32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Olympic-Sized Headache

Episode Date: December 13, 2021

Jeff and Elliotte are back from the NHL Board of Governors meeting in Florida. The guys discuss some of the main takeaways including the Olympics (2:00), the presentation by Kim Davis (14:00), the most recent situation with the Coyotes (16:30), salary cap update (19:45), franchise values and private equity sales (21:45).They also go around the league touching on the GM search in Vancouver (24:00), the future of the Boston Bruins (29:30), Ben Bishop and the Dallas Stars (35:40), how the Oilers are looking to improve their roster (38:00) and they take some of your questions (40:30).Full transcript for the episode can be found here by Medha MonjauryOutro Music: Lionel Boy - TidesListen to his self-titled debut record hereThis podcast is produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.Audio Credits: Boston Bruins.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.

All right, let's go. Elliot, huge fan here from Edmonton, Alberta, but I'm a Calgary Flames fan, of course. I just have to tell you, man, your hair looked so bad today in Florida. You looked like a seventh grader from the early 2000s that just discovered Garnier. It was brutal.

You're a hottie. Do better. It was brutal. You're a hottie. Do better. That's all. How do you know that's not the look I was going for? What a way to open up the podcast. Thanks, Steph. That was quite the call. Yeah, was that your wife disguising herself

as someone from Alberta? She's mad about my line about the commissioner being more faithful to Arizona than she is to me. Yeah, that got some play. Oh, she heard it. She told me never to say that again. So that one's off the repertoire. You're going to have to come up with a new line about Arizona and the NHL commissioner.

Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the all-new GMC AT4 lineup. First of all, thank you for the message. I really do appreciate it. Thank you for confirming what I already know and the world already knows that i am a hottie but you know i do like messy hair let me ask you a question then if you didn't have the obligation of television what would you look like a disaster i know but how like how much like how disastrous would it be i'd have the beard back i know the beard would be back for you and i'd have a shaved head oh you'd have that look see i thought you were gonna go with the super long hair i thought you're gonna go for that guy

i think jeff bridge's iron man one see i would have thought you would have gone like captain caveman no i'd like to shave my head but certain people are against that yeah you know i always threaten, our stylist, that one day I'm going to take it down to the bone and she freaks out and like that'll never happen. But I am that guy too. I would take it down to the bone. Okay. Busy weekend, lots of news and a lot of it coming off the, uh, the board of governors in Florida. We got to do Olympics first. We got to do it.

Yeah. Let's begin with the Olympics. Cause that is the, uh, the big one. We talked a lot about it on Saturday night as well. And now we understand what the protocols are. And I think the whopper for players when they first found this news out was the quarantine, anywhere between three to five weeks. And ultimately, it's the Chinese health authorities that have final say. And you're not getting out of there until they clear you.

Correct. You know, one manager that I spoke to on Saturday morning, just in preparation for the show Saturday night, said this has gone from being player driven to player doubted. Do you agree with that? Yes. I'm told that at the Board of Governors, the commissioner told the teams, regardless of what you think, you should be prepared to go to the Olympics or that your players are going to the Olympics. He said there's only two ways we're not going. Number one, we have to cancel so many games that it's obvious we can't go. Or number two, the players decide they don't like it.

And so I don't know what day that was, Thursday or Friday, that the commissioner told the teams that but he told the teams that and then late Friday night the players association received the updated protocols that we reported on Jeff you did on Saturday and in the words of one agent to me it was as bad as we could have hoped for so for those of you who didn't see it on the 32 Thoughts Headlines portion of Saturday's show, it's three to five weeks potential quarantine if you test positive. You cannot be released without permission of the local authorities. And also, if you have a positive test and you're symptomatic, you cannot be discharged until all symptoms are gone and

you've had at least two negative tests 24 hours apart if you have a positive test and you're asymptomatic it's at least two negative tests 24 hours apart and you know one thing we didn't mention on saturday that someone said to me we should have mentioned is that all of this is upon the review of Chinese authorities. So whatever we've got here on paper and the players are being informed about on paper could change. And there's really not a lot that you can do about it. So like I said, I had an agent say to me, this is the worst possible news

we could have received. And now it's going to be in the hands of the players. Now there's some conference calls or zoom calls. There's some scheduled for Monday. I would assume after Amal gets this podcast out, but you never know with him. And there's another one scheduled for Wednesday. So that's where the players are going to start are going to be able to ask questions listen to the experts and I think over the next couple of weeks they're going to really have to make their decision now one other thing I was told Jeff is that a couple of the national teams that are going to the Olympics they had hoped to be down to maybe less than 30 players by now maybe 30 would be the max and they're a little higher

because they're worried that certain players have indicated that if the quarantines are really bad and this would qualify yeah they're probably not going. We know about Leonard. There are more other players who've kind of let it be known that they're not crazy with what they were hearing before this. So a couple of things here. One, we know that there will be protocols in place on the ground in Beijing that can significantly restrict someone's ability to play.

We also know that players are being warned, and for NHL players, this would be that weekend in Vegas for All-Star, to be cautious leading up to leaving for Beijing. Now, if you talk to the Players Association, they'll tell you that this is a bubble environment. Let's remember that. We've done it before, whether it's Edmonton, whether it's Toronto, it has happened before. There is, however, and all the players are being told this, a chance that you still may

test positive and this quarantine could very much be part of your reality. So it sounds to me, Elliot, like for the remainder of of December the players association will go into information gathering mode and share that with the players and then it'll be up to them and as you pointed out Saturday probably right to the final hour but it'll be up to them to make their decision on whether they want to go or not. I can see if there are, you mentioned Robin Leonard, if there are like five other players that decide to take a pass, they're still going,

but we're probably looking at about 150 guys, Elliot. And if let's say 50 of them say they don't want to go, I think we have a problem because I don't't think the NHLPA has a specific number. Like, okay, if there's 65 guys that say, no, we're not going. But I think if you start to get into that 40-player, maybe 50-player territory, then I think it really becomes an issue. Agree or disagree?

I agree, but there's a lot of other questions here. Okay, so let's pick some olympic teams here let's just say for argument's sake russia and the united states 95 of the players vote to go and canada and sweden 25 of the players vote to go what do you do in that situation i know now we also know there's a long list here. Some of these teams have 100 more players on the list. You know, the Channel One Cup begins this week in Moscow. That's the one that Claude Julien is coaching for Canada.

And there's going to be a bunch of players there and who could be Olympians, depending on what the NHLers decide to do. And there's also the Spengler Cup, which is going to be the same thing. So, you know, what happens in that situation, Jeff? Yeah, I don't know. Like what if they, for argument's sake,

all the Russian players say, I want to go. What are we going to do here? Don't know. And that's why I say, I think they're all in information gathering mode right now. And I think all these different scenarios are going to be presented, much like the one that uh that i brought up on saturday which is you know what happens if the players decide to go someone tests negative before they leave and then positive

when they get there considering like they may have had covid 90 days before what's the protocol at that point like i think all these scenarios are being weighed out right now. I don't think we have answers for any of this stuff. Right. And the other thing they were warned about, Jeff, was if a close contact of yours tests positive, you may not be able to go. You know, I'm sure people have asked you as well.

They've asked me too. Are the players going? And my answer, my honest answer lately for ages, it depends what time of day you ask me because my opinion keeps on changing. I'm not a cautiously optimistic as much as I'm cautiously pessimistic by nature. I'm more optimistic than Jeff, I would like to say for us. I know I'm cautiously pessimistic. I really don't know on this one. I don't have a gut either way. And whatever feeling I do have changes, you know, as the, uh, the minutes tick by. Well, on the headline segment or the 32 thoughts on Saturday, Ron asked to put a percentage on it.

That was like a trap. That was a Ron McLean trap. I was like, Ron, there's no way I'm guessing a percentage on this. plain trap. I was like, Ron, there's no way I'm guessing a percentage on this. Someone said to me, what if your country doesn't have a great diplomatic relationship with China versus a country that does have a better diplomatic relationship with China? How is that going to make everybody feel? We know the US announced a diplomatic boycott. Canada announced a diplomatic boycott. They sent one diplomat to the last Olympics. I mean, talk about hollow gestures.

But an agent said to me, are players from countries that either don't call diplomatic boycotts or who have better relationships right now than Canada and the U.S. do, are those players going to be more comfortable with going? Thinking that their government could bail them out of tricky situations or be allowed to? I don't know what the answer to that is, but the point was made to me. I said, you know, like, I don't know. I think you'd have to ask each individual player. I think they'll wait as long as they can,

but like I said, an agent said to me, it was, and this is a pretty prominent agent who had a lot of clients going. He said it was really bad news. It was close to the worst possible news that, you know, players could get. And here's the other thing that we mentioned on Saturday night in case you didn't see it. The NHL's position is, and they do have an agreement with this that if a player has a covid related illness and can't play in the nhl they don't get paid yep and the double ihf the international hockey federation agreed to a five million dollar fund to cover that here's the question what if that fund runs out and, I think there are players and agents

who are mad about this, that there even is a discrepancy. One pointed out to me, it was a player actually, said that when John Tavares was injured in Sochi, even though the Islanders were mad, he was paid. And he's not happy that there's a chance that he could not be paid if he comes down with COVID at the Olympics. So this is another issue that will have to be sorted out here because the league is adamant that there's an agreement that says that they don't have to pay people under those circumstances. And as we know with Tyler Bertuzzi, that is the case during the NHL regular season. my guy goes and tests positive and has to quarantine between three to five weeks you know

he'll be watching his team play while he's in china maybe go on a losing streak because he's not there and it will make him nuts it will drive him crazy if i was a player i would feel that i'm thinking of myself like that was the first time that someone put it so bluntly to me. And I thought, I bet they're all thinking like that. What if I'm stuck there and I can't do anything to help my team and they start losing? I will go crazy. I believe that there is at least one general manager who's made it clear. And this is a general manager who I think is supportive of the Olympics. He recognizes their importance and he recognizes how much it matters to the

players. And he wouldn't comment when I asked him about it, but I believe it's true that he has made it very clear that he thinks it's selfish for players to go under these conditions. And I know he is a supportive of the games in general. One other thing we should mention, Elliot, and this was part of the day two press conference with Gary Bettman and Bill Daly. If the players do not end up going to the Olympics,

don't expect any games other than probably some COVID makeup games during that Olympic break, correct? Yeah, it sounds like we could all get some time off. No question about it. Yeah. Doesn't sound like they could all get some time off. No question about it. Yeah. Doesn't sound like they'll be making up a lot. These teams, they want to stuff their buildings full of dates, concerts, whatever they have to.

Why not? I can't blame them. Okay, so the Olympic conversation dominated much of the talk at the Board of Governors. I think every conversation, at least every conversation, had a portion of it, which was, do you think the players will go or the players won't go? Now that we've parked that conversation, Elliot, what else did you take away from this go around at the Board of Governors?

This was the first Board of Governors meeting really in two years. And there hasn't been a general manager's meeting face-to-face. It's all been on Zoom. And the one thing I really noticed was how happy people were to see each other in a group. I really noticed that. It people were to see each other in a group. I really noticed that. It was very meaningful to people. And it was nice to see a lot of the other reporters too. That really stood out to me.

On the first day, we had the Kim Davis presentation. I like her presence. I think she has a real presence. Whatever it is, she's got it. She met with the board of governors for about an hour. And the one thing I was really happy to see and i probably speak for you too on this one is that they righted the wrong of the initial media conference and realized it was very important to include sheldon kennedy yes and you could tell from his tweet that sheldon was, you know, very happy to be included and he thinks

he can make a difference. You know, it should have happened a long time ago, but I'm glad that he feels good about it because that's what matters the most. And I hope he's allowed to be in a position where he can make a difference. Yeah. I thought Kim Davis was outstanding. And we had her on the podcast when she was first hired. We've heard her speak publicly a number of different times, most recently at the Board of Governors. And she continues to impress. And like I said on her hit on Thursday night, Elliot, the NHL is lucky to have Kim Davis.

I really thought that the point about the NHL, and she said, look, every part of the NHL is a workplace. And that's something that everybody needs to keep in mind. I thought that was specifically poignant. A lot of things are ambitious. We know things have already worked, whether it's the hotline, but also sharing resources with, you know, what she referred to as the hockey ecosystem. And not just being, you know, not having horse blinders on and just focusing on their own league, but also including the American League, ECHL, PWHPA, PHF, the three Canadian Junior Leagues,

College Hockey, Inc., et cetera, so everyone can share resources, not just theirs, but from a third party as well. I mean, we know that Kim Davis is a big thinker, and these are big plans, and I think this is a pivotal moment and an important moment in the history of the NHL. You know, one of the things that fell into everyone's lap, which wasn't part of the agenda, which, however, dominated some of the conversation at the BOG, was the Arizona Coyotes situation, which the NHL ultimately had to address with the media.

What did you take away from it? Well, obviously Katie Strang's story was a blockbuster on the eve of the Board of Governors that the team owed money to the city and the state. And when Amber and I did our preview of the Board of Governors before the meeting actually began, one of the things we talked about was that I think the Coyotes were going to be asked

to pay the rest of this year in addition to everything they owed, but also the rest of this season, you know, because the governments wanted to make sure that they just wouldn't run away at the end of the year without paying. And, you know, at this point in time, they said they've made good on everything they owed. We'll see where the rest of this goes. But I know some people were upset about what the commissioner said, that he kind of poo-pooed it and said, there's no problem here. I don't know why anybody would be surprised at that. Now, I could understand that people from Arizona that the Coyotes owe money to wouldn't like

his attitude. I get that. But the fact is that there's been nobody who's fought harder for the Arizona Coyotes than Gary Bettman has. And do you think that in a moment of crisis for them, and this is a time of crisis for them, make no mistake about it, he's going to do anything but double and triple down on his previous position of course nobody believes it all you have to do is look at the situation and say this is big trouble for the league if they can't sort this out and i believe a thousand percent that they are looking at exit plans if they have to because no commissioner worth anything wouldn't be doing that, but I don't get mad at it. I kind of roll my eyes at it a bit, but I don't get mad at it because I know that's who he is.

I know who I'm dealing with. I know that this is a person who has fought to the ends of the earth and back for the Arizona coyotes franchises. And in this time of crisis, he's going to change that. Not a chance. So I look at it that way. I understand where he's coming from. And I just say, look,

no matter what it looks like to the rest of us, he's going to do it that way. That is what the commissioner is going to do. And that's it. And I don't expect anything else until the time comes where he might have to say we can't do this anymore and that's going to be the absolute last thing he admits okay well while we're on the topic of the commissioner um both yourself and pierre lebrun asked about do you think he was more defiant about Arizona or his future?

He really did not want to discuss his future with the NHL, other than to say with a Cheshire cat, almost Voltairian smile, I'll be here a long, long time. Yeah. I think that was a message for some people. It probably was. Economic update as well. Bill Daley, I think it was Bill Daley, mentioning that the league is trending towards a little bit north of $5 billion, which is certainly and then at which point we'll see the salary cap raise i don't want to say dramatically

but we'll see a bigger bump it'll be a bigger bump and i will tell you that you know some people said to me that that's i don't think the word was, but it says that he's very bullish about the economic future. And what people told me was he's not wrong to be bullish about the economic future because they feel that the league will grow. And, you know, some of these valuations like on Pittsburgh was good for a lot of these teams, but I don't know if everybody felt it would be as quick as three summers from now.

So that's what some people said was most interesting to them because they think that is probably faster than they expected. It's probably faster than some veteran hockey players expected. I mean, we had this conversation when it first happened. This was essentially the older players saying, we're taking our money, thank you very much. It's the younger players that are going to foot the bill here. Oh, yeah.

There's a lot of older players that are saying, really? Paid off and I'm still playing? Hmm. Okay. A couple of teams that'll be happy about this. Maple Leafs, they've got Nylander and Matthews, Elias Pedersen for Vancouver. He's up when the cap is poised to rise.

Carolina with Sebastian Ajo, Winnipeg with Mark Scheifele, the Philadelphia Flyers with Carter Hart. Those would be the ones that come to mind right away. You mentioned franchise value there as well. The completion of the sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Fenway Sports Group. I'm not going to ask for a specific number. I don't even know if you know a specific number, but I would imagine that a lot of teams now, after that sale was completed and approved by the Board of Governors in Florida, that a lot of other teams might have said,

and approved by the Board of Governors in Florida that a lot of other teams might have said, hmm, that price tag, that's where we're at now. I wonder what I can get. There's no question that's happening. Now, there was another thing that happened at the Board of Governors that was very interesting. And it didn't get a lot of attention, but it was a change in the way the NHL does business.

And they allowed private equity sales. That's something they've never done before. And he mentioned Tampa Bay and Minnesota. And this is something that's allowed in the NBA. It's allowed in MLS. It's allowed in Major League Baseball. And now it's allowed in the NHL. So basically what that says to me is that there's private equity firms

that want to buy in small parts of NHL teams, and now that says to me is that there's private equity firms that want to buy in small parts of NHL teams, and now the league's going to let it happen. So that's only going to help current ownership growth. Before we start this, you know, I'm doing this podcast. I'm enjoying a tasty Bobby Margarita. Oh, did you get one? I got four of them delivered to my house today, and I'm downing the first one. If I'm any more entertaining than normal,

you can thank Bobby Margarita for it. Are you throwing your blender out the front door now? No, I won't be doing that. I'm friend of the blenders. Okay, very good. You have to make your protein shakes after all, after you get off your Peloton. Thank you very much.

I got to eat right. I don't want to be like Mr. Big, who died after riding the Peloton. I think we're far enough away from the beginning of the podcast that anyone that grouses about us talking about the Vancouver Canucks will say, okay, well, they gave us something before they got to Vancouver, so here it is.

Jim Rutherford and his general manager search. Yeah. What is the latest Elliott's? Well, he's going to meet with the media on Monday, and we'll see. I'm sure we'll get some comments about it. I think the biggest question is who, who's he going to be I've heard somebody that Rutherford likes a lot. Alvin was promoted by Rutherford while he was still there. And after he resigned, Alvin was the temporary, the interim GM until Ron Hextall was hired.

And I will tell you this, he's got a good rep. People think he's very smart. I think the biggest question is, is he ready for that role yet? But you never know until you're put there, right? But he's definitely got a bright future. People really like him. Now, let me ask you a question.

Okay. When we were together in Florida, because you are my all things Canadian Hockey League guy, there was a name I asked you to check out for me. What was that name? That name was Mark Hunter. And what were you told? What did you hear?

I was told no. Okay. So I just want to tell you that I asked you to check that name because someone who I really trust said to me, Hunter could be in the middle of this because they want to build up their scouting. He knows young players. And also the other thing about Mark Hunter is if they want him, they probably could get him now. But, you know, when you said no, I was kind of like, okay,

it's not happening. Well, I had someone else tell me to watch out for Hunter. So you're saying I have bad sources on this one? No, I'm not saying that you have bad sources. When it comes to the Canadian Hockey League, your sources are miles ahead of mine. But no matter what Mark Hunter is saying, there are other people who believe he could be a contender.

So we'll see. The other name, and you've mentioned this a couple of places, that there was i don't know whether falling out is is too strong a term i believe they've patched it up this is jason carmanos uh because that's a name that's very much out there jason carmanos was very good at saying to jim rutherford are you? And we all need somebody like that in our lives. Yes, we do. Are you under the impression, and listen, you just mentioned Botterill and he's already been a general manager, but are you under the impression that Jim Rutherford prefers to have

someone who's new to that position who can work sort of under his wing or bring in someone with a little bit of resume already attached? I don't know the answer to that. What do you make of, and we're recording this podcast before Vancouver plays Carolina, so the record may not be perfect by the time you hear this podcast, but so far under Bruce Boudreaux, things seem a lot more relaxed, productive, and successful so far for the Vancouver Canucks. The one thing that really is clear here is that before they made all the changes, the team was really drowning. It really was. And I think Boudreaux, it just gives you the

opportunity to kind of ease back and relax a little bit. And I just think that's what they needed. I think there just are times where you're drowning and you need a change and that was the time for Vancouver and you know I think that those players and I gotta tell you something I think Green needed it too they just needed a change it was time it ran its course it just wasn't going to get fixed. And now Boudreaux comes in. He can look at things a little bit of a different way. Because he's new, you're a bit more optimistic. You're a bit cheerier.

You know, I think the other thing here that really is important to understand is that Boudreaux and Rutherford are both experienced people that are getting to do a thing here that they've never done before. And that is coach and manage in Canada. And I think that means something to both of those guys. Boudreaux has talked about that openly. Yes. And I think Rutherford would be too. Like I do believe that Jim Rutherford is a guy who wanted to be a manager in Canada. And I think this really does appeal to him for that reason. Rutherford is a guy who doesn't mind getting in front of the media and talking and shooting

the breeze and things like that. He kind of likes it. And, you know, I think that's important for this job. You know, the coach's nickname is Gabby after all. Yes. And, you know, I think that those guys will be prepared to handle this. To me, that's not an insignificant thing in Vancouver.

How much of a pendulum swing do you see this as? Because we've seen this before. Too early to say. Just by way of personality i'm not saying that one is better than the other for some situations you want someone who's more serious for someone you know for another situation you need someone that's going to lighten the mood but we tend to see a yo-yo effect in the national hockey league specifically and are we seeing it now between the last regime and this one? Too early to

say what this is all going to mean. I want to ask you about the Boston Bruins because we've had a couple of people tweet in saying, hey, Boston is still an NHL team. Last time we checked. A couple of things for the Boston Bruins. The radio show was the last week of the week before we had a conversation about Tuka Rask and the future

there. Meanwhile, Linus Allmark has been fantastic lately. A couple of games stopping 40-plus shots. Looked really good. I'm sure he can see Tuka Rask showing up on the ice and saying, hold on a second here. I'm supposed to be the guy. Do you have a thought on what's happening with Boston right now?

I mean, Jake DeBrusque is obviously the Jake DeBrusque situation. We know where that's heading. You know what I see when I see Boston? Who's going to take over for these guys? Who's going to take over for the top line, for the perfection line, you mean? Yes. Like Patrice Bergeron when it may be all over as early as the end of this season? And Marchantel is a few years under contract, and he's at the peak of his powers.

He's still a great player. Pasternak is going to be there for a long time. And I think McAvoy has shown that he's a Norris Trophy-level talent. But who else is a Bruin? Who else is a lead Bruin might be the better way to do it. I still think that these guys, and they're great players, so in some ways they should have an outsized role on the team. But I'm kind of wondering is, you know,

who's going to step up and say, I'm going to ease the load on those guys. I don't think enough players have done it. Like McAvoy's done it. Yes, he has. But how many more players there can you really look at and say, they've carved out a big space on that team? You know, there's a wonderful business book by Jim Collins called

Good is the Enemy of Great. And when I look at the Boston Bruins, here's what I think, Elliot. And when I look at the Boston Bruins, here's what I think, Elliot. Are they comfortable being good after having been great for a number of years? Not a chance. You think Cam Neely's good with that? No, but hang on a second here. Because right now, where are they trending?

They're trending to being good. What do they do with that is ultimately my question. It's not good enough for them. No, I know. But is there enough there right now that they can become great again? Or did they either have to draft develop or go the free agency route to get back to being great? Because right now they're trending to, listen, I asked the same question of the Pittsburgh Penguins at the same time as well. Are they comfortable being good? Not great. And that's where they've been the last couple of seasons.

As uncomfortable as that may be for everybody there. I see Boston trending the same way. First of all, they're coming back from the road and I'm sure we're going to get some clarity on Rask in the next little bit, right? Yep. But okay, among the forwards, who's going to be that forward and steps up and says, I know it's Bergeron, I know it's Marchand, I know it's Pasternak, but I'm in that sentence too. And it's not there right now. It's not there.

It's not there and it's not coming either. That's why I asked the question. Well, that's it. Like this whole thing with DeBrusque, it's kind of the last hope from their three picks in a row in the first round of 2015. And there's something symbolic about that, but they're still searching for the next forward, right? Well, now we're getting closer because as you said, Bergeron's in the last year and, you know, we don't know what he's going to decide. Bergeron's number's going up when he's done. Marchand's number's going up when he's done. Both those guys I think are going to the Hall of Fame. Pasternak, he's on the road. Those are hard guys to replace. Chara, he's going to the Hall of Fame.

His number's going up in the rafters mcavoy he's on the way but who's your next guy i don't know pretty soon you'll be saying we're basing this whole thing around a winger and a defenseman and we're growing it from there no but that that's the reality those are our two-star pieces there's a piece of video of marchand the boston ruins put it out on their twitter feed it's from from their Behind the B series, which is excellent. And he talks about how we're not like any other organization. We have a high standard. It is just an awesome speech. This is an opportunity for you guys to kind of come in, see what happens. I've been in your shoes. I know it's a nerve wracking time. There's a lot that you can learn from being here. We're not like any other organization.

We have a very high standard of a teammate. You know, if you come in here and you're not a good teammate, if you don't work hard, you will not be here. It's just we won't let you be here. We won't let you come in here and not push. You have to push me. That's what we need in this group. You know, we expect everyone every day to come in here and not push you have to push me that's what we need in this group you know we expect everyone every day to come in and compete hard because at the end of the day we're not

just trying to be part of this group we're trying to win a stanley cup and to do that you need to realize how hard it is down the road uh work hard have fun um nice to meet you guys. Like I said, good job today and enjoy the week. Thanks, Marshall. I heard it and I ran through my office wall and like the Kool-Aid man, like the Kool-Aid. Oh yeah. You know, I've heard people in our business say before, like, I don't want to replace the legend. I want to be the person who replaces the person who fails to replace the legend, which to me is total loser thinking.

And maybe that's what happened. Maybe some of their guys are looking at what Bergeron's done and what Marchand has done and what Chara does and the way these guys take care of themselves. And cause those guys aren't just great players. Those guys are also elite level driven humans. And maybe people get intimidated by that. Maybe people look at them and say, I can't possibly keep up to that standard. But when I look at the Bruins, that's what I look at is where's the next one?

For the Boston Bruins, I want to go to Ben Bishop. Yes. Ben Bishop. Listen, first of all, I know how bad he wanted this. I know there are a lot of people that were telling Ben Bishop, don't even push for some games in the American Hockey League. Bishop pushed himself, really wanted to give it a try, really wanted to make this work.

Sure, East-West is a little bit of an issue, but I got to try the knee out. I'm going to fight and claw my way to try to get up. I've talked to you about this before, and I've always used the Peter Forsberg example. I love the guys that won't quit. And if I can play, I'm going to get myself in there no matter what it takes. Ben Bishop, man, he tried everything to stay in this game when his body kept saying no no no you know six foot seven two hundred and what like 30 40 pounds big guy a style that was really taxing on his body so maybe we look at it and we say wow how did that body survive 11 seasons in the nhl given the demands of the modern goaltender. I think of Ben Bishop,

who is, that's it for the career. I look at Ben Bishop and I say, man, first of all, A, good for you for fighting with everything that you had to try to stay in the game. And Elliot, at his prime, he was one of the top goaltenders in the world over a stretch, period. I always loved Ben Bishop. And it took him a while to get there too. Sure did. He started in St. Louis, goes to Ottawa, then ends up in Tampa. It took a while for him to get to where he needed to go.

I'm just really impressed that he gave it one more chance because it would have been very easy for him to just say, you know what? I don't need this. I've made my money. I had my run, but nope. He gave it another shot. Like people don't always understand what makes an elite athlete elite.

And it's that kind of attitude that says, I'm not giving up on this, even though it's that kind of attitude that says i'm not giving up on this even though it's against all odds that's what makes the elite elite i loved watching them i love a goaltender that was that big perform that well biggest goaltender uh something you mentioned on hockey night on saturday and that is the edmonton Oilers and what they need to do to demonstrate a commitment to Connor McDavid and Leon Dreisaitl. I can't believe that everybody in the hockey world wasn't listening slash watching you on Saturday.

But for those who may not have, as shocking as it may sound, do you want to go over what you talked about in the intermission? Well, I haven't watched the after hours yet. I was going to watch it tonight. So if Ken Holland contradicts any of this, you and I may have to edit it. So basically what I said is I heard that Edmonton's considering three kinds of areas.

Goalie, and Mike Smith's health could determine that. Left defense, and third line center. Those are the three kinds of things he's looking at. And I don't know what his timeline is, and I don't know what he thinks is the most important. But when I think about what Edmonton's considering, those are the positions I believe they're looking at. And I think the Oilers realize that this is a year

they kind of have to go for it. You've got to make your star players happy, and I believe that's their plan, and I think he will go for it i just don't know what his timeline is safe to say that pretty much everything is in play to satisfy those needs a first round pick i'm talking about high-end prospects like these things are on the table if you're edmondson i'm not so sure about the high-end prospects. I'm not sure about that, Jeff. But I do know that he did say at the beginning of the year with Bob Stauffer

that if they're in the race, he will definitely trade his first rounder. And they're in the race. But the high-end prospects, I'm not so sure about. I'm not convinced they're trading an Evan Bouchard or a Broberg or anything like that. If they do, I assume we'll see the trade and understand why. I haven't heard anything about top prospects, but I have heard about first-rounders. Okay, Elliot, let's get in a couple of emails here uh 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca we already had

one of the calls off the top at 1-833-311-3232 we always thank you for your contributions this comes from adam uh i hear a money on the board referenced regularly in hockey podcasts but what is the money for just Just really quickly, as an aside, you know what I got to do a better job of? Not assuming that everyone understands exactly what I say when I use references that I assume that everyone's just watched and followed hockey for 30 or 40 years like I have. I got to do a way better job of making sure that i try to make whatever i do on radio television podcast as red carpeted for everybody as as i do for people that have been following it as long as i have just as an aside that is that's going to be my new year's resolution elliot money on the board

what is the money for elliot from adam well it can go towards team parties and team dinners things like that it's generally a reward for the players if they win it. The most money I've ever heard on the board for a game personally, and I'm sure that there's other people who've heard more than me, was like something like about $70,000. Do you know what team that was, Elliot?

Detroit. Do you know who put up the most money, Elliot? I don't know who put up the most money. No, I don't. Are coaches allowed to put up the money? Well, remember Ron Wilson got in trouble for doing it? That's where I'm going.

No, this is a player-driven thing, Adam, and thanks for the email on that one. As a matter of fact, Wilson got in trouble for mentioning that he did it. Tom from Maine. Do you know how many AHL players are vaccinated? I'm wondering if that may be the means of transmission given so many AHL, NHL transactions recently.

So here's the deal on that. All but one player in the American League are vaccinated. There's only one there too, because you can't get called up if you're not vaccinated. There's only one. Joelle Esperance is the only one. too because you can't get called up if you're not vaccinated there's only one joel esperance is the only one but i don't know i don't have clarity on echl call-ups but as far as ahl regulars there is only the one i think that might have been the reason he was sent down to by dallas was it well okay so the story that i was told is he thought he was going down anyway and so he didn't get vaccine i is he thought he was going down anyway. And so he didn't get vaccinated.

I mean, I think he was obviously against the vaccinations to begin with. And he thought he was going down in the American League anyhow. Okay, fair enough. There's that story. Neil from Sydney, Australia. There's long been talk of meddling by the Aquilines in the day-to-day running of the Canucks going back to Trevor Linden leaving the team. by the Aquilines and the day-to-day running of the Canucks going back to Trevor Linden leaving the team. I wanted to ask, to what degree is that just the idle chatter of keyboard warriors on internet

forums slash Twitter, or has talk of that spread to the media and others in the hockey world? And if so, what does it look like? Also, generally, what would you consider fair game for owner involvement versus crossing the line? I personally don't expect the owners to be silent partners. And I'm interested in your perspective on when owner involvement helps or hinders teams. It has to be tough when you're paying $650 million and everyone around you is saying,

thanks for the check. Now sit over there and keep your mouth shut. Yeah, that doesn't work anymore. That's, that's, that's a great, I gotta say like, that's a great question. around you is saying thanks for the check now sit over there and keep your mouth shut yeah that doesn't work anymore that's that that's a great i gotta say like that's a great question it really is and because i still think there's one or two gms in the league who tell their owners that you know i'm only going to tell you what i think you need to know. And that doesn't work anymore. And you have to have an owner. The only way that works is if you have an owner who A, believes incredibly in his general manager, and B, is either so busy with other things that they simply can't be involved but generally that doesn't work anymore like i do know one of one gm

who was fired because their owner's basic rule to them was don't surprise me and he surprised them once too often is this why one of the skills we keep hearing now no matter who we talk to one of the skills now that managers need to have is managing upwards and the ability to manage your owner is of primary importance well i think also too like i know of some situations also where one of the jobs that the president of hockey operations has is i'll manage up and the gm like if you have a president of hockey operations, GM situation where the president of hockey operations job is to manage up, or if you have a president of hockey operations and just a president, a good president will say, look, I'll manage up. You run the team. But again,

you better make sure that I know everything that's going on here. You know, everybody thinks being a GM is just about drafting players and making trades. It's not. It's a lot of managing. And, you know, when we had the thing with Mike Ford, making sure your messaging is proper, I do believe, is a huge part of that. The Aquilini's metal more than anybody else,

I'm not convinced of that. I think there are plenty of owners in this league who make their opinions heard. You know, number one, I think it's Vancouver. It's a really intense market. So I think that stories about what's going on in there kind of get out more than in some other markets. kind of get out more than in some other markets. I do think that in the Linden-Benning situation though, however, ownership picked between a version that they hoped was true versus a version that they may not have wanted to hear,

which is an owner's prerogative. So I do think they picked Benning over Linden in that particular case because they liked the path that Benning presented that's not the first time that's happened in the NHL and it's not the last you have to put up with that you have to be able to sell ownership on your plan I gotta say this Benning got what nine years I think most GMs would kill for nine years. You know, that's kind of the way I look at it. Like, I did a list this week, or just after, excuse me, I should say after Bergevin was fired,

because I was writing that Bergevin and Jeff Molson, a lot of other GMs said they were the perfect owner-manager situation. Bergevin had a big voice, and the owner generally backed everything he did. The owners who I think really stand back, like really stand back, and let their GMs do a lot, very, very minimal contact, I think, here. Anaheim, I think the Samwellies are very much like that. Here's your budget, and we'll let you be creative. San Jose, Doug Wilson and Hossel Plattner, you know, I think Wilson probably had as much

autonomy from his owner as any other general manager had in the league. I think Steve Iserman, just because he's Steve Iserman, has a big swing. I think Columbus, you know, again, there's a budget in terms of what they can do on and off the ice. But I think generally the hockey operations there has a lot of swing to do what they do. And, you know, I'll tell you this about Toronto. You know, there's been a lot of talk in Toronto about, you know, obviously what happened with Masai Ujiri. Which, you know, as far as I'm concerned, Masai Ujiri, they can't pay him enough for what he's done here. And we know there was a battle over Alex Anthopoulos in Toronto.

I have generally heard that with the maple leafs they don't interfere a lot but the one thing i i heard did bother them a great deal was when they fired mike babcock because he got 50 million and he got fired what halfway into that deal and i heard they were very upset about that and i wouldn't be surprised if that played its way into the eugery contract discussions and again i would like to state for the record that that guy is worth every dime they're giving him but i do think that babcock being fired halfway through that contract was a factor in how long the Ujiri negotiation took. Jeff, I might be missing one or two, but other than that, I definitely think the owners are

involved. Like Vegas is a huge success story. Bill Foley's fingerprints are all over that. He is very demanding. You know, Mark Chipman, I think is a guy who's very vocal in Winnipeg. So even teams I think have been big successes. I think they have demanding owners. LA I think is another team where you get your budget and you just better make sure you have results. Speaking of budgets and GM owner relationships, there was a story that I want to

share with you. I'm not going to name the team or the manager here, but I want to get your thoughts on this situation. I'm not going to bias it either way. This is years ago, having a conversation with an ex-GM and I was asking what his biggest regret was with the media. And he said, I just wish the media would have asked me the right questions about the budgets I would submit. And I said, what do you mean? And he said, well, our ownership group would always come out and say we've never turned down a budget that our general manager has submitted, which in one sense is true. But what they always left out was they always asked me to submit two budgets, one that accounted

for playoff revenue and one that didn't. Okay. I want you to go back to this general manager and ask him one question. Okay. What's that? If we would have asked you that question while you were GM, would you have answered that honestly about your owner? Because I strongly suspect the answer is no.

It was in a joking way, but you know what I'm getting at here. What do you think of that scenario? And how often do you think that happens? I think that happens. Just to give ownership cover to say like, look, the general manager submitted the budget. We approved it. We don't meddle.

Oh, I think that happens because I think that people are trained to try to answer questions in certain ways, right? I don't know if I've ever told this story before. I think I have. But when the Raptors traded Marcus Camby for Charles Oakley, I heard that story in the afternoon and I called somebody and I asked them, have you guys traded Canby for Oakley? And I was told no. And that night the deal got done.

And I said like, what the hell? And they said, well, you asked us, have you guys traded? And the answer is we hadn't done the deal yet. And I was like, are you freaking kidding me? I actually blew up. And there was talk in the next time that, you know, we'd figure it out and it would be handled better in the next occasion. But, you know, that kind of thing happens.

It does. On that, we'll wrap. We've taken enough of our listeners' time today. More podcasts coming up later on this week. Taking us out, an artist who mixes jazz and electronic pop to a level that only produces positivity. Lionel Boy brings us his debut record with a low-key psychedelic feel and wordplay that's vulnerable while dreamlike. From his self-titled debut record, here's Lionel Boy with Tides on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Mama talk like Jesus That would never leave us But by you learn to be you, yeah

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