32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Puck. Don't. Lie.

Episode Date: February 19, 2026

On this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman unpack an amazing quarter final day at Milano Cortina. Beginning with Canada squeezing out a dramatic win over Czechia. They delve into the controversial Czech go-ahead-goal that saw six Czechia players on the ice (9:30). They talk about Crosby's injury (19:00) and Binnington's heroics (25:00) They react to the Finn's dramatic come-from-behind win over the Swiss (28:30). Then the fellas unpack the nightcap between the USA and Sweden (35:00). They get into the criticisms towards Sweden Head Coach Sam Hallam (40:43). Elliotte and Kyle talk about the Slovak's routing Germany in the first matchup of the day, the impressive team-play of Slovakia, and the lack of depth from the Germans (46:00). The fellas share their displeasure with the Olympic OT format before sharing their predictions for the semifinal round (1:01:29). The Final Thought focuses on Paul Coffey's return to the Edmonton Oilers bench (1:04:47).Today we highlight Jahson Isaiah Paynter from Mississauga, Ontario and his track maple brown. 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

You think of all the people in the building, experienced officials, players on check, players on Canada, coaches on Canada, experienced broadcasters, everybody missed it. And you know Rashid Wallace, ball don't lie? That was the hockey gods. Puck, don't lie. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the Toyota B. BZ go all electric in a winter ready Toyota BZ at your local dealer today. Dom, Kyle, Elliott, back with you. Fridge, you found your cigarette.

Has it brought the heart rate down after one of the more remarkable days of Olympic hockey? We can recall, certainly, in the NHL era. How are you doing? Kyle, it is the second time in recent broadcast history. I've used that line after a crazy game like that. And the first one was after the phenomenal overtime between Sweden and Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of hockey. Remember that overtime?

Yes. Oh, yeah. We were both here for that. So I jokingly used the cigarette line back then and brought it back for this one because it absolutely called for it. What an unbelievable day of hockey. And, you know, all I would say is that there are reasons you get into this business. And one of them is that you like sports. And the second one is that you hope to be around for days like that. And, you know, the Olympic tournament, the quality of hockey was really good,

but there hadn't been any enormous drama. And then I guess if anybody was complaining about that, the hockey gods said, no more whining, no more whining, you are getting drama tonight. And we sure did. That was just an incredible day of hockey. And I am an optimist generally. I have to admit, young Bukascus, that when Andre Palat scored that goal with seven and a half to go in the third period,

I did think Canada was going to lose. I did think it was going to happen. And it's unfortunate for the checks who played their hearts out and deserved to win just as much as Canada did. but imagine the scandal if that had been the goal that knocked the Canadians out of the tournament. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Yeah, we'll get into all of that. So four quarterfinal games, three of them go to overtime, all sensational finishes. How many notes did you get, like I feel for the 36 hours leading into Canada, to check you. Anytime James sent things your way on the panel, you couldn't get two sentences

out without mentioning Lukash Dostel scares me. Every single chance you got. You reminded the nation. That guy is capable of making you pull your hair out and he nearly did, nearly got that across the finish line, if not for the brilliant deaf deflection of Nick Suzuki late in the third period. So why don't you start with Dostle here first and then we'll get to the two many men. Well, first of all, normally my predictions go the exact opposite of that. Usually if I say, I'm really terrified of Dostle,

he gives up 15 goals. So this was an unusual one in the sense it actually turned out to be true. I mean, everybody knows who follows the docs or follows them or just hockey closely knows how good this kid is. And I just remember seeing him. I went down to the

media zone, the Mick zone, after Chequia won the day before against Denmark. And he was just so calm and so collected. And a couple of the reporters, we asked him, how do you feel about back to back? And, you know, he kind of laughed and said, no big deal. And he told a story that, you know,

he had a game in Dallas where he got knocked out. And the only thing that Joel Quinville said to him on the bench was, we have another game tomorrow, be ready for it. So he said, like, this doesn't bother me. And I just felt he would be calm. and I'm a real big fan, Kyle, of his game. I will say that as that game got closer and closer and tighter and tighter and Canada was in trouble, I had a number of people, both in terms of DMs and people I know in the business,

who were saying, you couldn't have just shut up about Dostle. You couldn't have just not willed this into existence. And as you said, it took an unbelievable deflection to tie it. And the thing that's really interesting was in the post game, he was asked about the winning goal. You know, Marner had a really good quote with you about how he was looking for Celebrini and I think the Czechs kind of preferred Marner shooting it. Like they covered Celebrini and they didn't want Marr to pass it. But Dostle said that he didn't think Marner was going to be able to lift that puck.

And he wondered if it was rolling or something. He just didn't think Moner was going to be in. position to be able to backhand it in the air. And he did. But right from the beginning, on the first shift, McDavid had a brilliant chance, and he stayed big and he stayed, he took up a big part of the net. And I just said, this guy's dialed in. This guy's dialed in.

And I'm not surprised he made it as close as it was. He's a tremendous goalie. Like I have to say, Kyle, one of the reasons. I think this game was such a shock was that Czechia had not played very well. They'd look terrible throughout the tournament. And after the second period of the win against Denmark on the qualifying round, their coach had gone into their room and chewed them out and basically said, when are you guys going to show up?

You know, at that time, they'd played 11 periods and they hadn't been very good. And he just said, like, it's enough already. Show up. play the way you're supposed to play. And, you know, I think that in the, after they won that game against Denmark, one of the players pointed to Goudis and said, he's going to have us ready to play. And if anybody doubts why Goudis is the captain of the Anaheim Ducks,

the captain of an NHL team, that got erased in this game. Because, yeah, he had a giveaway. hurt them on the first goal or a mistake that hurt them on the first goal. But he was physical. He had a big assist. He led the minute of the charge. You know, someone asked him if he would be intimidated or they would be intimidated or they would be intimidated playing Canada.

And he said, if you're intimidated, you shouldn't be playing pro hockey. He dragged the checks into the fight. And the Crosby play, it was unfortunate. But it was not a dirty play. It's too bad it happened and I really don't like to see people get injured, particularly Crosby in that situation. But there was nothing dirty or illegal about it. It was a hard play. And Goudis dragged him into the fight.

Hurtle actually had a funny line. I wished him good luck and he says, we're going to need all of it. He had a really tough tournament, but he played hard. Like they showed up to play. They basically said if we are going out, we are going out. we are going out the hard way and they went out the hard way, Kyle. They sure did. Yes.

Pasternak was another guy who, I mean, had been putting up points, but he didn't have that quintessential. It didn't look right. Pasternak moment. Yeah, right. BXA was big on that. But my goodness, like his goal on the power play,

when he uncorked that thing, it was like, uh-oh. And then third period happens the way that it does. So how does now in the post game, John Cooper was asked about the too many men that was missed, and he just kind of smiled and walked away. So I don't know how aware, clearly whoever in the video room, in the back hall that would be able to radio to the bench saying they had too many men on the ice after the fact.

It's not reviewable. It's not. Like, it's all a mood point. But I'm just curious about how aware they were because you know, more often than not, players pick up on that stuff. coaches pick up on that stuff. They go crazy yelling for too many men. Remember in the cup final a few years ago,

John Cooper's Tampa Bay Lightning, the cadre goal in Tampa in game four, and Cooper comes out for the post game goes, like we've been robbed. Then if you don't know what I'm talking about, like look at the video five seconds before the- Oh, I forgot about that. That's right.

And everyone's searching going, what is he talking about? What was he talking about? And they thought there was a missed too many men call there. And that wasn't anywhere close. to as obvious and blatant as what we saw for the checks here. So as I'm wondering how so many particulars missed this, have you ever heard, Elliot, of the Invisible Gorilla Experiment?

No, what's the Invisible Gorilla Experiment? Okay, so I'm going to read a bit of it here. Jason Murdoch, our statistician, sent this to me tonight saying, hey, this is for the pod. So the Invisible Gorilla Experiment conducted in 1999 a landmark study in cognitive psychology that demonstrates in attentional blindness, the phenomenon where people fail to notice unexpected, highly visible stimuli when their attention is focused elsewhere. Participants were shown a video of two teams, one in white, one in black, passing basketballs, and were instructed to count the number of passes made by the team in white.

During the video, a person in a gorilla suit, walks into the scene, stands in the middle, thumps their chest, and walks off, visible for about 10 seconds. Despite the gorilla's conspicuous presence, approximately half of the participants failed to notice it. This result revealed that focused attention can create a cognitive tunnel vision, causing individuals to overlook even striking unexpected events. The experiment challenged the assumption that people perceive their environment fully and highlighted the limitations of human perception,

especially under cognitive load or when engaged in a demanding task. I just wonder, Elliot, as all of us, whether you were pro-Chekia, pro-Canada, or didn't have a horse in the race, but were compelled at the idea of that polite goal, potentially sending Team Canada home in the quarterfinals, as we all fixated on that, our minds completely ignored the possibility that there could be six check players on the ice in that moment. Boy, Kyle, that is an outstanding dissertation.

I must confess that since you have taken over as the co-host of this podcast, that is your best work. This is all Jason Murdoch. Kyle, if you don't take credit for things, you didn't do, you will never go anywhere in this business. I know. That's why you've done so far.

Shout out Jason Murdoch. Shout out Jason Murdoch. Great job, Jason. Thanks for telling us about that. First of all, I would like to say that I am guilty of that. There have been things I have so obviously missed in my life because I've been so focused on something else. I've had people looking at me say, you're putting me on.

Like, you're serious. You didn't see that? I'm like, no, I completely. missed it. I was looking at this. Like, it was right in front of you. So I have a lot of experience with the invisible gorilla theory. It's a great, like, that's outstanding stuff. But think about everybody who missed it. The Czechs missed it. The Canadians missed it. What blows me away is the Canadian bench missed it. Yeah. You have to think that, A bench of John Cooper, Peter DeBore, Bruce Cassidy, and Rick Tocke

sees that. Nope. If you look at the officiating crew, particularly the alignsmen, there were some really experienced officials on the ice. They didn't see it. Kevin, when you saw the goal celebration with eight guys in it, Kevin actually wondered if the Czech coach threw two players on the ice to make it less obvious so that people would think it was just a team celebration.

Just out of excitement. Or to cover up that the other. Right. But to make it look like all the guys left the bench were just all so jacked. And we don't believe that happened now. You know, for example, at the end of the game. game, I had to go back up to tape a couple of hits. And Kevin and James Dothi ran into some of the Czech players and said, do you guys know

that there were six guys on the ice for that goal? Like, what are you talking about? And they showed them. And even the Czech players were like, holy cow, we had no idea. Wow. No. Now, apparently one of them did admit that he knew. but a couple of them, like more than two, said they had no clue.

No clue. And Kevin, the backstabber of our broadcast, when I brought up that even Mike and Chris don't know, didn't notice. Because Mike and Chris, they see everything. Like, we missed it on the panel, too. Like, none of us saw it. But Mike and Chris see everything. Like, I figured they would have known for sure. And then Kevin's like, you're blaming them.

Like, no, they don't know it. Nobody notices it. Threw me under the bus, totally. But that's the amazing thing about it. Like, you think of all the people in the building, experienced officials, players on check, players on Canada, coaches on Canada, experienced broadcasters, everybody missed it. And you know, Rashid Wallace, ball don't lie. that was the hockey gods puck don't lie they didn't want Canada knocked out on that goal I mean the hilarious thing about it is the Czech coach Reddy and Rula complaining about the officiating not realizing that the biggest call of the game or non call of the game benefited his team I heard the checks were really upset about the officiating but the look like and and whatever i mean there's always going to be things you like and don't like

i mean they didn't like one of the particular penalties that led to a goal but canada didn't like the celebrini penalty right like you can tell mike johnson calling the game he was saying i don't like this call but i'll deal with it as long as it's the same for everybody right like i don't think officiating cost anybody this game but it's funny that ruy Rulik was complaining about this and saying it's like playing against six guys. When one of the biggest plays of the game, he had six guys on the ice. Yeah. There is something funny about that.

It's just, it's just adds to the overall hilarity of the day. Game, do you hear what happened with me and him on the day before after the Denmark game? You and Radham Rulik? Yeah. No, what happened? So he's doing his scrum and he's speaking check. and I ask the PR person was next to him, can I ask him a question after,

because always you let, like the check your reporters, they're the ones on deadline, they've just played, you let them go first and get what they need to get. That's the right way to do it. So I was like, at the end, I'll just, can I just ask him a couple questions in English? And the guy goes, he doesn't talk in English.

I'm just like, I'll try. So, so, he finishes and I say to him, hey, a couple in English, and he gives me the Heisman. Oh, wow. He got the total. Oh, yeah. It was Desmond Howard in 1990, which is one of the quintessential Heisman poses when

Desmond Howard won the Heisman trophy. He returned a punt for a touchdown. against Florida State. He did the Heisman pose and later he won it. I got totally Heismaned. And two people saw it. Luke Fox, our teammate at Sportsnet, and Dan Rosen at NHL.com,

and they loved it. They were like, oh man, you got totally shut down. It was actually pretty funny. I told Marquesian Futa about it. So I, I just, it was, it was pretty hilarious. He gave me a big time Heisman. But, you know, it's, I just, I just wish I could have been there when somebody would

have told him after that diatribe about how the officials cost checky of the game. Someone must, at some point, someone must have said to him, hey, you know, we did have six guys on the ice and eight guys on the celebration for the three, two goal. he probably would have given that the Heisman. I'm not hearing that right now. That's outstanding. But, you know, I'll say this. The thing about Sid and that injury was Canada was playing terribly before he got hurt.

And that was the wildest thing about it was Canada had been so dominant and Czechie had been so bad. And they flipped the side. script, the checks played, as we said, they played so well. They were in, they, they really did a great job. And then it was like, oh, wait a sec, we just lost safety blanket Sid. Canada's safety blanket is gone now. And that moment, they, they were so much better. It was almost as if they realized, okay, Sid always tells us good things will happen if we stick to our process. he's not there to tell us this anymore and he's not there to do it anymore. And I thought every,

like I always have a saying one man's injuries, another man's opportunity. I give a lot of guys on that team credit because all of a sudden they were like, I bet I have to be 10% better. I have to be 15% better. I thought McDavid was outstanding after that. But a lot of guys were. Like, I mean,

Nick Suzuki and. And, you know, people heard what we said on the, what I said on the podcast, the last one that maybe he needs to come out. And Kevin made a really good point. He said that Nick Suzuki is not comfortable playing for this team on the wing. Well, okay, now Crosby's out. Now you're a center. And he plays and he makes an incredible play. Like there's a lot of guys who would have peeled off and gone back to the bench.

And instead, he made a great play that put them. in overtime. I know Thomas Harley's shot got blocked on the three two goal, but I thought he was really good. Like I thought a lot of guys were really good, really good. And in that moment, when Crosby goes down, you're in such shock, you either pick it up or you collapse. And those players deserve a lot of credit for not collapsing because they rose to the challenge. And I'll say this, McKinnon, I really have to wonder what we're dealing with here too. He took a really ginger step on his last shift in overtime. And it was a really poignant shot watching McDavid and McKinnon. Like everybody jumps off the bench. They're all ecstatic. And the two of them

are the last ones there and they kind of go to each other. And I thought, like to me that was really meaningful. It's two guys who know that with Crosby out of the game, when it comes to the forwards, it's on them. Like, yes, they need help. And Suzuki makes a great play and other guys do great things. But it's now up to McKinnon and McDavid. And I saw two guys who looked at each other totally spent and they were like, we pulled this off. And there's such incredible mutual respect between those two guys. Like, I'll remember that shot. And, you know, they have an optional practice on Thursday.

I don't know. I think McKinnon is really battling. I could be totally wrong. I don't like to guess with injuries. But I think he's really battling. What do you think? You think there's something there? Makes sense.

It does make sense. And I rely a lot on like Kevin's eyes, Mike Johnson's eyes when it comes to this stuff, because they can pick that up, obviously, the lives that they have lived as players. Yeah. So when they're going, not so sure, then that's enough for me to go, okay, there's a bit of concern there. And we haven't seen the same. Part of it, I think, is frustration finding the right fit, too, for McKinnon and who's next to him. but there hasn't been the same step,

and it's certainly not for a lack of effort or desire. It's gone beyond that. So we'll see. You mentioned, you know, MRI that Crosby's going to have done. So we'll see if we'll get some kind of update on Thursday. Suppose it's likely. Yeah, we'll get something.

You know, we'll get something. I don't know. I just, Yeah, I mean, we'll get something, Kyle. I don't like to guess. I don't like to guess on these things. Let's just wait. And then we'll see where this is.

But, you know, it's, I think if we learn one thing about Canada, you can never count them out. Never count them out. but it sure looks like the path is harder. No question, especially with now Finland coming back against Switzerland in their quarterfinal game. That was the one over at the other rink, so we didn't get to see as much of it. But stop me if you heard this before. I completely forgot that game was going on.

I was just finishing my work post game and somebody said Finland just tied it and they're going to overtime. I was like, oh, my God. I completely forgot. Stop me if you've heard this before, but our Terry Lekinen scores an overtime of a critical game. Before we get to Lekinen,

we haven't mentioned Binnington. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Okay, so we'll get to Lekin making the play in. We'll get to Lekin in a second. But Binnington, it's the funniest thing in the world, okay?

Last year he gets picked for four nations, everyone's like, what? He goes out, he stones the U.S. in that gold medal game and wins the tournament. They don't win that tournament without them. And what are we all saying after it's over? We're never questioning this guy again until this year. And he's having a rough year and the team is having a rough year. And they're like, how can you even take him?

How can you even start them? Like, I had somebody text me after the first period and say, you got to take Bittington out of the game. I'm like, are you kidding me? Like, that shot that Pastor Dach took, that was a world-class elite shot. Don't, I was like, get out of here with this stuff, okay? Are we back at this point again where it's like, enough with Biddington? When he plays for Canada, I know it's not going well for the Blues, I know. But when he plays for Canada, he is like Clark Kent putting on the Superman jersey.

He got beaten once by Palat, but he made some unbelievable saves. Like Natchez, he made two of them on the breakaway. And, you know, I will say this. Taves could have been a penalty shot. Taves did get the stick into him. I think fair is fair. That could have been a penalty shot. shot.

But the one on CEMAC in overtime was a great save two. It's enough. You can't question this guy. He's the number one guy. And you're not ripping this job out of his hands. No, because once again, those were the saves that if he doesn't make, we're having a very different conversation on this podcast. And there's a very different tone and conversation.

going on throughout Canada back home. He looks very calm in the post game too. Like when the players are all at center ice saluting the fans, like we've seen him go psycho before. He's the antithesis of psycho in those moments. Right. It was the same thing last year.

Anything when it comes to putting on the Canada jersey, he is as calm as a beautiful lake on a still day. No wind. It's like glass with the sun bouncing off it. That's what he's been like incredibly because you know and I had that exact thought

as Natchez is busting it alone does he have another one in him? You know? And then Simack in overtime. Can he do it again? And he did. Gotta keep rolling. That was one of the best hockey games

I've ever seen. Four Nations last year, great. 2010 gold medal game, great. 2002 gold medal game, great. That was just an incredible hockey game. No passengers. Everybody played. Everybody.

All right. So they get Finland on Friday in the semifinal. And anything you want to weigh in on there. Because again, that was one that flew under the radar for us because it had started kind of right around when the third period was going on in Canada, Chequia, at the other rank, and then all of the reaction, of course, following Canada, Chequia, it was tough to stay on top of. But, boy, Switzerland put themselves in a real, real good spot.

As we talked about last pod, like, that's a team. That's a group that's been together for a while. And they look poised to take down the mighty fins. but more drama and it wasn't the only one later on in the in the night. So the Finns after losing the opener to Slovakia, the stories about wanting Paul Maurice to go coach, suddenly now are back in a semi-final, the defending Olympic gold medalists back in a semi-final

after a late push. And as mentioned, Lekinen, the hero in overtime. The first thing Canada should do is make sure that Lekanen can't get to the game because it's a big game so he's going to score. So I was watching the overtime when he got the pass and I saw who it was, I was like there's no way this guy isn't scoring.

Zero. Same thing. Zero. Yeah, he scored. Like he scores big goals. I wanted to shout out Mikaela because Mikaula made a great play minutes before on the back check. The two on one. I didn't think that was a desperation back check.

That was I am using every inch of my six foot five inch frame to get back there. I didn't think he was going to be able to catch them. It was the condor in full flight. Yes. That was the condo. in full flight. Yes, thank you for reminding me of the Condor nickname. So shout out to him. He played, he made a great play. You know, Finland, the one thing somebody said to me who was at the game was the Finns got down to nothing and they never quit. It was like Canada. And it's like Finland. Like you know the way they're going to play. They're relentless. They come at you. They don't give up. They pressure you. They wear you down. And, you know, they They don't have the elite high-level scoring that some of these other teams have in this tournament, but they just scratch and claw and they fight and they never back down.

I have so much respect for how hard they compete, and that's exactly what they did in this game. And they will make life very difficult for Canada. Like you know you're getting physical, intense games against them, and Canada is a little bit vulnerable to that right now. Lundell was back. He had a big assist on the winning goal. He had the norovirus this week, and he said.

But he was back and he played. And, you know, Saros, he gave up two. He couldn't give up another one. He kept them in it. So you know that that is going to be a really physical, intense, grinding, nasty game. And, you know, I think the Finns, like there are some teams when you're banged up that are harder to play than others. Like Sweden's the kind of team, for example, if Canada played them,

they are more like, do whatever you want, we're going to play the way we play. And I think that I know this is going to end badly for me saying this, but I think that physically Sweden would have been an easier game for Canada. Like they don't beat you up. They can beat you. They're very skilled. They're incredibly talented. But the Finns, they grind you more.

And I think this is, considering Canada's health right now, I think Finland was a tougher matchup for them, a harder matchup for them. I feel for the Swiss. They were crushed. I really like, you know, Fiala got hurt. Malkin got hurt. You know, Fiala got hurt. They really rallied around them.

they looked so good and I thought they played Canada really hard for the first half of that game you know considering the injuries they were dealing with I really like the story of their goalie Genoni 38 years old he's that

coach Patrick Fisher Janone's his guy like they have an NHL goalie there Akira Schmidt and he's like nope in an elimination game we're using my guy and most of the time that really works for them. But, you know, the one thing that was really interesting was, I think it was Jononi who said it.

He said that we were scared to try to score the third goal. And I read this in the transcript. So if I'm misrepresenting it in any way, I apologize. But I understand what he's trying to say. It's that you've got to and you think that's enough and you don't want to make the mistake that allows the other team back into the game, right? so you become more passive or more conservative. Like I thought that happened to the U.S. against Sweden a bit.

But I totally see that. Sometimes you go through a situation like we're in control. I don't want to be the guy who makes the mistake that we lose control. And from what I understand, that definitely happened to Switzerland. They could have gone for a kill shot and they really didn't. And that's one of those things that you can regret. I love the way they rallied around Fiala. I just love the camaraderie and the teamwork they showed.

I thought Hishir and Yossi and Timo Meyer. Like those guys played great. And it's just an empty feeling to lose that way. I'm going to miss the Swiss fans as well. Yeah, very good. Some of the best the best ambiance, the chanting, all of it. They were tremendous. Obviously, short drive coming down for a lot of them in Switzerland to Milan.

And they showed up and drove. So bravo there. All right. That was two of the three overtime games on Wednesday here across the quarterfinals, Elliot. Then the nightcap, the United States and Sweden. And you talked about the Swedes being a team that, all right, not the heaviest team. I'm not going to try to beat you in the alley. And for the Americans, how important that game was against Germany. finding some some hate back in their game.

And it seemed like, again, though they were very disciplined, they played so well defensively against Sweden, there wasn't a ton happening through a lot of that game until Zabanajad scores with the goaltender out and sending it to overtime. And suddenly anything seemed possible until Quinn Hughes, if Celebrini is potentially the X factor has been so much of Canada already. But moving forward as the guy that wasn't there for four nations that is now,

Quinn Hughes, as we know, is that for the U.S. And we saw a great example why in overtime having the puck on a stick for so much of the game. And again, in the extra frame, that was a brilliant piece of work. It really was. Um, we talked about the U.S. last game against Germany being their best game because they manufactured hate. Mm-hmm.

Like the Kachuk saw a dry saddle and they're like, okay, we're manufacturing some hate here. And I think it really helped them. They, they really had trouble with that against Sweden. I think they played so well defensively. Like I said, the one critique I had about their game was, I thought they sat back too much in the third period. They didn't go for the kill shot.

either and it almost cost them. But right now they are playing so well in terms of body positioning. Everybody's playing a 200-foot game. They're disciplined. They know their system. They know their structure. They're playing it. They really didn't give the Swedes a lot.

But again, you know, it'll be interesting to see what it's like against Slovakia because I think for the U.S. to be at their best, they have to manufacture hate. And so we'll see how they go about doing that. But in terms of overall structure, commitment to the way they want to play or to play a 200-foot game, they've really been excellent and Helibuck's been very strong. Actually, I'll tell you a fine story about Hallibuck. So the camera work at this tournament has been really good from the spider cam to some of the

other cameras. And they have the on-ice skating cam, where the cameraman goes on. And for example, they do the puck drop and the referees are doing a really good job of showing the Olympic logo before they drop the puck at the start of the game and the goal score.

Well, also, they go in front of the goalies right at the start of the game. And all the goleys have been accepting of it, except I've heard Hallibuck. He still doesn't like it. He's like, uh, right before the game, no, I'm not doing this. But, you know, whatever,

works for him, he was really good. And like that goal that he gave up, that was an absolute bomb from Zabinajad. Like, what are you going to do on that particular shot? And Lucas Raymond made a fantastic pass. Like it was an elite pass and an elite shot. But I thought the U.S. deserve the win. I thought they were the better team. You know, the one thing that happened in overtime, first of all, like the other night we were talking about that game against germany with a minute left in like a five one game hughes was standing and he opened up the door and he he wanted the last minute like i was i was sitting there watching him on for two minutes and overtime and i was thinking this game is ending one way or the other before this guy is getting off the ice like he is not allowing it to end one or the other it's either we're winning or we're losing and then i'll get off the ice But, you know, I was curious when Landisgne's got came on.

I was like, okay, this is the first person who's come on at three on three. You're like, okay, you know, you better make sure you're positioning sound here. And the Americans were looking for that. They wanted to create that matchup, Hughes and Landisg. And, like, Landisgog did nothing wrong, nothing wrong. But that's what they wanted to do. Like Kevin and I were talking about it, about how they wanted to create Hughes on Landisog and open space and see what happened. And Marksram made some great saves early.

He'd done a really nice job. That one was just an incredible, incredible shot. And the U.S. looked at that and they wanted to see if we did Hughes and him one-on-one what could happen. And he just unleashed an incredible shot. that won the game. This is a very weird tournament for Sweden, Kyle. They started poorly. I thought their last game of

lobbyists against Latvia was really good. It was clear they dressed Brat for overtime in the shootout. He didn't play much until later in the game. And then he got the first shift in overtime. I actually, when I saw he was going back in, I was like, okay, that's what he's there for. and that's exactly what happened. But the whole thing was weird.

You know, a headman unfortunately gets hurt right before the game starts. So you're figuring out what you're doing there. But, yeah, it's a, it was a weird one. You could tell that team was kind of unsettled all the way through. I mean, the criticism towards Sam Hallam, I mean, started early and didn't go away. and certainly with scratching Brat in the game against Latvia and then bringing him in and he doesn't see the ice through 40 minutes against the U.S.

and now asking him to go out and try to make plays when the game is two-thirds old. And then in overtime, there was a lot of questions being asked, certainly among the Swedish media. And wherever that program decides to go from there, it sounds like there's going to be some real interesting questions. being asked.

It's, and you know, we should say this too. The Finnish coach has gone through it. Like there was a story in the middle of tournament here that they wanted Paul Maurice to coach them. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, these are, you know, really sensitive things. I was, you know, I was on Swedish TV during the game, before the game today.

And one of the things that came up was I talked about how the players in Sweden and Finland don't all seem to see eye to eye with their coaches. But it's a big source of national pride that their coaches are from their country. Like in some places, it's a little bit different. Like Italy had a Finnish coach. And clearly those players tried to buy in to what he was telling them. And in soccer, it happens all the time. There's all sorts of coaches who move from country to country to instruct them and improve their situation.

But, you know, these teams are really defensive about it. And, you know, I'll say this, Slovakia or Saga, who's actually a really interesting guy to listen to, he's got a real mix of players based in Europe and players based in North America. and he's getting them to play incredibly unselfishly. Like they are a true team and we'll get to them in a second. But it's going to be interesting here because clearly the Swedes were not comfortable with this arrangement. And even though it's working out really well for the Finns right now, they certainly weren't always in a situation where they were comfortable with this arrangement.

Yeah, no question. You hope it's not too bad, whatever it was that kept Hedman from playing. It was neat to see him stick it out on the bench. And we should point out too, like, and the reason why it happened that way is because it's different in this event as opposed to the NHL, where you've got to submit your lineup much earlier than you would before a national hockey league game, right? Like you could have, if you wanted, before an NHL game, Rasmus Anderson could have taken one. warm-ups, not that you're anticipating headman to get hurt during then

and make a last-minute switch. But by the time, he came up lame with whatever he's dealing with lower body-wise, it was too late. And of course, they're able to dress seven. They end up going with six, so it doesn't hurt them too bad. But they're not able to make a swap at that stage of things,

like they would have otherwise been able to if he was playing a game with the Tampa Bay Lightning. So wanted to point that out, as well if anyone was wondering. The closest thing I ever saw to that was 2013 Stanley Cup final, Marion Hosa gets hurt in warm-up, and Ben Smith, who had gone to lunch with his mom that day because he wasn't playing. Oh, yeah. They put him in the game without even taking the warm-up.

I have never seen that before. No time to think. I don't think I've seen it since. Yeah, I can't recall one. No, that's a... I mean, the closest one was probably Tyson, Barry where he admitted on what, spitting chicklets that he had had a couple drinks and then they said, okay, we need you tonight.

Oh, yeah. Right, right. And I think that's like, and there's stories of that too, certainly in the cup final where now you've got the expanded Black Aces group that, you know, work out in the morning and then got a bunch of time to kill in the afternoon and evening. And suddenly one guy gets a call late at the night, the night before a game going, hey, we may need you tomorrow.

And it's like, uh-oh, I didn't plan my night thinking I may have to play tomorrow. And suddenly you got to change your mindset pretty quickly. You know, the other one in overtime, and I'd like to get clarity on it, because he did take a slew foot from Brady Gichuk, and he landed on his back. but Rasmus Deline did not play in overtime.

And you saw his reaction postgame, Kyle, smashing the stick and how angry he was. First of all, I have to say, I thought he was their best player. From the beginning of the tournament to the end, I really want to see Dahlene and Buffalo make the playoffs this year. I want to see this guy in the playoffs. He just gets better and better,

and I thought he was so good. And, you know, the fact that, again, I'm leaving it open that maybe he was, shaken up from the trip, but the fact that he didn't play in overtime, if it wasn't an injury, I would just be shocked by that. All right. Slovakia, Germany? This Slovakia team, man.

Boy, and when we were watching a bit of that earlier in the day on Wednesday, it was impressive in that you didn't need a Slavkovsky to take over the game. That regenda line, Elliot, they were incredible for Slovakia today. Like, Dvorsky keeps looking more and more comfortable as this tournament's gone on. But suddenly it's not, well, Slovakia is only going to go as far as Slavkovsky takes them. Certainly he's one of the key guys here. That's not going to change. He's going to need to be great against the U.S.

I understand. But my point is, like, just how more players are kind of grabbing hold of this. this as they've gone on here. It's, it's neat to see. So Slovakia reminds me a lot of the Czech team that won gold in 98. And Levi is not Hoshik, although clearly I underestimated him before the tournament. A number of Slovak fans have sent notes to me saying, I thought you said we had no gold tending. And I was like, you're right. I was wrong about that. No question. you know about it. That Levi is a really talented guy. But the reason I, I, they, they remind me a lot of that Czech Republic team is because it was a mix of NHL players and European based players. And this Slovak team is that.

They have some really good NHL players. Like, you look at the NHLers, Slavkovsky has been excellent. You know, Farivari has been excellent. Nemich has been excellent. I'm actually really curious to see Nemex and Jersey after this. Like I hope he takes off because the way he's played here, he's been fantastic. Churnack has been excellent. Dvorovorsky has been excellent. Scored some big goals.

But also you take a look at some of the guys who are their Euro-based guys. Milos Kellerman, he's been, he played a few games in Arizona. He's been terrific. Oliver Ocular, who played a couple years ago in Charlotte of the American Hockey League for the Panthers. So I went up to him after the game. He's back in Sweden. He left the HL after last year, and he's back in Sweden. He signed for two years.

And I just asked him, do you want to come back? And he said, the tough thing for him was, you know, Florida is loaded. They had, you know, 15 forwards on contracts. He's in the American Hockey League. there's no way he could have predicted the injuries that happened this year. You know, he, it was going to take a lot for him to get to the NHL. And also, I think he was a fourth liner last year for Charlotte and the American Hockey League. He just, I think, he basically said, like, I have nothing really bad to say.

It's just that I was a long way away from the NHL. So he's in Sweden, he's happy, he's signed for this year and next. I see a guy there. Like I look at this guy, Kellerman, and I look at this guy, ocular. And if I'm an NHL team, I'm looking at these two guys, and I'm saying, they can help us. Like, these guys are good players. And the thing about that Czech Republic team is they won on the big ice. These guys are in the semifinal on the small ice.

They are making an impact. And again, what's Anthony Stewart's deadline? Are you a team or are you a club? Well, you watch the way to, they set up to tar. And I said to him, like, those guys, at the end of the game, those guys were not going to let you give up the puck. And, you know, he laughed. He said, look, like, we don't really care about who does it.

But you could tell he really appreciated that those guys wanted him to do it, to get that empty matter. And this is a huge challenge for them, a huge game for them. they've shown their up to the challenges. Like the U.S. is not giving up very much, but they are greater than the sum of their parts. And I can't tell you how, like, to me, of all the teams that, like you expect Canada to be here, you expect the USA to be here.

You know, you're not surprised at all if Finland is here. This is the team this year that you look at and you say, not only they were the third seed that you would look at them in the semi-final, Ireland say, man, they had to do a lot to get here. And they have. They've got a magic to them. And like I said, this is going to be a huge challenge, but they do have something special. Yes. And you mentioned coaches from other countries, part of these Olympics, Todd Woodcroft, another guy on the bench with Slovakia, Ceeley doing an excellent job and helping getting a lot, everything they can out of that group.

Interesting. Like Todd's got a really fascinating resume. When you look at just how many different nations he's popped in to help on the coaching staff on over the years, to say nothing of his time working on NHL benches as well. Guy's been around a long time and he's got a chance to experience philosophy, ideas, the atmospheres of many, many different hockey nations. It's pretty cool. So Slovakia.

He's an expert on face-offs, and the U.S. has been really good on face-offs, really good on face-offs. Right. Mike Johnson talked about how many set plays that Mike Sullivan likes to run. Yes, and they scored a couple against Germany on them, and they had one pretty quick, the first one, the Larkin goal. And I actually ran into John Morosi. That goal happened while John Morosi and I were chatting. He's there visiting with his family. Oh, nice.

And John, yeah, and he said, you know, hey, Larkin skates with the Hughes brothers. And how many times have they done that play where Larkin goes to the net and Hughes shoots, Jack shoots from the highest lot of the point and Dylan Larkin tips it in? And I said, what are you doing here sitting in the crowd? You should be on the panel telling these stories because I didn't even think about that. So funny, I was talking to John and some guy walks by, a U.S. fan. And he goes, hey, I've seen you on the MLB network. You're really good.

It was really fun. Oh. Can't wait for MLB Central to come back. But yes. You know, Todd Woodcroft will have a job to do defending all those U.S. faceoff plays because they've been very successful, very successful. Finally, do you have a thought on Jeremy and their performance? When you look at this big picture and you go, well, yes. And it's not because, well, they didn't get beyond.

the quarters, how they looked, it just seemed off from almost the very beginning. Like, Dreisadle looked frustrated through much of it. There's a lot of talk about just, there's some talent, as we discussed, at the top of their lineup and all of them on the ice together, power play wise. That, nothing seemed really organic and natural there. Yeah, disappointing, I think, is the right way to look at it there, Friege. You're right. Yeah, you could, like, I didn't hear.

dry saddle post game but I did hear cider and he was really disappointed he like you could you could see it and and you could hear it uh in this game in particular they went after dry settle pretty hard at the beginning of the game and he got knocked down a couple times and after the second one he was like that's a penalty and they were determined to make make that game really hard for him. They just didn't have enough help. Like, I thought Gruberauer played, in the first period, there was one point in time,

I think they were being outshot 15 to 3, and Gruberauer was holding them in. And I know I think he gave up three goals on three shots in the second, but they were all grade A chances. And, like, they battle. I would never question their will, but they didn't have enough help for the big guys. And they just didn't have the depth. And I think in these tournaments now, you have to be at least three lines deep.

Three good lines. Three lines that can compete and create things for you. And I just don't think they have. that right now and it's a major reason they didn't get farther than they hoped. They just weren't enough of a threat outside their big guys. Now, I have to tell you, the one thing that someone said to me was, there's a guy named Justin Schutz, and he plays for Mannheim in the German League. and he didn't play the first two games

and he played the last two but I don't think he got a shift and he's a guy who scored 27 in the German league a couple years ago and 26 last year and I think he's got 12 this year you know he's not the biggest guy but if you're looking for offensive help

and this is someone who knows much more about European hobbies than I do. I just figured I would mention it. But it says you're looking for someone to score. There's a guy who scores in your local league. I don't know. They just, they didn't have enough.

Gru Bauer, I thought, really battled. And that other goalie, Franz Reb, he really battled too. But they just didn't, they just weren't dangerous enough. No, no, they weren't. Especially for the first time in a while, looking that was in terms of offensive options, the talent, something that Germany really hasn't seen at the top end, right? So all of that leading towards feeling,

okay, quarterfinal exit is one thing, but it just didn't look right for much of the tournament. Dom, we haven't asked you about this yet. How are you feeling about your native Slovakia in the semifinals? Buzzing. Everyone underestimated us. We don't have goaltending, apparently. Oh, for God's sakes. You're such a traitor.

We'll just keep going under the radar right to that gold medal. Yeah. I didn't even get through the first period of their first game against Finland, and I was texting Elliot and Kevin going, no gold tending, eh? Lava I was standing on his head he made like 48, 20 minutes. Didn't even eat gold denting today. We just crushed the Germans.

No. That was thorough. How are you feeling about U.S. in the semifinal? We beat to Beijing. We'll do it again. Why can't you be this confident at your regular job? I am. That's why I'm working with you.

I have so many Americans on my timeline who are like, bring on Canada, Canada. It's like you still have a semi-final to play. I've never seen you with your chest puffed out this much. It is awesome. Listen, we're playing for a medal either way, so I'm buzzing. It's all great.

Did you know any of these players that the non-North American guys? Yeah. Oh, yeah. I watch one of my favorite things every year boys is the World Hockey Championships. It's the best. And all these guys are there every year, well, most of them. That, uh, that Kellerman, he, uh, he, uh, he, to mix it up.

Like he was, when they played Sweden, he was going to at Ekman-Larsen all game, like they were going back and forth. You can't tell me that that guy can't play in the NHL.

Telling you. There's, uh, Ocular, you can't tell me that that guy can't play in the NHL. But it's interesting.

Like, I wonder for some guys because Goud has talked about it with a guy like Chirvenka, who came over for a hot minute with Calgary. He goes, he could have stayed in the NHAC.

He was good enough to stay there if he wanted, but they just look playing back home bigger role maybe for a family dynamic like there's just better it's a better set up there maybe like that that's part of that's part of the conversation too for some of these guys but trevenka is also like and he's a good player i'm not trying to diminish him in any way shape or form but chervanka is more like uh like he's sort of like an east west kind of guy right like yeah like he like he's like he's like he's like he's like he's like he's like he's like he's like he's like he's like he's You know what I saw the other day, the goal he scored? He has nine goals now in the Olympic NHL-Olympic era, which ties, I think, Yager for the most. Or maybe it's the post-C Czechoslovakia era, but one or the other he's got, he's tied Yager for the most.

But I just, I remember with him, you're right, there was a little bit of the family thing, but also he didn't play like a North American-style offensive game. And I'm not trying to demean Chervenka in any way, shape, or form. Like I look at those two guys, Kellerman's and Ocular, and you're right, maybe it is family. But Ocular said he would like to go back at some point. The Panthers still own his rights. Like those guys are north, south, up and down guys. They can play that game.

So, Don, before we finish Slovakia here, what will be the score of the semifinal? Two-one shootout win, Slovakia. Shootout. You get through 10 minutes, so three-on-three with nothing going on? How do you guys feel about the three-on-three, by the way? I am not crazy about it, now that we're in the metal round. Yeah, I know why they do it. They do it because they don't want long games.

They got three games at the same rank and things like that. They don't want it. I don't like it. It doesn't feel right. Yeah. It offends our North American sensibilities. But you remember in the bubble when that Tampa Bay Columbus game went, what, seven overtimes? Went five. They don't want that here.

I know. Well, that's why, okay, at some point before the gold medal game, you're right, we'll do overtime for a bit. And then if you can't figure out how to score, that's what the shootouts for. No, I hate the shootout more than I like the overtime. What I would say, and don't forget, the gold medal game is 20 minutes three on three, right? Well, yeah, it's just, it's continuous. There's no shootout in the gold medal game. I wonder if they would ever consider doing something like the answer is probably no.

But if you had to do this, you start five on five, you play it for 10 minutes. And then you start removing guys from the ice. So, okay, first you whistle up. to because that at least you like... First whistle after 10 minutes? Uh-huh. Four on four. And then first whistle after 15, three on three.

Like, three of the four games today were on the same ice surface. I understand why they do it. It just, it... Yeah, I'm with you, Kyle. I don't like the look of three-on-three determining this. But it ends. That's one thing they can guarantee. It ends.

All right. Two one in a shootout. out. Righten it down. Okay, Elliot, just like 2010, same final four teams remaining. Are we going to have the same gold medal match and bronze medal match as we did 16 years ago? No, one of the favorites doesn't win. Really?

Yeah. You're just not prepared to say who yet? I just haven't decided which one yet. Come on, I'm still wrapping myself around this day. I just, I don't see it being chalk. That's fair. I think Canada, US is on a collision course again. Yeah.

I mean, they probably, I just, I'm just curious to see what their, Canada, I just want to know what Canada's health is. Yeah. I think we kind of have an idea that we might not see Crosby. Mm-hmm. I'm, I'm just really wondering about McKinnon. And again, I could be totally wrong on this. But as you said, hearing Mike and Kevin talk about him and seeing that. last wobble he had in overtime.

Don't like to guess, but it just looked weird. Okay, with that, time now for the final thought, presented by the Toyota BZ. Go All Electric and a winter ready Toyota BZ at your local dealer today. Elliot, I got to tell you, it put my mind into a bit of a pretzel as we're working through games here the last couple of days

and suddenly all the tweets and the pictures are popping up over, who's practicing back in North America with their NHL teams and who's not and what do the lines look like and who's leading the stretch after the fact. It was like my brain was gone. I'm not ready to process all of that yet. But through all of that, the news out of Edmonton that Paul Coffey is back behind the Oilers bench when things resume next week. So they've been out there for a little bit beforehand. And how did it ultimately get to a reunion between coffee and the Oilers coaching staff?

First of all, I would like to congratulate the Oilers on the all-time news dump. Yes. So someone showed me that about 10 minutes after they announced it. And I just laughed. I was like, wow, like talk about just. just bearing it in the middle of one of the biggest games of the biggest game of the year. I was like, I was like, what? So anyway, that was, that was a shocker because I'd mentioned it on this pod about,

I can't remember how long ago it was ago, Kyle, it was probably six weeks to two months ago. Yeah, it was before the new year. It was probably about two months ago. I'd heard rumors that they were thinking about it and I looked into it and I was told by several people it was not going to happen. Hmm. But maybe it's desperate times call for desperate measures. I think it shows you what the pressure is to win there.

You know, McDavid, he signed a two-year deal. you can't waste these years. And he's still in the prime of his career. So I'm going to bet that somebody here or multiple people here said, you know what? What I felt two months ago can't feel that way anymore. Opinions change. People get told this is going to happen.

people have to swallow their pride. Look, I just think at the end of last season, everybody here was kind of like, this isn't working. We're going our own separate ways. Well, I just don't know that anybody thought it was going to boomerang back this way so quickly. And here we are. To me, and I'm here, I'm half a world away. I think that from what I understand, I think that I heard that some people

we're like, you know what? We have to do what's best for the team. So I think some people either swallowed their pride or said, okay, I realize this has to happen. And if that's true, I look at it as that's the adult mature thing to do because ultimately the success of the oilers is the most important thing. And sometimes you have to say, well, okay, we tried it this way and it didn't work. we're going back to it and not everybody likes it.

But that's life. That's life in the big city. You have to do that sometimes. But I also think, Kyle, that there's some people who are looking at this and saying, yeah, I'm not worried about hurting people's feelings here. This has to occur. Bottom line is this. Some of those defensemen have responded.

responded really well to Paul coffee. The Oilers didn't like the way they went into the break. There's a lot of pressure. It's an important season. You know, what it says to me is that the organization just said, this worked for us, and we're going to, and we're going back to it, and we don't have time for people's feelings to be hurt. Hmm. I didn't think I'd see it, though.

I'll tell you that. Like I said, it was recently a six weeks ago. I had people telling me this is not going to happen. Well, it's no question the results with him behind the bench. And certainly when you think about those different moments over there runs the last two years, whether it was individually or collective, certain points where you wondered, okay, where is the Soyler's team going in terms of how they defend? And are they going to be able to hang on, be it against the Dallas,

against the Vegas, against the Florida. and he managed to wrangle that group together and get the most out of him to almost win a Stanley Cup. It does make a lot of sense. Like you mentioned some players that respond well to them. That was kind of my question. Like is there one or two guys in particular that they were looking at going they were the best version of themselves

when coffee was behind the bench encouraging them, coaching them all of that? Is there any anyone in particular? I think it has to be nurse Walman Bouchard. Yeah. Okay. I think those are the guys you're talking about. Okay.

All right. Yeah, they, uh, between dry sidle and how the team was playing, there's fireworks going on around them going into the break as you say, Elliot, and there will be plenty of eyeballs in Edmonton coming out of the break, knowing how critical all of this is. for them this year. Okay, that was the final thought, presented by the Toyota BZ.

We'll take one break and wrap up another Olympic edition of 32 Thoughts, the podcast after this. All right, welcome back. Elliot, before we go, some more shoutouts. We wanted to clear off the deck of our time here in Milan.

So what have you got? It looked like it was a very busy scene in and around the set there in the arena, especially now with more and more Canadian fans, flocking to the Milano Santa Julia Arena. It's a hot spot out in the corner where CBC and Radio Canada sets are positioned. All right, I am just going to do this quick

because it's 2.10 a.m. Italy time and I want to go to bed. John Marosi, as I mentioned, saw him. Luke from Scotland, Bojan, the Tampa Bay Lightning fan from Bulgaria. Lance from New Jersey saying hello on behalf of his son Nate, John from Switzerland, Karen Bloom from Toronto, who gave me a raccoon sticker. Simon for Switzerland, whose favorite player growing up was Bobby Orr. Maxine from OLG, who's one of our Olympic sponsors.

Her nephew, I think, Johnny Strawn, works for CBC. Marcel from Erfut in Germany, a big blues fan, was wearing a beautiful blues jersey. Stephen Barada, Canadian living in Netherlands, who plays some lower division hockey there, played some in Netherlands, played some in Argentina. Daniel and Sergei from Latvia. God, there were a couple other guys whose names I don't remember. There was Victor who coached hockey in Abu Dhabi. There was Lucas from Switzerland.

and there was Ben from Fort McMurray who I ran into out for dinner in Milan who was wearing an Evan Bouchard Team Canada jersey. He made one. Oh, really? And he was wearing it. One way or another.

He's getting here to Milan. Evan Bouchard got to Milan, thanks to Ben from Fort McMurray. Colin from Japan. And one of the lines for this tournament is Tarrington, Wyanzig from Yorkton, Saskatchewan. I met his brother, his brother, and I think his name was Tannam. I'm sorry if I got this wrong, but I think his name was Tannum.

He was there to watch his brother officiate and very proud. So those are the shoutouts I wanted to give. Oh, I wanted to read one. I have so much raccoon content. I can't keep track of it all, especially now. I will get to it later, but I got a note from Mike. Hello, Elliot. I had quite the experience last night, and I knew I immediately had to reach out.

I was lying in bed just before turning off the lights, and I suddenly hear this shrieking noise coming from the backyard. At first I thought it might be a neighbor's dog, but the sound continued for over half a minute, so I went to the window to investigate. Lo and behold, I found two raccoons up on a tree in my yard having a very vocal argument. One raccoon was cornered onto a small branch and was shrieking at the other who seems to be the instigator. They have exchanged a few swipes.

This went on for about ten minutes and woke up all the neighbors. The women next door went outside and started clapping her hands to get them to stop, which seemed to work for about 30 seconds. But as soon as she closed her door, they started to start. started up again. The raccoons did not abide. All in all, this lasted 20 minutes before the commotion stopped, and we were finally able to get to sleep. I don't know what they were fighting about, but I figure if I turned to the leading North American amateur raccoon behavioralist, I might be able to get some answers. Were they fighting over a piece of trash, territory? Could it be

mating season? He actually sent me a video, but I can't get it to work. Mike, I hate to tell you this, you're in big trouble. They're fighting over territory and one of them has claimed it. If I knew how to solve this problem, I would do it for you, but I have failed. As a matter of fact, there was a big fight in my backyard a couple of weeks ago, and I recorded the audio. Oh, shrieking? Yeah, oh, yeah. Tom's like he should urinate in his backyard.

Yeah, Dom, that doesn't work. Yeah, we've tried that. I'm sorry, Mike. You're in big trouble here, man. Big trouble. Oh, boy. Yeah, if you had an answer to that problem, I mean, we wouldn't have all this raccoon content to talk about.

And now I just wonder how long or how much legs the Fridge dart content has. Because that didn't take long. No, I won't do that again. Yeah, I won't be. doing that again. That was just a one-time thing. Well, once every 10 years. 2016 World Cup,

26 Olympics. We can't wait to see what happens in 2036. Yes. Me the good Lord Will and we're all still here doing this. Yes. All right. Taking us out today a track from Just on Isaiah Painter, who was born in Scarborough, Ontario, raised in Mississauga at the intersection of his

Jamaican and South African heritage. By age 10, Jasan was already writing poetry and raps, borrowing from the sounds he was surrounded by. Today, Jasan stands at the intersection of artist and songwriter, crafting music that is emotionally precise but sonically fluid, enriched by the cultural and geographical lineage that raised him. His forthcoming body of work, the debut EP, Is Anybody Home, arrives as a six-song snapshot of introspection, boyhood, migration, family, and emotional literacy. Across the record, Jassan, polls from R&B, alternative, folk, and hip-hop sensibilities while unlearning the childhood belief that vulnerability was weakness and replacing it

with a worldview anchored in self-awareness, responsibility, and hope. This track, along with all the others, can be found on our 32 Thoughts, the music playlist on Spotify. Here is Jasson. Painter and Maple Brown on 32 Thoughts, the podcast.