32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Pushing For The Playoffs

Episode Date: April 11, 2022

What’s your dream playoff match-up? Jeff and Elliotte look at some potential first-round tilts in both the Eastern (12:18) and Western Conference (2:55). The guys also discuss the San Jose GM search (15:35), what Detroit will be looking to do this off-season as they were eliminated from playoff contention (24:58), some updates on NCAA players (33:30) and Ottawa’s next move (34:50), Sidney Crosby hitting 1,400 points (36:45) and why he’s a Hart Trophy candidate, and they take your questions (44:40) to wrap things up.Music Outro: Royal Otis - Oysters In My PocketCheck out more music from Royel Otis on SpotifyThis podcast is produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.Audio Credits: Canadian Screen Awards, Detroit Red Wings, Sportsnet and WXDX-FM.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.

Elliot, before we get going on the podcast and talk about the East and the West and some of the behind the scenes news and the San Jose general manager search and all of that, want to start off by sending our best wishes for a speedy recovery to our friend Darren Millard, broadcaster with the Vegas Golden Knights. Bike accident on Friday. Ducky, we're thinking about you. Hope you get better soon, pal. He built hockey on Sportsnet. Everything we do now, he started. So we always think about that, and we're wishing you the best, man. Somebody needs to take a hold of Gary Lawless and keep him under control.

Millard, you are that man, and we can't wait to see you do it again. Elliot, one more thing before we start the podcast. Bob Cole, who tonight received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Canadian Screen Awards. I don't know what more we can say about the greatness that Bob Cole always was calling hockey games. No disrespect to Foster Hewitt, but Bob Cole's CBC radio call of the Henderson goal in 72 of the Summit Series is exceptional. And we've said that, Elliot, a number of times about Bob Cole's career.

Exceptional. My favorite play-by-play person in any sport ever. And nobody played off the crowd better than Bob Cole did. This is a very humbling experience for me. I have to thank the members of the Academy for nominating me for this award. I have been very fortunate over the years to work with so many great professionals, owners, general managers, coaches, the players in the National Hockey League, all of whom I have great respect. We've traveled together, talked together, done a lot of games all over the world. And I realize I'm a very lucky guy to have a job that I love so much.

I have to thank my family for being so supportive. They have been. They travel with me sometimes. We've had some great fun. And again, thanks to the academy of this award i don't know what room elliot's in but damn it i'm going to ask welcome to 32 thoughts the podcast presented by the all-new gmc at4 lineup elliot i never thought i'd ask you this on this podcast but are you in the shower no i'm definitely not in the shower i'm back in my office i could have gone to the office on friday, but I was too lazy.

I just did not want to go downstairs. So you thought you'd just record something on your phone in the shower in the wee hours of the morning. Yeah. In retrospect, I was tired. It may not have been the best decision. Some people got a good laugh out of it, and that's what we're here to do. We're here to entertain. Who are you whispering to in the shower i'm just doing the podcast hon don't worry i'm just doing the podcast i'm sure everything's fine here let me ask you let's start

off by talking about the west and the dallas stars won a big one against the chicago blackhawks although early this was nip and tuck the stars go up one nothing on the 18th by jamie band and chicago comes back and scores a pair of kurashev and taves and then before the first period's over joe pavelski pulls them even and then it was the first line of the dallas stars taking over thank you very much rupe hens with three points and jason robertson with a pair he's been outstanding as we all know know, for the Dallas Stars this season. So as we sit right now, okay, currently, as we're recording this podcast, Sunday evening,

just before 10 o'clock Eastern, the Dallas Stars are in that final wildcard spot. After 72 games, they have 86 points. The Nashville Predators have also played 72 games. They're in the first wildcard spot with 87. You know, Vegas is on the outside looking in and you wonder who they're looking at here.

And could they be looking at the Los Angeles Kings, Elliot, who sit at 86 points and Vegas has a game in hand over Rob Blake squad. I just have to say the beginning of that Dallas game, I thought that was going to be a complete disaster for the stars yep because chicago's first goal went in off a sliding defenseman on a two-on-one that was kurash's goal yeah and chicago's second goal by jonathan taves on their power play also got deflected in by a Dallas player. So you're sitting here and you're saying

Chicago's up 2-1, 12 minutes into the game, and Dallas has already scored three goals. And you're thinking this is just not their night. But they righted the ship and they won the game. They absolutely have to win. I feel like I've said this a lot, but Dallas has made this race a lot more interesting than it probably should be they just have not gained control over it but you know i agree with your overall premise i think that teams like

vegas and vancouver to a bit of a lesser degree but they're still there they keep hanging around they've got an advantage over you you know, Dallas and Nashville. And that is that they have two routes. They have the wildcard route and they have the Pacific division route. And I really feel for the Kings who have overachieved this year and played really well, but they are running out of gas. The injuries, you can see it. You can feel it.

They played some really tough games last week. Calgary, that was a really good game. But you know what's happened to them now, Jeff? They're losing in regulation. They're banged up and they're not getting points. That's the killer in this league. You've got to get into overtime. If you're going to lose, lose in overtime or the shootout. Get the point. And if you look at the Kings right now, they're not getting the points. And that Calgary game was a perfect example. They played really hard. They were right there.

They didn't get the point. We talked about Los Angeles and where the goals are going to come from. And I think one of the things that we didn't expect to happen, well, we thought that this was going to be Cal Peterson's season. Instead, all of a sudden, Jonathan Quick said,

hey, don't forget about me. I can still be a high-level goaltender here in the National Hockey League. I've been with you on this one for a while. I like LA because I like a team that exceeds expectations. I think there are a lot of people that are enjoying watching Vegas struggle at this time of year because they've never struggled.

There are a lot of people that don't like the way that they've either treated players or coaches or, you know, the immediate success and what it's done to the organization. I get all that. And there's a lot of people that are taking delight in watching Vegas have to struggle to get into the playoffs. And I think there are some people that are looking at this and saying, this is a team that was an expansion squad about five minutes ago,

and they've never been in this position this late into the season. Like this is all new territory for the Vegas Golden Knights, completely new territory for the Vegas Golden Knights. And at the beginning of the season, we talked about the goals for the Los Angeles Kings. And we talked to Drew Doughty in Chicago about how, you know, him and Kopitar specifically said sort of enough of this rebuild, we're going out to get players and, you know, we're not going to squander any more years of our career. We're going to try to get some wins. I'm like you,

I can kind of feel this all sort of slipping away from the Los Angeles Kings. I don't know if they have it to stop the bleeding right now, but just getting to this point, 74 games in, in a playoff spot, third place in the division. Man, they've taken a huge step. They really have. It's going to feel like bleep. I know. If they don't make the playoffs.

And the thing is, too, is that, like I said, this week they had three games. They played Ottawa hard. They played Edmonton hard. playoffs and the thing is too is that like i said this week they had three games they played ottawa hard they played edmonton hard they got warped a bit by minnesota earlier tonight they didn't get a point when you play games like you played against calgary and edmonton and you play really hard and you get nothing you're sitting there and you're going we deserve better than this but the other thing right now is all of a sudden ve has a game in hand on them. Yes. And then you start looking at the RWs, the regulation wins. Dallas is in a really bad spot.

They're at 27. The Kings are at 29. Vancouver is at 29. Vegas is at 32. Nashville is at 34. And when Kelly Rudy says, I don't know if I want to play Nashville in the playoffs, I understand why he says that because 34 of their 41 wins are in regulation time, which is playoff rules. When I look at those numbers, I start looking at the regulation wins right now,

and I don't like what that means for Dallas, and I don't like what that means for the Kings. I'm with you on the Kings on a lot of levels. I root for them because they've come the farthest and they're, they're hanging on a bit on fumes here and they've really played above their level. I do worry about it though. And what a huge game on Tuesday night.

That's going to be Vegas, Vancouver. The one team that I, that I look at. And last time I checked, they were sixth in the NHL in regulation wins. The one team that I keep coming back to are the St. Louis Blues at 38 regulation wins.

Like that is right around this time here, start looking at this number, folks, because this will tell you a lot about the first round and what you think might be an upset, might not be an upset at all. And I look at St. Louis with 38 with 38 i mean listen colorado's got 42 you know they're like running away with this thing and here's the other one when you start looking at regulation wins elliot we look at you know the carolina hurricanes at 40 the rangers are

at 39 you know i just mentioned uh 38 for the. Louis Blues, 42 for the Colorado Avalanche, 39 for the Calgary Flames. The Toronto Maple Leafs have 40. The much maligned Toronto Maple Leafs have more regulation wins. I know, here we go. Oh, you're talking about the Maple Leafs again. Maple Leafs have 40 regulation wins.

More than the Florida Panthers. That's more than the Tampa Bay Lightning. And that's more than the Boston Bruins. That's more than the Tampa Bay Lightning. And that's more than the Boston Bruins. Let's get to the East in a second. Let's, let's just take a look at the West right here. So Colorado's in, Minnesota's going to be in, St. Louis is going to be in, Calgary is going to be in. Are you secure in saying that Edmonton's going to be in?

Well, they broke my in-season cup hard on Saturday, but yes, damn it, I'll say them. I'm feeling good about the Oilers being in. Okay. Now, that brings us Kings, Predators, Stars, Golden Knights, Canucks. I don't think Winnipeg's going to have the runway to do this. Who are you picking?

With a couple weeks to go in the season, three weeks to go, what are you thinking? I'm thinking LA is out. See, I think Nashville gets in. They're the team I'm most confident in, is Nashville. I like the way Nashville plays, because Nashville can play a lot of different ways.

Yeah. I've seen Dallas throw too many games away. Sometimes you've seen Dallas play exceptional hockey. Other times we've seen them fritter away points and hand them away. I think the injuries have caught up to your point with the Los Angeles Kings. I wonder when Dowdy shows up here. Does Dowdy show up like missing a leg? You ever seen someone take a shift on crutches?

Well, ladies and gentlemen, here comes Drew Dowdy of the Los Angeles Kings. I do wonder, does Dowdy just show up and say, Screw it. I don't care. I got to do something. I got to do something. Yeah, maybe.

But I admit, I'm not even looking at the schedules right now. It's a terrible way to look at this thing because you should look at strength of schedule i'm just talking about the teams that i would believe in i believe in national i i do i think they get in i think maybe the only flip that we see here is vegas and la i just wonder about vegas like if mark stone's skating now and i guess there's three guys that are on IR that they can put on LTIR that could make it work so Stone could play.

I don't know. I just have this feeling that Vegas is going to get in. Yeah, I think Vegas and LA switch spots. Okay, in the East, what's the playoff series if you could pick that you want to see the most? I would like to see florida and tampa again you're probably not going to get that that's going to take a lightning collapse and the capitals catching them there's six points up with the same amount of games to play florida washington first round i like toronto boston in an opening round

from a storyline point of view. It's great. I think if Toronto's going to do anything, the team they have to go through psychologically, I think, are the Boston Bruins. Not unlike we talked about how Washington needed to get through the Pittsburgh Penguins eventually. I think Carolina-Tampa would be a hell of a series.

Carolina-Tampa's going to be great hockey. Carolina-Tampa, I would love to watch that. I think the matchups are really good here. I really do. If it ends like this right now, Rangers and Penguins. Listen, the Rangers are kryptonite for the Pittsburgh Penguins this season. How's that going to sit with Sidney Crosby? How many times are we going to see that viz of Igor Shcherkin

waving goodbye to the Pittsburgh Penguins? Malkin, apparently. During that series. Carolina-Tampa is the series I want to see. Yeah. Because I think Carolina could beat them, but I think they'd also be terrified by them. Whoever gets Tampa in the first round is going to be terrified by them. I think everybody should be terrified of Tampa.

terrified by them i think everybody should be terrified of tampa now i will tell you and i keep thinking of rudy tom janovich the coach of the rockets when they won their second straight title they were the sixth seed and they won all four of their series on the road and they won their second straight nba title in 1995 and he does that speech don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion so it's probably not good that i'm saying this but people think the lightning there are teams out there in the east quietly saying that they think the lightning are burnt out they've heard us say that last year they just said we'll get into the playoffs and we'll take care of business. And they said, yes, last year they felt that way. This year they think the lightning are burnt out.

And there's going to be someone who hears this and says, oh my God, you should never have said that publicly. But they feel that way. Like not that they feel burned out. They feel like legitimately get through the regular season. We don't care about what happens in the regular season. Do we have a playoff spot? Good.

Now let us get to work. I will say I could see that being the case again, but there are other teams who have a lot of respect for them who think that this year is different and they're exhausted. They're burnt out. And that's why I would love to see somewhere in all of this, Florida and Tampa again. And that's why I would love to see somewhere in all of this Florida and Tampa again.

And that's why I always say the MVP of the playoffs when they start is Vasilevsky. There's nobody in the league more valuable in the playoffs than he is. Nobody. Number one bullshit. Oh, number one bullshit. Number one bullshit. Elliot, something we threw around on Saturday night on Hockey Night in Canada,

the general manager search with the San Jose Sharks. Now that Doug Wilson has stepped away, you talked about the nature of what this search is going to look like. And we know that Joe Will, who's the interim general manager for the sharks right now. Uh, he'll be part of the search committee. He's actually a day one guy. I believe. Actually, I think someone said to me, it's two years before the team dropped the puck

that he's been there 32 years and the team has been 30 ish. I don't know if that's exactly right, but it's at least a year before they drop the puck. Amazing. Team president, Jonathan Becker will be part of it as will owner Hassel Platner. So that will be the search committee. You talked about what this thing is going to look like.

So now that we don't have the authority of time weighing us down, like we do on television, we understand the demands and how precious network time is, and you can opine freely, how's this going to work for San Jose? It's going to take time. First of all, as it stands right now, Jeff, they have not hired an exterior search firm. They haven't hired the Mike Ford, the Neil Glassberg, whoever that is, that can do an external search for them. That may change later, but at this point in time, that's not occurring. And they have told people that if it takes them until after the Stanley Cup final

to get this done because a person they want to talk to is in the Stanley Cup final, they will do that. I don't think Joe Will is going to end up being the permanent GM here. I know he's part of the search, and I know the organization really thinks highly of him and would like to keep him, but I don't think he's going to be the ultimate choice. However, the thing that they do have is because he was kind of implementing the plan while Doug Wilson was unable to fulfill the

day-to-day duties. They look at it like we have somebody here who knows what our plan is, knows the direction we want to go in and can make decisions in the short term until we get the permanent person. So I think they kind of look at it that way. It's not going to be a short-term thing. It's going to be a wide net. They're going to look at people who have typical hockey backgrounds, and they're going to look at people who have non-typical hockey backgrounds. The other thing I heard that was pretty interesting was that San Jose, they don't want to rebuild. They're not interested in that. it will make it a bit more

challenging i think because they've got some really difficult decisions to make and if you're not willing to rebuild it probably makes those decisions a little bit more difficult but again i think that people are going to know the rules going in. I've asked about if they are looking at doing a president of hockey operations. I'm told that's not the plan. I mean, things could always change, but I think that the preference is that they hire a general manager.

But the one thing I do think is happening here is, look, they've had two GMs in 30 years, Dean Lombardi and Doug Wilson, which is a credit to them. They're stable. But they kind of look at it like we've kind of done things our own way for a long time. And now that we've missed the playoffs a few years in a row, it's time to look and see what else is out there.

And the other thing I think, and I've heard they've decided, was they were too lean. You know, Doug Wilson, he kept it very tight. And you know, I want people to understand I'm not ripping Doug Wilson here and they don't want to rip Doug Wilson here, but I think they're looking at it and saying, okay, if we have to make changes, what are the changes? You know, they were very lean. Doug Wilson, Doug Wilson Jr., Joe Will, and Tim Burke in a lot of ways were the major decision makers. And Tim Burke is based in Boston. And I think they just kind of looked at it like, you know what, we need to be a little bulkier, a little beefier, more people around. So I do

think they're going to be hiring more. And I think they're going to be willing to have, you know, just some differing opinions. And again, this is not to say that everybody under Doug Wilson was like-minded. I just think that since they're taking their first real look at doing something differently in a long time, I think they're going to really look at doing things differently. This is San Jose opening itself up to the world and saying, what's out there and what do we need to do? But I think also, and we talked about this on Friday, Doug Wilson had the best owner-manager relationship in the NHL. He had a lot of say, a lot of juice. I don't think the plan is for that to change.

We talked on Friday about how the president there, Jonathan Becker has the reputation of he hires people and then he lets them do their jobs. And, you know, I had a chance to speak to a few more people about that. And his philosophy generally is if i hire you and i don't let you do your job why am i hiring you so i don't think that's going to change you're going to have a i mean you always have a boss but i think you're going to have a lot of freedom there to implement the plan that you want to implement as long as you fit the overall organizational philosophy, which is we don't want to rebuild. So Elliot, when I hear you say they're going to make a number of, a number of hires, you're going to have multiple hires here.

One of the things that I wonder about is, are they just hiring on the hockey side or are they hiring on the community growth side as well, which a lot of teams are really beefing up. They're really, you know, I'm going, you know, there's a lot of, you know, community outreach and doing things in the community and trying to get new people under the hockey tent and new people attached to their brand. Are they, are we just talking about hockey here with the San Jose Sharks or are they doing something, you know, outside of what we'll see on the ice?

Jeff, I don't know if they're going to hire people in community relations but one thing i do know is that whoever is hired as their general manager is going to be willing to be very public and they thought wilson was very good at that locally and whoever does this is going to have to be willing to be the same for example one of the things they're doing is that their American Hockey League team, the Barracuda, had played in the same rink as the Sharks the last few years, and they're going to their new arena next year. They're adding more sheets of ice at their practice facility.

They're also determined to do more of ball hockey, street hockey in the area. You always want to grow your footprint in the market and around. And even though San Jose, very strong community connection to the team, you can always make it better. And San Jose really has indicated that if you're someone who doesn't like that spotlight or doesn't want that spotlight, this job is not going to be for you. You know what? I love the ball hockey idea and the ball

hockey initiatives that we're starting to see more and more of i've always thought that was a an untapped gold mine for the nhl just as a link between nhl andrew ference is heading up a lot of this for the nhl you know as a link between nhl markets like if you don't have an nhl team in your town there's ball hockey to play, or there's, there's a way for you to be inspired to pick up a hockey stick. I, we all understand that hockey is expensive. We all understand that skates and sticks and equipment, especially if you're a goaltender are really expensive. Honestly, I've always felt the ball hockey could be a huge on-ramp. And whenever I hear a team getting behind ball hockey,

I get that soap and warm water feeling that like oh yeah that's especially in a market like san jose oh that's a sweet spot of the bat so that that makes a ton of sense to me and i i fully support and encourage that i i'm with you on that so i think that's kind of what we're looking at here is this is not going to be short term uh this is going to be someone who's open to new ideas this is your background in or out of hockey is not necessarily going to matter it's it's what you can present and you know the other thing i wanted to mention was about joe will himself you know i mentioned on saturday night that it was unlikely he'd be the person that it would be outside. And

some people said to me, does that mean you're going to have a problem if you get in there and you've got an incumbent who's unhappy? And, you know, I think the thing I would say to that is, and someone else said this to me really well, they said that Joe Will is not some egomaniac. He's a person who is very loyal to the organization and is not difficult to work with. And I don't think you're going to have to worry if you go in there and he's there still that he's going to be sabotaging whoever comes in. I think that's craziness. And, um, you know, I had some people really reach out to me to say that, you know you should take a a strong stance on that because just because joe will isn't a guy who's known really well publicly people shouldn't have this wrong opinion

on him so you know i just figured i would say that all right from the san jose sharks let's head to um detroit and the red wings as we do a little bit of a dive whenever a team gets eliminated officially from the playoffs the next team up for grabs here on the podcast are the detroit red wings so for the sixth season in a row no playoffs for detroit what can we expect from eiserman and company other than secrecy this offseason they had a media conference this year when they announced that nickidstrom was signing in the organization. And, you know, I waited until the end to ask a question because, you know, you don't want to get in the way of, of all the local writers and media people who have, you know, they want to write about

this particular incident or this particular signing and what it means. And it's a huge deal that Lidstrom was coming back, but, you know, i waited to the end and i just asked eiserman i said steve this one's more of a general question for you your team has really taken a step forward this year and i just wonder if it has changed your timeline at all for where you think they're going or just accelerated the plan you have for rebuilding the red wings uh elliot no um plan you have for rebuilding the red wings uh elliot no um nothing's really changed uh to be honest with you i don't really have a timeline uh you know we're just trying to improve each year we're trying to use a draft and and uh and hopefully draft well and definitely use the draft to increase our prospect pool and we don't have a it's too unpredictable to tell when some of

these players are going to be ready whether it's year one or year two or three years from the draft, even five years later. So no, things haven't changed. We're pleased with some progress that we've made this season. And, you know, he just said, I don't really have a set timetable. And that's the thing I wonder now. They kind of hit the wall in the back half of the season they had some pretty ugly results yeah but i don't get too worried about that i i think it's kind of eh you know that happens they're still growing but you know the question i kind of have

is if you take a look at the red wings in in the last couple of off seasons, you know, what they do is they sign good veterans with good attitudes who can, you know, fill holes. You take a look at Sam Gagne, he'd be an example. Vyacheslav Nemesnikov, he'd be an example. They traded for Mark Stahl, they brought in Nick Letty. They just brought in a lot of guys. Jordan Osterly is another guy, a depth player, who is a good, solid player who can fill holes. And Nedeljkovic. My question for Eisenman is when does he start to take big swings?

I don't get the sense that he's in any hurry to do so. As a matter of fact, all indications in the last 12 months seem to think that he's of the belief that this rebuild might take even longer than he originally anticipated. Don't you believe that? I think so. I think that's true, which partially answers my question. You're starting to see the building blocks here. Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider leading the way. You know, they've got some really, really talented players here.

And then, okay, Dylan Larkin. I thought he played really well this year. Yeah. And I thought that he was exactly what you would have wanted this year. He embraced it and he competed hard. He's got one more year. Tyler Bertuzzi has got one more year. And does he get to the point,

and I'm talking about Eisenman here, is this another year where he plugs holes or does he say, you know what? It's time to take a step. I look at the Detroit Red Wings and I say, okay, we'll talk a lot about Lucas Raymond okay we'll talk a lot about uh about lucas raymond we'll talk a lot about moritz cider i don't think we're wrong talking about simon edvinson as well who comes over next year who comes who's coming over next year i think we joked about this

last year before the draft like we're looking at the needs of the, of the Detroit Red Wings. And I, I said kind to you kind of half joking, but half not that I wouldn't be surprised if the Detroit Red Wings took a goalie with every single pick last year, that that's the organizational depth that they need to address. Now they took Sebastian Cosa from the Edmonton oil Kings in the first round 15th overall. But I don't know that again again i'm assuming this and i'm guessing this but i don't get the feeling that steve eisenman thinks he's done addressing

organizational depth and until he's done there i don't know that he's going to take big swings and you might be right i i think you could be right you know the point is that he could do it if he wanted to see i look I look at what Detroit does, and I like your point about bringing in veterans, and they've done that. But it seems like they bring them in for a couple of reasons. One, it's good to have the right veterans around your kids, and two, they become tradable assets at deadline time.

Well, Nemestikov is a perfect example of that, right? Nick Letty's another one. Yes. You get something. I always look at that and say that's a really smart bit of business by Eisenman. And it's completely transparent. I think we all look at it and say, okay,

they just signed someone who's going to be traded at the deadline and that's fine. And until then, they're going to be a really good professional for that team. Like strategically, I really like that about Eisenman. I think that's really shrewd and really smart. And he moves the Red Wings program along that way. I just don't know where he thinks, you know, the arms are here on the win cycle.

Well, and I agree with you on that, which is why I ask it, because all of a sudden you've got two really good players in Larkin and Bertuzzi, and they're coming to the end here. Yes. They've got one more year under contract, and we know what Iserman's going to do. He's, you know, they call him cutthroat for a reason. He's going to do what he thinks is best for the team and the organization. cutthroat for a reason he's going to do what he thinks is best for the team and the organization but you know this is probably the first time since he's got there and i realize he hasn't been there too long where he's got cornerstone players and and larkin in particular is the captain who are potential ufas

so what does it mean that's my question if i'm eiserman with larkin i want to re-up them just because of well quite bluntly like listen if you're in a rebuild it's your job to get good players and there's a good player who has performed for your team oh and he's been exceptional yes for your team great attitude to me the question is not what does Steve Eisenman want, it's what does Dylan Larkin want? Well, I think those go hand in hand, right? I think that's a very fair question. That's a very fair answer.

I mean, Bertuzzi, a year ago, he was number one on Toronto's list. Yeah. He was the guy they wanted at the deadline. And this year, the vaccination situation made it impossible for him to go to just about anywhere you know we'll see where the world is this summer and and what that means but you know there's another player who's a good player who's ufa in a year and you're right it

could come down to what bertuzzi feels just as much as what it feels, what Iserman feels. But I think in this case, it's probably even bigger to what Iserman feels because if he goes to those guys and says, Hey guys, rebuilds over particularly in Larkin's case, that takes a big conversation out of the equation.

So that's the number one I think about when I think about Detroit, like I know the fans, they're going to be wonder about the coach. And again i don't know what eiserman's going to do there but to me the biggest variable is when do they say okay it's time to add because in this league right now the most valuable thing in the world is cap room and teams are going to get squeezed and some free agents are going to get squeezed and you can really benefit from that you can benefit from that you can help other teams and pick up prospects and pick up draft picks along the way not unlike what they do and they hire you know veteran players that they end up shuffling off at deadline anyhow like i i think listen if

you're steve eisman you weaponize it say we've this. Let us help you out with your problem and relieve you of the burden of a first round pick. No pressure for your scouts. They don't have a first round pick. Don't worry about the first round. Just a couple of quick notes here, Jeff. I want to apologize to all the gophers out there who are angry that I had the audacity

to say that Matthew Nyes is at Michigan. I just slipped up. I don't know what happened. That was a complete brain meltdown. What have I told you about breaking in the new tongue on the big show, Elliot? You don't do that. I saw your tweets.

I got all your DMs. I heard it. I believe the meeting with Nye and the Maple Leafs is going to take place Tuesday or Wednesday. And like I've said, I think it's most likely Nige goes back because I think he wants to try to win next year. And I don't think the Maple Leafs are, well,

actually I should say, I know the Maple Leafs aren't where he doesn't want to play there, but we'll see. Tuesday or Wednesday is going to be the meeting, I think. And Ben Meyer is going to start taking meetings on Monday. He's another Minnesota player who's done Restricted Free Agents Center.

And I know I've mentioned that Detroit and Minnesota and Philly were among the teams that were kind of going after him. I think there's a lot of teams that were interested. I think they were paring it down. Somebody told me they heard Florida potentially. And I think Toronto was interested as well, but I don't really know yet as we tape this on Sunday night, who's getting all the meetings.

Okay. Well, one thing I was just wanting to mention was Ottawa for a second. Sure. I've had some people sending me DMs, Senators fans, you know, what do you think is going to happen here? What do you think is going to happen here?

So, you know, I made some calls and I asked a few questions and, you know, the number one thing I think is that, you know, the Sen some calls and I asked a few questions and, you know, the number one thing I think is that, you know, the senators aren't crazy about answering these questions right now because they think in some ways it's disrespectful and distasteful. You know, the family's just still getting over it and people have big decisions to make while they're still in mourning. So the best way I can answer this for you right now is I think they're in kind of a timeout.

And I think this timeout is going to last probably until mid to end of May. And then at that time, they're really going to start figuring out, okay, what's the path here? Who's serious? Who isn't? But, you know, the one thing, and I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't think this team is going anywhere. I think the team will stay in Ottawa long-term.

I think they're going to get a downtown rink. I think, you know, the family has some decisions to make and they have to make those decisions. But the number one thing, I know nature abhors a vacuum and everybody wants an answer today. Every indication I'm getting is that people are just being told we need time to breathe and that time to breathe could last another month to six weeks and that's where we are yeah i get the feeling they don't want to address anything until people have a chance to mourn properly yeah i agree and that's not wrong you know i'll give you an example

from my past i can recall when bill wirtz passed away and I was talking to someone from the league and one of the things that I brought up was Hawks games on television and the answer back, and it was right, but I had to ask it. The answer back was, we're not going to address that right now. Let's just give it some breathing room here and then we'll address that at a later date.

It'll come up, but it'll be addressed at a later date. Yep. Nashville and Pittsburgh was a really interesting game for a couple of reasons but it'll be addressed at a later date. Yep. Nashville and Pittsburgh was a really interesting game for a couple of reasons. One, it was a really good game. One, there was an incident that's going to land a star

in hot water. And two, Sidney Crosby got point number 1,400 on the overtime winner. Back outside to center ice as we tick under three minutes. Here's Matheson reversing course back in on the forehand.

Throws it on goal. Save made by Riddick. Picked up by Crosby. Along the goal line. comes out with it, holds throws it in front, deflects to Raquel, back to Crosby, pokes it in he scores! Lock the doors!

Turn out the lights! Penguins win in overtime! The 1400th point in the 1100th game the career of Crosby continues to shine and the Penguins win it. 3-2. I told you to turn the volume up.

I told you it was going to get crazy in here. And the captain delivers. Sidney Crosby, as I believe we've mentioned a couple of times here and on the radio show, Elliot, probably belongs on everybody's heart trophy ballot. Going to be a tough ballot. It's going to be a really tough one this time around. But Crosby with point number 1,400.

I love the traveling Crosbys, by the way, from Coal Harbor with the goat's heads. I love Teemu Salani's pack that traveled along with him during the Stanley Cup final in 2007. I love the traveling Crosbys as well. Before we get to Malkin and Borowiecki here, I don't know how much more we can talk about Sidney Crosby.

We've been talking about him ever since he joined the league and every time he hits a milestone and here's another one and it's in dramatic fashion. It's overtime against the Nashville Predators and it's another one and it's in dramatic fashion it's overtime against the nashville predators and it's point number 1400 for sid is there anything left for us to talk about with crosby at this point yes you should also mention that that point in overtime gave him the most points in overtime in nhl history correct in regulation not playoff overtime you know what the one thing that stood out to me about that game was?

I flipped it on at the beginning. I was watching the Masters, and I was watching that. And right from his first two or three shifts, you were sitting there saying, this is a Crosby game. He's not letting them lose today. And he didn't. But you could tell it. If you were paying attention right from the beginning of the game, you could tell it.

So I was looking at my hard ballot the other day, and in no particular order, I just sort of put them in there first. I've got Matthews. I've got Yossi. I've got McDavid. I've got Shosturkin. I've got Kaprizov. I've got Crosby.

And I've got Huberto. How are you getting that down to five? Did you mention Johnny Gaudreau? I did not mention him, but he's on my list. How are you getting that down to five? Did you mention Johnny Goudreau? I did not mention him, but he's on my list. How are you getting that down to five? Good luck. Someone's going to be really mad at you. Well, these are all made public, so a lot of fan bases will be upset.

Yes. I have to say I got one call from someone close to a player last year. They went over the ballots and they had a specific issue with my ballot, which was fine. I had no problem with that. So it's not just, I don't just like to blame the fans for this

because sometimes it goes much, much deeper than that. It's going to be a really tough call. You're going to leave somebody off the ballot who is going to be deservedly wronged, I guess, is the right way to put it. Because you can't look at that group and put five people on the ballot and say any one of them is going to be wrong. This may be the toughest one. Last year, the tough one was the Norris.

This year, it's the Hart. Tough cross-check to the face of Mark Borowiecki by Evgeny Malkin. Is it just too obvious and too simple to say Matthew's got two for doing that on Rasmus Thaline, Malkin gets two for doing the same thing on Mark Borowiecki? I don't think that there's anything wrong with saying that at all. It's obvious.

And it's almost the exact same situation, battle to cross-check to the face, and no write-up. I talked about this when Matthews was suspended. The question becomes, is it a write-up? Is it something where you hit someone in the shoulder check to the face and no ride up i talked about this when matthews was suspended yeah the question becomes is it a ride up is it something where you hit someone in the shoulder or the back and it rides up or do you make direct contact and matthews was not a ride up it was direct contact and malkin is not a ride up it's direct contact he's gonna have to get something quick thought on

saturday night colorado and Edmonton. Before we get to a couple of phone calls and emails here on the podcast, Colorado to Edmonton one front and center Nathan McKinnon, but really front and center Darcy Kemper, 49 save performance. You know, there've been times we've sort of been up and down and questioned whether Darcy Kemper could be the guy. And there's always questions about, can you be the guy in the playoffs until you are? You know, that was true of Patrick Waugh.

That was true of Jordan Binnington. That was true of like, pick your net minder. You know, you can't do it until you can, and you do. How do you feel about Darcy Kemper heading into the playoffs? Well, first of all, he won Arizona around in the bubble. I guess technically it's not a playoff series, Merrick, but it was a playoff series. They beat Nashville in four games in the bubble.

He was brilliant. So we have seen it. You know, what's the question been on Kemper? It's not been ability. It's been durability. Health. Yes. And so you're always worried about that.

You know, first of all, you look at it, who were the two teams that probably could have gotten Kemper? Colorado and Edmonton. And Colorado went the extra mile and they got the deal done. And this year, I know that they kind of looked at Fleury a bit, but I think it was always Colorado's plan. Look, we traded a first rounder and a good young defenseman for Kemper we want to make it work with Kemper and did they consider Fleury yeah I think they did were there times they

talked about Kemper with other teams if potentially they were bringing in Fleury yeah I think they did but he just went on such a tear that they got to a point where it was going to be Kemper and anyone can get hurt at any time and that's always the thing you have to worry about but I think they like their bet I think they said look we'd like to spend the cap room or our money somewhere else I really like the additions of Manson and Lekanen. And I just don't think they'd be able to do those same things if they decided they had to bring in another goalie or they basically had to move out Kemper and bring in someone else. I think they made the call and I think it was the right call.

Look, I think you're bang on about the idea of, you know, did they consider Marc-Andre Fleury even after making a move? I think when you're in a situation like Colorado and you're this close to the Stanley Cup, you have to have backup plans for everything. Sure, we gave up a lot for Kemper, but what if it doesn't work? Like, I think about the Gabriel Landeskog negotiations

in the offseason, and when it was looking like, you know, Landeskog's not going to sign here. We all thought, ooh, St. Louis is getting ready. They think they might be getting Gabriel Landis Cog here. I mean, the avalanche called Nashville about Philip Forsberg. Like, if we're not doing this deal with Gabriel Landis Cog, I believe that Philip Forsberg was the backup plan, and they would have done a deal with Nashville.

Like, I don't think that Joe Sackick is someone that ever wants to get caught without a contingency plan. So when you say, did they consider Marc-Andre Fleury, even though they just paid a big amount for Darcy Kemper? I believe that 100%. Because I believe that Joe Sackick has in his mind a number of contingencies. If this, then that. That's just the way that guy operates. And that's just the way that guy thinks.

Yeah, I agree with you. Okay. On that, we'll pause, come back with some emails, some phone calls as well. We wrap up another edition of 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Okay, Elliot,

we've got a few of these to get to, either emails or phone calls. The email address is 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca. The phone number, 1-866-311-3232. That is 1-866-311-3232. And Amel, I believe, has a special request here for us, Elliot. Amel, the floor is yours. Hey, guys.

This year, we decided to do an in-season Stanley Cup inspired by your guys' podcast with my family, my wife, Amy, my son, Roger, and my daughter, Maya, decided to do that. And on Saturday, when Colorado beat Pittsburgh,

Maya, our two-year-old, clinched the championship of the in-season Stanley Cup most days holding the Stanley Cup. So just thought you guys might be interested in that, that a two-year-old can dominate a whole family of people. Thanks. Great job, Jeff. Great job, Amal.

A two-year-old could host this podcast too. Hang on a second. Hey, hey. Well, that's actually true. First of all, glad that the uh thanks jeff thanks amal bit is still working it's still holding up that will not die and uh congratulations maya and sorry roger sorry amy but uh well done and you know what i'm gonna hang on that bit of information if amber ends up winning this thing you You know, the way I want to know, if the caller listens to this,

how did Maya make her picks? Like, did someone make Maya's picks for her? Or did she do something? Was she asked to point at the team she wanted? That's what I want to know. There is a second part to this story, because I guarantee to you that there are going to be people who do this, are going to say how did she win because i'm going to do that next year

okay so the first few years where when i was at sports net so this would have been starting in 2011 after the stanley cup final do you know how i did my uh stanley cup picks sees a series by series team with the nicer helmets no although that's it that's good consideration you know i our family always has german shepherds claire and i love german shepherds so um our one german shepherd caesar who is a particularly animated german shepherd i would put the two logos on the floor and i put one piece of kibble on each one, and whichever one he went for, that was the team that I picked. No joke.

That's like the octopus picking World Cup teams. It's always something like that. Well, congratulations, Maya. Maya, well done. Because Jeff or Amber is going to win 50% of our pool, it's like a two-year-old is winning anyway. First of all, I think this pool is all wrong now that i'm on the precipice of handing this thing over to david amber i want this pool stopped

and i want new rules because here's how here's what i've decided this what this is what the pool should be this to me would make a much fairer pool for the in-season cup and it just so happens that i would win if we go by these rules but that's a that's a point for another day i think it should be whichever team has the most teams that have held the cup and the and if there's someone that gets sort of first past the post i suppose if they have a team where every single team touches the cup then automatically you win yeah okay forget it that's not happening that's a great way to decide this pool i do want to give you credit by the way you were in the rear view mirror oh yeah you weren't just in the rear view mirror oh i was dead oh you were the size of

asia when it comes to time zones in the way back and you've got a shot to win this thing yeah man listen i want to publicly thank bill garren because bill garren got me back into this pool that run arizona and arizona as well i want to thank armstrong and i want to thank garren i want to thank those two gentlemen and their teams for helping getting me back into this pool arizona's run got me back into the conversation and garren's team put me over the top so bill armstrong thank you bill garen thank you carolyn and i have been eliminated but we can still take 50 of the money i was really disappointed that edmonton didn't beat colorado on saturday night yeah me too me

too you would have had the cup edmonton and minnesota would have played each other on tuesday you would have kept the cup and then both and minnesota would have played each other on tuesday you would have kept the cup and then both of their next games were against no matter who won i had the shot on thursday it was either going to be nashville or dallas both of whom are my teams yeah and i didn't get it now i realize i'm incredibly selfish but i'm only in it for 50 now i have to tell you i did the reverse Merrick in this pool. You did. I started off doing really well. And then I don't think I held the cup

after the Olympic break. Well, maybe for a day or two, but barely touched it after the Olympic break. And I deserve this punishment in a lot of ways because I dropped the ball. I should not have let Carolyn have all those days with the Rangers with the Cup. Two weeks! They didn't play!

They didn't play a single game for two weeks and she sat there with the Cup. I was like the company president who sleeps in their office and everybody else runs the company. I did an awful job of commissioner this year. Anyway, this pool has been a lot of fun, but I

really do think that it should be whoever has the most teams that has touched the cup. Let's just have a look at who that is. Oh, yeah, every single one of my teams has touched the in-season cup. Nonetheless, we'll move along. From Hamad, I was checking out last year's draft class

and noticed something I found a bit unusual. Neither Buneers nor Power have NHL contracts. This is an email that came in to us last week, folks. They have now both signed. Yes. And normally, top prospects lock up contracts right away. I understand both these players are focusing on their education, but is it possible that one or both of them could test free agency

or if they tried to, would they need to enter the draft again? This one's a pretty easy one. You can't have a pro contract and play college hockey. Yes, and that's the answer. And sometimes it's always good to be asked these questions, and Hamad, we thank you for it because... People don't know. Yeah, you and I are really into the minutiae of all this stuff,

and a lot of people are in the minutiae of their own lives and don't pay attention to this stuff like we have to. But that is exactly correct. You can't sign a contract and go to the NCAA. So that's why those guys don't have deals. And when it comes to test-free agency, if you're drafted out of the NCAA, you have to go four years

before you can become an unrestricted free agent. CHL is two. Well, CHL, you go back in the draft. You go back in the draft. You can only go in the draft twice. If you aren't taken a second time, then you become a UFA. But basically the way it goes is,

and we see this from time to time, is for a player to become a free agent out of the NCAA, they've got to spend four years after they're drafted. So Owen Power, if he hadn't signed this year, still would have had three more years.

Same with Matt Beneers. Correct. But Beneers is now a member of the Kraken, and Power we'll see on Tuesday, I believe. Yes, in Toronto. As the Sabres face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs. From Jordan, when a coach gets fired from their club, my understanding is that a team still has to honor

the rest of the contract that the individual signed but what happens if they sign a new contract before the old one ends do they get paid by their old team and their new one and will jeff keep up the great work um basically the way it works is that there's something called offset language. So if Jeff was hired to coach my team and I signed him to a five-year deal worth 5 million a season, and then I fired him after two years, which I would probably deserve for hiring him for five years as my coach, then he would get paid the rest of his money. Unless he did something to get it knocked out. But you know, Jeff lives his life very cleanly. So none of that would happen.

Born to be mild, born to be mild. But he would get the rest of his money. Now, say, for example, Jeff went into television, and in TV, he got paid a million a year. Well, then that million a year would come off what I owe him, but I still have to make him whole. And if he goes to another team, now, there is a formula for this. And for example,

it happened, you know, John Tortorella got fired from Vancouver, goes to coach in Columbus. Columbus is a team that may say, look, we're not going to pay Tortorella everything that he is owed. We're not making up all that money, but you have to come up with a formula that is basically there's something that says you got to pay a market value and some teams have more money than others and i think that does come into consideration but basically it comes down to are you willing to pay someone market value because you can't just say oh i, I'm going to pay John Tortorella $1 and Vancouver will have to pay him the rest. It doesn't work like that. I think.

The NHL has negotiated these positions before in certain situations. Wasn't there a situation with Dan Bilesma years ago where someone tried to grab him at super cheap and the NHL said no. I believe that was Florida after he was fired in Pittsburgh. In Pittsburgh. Yes. And it was like a really, really low number. I guess Florida thought they were going to get him for cheap and the NHL says, no, you can't just hang all of this

on the Pittsburgh Penguins. That's the way it works. And get a really good coach for pennies on the dollar. Great question. Colby from Saskatchewan. No way. Like seriously, Colby from Saskatchewan. No way. Like seriously, Colby from Saskatchewan. You want me to believe this is an Armstrong?

Okay, I'll play along. I have a question regarding no trade clauses in the NHL. It's quite clear that you have to have a list submitted at a certain date with a specific number of teams, but I'd like to know how detailed your no trade clause can be. For example, can you specify not being traded to any team coached by a certain coach or if you're a guy like brent burns and value your beard can you specify any team managed by lou lamarillo how in depth can these no trade clauses go elliot i

have never heard those no i don't think you can do that. I think it's just markets, which is why you can change them almost on a yearly basis in most cases. So that's the answer. Look, let's just say again, Merrick's the coach and you don't want to play for Merrick. Then every year you just put the team in there that Merrick coaches. That's it. From Gordon Kelowna.

Hey guys from sunny Kelowna. It's gorgeous there, Gordon Colonna. Hey guys, from Sonny Colonna. It's gorgeous there. Man, I love Colonna for each. It is beautiful. Love the podcast. Very entertaining and informative. Each year the Norris seems to go to the most offensive defenseman. To me, that's a contradiction of being a defenseman.

So how about we add the Bobby Orr? This would go to the defenseman with the most points and then leave the Norris to go to the best defenseman where offensive skill is not considered you know the new school thinking on defenseman is the best way to play defense is to not be in your own zone and so that's why I think we kind of use points as a proxy for that yeah you know I have to say I hear people say that I think it's kind of a dumb argument because it's a dumb thing to say because it's obvious that the best way to play defense is have the puck in the other end. But hockey is not a game like football where you can punt a team deep over and over again in their zone. Like it's going to come into your end.

That's just the way the game is built. You still have to defend. There have been complaints over the years that we look at scoring too much. Yes, I think that's probably true. I think that we are getting as a group smarter as voters that we look at the numbers. Now, I think that some people put more faith in underlying numbers than others. You know, that's everybody's opinion. That's fine with me.

I generally do think, though, that it's hard to be a one-way defenseman in this league. Jacob Slavin. Yeah, but I don't think Jacob Slavin's a one-way defenseman. He fits a more traditional view of what a defenseman does. Quite simply, if you believe that the defenseman's job is puck goes in, puck goes out, that's Jacob Slavin. And he does it perhaps more efficiently than anybody.

Yeah, but I think he moves the puck and he's a great passer. Yeah, puck goes in, puck goes out. He's great at it. Okay, I thought you were talking about hammering off the boards. No, no, no, no, not like high up on the glass. No, no, no, like my breakout. That criticism is definitely there. There have been cases over the past few years where people say, oh, you just gave it to

the guy with the most points. And I don't know if those critiques are ever going to go away. But I do think that when it comes to voting now, people do try to, I think for the most part, people do try to look past that. You can decide if we're successful or not, but I think people do try to look past that you can decide if we're successful or not but i think people do try to look past that uh let's get to phil uh i was surprised to see that jonathan huberto is the fourth favorite to win the heart 11 to 1 odds what am i missing here he's first in assists second in points and his team has a legitimate shot of the president's trophy this

is an email that has come from previous weeks. Why aren't we talking about Huberto? Is Alan Walsh the person who sent this email? No, this is Phil. Is Phil in quotation marks? Yes. Why aren't we talking about Huberto more, and do you think that's a problem?

We just talked about the Hart ballot. People are going to get pissed off at who's not on the ballot this year there's no doubt about that so like i saw this big argument between walsh and dom decision and i just started to ask you know what is it i was curious what's the issue here you know i was looking through it huberto this year you know what i'm gonna check it right now while we're on doing the podcast together and the question is how many games this year has huberto played where he doesn't have a point this is where amel puts in like some really cool hockey organ music some traditional intermission music so huberto as we tape this podcast has played 72 games how many many games, Jeff, without a point? Five.

11. Now you went super low, which I probably would have done too. I think that's a good strategy. 11. To have a point in 61 of 72 games, I don't care how good Florida is. Now I know what the argument is.

I've looked at it. Is that they actually score at a better rate percentage-wise when's not on the ice there's a couple of things one that as a second line player the barkoff line gets the quote-unquote tough matchups and huberto as a second line player again not to take anything away from his skill like with the, this guy is a wizard. And he has been going back to even before he played in the QMJHL. He is a wizard with the puck and has been at times criminally underrated in the NHL. But the argument against him for something like the Hart Trophy is, can you give the Hart Trophy to someone who doesn't play top-line matchups?

Yeah, I don't know if i buy that as much to me what i've seen is the argument and somebody sent me some information on it is that if you look at the underlying numbers florida's goal percentage and i think expected goal percentage is higher when he's off the ice as opposed on it. That's another one, yes. And that's the argument. Look, they're going to score the most goals of any team in the cap era, and he's got points in 61 out of 72 games. To me, that makes him a contender. If he's off the ballot to answer Phil's question, I think that's going to be the reason.

Like the previous questioner said, okay, we just look at points for defensemen well now here we've got this one where we're talking about are we just going to look at points for a forward i will say this like for a guy to have points in 61 out of 72 games that's mvp level to me but i understand why others might feel differently let Let's get a couple of voicemails in. Hey guys, love the podcast. It's Tim in Boston here. I'm watching Washington and Pittsburgh here and Kuznetsov just scored an empty netter. And previous to that, Pittsburgh, the sequence before has Washington hemmed in their own end and they nearly go off sides on a washington clearing attempt right before kuznetsov buried so my question is could pittsburgh have challenged and said we were off sides prior to

washington scoring and the whistle should have been blown right then and there thanks a lot guys appreciate it you're the best i love the way you think i love love it, Tim. The answer is no. You can't do that. But I like the way you think. I love that. Could you imagine? I think we were offside. That goal shouldn't count. We'd like a video review against ourselves, please.

People raise that, though. I think teams raise that. Can we do this? And the answer was, as Elliot points out, no. Great one, Tim. Let's get to another voicemail. This one, Tasha in Victoria. Hey, guys.

It's Tasha from Victoria, BC. I was watching the Canucks game today, and I was wondering if off the face-off, the opposing team touches the puck and puts it in their own net, who on the team that scored is awarded with the goal if nobody touched it in the play? Thanks, guys.

Good job. I got the answer. All right. Do you know it? It's the center, the guy who took the draw. Correct. Yeah. Even if the center doesn't touch the puck,

that's the person who gets awarded the goal. It's a good question. These minutiae questions are right up your alley, but I like the way our audience thinks. Tim and Tasha, you are speaking my language. Okay, Colin in California. We now have two European general managers in the league, Patrick Alvin and Jarmo Kekkalainen.

So when can we expect to see a European head coach? I remember Ricard Gronberg and Jukka Jallinen. He's the Finnish national coach. Those names being tossed around a few years ago, but obviously neither of them are coaching in the league currently. Are there any current European coaching prospects? I've always wondered how close Gronberg is. He has interviewed before Dallas, New

Jersey. I want to say we're a couple of the team. Buffalo who interviewed Gronberg. Am I missing any fridge? Not off the top of my head. I can't think of anybody. Did Seattle interview him? I don't know if Seattle interviewed him for Yalonin.

I don't know if he's been interviewed by anyone in the NHL. I could be wrong on that. And people forget we have had one before. Alpo Suinen. Alpo Suinen. Someone brought up a really, I was talking about this with someone not too long ago, who brought up a really good point that for a lot of European coaches, one of the skill sets that they have, considering the nature of European coaches, you know, one of the skill sets that they have considering, you know,

the nature of import rules, for example, they have players from all over Europe and North America mixing on their teams. Like one of the skills that a lot of the elite level European coaches have is the ability to find harmony in a room with a lot of people from a lot of different backgrounds. with a lot of people from a lot of different backgrounds? And how do you make that room click? And that person was saying, I don't know why the NHL doesn't value that more. Someone who spent their whole career, you know,

meshing these different nationalities together on a team. Considering that happens in the NHL, every season, Elliot, on every single team, why doesn't the NHL value that more? i would like to say we're closer than ever because that's how i feel and i think but i don't know what do you think i just think you have to be able to convince people that what you coach over there in terms of structure and system can work over here like that was one of the knocks actually against Ralph Kruger that he taught a structure that worked in international hockey but didn't work.

Like Ralph Kruger could get players to play for him. He was good at communicating with people, very good at it, and I think he would be very good at running an organization. However, they felt the players even told me that some of the moves he did coaching-wise fit more international structure as opposed to North American structure. And so I think that would be the only question I would have. Other than that, I don't really have any questions. Thank you so much for the questions, either by email or by phone.

1-866-311-3232. The email, 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca. Taking us out are two friends from Australia who draw on inspiration from old Japanese city pop records. With all their music, Royal Otis look to capture the feeling of driving down the coast on a sunny day with the windows down. The dream pop duo continue to chase nostalgia that brings them back to their younger days, and here they are

with their latest single, Oyster in My Pocket. Enjoy Royal Otis, 32 Thoughts, The Pocket. I'm not the real show fish, just haven't learned much. Oh well, that's miles away. Oh well, that's miles away. Let's go! I couldn't take the four-wheel drive My chainsaw rushed He sent me on my bicycle The chainsaw rushed

Oh well, that's miles away Oh well, that's miles away Getting off the limousine, now we're in no rush Try to get my number away, but I haven't had much. Oh, well, that's miles away. Oh, well, that's miles away.