32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Riding a Flat Line as Much as You Can

Episode Date: October 21, 2024

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle and Elliotte delve into the scene of Jim Montgomery laying into Brad Marchand on the bench. The boys then talk about the undefeated Winnipeg Jets as they beat the Pittsburgh Penguins (7:40). Afterwards, they talk about the injury to Anthony Duclair of the Islanders (12:00). As promised, Elliotte talks about the struggling Elias Pettersson (14:23) and they also unpack Elliotte's interview with Filip Hronek (24:00). Kyle and Elliotte provide the latest with Sam Bennett's future (28:34). The guys then talk about the future of Habs prospect Ivan Demidov (33:00) and unpack the list of injuries Utah HC is facing (35:24). Afterwards, Kyle asks Elliotte about Tom Wilson's chances of making Team Canada's 4 Nations roster (38:56). The Final Thought focuses on the NHL's plans to change how they will physically hand out their various end of season awards. (43:00).Kyle and Elliotte answer your questions in the Thought Line (50:25).The guys close out the pod by talking about Elliotte's trip to Dallas where he took part in the team's Hall of Fame induction ceremony (1:07:00).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailThis 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.  

In the off-season, I really value my sleep. First world problems. Well, okay. I was going to say, I wondered if there was any time of year where you did, but I'm glad you tried to get some of it back in the off-season. It's like the salary cap. I bank my sleep in the summer so it can pay off later in the year. I accrue it, yes. Yes. I'm already an LTIR. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by gmc dom schrammatti is here my name is kyle bukaskis and the man who breaks everything elliot friedman is here as well hi elliot

i i don't want to get too off topic on this because i don't want a text from john butcher gross saying get to the point but when so that one first aired on saturday night as far as i know and immediately my buddies were letting me have it like just letting me have it and at sportsnet they are claiming i am the worst actor among all personalities they say if it's an ad-libbed line, I'm very good. But scripted, I'm terrible. The worst, I was told, at delivering lines. Now, I just want to say, I think that the creative people and the producers came up with a great idea. A fantastic idea.

I tip my cap to them. I hate promos of myself i hate that we have to ask players to play along although some of them were really good about it uh but man when that one came out kyle i was getting destroyed in the group chat destroyed you're more of an improv guy you definitely are and if you're not sure what we are alluding to, stay tuned to a Sportsnet commercial break coming to you soon. We've got a lot to get to here in today's episode, Elliot. Why don't we start from Saturday night's games, the Boston Bruins, Utah Hockey Club. So the Bruins fall 2-1 in overtime. They get a point out of it, but a lot of the chatter post-game was the interaction between Jim Montgomery on the bench and their captain, Brad Marchand.

So Marchand had a turnover that led to a goal. Ultimately, it got called back because it was determined the play was offside, but Montgomery let him hear it. What did you think when you saw it? And what's been some of the reaction that you've gotten since then? I thought it was kind of jarring. Like you just don't see that that much anymore. You know, one thing about Montgomery is that there are players and agents who complain that there are some coaches out there that don't go after the best players. They'll make examples out of, you know, players who are deeper down the roster or younger,

and they don't have really the power. And some coaches are afraid to go after those players. You know, Jim Montgomery called out David Pasternak during the playoffs, and he went hard after Marchand there. You know, it was, it was jarring, I would say. You don't see coaches yell at players like that on the bench too much anymore. It made me wonder what exactly has gone on behind the scenes between the two of them. Have they had debates about something that Marchand has done, or is there a reason that maybe montgomery was more upset at marchand there than uh you would think would be normal um but the one thing that i i did wonder

about like personally with me like i i only judge others as my judge myself if my coach or my or someone was to freak out at me like that i don't think I would get too upset about it as long as it wasn't like a regular occurrence. If it's a regular occurrence, you've really got to break down in communication between player and coach. But the one thing I wondered about was the contact. You know, in this day and age, Kyle, there isn't supposed to be contact,

and ultimately, Marchand can decide decide and the Bruins can decide if this is something that is a problem for them. That's the one thing I wonder about Kyle in this day and age is, is it okay to make contact? You? I'm totally with you there because there is that line that can't be crossed. And when you look at the video back, I mean, I would say I couldn't read lips totally there, but whatever Montgomery was saying in that moment probably was a lot more aggressive than the nudge or the contact, as you say,

that he made with the back of Marchand there. And Montgomery, when he came into Boston two years ago, he said that first season, he basically just had to stand behind the bench. We would joke that he didn't have to do much coaching because of how well that team was running on most nights. Last year, that started to change. You referenced calling out Pasternak at the most critical moment of that first round series against Toronto. And now in the early stages of this season the other parties involved decided that it is an issue when you're introducing contact to the equation. eyebrow raising I think to a couple people is and their listeners of the pod like we talked about on Friday about the Bruins being so consistent because the work ethic and the way they prepare and the high IQ has been passed down like from the Chara to the Bergeron to the leadership of this group now and then to see that on the bench a day later just the the timing of

our comments and that happening uh really raised an eyebrow like i said with some people i mean i always look at what happens in the days after something like this how do you perform in your next game how does everybody react to it that'll give us an idea of where this is going or if it's even going anywhere. Maybe it's just one of those things where people have a bad day or people have an emotional night and everybody understands they're rowing in the same direction and they move on. I mean, also don't forget that, you know, Brad Marchand is in the middle of a contract negotiation with the Bruins, and he has talked about how he will keep this quiet. I think they've been grinding away at trying to see if they can get something done. It's definitely been a lot more quiet than, say, the Swayman negotiation was because that one was more pressing.

But all of these things, you know, that to me, it's never the moment that's necessarily the big story. It's what comes out of the moment. And I think we're still waiting to determine and see what that is. Does anybody think that they crossed the line here in a way that it's going to be a problem? We'll find out. You bet. As you say,

this team's one of the best at handling the internal issues and what comes next. And actually, my next game is in Boston next Saturday when the Maple Leafs are there in town. So it's certainly got my attention here over the next few days. And what a scene in Winnipeg on Sunday night there, the video captured by Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press there. The chants of, where is Rutger? Shortly after, followed by Elliott, Jaeger's better. Jets fans were ready for the Penguins there on Sunday, even though Rutger McGrory was not in the lineup. He was sent down to the American League the latter half of last week.

The Jets win 6-3, just as we all predicted, Freedj. The Jets, they are the Kansas City Chiefs of the NHL right now. The lone team remaining undefeated. What was your thoughts on what we saw unfold in Winnipeg Sunday? First of all, I'm going to burst into tears because my Vikings were right there and they lost to the Lions in a great game on Sunday. Oh, so close. Yeah, that was tough.

That was really tough. So now I'm sad that you brought up that the Vikings are no longer unbeaten. Yeah. I don't know if you saw how the Packers game ended, but they went to five and two. Sorry. But the Jets, this is a hockey podcast. Packers suck. Okay.

First of all, nobody's in the wrong here. Number one, I don't have a problem with Rucker McGroarty doing what he did. You know, people are entitled to manipulate the system as they see fit, as long as he understands that that's always going to be the reaction in Winnipeg. Fans are fans. They are entitled to act that way. As long as it doesn't go over the line and nothing there went over the line, that is, you know, McGrody is going to play, hopefully for him, for 15 to 20 years. And that's always the way it's going to be. That's the consequences. And that's always the way it's going to be.

That's the consequences. I had heard that the Jets were disappointed that McGrory had been sent down. I think some of the players really took that game personally. More before he was with the team, when he was with the team, as opposed to after he was sent down to the American Hockey League. I heard from the beginning of the season that some of those guys had that one circled on the calendar. It was emotional for them. And, you know, the Jets' biggest problem with it was they asked him when he was going to be drafted, will you have any problems coming to Winnipeg?

And at that time, the answer was no, and eventually it changed because, as I've mentioned before, he just didn't see the path there as quickly as he wanted it but uh even with him not there as you mentioned huge win for the jets i really liked the brian little touch i thought on what was already going to be an emotional day that made it even more emotional for them like they were really wound up to play that game i love the line i can't remember who said it post game but he kicked ehlers out of his stall and sent him into the corner he took yes i think that was mason appleton that was pretty funny but um the jets look fantastic and the thing about pittsburgh that we're seeing early on is

look fantastic and the thing about pittsburgh that we're seeing early on is they what did barry trott say about nashville we can't outscore our problems that's where pittsburgh is right now we know malkin's off to a great start there they can score a lot right now they have to outscore their problems because their d zone coverage is all over the map. Interesting one. They went with Nadelkovich. They didn't dress Jari. I wonder if they kind of do what the Leafs did with Samsonov last week, kind of give him some time to get his game back and practice, not necessarily an NHL action.

We'll see how this all plays out. But it's clear right now. I wondered if they were going to put him on waivers on the weekend. They obviously didn't. They've looked to see what the market is. It's tough right now because he's struggled. I just wonder if this is going to end up being a timeout for him, similar to what Toronto did last year.

But right now, Pittsburgh, they have to outscore their problems because their defensive zone coverage has really struggled. And Eric Comrie held the fort for the Jets in the third period. His first win in this now his third go-around with the Winnipeg organization. Nice way to cap things off on Sunday for the Jets. Okay, elsewhere around the league on Saturday, the injury to Anthony Duclair, the New York Islanders. Gosh, watching the video back, Elliot,

it didn't seem like much was going on there, but clearly this is something that looks like could be some time for Duclair, the Islanders, forward. Yeah, that was one of those things where while there was some contact, it was pretty slight, right? So you wonder, did he catch something? Did his skate get caught in a rut? There had to be something else that just contributed to it.

And the thing that made me worry the most right away is this is a guy who's had some pretty serious Achilles injuries. So that was the first thing that I wondered about was, oh no, is that the Achilles again? Like, you know, you watch Max Pacioretty and everything he's been through trying to fix his Achilles problems. That's the first thing that jumped into my head. And then I saw when he was kind of lying there and being helped up, he was holding more of the groin area. So at least I was thinking almost like,hew it's it's it's not that thing now with the Islanders it's always tough to tell but I think he's going to miss a little bit of time um you know we'll see what happens they put Julian Gauthier on waivers on Sundays that makes you

wonder if you know they may give Pierre Engvall another shot at coming back up to the roster but that's you know that's a big loss for them. You always wonder when athletes suffer non-contact injuries. I don't know if you could exactly call it that because it was some slight contact, but those are the kinds that you really worry about. It's a big loss for the Islanders, who've had a couple of big wins, really entertaining shootout the other night.

The best thing for them is that after the uncertainty of Sorokin in the preseason, he's come out looking pretty good. Their goalie combo of Sorokin-Varlamov, they really count on it. Varlamov was dominant in the shootout the other night. It had been looking good for the Islanders, and that's a tough one to get. We had thought before the season, Kyle, that he would be a perfect fit for them, Duclair, and it sure looks like that's one of the few predictions that we're going to have this year that's going to come true. So you hope it's not that serious. All right. A week ago, you said, give me a week on Elias Patterson of the Canucks.

It's been a week. What are your thoughts? I think this. He's started to show a little bit more. Like he had a couple of really good plays in the game against Philly, which is probably Vancouver's best game of the year. I mean, I thought they were really good. So I have a theory on Pedersen.

I think, number one, he's wired a little differently than guys like Miller and Hughes, which is okay. Not everybody can be the same. So I think that sometimes the way he reacts to tough moments or challenging moments or when things aren't going that well, it's not as emotional as them. We're going to be interviewing Matt Sundin this week. And I always thought that that was a thing that kind of hurt Sundin a little bit in Toronto it took people a lot of time to understand that just because you're more of a stoic as opposed to emotional person it doesn't

mean you don't care or it doesn't mean that you don't want to win just as badly as anyone else but I think people who are like that in sports sometimes get penalized for it, Kyle. And I think a little bit that happens with him. You know, you've got to produce. You know, of all the times for Sportsnet stats to come out with a number like he has one five-on-five goal, like, holy cow, talk about booting a man when he's down like when i saw that come out

i was like oh man and that's gonna be red meat to the petterson haters but you know what the other thing is and i've really thought about this and i i think it's i think i think it's true more and more i think petterson is one of those guys that he reads everything or he's aware of everything that's said about him. And honestly, Kyle, I think that's one thing that he's going to have to move past because I think in moments like this, when you're struggling and you know, Hey, I always say about markets like Vancouver, the rewards are high, but the risks are high, right? Yeah. And so when it's going bad, like one of the best stories I ever heard was Jamie Baker,

the former NHL-er, now in media. You're in Ottawa. Yes. He told me a great story of when he got traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Wendell Clark pulled him aside and said, understand this. He told me a great story of when he got traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Wendell Clark pulled him aside and said, understand this. You're never as good as they say you are, and you're never as bad as they say you are. You've got to ride a flat line as much as you can.

You can't go up and down. It can't be peaks and valleys. You've got to ride the flat line and i think and i suspect this is my opinion because i think patterson is well aware of everything that is said about him um i think he rides the peaks and valleys and i think that that is the thing that he has to get out of his system like aaron rogers i know aaron rogers are really a polarizing guy kyle i know as a packers fan you probably have very strong feelings about aaron rogers but he has a quote which i think is very important you shouldn't worry about criticism from someone that you would never ask advice from because we care so much about what people think of us and what they say about us. Most of the time, it's people that we would never ask for advice from.

At our core, we want to be seen and understood. We also want to be liked. We don't want to be like polarizing, you know, figure who is labeled all these crazy things. Self-limiting beliefs and listening to people whose opinions actually don't matter are the biggest hindrances to reaching your full potential and dreams. Because a confident person can be unstoppable and my rule personally is i have a limited circle of of people's opinions who really matter and sometimes it expands depending on the situation but generally i keep it pretty tight and i think hughes is excellent at riding the line line. I think he's captain for a reason because he knows what matters and what doesn't.

And I think the key thing for Vancouver is that I think they have players who weren't like that before but have gotten there. Like I think JT Miller, over the last year or so, has gotten a lot better at riding the line okay now I think it helps because they're successful I think when they're losing it's extremely hard for him but I think he's gotten better at riding the line I think Brock Besser is a guy who's gotten a lot better at riding the line keeping it calm so I don't think it's something that you can't be taught. I think you can develop it. I think you can learn it. But I think one of the things,

and this is my theory about this on Pedersen too, is that when he's struggling and it's not going well, I think it really, it's something he's really aware of what's being said about him. I think it's something he's really aware of what's being said about him, and he has to stop that. And that's my constructive criticism for Patterson. You know, Kyle, one thing about players is players used to say, like you guys in the media, we don't understand. You don't know what it's like to have 16,000 or 20,000 people, or if you're playing football, like 80,000 to 100,000 people booing you.

But you can't use that line anymore because now in the social media age if people are mad at us or people don't like us we hear it like it comes right at us um we get the same vitriol athletes do everybody does so i i know what that's like to go through that and I understand how you have to start to block it out and the techniques you have to use to block it out because if you let everything get to you if you get every tweet or every x post or every instagram comment get to you you're gonna go insane and I think you get healthier as you learn those kyle i know everyone loves you so you never get this hate but as someone who's been on the end of it beforehand i understand how you have to learn to weed it out there's a difference between constructive

criticism which we all need and just pure savagery, right? So I think that's one thing I think Pedersen's going to have to get better at is blocking that out. And I think it'll really help him. I think back to a couple years ago, I remember asking him a question about when you're going through tough stretches, like who do you lean on to help get you through? And he said, you know, I'm a little bit of a lone wolf and that really stuck with me. And this is a guy who's, I mean, he's only going to be 26 next month, only just over 400 career games in the NHL. So this is a guy who's still very much figuring out life as, as a person. I mean, I grew up when the Sedins went through, they're too small,

they're too soft, they can't survive in the NHL to be in one of the great dynamic duos in the league for an extended period of time. And seeing how that market can be with players who really learn to thrive amidst the chaos that that market can provide. So I hope he does find joy in where he wants to get to, because it can be a really great ride out there, as you know, when you can find that balance for each. Oh, like, if I was good enough to play, and we all know I'm not, but if I was good enough to play, I would be all over a Canadian market.

I would love it. I think I really would because I like the risk being high and the rewards being high. I like that. I want that. I love it. It's one of the great things about working at Hockey Night is that good or bad, it matters, right? And so I like that. I want to be in the middle of that. I want to feel that responsibility. Like there's not a show I don't go on the air and say, let's not embarrass Hockey Night in Canada. Now, I have to say, Kyle, I haven't always been successful in that goal,

but it means something to me. I really do love it. And I would always say, and you can see this, like a guy like Miller who signed long-term, he sees that. He's been through the ringer and he's grinded his way through and now you see the videos that his family is putting out

like when he scored the other day last year in the playoffs when Natalie Miller put on Instagram the video of their daughter hearing them chant his name. That's what I mean about the rewards are high. If you succeed in hockey in a Canadian market, your ticket is booked forever.

Forever and ever. Amen. And Kyle, before we wrap up on Vancouver, I wanted to ask you, what did you think of the Roenick interview? I really liked it. I mean, I liked the Roenick part. But I thought for a guy who's, as he joked about at the end,

doesn't love doing the media stuff, I will have to hand it to you. You did a good job in getting some good conversation out of the guy with cameras everywhere. So there's a couple things. First of all, I think that the people who really deserve a lot of credit, the Canucks and his agent, who's Alan Walsh, I think they really talked him into it.

I was surprised to hear that he was going to media day because of his known reticence in talking to the media. But he did it and he wasn't crazy about it, obviously but um he did it and uh he wasn't crazy about it obviously but he did it and i i think people have to take that step to help continuing uh sell the game um you know there was one thing after it aired and he was a lot of fun like he he was really good and he played along and he gave us exactly as much time as we needed and we appreciated that the the one thing was in the pre-game after it aired like there was that one thing where i said uh we can edit that out and then it aired and kevin and kelly like they just ripped me and it was kind of funny because i was i was thinking about that, about it. And, you know, the argument was made to me

that it made him look really good and really human. And so, okay, you know, I said, all right. I have to tell you, like, after it aired, I was still like, I hope I made the right decision here. But it, because I don't think any, I don't know if we've ever done anything like that before but it did like i thought for a guy who doesn't like to talk a lot he came across pretty well and you know the other thing i'll say about him is that it's always

a good reminder that you know just because like there's some guys, they don't talk a lot, but it doesn't mean you should jump to conclusions of how they are in private. Like just in getting people to respond, like, tell me a story about him, tell me something about him. It's very clear his teammates and the people in the organization really like him. And it's always a good reminder for me, like just because someone doesn't talk or doesn't like to talk, um, to us, always be careful about how you judge that. Um,

because it doesn't necessarily mean that anything negative about their personality or anything like that. Just, just maybe they're just not comfortable with us. Although I find it hard to believe how something like that could be true. Right. Well, was there any Czech beer involved in taking the edge off initially? No.

That was one of the first questions. Nothing like that. Nothing like that. Like, is there a player out there that you have a good connection with who doesn't really talk very much? You know, would Mika Zibanajad fall under that category i mean he's pretty good why not yeah he's a good talker but still like i saw you go to him at the morning skate when the rangers were in town and you sure looked like you guys had a pretty good rapport well just because i mean when i first moved to Ottawa, he had been there for a couple years with the Senators,

but still very early in his career, were the same age. And I just appreciated that any time I've seen him in the years since now that he's been with New York, just a quick catch-up in how things are going on. He's one of the good guys in the game to talk to as well. By the way, ever since you pointed out about how Panarin is trying to do

the Rangers a favor by reestablishing himself as the best player, look at all these guys commenting about how he's going to make the most money for a goalie.

First, Derek Lalonde, now Alex Stollers. People are really pumping up Shesterican right now. The goalie union is a tight one, which Alex Stollers. People are really pumping up Shusterkin right now. The goalie union is a tight one, which is a great reminder. And his performance on Saturday, yeah, didn't do my suggestion any favors. He was brilliant. Shusterkin was.

Speaking of Hockey Night in Canada, part of the Saturday headlines this past week, you and Ron discussed Sam Bennett. Negotiations have begun with the Florida Panthers. Wasn't much to report on Saturday. Anything further to the dossier there? A couple things. I think there are a lot of teams watching this one.

The way that this one kind of ended up on my lap was just in making the... We all knew that after they got verhagey done eventually they were going to turn to uh bennett and ekblad um but the way this kind of ended up on my lap is i think there are teams out there who are trying to determine what the likelihood of of sam bennett hitting the, again, we talked about Nashville, and I still can't believe that what's going on there, but we talked about Nashville

and how they kind of need that second-line center, and that's one of the hardest positions in hockey to find, like a top-two center or a stud D. And, you know, Sam Bennett, he's the kind of guy I'm not talking to. I'm not saying that Nashville told me this. I don't want anyone to think that, but you know, he, that, like, that's the kind of player for him to be available. They don't get available too often.

And so I think teams are kind of looking at that and trying to gauge like, what are the chances he will sign? And I think people know he wants to stay there um i think that a lot of people believe there is a deal to be made there i think i think players understand now that the panthers have positioned it as if you want to play here like if you look at the verhage deal they they gave him the great bonus structure. They gave him a lot of no trade protection. But he had to take a bit lower of a number than he could have gotten on the market. So that's the template, right?

Like we'll give you some structure. We'll give you some protection. You're going to concede to us on the number. And the way a lot of people look at it is there's no reason that that can't happen between Sam Bennett and the Florida Panthers. But we've got a GM here who's a real grinder in Bill Zito. And we've got an agent here in Darren Ferris who's a real grinder too. So you know there's going to be some battle to get there but you know I'll say this I again these are the opinions of other people who I think generally have more information than I do they

don't see why this can't happen but but if you remember Sam Reinhardt last year we were all saying the same thing and it got done right at the deadline for it to be an eight-year deal so that's you always look at the surest predictor of future behavior is past behavior and that was a case where two sides really grinded away at a deal and it took them until the absolute last second to get there so we'll see what happens with this one. But if Bennett hits the market, there'll be a lot of interest. Yeah, that was because the playoffs ended like three hours before free agency.

That's why. You know what? You're right about that, Kyle. But still, like an agent and a team can always do it, right? I know. Like they really battled for that one. And they got it done.

I had to stay up past midnight to see if it happened. Like, you know, in the off season, I really value my sleep. First world problems. Well, okay. I was going to say, I wondered if there was any time of year where you did, but I'm glad you tried to get some of it back in the off season. It's like the salary cap. I bank my sleep in the summer so it can pay off later in the year.

I accrue it. Yes. Yes. I'm already an LTIR. Hey, Elliot. Yes. What does Ivan Demidov, Sunday Night Football, and the Pope all have in common? Oh, wow.

You got me on this one. I like it. I don't know what your answer is, but I already like it. They have all been graced by the presence of Celine Dion. Nice. She was the one that called his name at the draft this last year. Fifth overall. And he was a name you brought up during headlines this past weekend as well.

17 games into his season over with the St. Petersburg of the KHL. Five goals, five assists. But not getting as much ice time as Canadians fans maybe would have liked. And you're saying the Canadians, the management team, planning a trip over there to see one of their top prospects. Well, this has been a big source of consternation and aggravation among the Canadians fan base. And one of the things I think here is that the Canadians really want to be careful with this one.

You know, they know that they don't have control of Demidov, the player. He's under contract to his KHL team. And relationships between the NHL teams and the KHL, they can be volatile. So I think that the challenge here is you want the best for your player, you want him to develop, but you know that if there's too much public posturing or too much complaining, it can really hurt you. So Jeff Gorton made a couple comments about it last week, but generally he's been, um, he's been very careful. Uh, Kent Hughes has been very careful. Like the one thing when, when I, when I heard this and I actually heard

this from someone I know overseas, um, what they said to me was that this has been planned for a long time. Um, that the moment they drafted him, they, they'd always said, you know, we know you're going to be in Russia next year and we're going to make a plan to come see you. Obviously because of how little he's played at times, there's been some heightened sensitivity, but, um, now they're saying, okay, I don't necessarily think they're rushing to do it. I don't think it may happen for a few weeks. Like possibly it might not happen until December, but I just think it's in a game where we were showing Montreal.

When I heard this, I was like, you know what? We've got a Montreal audience tonight. This is an update they'll want. So I think the Canadians are really trying to be careful with their language. I think they really don't want to be seen as provoking anyone, but they are going to go see him. Okay. Other notes from around the league here.

Utah, off to a good start in their first season, but they've run into some injury troubles here. Sounds like Sean Dursey is going to be out for a while while. I heard four or five months for Dursey. That's really too bad. John Marino's been great for them. He's really bursting out. That's got to be a tough one for him. Of course. You know, Dursey, I don't know if you can replace what he brings, the offense, but Valimacki can play the power play. That Kesselring, who was a throw-in in an Edmonton deal,

he's turning out to be a heck of a player. So they've got him too, or they could always go five forwards. What about John Marino? Marino, I think their update this week was he's still not close. So you know what happens at that point in time, Kyle, is the vultures start circling. Ah, you need a defenseman. You're short some guys.

What can we separate you from that we value in return for a defenseman? And it sounds like in the short term, the Utahns are going to try to ride this out, that they're going to say, you know what, we'll try to let some of the guys from within play. I mean, you know,

Dersi is, is such a unique talent and he can really run a power play that, um, you know, there, I don't think you've got anybody internally that can replace his offense. It'll be interesting.

Like Valimaki can play the power play. Uh, they could go with five forwards if they wanted to. But, you know, I think right now it's just sort of like they don't want to go into a trade market and do something that, hey, it looks good for a couple of days, but you really regret it down the road. So I think they'll be looking. I think they'll try to see what's out there but i think they're going to try to get through this as much as they can uh internally i mean we'll see maybe they get a good deal that drops on their laps that they just can't say no to but i think they're definitely aware of and considerate of that you make the kind of trades that you regret because you wanted

especially now like things are going great like you see that crowd there on the winning goal on Saturday night like they're going totally bonkers there's a great feeling in Utah they want to capitalize it these are the moments where you really have to be careful about the mistakes you make. And it sounds to me like they are well aware of don't do something that you regret down the road. Especially because, I mean, Ryan and Ashley Smith, as you said on this podcast, like made it quite clear that they want to be competitive right off the hop here. And as you say, great start to to the year nine of a possible 12 points right out of the gate i imagine there's not much appetite and slowing the momentum here even with a couple of guys out for a bit yes every time that a team has a defenseman injured or they have a need like lilligran's name comes up and is, too, is that those are both righties, right?

Dersey and Marino. It's really hard to find those. But I just think they want to be careful. They just want to be very careful about not making one of those deals like John Smoltz for Doyle Alexander or Jeff Bagwell for Larry Anderson. For my generation, those are the baseball trades that everybody remembers. The short-term deal and the long-term pain.

As you look at that guy 20 years later having a Hall of Fame career and somewhere else as both Smoltz and Bagwell did. All right, December 2nd, the deadline for the teams participating in the

Four Nations Tournament to submit their rosters. The name Tom Wilson come across your desk in Team Canada. Yeah, I'm watching him start the year. The Capitals look good. He looks really good. Scoring machine. You know, Doug Armstrong was going to put him on the Olympic team, it looked like.

And he actually admitted that he'd heard about that. He kind of knew that he was on the radar. Nothing this guy is doing this year is going to make them change their minds. And especially with Don Sweeney as the GM, he may be a capital, but that's a Bruin. That is the mold of player that Don Sweeney would love to in combination with everybody there.

So I think we're getting close to calling him Team Canada Tom Wilson. Capitals look good. That's one of the teams that I was really curious about at the start of the year. I know that that game on Saturday night wasn't a game that coaches love, but when you beat Dallas and New Jersey back-to-back, you're doing something right. And I'll say this.

I think that organization and those players, I think they really like that coach. I think they feel very confident that they've got the right guy there for that team, the carburetor. The carburetor, yeah. Vancouver Island's own. Did you ever deal with the carburetor? When he was in Toronto, was he totally muzzled?

I will say, so one of the first games last season I did was Washington came through Ottawa for a Wednesday night game. And so I chatted with him after the morning skate skate and I just said, it's nice that the publication ban has been lifted finally. And so he kind of laughed at that, but, uh, just a really engaging personality. Uh, and, and the fact that it seems quite clear, certainly last season down the stretch, a team punching above its weight class, getting the playoffs I think speaks to as you say the ability of the coach to get through to how they want to play it's been impressive and how

they've started this season too yeah it's early but he they look good like they're like that was one of those teams you were watching the first four or five games say okay because it could go out of direction here but it looks good for, and it looks good for Wilson. By the way, did you see Craig Laughlin's stat yesterday on John Carlson? Yes, I did see that. I mean, that should be mentioned. That is just an incredible... John Carlson, really one of the players who doesn't get enough credit for how good he is.

They completely cave whenever he's not playing, but this is Craig Laughlin, 506 games on the road, 506 games at home, 263 assists on the road, 263 at home, 1180 shots on the road, 1180 shots at home.

I mean, if that's not consistency, if I believed in any kind of mysticism, I would be freaking out right now about John Carlson. I mean, if that's not consistency. If I believed in any kind of mysticism, I would be freaking out right now about John Carlson. And my question is, what's his reaction when he hears that? He probably has no reaction. That's true.

I think that guy is completely unbothered by anything, except interviews. We did a big interview with him a few years ago, and he really had to be talked into it. He was great. He's a really good guy. But I think he's like one of those guys who's like, I just want to be worrying about dropping the puck.

He's a hell of a player. He really is. One of the, I don't think Washington wins the cup in 2018 without him type guys. No way. And like that guy's number, the way he's going, that number's going up in the rafters too. For sure. And like that guy's number, the way he's going, that number's going up in the rafters too.

For sure. That's a really good point. All right. So that almost leads us indirectly in a perfect way to the final thought, which is brought to you by GMC, Elliot,

to the news that the traditional NHL awards show will be no more this coming season in June. So what's the alternatives for handing out the league's hardware? So they're trying to come up with some creative ideas. And the way I kind of heard about this was that you may have heard, Kyle, I used to cover the NBA. Yes.

Oh, man. may have heard kyle i used to cover the nba yes oh man so the way the nba does it is they in the first week they have the players be awarded the trophy in front of the crowd well actually they have a press conference earlier in the day the player receives the trophy they do all the interviews and then or on the day off between games or whatever however they want to do it and then they make a presentation in front of the fans like they bring out the trophy before the game and they present the trophy to the player and the fans go bananas. Now, I'm trying to remember. Oh, I know what it was. Back when I covered the NBA, I covered one of the best sporting events I ever covered was the Raptors playoff run in 2001.

That was the first time they ever won a playoff series. They beat the Knicks in the first round. And in the second round they played the 76ers they lost in seven games but vince carter and alan iverson just put on an incredible show and iverson won the mvp that year and they presented it to him before a game against the raptors and after it was over the Raptors were steaming they were furious because they felt that it like riled up the crowd and I was like ah come on like yeah like this is this is like that's great you know what like it's great theater and and give the people what they

want right like I do think that they would be great visuals of players getting, like, the Hart or the Norris right before a playoff game. I think it would be dynamite. I think these buildings would go crazy. I think the fans would love it. I'm all for it. Now, someone said to me, you know, what if a team doesn't make the playoffs? Now, someone said to me, you know, what if a team doesn't make the playoffs?

And, you know, I think if you take a look at the big awards, like the only guy recently who's won a big award, not counting the Calder, I'm going to leave the Calder out, has been Adam Fox. He won the Norris a couple years ago when the Rangers didn't make the playoffs. So I don't think that's really a big thing. Like, it's very few. Now, the Calder, I remember Damon Stottlemyre won the Calder the first year. He didn't win the Calder. That would be quite a scoop.

He won the Rookie of the Year the first year of the Raptors, and they just had him wait a couple days. Like, they asked him to stay in Toronto for a couple days, and he was really happy to do it to get the trophy, right? So, I mean, there's always ways around this, but I love, I love the in front of the fans idea. Now, the other thing they've also talked about, and I heard this when I was doing the research for the story,

is they've talked about like viral moments. Like maybe if you don't want to do it in front of the fans, like you just show up with the trophy at someone's house and you say, congratulations, you're the heart trophy winner or something like that. Or you won the rookie of the year, which in this day of like viral matters, that could really work too.

You could probably do both if you wanted to um but they are they're not going to be doing an award show this year and they're looking for a different way of presenting them and i'm all for it i'm all for trying new things i'm all for trying different things um you know they've tried a lot of things with the awards over the years and it's just never clicked to the level that they wanted to get and now especially that the game seven of the stanley cup final is so tight to the draft i think it's given them added impetus for doing it this way you got any ideas well my first question was though before we get to that like what ultimately led to the demise was it your wardrobe malfunction last year was did nikita kucherov go to gary betman and say enough of this

what pushed it over the edge i just think it's the timing i think it was a combination of the timing and that they were really struggling to get the best possible show like the award show takes a lot of heat it's not for lack of trying. Like there are people who have really tried hard to come up with ideas and do things. But I think now, especially that the schedule has really constricted, um,

you know, with the, with the week later start this year, we've got the four nations. I think it just makes it even harder to do it properly okay that's fair you got any ideas though anything you would try well my only concern with it's similar to how the nba does it like as you know elliot like the hockey players are so wired of got to be focused on the game just focused about playing like i worry you know why they allow

themselves to truly enjoy What would be a pretty neat moment as you paint that picture of being acknowledged in front of your home crowd? Right before a playoff game, you know, I knew someone was gonna bring that up and I'm glad it was you Kyle You have okay you you you complete me on this one. Okay, and and the one thing is is that look To me the one thing is that, look, to me, the Amazon thing changed everything. The players bought in. They said, okay, we'll allow ourselves to be seen in a way we've never been seen before.

They understand that things are changing and you've got to keep building it up and keep trying to do different things. That's what I'm saying to them now. I'm saying, guys, this is another leap into the unknown. I know it's not perfect. I know it's right before a game. I know you don't always like it,

but this is us selling the league. You have to do it. And just like they did it for there, you've got to do it here. All right. I'm willing to hear them out on it it's five minutes right before a game i agree but as you know elliot sometimes it can be tough to get certain players like they don't like doing interviews during warm-ups before a game like well i think that's personal with you that may be because of me not the player i don't think

i think they'll take a trophy they just don't want to talk to you kyle yes that's also very fair all right we'll see where that goes elliot that's a good piece of info there too and it was the final thought presented by gmc we'll take a break when we come back the thought line and more 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Stay tuned. Listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. okay time now for the thought line 1-833-311-3232 the email address 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca this is the place where hockey fandom and percussionists co-exist elliot no more talk about triangles right that's No, no, no, no. Hold on. The triangle controversy continues.

Oh, boy. It will not go away. What have I done? Now I got a direct message from a frequent listener, Taylor Shoma, who points out a mistake I made, which was a pretty terrible mistake, actually. pretty terrible mistake actually and a mistake that uh the previous writer complaining about triangle prejudice made okay yeah okay elliot i hate to do this but i do have to critique you or i guess the person you wrote who wrote to you regarding the triangle bit first of all you and i both know the song and it's by it's neil pert is pronounced yyz i called it yyz which is pretty terrible it's yyz second neil didn't use the triangle in that intro he uses crotalis. Those are like symbols.

Later on, when technology evolved, he used his sample pad with the notes sampled. I hate to chime in like that, but when it comes to anything Rush-related, I always want to clear the air. I shudder to think of where this is going to go for the next podcast. But first of all, you insulted the people who play the triangle. Then someone leapt to their defense and it turned out it wasn't even the triangle. It was the Crotalus. Don't mess with triangles.

Don't mess with Rush. Don't mess with Rush. Never forget that, Elliot. That is great. And keep it going. All right. We begin the Thought Line this week with Alyssa from Nebraska. Howie, Kyle, Elliot, and Dom. This is Alyssa writing in from the beautifully autumnal Nebraska.

I'm a newer hockey fan, only getting into it in 2019. I was recommended this podcast by a nice French-Canadian man after a trip to Montreal in 2021. Ooh. And since then, this podcast has been a staple of my life, helping me for so many years learn all aspects of hockey as an absolute beginner. Wow. Nice.

Very cool. Well, we're glad you're a fan, Alyssa. We want all the fans we can get, both of the pod and, of course, of hockey. So she goes on to say, I am a diehard Avalanche fan, and although I see many Avs fans going into panic mode because of an honestly brutal start to the season. I find myself remaining mostly calm. Then she highlights all the names, the notable players that are dealing with injuries right now. She says it seems like the Avalanche are stuck between a rock and a hard place because these players will be back, so there's no need to find or trade for a long-term solution.

But every team needs, at the the very least a functioning top two lines and that's near impossible when you are missing almost all of your top six wingers so my question is are you guys worried about the avalanche i know this one was a little long i'm just trying to remain positive with the glimmer of hope that this has been a highly unusual situation for the avalanche to deal with thank you for being continually so insightful in your episodes and for being the best road trip buddies a girl could ask for go abs go thank you alissa for that well alissa first of all that is a great note and we like we said we really do appreciate it really do appreciate it the answer is i'm not concerned where I would become concerned is if for whatever reason,

this stretches longer, like say into December or January with uncertainty about Natchezhkin and or Landis Gough. Um, like it's not easy right now. Um, I also think the avvalanche tend to be pretty proactive. Like I said in the last podcast, I have no doubt at all that they're already looking at things and saying, if we want to fix things up here, what can we do and how can we get in front of this? So I always think about that with them. I think also with the mistakes that they're making,

like Makar really hard on himself the other night before they finally won beating the Ducks. That's just a great player trying to do too much, right? I would always try to tame a wild colt than motivate a bored donkey. So I got time for that all year long. Now, Nuchushkin, as they announced yesterday is back in north america he is eligible to be reinstated on november 13th it's possible it might take a little bit longer than that but he's eligible to be reinstated on november the 13th so hopefully

for his own sake as much as anyone else's that that goes positively. Landeskog, we still don't know. He sounded pretty optimistic before the year. The Avalanche kind of put the brakes on that a little bit. You know, Lonzo Ball, who Landeskog has become pretty tight with, just played his first game in two years. He appeared in the preseason the other night for the Chicago Bulls. You know, Landeskog, it's been a little over two years now, so you're kind of wondering, you're hoping that it's getting closer.

I just think, look, as long as they have clarity on these situations, I don't know, let's go with January. Let's give this a long runway. I think they can adjust. If it's uncertain when they try to add around the trade deadline that's a listen when i'd start to worry about what exactly is going on here but right now despite all the injuries like i watched that game against anaheim the other night oh my gosh they i mean they out shot them 49 to 20. now, Georgiev is really battling.

And Anaheim scored late. But if you get efforts like that, you're going to be okay. And that's one thing, too. Like, they have not quit. They are not giving up. They are playing hard. They have not quit. And they're controlling a lot of play here early on.

The underlying numbers in a lot of areas look good for them. Goaltending, as you alluded to, has been a bit of a struggle out of the gate. So that gives me, assuming that gets turned around or at least a little closer towards the median, why I think that they can still right the ship here and I just hope that I mean Mark Mosier is taking time to you know enjoy a chamomile tea every now and then just to regulate the heart rate my gosh living and dying with with every moment of that Anaheim game on Friday listening to to him and Mark Rycroft on the call. That was incredible, Elliot. I don't know if you've heard me. They have a good broadcast.

They really do. It's very entertaining. It's a very home team friendly broadcast in the sense that I think if the announcers aren't excited, the fans won't be. And there's never a question about that when those guys are broadcasting. I say that as a compliment. You bet. Alyssa, thank you again.

Next up, Joseph, Jed, and Malachi from Northern Alberta. All right. Good day to you, Elliot and Kyle. I absolutely enjoy listening to the podcast and make sure to listen to each episode while commuting to work. Thank you for that. I have two sons, Jed, aged 8, and Malachi, aged 5, that love hockey and sometimes ask me questions while watching a game and sometimes I don't know the answer, but I told them I'd ask you, gentlemen. Their most recent question is,

when a player scores a hat trick and the hats are thrown onto the ice, what happens to the hats afterwards? Are they donated or do the owners collect them back? My boys would love to hear your answer. Keep up the good work and thanks again. Go Jets go. Northern Alberta and Jets fans. That's interesting. Brave souls.

They are donated. They are donated to shelters and things like that. There will be cases where a player might see one they really like and they will keep it for themselves. But generally the hats are donated. Actually, one team told me that we had a similar question last year. And one team told me they've had cases where fans have sent in like emails after saying, hey, I had this hat and i kind of got cut up in the

moment and i kind of like this hat and is there any way i can get it back if if no one's keeping it which i get i could totally see how that would happen but generally they are donated that's uh that's what happens with them you can see the peer pressure in the crowd right for the one guy or girl that has the hat on and there's the 15 people around them going throw it throw it it's understandable to get caught up in it you know there's a couple of places i believe i've seen it in tampa i kind of want to say washington too some of them will actually have like glass case displays of all the hats in the concourse of like these are the hats from when this player scored this hat trick on this date.

So they do display them in some cases too. If it was, you know, kind of a monumental moment or a big game where a hat trick was scored in their own building, that'll happen from time to time as well, depending on the team. Thank you, Joseph, Jed, and Malachi for that one. Good ad. Eric from Connecticut is next. Hi, guys.

Listening to Friday's pod and hearing the discussion on the state tax issue and the salary cap made me think of an idea. Is the solution as simple as calculating AAV based off the take-home pay, not net pay? I'm sure it can't be that simple, but can it be that easy? Let me know what you guys think. I think I'm supposed to end this thought by saying good job, everyone, besides Elliot. Yes, you are. Let's go, Rangers. I'm keeping a note of all these.

I appreciate the suggestion. I'm keeping a note of all these. I appreciate the suggestion. I'm keeping a note of all of these. Crowdsourcing. Yeah, exactly. I'm crowdsourcing. And eventually I'm going to do a big article on it, and I'm going to ask some people around the league for their ideas. So I appreciate the thought, and I've added it to my list of ideas.

Thank you very much. I appreciate all the notes. Thank you very much. I appreciate all the notes. Thank you, Eric. Joe from Massachusetts. Hello, Kelly Dom. Just wondering who is the oldest person to score their first goal in the NHL? Keep up the great work and go Bruins. So Kyle, the first name that came to my head, I was wrong about.

He's the oldest rookie in NHL history, Mad Dog Madigan. So I assumed it was him, but he never scored. So he was the oldest rookie at age 38. But you say you have the name. Yes. Bobby Rowe, the Boston Bruins, 39 years old old this is back in the 1924-25 season a long long time ago he is the oldest to score a first career goal in the nhl actually it's funny you last episode referenced helmet balderas he's fourth on this. 37 when he scored his first goal in the league.

Yes, I remember that. That's right. That's right. I can't believe I didn't think of him again. That's because I have the short-term memory of a cat. I can't remember what I said five minutes ago. That's right. Balderas was 37.

And you know who else was 37 and fifth on this list? Pecorine of the Nashville Predators. Oh my God, that's hilarious. I never even would have thought of that. Yeah. That's fantastic. He makes the top five. You know what?

If you were to do that, name the five people who were the oldest to score, I wonder if anyone would come up with Rene. You just wouldn't think of it. Right. But now it totally makes sense when you tweak your mind that way. Good question, Joe. All right, we're going to wrap up the Thought Line this week with a voicemail.

Jake from Boston. As a Bruins fan, I'm pretty excited about this new Centennial jersey release. It's giving me visions of the Ray Bork and Cam Neely days. Thinking of this new jersey brought a question up for me. How do teams decide which jerseys they're going to wear each night, specifically teams with third and fourth jerseys? As we all know, there's some third jerseys that are retros that fans would want to see worn every night, but I'm curious as to

whether the league regulates this or not, or if teams get to choose. Love the pod, guys. Thanks. So, Jake, great question. Did a bit of asking around here earlier in the day. And what I could tell you is, so there's no set minimum number of games that a team has to wear their primary home jersey per se. Typically nowadays for teams that do have an alternate or a special third jersey, you mentioned the Bruins,

special occasion type jerseys that they'll have for a season or a length of time. Usually it's six to eight games per year. And in almost all the cases, it's decided well in advance. There's league approval. The general managers get involved as well. Everything gets cleared in terms of what jerseys are going to be worn well before the actual dates on the calendar show up and the teams get ready to suit up for a given game.

The other thing about this too is that in the playoffs there's an interesting little combination with that in the playoffs you're only allowed to wear two uniforms one home and one away but they can be the third jersey if you want to do it. The thing is, though, once you commit to a home jersey and a road jersey in the playoffs, you're wearing that for every game. And some teams, for example, have worn their third jersey in the playoffs. I think in recent history, I think Carolina's done it, Pittsburgh's done it, and Edmonton's done it in recent years. So that way you can wear it all the time.

You just have to commit to it in the postseason once you decide that's the one you're going to use. And sometimes during the year, there's just conversation between the teams. Like I remember a couple of years ago, the Maple Leafs played in Los Angeles on a Saturday and they wanted to wear their Drew House Bieber jerseys, which are black. And typically you wear white jerseys on the road. And I think it was just a conversation between teams saying, saying hey do you mind if we wear those in your building because the kings obviously would have had to swap to a white jersey for their home game that crops up every now and then throughout the season too yes you can do that you can ask another team for permission saying hey can you wear these uniforms

because we want to wear these ones um That does happen. You're totally right. Okay, Jake, thank you for that question. Reminder, the thought line, phone number to call 1-833-311-3232. 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca. More 32 Thoughts, the podcast. on this entire episode without stating the fact that you spent Sunday in Dallas for the Dallas Stars Hall of Fame class of 2024 induction ceremony and event. You were part of things down there. This year's inductees, Brendan Morrow went in the player category, Jim Lights in the builder category. How was the night? How are the speeches? What were the highlights? Well, first of all, I think it's a great event. And, uh, I should mention, I'm part of the selection committee. Now I don't have a huge vote. I think there's other people on the committee and there's, you know, people who've worked for the team. There's media have covered

the team, um, much longer than I have. So I generally tend to be pretty quiet on this one they they know better than I do in most cases but I like being part of it and I like these kinds of events I think they're very important in the communities and they really do a fantastic job with this one in Dallas and the speeches for me are always the best thing about it. Daryl Ray, the broadcaster here, who was hired by Jim Lights, introduced Lights for his speech. And he had a couple of really interesting comments. Like, first of all, one of the things everybody does here

is they take pains to thank everybody. They thank their families, of course. They thank the people who they've played with, who they worked with. Jim Lights took time to make sure he mentioned people who were there when they first came to Dallas 30 years ago. They take pains to point out the coaches, executives, staff, everybody. So nobody is really forgotten. You know, he had a couple of really interesting lines, Jim Lights did,

about how, you know, if you're going to win and the stars have won and they tend to be a very consistently successful franchise, you have to have strong ownership and you have to have strong management. And he pointed out about how going back to his days in Detroit, he started in the Red Wings organization. about how going back to his days in Detroit, he started in the Red Wings organization. He's from the Illich family to Tom Hicks and now Tom Ghilardi in Dallas. They've had excellent ownership. And you take a look at the people he's worked with as general managers from Ken Holland

on down to Doug Armstrong and now Jim Nill. Like there's a lot of people here either in the Hall of Fame or going to the Hall of Fame. And it's true. Like I've had one manager tell me that whether you admit it to yourself or not, if you don't have great ownership, you have no chance of winning.

And he had a line from Mike Illich that really resonated for me. And that is, you can do a great job managing people as long as you don't care who gets the credit. I love that line. That was a line from Mike Gillich. I really love that line. And he also had a good line about Bob Ganey. He said, everybody walked taller when you were working with Bob Ganey. And he also told the story of Jim Nill. Like, Les Jackson was the general manager beforehand, and he said, who do we need to hire?

And he handed him a list of five or six names, and Jim Nill said, I don't see Jim Nill on this list. And Nill said, no Nill from their days in Detroit. And Les Jackson said to him, well, if you can get Jim Nill, because remember at that time, it wasn't certain he would ever leave Detroit. He said, if you can get Jim Nill because remember at that time it wasn't certain he would ever leave Detroit he said if you can get Jim Nill then you only need to have that name on the list and so I really like those stories and then Brett Hull introduced Brendan Morrow and Jim Nill had

taken quite a bit of time like not that I care I think you can you can take as long as you want when you get inducted into Halls of Fame. And Brett Hull said that if that had gone on a couple of minutes longer, Morrow might not have been inducted until next year. It was a pretty funny line. Like, everybody started laughing. He said that, you know, Brendan Morrow, when he first got to Dallas, he looked like he was about 12 years old.

But when he got on the ice he was the baby-faced assassin he said that Morrow was destined to be a captain and no chance he wasn't going to be a captain and he joked that Morrow should have scored more goals because he had great vision and he said how did he know that morrow had great vision because in golf he is the greatest ball finder in the world nobody can find a golf course more than morrow a skill i wish i had and then morrow got up there and he said saturday on the broadcast when they were playing the others that he's not much of a public speaker and his buddies were ripping him about, you know, how bad the speech was going to be. But he got very emotional at points,

particularly when talking about his parents and his brother and his family. And, you know, he had a great line where he said, you know, one of the things people tell you is picture the crowd naked. And then he looked up and he says, I didn't think my mom and dad would have such great seats and everyone just started uh howling and um you know he told one story that really stood out to me and he said that um you know there was um there was a player and he wouldn't name the player,

who was, they were on the plane, and the player was in a terrible mood, because he hadn't played in a game or two. And he said there was another guy on our team, and he said it was Sammy Helinius. And he said Sammy Helinius looked at this guy and said, how come you're so upset? And the guy goes, well, you know,

I haven't played in like two games. And Sammy Helinius looked at him and said how come you're so upset and the guy goes well you know i i haven't played in like two games and sammy helenius looked at him and said you know i haven't played 17 straight games and he he said that you know i i didn't even think about it because helenius was such a positive guy and such a fun guy and it it made him think like, how did I miss it? Like, how did I miss this guy hadn't played for 17 straight games? And he said that I was never going to miss a detail like that again. And stories like that, they really stand out to me because I do think that is what true leadership is about.

Hull just raved about Morrow as a captain. And I love this night. If every team did this, I would go to every single one of them. And I just wanted to say this was a great one. And I just love the speeches. I like hearing what people say and the stories they tell. And there were some great ones on Sunday night. Whenever I think of Brendan Morrow, I think of him authoring the Cinco de Morrow moment,

that quadruple overtime goal against San Jose all those years ago, scored in the wee hours of the 5th of May in the Stanley Cup playoffs. And I think that was the big headline locally the next morning was Cinco de Moro after he scored that goal. Wonderful. Congrats to both of them. Glad you had a great night down there. Elliot, that's going to do it for us,

this edition of 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Wait, wait, wait. Before we wrap up, we have to say, Kyle, that we had to rush to get this podcast done because our great producer, Dominic Cermati, has indoor soccer on Sunday nights in Vancouver. And it's important to him, so it's important to us. But Dom, I am telling you,

when we race to get this podcast done, it better not be for a 10-2 loss. I want a W, and I want a strong performance out of you. A hat trick just for you, Elliot. A hat trick just for you. Fill the stat sheet up, Tom. Well done, buddy. Thanks, everyone, for listening.

That'll do it for us. We'll talk to you again on Friday. Have a great week. We'll talk to you again on Friday.