32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Patrick Roy Is Back in the NHL

Episode Date: January 22, 2024

Jeff and Elliotte open the podcast talking about the New York Islanders hiring Patrick Roy as their new head coach and dive into which player this hire helps most within the Islanders roster (13:39). The guys talk about Corey Perry deciding to sign with the Edmonton Oilers (18:17), and the Vancouver Canucks extending President of Hockey Ops Jim Rutherford (22:14). Jeff also asks Elliotte how "all-in" the Canucks are for this season (26:48). They also get into Shane Pinto's return to play with Ottawa and what an extension might look like for him (28:22). Jeff and Elliotte then discuss Ryan Reaves using the media to angle for more playing time, and Ilya Samsonov possibly commanding the Leafs' net (32:58). Jeff wraps the podcast with some of his usual hockey history hijinks (55:40). The guys answer your questions in the Montana’s Thought Line (45:12).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

I know you're not a big NFL fan, but I was watching something, I think. My kids are. Oh, they are, eh? Yeah, the playoffs were really good. Oh, they were living and dying with that Bill's Chiefs game tonight. I still understand how that kick missed. And, like, I'm not going to make fun of the Bill's fans. Lee Norwood.

Wide right. Not Lee Norwood. Lee Norwood's defenseman for the Red Wings and the Blues. Scott Norwood. Oh, that's right. Scott Norwood. Sorry. Going to start today's

podcast with a quiz for elliot he's had a horrible travel day he's a little bit sleepy maybe a little bit punchy so i'm gonna hit him with a trivia question oh great what a way to start welcome to 32 thoughts the podcast presented as always by the gmc sierra america alongside friedman and dom schramatti okay elliot what do the Atlantic, the Metropolitan, the Central, and the Pacific all have in common now? Their divisions in the National Hockey League. Thank you very much,

Cliff Clavin, people who have not been in my kitchen. No, Elliot, they've all had coaching changes. All four divisions have had coaching changes. The most recent one, the york islanders after losing in overtime to the chicago blackhawks say goodbye to lane lambert and hello to wait a minute did lou lambrilla really just hire patrick wah he sure did he sure did and so jeff when patrick wah resigned from the colorado avalanche seven and a half years ago. He caught them by surprise.

They were absolutely shocked and it happened late in the year and they had to scramble. It was in August. Now it worked out well for them in the sense that Chris McFarland, who's the general manager there now, he worked in Columbus with Jared Bednar and he pushed hard for Bednar who eventually won a Stanley Cup coaching there. So it did work out but at the time Watt took a lot of heat for the way he did it and also there were teams who said I can never hire this guy now because you never know if you can trust him. If he doesn't like the way your team is going, is he just gonna quit on you and bolt and leave you in the lurch? And Wah admitted in his media call on Saturday that he thought the phone would

be ringing off the hook for him. He didn't think he'd have any problem and he did. And you know it's very clear that that resonated with Wah and he made a point to say again that he was at fault for the way he did that but eventually you come to a point like anyone else in life as long as your foul or the thing that you did wrong was not so egregious that it can't be forgiven that you earn the right to show that you have changed. And I think over the last little while that had really begun to happen with Wah. When a couple of years ago when Ottawa hired DJ Smith, they interviewed Wah.

There was some real debate over how serious that was, but he got an interview and just getting that interview moved the line Nick Kiprios has talked about if his group had gotten the Ottawa Sanders he was going to push for was hiring but I've been told there was a team and you know Doug Armstrong has made it very clear that he wasn't going to update the coaching search but there are some teams who believe that St. Louis had Waugh on their radar and it does kind of fit with the way that Doug Armstrong thinks whatever the case is it's very clear to me that Waugh was getting closer to getting his next chance which he wanted very badly

like the one thing nobody should forget about here is that even though Patrick Waugh has said all the right things since he was hired by the New he loves coach and he loves hockey but Patrick Waugh is the kind of guy and we saw it in Montreal in December 1995 who was motivated if you doubt him or you don't believe he can do something he's going to shove it where the sun don't shine and there you know he does he want to make Lou Lamorello look good yes does he want to win games yes but he will always be motivated to prove that anyone who doubted him you made a mistake and I think I think a lot of what this is going to be about is I should have gotten my second chance a long time before this one Jeff just you before we drill down a little bit more on Patrick Waugh and by the way one of the issues with the avalanche that you know Patrick was was uncomfortable with that

you know eventually led to him leaving the organization is he wanted to have greater say on player personnel I remember talking to him a lot of this came to a leaving the organization is he wanted to have greater say on player personnel. I remember talking to him. A lot of this came to a head at the Philadelphia draft when the Colorado Avalanche drafted Connor Bleakley from the Red Deer Rebels for the Western Hockey League. And Wa felt that they needed defensemen, and that's who they should be looking at drafting. And I remember asking him about that specifically at the Memorial Cup when it

was at the Coliseum in Quebec city, the last ever games at that fabled arena. And I asked him about that event. He said, yeah, that's true. You know, I didn't want them to draft Conor Bleakley. I said that, look, you know, we're in a position now in the NHL where kids have the ability to jump into the NHL after they're drafted by a year, maybe two years,

we need to be thinking strategically and start to populate our team by way of position. He said, essentially, I didn't want Conor Bleakley, and I made my opinion very well known. I wanted defense. I don't think, Elliot, that Patrick Waugh is going to have any opportunity to voice his opinion about player personnel with the current general manager of the Islanders.

By the way, I have to say, that's one of the things I really love about Wa the most is when you ask him a question, he's going to give you an answer. Oh, yeah. There's no ducking here. There's no politically correct speech. Yeah, that's true. I thought that I didn't like that pick

and I wanted to do something different. He's just just gonna tell you i remember because we were doing that we like going over our notes like okay who do you have on the intermissions today and it's uh oh we have patrick walk coming up he's he's here and uh i'm like i'm gonna ask him about connor bleakley like i'm just gonna throw it out there what's the worst that can happen and sure enough to your point patrick you know right away yeah, that's how I felt. Yeah, the Philadelphia draft, yeah, that was a bad one for us, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, move along. Does this surprise you by Lou Lamorello?

I mean, we think of Lou as the button-down, conservative, very safe choice. Does it surprise you that it was Lou that did this? No, it does not surprise me in the in the least bit uh because uh Lou Amorello um first of all he's always had a fascination with the Montreal Canadiens he's talked about that before the Canadians the Yankees the Vince Lombardi Packers I know that's older than a lot of us but he's had that who's that dad he's had that fast although I have, dad? He's had that fast. Although I have to say this, when it comes to Patrick Wise era of the Canadians, it generally tends to be before that.

I asked him about this once and he didn't give me a great answer because I think it was sensitive at the time. But I think he tried to hire Scotty Bowman at least once as the head coach of the Devils so I think he at least asked him once if he would be interested so and also don't forget he had Larry Robinson as a head coach who won a Stanley Cup with him before he had certain Jacques Jacques Lemaire he had Jacques Lemaire as a head coach he had Jacques Laperrier there so he's had that now he's had that fascination with the Canadians now Waugh is a bit later than a lot of other those other guys although he did play with Larry Robinson that whole Canadians mystique

it doesn't surprise me but the other thing is I just think that uh patrick was the kind of guy that uh lou lamorello would want on his team you know if you take a look at some of those key devils scott stevens ken danico uh wa similar kind of personality right so and And I do think, too, that when you make a coaching change, oftentimes you're looking for something different than what you had. Lane Lambert, more reserved, kept himself very calm, and at least publicly. You never know what someone is like behind the scenes. I think he wanted somebody like Wah who was going to press all their buttons.

And, you know, it was really interesting for me as I was traveling home on Sunday. There was a lot of video tweeted. I did get a chance to see while I was working Toronto, Seattle, some of the Islanders broadcast. And they're showing how animated Waugh is. And some people were surprised by it, some people weren't, but if you've ever dealt with Patrick Waugh before, he's a very, very animated guy. And it says to me that that is exactly what Lamorello was looking for.

He was looking for somebody who would light more of an emotional fire under the team. And that is probably what was best at. Now, the other thing I wanted to bring up, Jeff, and it didn't happen in New York. The owners were Barry Trotz's third job and Lane Lambert's first as a head coach. third job and Lane Lambert's first as a head coach. But if you go back to his time in New Jersey, when he hired Jacques Lemaire, that was Lemaire's second coaching job. When he hired Robbie Fittorik,

that was Robbie Fittorik's second coaching job in the NHL. If you take a look at Larry Robinson, that was Larry Robinson's second coaching job. Kevin Constantine and Pat Burns were a bit more than Constantine was his third and Burns was, you know, third or fourth. There's several coaches there, Jacques Lemaire, Robbie Fittorik, Larry Robinson, who when he hired them, it was their second coaching jobs and one of the things I'd heard in recent days um Claude Julien by the way it was his second coaching job in New Jersey after Montreal um but one of the things I'd heard in the aftermath of this and I could not get this confirmed. So if it's wrong, I'm sure I will hear about it. But apparently, apparently,

Lou Lamorello has done a lot of research into at what stop are coaches most successful. And you know what the answer is? According to what I understand, the research that he has done,'s number two second it's your second job so I do think that he puts I've heard he put stock into this and like I said you know in in Toronto that was not applicable to him in New York he Barry Trotz was third and Lane Lambert was first. But if you go back to his time in New Jersey, there were a lot of very successful head coaches there on his second job.

And apparently he's done the work on it. If I'm wrong about this, I'm going to get a phone call from the 201 area code on Monday that I'm not going to enjoy. But I have heard that that is the case. You know, that's interesting. You know, you start to think about it psychologically, your second job, you've been, you know, humbled by being fired from your first job. You're still young enough into your profession and your career in the NHL that you're still in learning mode and the cement hasn't hardened around a lot of your

ideas. You haven't become cynical. Maybe that's your third job. So maybe Elliot, it does make sense that the second job is the sweet spot of the bat for coaches. If you think about it that way. Well, like I said, if I'm wrong about this,

I am absolutely going to hear, you know, the first guy he hired, I believe was Jim Schoenfeld and Jim Schoenfeld's job in New Jersey was his second coaching job after Buffalo. So even if I'm wrong about him doing the research, I am right about during his most successful times in New Jersey. He had coaches there that were on their second try.

It was either a strategy or a coincidence, Elliot. The listeners figure it out. Please don't call me if I'm wrong. Elliot's had a long weekend. I've had a long life. So here becomes one of the questions then. And you look for, okay, who did Patrick Waugh have in Colorado that he has with the Islanders now?

And the answer is Semyon Varlamov. But I do wonder about, you know, which players get the bump? Like, which players, like, who does this specifically help? Does this help Bo Horvat, who might be Patrick Waugh's favorite player, scoring the overtime winner against the Dallas Stars? Is it Matt Barzell, a little bit freer to skate? Is it young Noah Dobson? Is there one player that you have in mind considering, like, let's keep in mind too, this is an older team. Is there a player that you have in mind that you think, or maybe a couple

of players that benefit from this move more perhaps than others? Okay, so I didn't get a chance to watch their first game very much. Like I said, I was working Seattle, Toronto, and also I was overtired. We'll get to our travel issues in just a minute. Romanov scored the first goal. It was really nice. I'd be thinking about putting him on the left side of Horvat and Barzell. That was a nice goal. Really great shot.

But I just sent a note to someone I know who watches them really closely, and I said, was there anything you noticed? And it's one game, and you don't want to jump to any conclusions, but was there anything you noticed that was really different? And the couple things that got mentioned to me number one was um you know Horvat got out right at the beginning of the overtime and uh I think it was Horvat Barzell and that hasn't always happened um they said that uh some of their top lines were on the ice late in regulation in tight situations, which hasn't always happened. And the other thing, too, is that they thought, at least to their eyes, they were trying to defend the blue line a little bit more aggressively.

Now, we'll see if this is all just a one-time thing or this is going to be the way it goes. But those were some of the differences that, you know, just someone who watches the Islanders a bit closely, more closely than I do at times, noticed from his first game. You know, the one thing that stands out with me about Wai is I had this conversation with someone after he was hired on Saturday afternoon and, you know, the Islanders defensive zone has not been great this year. And he said to me that one of the things about him is that while he's known for his fire, he's a better X's and O's coach than he gets credit for. And also, he really knows the game.

Not only, you know, just from an x's and o's perspective but just like small little things the great players see and you know one of the things i think people are kind of wondering about is is he going to bring um a technical coach with him over the next couple of weeks the islanders obviously haven't made any changes on the on the staff besides Waugh or is he going to say no I can see this and just some ways I'm going to deploy people differently or defend the blue line that's going to be enough so one game in it's it's impossible to know if this is a tell but those are the changes I noticed and how much money on the board do you think there's going to be when the islanders go to montreal this week jeff oh uh absolutely and

you know the technically coaches are not allowed to do that nudge nudge wink wink know what i mean ron wilson sorry let's clear my throat here ron wilson sorry um the uh one of the things that i can't stop thinking about as well do you know we have the potential for maybe as early as this season elliott's islanders rangers or laviolette tortorella or lavi or laviolette wah tortorella wah Laviolette Wa? Tortorella Wa? Is that what you're talking about? Yes. Philadelphia and the New York Islanders. You're not dying to watch seven games between John Tortorella and Patrick Wa.

Come on. But even like Laviolette is an underrated snapper too. Yeah. He's no shrinking violet either you know it would be it would be fantastic there's there's no question about that it would be it would be really really awesome to watch awesome to watch metropolitan metropolitan division just got really, really interesting. And the Edmonton Oilers, on a 13-game rip, Elliot, are about to get more interesting as well. We expect the announcement officially on Monday.

Corey Perry to the Oilers. Yes, I do think that'll be announced on Monday. I think it'll be at the NHL minimum with the possibility of some bonuses. You know, I have to say, obviously, I was not as surprised about this one as I was about Patrick Waugh. But, you know, I'd be curious to know, and I'm sure the Oilers will talk about this more on Monday, is did they think they were absolutely certain that they were going to get him?

And, you know, one of the things I absolutely believe that Perry was weighing was how quote unquote loud a place does he want to go to? Edmonton is a Canadian market, a very intense one with a team that has reestablished itself as a Stanley Cup contender. And that is not a quiet place to play. And I had heard, as I'd mentioned to you several times, one of the questions was, would he want to stay away from that situation? Now, I do think he was considering, like a couple teams from quote-unquote

louder markets had reached out to him. I think some teams from quieter markets had reached out to him. I think some of his former teams had interest out to him. I think some of his former teams had interest, but I'm not sure if it was late Saturday night or early Sunday morning when ultimately the decision was made. It might have been Sunday morning, but I'm not 100% sure on that. I also have no doubt that just like they did with some other players they've recruited, Edmonton's Twin Towers and Nuclear Weapons

may have been a part of this recruitment as well. But the Oilers, and I'm expecting that they're going to put a player on waivers on Monday. I'm going to be very curious to see if Holloway, who was just called back up from Bakersfield after an injury, is the guy who plays with Perry, at least to start, whenever Perry returns to the NHL. But like I said, I was moderately surprised it was the Oilers

because there was definitely some conversation about was a Canadian market the right place. But ultimately, it is edmonton um edmonton has been interested in corey perry for a while he didn't get a shot last year because you know chicago made the move and signed him you know pretty much right away so edmonton really didn't get a chance at him uh in the off season but this is someone that the Oilers have had on their radar for a little while. I agree with that.

I agree with that. Look, he can still help teams win. There's no question about it. And again, without knowing 100% of the details, I don't want to weigh in on exactly what occurred in Chicago with with the caveats that you know he he was he was never uh put on any list where he had reinstatement although teams did want to know that the league would not stand in their way or raise an eyebrow or have any issue with them signing Perry and we found out last week the league would not have a problem with that and the other thing that

still is is a matter here is that i think they still have a week the nhl does nhl pa does excuse me to appeal this contract termination from chicago which they are expected to do i was talking about this on sunday with a with a couple agents and a player and um you know they you know they feel very strongly that the players association has to either get um a settlement or carve out of this or appeal it and the expectation is that they will do so could they just settle with this will not be used as precedent yes in any other cases that can that can happen it has happened before and it can happen again but both sides have to agree to that uh vancouver canucks can seemingly these days do no wrong and uh made official over the weekend

um this is a big weekend for them as well a big win on hockey day in canada 6-4 over the toronto maple leafs and jim rutherford with a shiny new three-year contract extension you know i didn't like that they announced that on friday because i'd been i'd heard they were going to extend them and i was working on it and i was like okay good one last thing to chase on saturday and then they ruined that by announcing it on Friday. But, you know, obviously, yeah, very thoughtless because it's always, Jeff, how does this affect me, right? So, you know, what we know what else is coming there, there's a contract extension coming from Patrick Alvin. One of the things I'd heard there was that it wasn't necessarily important that Rutherford

and Alvin be tied to each other. So, because I assumed it would just be the same term that Rutherford got. And I was told not to assume anything. So that might not be the case. I don't know that it won't, but I was told just don't assume it. But the other thing is Carson Soucy got hurt on, on Saturday night against the Leafs. And it sounded like he's going to miss a bit of time.

You know, they were very happy with Noah Jules and the work he'd done, even though he didn't play on Saturday. And they were going to check out how Ian Cole did, playing maybe his offside a bit. But they weren't pressuring themselves to go after a defenseman, but they are going to get a top six forward. And I think they've got a list. This is a couple teams that told me.

They think the Canucks have five guys they're looking at, four or five guys. And, you know, Gensel, I think that's very real as a possibility. You know, they obviously have a lot of Pittsburgh connections there. Lindholm, I think, is another guy that they've uh shown some interest in and he makes sense because he can play center and wing effectively even though he hasn't had a great season I mean the other thing too is and we talked about uh either on your show or on the podcast I can't remember where Jeff but you know the fact that they've done a deal with Calgary already that matters in the NHL right now do you know you can deal with someone and that matters and but you know I think they've got a couple of other guys

they're looking at and I heard one of the key things they're thinking about is versatility so you've got to figure out you know who these guys are and that's what we're gonna that's what we're gonna do over the next little while is little while is figure out what Vancouver's looking at here. But they are going to go try to get a top six forward. I don't think there's any doubt about that. I think they really feel that they can win. You know, the other thing, too, is I didn't talk about this on Saturday night, but just about Patterson, you know, as I said on the pot i think i think vancouver is going to have to put

out this fire i i don't think it you know it's not good for me as a sports gossip artist to um advocate for this position which is don't talk about it um But, you know, the one thing I think the Canucks will really feel is now that they're winning and it's very clear that the players, like one thing I really do believe about elite level players is that they will respond to a coaching staff that they believe has a plan for them. And it's, you know, we talk a lot about Talkit, but I think the assistant coaches there also, you know, we talk a lot about talk it, but I think the assistant coaches there also, you know, get a lot of credit for the way they teach the players. The players really seem to like those assistant coaches.

Like I get the real sense of Vancouver's very confident that they can keep players they want to keep. And the panic level is not high with them right now. They just feel when they're going like they're going now and they've got a chance to win, and it's the same thing that happened with Vancouver when they were in the peak Sedin era. And I'm not going to say guys are going to take less money necessarily, but at that time they did because they wanted to stay there.

And I think the Canucks just believe under Tocic and this coaching staff and the good players that they have there locked up for a bit, that good players will want to play there. So I just think there's an overall confidence in where this is going. This is going to sound weird maybe, but i'll throw it out there anyway how all in do you see vancouver being at this trade deadline like are we talking like like first round picks um you know uh throwing you know jonathan leckara mackie's name around like how all in i i think they're all-in. I don't think, again, they haven't told me this.

I've heard this from other teams. I don't think they want to trade those young guys, like the V-Landers and the Lederer-Mackies. Those are not the guys they want to trade. Now, if you're trading for a good player with term, that's when you start getting into those kinds of conversations. But I've heard those are not the guys they want to trade, especially for a rental.

They're not doing that. Now, I should say, you never know what happens when a whole bunch of teams get involved, but I think they're willing to do the first rounder i don't have any sense as we tape this podcast late sunday night early monday morning that there is willingness to do some of their top prospects okay um a couple of debuts this season on the weekend from some established players good to see logan couture back for the San Jose Sharks. Returned on Saturday. First game since April 13th last season.

Wow. And Shane Pinto returned for the Ottawa Senators. Played against the Philadelphia Flyers. Big win for Ottawa there. Played just over 14 and a half minutes for the Ottawa Senators. Shane Pinto has returned for Ottawa. You know, I couldn't watch that game as Dave Amber and I were playing the roles of John Candy and Steve Martin from Planes, Trains. I should say what happened. It was just a really crazy travel day.

So we left Victoria. We left our hotel at 5 in the morning. We were flying Victoria, Vancouver, and then Vancouver, Toronto, because we had to be back for the regional on Sunday night, again, Toronto, Seattle. And so as we were taking off from Victoria on a 6.25 a.m. flight, it's like an 11-minute flight.

You go up and you come down. We both got a text message saying our connection through to Toronto was canceled and we had been rebooked. And so it's one of those funny things because you get it as you're taking off, your flight has been canceled, we'll contact you with your rebooking in 30 minutes, and then you lose the internet. So you're sitting there and you're like, okay, what's going to happen here? And he got sent to Montreal and I was put on the red eye. Now it's not like the, it's impossible for anyone to replace us. Carolyn could have hosted and, and, and Nick and Justin are more than capable of doing

the show themselves. But you know, you, you kind of get to this point, Jeff, where you're like, no, no, no. If I'm getting up this early and I'm doing this I am showing up for the show so eventually we got onto a porter flight at that basically got us to land we were supposed to land at 6 40 and and we were on air at 8 30 and we got delayed until about seven o'clock and by the time we got off the plane, it was about 7.15. And we both had bags we had checked, including Dave's hockey bag. So he left.

He took off without it. And somebody else picked it up for him. But I was like, nope. I've gone through this before. And I am getting my bag. Because when you don't get it, you never know what can happen to it. Yeah. And also, Dave's, I'm not insulting Dave when I say this. I am getting my bag because when you don't get it, you never know what can happen to it. So, and also Dave's, I'm not insulting Dave when I say this, I think he's a little more nervous than me.

He likes to get in. He likes to get set up. He likes to be dressed early. Um, I could walk into the set at eight 29 59, and I'm not going to be bothered by this. So Dave got there about 30 minutes before the show. I got there 18 minutes before the show. And credit to Hillary Whitebread, who is our makeup person, who made me look decent enough to go on the air. But basically, this is a long way of saying I didn't see Ottawa, Philadelphia on Sunday, but I asked for someone to send me some clips of Pinto

and so they did and you know I just think that you know he's a guy he's not gonna get the most points especially not on that team but he plays in important situations and he makes a lot of really smart plays. And, you know, I just think, Jeff, they looked more settled with him there. Like you could tell there were situations that Martin was throwing him out there where Martin was saying, you could see it in his head, like he's like, man, I wish we had Pinto in this situation five games ago, 10 games ago, or DJ Smith would have said 20 games ago. And he settles them down. He puts people into the right roles.

It's too late to save this season. But I really do believe that he makes them a lot better. And they can sign him to an extension now. And I have heard the only thing I've heard about this, the only Intel that anyone has really given on me is that the senators want him for term. Like they, they don't want, they want to, it might end up being a shorter term but i think they want like i mentioned on your radio show on friday that um he's got four years left before he becomes a ufa i i i don't think it's impossible the centers want to go into that now i don't think necessarily think that means eight

years i don't think they can do that but it wouldn't surprise me if it was like five or six. I just don't know if they can find the sweet spot because whenever UFA years are involved, that's when the number boosts. Yes. Yeah. Let's, let's put a couple of minutes here. Cause you worked the Maple Leafs game on Sunday night,

went over the Seattle crack and, and, you know, Ilya Samson off a great story. It wasn't challenged that often by way of, you know, volume of shots, but made some really great saves. And you see him get the player of the game and the Maple Leaf WWE title belt,

which was a nice touch there. But before we get to that, I do want to ask you about Samsonov. The Luke Fox piece at Sportsnet.com. Oh, yeah. His interview with Ryan Reeves. Now, the money section, let me read it to all of our listeners. We encourage everybody to go read Luke's piece at sportsnet.ca. It's an interview with Ryan Reeves, a piece about the Toronto enforcer. And Luke writes this.

Toronto's roster lists Reeves on injured reserve, but sitting alone in his stall Friday, the player insists he's healthy and raring to go. Quote, yeah, I've been ready for a couple of weeks now, says Reeves, careful not to theorize why he can't get in the lineup. Back to the quote. That's a question for them. I am not in those rooms, in those conversations. I'm not going to speculate anything just stay ready and if i get called upon i do if i don't i get my work in um elliot you know the best part about this is that i could see luke writing this story and not thinking anything of it because he's probably

he's probably listening to this saying yeah i can see how this all happens and then he puts it on the interwebs and kaboom so how many people how many people are like saying to you well if he feels he can play why isn't he on the roster how many people said that to you oh it was all night since I got home this evening. It was a whole lot of like, can you explain what's happening with Ryan Reeves? Like, is he healthy? Can he play? Why is he on IR?

Why don't they have to make a move here right now to get to put him on the roster if he's healthy? Well, you know, it's one of those things where I could see, first of all, there's the Maple Leafs. Like, I can only theorize this right so because I see the story I'm like okay you know maybe the Maple Leafs feel differently maybe the doctors feel differently I don't know I don't have a good answer for you and the other thing too Jeff is don't forget they played Sunday they're coming home Sunday night their next game is Wednesday against the Jets I would assume that they're going to do something before that game right but you look I know how those stories go when I saw your text to me I was like oh yeah I'm I'm sleeping through this one a little

bit because I'm a bit overtired I can see where where this is all going. And when I got home, I saw as I logged onto my computer, I was like, oh yeah, I see this on the old social media that people are debating this too. So I guess this sorts itself out before the next game. But it was kind of funny because I could see Luke writing that story saying, ah, good story, good interview. And then seeing the reaction to it. And his eyes bursting out of his head saying, I'm not really sure I intended for this

to go in this direction. You know what, you know who I do know maybe intended for this to go in this direction? Ryan Reeves. Yes. He wants to play. I think, I think he's a really smart guy who knows exactly what he's doing when he says to Luke Fox, yeah, I've been ready for a couple of weeks now. Yeah, you know what? You could be right. I think this is Reeves saying, all right, Luke, here we go, bud.

We're going to move this thing forward. I don't think he throws anything like that out frivolously. Yes. He's been around hockey for a long time. He's a smart guy. He definitely is. He's a smart guy. And like I said, it happens at the end of the road trip.

So Toronto was probably going to be in a situation where they were going to have to deal with this when they got home anyway. And now they do. And you know what? We should mention Samsonov because Chris Cuthbert mentioned it at the end of the game. For the first time in a long time, the Maple Leafs have a decision to make in net. They got a back-to-back against Winnipeg this week, and the Jets and the Maple Leafs, for

being in different conferences, they have an underrated rivalry you know going back to the Pierre-Luc Dubois and Wayne Simmons and all that stuff Jason Spezza the videos the Jets were posting of how much they love beating Toronto like that stuff's raw meat and the rest of Canada it's fantastic you know all of a, they have a decision to make. Martin Jones, who stabilized their year, he looks like he's worn down a bit. And I got to think Sam Stonoff gets the net. He had a big win on Sunday night in Seattle.

And I hesitate to proclaim he's back, but that was huge. 17 shots, season low that Toronto's allowed but some very high degree of difficult and a game that Toronto couldn't put away the Kraken until late but I'm really looking forward to these two Toronto Winnipeg games this week um I always love when the Jets come to town they're going really well this year. There's a lot of positivity happening around them. And it's an underrated hate that the Jets and the Maple Leafs have to each other. They really do not like each other, although some of the key personalities are gone.

Some of those saves too. Just spectacular. And even if you're not a toronto maple leaves fan and we do understand that there are plenty who are not elliott's uh it's tough not to root for samson off when you hear you know like the post-game interviews with the guy like you can't help but pull in for this guy and hope that things work out we'll see where this one uh we'll see where this one goes you know jeff one other thing on the maple lease is that uh i had a lot of people asking about what we talked about and the podcast the live podcast which by the way was a great podcast

tom you did a great job with that one putting that one together uh is um what i said about the maple leaves and are they going for it this year um do they believe this is their year and i had a lot of people asking me what that meant and what i really do believe is that they i i think they continue to look for defense in every direction that has been i i believe ever since tree living took over one of the things the brain trust of this team has been doing is figuring out what their defense is going to look like for years to come and what do they have internally what can they go out and get and you know what's you know how do they see themselves putting this together and i i still do think that's the case but i stand by what i said i i don't think that they are

convinced that this is their year and while I think they will still continue to look at the blue line I believe the four things they get asked about the most are Nyes, Minton, Cowan and their first rounder and especially for anything short term they don't want to do any of that and I know Nyes has struggled this year but I think that kid's a hell of a player and i i just i can't see them doing that at all you know what i wanted to mention too about the kraken is that uh you know so they lost yanni gourd no vince dunn well they don't don they don't have veneers but they uh they they they lost yanni gourd for two games. Somebody told me that the Kraken were really upset

because Benir still hasn't played yet after being hit by Cole Sillinger. And they were upset that they lost Gord for two games. Now, Gord, I was surprised he got two games, but then someone pointed out to me he'd been suspended once before. So I was like, okay. games but then someone pointed out to me he'd been suspended once before so i was like okay but i i just heard that the the the kraken were were disappointed they they've especially for

losing a key player like benears um they they felt they really got the short end of the stick on this one brendan brisson yes vegas golden knights scores against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins, as has been mentioned countless times. He's, of course, the son of noted agent Pat Brisson. One of Pat's key clients is, of course, Sidney Crosby, who used to be his babysitter in what seems like a world so many years ago. But there we are. And as I understand it as well, Crosby was on the ice, as we all saw, as Brisson scored the goal. After the game, Crosby gave him one of his sticks, which is a real nice touch.

Brendan Brisson with his first career NHL goal, Elliott. Well, I mean, look, ever since I've had kids, I understand that anybody out there who has children, you know that we all live our lives. The only thing we care about once we conceive a child is that child lives to their dreams and enjoys life, right? So I think it's an incredible thing for Pat to see that. And a game that Vegas was losing and then came back and won. So that, and it was such a huge goal. You know, the thing that made me laugh the most was, you know,

there were all those pictures on the internet of Crosby babysitting Brisson and stuff like that. Like that was hilarious stuff. But like in a couple of the pictures, they were pointing out, okay, which one's Crosby and which one's Brendan Brisson. And I was like, you know, I don't think you have to point out which one is which in these particular situations like who was the babysitter and who was the babysitter but uh you know I have to say Crosby's come a long way there have been years when he would have lost a game like that

when he wouldn't just be handing someone a stick. He would be smashing someone with it after a loss like that. But they have a long history. And it was a great moment. It was really nice. And like I said, I'd love to see parents see their children realize their dreams. It's fantastic. You had a note about Arbor Jack Eye on the weekend. Yeah.

There's been a lot of Sean Monaghan talk in Montreal, but they sent Jack Eye down to the American Hockey League on the 4th of December, I think it was. And just in making my calls, I think they got asked about Jack Eye a little bit. One of the teams I suspect, and there's been a bit of Philadelphia stuff that's leaked out here and there,

and I simply think it's just because of all the Cutter-Gocce stuff and all their business got kind of laid bare, so everyone's looking at them, but I wouldn't be surprised if Philly was one of those teams. I don't know if it was a Gocce deal or something else, but

it makes a lot of sense. If Jack High's not going to be a Canadian, man, he's a flyer. He's a flyer. Or a Bruin. Yes. It would make sense. I think they're one of the teams here, but Montreal said no.

I know why this happens. He's a guy who really captured all of our attention last year and now he's in the American Hockey League, so people kind of think, oh, okay, maybe he's out of favor or maybe the Canadians aren't as high on him, but Montreal has indicated that is definitely not the case. Okay, Elliot, on that we'll pause.

We'll step away when we come back. The Montana's Thought Line. I'm going. Listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Okay, Elliot, we're back with the Montana's Thought Line, Montana's Barbecue and Bar, Canada's home for barbecue. Try the ribs.

It was really nice when the audience in Victoria at the Wicked Theatre all said at the same time, try the ribs. really nice when the audience in victoria at the uh the wicked theater all said at the same time try the ribs that was a great touch thank you victoria 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca 1833 311 32 32 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca 1833 311 32 32 this is an interesting one elliot i'm sure a lot of people have wondered about this. Ryan from Charlottetown PEI. Hey, Jeff, Elliot, Dom. Great work as always with the pod. I have a draft-related question.

What would happen if there was a miscommunication and a team accidentally called the wrong player and a few seconds later made the announcement that they meant to say a different player. For example, if Carey Price goes up and says, Montreal selects Matvei Michkov by accident, and a couple seconds later, Kent Hughes runs up and says, that was a mistake.

We select David Reinbacher. Is Montreal forced to take Michkov or do they get Reinbacher after all? As always, great work with the pod. Keep it up. Ryan. Ryan, it's a great question. And one of the ways the draft works now

is that you have to submit the pick electronically to Central Registry before you can make it publicly. So oftentimes you will hear, especially on the second day of the draft when we're doing rounds two to seven, whoever's standing at the microphone, it used to be Jim Gregory, now it's Bill Daley, they'll say, go ahead, Montreal, like if they have the pick. That means the pick is in and it's been confirmed.

And that is what is to avoid this kind of thing. Now, if you make your pick electronically and you screw it up, it's too bad. I don't think you can do much about that, but you submit the pick and it gets confirmed by registry and that is supposed to avoid all of these issues. Got it.

I think a lot of people have wondered about that one as well. But yeah, teams submit first and when you go up to the stage that's just the formality the pick has already been made yes the teams all know who it is yes uh here's an interesting one uh glenn hey guys big fan of the show my question is about equipment i grew up in the 80s in St. John's, Newfoundland, where I played goalie in my minor hockey days. Shout out to the Beaconsfield Saxons and St. John's Capitals. There you go. This will sound funny, but we used to always refer to the

goalies blocker and trapper as block and scoop. As in, bye, I'm getting a new block and scoop for Christmas. I moved to Ottawa in my 20s and realized that block and scoop was not a universal term, and my mainlander friends thought this was hilarious. Do you know if there are any other regions that have different names for hockey gear? That is Glenn. There's only one that I can think of, Elliot,

and that's Minnesota with hockey pants, where it is the only place in the world that I can think of Elliot and that's Minnesota with hockey pants where it is the only place in the world that I know of where they don't call them hockey pants they call them breezers I have no idea why I have no idea where it came from because it's windy in Minnesota maybe I guess I don't know

I've asked Berkey about it I've asked Minnesota people they have no idea but all I know is the only one to our emailer Glenn that I can think of is in Minnesota. They call hockey pants breezers. And I can't think of anything else. But now after putting it out there, I'm sure someone will come up with something. Let's get to a voicemail.

I think you'll like this one. This is Eric in Jersey. With the upcoming Four Nations Cup, I had a question. In your guys' opinion, who do you feel is the best assembled Canada roster for international competition? 72 Summit Series, 87 Canada Cup, 96 World Cup of Hockey, or 2010 Olympics? Or another option not listed above? Thanks for your time. Love listening to you guys.

Keep up the good work. That's a great question from Eric. So what's your pick? I've got my answer. Well, my answer is for women, it's the 22 Olympics. That team was incredible. Like, that was a phenomenal. 2022, you say?

Yes, 2022. That's where Sarah Nurse had 18 points. Right, right, okay. And Marie-Philippe Poulin and Spooner and Jenner and Claire Thompson and the emergence of Sarah Fillier. That was remarkable. For juniors, it's a 2005 team. Half the team should have been playing in the NHL. We all know how that one worked, but nonetheless. as far as men's competition, the 1976 Canada Cup team. And I'll tell you why, Elliot. If you look at that roster for Team Canada's,

that roster has sent more players to the Hockey Hall of Fame than any other roster with 18. That's why I will go with 1976, the team that won the tournament and beat Vladimir Zorilla and Czechoslovakia in the final. Well, it's a great pick. I can't really argue with those. I mean, the only reason I'm going to pick different

is because, like everybody else, I have my own particular favorites, not to say that yours are wrong. Like, I normally say that everything you like is wrong. For the women, I would take two guys. You're setting up for the wrong answer, by the way. This is a preamble for Elliot giving the wrong answer. Yes. For women, it's 2002, uh, you know, Canada taking what six penalties in a row and killing them all off and then winning. Uh, and also that was the first Olympics I ever covered. So I would pick 2002. You know, for me, the 87 Canada Cup was the best pure hockey I saw.

I watched that on TV. I loved hearing James Patrick talk about it on our podcast on Friday. For me, there's always the romance about that tournament, but I would take any of them. I would take 02 because it's the first Olympics I covered, like I mentioned with the women. I would take 2010 because even though we didn't do those games, I came home from my honeymoon and went to the gold medal game in 2010

and was right above Crosby when he scored. I also was partial to 2014 even though it wasn't a great tournament jeff because that was the best defensive team i ever saw that 2014 canadian team they they gave up one goal to latvia in the playoffs on the lacrosse play that Ted Nolan called for. And then they shut down the U S and they shut down Sweden in the gold medal game. Like the, in the semifinal game against the U S was one, nothing.

I think they could have played for five days and the Americans weren't going to score. And I, I just felt that that was the best defensive team I'd ever seen before. And I think it gets kind of lost in the history of good Canadian teams. And I don't think they should be. That's a great one. I mean, there's a lot, really, that you can choose from.

I just go from the, well, this team threw the most players into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Plus, that was the the first big year maybe i'm just romantically attached to that because that was the first big tournament that i saw i was too young for 72 76 was the big one for me and it is you know happened to send the most uh most hockey hall of famers i know you're not a big nfl fan but i was watching uh something. I think my kids are. Oh, yeah. The playoffs. Oh, they were, they were living and dying with that Bill's chiefs game tonight.

Oh boy. I still don't understand how that kick missed. And like, I'm not going to make fun of the Lee Norwood. Wide right. Not Lee Norwood. Lee Norwood's defense. Oh, the Red Wings and the Blues. Scott Norwood.

Oh, that's right. Scott Norwood. Sorry. No, no, no. It's good. But I was was gonna say like that that is a Merrick mistake and I say that as a compliment not an insult because you would get him confused for an NHL defenseman um but like that kick that they missed there I I still don't

understand how it happened it was going perfectly it, it was tailing right down to the middle and it just, I don't know. It just went to the side. It was like, it was like the chipmunk running across the field and hot tub time machine that changes history of that John Elway drive against the Browns. No, it was the ghost,

ghost of Lee, Lee Norwood. I'm telling you, but I was watching. There were some highlights that came through my Twitter feed because I guess Sunday was the anniversary of, I think it was Super Bowl XIII. It was a great game, one of the earliest Super Bowls I remember.

Pittsburgh defeated Dallas 35-31, and there were almost 30 Hall of Famers in that game. Wow. Just imagine like one football game with almost 30 players in the Hall of Fame. And it's amazing. I wonder, I'm sure there has been a hockey game that featured the most Hall of Famers in it.

Well, the one that I would think, it would probably be in recent memory, the 2002 Stanley Cup final between Detroit and Carolina because Detroit had 10 guys on that team that made the Hall of Fame, right? And Carolina had Ron Francis. You know, this is a job for Steve Fellin. Yes.

From Sportsnet Stats. He loves getting Monday morning texts from me, and he's getting one tomorrow. Mm-hmm. All right, on that, we'll wrap it up. Again, the Montana's Thought Line, Montana's Barbecue and Bar, Canada's home for barbecue. Wrap up the podcast I want to thank everybody from Victoria specifically the

people that came out to our live event, which was a lot of fun. Met some great people, had some wonderful conversations, both on the stage, afterwards as well. All true. You mentioned James Patrick earlier. He was fantastic. Thanks to him and the Victoria Royals for coming by. Brian Burke and Kevin

Biexa were just dynamite with some of those stories. Man, Biexa will not let that Mike Fisher thing go hey still hot about it to this if he hears you mentioned it on the podcast he's gonna be calling you about it it's such a good story i just loved it um but one of the things like what do you think because like our inboxes and like voice messages and uh direct messages i'm sure are on one on the one hand similar but then on the other more accurate hand quite different what do you think what do you think most people either dm'd or texted me about from that show there's one thing pacifically as we say in the atlantic that it went on for an awfully long time i don't know i don't know

the vesna trophy and the beaver oh i totally forgot about that yeah that's right up your alley i got so much and a lot of people had the theory that the beaver is the the animal that makes a dam that stops the water etc etc and blocks everything it's like and i'm pretty sure that that's not it but that was the lion's share of what i got but i was very pleased to see that um that someone in the audience that night uh is a member of the Society for Hockey Research and submitted that question to the list. And I want to read a couple to you here. These are some of the responses. So these, like the Society for International Hockey Research,

I've been around for probably as long as I've known Paul Patsku, which is a long time, folks. And these are like really diehard, serious, like very serious about like the minutia of the game. Like I threw that little point in a conversation sort of away with you as a sort of time killer to get to our next guest after the Stanley Cup had to leave the stage.

I'm like, oh, I'm going to make Elliot's eyeballs roll back by mentioning, hey, have you ever met, have you ever noticed a beaver on top of the Vesna trophy? Just to get a reaction out of you. Well, these people really take it seriously. Yes. So Jean-Patrice Martel submitted, live in Victoria, BC,

at a recording of 32 Thoughts Podcast, Jeff Merrick would like to know why there is a beaver atop the Vesna trophy. Phil Pritchard doesn't know, so putting it out there to the Society for International Hockey Research. Jean-Patrice Martel

submits, why put a Canadian symbol on a hockey trophy? Is there a Canadian symbol on the Hart Trophy, the Calder Trophy, or Art Ross Trophy, or a British symbol on the Lady Bing Trophy? I mean, when the trophy was first presented, there were more American teams, six,

than Canadian teams, four, in the NHL. The Conn Smythe trophy shows Maple Leaf Gardens something specific to Conn Smythe himself. I would think that the Vesna trophy might want to show something specific about Vesna. That's George Vesna, who the trophy is named after, i.e. Beavers represented the region he was from. Then again, I do not know what the artist's intentions were.

But the best one, and I'm so glad that he weighed in because I've got all the time in the world for this guy. And I like to direct people to a book that I think that all hockey fans should read called Puckstruck by the great Stephen Smith. He submits this one. I think you'll like it. I endorse the beaver wholeheartedly, but I don't know why it's there.

Now, folks, Stephen Smith is one of the world's leading hockey researchers here, but I don't know why it's there. A guess might be that it was indeed an intentional Canadian touch, maybe attributable to Leo Dandaran, who engineered the donation of the trophy to the NHL. There was a spate of NHL trophies launched in the years

before the Vezina debuted in 1927. The Heart in 2324, the Lady Bing in 25, followed by the Prince of Wales trophy later that same year. The first two were of serviceable, if fairly mundane, design. The Prince of Wales was, by contrast, an expansive and lavish affair, sterling silver adorned with the Prince's coat of arms and topped by the three ostrich feathers banded with gold from its heraldic badge. Seems plausible that the puck and beaver atop the Vesna Canadian symbols through and through were a reaction to that so a reaction to the previous trophy the Prince of Wales trophy

with the three ostrich feathers they came back with the Vesna with the two Canadian symbols through and through the puck and the beaver which which got me to thinking one thing, Elliot. I'm going to try to lead the witness here. Okay. George Vesna has one of the most creative nicknames in the history of hockey. Whenever we talk about nicknames, always people talk about George Vesna, the shakutami.

Cucumber. So should there not be a cucumber if it is going to be indicative of George Vesna on top of the Vesna? I knew you would take this into a place that was just ridiculous, and congratulations, you did it.

You will for now forever wonder why there's a beaver and not a cucumber on top of the Vesna trophy. That's what we leave you with, this edition of 32 Thoughts to Podcast. Talk to you Friday morning.