32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Post Prelims Pod

Episode Date: February 16, 2026

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman put a wrap on the preliminary round of the men's olympic hockey tournament. As always, they begin with Canada and their dominance, team dynamics, and strategic line combinations. They look forward to a potential rematch with Czechia in the quarterfinals (22:30). The fellas unpack the Americans' game-play so far as they finally came alive against the Germans on Sunday (25:30). Elliotte talks about the importance of consistency to succeed in international hockey (34:00). Kyle and Elliotte talk about the craziness that ensued from the three-way-tie in Group B (40:00). They debate who Sweden should start in net for the Quarterfinals (42:00), before talking about the cinderella Slovaks (44:00). Kyle and Elliotte unpack Finland's play as they begin to heat up (50:00). Elliotte shows love for the Swiss and their heart after losing Fiala (55:00). The guys reveal their predictions for the play-in round and the quarterfinals (1:02:00). The Final Thought continues to focus on the listeners that Kyle and Elliotte would like to shoutout from Milan (1:06:00).Today we highlight Toronto/England's Ben Cook and his project GUV. Let Your Hands Go is a track off his new album Warmer Than Gold. Check out his 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 Dominic Sramaty 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

How much pizza have you had here? Heavy early. It's been more of our sandwiches we've gotten around dinner time at the rink. But James was kind enough to bring me one over. When was that? Saturday, yes. Yes, Saturday, yeah. Yes.

I had pizza Saturday. I went for lunch on Sunday morning. I had pizza Sunday. I'm starting to feel girthy. But it's so light here. Oh, it's still. That's the best part. Still.

Yeah. Still. I think Kevin's knocking up my door. Let him in. Yeah, okay. You want me to let him in? What is he? Surely he has something.

He's at the door here. We'll get him. One second. Welcome to 32 thoughts. The podcast presented by the Toyota BZ. Go all electric and a winter ready Toyota BZ at your local dealer today. Dom Elliott, Kyle back with you. Fridge and I still over in Italy,

Milan, the site of Milano Cortina, the Winter Olympics, and the men's ice hockey tournament, where, Elliot, we are through the preliminary round, all the math that we were juggling with goal differential and points and total goals. How, like you and James on the panel were like Charlie Day, that's seen an always sunny in Philadelphia at the board with the with the tax, Jason DeMere sent that to me twice, I saw. It once wasn't enough. He had to follow up.

That's great. Yeah. Would you guys gymnastics yourself into a pretzel going through all the scenarios on Sunday? A couple of posseal. We talked about how I like logic problems. It was a good, it's a good thing because you need that to figure out. There are so many different ways here that the double IHF does it. that are confusing and they can trip you up.

You know, for example, on Sunday night, when Denmark beat Latvia, I was like, okay, if Germany wins this game, they can beat the U.S. win the pool. And then I looked at it and again, I said, ah, darn it, if it goes to overtime, that doesn't happen, even if Germany wins. You have to change that. And also, you know, you forget Kyle the tears. For example, if you finish second in your pool, you can't finish ahead of anybody that finishes first in their pool, no matter what they look like comparatively.

And if you finish third in your pool, you can't finish ahead of anybody who might finish second in their pool, no matter how many goals you score to your goal differentially or points total or anything like that. And then, of course, there's the three-way ties where you throw out the team that's not involved. And then if one team wins that tie, then, okay, we've still got two teams left, but the rules changed. Like, it is, I did feel like Charlie Day after this was over a couple of times. Or maybe Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future, like just my complete brain melting. And, you know, there were a couple. Zach Alphenakis at the poker table. Zach Alphenaccas, that's right at the poker table.

You know, there were a couple times James and I looked at each other and we said, you think we're right? Yeah, I think we're pretty confident. We're right. But it's like these rules, they are confusing. No question about it. Well, thankfully, we have clarity now. So Canada, the top seed.

Now just win. Now win and move on. Lose your tournaments over. Canada, the top seed, the Americans, the Slovaks, the Finns, they all go right to the quarterfinals. Monday is a day off from hockey on the men's side, though the two women semis are on Monday at the San Diego. Are you looking? So we'll be following that.

I'll be there for the Canada game, which is late on, and I'll be around the rink for the U.S. semi earlier in the day on Monday, too. So I'll be around, yes. And then on Tuesday for us, it is the qualification round for the eight teams involved in that. So we'll start with Canada as the top seed. They were perfect through the preliminary round. capping off with a big victory over France on Sunday, a lot of ways as expected. I don't know where you want to start here, Elliot. I just got to say, like, through, we talked about it a bit after their opener against Chequia.

As great as they were assembled at Four Nations, a year later, it is impossible to ignore how much of a factor the emergence of 19-year-old Macclan Celebrini has shown already. It is a completely different dynamic with him in the fold A and B how he's playing so far. First thing I feel like saying is that this tournament is not over now. There seems to be a lot of people saying Canada looks too dominant. They can't be beat. And I agree they look very good.

But I've been around too much hockey and too many Olympics to know that the teams that look the best or the worst in the opening round don't always suffer the same. same fate once the metal round begins. The thing I like most about Canada, I think there's two things, Colin. You hit on one, how seamless Celebrity's integration has appeared to be, but two, just how deep they've looked in all three of their games, Czechia and Switzerland and France, they've gotten much, much better than their opponent as the game has gone on. It's like an A, B, graph where the lines just completely separate from each other. At the beginning of the game, they're close, and as the minute counter goes up, the other team goes lower and Canada goes higher.

And that bodes well for them. They've just been really, really good and really, really dominant as the deeper they get into games. And they should. I think the thing is too is that because so many of them played together last year at the Four Nations, they know how to play each other. They have better understanding of each other's strengths and weaknesses. They know what to expect. And I think it's been very strong for them. You're right about Celebrini.

I guess he claimed postgame that he didn't know that anybody on the ice could have taken the penalty shot. and he just assumed that because he was the guy who was fouled, he went to go take it. I'm going to choose to believe that that's not true, that he knew the rule and he said, screw it, nobody's getting this from me. I'm taking it anyway. But you're right. And, you know, I don't know, what do you call on that line? You come up with the nicknames all the time.

He calling them the Mack trucks, Mach 3, like what are you going with here? So I first thought of, remember Frick and Frack? the ice duo from Switzerland. Yes. Yeah. So a comedic ice duo, right? They had routines and they could move on the ice back at that time, which was a long time ago. Nobody had ever seen it before.

So, I mean, instead of Frick and Frack, this is Mick and the two Macs for me, what they're skating. Mick and Max. Yeah. There's nothing comedic about it unless you're just chuckling to yourself in amazement. It's not terrible. I've heard worse from you. By the way,

our old buddy Chris de Stremsky was wondering if you were using olive oil, like Italian olive oil to sculpt your head. Yeah. Well, I mean,

with these long days, like you need some reinforcement sometimes. It's a good idea. Anyway, not the worst nickname you've ever come up with, but Celebrity's arrival

and the fact he's fit in so seamlessly on that top line has been a great omen for Team Canada. I think, too, the other guy who's really stood out for me in terms of, you know, you were wondering how the fit was going to be this year, especially since he hadn't had a great season, has been Thomas Harley. And obviously he played last year.

Yeah, but I wasn't surprised with Doughty. I figured with Doughty he was a guy who would just raise to the level and he has so far. Harley had had a really rough year and some people had told me they thought the contract stuff, even before he signed, had really weighed him down. Whatever the case is, he looks like a completely different player here, just calm, effortless, always in the rush. He scored. I think he's been terrific. And I think Horvats been a nice fit.

You know, the one guy who has not yet hit the level I thought and expected from him, Kyle, has been Nick Sezou. and I actually wonder if when Marshand, and I'm not surprised they're doing this with Marchand, I think he's been really beaten up all year. I'm wondering if when Marchand shows up for the quarterfinal, if Suzuki is the guy who gets scratched, because he's been battling to find his way here. And, you know, it's just, I was looking who's going to go out if Marchand comes in. And because Marchand has been a winger with McKinnon, including earlier in this tournament, I'm wondering if that could make Suzuki vulnerable. Yeah, that's a good point because that's if there's one thing you're looking at with Canada here through three games, as deep as they've looked, as thorough as their game has looked by and large.

Can't help but wonder, all right, is Cooper settled on McKinnon with McDavid and Celebrini going forward? like remember here on Sunday, they started with Wilson back there and then made the change part way through. Or does you want to keep McKinnon on a separate line at least to start games? And if he loads up, then so be it. Like it seems, you know, Four Nations it was okay.

Where do we find the right guys for McDavid? Kind of get the sense. It's like, how do we find the best balance with McKinnon if he's going to be at center on his own line? that feels a little unknown at this point still, don't you think? I like the idea of starting with McKinney on his own line. Canada has a good flow in these games. Like I said, they get better later, they get stronger later,

and I like the ability to move to that as the games continue on. And also too, like I said, they haven't had Marchand for a couple of games. I just think that as these games get more important and he gets reinserted into the lineup, Kyle, I think that he will at least create the ability for some crazy stuff to happen. I like the idea of not starting with them and going to them. But I also do think I would like to see a bit more from Hegel. And, you know, I like Horvatt. I think he's been really good.

You probably want to keep him centering the fourth line as opposed to moving him to a wing again. That's why I think Marchand coming back and maybe getting some time with McKinnon. I want to see how that works. In a big game, I'd really like to see that. Now, McKinnon, he got ravaged a bit at the end of this one. He took that big hit that started the fight

from Pierre Crinaw. and then he got kind of hit in the knee. And I didn't get the sense, Kyle. Like if he had been wounded, I don't think he would have done all the interviews he did postgame. You didn't get any sense in the mix zone that there was any issue with McKinnon's knee, did you? I didn't.

He seemed to be making his way through okay. He more looked like a guy that was like, okay, it's great that teams playing well. He's still, he's maybe a little unsettled with, with his own game right now. I mean, that's how the guy is wired at the best of times. He could have had five points to him and go and got to find a way to get better. You could see his frustration on the ice and the power play. He, that's the place where I really saw it boiling over for him.

He had that look on his face like, I can't believe what is happening out here. It always seems as if there's, one big Canadian star who's frustrated in the middle of a tournament. And right now it's McKinnon. Yeah. And with everything else the way it's going, like it's not the worst thing in the world. But still something for the coaching staff to figure out. Okay, Tom Wilson here before we go into anything further.

So you mentioned McKinnon getting roughed up. Krenel, he went back after him. It was great television with before that Wilson and Belmar chatting near the benches and Mike Johnson was right there and kind of listening along to what was said about, okay, let's tone things down here a little bit or things are going to get ugly. But we had a fight at the Olympics. First time since 98, Elliot Friedman. And if there was a suppose one scenario, if Tom Wilson was going to do it late in the game against France with the quarter finals three days away and not getting suspended for it, it's not a bad one to get it out of your system.

So it was funny, when he got knocked or dragged down in that fight, part of me was wondering if Wilson was sitting there saying, don't lose your mind. Like he was trying to keep the mental handcuffs on. Whatever you do here, if you're going to fight, don't do anything that really, you're gets you in trouble. Now, Kevin disagreed, and on replay, I agree with him, he just got caught by the move that Krenon did. He expected Krenon to throw punches with him, and Krenon was like, I'm not doing that. I'm just going to throw you to the ground. And I think that caught Wilson by surprise. He wasn't expecting that kind of a tactic. And then when he got up, I was worried he was going to toss one of the

linesmen to the moon. That he would have been in trouble. That's when Greenon realized, I don't want any part of this. Like, get me to the penalty box before anything bad happens. I saw when they cut to the bench that that's exactly what John Cooper was worried about. He wasn't worried about the fight. He was worried about Wilson getting angry that he'd been thrown down and snapping and doing something crazy. And Wilson didn't do it.

Like, there was a lot of confusion after that, Kyle. You know, there seemed to be a lot of people who thought that it's an automatic one-game suspension. Like, I had fans in the crowd who came up to our set and asked, is Wilson suspended? Is Wilson suspended? And, you know, I just said no. And I sent a note to the double IHF, please keep me updated if you decide to review this. And by the time I'd made my way downstairs after the game, Kyle, had gotten a note saying, neither player here is getting a suspension.

But we weren't expecting fighting at the Olympics. Boy, were we wrong? And you know what? That guy, Creenaw, I didn't realize this. Someone sent me the video. He got suspended seven games in the French League this year for punching a goalie in the face. And the video is crazy. Right.

So he's no stranger to this. No, well, he's a stranger to fighting guys like Tom Wilson. Yes. You know why? Like he got the good shot in, the pulldown he did definitely caught Wilson by surprise. And I think there were some people on other NHL teams or fans of other NHL teams, even if they're cheering for Canada who didn't mind that.

But there was a minute there, like I said, where Wilson got off the ice, where I thought we were going to be picking up Crenon's DNA from certain places all over the arena to identify him. Yeah, it was, he tried to make it wrestling as opposed to fighting, and Tom Wilson wasn't interested in any of that. First player ever we believe in the Olympics to put up a Gordyhow Hatrick. Yes, that we believe not.

It has not been disputed. And also, Kyle, a fitting tribute that a year ago today, as we record this, was Fight Night in Montreal. That's right. So that is a good tribute. what this means is that every year on February 15th, we have to have some historic pugilism in hockey. Yes, I can't wait for next years. Okay, you mentioned fans coming up to you and asking you about if he was going to be suspended. I think I got a DM from one of them.

I know we're putting the thought line on hold here while we're over at the Olympics. We've got an emergency thought line, including. conclusion here, Elliot. From Scott, who said he was talking to you at the Canada game about the Wilson incident and came up with a question for the thought line. Is Tom Wilson the first Canadian to drop the gloves at the Olympics? Well, certainly the first in the NHL era, as we know. The tricky thing is going back through old box scores of Olympics past,

There are examples of Canadian players being assessed five minutes, but they are labeled as a major. So it could be a fight. It could also be something else. However, the great Steve Fallon found one example from the 1952 Olympics against Czechoslovakia. And remember, until Salt Lake City in 2002, that was the last time the Canadian men had won a gold medal at the Olympic Games. Gordy Robertson got into a scrap while playing for the Edmonton Mercury slash Team Canada

at those Olympics. So there's one example we could find. There may be more. Who do you fight against or what team did they say? So what Steve found as opposed to the box score was the game story in the paper the next day. And all it says was taking a couple of swings at a check player.

So the reporter covering the game did not identify the player. Interesting. But there's one, Scott. Well, that's a good find. A couple of the things I would just say about Canada. Number one, are you concerned about Bennington at all? I had some people ask me that. No.

Yeah. One went through them. the other one almost after that he almost had another one go through him but i i thought he was fine he's the guy i'm not worried about it and you know the other thing a weird game for him too it was like i think he had seven shots and you know 40 something minutes it it it happens um you don't like to see it but it happens i'm not worried about it he's their guy um you know i have to say too you know knowing that marchand was off for two games you know that story about the all the like the hundred thousand condoms that had disappeared

geez yeah i had visions of them missing because he grabbed them all and was hiding them in his closet in his room why why did you have visions of that because you know that's the first thing i thought of like that's something he would do it just hide them all right right well he's the social media guy, this Olympics for Canada, right? So he's like, oh, this will make a great TikTok. I feel bad. Someone's getting fired when he retires and goes into media. I hope it's not me, but it could be.

Okay. So Canada will get the winner of either Czechia or Denmark. Dane's had a nice, maybe a little surprising win over Latvia. I was surprised when I, because they played late on. Saturday night against U.S. And they didn't look great in that game. The U.S. didn't look great in that game, but they didn't either. And, you know, I give them credit.

They knew that that wasn't their best chance to win, so they held Frederick Anderson out of that game. And Frederick Anderson, he came through. He did a great job. I was shocked that they lost, that they beat Latvia. I was shocked that Latvia lost that game. You know, I'll talk about Latvia in a second, but I was really surprised. He was fantastic for them.

And the thing is, too, is that the empty net goal there, which came with two minutes left, Latvia really screwed up getting the extra man on there. That empty net goal had Denmark avoid Sweden and got them to play check here. Like they needed that goal and the goal differential to do it. So that's how crazy that empty netter was and how bad that extra man situation was for Latvia. I still think Chequia wins. You? I do too.

What's interesting, I mean, we can go ask the question a couple times here is that for the teams playing in the qualification round, if they win, it's a back-to-back. So you need to win the first one. and when it comes to goal tending, I mean, is Czechia comfortable going? You got to play Anderson. I mean, Denmark's playing Anderson,

no question, if that's what you're asking. Right. But I'm, and then for the checks, I'm wondering about Dostal, if you're going, we feel good about our chances

beating Denmark here, and then you're running him back to back the next game against Canada, the next day. Oh, that's a good question. Well, you know,

I've said this before, and I'll say it again, it would I would be, I would not want to play that guy in a one game elimination. I agree. That, I mean, there's not much you can do about it now.

But, you know, here's, here's my thing about this. It's a, if you're checking, and I'll say this. So Radic Foxa got hurt at the end of that game.

and I don't know how serious that's going to be, but he had played really well for them. They've had some injuries. Jan Ruta's missed a couple of games. Foxa got hurt at the end of that game. Like, those are important players for them. A lot of Cheki as best players haven't played great here. We're still waiting for a big Posternock moment,

although he did have a great play on the goal that sent Sunday's game against Switzerland to overtime. You know, hurdle has been very quiet here. Kubolik, he was taken out of the game. He was a scratch against Switzerland. Like some of their top players have not been very good. Some of their local guys, like some of the Czech guys told me they weren't convinced that Radham Cimeck, who'd played in San Jose. should have been on this team, he's been really good, really good for them.

So I'd say this, I don't believe in holding guys back, Kyle, like Dostle, but you should be able to beat Denmark without Dostle. The thing that surprised me is that we haven't seen Vamelka at all. Right. Like I have to say this. Like Fla Dar backed up on Sunday. Yeah, you know, Lidar had those rough moments against France. I would consider, unless there's something going on with Vamelka that I don't know,

I would consider throwing him in there against the Dains. I would. You should be able to- He hasn't played all tournament? Now you're putting them in there? I know. I know. It sounds crazy.

You're probably going Vlodar. You should be able to beat Denmark with any one of those goalies, and then you play Dostel against Canada. That's generally counterintuitive. I don't think that way, but maybe it's just because I'm thinking that if I was Chequia, I could beat Canada one game with Dostle. That's the way I would approach it. But I do have to say this.

Two of Czech's best players, Posternak and Hurtle, you've got to get more out of them. Yeah. They've been pretty quiet. Nate just has gotten better as the games have gone on there for them. Yep. And that was best finish of the tournament so far would have been Czechia, Switzerland on Sunday. That was electric. Crowd and clothing.

Only one overtime game. That's it. Well, we'll see if we have more here as we go forward into the medal round. Okay, the Americans, Elliot's been kind of a, I mean, 3 and O, they took care of their business. I would say looking at their schedule to start and their group, there wasn't an opponent there that was like, okay, they've got their attention here. It's been a little bit of a different flow for them. You can only play the people that are put in front of you. I would say the best they've looked was Sunday night against the Germans.

Man, oh, man, the replay is the looks of Matthew Kuchuk all over Leon Drysadle. He refused to let him be an impact in any way in that game for the Germans. But how are you feeling about the states as they move into the... next phase here. You know what, honestly, Kyle, that's what I thought was missing from them in their first two games, was the emotion and the hate.

Like, you know, people were like, oh, they're not very good, they're not very good, they're not showing us, honestly, the thing that I think Canada, I hate comparing Canada to the U.S. all the time, but you just can't avoid it.

The thing I think that really helped Canada was they, from the first shift when McDavid ran over one of the Czech players, Canada put them, themselves into the tournament. They built their own emotion. They built their own energy. They built their own hate. I think sometimes in tournaments like this, where you deal with players that you don't have or countries that you don't have major hate for, like also too, like,

you look at, I mean, you look at who they played. They played Latvia. Nobody hates Latvia, right? They played Denmark. And I know there's all the stupid politics around it, but nobody like nobody on the USA hockey hates anybody on Denmark. And then finally, you got Germany and there's a real rivalry. Like you could tell, Matthew Kachuk just decided I'm seeing Drysidal and Brady goes with them and they're like, I see red. Like I hate him. He hates me.

And the whole team follows the lead of those guys. And I don't think it's a coincidence that one of the reason the U.S. didn't look great in their first two games was because they didn't manufacture hate for either of those two teams. It just wasn't there. And all of a sudden, oh, Germany, A, they're a bit better. And B, it's our third game of the round robin. We have to get going. And see that whole kachuk-drysidal thing, all of a sudden, that was a completely

different team. And now, you know, the U.S., they're not going to have trouble manufacturing hate from here on in because all these games are elimination games. So, like I saw a lot of people saying, no chance the U.S. beats Canada, no chance to use beats Canada. Again, it was early. You get yourself going, but now the hate is there. I really thought that's a major reason they look so much better in their third game.

So I think now we're going to start to see who they really are and the ferocity is there. And, you know, I'll say this too. I really think that one of their most important players is Zach Wrenski. Well, yes. You know, like, I'm watching Quinn Hughes and Hughes is so eager to play so well, and he makes such a big difference. And at the end of the game, they're up 5'1 with a minute left, and he's, like Kevin and I were watching it.

He's standing up on the bench and he's got the door open. He wants to get back out there. Like, you can tell how much Quinn Hughes wants it and wants to be out there. But to me, things really happen on the ice, too, when Werenski's out there. Like, it's just, it's just, I just think they're better when he's out on the ice. So I would really start leaning his way. You know, we know that HelloBox the guy now there. Again, they've got a really tough draw.

They've got potentially the toughest quarterfinal draw. But I think that, and we'll see how everybody, We'll see whatever. You know, the best thing about this pod is that we talked about how Slovakia has no gold tanning or not enough gold tanning. And after their first game... I didn't talk about that. It was you and the guests we had here. Oh, yeah.

I said look out for the Slovaks. Yeah, yeah, I knew you were going to do that. You are such a bailer. That's an excellent move, though. I didn't tip my cap to you. I didn't bail, Dom? No, you bailed. Roll the tapes back.

He is the only one that supports. Oh, shut up, Dom. go hang up the microphone, okay? Anyway, so that's one group that, you know, as things go along here, there's going to be some headaches that they can potentially cause. And I just wonder for a guy like Slavkovsky now, four years later coming back, how he handles and embraces the challenge of being the go-to guy for his country, because he's already reveled in it once.

Kyle, I think Just don't like their gold tenning. Don't have the gold tening. The Slovaks for me, Kyle, are like that the bread on the table at non-Aimilia. Like, that didn't stand a chance from Elliot. Like, the Slovaks have no chance.

Turn here, go back to mute, Dom. Anyway, Baylor. But, you know, I just think the U.S. has barely scratched the surface, although they have a brutal potential quarterfinal match. I like them. I think that what they had to do was manufacture some hate, some emotion,

and finally they did. And there was a time in that game where Drysaitle tried to hit Kachuk back and Kachuk kind of ducked out of the way of it. And you could tell that Drysidle was angry. Another level in that Panther Oiler feud, which might not make it to the postseason this year because the Panthers are in trouble. but I just think they saw each other,

the Kachucks got riled up, and the U.S. was a different team. Yeah, they look much different. I wonder, as things go, that bottom six, you know, the Matthews lines look good. Obviously, I go with the Kichucks have been their most effective. But, you know, Keller comes into the lineup.

Kyle Connor sits out. Yep. Mike Sullivan's actually been working Vincent Trocheck through things quite often. It is amazing to me, Kyle, that in this tournament, the international teams who are more used to this 13 and 7 have had so much more trouble or are unwilling to use those players than the North American teams are. Like Cooper and Sullivan have bent over backwards to make sure those guys feel used. Right. And Oliver Ekmalarsson didn't play a second of the first game for Sweden. By the third, he was on a pair with Victor Hedman. So things can't evolve. But that was one thing for me with USA going forward, just to keep an eye on how they view the bottom six, who they value there, and how often they're used going forward. Because as we anticipate, it'll be Sweden in the quarterfinals. Unless I've got a lot of respect for Latvia. I have to tell you, I watched their morning skate before their first game against the Americans.

The first drill of a morning skate. Usually it's, you know, at the four blues, BX has talked about it, the wakey, wiki type drill. It's passing, it's shooting. It's just getting your hands warm, moving up and down the ice. Golly feels the puck. Not Latvia. It was two-on-two battle. like keep away in one corner of the ice

and the rest of the players were in like a semi circle around the top of the faceoff dot to kind of block them all in that was their first drill of the morning skates Kasper's Dogovic, Ottawa Senator's legend. I asked him about it. He's the Latvian captain has been for a long time. He's like, it's how we wake the bones up. It's a Latvian staple. They do that every time

to kick off their practice. I had never seen anything like that before. Wow. You know, I'll say this about Latvia. That shows you that, I was a great note, by the way, Kyle. That's really interesting stuff. I've got another Dogovan's note coming up shortly. But the thing about Latvia is it just shows you, you know,

how hard it is to be excellent at a sport and its consistency. You know, Latvia gets that upset of, I think, thought they played the Americans really hard. They didn't win, but they played them hard. I thought they really competed. And then they got that great win over Germany. And all of a sudden, second place in the pool at least was staring them right in the face, like a top eight seating. And they couldn't do it.

And it just, it shows you like the most important thing to being a good team is consistency. And, you know, that's that's one of those moments where, you know, I think the Swiss have broken through. They have become more, they've never won, but they're constantly on the podium. They're winning silver medals. They're getting to championship games. And they have become more consistent. They find ways to get onto the podium. And that to me is the difference, and they've got more on HLers too. It's not a small thing. But that to me is the difference between a team like Switzerland and a team like Latvia. You have to take advantage of that moment when you get there. They had a chance today against a weaker opponent to finish second in their pool and they couldn't do it.

I'm not trying to rip them, but I'm just showing like, that's how you go from, you know, 10th to 5th. Like, you have to be able to do that. And Switzerland is now able to do that, and that's where Latvia has to get to. I was disappointed for them because, like I said, I think they've got some really good players. They play pretty hard. I like their fans. I like their spirit. and now as a result they get the Swedes.

And, you know, Kyle, to me, Sweden's been pretty interesting. It's pretty obvious that there's not a lot of love between Sam Hallam and the coach and the media that covers their team. Oh, no. And it doesn't seem that they're, I mean, you're in the mix zone with them. I've been watching the clips. It's like, wow. And it doesn't seem there's also a lot of love between Hallam and some of the

NHLers on the team. but and what really stands out to me is that some of the guys that they, you know, didn't trust at the beginning of the tournament, like you mentioned OEL, I thought OEL was tremendous in their, in their last game. You know, I thought he was really, really good for them as the turn, as the round robin continued. Philip Forsberg, he barely used him the first couple of games. I thought he was really good for them in game number three.

Now it's Jesper Bratt, who finished last game in that 13 spot. You know, I think Lucas Raymond, he took the bad penalty, and I guess he got skewered in Swedish media. But, you know, obviously that was a big mistake. But I think Lucas Raymond has been really good in this tournament. And I suspect that. on. I suspect that he'll be one of their most motivated players because of what happened.

And I also wonder, too, like, for a long time, it's been Headman Carlson for them, honestly. And this is, it's not an insult to Headman Carlson, but it's a credit to how well these two guys have played. But I wouldn't be surprised if they, and I think they'll beat Latvia, but against the U.S. if Dahlene Foresling play half the game. Like Dahlene has been their best player here. I agree. I agree. Five on five,

running the power play. It's been really impressive. You can tell like just obviously energized. It's the Olympics. But this is a guy who's finally been playing meaningful hockey the last few months in the NHL too. And it's just carried over to, someone that's been at a different level here for the Swedes.

Can I also say, I was shocked. I could not believe people ripping their dark, dark blue jerseys with the yellow Tre Corny. Second best jerseys in the tournament behind Finland. Man, oh man. Finland's dark blues are beautiful too. Yes, they are. Sorry, Swedes.

I'm putting Finland's ahead of yours. One of the first few days I was here, the Swedish. women's team, one of their preliminary games was at the Santa Julia Arena where we are. And I just happened to be walking by in one of the tunnels, some of their players, and they were moving from the practice rink over to the, I guess, the game day rooms over in the big rink. And that was the first time I'd seen those jerseys in person. It was, wow, they look so sharp.

The contrast between the colors look so good. Perfect for play-by-play guys, no issues figuring out what the numbers are. what the names are. I was surprised people going, why did Sweden ruin their jerseys and go to that? I love them. Those people are nuts. Those are the Cassie Campbell,

Pascal, every time she talked about Mark Stone, she's like, I heard people who, I heard people say that Mark Stone deserved to be here. And then I was like, I've had enough for this. Cassie, who said that? I want to know who said that. I don't know anybody who didn't think Mark Stone should be here.

And she goes, well, I see them. I'm like, those are losers. And he was like, don't read social, Cassie. Don't read social. Oh, gosh. Also, one of the more bizarre scenarios that I've come across, certainly here in the Olympics, and I can't remember another time anywhere,

was after that Sweden-Slovakia game, where Slovakia lost by two goals, but the margin was tight enough. Yes, because you come through the mix zone. You thought you were in bizarro world. Totally. Slovakia had lost, but because of the gold differential as such, they won the group after the, like, they're celebrating in the pile afterwards on the ice. And so what happens typically in the mix zone is the losing team will go through first because usually you think those interviews are going to be shorter.

They get through and get on. And then the winning team comes through afterwards. And so Slovakia is a losing team comes through first, boisterous, Slavkovsky's like, I've never been so happy about. a loss. I was asking you, Eric Chernak, like, when was the last time he felt this good about a two-goal defeat? And he was kind of laughing. And then Sweden comes through afterwards,

and they had played a really good game. Like, it was just the tough, you mentioned the Raymond penalty late, that ends up leading to the goal that changes and flips everything up on its head. But otherwise, had played a real solid game after a tough loss against Finland the day before. And they

look crestfallen. Like, it was just incredible. the dynamic there, but welcome to the Olympics, I suppose. It was so funny. When that goal went in, those Slovak players were so ecstatic. And I have to say this, Slovak fans travel well, great fans, very enthusiastic. Yes. Chequia fans travel well, very enthusiastic.

They haven't had a ton to cheer for here. They are still very enthusiastic. The Italian fans have been good. obviously. The German fans, this was actually the first Germany game I covered so far and their fans

traveled very well and were really good. Swiss fans right at the border, not far. Excellent. Like a really good, really good representation by a lot of the fan bases

here. I have to say that Canadian fans, there were a number of students that were studying overseas. You know, my two nieces, for example, one of them studies in Scotland

and another one studies in Belgium and they came to the Switzerland game and they were not the only ones. There were a whole bunch of students studying overseas who came. I have to say the different fan turnouts at this tournament has been as good as any I've ever seen

at an international hockey tournament. Very, very impressive. And it's added to the level here. Swedish goalie, who are you going with? Oof. Well, they haven't used Walsett, right? Again, you know what? I got to tell you something.

I would think about it. Maybe. Again, you're looking at we should be able to. I have not been impressed with Gustafin. I have not been impressed with him here. No, I'm with you. And you're not putting Markstrom back to back. You know, again, it's the same thing I just said about Czechia.

Like, you should, if you're Sweden, you should be able to beat. Latvia Without whoever you think you need to beat the U.S. Right, but it's I mean, it's only a back-to-back the next game like the back-to-back would be against the states Yes So that first one do you save Markstrom for it at this stage? Is he your number one? Like is, I think he is like no one's grabbed it like I think kind of by default

He really didn't like guys. Justin in these first two games here. I just, he looked nervous. Yeah. Yeah, and it's too bad. Like, he's been having a real solid year with the Wild. It just hasn't been so over here at the Olympics. I think Markstrom's made you feel less nervous of the two.

So, can you see a scenario? Yeah, I would play the other guy against Latvia, whichever one you want to play. Right. Play Gustafin or play Walton. or play Walsh State against Latvia. And I would play Markstrom against the States. I'll tell you this, I'd love to see two Nielander against Matthews.

Yeah. In a big game. Right. I would be, well, barring something crazy happening, we're days away from seeing it. Okay, Slovakia. Great story. One of the great stories of the tournament so far. Yes.

The legend of your ice, Slavkovsky. Slavkovsky. I mean, if you're a Canadians fan, your nipples got to be erected, seeing how well Slavkowski's doing. You know, it's been a year. I figured I should bring that one back. Yes.

That's how Dom's felt about things, watching his country play. Oh, yeah. You know, I just, I watch him here and, you know, it was interesting there, coach Orsag,

He said, he talked about in Montreal. It's not just, he's not just an ad to Suzuki or Caulfield anymore. He's, he's his own guy. And I think the Montreal fans would tell you that they knew that already, that he's very much a straw that stirs the drink. He's funny, too, because when he gets taken off on the power play here, he gets really mad. You could see, like, he burns holes through the bench's heads when he gets taken off the ice on the power play. but you know he he he comes here and he's he puts a cape on he's just and and you can tell like

it doesn't matter how old some of these other guys are they they see him as their leader like I know Tatar is the captain and he's earned the respect as a guy who's worn that jersey for so many years but Stavkovsky's the captain of that team and they all know it and none of them are jealous about it and uh you know You know, I think that it's going to be, I think they're semi-final, like, they're not good enough to blow you away. And the other thing I have to say about this is that I saw all your tweets and DMs about our comments about Slovak gold tanning. I give their guys a lot of credit. They have really battled.

And I don't think Slovakia is a shoe in to win their, their, their quarter final. I think it's going to be a battle. But I think now that they have respect, like they're not seen as, you know, some people have written about how Yarrow Halak a few years ago was like, this is the end of Slovak hockey. And now it's clear that they are in a new beginning. They're not an overwhelming favorite like some of these other teams are, but they've taken that leap that Switzerland has taken. and that leap that Latvia's got to take. And, you know, I'll tell you this, like, Slavkovsky, hopefully, like,

that's a guy who could end up playing five Olympic games for them. Right. So young when he played his first. And he's, they rally around him. And you know what, too, I like their deed. They've got a lot of really good, unselfish players, you know, Farivari,

um, churnat. Yeah, Fairvar has been really good. Marenchen. Like, you know, it's funny, there have been a lot of names in this tournament of guys like Merencien, Muldgin, who unfortunately got hurt, names you haven't seen in a while,

Dominic Cahoon from Germany, and you're like, oh, yeah, that guy. Like, you know what? Like, you know who's looked really good for them? And I wonder if he's a guy who gets invited back to the NHL or brought back to the HL at some point? Adam Rizitschka.

Like, that's a guy who, kind of fell out of the NHL, and you watch him now and you say, I could see someone calling him and saying, you know, where are you? And, you know, I've heard he's really matured. And I could see, like, he's a guy who's filled a role here. I don't think they terrify anyone yet. And if they get, like, for example, say the Americans, which is who they would get if this all goes to form, which it never does, You could see the Americans. Is that means you mean? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Like you could see the Kachuk's giving him the dry-settled treatment if, you know, that happens. But, you know, like I said, they don't terrify you, but you have to respect them. And that is a team. It's much greater than the sum of its parts. And I think they deserve a lot of respect for that. Like, I'll say this. I assume you're picking Germany over France.

like I am. Yeah. Like to me, that Germany-Slovakia game, like, it'll be Gruber. Like, to be honest, if I was, if I was Germany, I consider playing the backup again against France. You know, France plays hard. I give them a lot of credit. But again, you should be able to beat them.

Like, the guy who played against the States, he was actually really good. Franz Rev. He kept that from being lopsided. And the other thing, too, is. is your guys are going to get rested. Like on Saturday, Drysettle played 28 and a half minutes. Sider was over 27.

Petrka and Stutzler were over 26. They were exhausted. You're going to have those guys rested. You should be just fine. And you get Gruberauer to Slovakia. And I actually think, you know, U.S. Sweden, if it happens, I think that's obviously the best quarterfinal. But Slovakia,

and Germany, it could be the second best one. Yeah, totally. And auto offense have got to be loving how Stoetzel's been flying around the ice. Man, we've known he can skate, but he's really had wheels over here. It's been, it's been fun to watch. Okay. Those guys had nothing left against the Americans, though. Like, they were just wiped out.

And yet he still had some bursts, like where he got free. Yeah, third period. Yeah, he did. Yeah, it's impressive. Okay, Finland. They were the country that, I mean, the first game, right, stunned by the Slovaks. They looked in shambles.

There was that story that came out in the Finnish press about the NHL players going to Yuri Lent and the GM. What were these Scandinavian teams not liking their coaches? Crazy. They wanted Paul Maurice part of it, you know, it didn't go anywhere. Like, that was a big story. going into their game against Sweden, their arch nemesis,

and holy smokes, is that all going to unravel? They beat Sweden, and then they laid the boots to team Italy and ran up the goal differential to put them in a situation where, though they didn't win their group, they grabbed the four spot and don't have to worry about the qualification round.

They're a team that certainly looks much better than they did five, six days ago. I just wonder, you know, there again, like you were wondering about, Chequia, some of their top guys really starting to go. I mean, it was one thing to pad the stats against Italy. But in the other ones, you know, you're still looking for ranting and to take over a game. Aho has had his moments.

I don't know. What are your thoughts on the Finns? Besides how beautiful their sweaters are. Besides that those road sweaters are the best sweaters at these games. And everything else is playing for a distant second. very sharp, very sharp. Finland must have Deb Berman designing stuff for them.

Because it's excellent. Number one, Saros has gotten better as this tournament has continued. And I think that is their best, that is the best thing to feel about for them. I wasn't crazy about him in the first game, but I thought he was really good afterwards and really good against Sweden.

Second thing, I like the killer instinct. You know, as I said before Canada plays France kids sportsmanship is important but not today and they had to run up the score and they did I to me that says that's a team that understands when you have to just turn off the niceties and do what you have to do and I think that's a good omen for teams good teams do that and Finland did that you know Matt and Palo I've always liked Matt and Palo is played well here. Haskin and Lindell, they're going to play 35 minutes. I'm with you. I think that that team has to rely

on their best players even more than they like to. Like you can tell. Like coaches trust certain guys. They clearly trust the Armia's of the world and he's a good player. You got to ride ranting in some of these games. And I would expect that they're going

to do that. You know, Lundell was sick. Capitan was his roommate. They quarantined them. Obviously, you've got to know that Lundell's better. He's a critical player for them. But you've got to ride your horses. You know, for whatever reason, Kyle, they trust their defense, their best guys to play all the time. But they don't, like, someone should take these finished coaches and show them game seven of Colorado, Dallas last year to show what Rantan can do when he's basically put out. there every second shift. And no, that's, that's, that's what I would do. I wanted to share one story that when Slovakia got that late goal against Sweden, we all kind of forgot that Finland still had to beat Italy. And we're all sending out these tweets like, you know, Slovakia has won the

group and all this stuff. And there was this one guy, every time I was taking like a tweet down or saying, well, remember, Finland still got to be Italy, there was some guy was sending me a of that scene in the Sopranos where Silvio Dante, played by Stevie Van Zant, is saying, this is anti-Italian discrimination. And then they sent it to me also when the one guy got suspended for a game because our buddy from Hamilton got suspended because he hit Farivari in the head. Yeah. And then when they lost 11-0,

the same guy. He sent me this about five times in my DMs. He wrote back, never mind after they lost 11 to nothing. But, you know, I don't think they're going to beat Switzerland here, unfortunately. I really do want to shut out the Swiss because they had every excuse to lose that game. You know, we've talked about how they've gone from a country that was kind of on the periphery to one that gets themselves deeper into tournaments now. and they showed a lot of guts with beating Chequia in that game. They, you know, obviously the Fiala injury and the Kings confirmed what we'd reported that he's out for the year. And I had heard that he actually had at least two breaks. And you'll notice, Kyle, that in their announcement they said fractures. So it does seem to be that there's more than one of them.

I mean, I thought it was great. The way they rallied around him, they said, look, we're playing for him. And we found out. Also, too, with that, Elliot. Yeah. Sorry, I just want to, I didn't realize this. So Fiala, I guess, has, like, Czech in his family background, too. And all the guys knew that.

So then because that game on Sunday was against Cheki, it was like extra. We're winning this for Kevin. Yes. Knowing his family history, too, which is, I thought was a nice touch. And he sent them the video, right? So it was obviously very emotional. I mentioned he sent them a video before the game. But also, too, they lost Yossi's defense partner, and they also lost Molligan.

Like, they had three guys out of the lineup. And it would have been easy for them to fold, especially when the checks scored late. You know, both those teams showed big guts. The checks had one disallowed, and then they scored. And although I'll tell you this, I heard the checks were furious about the line change. in overtime. They thought that Switzerland really got away with one there and it was too many men. And one of them, I guess, claimed that they went to the referees after the game for an explanation.

I think it was Natchez, and the referee told them to get off the ice. So the Czechs weren't happy with that one. But I like Switzerland over Italy, obviously. And, you know, the one thing, too, I think it's, I have to assume that Akira Schmidt will get that game. And, you know, the story of their starting goaltender, it was just interesting how, yeah, how some of the Swiss players, I think Yossi said it postgame, they have no idea how this guy's never played in the NHL. Well, Roman, start making some calls, bud, you've got some influence. Yes. Like, you know, he's, you know, some of my buddies were asking me, how come Schmead's not the number one guy in Switzerland?

and I just said because this guy always seems to win for them at the international level, and all those guys love him. Right. And you wonder how many more years he's going to do it. He's 38 years old. Yeah. But, I mean, this is probably it for him. But, you know, they clearly believe in him and you can see why he really battles.

He's a really good goalie. And, you know, the one thing that kind of weird that happened was remind me in that game is, The goal was disallowed because they interfered with him outside the crease. And initially when I saw it, I was like, well, that'll count because it's outside the crease. And, you know, I was reminded that even if it's outside the crease, if you initiate the contact as he's trying to make a save, it's going to come off. And, you know, Kyle, there's a lot I've liked about this tournament being played on the tighter North American surface. I just think it's better. I think the hockey's better.

I think it would be a tiny bit better if the neutral zone was the size it's supposed to be. We're seeing a little too much dump and chase for my liking. And also, like, guys are getting murdered at the red line because they're guarding it really hard. I've liked a lot of this tournament. For the most part, I've liked the way it's been officiated. I don't know if anyone's going to say that they think this is sacrilege. I think we should do in the NHL, the one thing they could adapt

from the double IHF game, I think it's the goaltender interference. I really do. I never thought I would say this. I know people think it's soft, but you know what, Kyle, it's clear cut. Yeah. It is more clear cut than our way.

And our way is too confusing, and I just don't know enough to be able to pick. And like I said, we've talked about this now, like Bednar, like, I don't know what goal tenor interference is. this is more cut and dried. This might be, I mean, I'd love to hear what everybody says,

but right now I think this is better. Yeah. Seems they've got that figured out. Also, you mentioned the chanting earlier. I guess it's another one too where you're like, tip your cap to the European nations in terms of the creativity and the, I mean, like the whistling.

It was the first time being in, like instead of booing the ref or the refs you suck chant, they whistle. and it's like ear piercing when they're not happy with a call. You know what Kevin said to me? He's like, you know why they're whistling? And I'm like, huh?

And he goes because they don't like the play or the call. I'm like, thanks, tips. If it wasn't for you here, I wouldn't have known that. Well, just our resident Italian, just helping you along here in his native land. How much pizza have you had here? Um, heavy early. It's been more of our sandwiches we've gotten around dinner time at the rink.

Uh, but James was kind enough to, to bring me one over. When was that? Saturday. Yes. Yes. Yes. I had pizza Saturday. I had pizza.

I went, I went for lunch on Sunday morning. I had pizza Sunday. I'm starting to feel girthy. Hmm. But it's so light here. Oh, it's still. That's the best part. Still, yeah, still, it's, I think Kevin's knocking up my door.

Let him in. Yeah, okay. You want me to let him in? What is he? He's at the door here. We'll get him. One second. A few moments later.

All right, so what did Kevin want? Why did he come knocking? He ordered McDonald's and he had extra left over and he just, yeah. He threw it to me. So Kevin and I are, our rooms are right next to each other. Well, that's sweet. Yeah. I know we learned this in the preview pod.

Oh, that's right. I forgot about that. Yeah, it's been a long few days. Every night, every morning at 3.30 a.m. He wakes up wailing. I don't know what's going on in there. Probably because it's too bloody hot. That's right.

Anyway. Radiance from your room. Finland, Switzerland. Who do you like? Oh, boy. There's something about the way Switzerland's going here. I and they've got a real chance to make life difficult for the Finns. That'll be a really good game.

That'll be a really good game. I, I'm worried about the Swiss health. I really am. Yeah. I'll say this too, Yosi has been excellent here. Just fantastic. Sure has. So that's, that's, you're right.

You're right, though. Going on a back to back, you're already shortstaffed. The fial is a huge loss for them. It would be for anybody. They may just run out of gas, but the fact that they get Italy in their play-in, you know, how taxed is everybody coming out of that gang? Italy's not as physical as France, I don't think. I would agree with that.

Okay. So who are your semi-finalists? Because we're next recording after the quarters. And remember, semifinals get recede here. Quarters don't. Oh. And people ask me, why don't they do it? It's because when you, because the, because the qualifying in quarters are on back-to-back days,

if teams playing too far apart end up playing each other, somebody can really get screwed on the turnaround. Right. I'll go Canada I mean I can be bold and say Sweden's going to come through a knock off the U.S. I think the Americans I'm the guy I'm the guy sitting here saying I think the Americans just played their best game and I think they were angry or they created anger and they've got a lot to give that Sweden game is a tough game. So you say you say U.S. I'll be different. I'll go Sweden. Okay. So I'm taking Canada, Sweden.

You're taking Canada, U.S. Yeah. I think... I think Finland's going to beat Switzerland. I will go, too. All right. I'm sorry, Dom. I'm going to say Germany will upset Slovakia.

I don't think, you know, even though it's a 3-6, I don't think that's a huge upset. I think that game is almost entirely a toss-up. Yeah, I hear you. I like Slovakia would nod a little deeper Germany with the top end talent. I know they were tired against the U.S. Drysettle, of course, had a tough go.

France will be a good one for them to figure it out and to be feeling better about themselves, assuming they get by them. I'll take Germany against the Slovaks. Dostle still terrifies me, but I think I think can is too good. All right. Since you're taking the U.S., I'll go, Canada, Finland, Slovakia, Sweden. And I am not confident in two of those picks.

Yeah, okay. All right. I'll go Canada, U.S., Germany, and the Finns. I hate trendy picks. Sweden over the U.S. is going to be a trendy pick. And I think the Americans are going to come up with reasons to hate the Swedes in that game, and that will make them even better,

but we can't have both of us picking the same teams. All right. Good. Let's get to the final thought, which is presented by the Toyota BZ, go all electric and a winter ready Toyota BZ at your local dealer today. Shoutouts, we've got more of them, Elliot.

It's an international event, and we have some international people to shout out here now. You want to start? No, you go first. No, you go ahead. Okay, all right. So wanted to shout out G. Ho from Korea.

He is a Korean sports journalist who went to school in Toronto, and it was there that, I mean, he knew a little bit about hockey. Obviously, he was around it a lot more while he was in Toronto doing his schooling, became a big Maple Leafs fan. He still is today while working back in Korea. but he also is a listener of the podcast. So we've got listenership in Korea. So Gio, it was great to meet you. He's here covering a bit of the tournament. Met him in the media work area at the arena a couple of days back.

So that floored me. Nice. Krezomir from Croatia came up and introduced himself where my platform area is in the building. So Krezimir, also listener of the pod, he has and his colleague have a podcast of their own in Croatian on hockey. I believe the translation he said was on thin ice is the title of their podcast. Yeah, we're on thin ice too, so we've got something in common. Yes. That's also cool.

But it was, yeah, it was neat as he was explaining it. I guess, you know, at one point he was a commentator for the NHL games they would do for, the Croatian audience. The rights have kind of moved around there. He was explaining, but hopefully he gets a chance to work hockey games again, but is a massive, massive fan of the sport. He loves doing his podcast. He said, you know, we're maybe a little more of a niche audience in Croatia with hockey,

but really enjoyed it. That was beautiful to listen to. Chris from Germany came up. So from Germany, lives in Germany. He was wearing a Team Canada, Sydney Crosby sweater and Team Canada hat. So though he is German, he is go Canada, go when it comes to hockey. And he says every Saturday night, he stays up to 1 a.m. And he, however he gets it, watches hockey night in Canada.

So we wanted to say hi to all the commentators. Say hi to you. He's a big, big fan of watching the show every Saturday night. That was fascinating to listen to and to meet him. And Cam from back home outside of Oshua, he said he's from, but is here in Italy taking in some of the hockey at the Olympics, another listener of the pod. So from all over Elliot,

again, I've said it before, but it blows me away that this program finds its way into these parts of the world. That's great stuff, Kyle. And I appreciate you shutting all those out. And I appreciate all those people who listen. It has really been a revelation to me as to how many people who've come up and said, We listen around the world and it is incredibly appreciated.

Okay, here's the shoutouts. I couldn't remember them all, but I tried to write down or type out as many as I could. Christian, young fan from Denmark. Tom from just south of Mannheim in Germany. Philip Feigel of ex-hockey, a reporter who listens to us. Uso from Finland, who's staying in our hotel and here watching. watching the finish teams play. I met a guy with a fascinating story.

His name is Mike Halmo. Mike played in the Ontario Hockey League with Owen Sound. He was never drafted in the NHL, but he was signed as a free agent out of the OHL by the New York Islanders. He played 20 games in the NHL with the Islanders and did have the honor of scoring an NHL goal.

He scored April Fool's Day, 2014, he scored his lone NHL goal in a game against the Florida Panthers. After that, he went overseas. He played in the HL for a while. He went overseas.

He's in Bolzano. He was in the German League, and now he's an assistant coach in Europe, and I ran into him at a breakfast buffet. I was visiting some friends of mine. who made the trip from Canada on Saturday morning. We had, I met them at their hotel. Of course, first, I got one name wrong in their hotel,

and I got driven to another hotel, and I had to walk 15 minutes to their hotel, and I met Mike Halmo in the breakfast buffet at their real hotel. It was good to meet him. It was really good story. Michael from Martine Slovakia, Bruce from New Jersey, Sandy from Montreal

and he said he's the realtor that sold Nick Suzuki his house so that was a guy who met in the stands there Antoine from France, Aline from Switzerland Shannon who's a police officer at 51 division in Toronto always appreciate the work of the rank and file Michael Michael and Jamie from Newfoundland. Mike and Laura Sanders, I mentioned Dogavans.

Mike and Laura Sanders were at the game on Sunday, and Mike revealed that underneath his Canada shirt, they were wearing a Latvia jersey, and he left after the Canada game to go to the Latvia game, which was at the other arena, because Dogavans was their player when they, billeted. They used to billet OHL players, and

Doggivens was one of their billets. And he was wearing an official Dogovins-Latvia jersey that he'd been given, and so he went to go see him play after. There was Mike, who was from Netherlands, Scott from New Liskard. That was one of the people

that stopped me after the candidate. Yes, that's our thought line guy. Yeah, that was the guy who asked me, that's right. if Wilson was suspended. There were a couple of German fans I met later. I think their names were Max and Matthias. And there was a, I met some people for lunch on Sunday. And I met a guy.

I think his name was Francois. And he was a Canadian who had gone to play in France. And I met him with his wife and three kids, I think it was. And I didn't get his last name. I couldn't remember, but apparently he's got his number retired by the team in the French league he played for. And the other guy I met was a former member of the Vernon Vipers. I met him while walking in the Duomo. It is Jagger Williamson.

And Jagger played in the BCHL with the Vernon Vipers for five years and now is playing in the Italian League. and he him I ran into him and his family while I was just waiting for my Uber to leave the Duomo so um just a ton of people I met I tried to write down as much as I could those were the only ones I could remember but some good stories there great well wherever you were listening thank you we don't know what's gotten into you but boy do we appreciate it yeah we really do a Jagger by the way you look different than your Hockey DB picture. He's growing his hair out. He's got a beard. He's grown up. Yeah, the guy here is a baby face. Jagger's a bit more scruffy looking.

Looks good, though, Jagger. Excellent. All right, that was the final thought. Presented by the Toyota BZ. We'll take a break and then wrap up this Olympic edition of 32 Thoughts, the podcast after this. All right, before we go, as mentioned,

Monday is an off day for the men's tournament. No games there. The qualification round. goes Tuesday. However, on the women's side, two semifinals on Monday. Sweden, USA, and you can catch that just after 10.30 a.m. Eastern, 7.30 a.m. Pacific. And Team Canada, the women are against Switzerland, who are not an easy out by any stretch. A little after 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Eastern time, just past noon out in the Pacific. A great way to spend a Monday afternoon as the Canadian woman try to again

Punch their ticket to an Olympic gold medal clash. Okay, Tegan is out today. A track from Gov. Warmer than Gold, the new album from Ben Cook's Project Gov, is a document of a life in music, a critical and celebratory travel log, an attempt to transcend the homogenous and status-obsessed conditions of the contemporary world

through the use of big beats, big choruses, and distortion. Though it retains the hooky spirit, of his previous records, Cook, who grew up moving between Toronto and England, adds a decidedly rhythmic element informed by classic Manchester and Britpop, with its expanded sonic palette and emphasis on breakbeats, warmer than gold, ushers in the newest era of an artist who has never stopped growing. He's on tour over the next couple of months. You can see them, including stops in Vancouver on February, the 21st of the Cobalt, and Montreal on March the 5th and the next night in Toronto, March the 6th.

You can catch this track and all the other ones we've featured on 32 Thoughts, the podcast, so far this season, and our Spotify playlist at 32 Thoughts, The Music. Here's Gov and let your hands go on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. A great start to the week. think of you, yeah, they're all worse things I could do. Something surrounds my heart. They're all worse to do.