32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Post-Game Carcast

Episode Date: May 21, 2021

A late night of hockey means Elliotte joins us from the road. The guys discuss the scary incident that sent John Tavares to the hospital, the events that followed, and the type of response we might see from Toronto in game 2 on Saturday night. They also chat about the return of John Davidson to […]

so we can try this but if people try to call me and text me and stuff it might get knocked out i don't know if people will but it's a busy night so we can try welcome to 31 thoughts the podcast presented by the gmc sierra at4 podcast is a misnomer elliot friedman it's another 31 thoughts the the Podcast Carcast. As you're making your way from the CBC studios back home after the Montreal Canadiens knock off the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 take a 1-0 lead in their

best of seven series. But that's only part of the story coming out of the Toronto Montreal game. The bigger story is the health of John Tavares. I'm watching in my office at home and my gut is turning and just wrenching

watching that as it happened and then what made it even worse is how everything was silent and the first thing that dawned on me was it didn't matter that there weren't any fans there at that moment because the whole rink would have been silent anyway, Frege. Well, that's exactly what sheldon keeve said was that i've experienced

a lot of different things a lot of uh tough injuries and stuff like that in my time as a player and as a coach but uh in an empty building like that that was probably the most uncomfortable situation that i've been a part of on the ice. So it was really tough to get through. Our players were rattled and concerned. I was obviously very concerned as well. Happy to hear that, you know, things are settling down and all of that. But it was a very tough moment. We had ample time to settle and regroup.

I thought it took us quite a bit of time to really kind of find ourselves after that. Yeah, it's a difficult situation for everyone. I'm not sure that would work with Montreal. You remember they went through this last year too with Jake Muzzin, right? Yes, yeah. So it's a similar kind of thing. Muzzin got hurt and it turned out,

thankfully, he was okay. But again, it happened in an empty building it's very weird it certainly adds another level of strangeness to it the good news is that we got the best possible information after the game that he was conscious communicating well that the initial test had come back clear that was the terminology that Sheldon Keefe used. Tavares was going to stay overnight in hospital. But, you know, we're watching it in the Lotus. And Kevin's obviously in California and Kelly's in Calgary.

But it was Ron and Jennifer Botterill and Anthony and David and myself. And it just went silent. Initially, you're almost kind of wondering what happened and then you see the replays. And then you're just wondering how they're going to continue to play after that. You can see the look on Matthew's face. You can see the concern on the Canadians, Perry skating over him and Tavares. I don't know how many people know this, but they have a very good friendship.

Like they've, there's a history there. They've played together on national teams together. Both London Knights. Both London Knights. And, you know, Jeff, I think if you can imagine the emotion of us watching it on TV, you're thinking about how are these guys going to play? Yeah. And that's the first thing that I thought of

and watching that Maple Leafs team. And again, full credit to the Montreal Canadiens. That was a heck of a performance by that team. A great streak at the end by Paul Byron. A really good game by Carey Price. But I'm watching that first period after the John Tavares injury and I'm saying to myself, going through every player's mind

and probably the coaching staff as well is we just need to get through this period right now and get back in the room. I can't imagine playing the rest of that period. I agree. Kyle Bukowskis did a great interview with Wayne Simmons where Simmons talked about it. I thought Simmons was excellent.

As you would expect, as somebody who's got a tremendous elder statesman reputation. I just saw Johnny go down, and my first initial reaction was to hop on the ice and go see if he was okay. You know, it was a pretty scary sight. I think the boys are a little shook up. We've got to do...

You know, we need to take this time to regroup in the dressing room and come back for the second. Yeah, and certainly it's never something that you think of or prepare for having to go through in the middle of a game. How do you go about resetting here for the final two periods? I'm sure if you guys will have some words in the dressing room, we just got to calm down and relax. And, you know, I'll find out Johnny's OK. I think when he went off there, obviously he's a little bit out of sorts. So, you know, it's on us.

You know, we got to get this one for Johnny. You know, I wonder, actually, Jeff, if it's going to be harder for the Toronto players between games one and two. At least in game one, the game resumes. There's a task at hand. You have something you have to work towards towards which is to try to win the game now you know you have two days off um your captain's not there your friend and your teammates not there you know i i just wonder you've got to almost i don't know if relive it's the right word

but you you've got to kind of face it in In the moment, you can kind of put it aside, but now you have to realize that, okay, he's not here. We're down 1-0. We have to do this without him. He could be out for a while. We don't know. But I guess maybe the enormity of the task steps in, that you think you have a year where you can be really

successful and all of the sudden now this huge piece of your team, both as a player and a person isn't going to be there. I wonder if that challenge is going to be a big one for them too. This one is huge. Make no mistake about it for the Toronto Maple Leafs here because there's no obvious replacement of someone that steps in and can do the things that John Tavares does on that line. They just don't have it. This is going to be a tough one. This is a tough one for the Maple Leafs. We've seen before pick a team, pick an event, Stanley Cup playoffs where a player gets injured and the team rallies around it.

Like one of the things that I wondered about, if this was a younger Maple Leafs team, like if this is a team from a couple of years ago for each, the team probably, and again, there's no way to prove this. My own thought is the team probably would have crumbled immediately. But this one didn't. And you mentioned Wayne Simmons and you can mention the other veterans that are in that lineup as well. Sure. They didn't win. Montreal won the game, but I wonder if an even younger Maple Leafs team after that happens, just completely crumbles and the game gets out of hand. just completely crumbles and the game gets out of hand. You know, I thought they played pretty hard. Price was incredible.

The penalty kill was incredible. You know, I got to tell you, I'm supposed to be the smart hockey insider, Jeff. I don't understand why Toronto's power play is as bad as it is. You're not the only one. The one thing I'm looking at, though, is I look at that first unit, and Matthews, I thought he had some great chances. I just don't think anyone else in that unit is scaring anyone right now.

They're not afraid of anyone's shot, aside from his. The salt on the wound, mentioning the power play, is that it's a shorthanded game winning goal like like like not only is the power play not firing for the toronto maple leafs but the game winners shorthanded and give paul byron an inch and he's gone and that was on full display what did you think about the fight i wonder if if Foligno's going right at Perry. The gloves aren't ready.

They're ready to come off. As the puck is dropped and here we go. I had no problem with it. And here's why I didn't have a problem with it. Because there are some moments in sports that are led by your head and there are some moments in sports that are led by your heart, and there are some moments in sports that are led by your heart. And there are some moments in sports that you can't rationalize, and it's taken me a long time to get to that position where I'm comfortable saying it.

It doesn't make sense. From a mental point of view, processing everything that happened, it is an accident. I understand that. But to hear Nick Foligno afterwards and talk about his captain on the ice, captain on the ice, captain on the ice, and that has to be the reaction. Our captain's laying

on the ice. It's nothing more than that. I think Terry Blige, you know, it's unfortunate. I don't think it's malicious, but my captain's laying on the ice. Our captain. I mean, you don't want to see that. And I think it just addresses the situation. Everyone moves on from that is where sports just leads you by the heart. And if you try to make sense of it,

and if you try to understand it using your brain, you're just going to be frustrated and say, that makes no sense. But sports is led by one of two things, your head or your heart. And that was a moment where I looked at it and I said, as much as it doesn't make sense, I understand why Nick Foligno did that. What about you? Well, we were in the room and I don't know specific reactions

because I sit in the front, but I know there was a general feeling of, oh, really? Like we just, we didn't want to see a fight in that moment. And I think there were a few fans like that. You know, I don't really check social media in those moments because I think, A, it goes crazy,

and B, I think some people are, honestly, it's performance art for some people. Sure. So I don't always think it's honest. But, you know, there were some fans that actually sent me DMs saying how much they hated it, and they were very passionate in their feelings. I do agree in the moment that the last thing I wanted to see was a fight.

The one thing that I agree with with you is we're emotionally invested, but we're not emotionally invested at the level the players are. So I understand that Foligno might have been a little bit more from the heart than the head. The other thing I kind of wondered, and I realize I could be totally overthinking this, but I did say it in the room to the group, is that I wondered if part of it was if we do this, will everybody's mind get back on the game again

like to just make it end so there's no idea of anyone chasing corey perry all over the ice yes i did wonder that and like again i could be overthinking it but it i'm trying to think about how i would be acting in that moment yeah I was in Nick Foligno's shoes. And, you know, Shea Weber came over to try to tell him not to do it, and he said he did it. I thought it was interesting he said in his postgame, this isn't about the code. Because it would seem to me that that was very much about the code. He said no code. But part of me was wondering if it was just like,

let's do something to get everybody's mind back on the game again, but in the moment I Understood people who said they didn't want to see it because I didn't want to see it either. There are a couple of things there, too one Rightly or wrongly whether he thought it was the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do Corey Perry obliged So that's why I don't I don't believe that there't believe that this isn't due to some code, which, by the way, no one really has a firm idea on, but you sort of recognize it when it happens. Like, hey, can you describe jazz?

No, but I know it when I hear it. That's kind of what that moment was. And as much as Corey Perry, and you can see him talking to Foligno, and Foligno saying, look, we're going to do this. And Perry's like, dude, it's an accident. And he's like, no, we're going to do it. He's like, okay, I guess this is the way we do things. And the other part of me too wonders,

if it's not Corey Perry, if it's someone else from the Montreal Canadiens, does Nick Foligno have that exact same reaction? Judging from what he said, I think the answer is yes. But I think everybody realizes that play was an accident. Yes. I can't imagine anybody thinks that was on purpose. That was a total accident.

No. The way that that happened so quickly and Corey Perry didn't change where he was skating to take a shot at the Maple Leafs captain, to me, that's just an accident all day long. I've got to tell you, just in the aftermath of the game, to make this a bit more lighthearted, the funniest text I got was from a friend who said, do you think that Carey Price's whole stick-breaking thing and game against the marlies was a setup

ah so hang on which pro wrestler sent you that i only know one it's edge well he would have been why he would have been watching as i said i said wait a sec so you're telling me they sent him down the american hockey league he gives up a couple of goals early and then he throws that temper tantrum and practice. And it was all to set up the Toronto Maple Leafs. And this person says to me, yes. I don't know about that,

but I do appreciate that style of thinking to go through that stretch, that stretch of charade to make the Maple Leafs overly confident or doubt Carey Price. If that is true, I do admire it, but I don't think that's true for one second. Yeah, I thought that that would give you the idea of the level of the paranoia among Toronto fans. It's going to be a long two days for them. It's going to be a tough two days for the Maple Leafs and their fans.

Okay, other news from around the NHL. Oh, by the way, do you remember on Sunday, about a million years ago, when we said, we're going to get to know the name Ryan Lomberg pretty quickly here, aren't we? And that was game one. And that was when he was trying to fight Sergeyev about eight times. Well, he scored the OT winner on Thursday night. The Toronto tips it ahead.

Lomberg is in. Ryan Lomberg scores! Ryan Lomberg, you've got to be kidding me. Let's go home, baby. In overtime, the Panthers win it 6-5. You know, this is a guy, that's his first ever career playoff point. This is his third career playoff game. You know Todd Woodcroft, right? Yeah. Formerly of the Winnipeg Jets and now he's the head coach at the University of Vermont.

Todd Woodcroft is the face-off guru. Whenever I have a question about face-offs, I always ask him because he's as detailed a guy as I know when it comes to face-offs. And I sent him a text message after that goal in Game 3 on Thursday,

and I said, I could only imagine your reaction when you saw that goal. And he was like, thing of beauty. And I'm looking at that, and you know what it reminded me of? It kind of remind me of remember Merrick Malik shootout goal of course we did the Statue of Liberty celebration going by the bench yeah so you have a guy who comes kind of out of nowhere and scores this beautiful goal and everybody's like what like Ryan Lombard and not trying to insult him in any way, shape, or form, they drew up a perfect face-off play.

He executed it perfectly. He got the flip pass perfectly. And a beautiful move. And he's not a guy who's got a long NHL resume, Calgary and Florida. You look at how his road to the NHL different USHL stops University of Maine minor leagues yeah finds a role Jeff he like you would have thought that he was a 50 goal scorer the way he executed that play all credit to him it was beautiful and the shot itself and this underscores something that

we've talked about a couple of different times on the podcast. You know that guy that everybody makes fun of on the internet, on hockey media, who says that guy doesn't belong in the NHL. That guy's quote-unquote no good. That guy can't play.

The fact that you're in the NHL, the guy that you make fun of, that shouldn't be in the league. You know how good that guy is? Yes. You know how good that player is? If you play one game in the NHL, you're elite. One game in the NHL, elite. It is the best league in the world.

These are the highest skilled games anywhere. And you're in it you are a good hockey player a couple things there Lomberg and the in the overtime the other Quimble using a five forward power play in that as well loved it

well new school thinking too right especially with Yandel out of the lineup yeah it made a lot more sense you know i gotta tell you they go back to bobrovsky you think they're dead you know what you know who's kind of been off to a bit of a rough start in the playoffs is vasilevsky yeah it kind of gets covered up because florida's sort of trying to figure out who their guy is here but he's given up a lot more than we're used to seeing.

I assume he shuts the door at some point here, but Florida's scoring on him. They are. Don't forget, Florida's a good team here. A couple things around the NHL. This is going to be, we should mention, this is going to be a pretty quickie podcast here. We want to get something out to you for Friday.

Columbus, John Davidson returns, podcast here we want to get something out to you for Friday Columbus John Davidson returns and Yarmulke Kalanen gets an extension let's start with JD first surprised and why did they make this move well yes and no I'm surprised because and first of all a good scoop Brian Hedger yes I'm surprised I didn't think of it, but I'm not surprised when I heard it. The best reaction I got was the biggest winner in this is Kekelein because now he has to talk to the media less, which I thought was a good reaction.

So hang on. So does that indicate there's going to be big changes and they need someone to get out in front of the media? Well, I think that's a part of it look look look columbus's image has taken a little bit of a beating this year right yes dubois leaving patrick lion a situation there's stress there right and davis is an excellent salesman like when when hedger broke the story like the reaction i checked the reaction from the blue jackets fans on social media they were thrilled so you you have a guy who the market likes and he's a salesman they're

going to come up with a plan look what do we think is going to happen here we think that the most likely outcome is seth jones tells the blue jackets he's not ready to commit at this time, right? Yes. Now, I don't know that, but I think that's the most likely outcome. So you have to work your way around that. Davidson can help you sell that. You're wondering about Zach Wierenski's longtime future. Davidson can help you sell the message.

You have a bit of reimagination you have to do of yourself. He can help you sell the message you have a bit of reimagination you have to do of yourself he could help you sell that you know initially I wondered is that good for Keck Alana people told me they are really tight thick as thieves good friends like each other and he gets the extension but I think what this is is they know that you know they're going through a challenge they need to sell their message and in that market they will trust his message i was surprised i'll be i'll be blunt i was surprised to see davidson go back to columbus but all of it makes sense if you're going to be an organization that might have to change some of

the faces and if you're going to go through a transition phase it's probably not the worst idea to have someone like john davidson at least in the short term become one of the faces of the franchise you know someone someone gave to me the old adage okay if you really like someone and they leave you for someone prettier or more famous and then they come back to you do you say yes or do you say no okay and my reaction to that was the heart wants what the heart wants right mm-hmm basically the impression we got is Columbus wouldn't make that move unless it was John Davidson other than that they weren't doing this kind of front office ad so that says to me that you've got a guy who wants to be there and a market that wants him and

you know the market needs him now the Blue Jackets need what he can bring his skill in delivering the message to the masses put it this way I had to ask out my wife like 20 times before she said yes to me so you gotta be persistent that sounds like a lot of begging, Elliot. Has there been a lot of begging in this relationship over how many years? Yes. Yes. Please don't leave me.

What's happening with the Vancouver Canucks now that their season is officially done? Well, Travis Green and Jim Benning are supposed to meet with the media on Friday. I believe what the ownership there has been doing is saying, you know, 10 years ago, all the Vancouver Canucks were taking less money to stay. They had a great reputation for taking care of their players. There was a sense of community community and it was a destination.

I said this on Vancouver Radio on Thursday. Other teams would tell me to shut up about the Vancouver Canucks already. Like during my years at Hockey Night. It would be like... How many times were you told enough with the stories about the sleep doctors in Vancouver? Well, we actually did a story once i did it um i wore the watch for i remember that's why i asked it was a week yeah it was a week where my week was really busy because you do the blog and then we had a thursday night game in montreal and first thing friday i flew all the way across the country from Montreal to Vancouver for

a game there on Saturday night and we interviewed the doctor and everything was a good piece I really liked it but I remember when it aired in the middle of it someone called me and said your stories about the Canucks are nauseating. It's like they invented everything. Would you shut up about this team? But that was the reputation they had. But honestly, with Gillis and Gilman, that was the reputation they had around the NHL. They've lost that.

That doesn't exist anymore. So what I think they've been doing is they've been talking to people and so I think that's why they met with the Sedins I do think they did ask the Cortnall brothers about it but things like about and others about how did we lose this and how do we get it back and you know I think that's kind of where we are and so they met on Monday I i heard ownership had a very honest meeting and then from what i understand on monday night jim benning was told he's coming back and i think there was a lot of question about travis green and i believe they grinded away

on thursday to get him an extension and i suspect they'll line up. Benning has two years left, and Green will get two years. I don't know, as we tape this, what the story is with the rest of the coaching staff. But, you know, I'm expecting that they're going to announce that Benning and Green are coming back. I'm waiting for clarity on the Sedins and what their role is going to be. Someone said they compared it to Mike Greer with the Rangers. I don't think they're going to be just there as figureheads. I think they're going to have juice. I wouldn't be surprised if they're brought in to talk to players

about what needs to happen here. Got a phone call. Yeah. We interrupt this program to bring you a special report. Now back to our program. Oh, by the way, Jeff, if it sounds different now, I'm out of the car and I'm on my driveway. And. The driveway edition of 31 Thoughts Podcast.

We are now in the driveway. Pretty soon my neighbors are going to be like, what is that idiot doing? So I think they're going to have a role where they have some say, I don't think they're going to be figureheads, but I'm not sure how the structure of all of this is going to work. I think that's the kind of thing we're kind of waiting here is an explanation is about how

this is all going to be structured. Now, I think the other thing with Vancouver is, I do think there's going to be structured. Now, I think the other thing with Vancouver is I do think there's going to be some conversations there with some of their players about their futures. I think there could be a couple of guys who might ask to go. And I think the bigger question is going to be, do the Canucks just say, okay, or do they say this was a crazy year and we're going to try to fix it? And how can we fix it? By and large, again, all players are different, but do you have a general feeling about how

players felt they were treated this year? I want to get to Ian Clark here in a sec, but we'll focus on the players quick. You know, I just think it was a nightmare year for a lot of reasons. It goes back to what we were just talking about. The Canucks had a way about them that they treated people really well and like you know you know how lovingly BXA talks about them right oh god yeah so how do you get back to that how do you do that and I just think this year when they had their outbreak and Green was not well and he was kind of down for the count. Like I think managing a team, there's two things. It's finding players and it's taking care of your current players.

And they felt that slipped. So you have to figure out how do we get back to that? The goalie coach, the goalie whisperer. He makes superstars. See Bobrovsky, see Markstrom, see Demko. Do we see Ian Clark returning? You know, the people I know who kind of are in on the coaching gossip said no, but I do think that like Green, they were making a press to try to keep him.

And one of the things we've learned in Vancouver is, you know, things change pretty quickly. I also think in Vancouver, like the social media scene is so hot that so many stories take a life of their own. Yeah. And you have to be very careful that what you're dealing with is grounded in reality. You know, like for example, like I have a, I have a good, I have a couple of good friends

who live out, still live out in Vancouver. And so on Tuesday afternoon, I'm on in the intermissions with Anthony and Dave during their regional game. And I said, look, there's a report that the Sedins are coming in. I believe it's true. And Dave, I think asked me about Jim Benning.

I said, look, I'm not comfortable in making any predictions. And he's like, why are you being so, he calls me, he calls me the moment I get off the set, this guy, and he says, he says, why are you being so, he calls me, he calls me the moment I get off the set, this guy, and he says, he says, why are you being so wimpy? Like everybody here, it's all over Twitter. We know Benning's gone.

And I'm like, I'm not so sure about that. And then later on that night, we talked about how we'd heard Benning was told he was coming back. So I think most coaches seem to believe that Clark had decided he was going to go, but I do think that the Canucks were planning on making another attempt to see if they could make it work. And we just learned this week, never assume anything when it comes to the Vancouver Canucks. Okay, quickly, to finish up the car cast,

which has now turned into the driveway cast, Calgary Flames, their season is done, did not go the way they hoped or planned. So the question becomes, what's next? You know, I thought the most interesting thing that came out of it was Johnny Goudreau. I mean, yeah. If, you know, Tree and the owners are happy with the way I've played here in the past six, seven years, and it's something we can figure out this upcoming summer,

and I would love to do that. I love the city of Calgary. I love playing here. I don't think I've ever not once said I haven't wanted to be here. The guys in the locker room are great in there, and I've always enjoyed my time here. So if that's something that, be here. The guys in the locker room are great in there, and I've always enjoyed my time here. So if that's something that be here, you know,

the guys in the locker room are great in there. And I've always enjoyed my time here. So if that's something that, you know, comes up this summer, it's something that I'd be very willing to do and try to get done. And he's not a really emphatic guy. As far as he goes, that was pretty interesting. Like he put it out there. Yeah. Like that wasn't a, oh yeah, I'd love to stay, but this is a business.

You never know what could happen kind of thing. Yeah. He, that was more than that. Like, do you think I'm wrong? No. Well, that's what he said and it was said without all the normal caveats and escape phrases that allow a player to look back and say well they didn't actually say i was going to stay or wanted to stay definitively i still gave myself some

weasel words that allowed me out to me that wasn't a normal mealy-mouthed half commitment i thought that was pretty legit. So, you know, first of all, I wanted to send my best of Dylan Dubé just for our best of Dylan Dubé. That really sucks. He was going to the world. He was obviously very excited to go and you

hate to see somebody get hurt, uh, any, any time, but especially in games like those ones. And, you know, the only good news is that it's the summer now and hopefully he gets his time to recover. You know, the only good news is that it's the summer now and hopefully he gets his time to recover. You know, the other thing too that really stood out about that for me is you were asking me what I thought about Paul Stasny in the last podcast. And we talked about how he's very honest and how he can explain the game.

You know who's like that too, doesn't get enough credit for it? Milan Lucic. If you listen to Lucic in the exit interview, he was very thoughtful and Lucic has always been good at explaining things and explaining how he feels. The only issues we ever had with Lucic in interviews was that he went on for a long time. And whenever we knew we were going to talk to him, we were like, we always had to budget extra time because he was a good talker. But when he wants to explain things, he's really good.

Okay, so last week we established that Paul Stastny could have our jobs if he wanted. And now we're adding Milan Lucic to that list as well when he wraps up the career. So excellent, Elliot. His NHL is ready to take our gig. Okay, so there you go. There's our quickie Elliot Friedman car cast.

Taking us out, he's a songwriter, bass player from the Strombelas, also started a solo project as well. Daryl James, performing under the stage name Close Kicks, has won numerous awards in co-written songs with a number of critically acclaimed artists. From his latest project, here's Close Kicks with The House We Built on 31 Thoughts, the podcast. And championship parades Cause everybody's got a little glory And all of those highlights fade

What we got here between us Nobody can take away This is our hope, this is our strength This is our blood, all of our dreams This is the house we built This is the house we built This is the house we built All of the years All of the crowds

One sweat and tears Standing on down This is the house we built This is the house we built Oh, sweet girl You gotta earn it every day If you wanna get it right The second's ticking down You're shooting out the lights

Cause everybody's got a little glory And all those highlights fade You gotta grab the headline story If you wanna see the hall of fame This is our hope This is our strength This is our birth All of our dreams

This is the house we built This is the house we built All of the years All of the crowds But sweat and tears Standing on down This is the house we built This is the house we built