid you're

getting a wonderful kid super outgoing and energetic and funny and like mature beyond beyond his years but his father's an interesting story his father he was comfortable in english he was come oh his english was fantastic because because i don't think we give enough credit for kids who even though a lot of fins speak english you know kids who come from different cultures or different parts of the world and get thrust into this that's not easy no not at all his well it's interesting too because he talked about you know all the languages that his his mom um speaks and he said that you know a lot of that just sort of rubbed off on him naturally that was the first thing that was jarring is like he spoke better

english than me books and cause like right away we're like oh geez we're embarrassed anyway but it's an interesting situation here so his father yanni, who played himself as well, is a scout for Utah. And so I asked them, I said, have you ever read your father's scouting report on you? How do you handle that? And his answer was interesting. He said, they don't let him scout me. So I don't get- I don't get, I don't get into, and apparently they don't let his father into any of the conversations about him. Interesting. Then I'd never heard of that before.

Like I knew his dad was a scout with Utah, formerly Arizona. And so I was going to ask him, but I wasn't expecting that answer. Like, honestly, Elliot, I was totally shocked. I had never thought about that for one second. Scouting your kid and whether they sort of shut you out from it all together and have conversations away from you about your son anyway I thought you would find that interesting I do I do think that's interesting because to be honest now that you think about it my initial reaction is that's good in a big group but I would probably pull if I was, but I would probably pull, if I was the manager, I would probably pull the father aside one-on-one and say, okay, tell me what you think here. Is he a good fit for us or why not?

Right. That's what I would do. But I understand why maybe you don't do it in a big group. Interesting, interesting time in Buffalo. Okay. With that, we'll wrap. We'll come back. Montana's Thought Line, still to come.

Listen to the 32 Thoughts Podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Welcome back to the podcast. Time now for montana's thought line montana's barbecue and bar canada's home for barbecue 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca thank you rick turner again 1-833-311-3232 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca. Thank you, Rick Turner again. 1-833-311-3232. 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca. 1-833-311-3232. Griffin Porter put them together as well.

The curator, the Montana's Thought Line. This from Richie. Okay, so a little bit of a long one, so settle in. Hello, Jeff Elliott and Dom Diehard Caps fan living here in lovely Tampa. I used to work for the Caps. As a matter of fact, when I worked for the Caps selling season tickets and partial ticket plans in the late 80s, my coworker in the desk next to me was none other than Doug Armstrong.

He was a particularly dedicated worker, but I never expected him to become a cup winning general manager. We even shared a fantasy football team for a stretch. Wow. Okay, so right away, Richie. Wait a second. I'm trying to decide if this is a compliment or not. Why?

Doug Armstrong, he worked hard, but I didn't think he was smart enough to win a Stanley Cup. I think it's a compliment. Good on him. Good on him. on him he's achieved he's done wonderful things congratulations doug armstrong your name is on the stanley cup no one will ever take that pretty impressive man my question uh from selling tickets for the caps to having your name on the stanley cup my question for you guys is in regards to synthetic ice

hey you're in florida ice issues has the NHL ever kicked the tires on going from real ice to synthetic ice? I'm sure the synthetic ice is inferior to real ice now, but surely the technology is going to improve at some point where the fake stuff is as good as the real stuff. for the teams that's true and would eliminate the problem of poor ice conditions especially in this most crucial part of the season in may and june which is exacerbated when the teams from balmy florida always seem to be in the cup final these days good point anyway enjoy listening to 32 thoughts when i go on my hour-long outdoor walk which i can do 365 days a year here in tampa rub it in richie rub it in rich. We're not there yet with synthetic ice replacing real ice, but I have always wondered that, as like many of us, we wonder what this game is going to look like in however many years, and I wonder if that's ever part of it, Elliot.

So a couple things. First of all, I understand the Panthers put in a big new HVAC system a couple years ago. One of the storylines around the Stanley Cup final is how the Panthers have finally straightened themselves out as an organization. When I finally get around to finishing writing my written version of this, I talk about how one manager used to call them

a sleeping giant and I hope they never wake up. And one of the things that somebody told me was that in addition to everything else they've done hockey-wise, they've done a lot of things with the building. And one of them was an improved HVAC system that has really helped them the deeper they go into the playoffs. So that's one thing about the ice here. I think we've talked about synthetic ice before.

We have. But when Darcy Regeer was the GM of the Buffalo Sabres, we had a conversation about it once. Because one of the things that the Sabres fans would talk about was there was a time the Sabres, just about 20 years ago, they kept on going deep in the playoffs and it was so humid in Buffalo that you would go to the game in shorts but it was you had to make the building basically freeze and their fans complained about it you know it's

June we're in shorts and we got to bring a sweatshirt to the game. So he said the Sabres actually did a lot of research into synthetic ice, and he agreed that someday it would happen. Now, I haven't heard anything like that recently. However, I do think it's one of those things the league has looked at from time to time. And as you know jeff if you can get a product that is just as good and it saves dollars then the day will come when we do see it not only saves dollars but for once and for all settles one of the big fights that every team has and that is the fight over the thermometer that you already talked about this is normally

a fight that's between i don't know know, the team president and the GM, where the GM wants the building cold so the ice is good for the players, etc. And the president says, hold on a second here. We charge a lot of money for these tickets. We would like our customers to be comfortable. Thank you very much. Now, my issue with this one, and Elliot, I know you're going to be surprised on this one. My issue with this one, and Elliot, I know you're going to be surprised on this one.

As much as I like to consider myself someone that doesn't let cement harden around ideas, I don't know if I like it. Really? Here's why. I have to say I'm shocked. I know. And trust me, I've thought about the synthetic ice issue a lot. And a lot of it makes sense too. It's cheaper.

It's better for the environment, et cetera, all of of it I just wonder at what point is it not hockey like I always ask myself like what are the nat what are the absolutes that you have to have in this game to make it hockey and you know what it is to me I keep going back and forth on does it have to be played on ice is to me i keep going back and forth on does it have to be played on ice and a big part of me elliot has always been yeah it does i always catch myself and i say am i just thinking that way because i've always thought that way and maybe i'm just emotionally attached to seeing frozen water but that would be honestly like my head says i understand it but but my heart says, no, I want ice. That's part of the charm for me. I don't think you're necessarily wrong on that. For me, it's shootouts in the playoffs.

That's my red line. I know you don't want that one. I know. Other than that. See, I don't mind that. You know what? That's not the worst one you've ever come up with. Yeah, I've come up with way worse.

You know, like players going back to college when their first overall picks, apparently. Oh, anyway, but I've totally forgotten about that. I just wanted to let you know the Macklin-Celebini argument, I've totally forgotten about it, Elliot. I'm not hanging on to it irrationally. Let's finish up with a voicemail. Let's finish up with a voicemail.

Kyle in Quad Cities. Hey, guys. Kyle here from the Quad Cities. Just leaving Elliot's favorite place on on earth better known as the gym but it just kind of struck me as i've been thinking about the playoffs this year you know over the last decade six out of the last 10 years a team from florida has been in the Stanley Cup final. And I just think, you know, what kind of impact that is going to have on the future of our game in the next 10, 12, 15 years as the kids down in Florida have watched this tremendous hockey.

down in Florida have watched this tremendous hockey. And I was just wondering if you guys could kind of talk about what you think that impact is going to do, as well as what the Panthers and Lightning themselves have done to capitalize on this to kind of diversify our game, especially with this Hispanic and Latino community down in Florida. That's a great question. I'm for anything that widens the interest in hockey. Sometimes we're our own worst enemies.

There's no question about that. And if more and more people from different backgrounds are learning to like hockey, I think it's a great thing. There's no question in my mind that um you know we were i was just in dallas uh for the uh western conference final and they've done an incredible job there like they just got another one of the big international tournaments they have an incredible infrastructure uh california's got a. You know, that's the number one reason why anyone was upset to see the Coyotes leave Arizona. You know, you've got Austin Matthews, Matthew Nyes now. You've got good players coming out of there. We've got more good

players, elite players coming out of the United States than we ever have, especially, you know, another one is Carolina, where a lot of the former players are having kids turn out now and play for really good teams. The Junior Canes program is excellent. Just like the Junior Preds in Nashville is excellent. Junior Ducks, these programs are first rate. And they have the resources, and they have the population, and they have money, et cetera.

Good luck, rest of the world. Elite players are coming out of an elite i'm all for this if more and more people are being exposed to the game of different backgrounds i think hockey is a great game i think it's full of great people and i would like to see more and more people get exposed to it look the, the NBA is signing huge rights deals now. They're about to expand, I think, to Vegas and Seattle for big, big money. And people are always going to compare. People are going to look at the size of those deals and say,

wait a sec, why don't we get that? I don't know what's going to happen by the time this podcast drops on Sunday, but there's reports that the Lakers are about to offer Danny Hurley eight years, $100 million to be a head coach. That's Connor McDavid's contract. And so anything that widens the scope and gets more people interested in watching, playing hockey, i am all for it that is definitely not jeff loser thinking no that is not um one thing too is uh i don't there's already been a pop in florida

i think this is just going to continue it and maybe speed it up. Like when you look at some of those Panthers teams and Florida Panthers players that hung around for a while after their careers, whether it's someone like Oli Okunin or whether it's someone like Peter Worrell, I think that's where we started to see the Florida youth hockey base really grow and get to another level. Like, look, like look at Jacob Chikrin, for example. Now I know at a certain time he had to, you know, fly to Michigan every weekend to, to, to play. I get that, but still, um, you're starting to see more and more elite level teams. So I think that this will give it another bump. I hope that with the interest increasing in Florida, they have enough,

uh, rinks to accommodate all of it, not just for boys, but for girls as well. And the other thing here, here's a point that I've wondered about. In the Stanley Cup final, we have the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers. The fact that the Oilers are in is great for Edmonton, is great for Canada,

a shot at erasing the 1993 jokes that Americans love to sling at Canada. But, I mean, of these two markets, Elliot, Florida Panthers market, Edmonton Oilers market, the fact that they're in the Stanley Cup final, who's making more new fans? It's not Edmonton it's florida that's the market that's making the new fans just something to consider and that's the montana's thought line montana's thought line montana's barbecue and bar canada's home for barbecue. We're back in a moment. Jeff, Elliot, and Tom

of 32 Thoughts try their ribs today. Oh yeah! Welcome back to the 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra Elevation. Elliot finished off by talking about the PWHL and the situation in Minnesota. The Walter Cup champions are now without a general manager. The PWHL making it official that Natalie Darwitz is no longer part of that team or the league. Now, some really, really good reporting by Haley Salvian, Mike Russo, Joe Smith as well in The Athletic detailing what has happened here. detailing what has happened here.

And the strokes seem to be like this. It sounds very much like a power struggle with head coach Ken Klee and a lot of the veteran players, most notably the Olympians on that team, led by Kendall Coyne-Scofield and Natalie Darwitz. And this was a battle that was won by the players and the coach. On an interim capacity now, and for purposes of the draft on Monday, Ken Klee will act as the general manager. This has been a wild one, Elliot. This is the initial champions of the PWHL, Walter Cup champions,

PWHL Minnesota here. This is Natalie Darwitz, who is a legend in Minnesota hockey. We saw a couple of anonymous quotes from players in the athletic talking about how much Darwitz meant to them. I'm not sure that we have the full bucket of water to the village on this one yet.

There's still a lot of questions, I think, that everybody has here. But nonetheless, this is an interesting way to end the season for the PWHL. Yeah, it's really quite something. You try to think about comparables. First of all, let me just say, I don't know anything about this situation. I really enjoyed dealing with Ken Clee as a player. He was a very easy player to deal with. And my limited dealings with Kendall Coyne Schofield and also just reading and hearing what she's about,

I think she's the kind of teammate I would love to have. Like just incredibly driven and as demanding of herself as she is about anyone else. I really admire that. I don't know Natalie Darwitz at all, so I'm not really in a position to say anything about that. But it's like the closest thing I was thinking about in hockey is probably Mike Keenan.

You know, they win the Stanley Cup, but that was a situation where Mike Keenan. You know, they win the Stanley Cup, but that was a situation where... 94, Rangers, yeah. But that was a situation where Mike Keenan sort of tried to work himself into a better deal and ended up... The betman had to sort out all the issues. But it's very weird to see this

right after a team wins a championship. Very strange story. And you're right, Jeff. I, my experience is that there's stuff that comes out right away. And then there's the stuff that comes out later. So you kind of have to wait until some people who probably aren't that comfortable talking now get to a point where they're more comfortable talking and the other unique thing about this is that all the teams are owned by the league right so correct

yeah the league it's not just the team that has the decision making power here the league has the decision making power and that adds another layer to it that i'm glad you brought that up because that complicates it further. Like eventually the business plan is for, you know, the league to sell all these teams individually. But right now, to your point, the league owns all these teams and the league makes these decisions. So that adds another sort of complicating layer to to all of this and and you're right like i i come shy of making any grand pronouncements or or or having final judgment on what i think is happening here because yeah listen we haven't heard from natalie darwitz yet like we haven't heard from ken clee we haven't heard like there's a lot of people that we haven't heard from in this situation yet

this is um a story that's still very much in motion. It's one that I think we'll all stay on. It is unique. It is not ideal for Minnesota or for the PWHL for that matter, but nonetheless, it's a more intriguing development in the world of hockey right now. And the pwhl draft goes on monday ken clee will sit as the general manager for pwhl minnesota on that we'll wrap um thanks for listening uh again after every stanley cup final game you will get one of these whether you like it or not enjoy the next couple of days we'll talk to you on Tuesday.