32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Six Degrees of Chris Chelios

Episode Date: February 26, 2024

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Jeff and Elliotte revisit a fantastic night in Chicago that saw Chris Chelios' number 7 raised to the rafters and Patrick Kane's return to the United Center with the Detroit Red Wings. Elliotte talks about how the Red Wings look to have finally turned a corner and are poised to break their playoff drought (14:12). The fellas then shift focus to Sidney Crosby following his 4-point night against the Flyers (17:28) and wonder if Jake Guentzel could land in Detroit (25:07)? Next, Jeff and Elliotte discuss Matt Rempe's hectic week following his NHL debut (27:59) and ask if Danny Briere will change course in Philly now that Jamie Drysdale is out with an injury (34:25). Elliotte ponders if the Leafs would be better off rolling with three goaltenders (37:18) and look out for the Dallas Stars to be aggressive in the d-man trade market (39:56). Jeff wonders whether Anthony Mantha has played himself into potential trade to a contender (44:28) and if the Seattle Kraken could potentially move Adam Larsson (59:32). Finally, Elliotte expands on his report that teams are calling the Canucks gauging interest in a potential Elias Pettersson trade (1:01:40). The fellas answer your questions in the Montana’s Thought Line (1:05:48) and wrap the podcast by previewing NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman's visit to Winnipeg this week (1:32:12). Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.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.

And I sat back down and I was sitting next to an elderly woman and she said to me that was a really smooth move but you have no chance with her and I laughed and I said well you're probably right but how do you know I have no chance with her she goes you don't know who that is and I said no I don't know who that is and I would say it was very early in her career. Welcome once again to 32 Thoughts. Holy smokes, Patrick Kane. Presented as always by our friends at GMC and the GMC Sierra. Holy smokes, Patrick Kane. Jeff Merrick along with you, alongside Elliot Friedman,

alongside Dom Schrammati and holy smokes, Elliot Friedman, Patrick Kane. Did it not have to end that way? I mean, they say that hockey has no poets. Ladies and gentlemen, if hockey has no poets ladies and gentlemen if hockey has no poets i disagree because patrick kane scores the overtime winner chris chelios night returning to the united center detroit and chicago great rivals and the star of the show is showtime number 88 patrick kane you know how they say that the NFL is scripted? This

you would believe the NHL was scripted. A wonderful night in Chicago that began with an outstanding Chris Chelios jersey retirement ceremony that we'll talk about in a few minutes that continued with a fantastic ovation for Kane in his first game back in Chicago as

a visitor, ends with Kane scoring the overtime winner. Look out here. Look at this. Look at this. It's Patrick Kane in Chicago. Oh, my God. Kane with the overtime winner. The Red Wings win it 3-2.

The story is complete on Kane's return. You would have thought that Tarantino or the Coen brothers or Billy Wilder were working on that script. Because it was just too perfect. It was brilliant. And the only negative was that Kane almost ran over the pride of Armor Heights, Jake Wallman, for trying to get in the way of his post-game celebration. There are famous games. If you go back to the Chelios speech, he specifically didn't want to mention the Detroit Red Wings. He called them Michiganders, right?

Because you know the rivalry. I wonder when the last time the chicago blackhawks fans cheered for a red wing winning goal if ever like they cheered for that one that was an awesome night there awesome night they love them and listen don't look now but patrick kane is playing some great hockey like a, of recent, no, like, this isn't like, I mean, this is just the most recent overtime winner. Go back to Thursday and the game against the Colorado Avalanche. Now, one, it's a great play by Dylan Larkin.

I mean, great play by Dylan Larkin to draw two Avalanche players freeing up Patrick Kane, a beautiful behind-the-back pass. But at the end of it, that's Patrick Kane's overtime winner. And then Sunday, it's Patrick Kane's overtime winner. And then Sunday, it's Patrick Kane's overtime winner, underscoring what I'm saying here, Elliot, and that is Kane's hot and playing great hockey right now. This is working out beautifully for Detroit. Yes, and they're in it.

If you take a look at their analytics, they're not actually a team that has a ton of chances in five on five but they score when they get chances they score and they're grabbing a stranglehold on a playoff spot they're moving up the ladder they're getting hot at the right time um you know the some of their young players like lucas ray in particular, is having a big year. Some of their veterans, Perron's had a big year. Kane has gotten really hot.

Alex Lyon for the second year in a row. Oh, boy. Alex Lyon is the best bargain contract maybe in the NHL. Steve Iserman is managing that team like he is expected to make the playoffs. And Alex Lyon bailed them out this year just like he did Florida last year. But the Red Wings are getting hot

at just the right time. And that was a fantastic, fantastic night. And look, we had Jaromir Jagr last week. We had Patrick Kane and Chris Chelios this week. What's going to happen next Sunday? fantastic night if and look we had yarmir yager last week we had patrick kane and chris chelios this week what's gonna happen next sunday who's gonna come up with something for next sunday we better do a really good podcast next sunday elliot the bar is high around hockey yeah that that's not gonna happen we already know that you know you know jeff there have been some famous times where uh players or opposing teams

really get cheered in their former buildings guillaume fleur when when he went back to montreal um they cheered for le fleur that that night there was a famous one in 1975 eddie jockman he goes back to new york uh with with the red. He was a former Ranger, a beloved Ranger. And they booed the Rangers that night and they cheered the Red Wings. It's wild. Knowing the rivalry, it was wild to see Chicago fans cheering for Detroit at the end of that game. And you'll remember last year, like the thing about it that's really amazing

is Taves, in his last game last year he had the breakaway against Philadelphia and Felix Sandstrom stopped it and this time in his first game back Kane gets the breakaway and he scores it was a beautiful way to wrap up a beautiful night Elliot what did you think of the chris chelio ceremony a great ceremony great ceremony number one i want to shout out the chicago blackhawks video production team the videos they put together the music was excellent and the pictures were excellent going back to when he was traded to Chicago from Montreal, the montage of things like the Fresh Prince, you know, what was big back then, brought back a lot of memories. It was edited

and cut superbly. It was put together superbly. Real credit to the Blackhawks video production team. I did want to mention a few other things that really stood out to me from the speech that Chelios gave in the whole event. You know, there were some great stories. You know, Pat Boyle, who hosted the broadcast with John Scott, he told the story that I never heard before. I don't know if Blackhawks fans knew this one. I didn't know this one, that Kenny Holland went to Chris Chelios in 2010 and said, do you want to go back to Chicago for this Stanley Cup run with the Blackhawks? And Pat Boyle said that Chelios refused to go.

He said that this is their generation, this is their team, and I don't want to interfere with it. And I'd never heard that story before. I think that was a great story. Gretzky telling the story on the—it was audio. He didn't speak. It was audio about how Chelios was one of the few guys who scared him and that if Chelios was coming up behind him he would warn him and say I'm coming I thought that was a great story Chelios told a

couple of great stories you know first of all he mentioned Bob Probert I thought that was really special that he mentioned the late Bob Probert. He talked about how one of two players from Chicago to have the numbers retired by Chicago teams, Dick Butkus of the Bears being another one, and how he ran into some of Butkus' family members at a sauna the morning of the ceremony. I just thought he was really gracious. And he mentioned that he had money on the board to beat the Red Wings and Patrick Kane that night everything about that whole ceremony I thought was really beautifully done from the production to the way Chelios spoke of his family and the people

who were there and the people who weren't there I I thought it was a great, great ceremony. And it reminded me when he talked about his trade from Montreal to Chicago, he talked about how Sarah Savard said, I traded you home. Pat Burns, I was once in a scrum where Pat Burns told the story of how he found out about that trade. And he said that Sir Savard, who was the general manager, called him on that summer day. He was traded on June 29th, 1990. And Pat Burns said that Sir Savard called him and said, congratulations, Pat, I just got you Denny Savard. And he said, great, who do we have to give up? And Savard said, we gave up Chris Chelios.

And Pat Burns said, what? And Sir Savard, hearing the reaction, said, oh, Pat, my other line's ringing. I've got to call you back. And he said, Savard didn't call him back for like a month because he knew how angry pat burns was going to be about that okay speaking of that trade um i think i can tell this story now actually matter of fact i think we might have mentioned yes yes you can um this is about the picks with these two do you know this story about the picks? Not off the top of my head. So in that draft, so the two general managers are Mike Keenan and Serge Savard who made the deal. So the deal was made and then Savard, this is what Keenan told me, called Mike and said, look, my owner needs something more.

I know we've already agreed on the trade, but we need more in this deal. And Keenan said, look, we'll do something else. We can't change it right now. We'll do something else at a later date and I'll get you a second round pick back. And then Keenan said he was never able to fulfill the deal because he got fired before he could make another trade and send that second round pick back to the Montreal Can. So technically the Montreal Canadians are still owed a second round draft pick from the Chicago Blackhawks going back to 1990. I'm sure they'll get right on that. We'll go get right back on that one.

We'll get right there. File the grievance now. File the grievance now, Montreal. Chicago owes you a second round draft pick. I thought it was awesome. Like you've heard me talk about Chelios before. He's one of my favorite players. Yes, great personality.

One of my favorite players of all time. You know, one of probably my favorite U.S.-born player of all time. I have always been all about Chris Chelios. And again, like, you know me, I love the guy that needs to be dragged, kicking and screaming off the ice. I love that Peter Forsberg had to be dragged off the ice and I love that Chris Chelios needed to be dragged off the ice.

I got all the time in the world for Chris Chelios and I thought that was a tremendous ceremony. The other thing we were reminded about here is that Chris Chelios knows everyone. Oh, geez, no kidding. Yes, that's clear he is the kevin bacon of hockey in the entertainment industry it's six degrees of kevin bacon and hockey it's six degrees of chris chelios great line you know a couple a couple other things i had a couple people text me watching the chelios ceremony's a great line you know a couple a couple other things i had a couple people text me

watching the chelios ceremony of one of their favorite pieces that we ever did at cbc which was chris chelios when he played with the atlanta thrashers oh yeah and we like so he's famous for his love of the saunas and if you know chris chelios uh we he took the exercise bike into the saunas as he actually did all the time and uh so in the american hockey league with the chicago wolves at the time anthony stewart was on that team so he brings the the exercise cycle into the sauna and of course we go in there with him what am I wearing? I'm wearing a suit and tie. And so I'm in the sauna with Chris Chelios doing his cycling, sweating everything out, and I'm in a suit and tie. And it does look ridiculous.

I just remember people at the time ripping me for how stupid I looked in a sauna in a suit and tie you know i think speaking of atlanta there was and i i'm just doing this off the top of my head i believe this to be the answer i think we might have talked about it before elliot do you remember who they paired chelios with they only played a handful of games with thrashers but they paired him with zach bogosian i was going to say zach zach bogosian now chelios was 47 years old bogosian was 18. that is a 28-year gap between the two which i believe elliott is the record well i've got to think gordy howell no but no no i mean but he was like yeah as far as like, you know, defense pairs, like the age gap between defense pairs. I think that must be it, right?

47 and 19. That's got to be, that's got to be the oldest, doesn't it? That has to be the record. I can't think of anyone off the top of my head. There's a fully formed and grown adult human being in between the two of them, essentially, at 28 years old. Anyhow, you can talk about Chelios forever. And we probably will continue to talk about Chris Chelios forever. Congratulations.

The number is very much where it belongs. And a great ovation. Oh, yeah. And a great ovation for yeah and a great ovation for Patrick Keane too you know the Red Wings they're on a shooting heater too by the way they if you look at the under nine numbers uh creating chances on five and five they're not they're among the lower teams but they're high in goals so it's kind of likeouver in a sense but they clobbered st louis they scored three times before the blues even had a shot they're hot at the right time and they're creating

separation you know the other thing too is and i i do believe this um there is something about it's been too long to see the red wings in the playoffs and you, if you're a person who wants to see revenue grows, Detroit's new arena in the playoffs, it's not bad. It's not bad at all, but it's been too long. Like the Red Wings are one of the NHL's bellwether franchises. It's been too long and we need to see them relevant again. And like I said, in the last steve eiserman is managing like a gm whose mandate is to get them in the playoffs and right now they're there they control their own destiny um there's been a lot of talk on the weekend emily caplan mentioned it about an extension coming potentially for david perron he's been a perfect fit there I'm not sure if Kane will do an extension in season or not but

he's been a great fit there I don't know what they put into his body but you look at him now and you look at him a year ago it's not even the same person the procedure he got this offseason has worked wonders for him but it's important to have the Red Wings relevant. I don't think it's good for the league when teams go too long without being in the playoffs. I'm from the Pete Rozelle NFL here. The joke about him was he wanted 32 8-8 teams. I don't want that, but I don't like when teams miss the playoffs for too long. That's why I kind of root for Buffalo right now. I just don't want that, but I don't like when teams miss the playoffs for too long. That's why I kind of root for Buffalo right now. I just don't think it's good when teams are out of the playoffs too long.

I want to see the Red Wings back in. You know, Jeff, the other thing I just wondered about this game is, I think we believe that at the end of last year, Chicago had closed the book on that era of the Blackhawks I just wonder if there's any chance now after seeing the way that night went that that could change Patrick Kane playing with Conor Bedard Patrick Kane goes back to Chicago look I have no insight in this as with most, I have no insight in this. As with most things, I have no insight on anything. But just watching that.

And Kane was asked about it post-game, and he kind of downplayed it a bit. And I understand it's probably still pretty raw. But just after watching that whole night and the great show that the organization put on and the way the fans reacted and keen the way he played himself i i just can't help but wonder if it could be possible okay so circling back a great night for an american hockey hero and also elliot sunday was a great night for a canadian overtime hockey hero sydney Crosby, one goal, three assists, Penguins over

the Philadelphia Flyers, 7-6, a game ripped out of the pages of 1987. So, Elliot, your thoughts on number 87, Sidney Crosby. Well, when I was working on the show for Saturday night and just asking around about what's going on,

someone said to me, you know what the worst news is for the Pittsburgh Penguins? And I said, what's that? I almost called them the Critsburg Penguins. That's like the Crosby Pittsburgh Penguins. Freudian slip when you're thinking about one thing, but you say a mother. That's pretty good.

Very good, Jeff. Thank you. But so I said, what's that? And he said, they're going to Canada next week. Like this is the worst time to go to Canada. It is. Yes, absolutely. Continue.

You think all these teams in the West, Edmonton and Calgary and Vancouver, aren't going to be happy to see Pittsburgh now? Talk about those guys in the other room for a change. So, you know, they they're battling they're scrapping their math isn't great um but Crosby is just carrying them like that game on Sunday was last shot wins I really thought we were going to go to overtime 7-7 and the team that won the opening face-off in overtime was going to win the game But Crosby just would not let them lose. That was a huge win for Pittsburgh.

And look, there's a lot going on there right now. And I think the thing about Dubas is because his advantage in this case is that he worked in Toronto. So he understands the maelstrom. in this case is he worked in Toronto so he understands the maelstrom he know and this is probably child's play to him on some level what you think this is a controversy you should have seen what I just lived through the last five years and because I don't think they're trading they're not trading Crosby they're not trading Malkin they're not trading Letang so it's not like he's he's trading a franchise cornerstone I think if he was trading one of those guys or if that was facing him then it's a much much different animal but instead he can say look I've

been through this before it's different because he's he's doing a kind of in-progress rebuild as opposed to chasing the Stanley Cup. But he has seen it in the hottest market. He can handle this. But every win allows him just to bide his time a little bit more. Because he can trot out the line. These guys have earned their respect. trot out the line these guys have earned their respect they have earned the right for me to wait as long as I possibly can so after a win like that one that keeps them in the race and everybody out there can make their predictions of whether or not they think the penguins are going to make it or

not but every win that keeps them in the race Dubasas can just sit back and say, I'm going to read the market while these guys play it out. And Crosby, once again, refuses to let them go away. He was great. That was an entertaining game. A huge win. Okay, so a couple of things there. And hearing you talk about Crosby, hard to deny that. Okay, so a couple of things there.

And hearing you talk about Crosby, hard to deny that. I mean, even the most casual of hockey observers can see what he is doing, pulling in one direction while some of the forces of losing are pulling the other direction here. You know, that's the very definition of the Hart Trophy, Elliot. Regardless of they make the playoffs or not, and I know we're all, you know, cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs about Austin Matthews and 70 goals and automatic hard trophy. And, you know, Nikita Kucherov just hit the century mark.

And Nathan McKinnon is doing Nathan McKinnon things on a consistent basis. We saw some more of that on Saturday on Hockey Night in Canada. But if you look at the very definition of what the hard trophy is, regardless of playoffs or not, tough to say no to Sidney Crosby when he's doing this. I just don't think without plus i i know that it got banned a couple years ago for adam fox i i just don't see it nothing

in the definition no i know look hey webster don't bring me the dictionary okay like i know there's nothing in there that says that you can't vote for him and if people want to vote for him go ahead i got no problem with that i just don't see the majority of the voters going that way although i concede it did happen a couple years ago with adam fox and the norris maybe i'll be wrong but that's the way I see it. Now, the other thing I just wanted to mention about the Penguins is it's pretty clear to me that after they lost at home to LA in the Yaga retirement night, that team started calling them and they said, what exactly is available here? And again, the cornerstone players are not available I think

there's other players that have trade protection that they're really not eager to go to I've heard that they said they are going to try to respect trade protection as much as they can and and so unless you're going to blow them away for someone who has a no trade or a no move who's not a cornerstone player and like for example i i think one of those guys is brian rust he's got it like i've heard pittsburgh told teams we're gonna try to respect the protection here and rust actually got hurt on sunday unfortunately um so but other than that there were you know what dubious apparently told teams was it is his job to learn the market for these players and one position and someone actually called me on sunday morning and told me there's been some talk around Pittsburgh that the Penguins

are going to trade a goalie. Now, initially, my assumption was Nedeljkovic. He's making 1-5. He's a UFA after this year. I know he had a really rough night in that game last week that they lost on Thursday night, the one in overtime against the Islanders. But generally, he's been very good. And I could see some teams who need like a B, a 1B, who could really use him. But somebody said that this is not limited to Nedeljkovic, that I think teams have asked about Jari.

I think teams have asked about Blomqvist, who's their top prospect, who's played very well in Wilkes-Barre this year. So what I do think there is that Pittsburgh has an extra goalie and they will listen. That is not impossible. A goalie moves out of Pittsburgh. I mean, look, if you're trying to win, and they are, even though he's doing a retool, I still think they want to compete. It's kind of hard to see Jari being the one who goes. He's the best goalie they have. He leads the league in shutouts.

I mean, the only concern I have about Jari is he gets hurt a lot. Like, that's something that makes you a little bit nervous, especially since he's signed to term. But people just said to me, it's not impossible a goalie goes here. So in addition to everything else we're thinking of with Pittsburgh, that's another thing to put on the radar too. Interesting on headlines,

some of the teams that you mentioned, swinging back to Jake Ensel, Vegas, Vancouver, Edmonton, Florida, Carolina, the caveat to all of that is there has to be more when you have someone like Jake Ensel available. You know, in the last pod, we talked about Detroit. I don't know that Detroit's interested.

And it's not like Iserman is volunteering information to anyone. But there are a lot of people who see it as a fit. You know, the one thing about Iserman is, is that they have a spot on the left side there. It certainly is a positional fit on the team. But what a couple of people said to me is, if you look at his recent contracts he does not like term for the veterans right you know like Larkin got a big extension at 27 he's the captain um you know Comfer got five years he just turned 28 but look at a lot of their other deals. De Brink, it's 26. He got four years. You know, Kopp is signed for four more years. He's 29.

Rasmussen, who's 24, just signed a four-year deal. If you're going to trade for Gensel in signing him, you're going to have to sign for seven or eight years. Like, there's just no other way that this is going to happen. And I had a few teams tell me that it's not what Iserman really wants to do. Now I've got to think he's going to do eventually when he signs Sider, I've got to think he's going to do that for him. And I would bet they're going to take a run at Lucas Raymond at some point, but those two guys are 22 and 21 years old. But the only flaw in my argument people really thought was it's against what Eisenman tends to do to give seven and eight

year deals to 30 year olds. It's if you look at his base of work, he avoids it. He really tries to avoid it. The one thing sticking with Detroit and i threw this in my notes this week is um uh someone that i spoke with said that don't be surprised if he goes after someone on the back end uh this person i talked to said don't be surprised advisement gets someone who's smelly and so what do you mean by smelly and he said hard to play against that's what i mean by smelly i know they have a lot of defense, because that was my argument back. I'm like, where are they going to find room for another defenseman? And this person said to me,

don't be surprised if you're looking for one type of defenseman specifically. They don't have that one guy that's nails to play against. Don't be surprised if Eisenman goes in that direction. I mean, there's a few that are that are out there you know i would wonder about whether you know nikita zadorov or matt dumba or something like that but it wouldn't surprise me if if that's the direction that's uh that he goes there okay we've put it off long enough elliot we've talked about crosby and chelios and the wings

matt rempe and the New York Rangers. You talk about a week. There's the NHL debut. There's the fight with Matt Martin. There's the situation against New Jersey with Nathan Bastion. There's, oh yeah, there's a game-winning goal in here as well. And there's a fight with Nick Delorier.

And then there's a fight on Sunday against Matthew Olivier where Olivier took him down. That was a really good fight. All of his scraps have been entertaining, even going back to preseason when he fought Ross Johnston, then of the New York Islanders. What a week it's been for Matt Rempe.

That is how you make an impact, Elliot, although it's tough not to make an impact when you're 6'8". Yeah, I saw some 6'8 guys who didn't make the impact, even in the NBA who didn't make the impact that Matt Rempe did this week. Daryl Sutter always used to say this, does a player have an identity? I always remember that Daryl Sutter said that. He didn't like players who didn't have identities.

Good, bad, something. I remember there was one time when Danny Gauthier played for Calgary under Sutter and some other team was mad about something that Gauthier did on the ice and Sutter just looked at the reporter and goes at least he's got an identity there's a lot of guys on this team that don't and the Rangers aren't really like that but I always understood that point I knew what Sutter was getting across there you know, I think I'm like a lot of people. I just wonder how much is too much. Look, I'm as guilty of this as anyone else. Those players, there used to be five guys on a team like Rempe. Now there's not even 10 guys

in the league like him. So it's unique. It's different. Those Philly fans watching him in Delorier and in the warmup and then in the game, nobody was running to the concession stands when that was happening. But also, there's a reason this doesn't happen anymore. And now what we see is every tough guy on every team is like, okay, when do I have the Rangers on my schedule? You know, like, for example, next Saturday night,

the Rangers in Toronto. You don't think Ryan Reeves is potentially thinking about this? Hmm. This guy is pretty interesting. I just don't think that that's where we can go here. And, you know, like I understand everyone's caught up in it. I'm just as guilty as everyone else. I'm caught up in it.

Rempe's young. He doesn't want to say no to anybody. He understands that some of these veterans are giving him a chance, so he has to give other people a chance. But now you also have to say, okay, it's not good for him to be doing this every night. Olivier is a tough customer. The other thing is, and I got a text from somebody who was watching the game, text from somebody who was watching the game and I thought this was a very fair point he said that Rempe still needs to learn how to defend himself before he does this all the time and I and I I wanted to bring that up I wanted to mention that I want this to be a good story because here's a

Canadian kid Calgary like literally takes the NHL by storm. Seems like a really nice kid. His interviews have been really good. But there's a thin line between this becoming a good story or a fun story and this becoming a much more serious story. And look, like Peter Laviolette's been around a long time. Chris Drury has been around a long time. I think there's people in that range of organization who should be able to handle this and say, okay, we're going to set some guidelines here so he doesn't have to do it every night. This is not something he should have to do every night, particularly when he's still learning how to do it properly so that's what

I thought watching it on Sunday you're not going to win every fight I think it's I think it's a great story he seems like a very likable kid hockey fans love it I just don't I just think there has to be like Sunday night was the first time it kind of went to that line for me, Jeff, where I said, this has a chance not to be fun. So how do we make it so it doesn't get to a bad place? There were a couple of moments in the DeLorea fight where I thought, oh, this isn't going to go very well for this kid. Like when DeLorea really got his balance and started hammering, I was like, oh, geez, this kid's young. Nick DeLorea is one of the toughest in the league like i don't i don't know about this but he hung in there and he did great but i know what

you mean about matthew olivier like that is like oh okay like i know you can look at every card and every team and say okay they're gonna call up this guy oh look this guy's gonna dress just for me and we can put on a show but i know that it's i mean look Elliot you and I are the same vintage I mean this used to happen all the time the new kid came up and he did the tour right and he didn't matter who like whether it was Ty Domi or whether it was Donald Brashear or whether it was Tony Twist or whomever like when you're young you did the tour but it's 2024 and I don't know that we need kids doing the tour anymore right these other guys did but jeff like i i trust that the rangers with some experienced people in their organization will get to this and they will figure out a way to properly manage it

because you know somebody does have to step in and say, hey, we understand, but this is a different era, so we're going to limit it. And I think that's okay. All right, speaking of tough teams, the Philadelphia Flyers. So we talked about the Penguins. That was a thrilling game against the Flyers. Tough one for the team in Orange. I get it.

And this one came with a cost, too. Jamie Drysdale. Jansen Harkins steps up on him right away. He grabs the shoulder and he's gone. And you can tell right away, this is serious. We don't have an update at the time of this recording. Hopefully Jamie Drysdale is okay. We cross our fingers yet at the same time.

I think one of the thoughts we have once you get past i hope jamie drysdale is okay is what does this mean now for sean walker and what does this mean for nick sealer with ristelainen out now you add drysdale if he's out for any length of time how much did danny breyer's world just get complicated here. If, look, I think this. The Philadelphia Flyers are still taking a big picture look at their organization. Assuming that's the case, and I have no reason to believe that it isn't the case, then I believe that it doesn't change anything at all. Because what Daniel

Breer should be thinking about is what's my line to resign these two guys and what's my line to trade these guys? And the answer is should be unchanged based on Jamie

Drysdale's injury. Unless the only way it changes, Jeff, is if the Flyers have decided they want to make the playoffs. Like, I have a friend who's a Devils fan, and he said, look, if they trade these guys and Drysdale's injured, then we still have a game in hand and they've got a tougher schedule. We could catch them. And I admire the optimism.

That's what a Devils fan should be thinking right now. But if you're Philadelphia, unless you've decided we're making the playoffs, that shouldn't change a thing. What you're deciding with Sealer and Walker should have nothing to do with Drysdale's injury. What this gives you is it gives you a chance to put another kid in the lineup and give them some chance to see what they can do. Or someone else has to take some more responsibility. Now you wrote, and I stole it from you, that there's teams, we talked about it earlier in the year,

that Walker and Seeler were being thought about as a duo. Do you have any theories on who might be considering this? My initial thought was the Tampa Bay Lightning. Do you believe that to be accurate? I don't now. I don't believe that it is Tampa. I don't. I think a lot of us would have wondered about the Toronto Maple Leafs,

for example. We know that Brad Treliving, but I don't think that that's accurate. The two that I wondered about were Toronto and Tampa, but I can't say with 100% certainty that it's those two teams. The reason I wondered about Toronto is that, you know, they tried to do it earlier in the year with Zdorov and Tanev, but there have been some players in Toronto that have really solidified their positions

in the last couple of weeks. Initially, people were like, oh, Toronto's 5-0, but they haven't beaten anyone. Well, now they've pounded Vegas and they beat Colorado, the last two Stanley Cup champions. I know Vegas is missing people. It was still an impressive win. And it's hard to overlook that.

But I did think about Toronto too. You know, all of a sudden for Toronto, a lot of their guys who are UFAs are getting hot. guys who are UFAs are getting hot. McMahon, Domi, Bertuzzi, the hat trick the other night.

I'm curious to see does Toronto just let this all play out? You know, Simon Benoit, he's not a UFA. He's headed to arbitration. Remember a couple months ago people were saying, you know what, Not a UFA. He's headed to arbitration. They got a lot. Remember a couple months ago, people were saying, you know what, Toronto's guys, all these one-year guys didn't work out.

All of a sudden, they're starting to look a lot better. It's going to be interesting to see what Toronto does here in terms of roster construction. They might just be best off to let it all play out. Now, the other thing they've got this week is Wohl played his first game in the American Hockey League on Friday. He was excellent. They didn't dress him Saturday.

They still could play him in more AHL games if they want to. But, Jeff, what do you think here? Do you go with three goalies? Do you risk putting Martin Jones on waivers? Do you go with three? Or what do you think here? You go with three goalies. Do you risk putting Martin Jones on waivers? Do you go with three? Or what do you do? I don't know that I would risk putting Martin Jones on waivers right now. I agree with that.

I think you kind of have to go with three right now. Short term, you got to go with three. Do you disagree? I'm beginning to think the same thing. No, no, no. You've had such a weird year, and Jones stabilized your year, your season. Because they, Wall was like, those LaValle Rocket,

it was one of those nights where an AHL team's like, it was like Slapshot. There's scouts in the building. Scouts? Contracts in their hands. Came to see the Chiefs. That was one of those nights like, oh, Wolves playing. People are going to be watching.

We're going to be all over him. So that's another one to watch there for Toronto. And the right-hand D. They continue looking at the right-hand D. By the way, am I the only guy who thought McKinnon was going to score there at the buzzer? Oh, it was lining up. I thought that shot was going in. After that

race down on the ice, 100%. Oh my God. After Tavares misses the empty net, Nathan McKinnon grabs the puck and goes the other way. You're thinking all day long, this is hero time for Nathan McKinnon. Honestly, Elliot, everybody who's watched the league this year Nathan McKinnon. I think, honestly, Elliot, everybody who's watched the league this year

thought McKinnon was going to score there. Well, so I did too. But, you know, Toronto, I think some of the players have earned their spots on that blue line. So I'm not as sure. You know, I have to say again, this is purely my speculation. I don't know this. I'm purely guessing. I wondered about a team like

Dallas. And the reason I wondered about it is that I was told on Saturday night, as I mentioned, that Dallas has been incredibly aggressive. Incredibly aggressive. They think they could win the Stanley Cup this year, and they should. They could win the Stanley Cup this year. And if you look at their blue line, you know, could you see a situation where they could get a righty and a lefty? I mean, I see a righty for sure.

The left side is Harley, who's had a great year, Lindell, who's been a longtime guy there, and Ryan Suter. And look, Ryan Suter had a big night the other night against Carolina. Someone who watched that game said they thought that was the best game he played all season. And but the one thing about Ryan Suter is I know he's a bit of a lightning rod for Dallas fans.

I've had a couple of people tell me, go back and watch the Minnesota series in the first round last year. That was a mean series, as we all know, Jeff, a very mean series. They said that one of the players on the ice who was the meanest in a good way was Ryan Suter. And maybe it was because it was his former team and he was determined to beat them. But there were people who thought that Suter was a real difference maker in a very mean series. So I don't know. I just, like I said, someone said to me Dallas is very aggressive. They smell that they're going to win.

I think they're in on Tanev, obviously. I mean, I know they're in on Tanev. You know, Ron asked after the game on Saturday night, is there a team that would try to get Hannafin and Tanev together? And I believe Calgary has generally resisted that because they think they can get more for individuals. Like they resisted Toronto's deal. Vancouver tried to do Tanev and Lindholm.

They said no. Again, you know, I mean, if you were Dallas, would you think about at all Hannafin and Tanev watching them play on Saturday night? I would do that if I could. But again, I want to stress that's based on no information other than me spitballing because teams have told me nobody's talking about Dallas and they think they can win

and they are governing themselves accordingly. A couple of things there I'm of the belief that uh and I wrote part of this in the uh in the notes this week um I'm of the belief that they want a second pair right shot d but it would make sense for them to want an entirely new second pair behind behind Haskin and Harley I could completely see that I could see them having an entirely new second pair and I could see see I could see Sealer and and and Walker there that does make a lot of sense and both like both do different things right and Sealer adds a little bit of nastiness. Well, not a little bit. He has a lot of nastiness on the back end as well.

And they add a puck mover in Walker. It makes a ton of sense for Dallas to do that. To the previous point, I believe it was Oscar Wilde, Elliott's. Oh, my God. Oscar Wilde. Hold on. Who once, I think, on his deathbed saidbed said well either I go or the drapes um uh he said talent borrows but genius steals so don't feel too

bad about lifting that report for Saturday courtesy of Oscar Wilde well either I go or these drapes go um all right elsewhere around the NHL how do we go from Matt Rempe to Oscar Wilde. Well, either I go or these drapes go. All right. Elsewhere around the NHL. How do we go from Matt Rempe to Oscar Wilde? Welcome to 32 Thoughts to Podcast, folks. Hey, you know what?

You and Ron. You and Ron. You know who, you know who did himself a lot of good this weekend when it comes to trade deadline, maybe finding a new home, maybe establishing

and getting a foothold somewhere else. And I don't know about being this year's version of Ivan Barbashev, but Anthony Mantha of the Washington Capitals. Anthony Mantha's having a real good season. He's scoring goals this year. And he was able to do what a lot of people have only dreamed they'd be able to do. And that is fight Nick Cousins. You don't think that got noticed around the NHL on Sunday?

I'm sure it did. No question about it. You know, Washington's been trying to trade Mantha for a long time. But now we're coming down to the time where he's the ufa and the salary isn't as much anymore he's gotten hot at the right time and there's gonna be someone who's gonna say we're gonna take a chance because he's playing for his next deal and he'll be highly motivated to play for his next deal i have no doubt that's the case you know any teams looking for a left winger?

Maybe the team that doesn't get Jake Ensel? I know a bunch. If you don't get Jake Ensel, maybe look at Anthony Mantha. Who knows Anthony Mantha better than anyone else? The Detroit Red Wings. And? Ken Holland. Yep.

Because Ken Holland drafted him. Yep. And two others are looking for a winger and last time i checked teams in alberta like it a little bit rough see last saturday specifically on hockey night in canada i don't know we're just okay let's let's have this conversation about let's have this conversation about Edmonton, okay? I don't think they should be trading for a goalie. At least not their best assets for a goalie.

I don't see it. How many goalies? I know that Stuart Skinner is struggling right now, but so is the entire team around him. How many goalies are you going to get that are going to make you feel better than Stuart Skinner right now and are going to allow you, because you have to fortify your team too, and are going to allow you to fortify your team.

Look, if you're going to go out and get UC Saros, I can't argue with that, but you're not going to be able to do anything else. So my whole argument is, I can't argue with that, but you're not going to be able to do anything else. So my whole argument is, I think you fortify in front of Skinner. If you get help on your defense, target the best player you think you can get, and then fill in the holes. Look, like Saturday night, we talked about Carrick and Henrique.

Tell me, are they a better team if they go out and they get two forwards and a defenseman or a forward and a defenseman or two forwards or whatever or if you go out and you get a goalie? Like Kevin wants them to get Fleury. Fleury keeps saying he's not interested. Minnesota's in the race. But if you pay what you're going to have to get to move Fleury, are you going to be able to help yourself anywhere else?

Plus also, people keep saying to me that the Oilers have $2 million in cap room. They're also carrying only 21 players. Thank you. They don't. they have about a deadline right now it's a million bucks it's a million bucks well i mean if you look at cap friendly and puckpedia it's it's closer to it's between two and three but you can't carry a full roster that's it like they're riding thin super yes right now like that is technically that is the number yes but you know it's not going to stay there.

So Oilers fans, I see all your links to cap friendly, but you're only carrying 21 players. Right. They're running super lean to just accrue cap space. Well, OK, so here's what here's what I think about with the with the goaltending. I think the Oilers want Stuart Skinner, obviously, to be their guy, and they don't want any problems in net, obviously. But the thing that I keep coming back to is, and here's the question that I always ask, are the shots going to get easier or more difficult in the playoffs? And the answer is more difficult.

And we saw what happened at the beginning of the season when the Oilers were leaking difficult shots. That's the one thing I keep coming back to on this one. Because I understand your point. Trust me, there's a few holes that the Oilers would like to plug. The only thing that I keep coming back to is, okay, we've seen Skinner play really well this year, right? That 16 heater was great for, for Stuart Skinner and the Edmonton Oilers.

But I always think, are the shots getting easier or the shots getting harder in the playoffs? And ask any goalie, they get more difficult and Oilers have been through that and it didn't look good. and how many times has great play by the blue line great play by the forwards been complete could been completely undone by bad goaltending that's the only thing to your points elliot that i keep coming back to and i can't get off that one you're wrong no you know i understand no i i i understand what you're saying but here's the thing how many how many goalies in the league like i think saros is one saros for sure who are available who are available sorry that you think are definitely better than skinner this this is where matthias ekholm turns into general manager ekholm and says, Kenny, I know this guy.

And starts lobbying for the goaltender. I don't know. They did a great bit of business with Nash for last year at trade deadline. Okay, but what that means is you can't do anything else. I understand that. Or you can't do a lot, I should say. Not anything else, but you can't do a lot. I live in fear of the Ferraris that i have up front not being like

all their good work being undone by bad goals like the last thing you want is your team going into the playoffs and saying okay in our minds we got to bank on at least one maybe two bad goals this game you can't have that you can't have that i, we'll see who turns out to be right here, but I think they make themselves a better team if they fortify and play better in front of Skinner. All right. I'd agree with you if you were right. Yeah, and you know what?

And I think they've got a lot going on. You know, Jeff, we mentioned Henrik. We mentioned Sam Carrick. And I don't think it's impossible that the Oilers try for both in the same deal. Another name I heard for the Oilers was Luke Cunnin from San Jose. I thought that was an interesting name. Just a guy with a little bit of an edge to him. By the way, I heard there was a few teams looking at Michael Granlin from San Jose.

I mentioned on one of the previous pods, I didn't know how much interest there was in some of their players. Somebody mentioned Granlin to me and someone else mentioned that they thought that Luke Cunningham could be on Edmonton's radar. OK. By the way, the Flames, watching that game on Saturday night. Was awesome. Yes, was awesome. It was a great game. Very good.

I mean, Calgary, you know, they tried to get Hannafin done. I think, I can't prove this, but I have a sneaking suspicion I can't prove this, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they have continued to try occasionally to get Tanev done. But you have to be sitting there thinking, looking at the flames. If they would have been able to keep these guys, you wouldn't want to see them as a seven or eight seed in the first round of the playoffs. Like watching them play on Saturday night, Markstrom, Tanev, Hannafin, with this Flames team in the first round of the playoffs,

that would not have been a very fun team to play. And by the way, coming out of that night, who had, this is so bizarre, who had Matthias Janmark and Blake Coleman as having one of the best fights of the season? Man, Janmark, he's tough, man. He was throwing jackhammers bam bam bam bam holy smokes i did not see that coming from matias i just had coleman as one of those rodeo guys that you just didn't want to fight i didn't know that that that somewhere in the wilderness of Sweden,

someone turned Janmark into a mountain man. But you know what I think a lot of us would have had? Corey Perry and Mackenzie Wieger. Yes. And we probably would have had Evander Kane, Krasic, and Nazem Khadri. And Nazem Khadri. We know those two guys don't like each other. Those are entirely predictable. But everything else, that was just a wonderful, wonderful Saturday night

on Hockey Night in Canada. Okay, let me ask you about on hockey night in Canada. Okay. Let me ask you about the New Jersey Devils because going into the weekend, we said this is going to be pivotal, a pair of afternoon games, Montreal and then Tampa. So they beat Montreal. Four, three is the final score. A little bit for comfort.

Nico Dawes, 23 saves in that one. And then they lose to Tampa. Well, your captain scores the goal that maybe saves your season in the moment, right? Nico Hisher. Yes. that one and then they lose to tampa for well your captain scores the goal that maybe saves your season in the moment right nico hisher yes like in that moment that's why he's the captain he scores the goal that maybe saves your season and then it's akira schmidt the next day it's a four to one loss to tampa nikita kucherov it's a century mark and now we say new jersey devils what now you know again i'm gonna say this until I turn blue in the face. The Devils made a business decision.

They let 2D walk because they didn't like the contracts. I don't have a problem with the process. Then they lose Hamilton. So you're down three defensemen from your top six last year. Your second round team from last year. Plus, you're not getting the goaltending. I think the only way, the only way you are making a coaching change

if you believe that there is a coach that can do a better job with this lineup right now. Right now. And I ask you, H hockey watcher merrick do you believe that what is happening with the devils is a coaching issue no or it's just that they they have they they're looking at their blue line in their goal and they are saying we are simply not as good as we were last year. And the toughest thing to do is say, there's a risk we might go backwards here. So speaking of blue in the face,

you've heard me say this over and over again. Is this a question of coaching or composition? And to me, the New Jersey Devils, to your point, is composition. It is the blue line. It is the goaltending. That is the problem with the New Jersey Devils. They lost a lot of veteran guys in the offseason. Love Hughes.

Love Nemech. Love what they're going to become. It's going to be great back there. Right now, they need veteran players. They're going to get in the playoffs. They need veteran guys back there. And they need saves. And that's not happening.

If I'm the Devils, I'm not targeting rentals. Look, they could still make it. You know, the Philly thing they're gonna have to play at a at a blistering pace they've got no room for error you know i mean philly could determine this simply by what their roster looks like on march 8th at 3 p.m that could have a lot to do with this but if I'm the devils you you have to find players with term someone said to me after the flames won on Saturday night the big winner was Craig Conroy because Tanev and Hannafin look great and the prices just went up now I don't know if New Jersey thinks it can sign Hannafin.

But if it can, that's what they've got to be doing. They've got to be targeting guys with turn. But, you know, again, like Lindy Ruff, he's the easy target. He's the coach. And I will say this. I ignore people who say, well, it's the coach and i will say this i like i ignore people who say well it's the media's fault because i i i think it's kind of a lame excuse i really do and like i'm not one of those people if someone takes a shot at the media i feel like i have to give a shot back you know we dish it out

we should be able to take it it just happens sometimes i just i just roll my eyes at it and and and i said this on your show on on friday there's a lot of really good people who cover hockey new jersey both in traditional and non-traditional media so i but it's not like it's a market where there's a lot of pressure like look at vancouver right now they're they're first in the league and it's still one of the most like that's pressure whoa whoa whoa that's because of you yeah okay we'll get to that in a second yeah but it's it's an intense market like that's pressure like you can you get it like the but the one thing about Lindy Ruff is, like, I remember once talking to him about Pat Quinn was going through it in Toronto. And, you know, I remember Wayne Gretzky, like the 2006 Olympic team, the one in Italy.

Wayne Gretzky, there was a time where he said he was going to rehire Pat Quinn. It was always his job but he waited longer to make the hiring because there was a time everybody thought Pat Quinn was going to get fired in Toronto and Gretzky was unsure what the proper timing was and I remember talking to Lindy Ruff about that and he said that's life as a coach and you have to put your tortoise shell on and just take it that is part of the job and you know he said on Sunday after the game he blamed himself it's my job to get the team ready which is kind of like what I expect but again like I'm looking at it with the devils the only thing that makes sense for me here is there a coach with a system and structure out there that's

going to allow him to win like this and that's the only way you make the change uh you know what i wondered about or who i wondered about this weekend again this is just spitballing on a podcast here um let me back up because this was an interesting weekend for the seattle crack and i'm going to get to my name here in a second yeah so they beat the vancouver Canucks five to two. Okay. We look at this, you know, this, this four game homestand here and say, okay, this is going to tell Ron Francis everything about his team and what he needs to do at deadline. So they beat Vancouver. It's the sunny side of the mountain. They turn around and lose to the Minnesota wild five to two.

And we're on the shady side of the mountain now with Seattle and the crack and have the Boston Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins coming up this week. If things go south and the Kraken really fall out of it more. Now, I know this player has term one more season at a really good number. But is there any chance, because I would imagine the demand would be high,

that they would move adam larson right shot i've been i've been told no i we mentioned him on a podcast a couple of weeks ago about what a perfect person he would be for a lot of teams yep and i was told that's not happening because i'm with you. I think Larson's a great player. I'm a big Larson guy. Like the Seattle guys I'm wondering about are Schultz, Tatar, Eberle. I know they were supposed to talk with Eberle recently,

and I had heard as long as term wasn't an issue, he was probably going to get signed. But, you know, obviously he's not signed yet. We mentioned Adam Larson on a podcast like two months ago about what a perfect fit he would be for teams, and someone told me, like, no chance. You think about Venberg here? Do you think about Venberg there as well?

Well, Larry Brooks, yeah, the Rangers. You know, he's never scored as much as people kind of thought he would, but he's been pretty good this year. He's been pretty good. Okay, before we get to the Montana's Thought Line, Vancouver Canucks, Elias Pedersen. Yeah. I really do like how you tried to give this one a soft landing

and try to try to calm people down before you talked about it but yeah it's the Vancouver Canucks and it's Elias Pettersson look I really do believe what we talked about on Friday's pod which is that I don't know if there's actually been like an actual offer here and again I'm not interested in discrediting anyone else I can't find any proof that there was an actual offer here. And again, I'm not interested in discrediting anyone else. I can't find any proof that there was an actual offer, but I do believe that he knows that they're going to throw a ton of money at him and they've discussed it conceptually. I just think that every day this goes where Pedersen doesn't commit, other teams are not doing their jobs if they don't call and say, what's going on here?

That's part of what this is. And I do believe that other teams have called and said, what's going on here? And the Canucks have said, look, we're trying to sign them. But I just think, again, I think that's just the best way to put it. The fact that there's no clarity leads to, we should call and find out what's going on here. And that's what I think is happening. The other thing I think that is important here is like that Vancouver team had a hell of a win the other day like a really impressive that was a big

win against Boston and JT Miller in particular was fantastic I think I think that that is a team led by Rutherford and Talkett that can handle this. I don't think they're thrilled that A, he's not signed and B, this is news. But I think they're both really experienced. Like Jim Rutherford has seen everything. And Rick Talkett has seen everything. And I think they are really capable of handling the noise as well as anybody could. You know, I've said this to you before, Rutherford always wanted to be a GM in a Canadian market. And I think he loves this. I do. I think he really enjoys it. I think he enjoys the

passion. I think he enjoys that he's somewhere where it really matters. And I think he can handle this. And I think that will get them through whatever happens here. But teams are calling them and saying, what's going on and where's this going? that I should mention here is I did hear something else about Vancouver that was interesting. I don't think Vancouver's out of anything out there. Like it's just the way Rutherford is, but I heard they're not interested in giving up everything they're going to have to give up for two rentals. And so I think if they, you know, just because they gave up what they did to get Lindholm if they have to give up another package to get something good I don't think it's going to be a rental unless they know they can sign that person that's the other thing I heard about them they're if they're gonna have to do what it takes to do something not small it's something it's someone that they want to keep. That's the other thing I heard about them. Okay, what I

heard from all of that is Elias Pedersen for Matthew Barzell. Am I right about that one? Is that one taken out of that comment? Okay. Let's just calm everybody down. Okay, that's the end of that block. There was a lot there. Hope you enjoyed it. We're going to come back with the Montana's Thought Line where hopefully we can make Elliot's

eyeballs roll back into his head. Thought Line next. Keep it here. Listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. time now for the montana's thought line montana's barbecue and bar canada's home for barbecue elliott's try the ribs so and oh yeah and dave maloney points out that the new York Rangers were 10 and 0 after trying the ribs. Oh, that's the first. Now, I will say that Dave Maloney, who played 657 NHL games, did make one stunning mistake, One stunning mistake, unbecoming of a former captain of the Rangers and a gentleman with his hockey experience. Do you want to know what that? What's that?

He sent it before they played the Blue Jackets. Oh, yeah. That's like telling a pitcher he has a no-hitter going. That's like telling a pitcher he has a no-hitter going. That's right. And unfortunately, that winning streak came to an end about three hours after Maloney sent that. But Montana's, not only did Montana's feed the Rangers broadcast team, but it started them on a great streak,

and the ribs fixed Igor Shosturkin so you want to save you want you want to salvage your goaltending and you want to go on a 10 game heater uh the secret is the ribs ladies and gentlemen this year by the way i was at a pwhl game on friday toronto and new york at madame athletic center and out of the blue i'm walking up the stairs to go to the concourse and this guy stands up and goes try the ribs oh yeah people are great people are like no no no wrong guy wrong guy i'm the the pecan salad guy wrong guy but it took me back to the days when i would walk through cbc as a relative unknown it's like who's that guy on tv and i remember one guy once said to me hey i desk not hey guy on the iDesk or hey, orange.

Just hey, iDesk. Reminded me of that one. It warmed my heart. Try the ribs. 32 thoughts at Sportsnet.ca. 1-833-311-3232. 32 thoughts at Sportsnet.ca. 1-833-311-3232.

Rich in Knoxville, Tennessee. Hey, Jeff and Elliot, love the pod. Was watching the Anaheim Buffalo game on President's Day. And in the first period, one of the officials was injured and had to leave the game. And it got me thinking, if both referees were injured during the same game, would one of the linesmen take over as ref?

Or is there an EBER, Emergency Backup Referee, at every NHL game? Thanks. Keep up the great work. In the playoffs, there's always backups. In the regular seasons, there are not. But there's been games before where players have done it, right? In the past?

So, Elliot, yes. Great pull. For that, we're going to have to go back to January 15th, 1983. The New Jersey Devils are playing the Hartford Whalers. Now, two officials are Ron Fournier and Ron Asseltine were traveling from Boston to the game, but there was a snowstorm. So, and there was only one linesman there ron foit so what happens in that situation is one player from each team gets nominated to serve as linesman

foit became the referee those players were mickey vulcan of the hartford whalers and yeah someone that we've talked about a lot and pound for pound, one of the toughest ever. Gary Howitt? Gary Howitt, yes. No kidding. Gary Howitt. Well, that guy with no penalties. He committed a lot of them.

Well, that was like when Paul Stewart became an official. It's like, yeah, of course, too. He's going to be a referee. He's taken all the penalties before. Yeah, Gary Howitt and the New Jersey Devils and Mickey Vulcan of the Hartford Whalers back in 1983. So that is what happens. But in a regular, like New Jersey Devils, and Mickey Vulcan of the Hartford Whalers back in 1983. So that is what happens. But in a regular, like Elliott's bang on.

Like playoffs, there's always a backup. Regular season, no. And they just deputize one of the linesmen to be referee. I have a question for you. Okay. Let's just say there was a game. Two teams of Sportsnet employees were playing against each other. Okay. game two teams of sports net employees were playing against each other okay and you had to pick two sports net employees to referee two of them to be impartial and fair well would you pick

the default is ron mclean because he's done it no no ron i bet you ron would call like a whole bunch of terrible penalties i would not want ron in there okay um my first pick would be he's you know what he's done too much refereeing i'd be like no i want someone who's fresh uh i would my first choice would be jennifer botterill and you know and you know she'd be able to keep up as well uh with the skating which you know there's a lot of people i would say like okay yeah you can officiate but can you keep up botterill able to keep up as well with the skating, which there's a lot of people that would say, okay, yeah, you can officiate, but can you keep up? Botterill can clearly keep up.

I think for number two, who would be impartial and fair? You know what? And he has a hockey background as well, Kyle Bukowskis. Jen Botterill and Kyle Bukowskis would be my two choices. Who would yours be? Well, my first choice would be Carolyn Cameron. And, you know, what it says to me is that the fact that you named one of our female co-workers first and I named one of our female co-workers first is proof that we have phenomenal female co-workers and we work with a bunch of donkey men. That's what it says to me.

Fair. Both of us, both of us, you know, picked, you picked Jennifer first and I picked Carolyn first, but I would pick Carolyn first. And I,

I think my second pick would be Gary Galley. Really? Because if anybody lipped off to them, he would pound them into submission. So would Jamal Mayers. Yes, yes. He would do that too. Who else?

Those are good picks. So you got Jennifer and Kyle, and I got Carolyn and Gally. That's good. That's, that's a good, you notice who he left out deliberately. Kevin BX. Who's that? Kevin BX.

Oh, he could never. David Amber. Ken Reed. Like, no, no, no, no, no. No chance. No chance. No chance. No way.

Sean McKenzie. No, uh-uh. Day late, dollar short. No way. Not going to happen. Okay. Let's get to RJ from Clinton, New York, home of the historic Clinton Comets. Legendary minor league team there, by the way.

Yes, absolutely. So the question here from RJ. Jeff and Elliot, enjoy listening to you guys. Well done. I feel like I'm waiting for Elliot to try the fried pickles and be blown away that's right Elliot get on the pickles let's go okay Mark Stone was recently placed on injured reserve once again forgive me if you've covered this in the past

I'm intrigued by the details behind placing a player on injured reserve first of all if we've covered it before don't worry about it it's good to sort of refresh and there's always new people joining. So don't mind doing that at all. RJ, does the NHL watch reoccurrences like this and or flag them? Has a team ever gotten in trouble for meddling in order to make cap room prior to playoffs? How does the NHL handle these types of affairs, which raises eyebrows for many around the NHL, Elliot.

It's certainly, they certainly watch it a lot closer than they used to. It used to be very laissez-faire. And then, look, the team that really did it the first time was Chicago. When they won their last Stanley Cup in 2015, Patrick Kane got injured against Florida they went out and made some ads and I think one of them was Antoine Vermette and then Patrick Patrick Kane showed up game one of the playoffs in 2015 I think it was and they won the Stanley Cup and that was the one that really started to turn things around. And at the beginning, a lot of people credited Chicago for the strategy. I've mentioned to you many times, I would do the same thing if I could, 100 times out of 100.

But obviously, a couple of years ago, it really started to gain a lot of attention. And Vegas was the team that took a lot of criticism and Vegas had a wild year where guys were going in and out with really serious injuries remember what happened with their goalies like I don't know any of us had ever seen anything like that that happened with Vegas that year and then things just really started to, the intensity, it started to intensify. The league really started to get harder on it. You know, Shea Weber was another one. When it was reported that Shea Weber was shutting down after Montreal went to the Stanley Cup final,

some people got really upset and they accused Montreal of trying to play shenanigans especially with the expansion draft right so and the league was they got really tougher like they started making players get seen by doctors more I know there were a couple of times they made they made Weber report to see a team doctor and in season they do watch over it a lot more carefully look like this Mark Stone injury is a legit injury it's gonna I don't like all the Vegas Golden Knights have said is week to week but like I said the last pod if a lacerated spleen like that's serious stuff but but I will say this Vegas knows everybody's watching them. They've got Eichel back on a regular timeline. He's coming back soon.

Everybody freaks out. But as it stands right now, I don't think that's going to be anything to worry about at all for anybody. But I do think the league monitors this much more closely than they used to. And they force players to see doctors and things like that, just to make sure, like I know when, when that happened with Weber in Montreal, after they went to the final, you know,

they really grinded the Canadians about that and Weber about that particular situation. Excellent email. Thank you so much for that one, RJ from Clinton. Mike in San Jose. This is creative, Elliot. I think you'll appreciate the creativity here. Hi, guys.

Long-time listener, first-time emailer. With the trade deadline around the corner, I had a question about a tradable asset. Okay. Yep. Pay attention here. San Jose Sharks received a 2023 second-round pick from the Devils in the Timo Meier trade last year.

It also has a condition where the pick can become a 2023 first round pick if the Devils make the conference final this year. This got me thinking. Could a previously agreed to condition be traded? condition be traded for example if the new jersey devils wanted a player from the san jose sharks could they simply make the second round pick a guaranteed first round pick you can trade players picks future considerations you cannot trade coaches cash or a bag of pucks was not sure about this one thanks guys the answer is no um you like what you can do is you can guarantee a condition i know this has happened in the past where a team has had a conditional pick based on something they do and then they've wanted to make another trade with with that conditional pick and they've gone to the league and said we're

going to guarantee the condition like for example like this Bemstrom trade that just happened between Columbus and Pittsburgh basically if he scores a certain amount of goals it moves from a sixth round pick to a third round pick right I have seen situations where a team has that pick in limbo and says, we need this pick to make another deal. Can we guarantee the condition? And then so we can make this other deal that I have seen happen before. Like, for example one thing they could do is let's just say pittsburgh wants to make a trade with their sixth round pick and they go to columbus and they say look and the league we'd

like to guarantee you'll get the third rounder for bemstrom we need this sixth round pick for something else you can do that that you can do but you can't say oh it's a sixth or a third can we make it a fourth saw it off so we can do something else you can't do that creative marks for creativity there was there was a deal a few years ago and i don't remember it off the top of my head, where some team had a conditional trade and they needed the pick to do another trade. And so with that other team in the league, they guaranteed the condition and they used the pick that was now freed up to make another trade. That has happened before. Okay.

Full marks for creativity there so couple more here lucas from cleveland greetings from hockey hotbed cleveland ohio can't wait for expansion love the podcast as a fan of chaos as well as hockey i sometimes wonder what rule changes would look like in other sports for instance what if basketball allowed changes on the fly like hockey it got me wondering did hockey basketball allowed changes on the fly like hockey? It got me wondering, did hockey always allow changes on the fly? If not, when did it start? Were rosters ever smaller and players spent more time on the ice? It seems to me changing on the fly really adds to the speed of the game. And I wonder if that evolved over time with rule changes and roster

size expansion. If you're ever in cleveland we don't have montana's so make sure you check out the ribs at michael simon's mabel's barbecue elliott's so write that one down you've got a spot in cleveland well i have to say this like you go to places like kansas city you go to places like uh carolina there are great rib joints all around the U.S., all around the U.S. Like, I know that doesn't count for you because you're plant-meric, but for people who do eat meat, wherever city you go in, you have to find the hidden rib places. There are so many good ones around the United states in particular and canada so a couple of things on this one and i want to ask you a question first of all the pcha did this uh the old pacific league frank and lester patrick they were the innovators of it but as far as the nhl

goes this didn't changes on the fly didn't didn't start until 1927 28 that was year they had a lot of changes in the league uh where the team's change ends at the end of a period, the forward pass and the defensive and neutral zone. They standardized the three 20-minute periods. New nets came in, the ones that Art Ross designed. You got a penalty for deliberately shooting the puck out of play. So that's when it started in the NHL. Now, Elliot, here's one for you.

There was, after the 1974 stanley cup final philadelphia and boston that game six which was one nothing for philadelphia that game took over three hours to play and the nhl decided that's too long we need to shorten our game we need to shorten our game. We need to speed it up. So in 1974, 75, they tried this in exhibition, not in regular season. They came up with an exhibition. You could only change on the fly. When there's a whistle blown,

that's the group that goes to the dot. You only change on the fly as a way to speed up games. And actually, if my memory serves, there was one NHL exhibition game in that exhibition season that was under two hours because of this, only changing on the fly. Now, the NHL didn't adopt it for the regular season. The American Hockey League did. They tried it for one full season and then they ditched it. But what do you think of the idea of only being able to change on the fly as a way to shorten the games?

No, I'm not in favor of that. I think they've done a lot of really good things to shorten the games. Games now, I should check the times because a couple of years ago they were as short as they've ever been. the times because a couple of years ago they were as short as they've ever been i like you know basically now unless you're getting like a really long shootout everything is under two and a half hours how much shorter do you want it to be i'm just saying in the in the the the sports market right now where we live in a short attention span economy but also you want people to have value for their tickets right yes i think i don't know i i think it's a certain point i wouldn't do that i'm against that the reason that i'm against it isn't that my reason against it is

player safety because well there's that too if you don't let players change you to whistle you're leaving tired players on the ice and tired players equal injury that would be my i think also the also the the fewer amount of like skate blades you have flying around the bench is also better fair okay let's finish up with a voicemail. Sam in Carolina. I am a pest control operative, and I have had the privilege of servicing several of both current and former Carolina Hurricane players, and it's always fun interacting with them outside of their normal environment. My question is, what is your craziest interaction with a player or an executive completely outside and unrelated to the hockey environment? Thanks.

Good job, Jeff. Good job, Dom. By the way, Samuel. Which Carolina Hurricane player do you think has the worst pest control problem on the team? I don't know, but whoever it is, I can sympathize because I work in pest control. I've worked with you for how many years? That's very good. I wonder if this guy's ever served as Brent Burns' house.

Oh, with all the reptiles. Oh, for sure. That's got to be the one. No, don't touch that one. That's my pet. Oh, no, that's the one over there. What are you doing? No, leave that. No, that's Steve. be the one no don't touch that one that's my pet oh no that's the one over there what are you doing no leave that no that's steve no leave steve alone um i have one i have one person could really get into trouble at brent burns house brent burns his house my um i can't believe'm going to say this on the air. Here I go.

This would have been, well, it's with Sean Connery. So there used to be a bar in downtown Toronto called Bistro 990. And when the film festival was on. That was a big place. Yeah, we remember Bistro 990. Yeah, it was a good spot. Yeah. And so when the film festival was on in Toronto,

that was one of the places that could stay open until like, I don't know, like five o'clock in the morning or something like that. There's special dispensation for certain establishments when the film festival rolled through. So I was in there one night during the film festival and I go downstairs to have a squirt and Sean Connery pulls up next to me like it's like James Bond. And I'm like, holy smokes holy smoke and sure enough he's got like the scottland forever tattoo i'm like this is incredible and he does the you've done this move before where you've been overpoured and you're having a squirt and you put your head on the wall in front of you and he closed his eyes no it never happened whether he had fallen hadn't fallen asleep or not i'm like did sean Connery just fall asleep while having a squirt next to

me? So that was my big sort of out of business brush with fame or success that I will take to the crematorium with me one day. The other one is a hockey one. And it was me and my ex. This would have been around 2004, 2005. We were staying at a bed and breakfast on Niagara-on-the-Lake, a really lovely place called Davie House. It's a historic place. Really hard to get a room there too.

And so stayed there the first night, got up for breakfast and was having breakfast with the husband who owned the place. And we started talking and he's like, yeah, I recognize you from when i was doing the leafsland show with bill waters and he goes yeah i recognize your voice i listen to you and billy all the time you know i used to play professionally in toronto too and i looked i'm like you played for the maple leafs he says no i played with the toros was jeff jakes so jeff jakes was a draft pick in the NHL, the California Seals.

He played for the Toros for a couple of years, was with them when they went to Birmingham as well. And he goes, you'll appreciate this. And so we went for a walk up the stairs into his bedroom and in his closet, he had under wrappers in pristine condition, one blue and one white, one home and one road, Toronto Toros jersey, one blue and one white, one home and one road, Toronto Toros jersey. One of each. He goes, my kids are old enough. They're each getting one. And these things, Elliot, were gorgeous.

That's the one for me, meeting Jeff Jakes in Niagara-on-the-Lake. What do you got? Well, those are good ones. I have two two i think i've told one on the pod before and one i have not the one i think i have said in the pod before was uh i believe it was it was one of the stanley cup finals in dallas and we were flying out of dallas and uh i was sitting in my seat and uh on came to the plane came a very attractive woman who was trying to put her bag up in the overhead compartment and it just it was having a tough time was it so like no no no Jeff it was it was not fade down away but good guess on a fishing trip there well you know what fade down away very striking woman but anyway

it was not her anyway she was struggling to get her bag up and I got up out of my seat and I helped put the bag up and I sat back down and I have to tell you she turned to me and said thank you and it was the most naturally beautiful person I have ever seen before I was like wow and I sat back down and I was sitting next to an elderly woman. And she said to me, that was a really smooth move, but you have no chance with her. And I laughed and I said, well, you're probably right, but how do you know I have no chance with her? She goes, you don't know who that is? And I said, no, I don't know who that is. And I would say it was very early in her career. It was Jessica Simpson.

No way. And I remember the next month, she was on the cover of Maxim magazine. Like that's when she was really starting to hit it big. So that was one. And the other one, I will say, this is a kind of embarrassing story. I don't remember the year this was but we were doing a game in Montreal the story is sounding great I don't remember this but no I don't remember what game it was but we were doing a game in Montreal and Lisa Litvak who used to work at the

NHL and now does work with Spitting Chicklets she was the witness to this oh and so i was about to do a big interview i cannot remember for the life of me who it was but i thought it was the prime minister at the time paul martin but the time doesn't line up so i don't think it was that one but it was a big interview and my mind was on that and i was not thinking about anything else i was just like okay be prepared for this interview and this is what you're going to ask and i was i was going to the elevator and i said i was talking with lisa about this interview i was about to do and someone said to me you should you know you should interview who's here tonight and I said who he goes Russell no not fade away he said Russell Martin the catcher no way yes and he was with the Dodgers at the time he's a Montreal guy yes born in Montreal

wasn't he yes he was playing for the Dodgers at the time now I'm a big baseball fan I know who Russell Martin is but in that moment I was not thinking about Russell Martin I was thinking about my interview and so I go that would be great is he here tonight and the guy goes yes and I go do you know where he's sitting and he winked and i was like oh damn it i'm talking to russell martin and lisa laughed her head off she thought it was really funny i was like this is not fair i was thinking about my interview so i was clued out that i was talking to russell martin it was uh so those would be my two i would say i did i i think what there was one time at shark city which used to be a bar in Toronto oh by the fan

yeah Young and Eggly that's right I played pool once against Isaiah Thomas and got my ass kicked but that would be another one

that's good I like I like I like bewildered Elliot stories I like them yes and we also like

as you know I have tunnel vision so when I'm like that those things can happen to me his stories. I like those. Yes. And we also like As you know, I have tunnel vision. So when I'm like that, those things can happen to me. I have that experience with you often when you get those horse blinders on.

Trust me, I know. The Montana Style Line, Montana's Barbecue and Bar, Canada's home for barbecue. Back in a moment. Okay, welcome back to the podcast. 32 Thoughts presented as always by the GMC Sierra. And I don't know about you, Elliot,

still buzzing off that Patrick Kane overtime winner. That is clearly the story coming out of the weekend leading into this week. And also this is going to be an intriguing week around Winnipeg where the commissioner, Gary Bettman, will visit and will visit with sponsors. And we strongly suspect as well, remind Manitobans to buy your Winnipeg Jets tickets. You know, some people were saying, oh oh you know what they they do everything they can to save arizona they're not trying to save

winnipeg i don't think that's fair look he put the team back there he's fought very hard for canadian teams in the past um like i don't think one has anything to do with the other the only thing i'm not crazy about the timing of all of this in terms of how public it's been. Right now, look, on Sunday night, the Jets won again. They beat the Coyotes in overtime. If you look at the Jets in their division, they're not in first place,

but they have games in hand and they're 688 winning percentage. It's first in the Western Conference and it's second in the league, two points behind Florida. The only thing I don't like about this is that they're winning. Let the winning sell. they're having a great year

look there's a lot of things you can do you can you can make sure that you're treating your clients your fans properly you you can make sure you're having a good in-game experience you know we've talked about on this pod before how we love their social team they're very funny very creative i really like watching them hands are too there but but the number the number one thing that you need is you need a winning team now you still have to do all those things you have to make your clients happy you have to make your customers happy you have to make it so that when you go to a game, you're going to have fun. You're going to have a good time. All of that is important, but your number one thing is winning. And they are

winning this year. The players and the management and the coaches, they are holding up their end of the bargain. I just think you let that speak. You don't want to take away from the winning. Even though it's important to sell tickets, your best chance for selling tickets is you have a good team. And even though Bettman's coming in, you can make it private. You can say he's going to talk to our fans. He's going to talk to our season ticket holders. He's going to talk to our sponsors. I just think when you're winning, don't take away from that karma that's the only thing that's the only thing i don't like about the timing you have to take care of your business i recognize that but just let the w's speak because that's a good team and it's a fun team

to watch big week coming up for them as well. Gary Bettman is in town on Tuesday. The team takes on the St. Louis blues. The team also faces off against the Dallas stars on Thursday. Big one for the Winnipeg jets. Listen, wherever you're watching,

whomever you're watching, enjoy it. Podcast returns Friday morning as per usual. Have a great week.