32 Thoughts: The Podcast - One Win From Glory

Episode Date: June 12, 2026

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman react to the Carolina Hurricanes taking a 3-2 series lead over the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final. Afterwards, the fellas delve into the news where they expand on Darnell Nurse's trade request out of Edmonton (31:00). They talk abo ut the investigation into Mike Babcock before he's hired by the Edmonton Oilers (35:00). Kyle and Elliotte react to Joe Sakic's comments on Thursday (41:00). They touch on Seattle's new front office hires (44:41). The Final Thought focuses on Nikita Kucherov winning the Hart (47:30).  Kyle and Elliotte answer your questions and comments in the Thought Line presented by BetMGM (52:30). In this episode we highlight Canadian pop singer-songwriter Olivia Penalva and her track Distance Makes A Love Story. Check out her music here. Listen to all the 32 Thoughts music here. Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail. This podcast was produced and mixed by Cristian Ceniti and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates

At the start of today's podcast, we wanted to wish all the best to a big hockey family in the greater Toronto area, the Penazzado family. Mark, an 18-year Toronto Police Forces veteran, was killed in the line of duty on Thursday morning. He played for the Ontario Junior Hockey League's Oakville Blades from 1999 to 2003, and he was a captain of the team and played performance. professionally overseas in Germany. He and his brothers have had a lot of influence in the youth hockey scene in the area. Jason played university hockey at York, played overseas for about a decade, and Steve played 36 NHL games for the Vancouver Canucks and the Edmonds Noilers, as well as a long career overseas. We wanted to send them our best, in particular, their mother, Linda. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by your Canadian Toyota dealers and the

26 Tacoma. It's time to Toyota. Dom Elliott and Kyle back with you through five games of the Stanley Cup final, and the Carolina Hurricanes are now one win away from the Stanley Cup. And don't tell me, Elliot, that when, just like a couple of nights previous, when Pavald Dorofiev made it four to two in the third period, did you think Carolina is losing this game, or did you feel differently on Thursday night? No, I actually felt

really good about Carolina in this game. It's kind of weird. There were a lot of things about this one that were different than what we've seen so far in the Stanley Cup final. There were no multi-goals comeback this time. There was, for a change,

Vegas was the better team in the first period, and for a change, Carolina, which had been outscored 9-1 in the second period in the first four games, won the second. There was a lot different. But I like Carolina's game. As this one went on and on and on from minute 1 to 60, I thought they got better and better and better. But one thing stayed the same, Kyle, and that constant is the Carolina captain, your new

favorite for the Con Smythe trophy, Jordan Stahl. It didn't matter if Carolina finally had a weaker first period. He still scored. And he could have had several more in this one as he is on a rampage, a scoring rampage unseen in the Stanley Cup final in 53 years in terms of goals in five games in a row. And 70 years in terms of goals scored in the first five games. of a cup final. He is the one constant. The Golden Knights cannot stop him. And it held true again here in game number five. You're right. I mean, the response by that line and the hurricanes

in general after Vegas took an early lead in this game. And for the first time in this series, you say we did not have the scoreline be two nothing at some point. We actually saw it at 1-1 for a period of time. And maybe this game was different from all the others, Elliot, but I do think for a guy like Nick Eilers, he himself individually had a night that was emblematic of the ups and the downs of the Stanley Cup final, right? Three assists, some of them, things of absolute beauty, but twice got caught with flipping the puck over the glass, Vegas scored on the first time. And anyway, all's well that ends well for Eelers and the hurricane, so he was able to laugh about it in the post game.

But how he described his night was pretty interesting. You know what, honestly, Kyle, I didn't think he was as bad as he said it was. I understand the best athletes are really critical. You know, Jack Eichel, who had a huge scrum outside his stall after the morning skate, everybody wondering why he hasn't scored, said, I'm the most critical guy about myself than anyone else. my own toughest critic and I think most guys are like that but I didn't think he was that bad that

was a weird first one the puck over glass like you rarely see people throw the puck into the crowd from where he was that to me was just an adrenaline play the second one again I couldn't believe it happened I loved his line about I'm afraid I love his line about how I'm afraid to see my dad tonight because his dad's his coach and he knew he was going to get it. And even Brindermore saying, good, I hope he's afraid to see his dad. But I didn't think he was that bad.

I still think, you know, there's guys in this series that you always notice when they touch the puck. I always notice when Eilers has it. Like, I think he's noticeable. I think he's constantly creating things. Maybe he's just had such a good playoffs

that he hasn't had too many stinkers of a game. But I didn't think he was anywhere near as bad as they said. No, I'm with you. And I think probably, yes, the two penalties stuck in his mind more than he would like. And with those players, as you say, being their harshest critics, that sticks with them even maybe more so than some of those assists because the spinorama to Svetnikov in the third period was all world. All world. So Carolina, the power play through the first three rounds of this playoffs wasn't doing much for them. It didn't matter.

And now as this finals gone on, it has come through in big spots a number of times here. And suddenly is a driving force behind them being one-win away from taking this whole thing. I actually thought that was the biggest moment of the game and may have changed the series, was that those back-to-back penalties that Vegas had in the second period and Carolina capitalized, to me that completely turned the complexion of this game. I thought it would, and it'll be interesting because it might be the turning point of the series, that they got those calls and they actually scored. You know, the other thing, too, I think Bussie, him starting,

and, you know, this whole Anderson situation is shrouded in mystery, and they added a fourth goalie in this particular game in case they, needed an emergency they could decide between Anderson and Miftakov. I, the situation is strange. It's unusual, but I'll say this. I'll repeat the same thing I said last pod. Anderson is dealing with a brutal personal situation here in the loss of his agent, Claude Lemieux.

And I just think everybody here needs to let this breathe and hear what he has what he has to say when he eventually speaks. I just, this is more complicated than a regular goalie situation. So I'm prepared to wait out and get an explanation when he's ready to speak. Whatever the case, Bussie is the guy now. And one of the things I've kind of wondered about is he is unorthodox to say the least. and I just wonder if going from Anderson's very calm style to Bussie's frenetic style

is a bigger adjustment than we realize. I'll say this, a couple of the Vegas guys after the game said, we have to challenge him more. Now, they didn't get a ton of shots, Kyle, but I thought the chances they got were pretty brilliant. They had some glorious, high quality, great A chances in the third period, and he was up to it. But I have looked at this and wondered if going from one extreme of goalie styles to the other has affected Vegas a bit because maybe they just weren't prepared for it. Possibly. And honestly, I'm a little surprised you feel that way about Vegas here.

I know, like, in the third period, they pushed a little bit and some chances came. I think there's been other games in the series where they've had a far greater abundance of high quality. Well, just I'm talking about challenging Bussie. I understand. They said, we need to challenge him more. I understand. And I could see why they would feel that after this game, just because, again, my point being, I think there's been other games in the series where they've generated a greater number of really high quality looks.

I guess my point is I think Carolina. probably this was their best game defensively. I know they didn't love their first period, but as the night went on, they seemed way more steady, especially in the second period. Like all of a sudden, they weren't getting stretched out

where Vegas was getting in behind their D as often. I thought early in the third, Vegas had two big chances early, and then I thought they had a couple late, including one. Remember where hurdle hit the post and then on a deflection and then Bussie made a great,

save when hurdle got on the rebound quickly. I thought there were some, I don't think there were a ton, but I thought the ones they did get were really red alert, really red alert. Yeah. And I'll say this too, the Carlson thing, that's a huge loss. Yeah, it doesn't sound good, does it? It sounds like they're worried he broke his arm or something.

Yeah. Because Tortorella afterwards, you know, he goes no update, and then moments later effectively says that they're going to have to plan to play the rest of the series without him. And initially I thought he got hurt on the slash, but then I saw the replay and it's obviously got hurt on the hit. But it's just the word was they were worried that he might have broken something. That's that's really too bad. I hate to see injuries at this time of year. And, you know, he missed a chunk of the season and they,

made it through the first round without him, but I thought in the second round, he really solidified them. And, you know, now, you know, Dorofi have got off the Schneid. Hurdle's been better, but if they really want to go, Eichl Stone and Marner,

and Jen showed a great graphic where in the first period, they did more of them together in game five than they had at any one game entirely in the stand. Stanley Cup final, it's going to be harder for them to do that because Carlson's a center. So, you know, do you move hurdle up? Do you put Marner back at center? I think you're crazy if you count Vegas out. But if you were to rank players that they could least afford to lose,

he'd be very high, very high on that list. Absolutely. For all the reasons you just laid out. Now, when it comes to Vegas's goaltending situation, I mean, normally I think this would be an appropriate time to discuss what do you do here. The only thing is Tororella's made it abundantly clear who his guy is, even though Carter Hart's given up four or more in each of the five games of this final. You know, it's funny. So Johnny Lazarus, who's got a bright future in this business. He asked Tortorella postgame, did you think about putting Hill in for the third period? And you'll remember in the morning, he was asked if he had lost any faith in Carter Hart or he was concerned about him. And he said, no, very quickly.

And what did Tortarella say that? That's the stupidest question I've been asked today or something like that. Yeah, yes. He started with, yeah, good Christ. Go ahead. Well, what did you say? He started with like, good Christ. and then and then proceeded to say that.

After a completely understandable question going, yeah. Well, it was a perfectly understandable question. Tortarella is standing up for, I mean, it's obvious what he's doing there. He's trying to tell his number one guy that he's not losing any faith in him. You always have to understand what the motivation is for something like that. but about an hour later, one of my friends texted me and he said, it's too bad none of you thought of asking, okay, maybe it was dumb to ask if he's playing the third period,

but what about if he's starting game six? Is that still dumb to ask? I'm like, I laughed and I said there was no way anybody was going there after that response. You know, Tortorella, the other thing I thought was really interesting about it was he said we'll be back here and then he came back to it and said I'm leaving my suits here they'll be in the hotel

the fact that he went back to it a second time he was making sure that we heard it and more importantly his players knew he felt that way and he wanted his players to know that whatever he says privately

because he's probably optimistic private he was saying it publicly. Like in moments like that, it may be what he's saying to us, but he's saying it for his players. And a lot of people shy away from guarantees. I'm kind of the other way around on it. I once asked Mark Messier about his guarantee

in the Rangers series. And he basically said, of course I should say it, because we've got to convince our guys that I believe it, but if I lose, big deal. What's the worst that happened? We lost. And I kind of like that thinking.

It's basically Tortorella saying, of course we're coming back here, because I can't have my players thinking or believing anything different. And if I'm wrong, what's the big deal? We've lost. What's worse than that? aside from the fact you may have to have some suits FedEx back.

I like it. I know some people think it's super cocky, and if they lose, people will make fun of it. But I think if you're going to, if you want your team to have the right mentality, you've got to be out there saying that you believe it. Your team looks at it and they say,

our guy is putting himself on the line and telling everybody how much he believes in us. And I thought it was interesting that he didn't just say it once. He made a point of saying it a second time. He wanted that quote to get out. He wanted it to be viral because he wanted to make sure his players knew that he said that publicly. So they had, I guess, a pretty lengthy video session on Thursday morning. And then Tortorales says, like, that's going to be about it for that the rest of the way here. The video stuff.

Like, he, we talked to him just before the game. He said there's max three games left in our season. So we're done with the idea of coaching at the players and now you're coaching with them, which I think has kind of been his mentality, if you've listened to him, the whole way since coming to Vegas. But his point was any X's and O type stuff, he's going on. we're past that. Like, it's all mental at this point. Can you will your way to beat the team across from you twice out of the next three games?

He goes, you're more so just cheering on the guys instead of trying to break down systems and structure and all that sort of stuff. So that all, to me, plays into that of cheering them on where he's going, you're asking me about a goaltending decision? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. And he's going, I'm not even checking out of my hotel. room. I'm keeping my same rate. I'm keeping my room keys. Leaving everything hung up in my room, those same suits will be waiting for me when we get here for a game seven. That's how I interpreted all that too. I'm with you. Send the message. It's all about message sending. So a couple other things, you know, Ajo, Svetakov. As much as Brinemort didn't want to directly say it, post-

game on Thursday. He did say it before the series where he goes, if we're going to have a chance of winning this thing, like those guys need to have their say at some point. And Thursday night was the night you could see it all over Ajo's face after he scored. And two from Svechnakov on the power play. And we were talking to Craig Simpson afterwards just back at the hotel. And his point, he's lived it through two Stanley Cup runs and, you know, getting the game seven of a final on the coaching staff with the Oilers, that it just completely changes your bench when the guys that are looked upon to score on big moments come through there. And you could feel it with Carolina, especially when Aho made a 3-1 late in the second. That was a huge night for those guys.

You could see the relief in Ajo's face when he scored that goal. What a beautiful goal to kick to the skate and then kick to the stick, high, high skill play. you know, it's at this time of year, it's, it doesn't, we talk about this all the time. You can always rewrite your narrative. Svecnikov, I think, is a guy who hasn't done as much as his talent makes him able to do. And everything's forgotten now. Everything's forgotten now. Svecnikov, big night. Aho, huge goal, big night. It doesn't matter anymore. about the past. They got them to the precipice. And I think it's going to be interesting. This is a situation where I think the extra day off,

I always think if you win, you want to play right away. If I was Carolina, I'd hate the fact that I had to have two days off before this next game. I would want to go right away. Well, were you surprised that Brindamore said the opposite? I was glad they had the extra day? I was. But again, I think it goes to, I always think it goes to play the hand that you're dealt and make it sound the best to you.

Like, Brindamore's a master motivator, right? So what's the point of complaining about or saying this sucks? I almost look at it if you say like, oh, no, I hate this or this is bad. then you give your, you're immediately putting dark thoughts in your players' minds. You're putting things in their head that are excuses or, oh, no, this isn't the best. Always make it like you've been dealt a good hand. It's like there's a college basketball coach a long time ago. His name was Abe Lemons.

He says, never tell people what not to think. like Kyle, if I say, like for example, Kyle, if I tell you, don't think of a brown cow. What are you thinking about now? I don't know. You're thinking about a brown cow. Exactly.

So don't put anything in their head that's not good. And that's, I think, what Brindamore is doing. He's like, do I, does he like it? Maybe. I mean, I'd hate it. Maybe. But he's not giving any indication that it's not a good thing for them.

Nothing like that is happening. Elliot. Yes. Don't think about Kevin's shorts he was wearing after the game. I'm not going to go to sleep tonight. Let me just tell people out there, okay? If you're a 34 waist, don't wear 30 shorts, okay? He was trying to pull that off.

well he's got the thick thighs still from his playing days working against them really too much information yeah I suppose didn't mean to go down that road anything else on uh on the game west stankhoven by the way was great with you and and Dave in the pregame show yeah I love talking to the families there that's one of the best things about all this is just speaking to the family members that are there and

living it with their kids uh it's it's awesome And, you know, it's equally, it's, it's great for the winners. It's equally as hard for the losers. And, but all the, all the Carolina families, I, I don't know if they were going, if they lost this game, but they're, they're all going now. It's, you know, like, that's, like, I'm wondering about all these guys on Carolina who've, who've never won before. Like, you know, Stahl's won before. Slavin has at least played in enormous games like this at the Four Nations and of course this year at the Olympics.

Jarvis is at least the Olympic experience. Yeah. Carrey has a cup. Yeah. There's going to carry. That's a good one too. There's going to be a lot of guys on this Carolina team who have two days to think about the biggest game that you've ever played.

and I think you play big games all the time getting this far, but not like this, not like this. And, you know, this is one thing, I didn't get a chance to ask Brindamore this in the postgame. There were a lot of good questions. There just wasn't enough time left for me to ask. But I wonder what he remembers about 2006. They were up 3-1, and they had three chances to win it. So three times you had to think about that game, right? And I'm going to ask him about that.

Like, what do you remember about that? Just knowing that the next game you play, you can win the thing your whole life is built on. I remember, I was either you or Scott Oak that interviewed him before game seven that year. And he said something the effect of like there's a bit of, I don't know if relief was the word, but he almost the idea that there's peace knowing no matter what this is the final game we'll play this season you know now they would love to not have to worry about that and get it done in game six um but i do remember that being his feeling going into game seven 20 years ago the other thing too elliot so uh just mentioned quickly it triggered my mind by what you said

Logan Stancove in the morning of game one of the final Luke Fox went up to him and asked you know how'd you sleep how you feel it and he goes well to be honest I've kind of had trouble sleeping for a while now and and so I asked him a little bit more about it afterwards and he said you know really since they beat Ottawa in the first round

and and I remember again to go back to Craig Simpson he says you know at some point of course you're a good team, get in the playoffs, you know what ultimately you want to get to. But he says there comes a point along your playoff journey where something changes in your mind

and you actually are like, we could, like, we're good enough, we could win the Stanley Cup. And it's something you can actually like talk about with your teammates and stuff. So when he said, I was having trouble sleeping,

I just asked, I said, do you, like, is it something about the way your team's playing? Like, you actually think, like, there's a different feel of you could actually win the thing. and he said, yeah, he goes, there's just a, it's a different feeling that I haven't experienced before. And now, like, for him and everybody else, you had trouble sleeping all the way to this point.

Yeah, I can only imagine what these next two nights are like in trying to prepare for a 520 puck drop in Vegas on Sunday. It's an incredible, incredible thing. It has to be of that sort of mind frame. And to park everything aside, you know, the families are. coming and what could potentially be waiting for you. But you can't picture the end of the game before it starts. Going to be a long two and a half days for those guys. Long two and a half days.

You betcha. So, Kyle, before we move on from game five, there was a David Amber comment that you wanted to address. and let me just say that I'm glad you're doing this because when he said it, I was an absolute disbelief, but I did not have the time to deal with this on the air.

So I'll just set the scene here quickly. So a large chunk of our crew is a quick turnaround between four and five, right? Only one day you're losing three hours to travel. You can't fly. commercially, really direct, or it's very difficult to fly direct from Vegas to Raleigh. So a large portion of our crew took flights through Chicago on Wednesday. Unfortunately, there was bad weather in Chicago.

They were delayed. They were delayed. And eventually got to the point where their connecting flight in Chicago got canceled. So they had to stay overnight there. They had like a flight, the crack of dawn, Thursday morning, flew into Raleigh, and then had a full workday at the rink, working in the truck. Puck drop was 820. Now that we know the result, thank goodness for their sake, there was no overtime in this game. So we know that going in. And it's kind of an unspoken understanding that when you know you've got members of your crew that's had a really bad travel and you know they're in one.

for a long day. It's probably not the best time to be making comments like, oh, man, I'm really tired from this long playoff or, oh, boy, like travel's really been something. Especially for a few of us that were very fortunate, that there was a charter that the league provided for a select number of us on the rights holder side and people that work for the league just to ensure that we got there on the off day. and did not get hung up with travel. So then I could not believe my ears, whether it was either during the pregame, I think it was during the pregame show, right? It was either during that or the first intermission when,

oh, it was with chaos, because you were discussing line up stuff here for the game and you mentioned how Miftakov called up by Carolina and you said, I think they may have arranged a private plane for him to be brought into Carolina. and Dave on the air says something the effect of like, oh, private plane must be nice. Travel has been very difficult in this series.

And I'm like, you were on that chartered flight. We had the easiest of travel that there could be. And we've got half of our crew, half of our crew was like stranded at O'Hare the night before going on no rest, have been doing all the thankless jobs that comes with putting a live production on the air. And Dave, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed is like, yeah, travel's been really tough. Ron, back to you.

And Kevin actually did call him out immediately in response. That was so, Dave. That was so Dave. Yeah, his travel's been really brutal. Meanwhile, we had the, we had the, we had the charter where they were feeding us grapes and nectar of the gods. That's right. That's right.

Everyone had king beds on there. It was incredible. The plane was massive. Yeah, I'll just say, me and someone on our crew as soon as he said that, we were like, you've got to be kidding. Did he really just say that? So, anyway. You had to worry about fear of retaliation from Hurricanes fans upon landing here.

It did not happen. No, they were great. Now Dave has to worry about retaliation from our own crew. That is so funny. Oh, I'm so glad that he's getting called out for this. It was so brutal. Oh, fantastic. Okay, so game six on Sunday.

A couple of the things we want to go through on the news front. So a few weeks ago, it was the same day that you had reported that Dylan Larkin had requested a trade. Mark Spector dropped the piece reporting that the Oilers were looking into, really looking into moving on from Darnell Nurse. And then here on Thursday, both you and Speck combined for the report that Darnell Nurse himself have. requested a trade out of Edmonton. He has come to the conclusion that it is time. Yes. And if you'll remember a year ago,

the Oilers asked all of their players who had no trades if they would be willing or would consider or if they had any interest on waiving them. And Nurse said no. and it was a very emotional time because they just lost the final, and he was disappointed that it got out. This year, it sounds like they took a different approach and a better approach, and that was they had their exit meeting and then said, let's reconvene.

And as Mark reported last week, the Oilers were prepared to meet with him and tell him they wanted him to wave. This time, he was preemptive. He said, I'm not even going to have to make you ask me because I'm going to tell you I'm asking for a trade. Something along those lines. And I think the Oilers have been working at this for a little bit of time. And as we reported, it sounds like there's about three to five teams. And people are like asking me, is it Florida, Vegas, and Minnesota again?

or something like that. And no, I don't think it's like that. I think it's mostly East. I don't believe it's Canada, but I think it's mostly East. If there's a West team, and I say a stress if, because I don't know, I would think it would be L.A.

It's simply because he knows the manager there, but I've heard the preference is East and not likely to be Canada. And so that's, that's what I've heard. And the reason I think this got out after a few days or maybe even a week of conversations is that I think some teams who weren't on the list started to get wind of it and began to ask, you know, okay, are we on the list?

If not, could we get on it? Now, I think there is interest. I think there is legitimate interest. I do think Edmonton's going to be able to make a hockey deal here. You know, I will say this. I had one team tell me that the biggest issue is going to be retention and not like 50%. I don't think anybody thinks the Oilers are going to do that. But, you know, nurse's number is nine and a quarter.

You know, I had some people say to me, if it can come down to between seven and seven and a quarter, they think there's room for this to happen. And we'll see how quick it moves and we'll see where it goes. But I think it all depends here in what everyone's willing to do. But I did hear that there was legit interest and there were some teams who didn't think they were on their list that were finding out if it would be possible that nurse would have interest in them. And like I said, it all depends on what everyone's willing to do here. But based on what I heard, there is the ability to make a hockey trade. Hmm.

And I imagine with where the salary cap is going probably helps Edmonton somewhat in trying to get a trade over the finish line here. Yep. Or it certainly can't hurt. Yeah. Okay. And you know what? There were some reporters. I think Jackie Spiegel was one.

of them from Philly, who said that they think the flyers are a team with interest, that would make sense to me. It actually would. But, you know, I don't know what the full, what the list is yet. So we'll have to see how it plays out. All right. And the ongoing interest in looking into possibly hiring Mike Babcock story, where does that stand? Well, as I heard on Friday, on Thursday morning, it's in a stasis. the NHL has initiated an investigation. I think the Oilers have not backed away from this yet. I think they'll wait to see what the NHL says. Marty Walsh did an interview during, before the game on Thursday night,

he went on with Dave Pagnoda and Irf Ghafar. And he had an interesting quote, where he said that there have been some reports that the players push this. Listen, it's the GM, the president, the owner of a team who hires a coach, not the players. Trying to put that on the players, that's not the way it should work here. And again, I completely understand why Marty Walsh is saying that. And I think that the Players Association is doing what the Players Association should do here. And that is push this.

There's issues that's been raised by players in the past. And he should push hard to make sure his players are protected. I also understand why he's saying that you have to defend your players as a group. But I will respectfully disagree with him on the one level. It may not be put on the players because he is right that, you know, ultimately the owner makes the final decision there in Edmonton, but there is a group of players that really does support this move. And, you know, I think that's one of the challenges here is that I think the players do support the move, at least the ones who met with Babcock. I do think a lot of the challenges are being led by agents of players who are concerned that, you know, A, their player maybe wasn't consulted on the hire or their player may be traded to Edmonton. I think that's very real.

You know, that one of the challenges for the investigation is going to be that, you know, I reached out to some players that were, like, there have been reporting. ports that there was other stuff that God Babcock fired in Columbus and aside from just looking at the phones. Well, I think a lot of us are looking into it. I had some interactions with a couple players who were on that Columbus team and they were really upset that this came up three years later. You know, basically what a couple of them said to me was that was three years ago. We've moved on and we do not want to, you know, we don't want to talk about this anymore. And I think they were a bit annoyed. They kind of felt that whatever was started three years ago should have been finished.

And it's not something they're particularly interested in rehashing or going over at this point in time. Now, ultimately, you know, if you're asked to participate in the investigation, I think you pretty much have to. But I think there's been some frustration about it. You know, Betman has a lot of power here. He has a lot of power. He's got a CBA with the players that he has to hold on to and he can't act outside of that or it can be grieved. You know, coaches are different. There's no CBA between the coaches and the league.

And, you know, Betman has a lot of power because of that. And I don't know how he's going to rule here. I'm sure he's going to be looking to find out whatever else may have happened, whatever other incidents may have occurred in Columbus. But the last I heard before we recorded this on Thursday is the Oilers were still prepared to wait this out and see where it goes. And we'll see what the timeline is for Betman. You know, Marty Walsh also said there's no timeline.

I had heard that the league wanted to deal with this pretty quickly. I think that they want to reach a ruling and don't want this continuing any longer than it has to. But, you know, as I was reminded, Betman has a lot of power in these situations. So a lot of it's going to be up to him. Well, that's just said. Like you mentioned the power that he has in when it comes to coaching hire. or other hires around the league that doesn't pertain to players,

you know, regardless of what comes of this investigation, could there still be a world where the commissioner goes to the Oilers? I'm not comfortable with you making this hire. Is that possible? He could. Absolutely he could. Okay. I think a lot of this stuff happens behind the scenes.

Right. in other situations you mean? Yeah. That just we don't hear about. Okay. All right. So it remains busy in Edmonton. Very busy.

How about in Colorado? So Joe Sackick meets with the media on Thursday, along with Josh Kronki, representing Colorado ownership. And among the things that Sackick says is that Jared Bednar, the staff aren't going anywhere at this time. at this time and had some interesting things to say around Kale Makar as well. Yeah, so basically he said we're signing him, and I'm not going to disagree with Joe Sackett about anything. The other thing that I thought was interesting was he said that everybody will be ready for training camp.

And that's good news because, like I said, I'd heard that McCar potentially might not be. So I'm glad to hear that that was wrong and that apparently McCar is going to be ready on time. But I'm very curious to see what that McCar deal is going to look like. I mean, they can sign them to an extension on July 1st. And as you heard, and the one thing I do believe is that every decision that Colorado's made has been about, we have to be able to sign kale McCar. everything. It has, eventually they're going to have to extend McKinnon, too, and we'll see what that looks like.

But everything they've done over the past few years, even the rant and stuff to a large degree, was about McCar and what his number could be. So I'm not surprised in the least bit he would say that. He confirmed that Jared Bednar and the coaching staff would be back. I wasn't surprised to hear that. I was a little bit surprised to hear that everybody was going to be okay, but I'm happily proven to be wrong on that. I'm not surprised he would say that we're keeping McCar.

I'm just very curious to see what that number is going to be. And I was also very interested that they doubled down on the team. And they said, nope, this is our group and we'll try to make it better. But I believe in this group. and it's going to be interesting now. I think the other thing that's going to be a tell here is, how long does he keep the GM title or who does he bring in? Because I think the organization believes that Andrew Cogliano in particular

has a big, big future. But does that mean that Cogliano gets more responsibility now or does he go out and get somebody else? Maybe not even as a GM, but just adds to his front office. Sackick is how long he keeps that chair or how he structures things around him is going to be pretty interesting because McFarlane did a lot of heavy lifting there, a lot. Yeah, and he's lived that in the past too. So wouldn't be surprised if the wheels aren't already.

in motion, at least on a theory type level of who that next guy could be for the avalanche. But we'll see. It's, you know, the, in the NHL contracts end on June 30th. The year is from July 1st to June 30th. I think it could be interesting this year. It sounds like there's going to be a little bit of movement. Front office roles, you mean? Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Someone just said to me, better start looking around. Yeah, I mean, we've seen a little bit already, right? Yep. And then, you know, Patrick Alvin now takes an assistant GM role in Seattle. Pascal Vincent, becomes an assistant coach with the Cracken also. So there's two more examples.

And, I mean, you would talk about the idea or the likelihood that Alvin was, likely, the likelihood that Alvin was headed to Seattle with the history with Jason Bottle, both working together in Pittsburgh. So I suppose none of what we saw out of Seattle on Thursday was a surprise. Did you see Vincan coming and joining the staff there? No, I didn't. I'd actually heard it was a possibility that Jay Leach could end up there, but he obviously now is the new head coach of Hartford.

Yeah. The other thing I wanted to mention was Seattle is, that they needed a new head coach and their women's team and Christine Bumstead got hired. Somebody I keep in touch with in hockey circles is a huge fan of hers and asked for a shoutout.

So I wanted to do that too. So Pascal Vincent, that's a good step up for him. He leaves Laval. It'll be interesting to see what LaValle does there. They have an assistant coach there, Daniel Jacob, who's a couple of people told me they wouldn't be surprised if he potentially

became the head coach of the team. And also, as we mentioned, last pod, San Diego has an opening now because Matt McElvane went to the Bruins. Dave Manson is there in San Diego. And again, similar, it's a possibility I heard that he could just be promoted to the head coaching job. So, and I've always liked Dave Manson. So I would have no problem with him being a head coach somewhere if he wanted to be. By the way, before we do final thought, I wanted to shout out. One of our frequent listeners, Michael Russo, is 52 today. Oh, yes. Happy birthday, Russo. Happy birthday, Michael. You do not look a day older than 51. Yes. And still running a very clean ship when it comes to the game-winning goal pool in the Stanley Cup final.

Yes. And who was it the one game five? Ed Olchuk, who's won a few times, I think. Yeah. Well, he can pick ponies and he can pick game-winning goals scores. Yes, he can. Clearly. Well done, Mike. Happy birthday to you. Okay, let's get to the final thought brought to you by your Canadian Toyota dealers. And to kick off the pregame show on Thursday night, Elliot, the Hart Trophy winner for 2526 was unveiled. Nikita Kuturov captures it for the second time in his career, just narrowly edging out Connor McDavid by 10 points. for first in the voting.

It was, according to the good people at SportsnetStats, the closest Hart Trophy vote since 01-02, when Jose Theodore and Jerome McGinnla actually tied on points, but Theodore had more first-place votes, so it was awarded the hearts. Somebody left Ginnla off the ballot, and that's why Theodore won. Really?

That was an, yeah, that was an ugly one. I remember, first of all, I don't want to cheapen Theodore in any way, shape, or form. He was very deserving that year. But I remember after it was over, it turned out somebody had left a Ginla completely off their ballot. And I don't ever remember what happened,

but there was a hunt for that person. And I remember that people, everybody seized the votes. I think there were people who wanted to know who that voter was. Yeah, yeah, aye. Well, I guess that's probably one of the reasons, again, everything is public now. Yes.

So this was, and we talked about it when the votes were initially due just before the playoffs started. This was another category. I think many of us pulled our hair out over. Yeah. And there was a number of, yeah, and there was a number of different combinations that were absolutely defensible and Kutrov, I mean, I had him first on my ballot, but whether it was him or McDavid or McKinnon, like I, there's, there's a small handful that you could absolutely look at and go, had they won, saying, yeah, I could totally see why they ended up with

the most votes. How did you feel about this result? I can't argue with it. I had McDavid first. I just think at the end of the day, the record with games where he got points as opposed to where he didn't, it put him over everyone for me. Like to me, that was a true MVP, but I'm not complaining about Kuturov. The biggest victory of Kuturov winning the Hart Trophy is from all of us who get bombarded by Tampa fans saying,

how come nobody respects Kuturov? That is over. Put that complaint. in your cellar and lock it down there. It's so funny. I remember I went down to Tampa this year, and I did some interviews with Tampa Media and Tampa Bay Lightning, and they were like,

it was a Cooper interview before the Olympics. And it was so funny, like Dave Randorf, who's an absolutely awesome guy, is like, how come nobody here respects Kutjarov? And Braden Coburn in his pod, they were like, people don't respect Kutrov. And I'm like, guys, you cannot be more wrong about this.

People respect Kuturov. It is hard to win the hard trophy. The best thing about Kuturov winning is we don't have to hear this complaint anymore. If you could win the hard trophy in this year with Kuturov and David and McKinnon and I had Macklin-Sellerbrini second, then there's no more complaining. People respect Kutjurov. Yes, they do. Yes.

And again, before votes were cast and ballots were submitted, we had the conversation that are we as a hockey community going to regret somewhere down the line all these years later, looking back and thinking, how did Nikita Kutra of only win one heart trophy over his career? And of course, it's not a legacy award. He was full value with as great as some of the other candidates were deserving of a heart trophy again. That was the final thought brought to you by your Canadian Toyota dealers.

And why don't we take our first break? When we come back, a brand spanking new edition of The Thought Line and plenty more. You're listening to 32 Thoughts, the podcast, more after the break. Okay, welcome back. It's time now for the thought line presented by BetMGM, Make It Legendary. Elliot, did you have to use the buddy system leaving the hotel when you got back to Raleigh the other day? Are you okay? Would anyone try to inflict harm after you came right out of the gates last pod and said, Hurricanes fans, I had no faith in your team. I don't think that's exactly what I said, but I do appreciate it.

That's the way you heard it, right? Yes. No, Carolina fans, all class. But we are taping this before the tailgate. So we'll see what happens once I get to the ring for the game tonight. But no issues so far, nor do I expect any, these fans, all class. Don't go too rural later this evening. That's right. That's right.

I may not be his understanding. Okay, any shoutouts? There's a quick turnaround coming from games. four to five, but only one. Only one. I wanted to shout out Maverick Turnbull, a three-year-old from Prince George, British Columbia, a big fan of the local team, the WHL Cougars. Maverick is three years old, as mentioned. He's at Canucks Place Children's Hospital right now in Vancouver. And the other day, he was visited by a group that included Conor Baderd, Fraser Minton, Kent Johnson, and Alexei Chichkin,

who played for the Cougars, was traded to Red Deer this year, is a WHL defenseman. And we're going to be recording a video for Maverick at the game tonight. I just wanted to shout out Maverick and wish him and his family all the best. Awesome. That's great. And of course, Maverick would be a huge fan of Carson Carls, too,

of course, will be drafted this June. later on this month and was at game four of the Stanley Cup final. And he said Jim Playfares had a huge influence on his time when he got to Prince George. Big time and learned a lot from him there. So a lot of good things going on in Prince George. Carol's being one of them. So all the best to you, Maverick. Excellent.

That's my only one for today. And it's a beauty. Okay. A couple submissions for this edition. Elliot and we begin with Scott from Vegas. Hello, gentlemen. In light of the clever rules such as the jailbreak rule in the PWHL, I came up with this rule I'd like to propose.

Instead of the penalized team choosing which player to send to the box on a too many players on the ice or a penalty against the goaltender, what if it was the team that was going on the power play that gets to choose? After all, why would a penalized team get to have a say in which player has to serve the penalty? It would be a little extra advantage to take away a key defender or a team's best face-off person, don't you think? I have to say Scott and Kyle, but mostly Scott, I love that idea. I absolutely love the idea. Too many men or something like that, we want to put, I don't know, your best player, your best penalty killer in one of your defensemen.

in the penalty box, I think it's great. Fantastic. Yeah. I hope somewhere they adopt that idea, just to see it in practice. Because, you know, some teams may take a different strategy. Maybe it's a defense when they want to take off. Maybe depending on maybe their power play runs more from the top.

So they want to take a good forward penalty killer out of the rotation. Or it's a face-off person has got. alluded to in the question. Like there's so many different ways you can go about it. I like it. It makes sense and it would hopefully incentivize more offense. So bring it on. I'm with a great idea.

Scott, you are the next commissioner of the NHL. Yes, that's right. That is the succession plan Gary is not talking about. He has got Scott lined up. Hence why we were all in Vegas while we were enjoying our time off for the two days in between three and four, heavy negotiating between Scott and Commissioner Bettman over a succession plan. Now it makes sense. Okay, Riley from Lloyd Minster, hello, Kyle Dom and Elliot.

After the hurricane's victory to tie the series of two games apiece, my friend and I have been having a debate all playoffs about whether visiting teams who have to travel back home, for example, game five back at home, then game six in Vegas, knowing they are returning, does the equipment staff have protocols in place for what gear or jerseys they bring back with them versus what they can leave in the visiting teams dressing rooms? Seems to me that it would make sense that the road jerseys and select gear would stay to expedite the process of loading and unloading equipment that would not be used at home for game five.

I love this question, Elliot, and had never considered it before. So I asked around at the rink this morning. And it's Riley is bang on. So Vegas did it after game two, knowing that at minimum they were coming back here for a game five. And Carolina did the same thing, leaving Vegas after game four, knowing there would be a game six regardless of what happened in the fifth game of the Stanley Cup final. So, yeah, we are recording this earlier in the day on Thursday, and I asked at the skate.

Now, Riley, what's interesting, Riley asked or suggested that the jerseys, because obviously Carolina is not going to wear white here at home, they would be left behind. It would make total sense. However, that was brought back with them, I think. I could see them not wanting to leave the jerseys behind. for the exact reason you think they're going, someone said to me today, it would probably be fine,

but it is just not worth the risk. 100%. 100%. So I'm pretty important. 100% with you at all times. So I think that player's equipment, I actually think all of that, though the away version of those,

would not be worn here for game five. All of that was brought back. The things that were left behind would be more extra padding for equipment, extra skate laces, tapes, things like that, that you know you can do with All those sticks of gum. All the sticks of gum. That's right.

All the juicy fruit was left behind knowing that they are coming back. So the equipment that you would see on the ice, I think that they took with them out of an abundance of caution. But it's more so all the extra stuff that's brought on the road anytime an NHL team goes anywhere. Those were the stuff that was more so left behind just to make things a little easier. And it sounds like Vegas did the same thing after game two. I think it's a, I think it's really smart thing to do. And I'm not surprised about the jerseys.

Great question, Riley. And I'm glad you did the work, Kyle. Yeah, well, it's funny. It's one of the equipment guys for Carolina was saying that, uh, so, you know, as much as it was great going. Is this the equipment guy who goes and plays goal in the morning? It was George Alves. Yes. It was George Alves. Yeah. So he went from being out, taking shots at the end of the morning skates as the high point of his day to then having to speak to me. Yes. It all came crashing down from very quickly.

But very nice man, as many know that have come across before. And so he was kind of joking that, you know, as much as it was a little easier for them. And fewer things to load and unload on the off day, even leaving the rink after game four, it was like, okay, we've left this here, but is there anything that we should bring back that I'm not thinking of bringing back as opposed to just everything goes on to the truck and then onto the plane? You're kind of second guessing yourself going, I hope I didn't leave anything behind that we didn't think we needed back home that we actually do need. So there's always something in your back of your mind going, all right, what have we forgotten? Good question. Great question. Yes. Yes. Really good. Okay, we have one final one here, Elliot, and it is a voicemail from Ozzy. Hi, Kyle, Dom, and Elliot. My name is Ozzy. I am seven years old. I live in Squamish, BC, and I'm a big fan of the Canucks. I heard that the Canucks might draft, Kayla Mahaltra, son of new head coach Manny Mahaltra. When with the third overall pick, my question is, are there any other examples of a father coaching his son in the NHL?

keep up the great work. You keep me and my dad entertained on our drive to the rink. Awesome. Well, great question, young man. And off the top of my head, and first of all, thank you very much for allowing us to entertain your drive to the rink. I know it's much more fun than listening to your dad talk. So happy to do it for you.

So there's two I can remember, Ozzy, off the top of my head. Number one is more recent. That was Adam Lowry, the captain of the Jets and his dad, Dave, Dave coached them a couple of years ago. And then the other one I remember off the top of my head, and I actually looked it up while I was listening to your question, just to get the timing right, were Bill and Kevin Denine with the Philadelphia Flyers. and I didn't remember this until I just searched it, but Kevin Denene had been traded to Philly from Hartford, and then I think three weeks after they traded for him, they fired their coach and put Bill Denin in as the replacement.

So that one was definitely not intentional. It was kind of fluky. It was an in-season trade followed by an in-season firing. Are there any else I'm missing out there, Kyle? Yes, actually a few. I was surprised. Oh, really? On the top of my head?

I don't remember. Okay. One of which is actually more recent than Dave and Adam Lowry. And it pertains to the Stanley Cup final. Oh, Rod and Scholar Brindamor, of course. Yes, yes. So that's another one. There's eight in total.

Eight. Eight examples. Yeah. So you want me to just go through them? Sure. Okay. So, yeah, you were right with the two that came to your mind initially. Lester Patrick coached two of his sons.

Hmm. That's like in the 1920s, right? Yeah, Lynn Patrick and Muzz. Bernie Jeffrion coached his son, Danny, for the Canadians. You know what? I actually kind of thought about the Jeffreon. but I didn't, I should have at least suggested it. Yeah, that's, that's a miss by me.

They ran into my head there, but I didn't, I didn't mention. Yeah, I wouldn't have thought that that was 100% though. Okay. And two others, Punch Imlock coached his son Brent for the Leafs. Ah, yes, you're right. And lastly, with Detroit, Sid Abel coached his son, Jerry. I would never have gotten that one. I mean, you got more than I would have.

That's pretty impressive. The two recent ones? Yeah, yeah, eight. So with the possibility of being nine, depending on how the draft shakes out in June. So great question, Ozzy. Thank you for sending that in. Yes, Ozzie.

Thank you very much. Much appreciated. Okay, that was the thought line presented by BetMGM. Make it legendary. If you would like to submit a voicemail of your own like Ozzy did. You can do so at 1833, 311, 32, 32, or you can do it

the old-fashioned way and send an email to 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca. One final break. When we come back, we'll wrap up this edition of the pod and some music to get to as well to play us out. Stay tuned. All right, another two-day break before Sunday night,

game six of the Stanley Cup final, back in Vegas. Hockey Central, the pregame show on the air at 730, Eastern, 4.30, Pacific time, on Sportsnet. Puck drop a little after 8 Eastern or 5 local time from T-Mobile Arena on Sportsnet and CBC. The first time in this final, the Stanley Cup, can be won. Carolina, one win away, but as you heard from John Tortorella, all but guaranteeing we'll be back here in Raleigh for a game 7.

The plot continues to thicken in this tremendous Stanley Cup final. So we will talk to you post-game 6 as in Monday morning, just like old time's sake. Have yourselves a great weekend. Taking us out today is a track from Olivia Penalva, who is a Canadian pop singer-songwriter, known for her ethereal vocals, emotionally rich melodies, and introspective storytelling. Her music has been described as a weighted blanket for the soul, soothing, immersive, and deeply resonant, blending intimate lyrics with lush cinematic production,

With millions of worldwide streams and YouTube views, Olivia has built a dedicated global fan base drawn to her evocative storytelling and emotional honesty. Beyond the studio, she thrives in live performance, creating personal and powerful moments with audiences. With new music on the horizon, Olivia continues to evolve artistically, inviting listeners to follow along as her journey and sound unfolds. This track along with all the others, we have featured this, season can be found on a playlist on Spotify. Dom Shramatti was kind enough to put together. 32 Thoughts, the music. Here is Olivia Penalva, and Distance Makes a Love Story on 32 Thoughts, the podcast.

I'm coming on last week, but I still, but you know nothing should take.