32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Star Sighting In Vegas

Episode Date: September 17, 2022

The stars are out in Vegas for the Player Media Tour. Jeff and Elliotte catch up with Sidney Crosby (52:30), Nathan MacKinnon (20:00), Mathew Barzal (37:20) and Mark Scheifele (5:20).Check the guys on tour starting September 22nd to October 6th. Get your tickets at www.32tour.comSeptember 22nd - LondonSeptember 23rd - MarkhamSeptember 26th - KitchenerSeptember 27th - KingstonSeptember 29th - TrentonOctober 2nd - PeterboroughOctober 6th - HamiltonMusic Credit: Motel Radio - Heat WaveListen to the full single hereThis podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.Audio Credits: KKSE-FM, MSG and Sportsnet.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.

32tour.com 32tour.com 32tour.com 32tour.com Welcome once again to the podcast. Yes, indeed, it is 32 Thoughts America alongside Friedman. And I want to start with a couple of thank yous because I want to make sure that people are acknowledged properly and right out of the gate. Nick Andrade, who did excellent camera work for us over the past couple of days nick who's smiling and bobbleheading right beside me and now giggling thank you very much excellent work uh unlike my colleague you are very punctual and professional so nick well

yeah i'm all you shouldn't you should be more punctual and professional we'll get to amal in a second uh luke fox who is is here taking notes and banging out stories. Wait, so we're thanking Lou Fox? He didn't even do anything. He just sat there the whole time. No, man. He listened to all the interviews that we did, and he got content out quick. Please, he should be thanking us.

And he's a good guy to hang around with. And Amel. Now, we are loathe to give praise, but well done, Amel Delic. Well done. This was a good event all together this is really good the nhl nhlpa players tour normally this event takes place in chicago moved to vegas this season we were in europe a couple of well about a month ago i suppose it was for uh for the uh the european version of this but this was good like it's always the beginning of the year where everybody's in a good mood because the beginning of the year where everybody's in a good mood because the beginning of the year, no one's played a game. Everybody's optimistic. Everybody has a chance or thinks they

have a chance. And they don't hate the media yet. They don't hate the media yet. We haven't said anything slanderous or offensive about anybody's skill or anybody's team. We're going to hear from four different hockey players today, Frege, and we'll go in reverse order. We're going to hear from Sidney Crosby. We've all talked to Sidney Crosby plenty of times. You've interviewed him numerous times, sometimes on the ice. Usually in a setting like this,

we have more of a more in-depth, longer conversation. Where do you see Sidney Crosby right now in his career? The band is back together in Pittsburgh. Letang is back. Malkin is back. Rust is back. They're running this thing back you know the tang is back malkin is back rust is back they're running this thing back taking a few more swings at the pinata with with sydney crosby in the mix where do you think sid's at right now you know i don't want to really talk too long because it's

going to be a long podcast i want everyone to get to the interviews one thought on each guy i just think the thing is is that you know he probably won't like to hear this. I find him as very much like a really wizened elder statesman. Everything he says now, it just seems so smart. I'm always looking at him now and saying, okay, there's the obvious of what he's talking about here, and then there's also like he's almost trying to hint something to hint something to you right so i'm also trying to figure that out too the thing that's interesting to me about crosby as we tape this i don't know that it happened but he made a request to meet a comedian here who's got a residency in vegas uh sebastian maniscalco who i think is hilarious like if

you've ever heard the bit you've never heard the bit where he talks about how he got introduced to his wife. It's, it's fantastic. And Crosby was asked to meet him and I think they were working on getting it done. So another reason I like Crosby. Big personality,

Matthew Barzell, New York Islander. I think we're going to be seeing a lot, a lot more of him as a face of the league over the next few years. That's one of those guys you look at and you say, skill set, check, superstar superstar he's got it all um and nathan mckinnon now finally has a stanley cup you'll hear from nathan mckinnon in a couple of moments here on the podcast but i guess the big question about him is not if but when does the new deal get done i think colorado tried to get still a very big number in the double digits.

I'm guessing probably around 11 was thrown around earlier in the summer. I think it's going to be higher than that. Look, I think that one gets done. I think everybody understands that he's got to stay and they've got to keep him. And it sounds like they're trying to get this done before the start of the season. So we all woke up this morning to the news that Blake Wheeler is no longer the captain of the Winnipeg Jets.

That was the big story of the day, not just here, but all around all hockey circles. And fortuitous that our second interview of the day is the first interview of this podcast, and that is with Mark Scheifele. I think when we do our next podcast, we'll talk about it. I think it's more fair for people to

hear from shifley in this full interview first and then we can wrap our heads around it i do think that a lot of what's going on in winnipeg is new coach new era and if you're going to change one thing you might as well kind of change everything and that's the way that the jets i think are looking at it you know it's going to be interesting. Wheeler and Shifley were tight for a very long time. They ran that room. It's going to be interesting to see how it shakes out and how it changes the dynamics, if at all, of that room because I can't see, like Wheeler's wired a certain way.

I can't see Jeff making him any less demanding of himself or others. No, I don't think that'll change at all. So here he is to kick off the podcast, Mark Schaefeli of the Winnipeg Jets on 32 Thoughts to Pod. Mark Schaefeli of the Winnipeg Jets joining us now here on 32 Thoughts to Podcast. Mark, thanks so much as always for stopping by. The big story of the day we'll get right to it blake wheeler and the captaincy did this catch you by surprise at all you have an initial thought on it um yeah it definitely caught me by surprise i know you know blake talked to me right before leaving for leaving for vegas and kind of just i was pretty much like walking out the door and he kind of gave me the thought. And then actually Rick Bonas called me this morning just to tell me, you know, before,

you know, hearing it from, you know, in the media or whatever. So definitely, yeah, I was, I was definitely shocked. You know, I didn't see it coming. You know, I think right now it's just, you know, obviously, you know, Blake's a really good friend of mine and just want to be there for him and for the team. And, you know, when I get back to Winnipeg, obviously, we have a bit of a team weekend this weekend, which would be good to, you know, get together as a team. So, you know, just want to talk to the guys and, you know, just kind of get their thoughts and see how they're feeling. And, you know, we all got to work through this together.

And we're all here for Blake and we're all here for the team. So, you know, obviously that's a team decision and we'll go from there. Was there any part of you that said to Bonus or thought about saying to Bonus you know i'd like to be captain or something like that if it's not going to be blake i'd like it to be me no i didn't say anything like that i think you know first of all i have so much respect for blake you know he's been the captain for this team for you know for pretty much my whole career um you know he's been a guy that i've looked up to that i've learned a lot from that i've that i've grown with you know over my you know 10 years in winnipeg so you know, he's been a guy that I've looked up to that I've learned a lot from that I've, that I've grown with, you know, over my, you know, 10 years in, in Winnipeg. So, you know, you know, I, I, I wouldn't want that.

You know, I think, you know, Blake's been this leader, the leader of this team for so long. And, you know, I, I, I definitely didn't say that. I was just wondering if you'd want to do it. Like you would say, you know, Hey, if you're looking for someone, I would like to do that role or anything like that. I definitely look at, I look at myself as a leader. I think we have a lot of leaders on our team.

I think me and Josh, obviously the A's on the team. Obviously, we're younger. We have a little bit different of a voice. So I think this gives us the opportunity for other guys to step in. But I think it's not just going to be one or two guys. I think it has to be a collective. It has to be multiples of us. We have the Nikolai Ehlers, the Kyle Connors, Connor Hellebuck, Adam Lowry.

We have so many guys on this team that have big voices. And I think we all have to do it together. It's not a matter of one guy. It's a matter of everyone doing it together and everyone being on the same page. And I think that's how this team is going to have to be led. What did you think the summer was going to be like for Winnipeg? I think a lot of us went into the summer thinking, okay, let's see what Winnipeg is going to do here. What did you think? I think I was the same boat as you guys. I was kind of, I was, I was kind of,

I was kind of, you know, watching as a fan too. Like, you know, what, what are we, what are, what I know exactly. I was kind of, I was kind of wondering what's going to happen as well. So, you know, I think, you know, every day, you know, especially during free agency and all that stuff. And then, you know, you see other teams making trades or, you know, making big moves and you're kind of, you're, you're, you're unsure, you know, when it's not, when it's not your job, you're, you have, you have really, you have really no idea, you know, what's going to happen. So, you know, I kind of leave that, uh, you know, leave that to Chevy and just kind of, you know, bite my tongue and try to get better as a hockey player and go from there. How was your summer?

It was awesome. I had a great summer. I changed up a few things in my regime, you know, started working with a new trainer in Michigan. So it was nice to actually, you know, it sucks to have a long summer in our hockey world. But, you know, for me personally, getting a good four months of training with a new trainer and understanding the movements and, you know it sucks to have a long summer in in our hockey world but um you know for me personally getting a good four months of training with a new trainer and understanding the movements and you know what they expect from me it was it was actually nice to have have a longer summer of working out and training and and getting my body back to back to where i wanted to be i was kind of in limbo the last couple years i was kind of you know wasn't sure what to do kind of do it you know with covid too you it was a lot of things you weren't able to go to a gym you weren't able to do certain things so um it was nice to you know, wasn't sure what to do, kind of do it, you know, with COVID too. It was a lot of things. You weren't able to go to a gym.

You weren't able to do certain things. So it was nice to, you know, kind of have a new change there and skated with Otsi a lot, you know, played a lot of golf, you know, enjoyed a lot of family time, and, you know, I had a great summer. When you left last year, I think there were a lot of people wondering, was that going to be the end of Mark Scheifele in Winnipeg? You had a very emotional and passionate media conference. I think I just have to know,

I just have to understand where this team's going. You know, I'm in the prime of my career. You know, I still, you know, I still like, I still have so much to improve on too. And I like where my game's at. I like the physical nature that my body's at, and I think I'm only improving. I'm only getting better. I'm only going to be a better player next year than I was this year,

and I just have to know where this team's going and what the direction is and what the changes are going to be if if any and um you know i have to think about my career and my you know what's going to be best for me and i think those are going to be i'm going to have you know talk to my agents and and everyone in my family and stuff like that and figure out what what i really want and so it'll be a tough talk tomorrow i think a lot of us took that to mean that maybe you wanted to go elsewhere. I looked into it. I was told that you never asked for a trade and that you had some pretty honest heart to heart talks with your,

with Chevy and maybe even ownership too, about how you felt about things were going and how they felt about things were going. Can you talk a little bit about that process, Mark? Cause I do think there was a time there where a lot of us wondered if maybe you wanted a fresh start. I was obviously very frustrated with the year

and the way things panned out during the year. So I was very honest at the end of the year. Maybe a little too honest in terms of talking to the media. Usually I'm a little more closed off. So maybe- You know what? Don't do that.

Because you can't, like that's one thing I think about. We can't get upset at people for talking in cliches and then get upset when they talk honestly so i will always take b as opposed to the cliche so don't change that okay okay but yeah so that that was i was i was very honest and i was you know i was frustrated with the year so you know obviously when you know anger and emotion gets you then it's you know it's something that uh you know gets you fired up but yeah i had a you know, obviously when, you know, anger and emotion gets you, then it's, you know, it's something that, you know, gets you fired up. But yeah, I had a, you know, I think I was, you know, with the, with Chevy and Zinger and Larry for like two hours for my exit meeting and, you know, gave my thoughts.

I'm not going to go into it. You know, I, you know, I respect the confidentiality of that with, with Chevy and, you know, but we talked for two hours. It was a lot, a lot of, you know, diving into deep things and me giving, me giving my thoughts and, and, and him giving his thoughts as well. So it was a long, long conversation. And I know, you know, a lot of people thought I, I know I even had buddies are like, are you getting traded? Like what, like what's going on here too? So I like, yeah, I never asked for a trade. You know, I just wanted to, you know, get to the nitty gritty. I want to, I want to win. I, you know, I feel like I'm in the prime of my career and I want to you know I want to be a part of a winning team and you know I feel

like we have a lot of great pieces in Winnipeg and I wanted to know I wanted to get the I wanted to get an understanding from the organization of you know where they saw this team and where in you know where they where they saw me and you know how I saw myself and you know I know I got criticized you know for my comments for being selfish or whatever but I think they that just kind of got over overblown I was just I was just showing how much I care about the game of hockey how much I care about the the Winnipeg Jets organization how much I care about wanting to to bring a winning team to Winnipeg and I think you know wires got crossed and you know I just you know I want obviously everyone to know how much I care about the game

and how much I love this game and respect this game and how much I respect the Winnipeg Jets organization to want to bring a winning team to Winnipeg. I really love people that are obsessed. I know a lot of common wisdom is, oh, you need to have balance in your life. When you want something, like part of you has to become obsessed, completely.

The thing that we all know about you is you're the 24 seven hockey guy. Like there's that obsession there. Then there's Adam Oates. And we've talked a lot about Adam Oates here on this podcast. We talked to you about Adam Oates before when it comes to obsession about hockey, does he out Shifley Mark Shifley? Oh yeah, he definitely, he definitely, he definitely beats me in that, in that category he

you know he's he's he's 24 7 he's always thinking about a new way to help his players you know he's always watching video i think that's the one thing that no one understands is how much video he watches like he's a guy that wakes up at 5 a.m every single day pretty much and you know take his dogs for a walk and then it's pretty much on the computer watching you know watching games i was with him a couple weeks ago and he was gonna watch a couple games and we were just like we were just hanging out um before dinner he's like gonna watch a couple games we watched we ended up watching three of my games and it was just it was just awesome like he just and it was games that we've watched before that he sent me clips before but he's like i'll pick he oh he's

like i'll pick out a few more things and he just he loves the game he wants his players to get so much better like he is so invested in in the more things. And he just, he loves the game. He wants his players to get so much better. Like he is so invested in the players that he works with and all he wants is the best for them. He wants them to succeed. He wants their teams to succeed. Like he loves the game and he loves bettering his players and improving their players

and giving them a better hockey life, giving them a better life in general. And he definitely out-obsesses me. What did you work on this summer? I'd say it was a lot more simple things. You know, he looks at the game very differently than, than a lot of people, you know, he talks, you know, especially he was a centerman, you know, he understands that, you know, centerman play pretty much four corners, you know, which a lot of people don't really think about, you know, you have to be able to play

both corners in the D zone. He had to play both corners in the, in the O zone. And, you know, it was a lot of simple plays being able to get in and out and corners in the O zone. And, you know, it was a lot of simple plays, being able to get in and out and being in the right position defensively and offensively in all those areas and thinking how many times you get into these, you know, little battles in every corner and how many of those add up. And I think it was a lot more

almost like dumbing it down and doing the simple things and making sure that you don't make those mistakes, you know, in those simple situations and not taking those for granted because you know those simple plays can lead to a lot of offense they can lead to you know better defensive zone plays they can lead to kind of good things all over the ice and i think that's something that i that i love about it because it's something you don't think about when you watch your video it's something you don't think about is the little battles you know was i was i in the right position did i go into this guy correctly?

And I think that's what I love about Otzi is that he thinks about all those little things that you kind of will overlook. How have your conversations been with Rick Bonas? What are you expecting to be different? Yeah, they've kind of been just kind of simple stuff, not really any hockey stuff yet. I think I'm sure that'll come once we start playing or, you know, training camp comes around, but kind of just, you know, simple stuff, you know, talking about, you know, how are the guys in the room?

How are the, you know, how are things last year? You know, what things would you like to see differently? You know, I, I, I love it because he seems like such a great communicator. One day you just, I was on the golf course. He called me and just said, Hey, you want to check in? How are you doing? Like, you know, how's your son? How much has your training been doing? I was like, I haven't had that in my entire career to have a, have a, have a coach call me and be like, Hey, like how's life? You know, what, what are you up to? What have you been working on? And you know, that's been really nice. And I've, I've, I've heard absolutely amazing things from him. OC played for him back in the day and raved about him.

I think every guy that's played for him was like, this guy's not just a great coach, but he's a great human being. And I think that's something that I've really respected from him and excited to learn from him and get to know him more. So when he asked you, like, what's the room like and what happened last year? Like, what kinds of things did you tell him?

Well, that's the thing is I think that a lot of people thought there was problems in our room when we actually have a really a really tight-knit room you know i i i know even talking to you know guys that you know either got either got traded or gone this year and they're like i felt like i could go to dinner with every single guy in this team which you know isn't always the case you know we just had we had a really tight-knit team and you know i just don't think we knew what our direction was last year you know obviously we had a coach leave we kind of systems wise weren't really we knew what our direction was last year. You know, obviously we had a coach leave. We kind of systems wise, we weren't really sure exactly what was, what was going on and what

we were trying to accomplish and why we were trying to accomplish it. And it looked messy last year. There's times where, you know, our, our team looked messy and disorganized and unsure about what we were doing. And, and I think everyone's looking forward to this fresh start of, of understanding, you know, what our system is, why are we doing this in the D zone? Why are we doing this in neutral zone? And when you understand that about your system, I feel like you get like a, you, you learn about it more. You have a deeper appreciation for, you know, why you're doing it. And then you're able to, you're able to do it, you know, at a better clip because you understand why you're doing it. So I think a lot of guys are excited for that fresh start in terms of, in terms of structure and understanding what we're what's expected from from the coaches let me ask you about that a

little bit deeper that's interesting too because i can uh i can recall a conversation a couple of conversations i had about tyler sagan when bonus had him in dallas and on the power play like bonus took over and all of a sudden sagan's in a different spot and we talk about you know the four corners that the centerman plays in and all the responsibilities that a sentiment has. And I looked at it and the Dallas power plan. I said, I've never seen Sagan there before. And, uh, and call a couple of people and say, Oh, that's a bonus thing. That's like, he wasn't there with Montgomery or Hitchcock.

That's Rick bonus. That's what I'm kind of excited about. I'm excited to have those conversations. And, and you know, know one one thing that that bones actually did say was you know i don't know what the problem is until i actually find out so i'm going to ask you a lot of questions you know if you're if you know if something if you feel like something's off or if i feel like something's off i'm going to have the conversation with you which i which i love like i love talking the game i love talking about you know what he's thinking what his perspective is because you know maybe i give him a different perspective and maybe he gives me a different perspective. And that's how teams grow.

That's how all of our knowledge grows is by having those conversations. He said, we're not always going to agree, but I always want to have the conversation with you. I respect that huge because, yeah, we don't have to agree on everything. But as long as we're on the same page, that's all that matters. And I think I really respect it about him. So I'm excited to have those conversations with him and understand what he expects from me, what he sees in my game, what he sees for our team and what he sees for me personally.

And I think having a guy as seasoned as he is and all the guys he's coached, all the experience he has to learn from a guy like that is really exciting for a guy like me. Last one for me is you watch everything. Of all the moves that happened this offseason, what was the one that got you the most? It's got to be the Manny Kachuk one. You know, obviously I don't think anyone saw that coming.

You know, that blockbuster of a deal from Florida and Calgary, like that was a pretty wild trade. So I like that one, that one, that one. I think that that shocked me and I think it shocked the entire league. You get a misplan against them? Nope.

Thanks so much for this, Mark. No, thank you guys. Stanley cup champion, Nathan McKinnon. So almost exactly a year ago today, uh,

the three of us were sitting in a room in Chicago, and we were talking about you, and we were talking about things you've done in the game. And I don't know if you stopped us midway, but you wanted to go out of your way to make the point that, hold on, guys, I haven't done anything yet. And you went on and you talked about what Sid's done and the trophies and the cup and all that kind of stuff.

How do you feel now? Yeah, I was thinking about that too. Last year was all about what happened against Vegas. You guys choked and all that stuff, and now it's all positive this year. Things have changed. But yeah, it feels good. I probably thought I'd feel more satisfied after winning a cup,

and people are asking me oh like are you gonna chill out now nate and i'm like no i feel the same i gotta tell you that was my that was my number one question was because i thought the same thing jeff did i was wondering if you were too driven to be satisfied and i think you just answered the question yeah i i just think you just want the feeling again it It's so special to win it. And I'm so proud of our group and what we did. And I guess satisfied isn't the right word. I'm just happy that every year you're thinking,

oh, I don't know if I'll ever get one. I'll never get one. I can't retire without getting one. But you see some legends that have never won it and you feel so lucky to have won it and it's an amazing feeling what was the most satisfying thing whether it was in the moment or after or sometime during the summer what was the most satisfying thing just the you know losing and bouncing back is is the most satisfying thing you're just so low just for instance the the

game five loss against st louis when we blew a three nothing lead it's a second round demons you know around our team it's a lot going on and that's a tough game to lose and then we have to go to into st louis to win game six and we and we dominated the game and i truly think like it was crazy goals how they won it. And I'm not like a huge spiritual guy, but it was almost like it was setting us up for Game 6 in Tampa, losing Game 5 in the finals. It was just a tough day, a heavy day. It was a lot of pressure.

And Cup was in the building. It was our first time in that situation. But, yeah, I think it kind of set us up. And maybe if we won game five against st louis we wouldn't have had that proper experience going through that already in that postseason so athletes sort of come to this realization later on once the career is done and they look back and that is appreciating losing and it makes winning more profound and there's more of a gravity around winning when you've gone through, as you mentioned,

whether it was against Vegas, for example. Are you at the point where you can appreciate having lost before winning? Yeah, totally. I totally can. I think you have to, in our situation at least. And me and Gabe Lanniscott were talking, just looking back and we thought we were ready to win and we

had no idea we had no clue like 17 18 18 19 against calgary and san jose like we're like oh yeah this is the year yeah it was never that year that's for sure we were young you know we're still a pretty young team our core is all in our 20s mid-20s kills 23 24 so a lot of good years ahead of us still and but yeah all that experience all that losing all those uh hardships um how we handled things then versus now i think that's what life's all about just growing so all right there is a piece of business we've got to deal with here, and that is your future. You've got one more year on your contract. I've heard that it's possible you could end up

as the highest-paid player in the league. Will you end up as the highest-paid player in the league? You have to ask Pat. I don't know. I'm hoping we'll get it done pretty soon and colorado's the only place i want to be that's for sure so love joe and c mac those guys are great it's just you know a little business but sorry not to answer your question but i'm not gonna answer that question i'm not gonna answer you but what you're saying to me is there's nothing to worry about here. Like this is on the path to getting done.

Yeah, totally. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. No, I mean myself, Pat,

the team, we all have good intentions. There's no bad blood or anything. It's just, it's been a longer process than I thought, I guess. Um, my head,

it's like, Oh, first day I'm eligible. It'll be done, you know, but things that work like that, I guess. Um, but it's okay. I think, uh, it should be done shortly. I'm hoping, oh, first day I'm eligible, it'll be done. But things don't work like that, I guess. But it's okay.

I think it should be done shortly, I'm hoping. That's my goal. If not, I guess I'm feeling good. So whatever happens, happens. Okay, let's lighten it up. Was Sidney Crosby the drunkest person at your Stanley Cup party? No, but he had a good time, though. So I'll put him in the top 10.

You going to tell us who wore the lampshade uh gabe gabe fell asleep at my at my party so you wake up with writing on his face okay we took it easy on him uh at at what point because listen like what a marvelous season stanley cup like and that stanley cup final was great by the way that was a from our purchase great cup final watch man that was so much fun at what point this summer did you say okay that was then and then we have another season coming up not yet i don't think like i'm i'm hungry for more but yeah i just think you know you text the boys or talk to them now you see them in denver like you know we've all watched the final game like three or four times and start to finish and just the build-up to it like if they lose this game they go back for game seven then

i like seeing like the behind the scenes stuff you see what john cooper's saying about us and how we're getting tied and it's just awesome i just i just love to see that and i love coop i love i played for met worlds like i think he's a amazing guy amazing coach but it's just fun to see him say those things just like like come on coop we're that tight but he was right he honestly was right was he game five he was right yeah he was saying these guys are tight and he could feel it and see it and yeah he was right we were tight so was there anything else when you went back and you watched that really stood out the one thing was like we didn't really say much when the cameras were in the in the room um they come in at like nine on the clock and we

were just kind of all shut up then you know we didn't want to like i don't know it's just kind of phony just kind of stand up in front of the room when the camera comes in and give a motivational speech none of us really liked that so we were wondering like oh like the mood looked bad in the room like in game six i remember i did a podcast back home called high button yeah give a little shout out absolutely yeah um so i did a podcast with them in halifax and he was like oh like you know the mood looked really bad and you know down one nothing you had an ice bag on your neck and but i was just like no we felt amazing like we knew we were going to win that game like we liked playing from behind that whole series and i think we had 10 comeback wins

we just felt looser down we just kind of played aggressive and freer it was it was weird when we got up we got a little tight and tried to preserve the lead versus attack and be aggressive and play our game. We enjoyed being down in game six. We were down 1-0. I think the first shift into the game. Yeah, we were good. Sometimes there's a moment in the series where a team can feel, okay, we've got them.

Now we know we have them. Did you ever feel that way against Tampa? No, no. They're a weird team to play. They played like a one, three, one in the neutral zone, like kind of tight.

And they'll let you have possession with the puck, but they block everything. Like their, their D are so big. And then you have fast Lask in the net when you do get one through. So it's just a hard, and they don't go away. I think they're such a resilient group.

And maybe we underestimated that a little bit going into game three you know beat them seven nothing in game two and we're just feeling it you know we're like oh yeah like here we go and then we lost six two so you know then you're like oh god this could be two two really quickly if we don't win game four and yeah the naz comes back obviously scores that ot winner yeah charge the other way leckman just off the bench quickly ahead now some cadre inside the circle cadre where's the puck how did that not go in it did it did go in it did it did he scores nazim cadre the cadre man! I didn't see it, but they did! I don't believe it!

Kadri into the lineup. He gets the overtime winner. And you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here because this party is over! Kadri with a move towards the net. Nobody in the world including yours truly knew that it went in

underneath the arm of Vasilevsky it sticks in the top of the net it sticks in the top of the net it's top shelf that was a special moment I think in hockey history in my opinion you know he's got his half his thumb still cracked and displaced

and he comes back and makes a great move and the offside thing and it was like you said it was a fun series i think uh you know we try to just stay locked into it and not get caught up in the media stuff but you could definitely tell there was a buzz around there let me ask you about the the uh the offside thing was it an offside thing or an onside thing? It's really close. He's trying to get out. He's doing everything he can. Woodcroft's going to challenge immediately. They were looking down at that video camera that's on the ice

or the video screen that's on the ice. After Coach's challenge for offside, it's determined that the play was onside. Therefore, we have a good goal wow i love being wrong i i mean i've made a career out of being wrong that is i have i mean well i was the guy on the ice i know and holy smokes i remember i was just so tired when i

was changing and i knew we were doing a quick up and for some reason i could have just went left and jumped over the boards but the bench was like a little bit offside like the door like in san jose in san jose when gabe went offside yes so i didn't want to change i just stood there and i was just thinking i can't go offside and paused to jump a little early uh but yeah it's the i guess it's the not our fault we didn't get called and i'm sure they'd take that goal too so what was the best text or call you got after you won like in the aftermath there's always people who reach out to you i didn't know yeah yeah like was there one he said wow like that's peyton manning came to our little cup celebration in denver uh which was amazing

uh are you gonna go on the manning cast uh no i hope they invite me you should uh wayne gretzky he he texts me quite a bit actually during the playoffs which was pretty cool uh does he give you tips or anything like that or what does he do he just compliments me i'm just like thanks wayne like mr gretzky you know it's crazy like you see wayne gretzky pop up on your phone i'm like well is that is that actually real you know he's such a nice person i'd say those two i don't there was so many you know it's like remember i sat down i had like anxiety not answering people. So I sat down one day. It took me a couple hours, and I answered everybody. How many messages was it?

I had a few hundred, I think. I think Eric Johnson had a couple thousand. I'm like, dude, you know way too many people. You're going to stop giving out your number. Jared Bednar, your head coach. I mean, a winner at every level. I have a lot of time for someone that spent as much time both as a player and as a coach in the ECHL and was probably given a lot of reasons and opportunities to quit and never took it.

Really, I was happy for a lot of people on you. I was happy for you. I was happy for a lot of people within the Avs. And he becomes one of the most decorated coaches of all time at various hockey levels echl ahl and now nhl what was he like during the playoffs what was he like during the tampa series he was great benzie's a really chill guy which is good for my relationship i think as with a coach i'm not so chill sometimes and he's super relaxed we've heard so i'll get all fired up and

he's like it's okay you know he's just like he's like a surfer guy you know he's just like it's okay but he does get really fiery too like when he has to which which i think is great he doesn't come in every day like the same he picks his spots and he reads the room and he has such a good relationship with the players and stuff and and it's always been like that it wasn't just because we won now it's like looser like he's just the same all the time which is nice from a coach like you don't want your coach being different every day or not saying hi to you in the hallways and guys are guys get in their head about that so but yeah like you said i mean he he grinded like he was playing in the coast and won as a coach in the A.

He's earned everything he's gotten. It wasn't like he played for 20 years in the NHL and then just got a job. No, it's like 20 years on the coast, player, coach. Yeah. I think those are the best coaches. Even Cooper, he didn't play. I don't know.

When you just love coaching, it's all you want to do your whole life. I think those are the best ones. I know you watch a lot of news and stuff to see what's going on out there on your road to repeating this year was there one move that happened in the summer that you said that's going to be interesting in terms of our goal to repeat another teammate or even you guys made well the obvious one is calgary naz going to to Calgary. He texted our group chat. He's like, I don't give any deals on the ice. That was like the end of the text, though.

He's like, love you guys, whatever, all that stuff. He's like, I don't give any deals. And then he left the chat, which was pretty fitting for Nas. So you're getting a stick up the nose this year. Oh, yeah, probably, yeah. But it's fine. I think that'll be a tough one. But I think even our divisions is a grind with Minnie, St. Louis, Nashville, Winnipeg, I think Dallas.

It's a grind. It's heavy hockey, obviously, and then the Pacific is really good too. So I think the West is stronger than it was last year in general. I guess the last thing I want to ask is we joked about crosby before obviously you guys have an incredible relationship now you guys are i know you wouldn't like the term equals but you've both won and i wondered when you guys skated together and you guys talked together this off season did it change at all because you now both have the same feeling of that great win i just think we can like talk about it more i think it's kind of awkward to talk about it with someone who hasn't won you

don't want to like feel like you're you know bragging or anything and i think that's how he is he didn't want to like but i think just comparing the similarities between team culture you know what kind of recipe you have to have to win like how the mood is and everything so it's cool to talk to him about that now for sure i get to kind of pick his brain a little bit more but yeah you're on this sacred thing forever now and that's what's so cool seeing all these names that you're affiliated with i think that's the most special thing all the best players ever on that on that trophy and and now we get to be on it too so it's pretty cool well jeff nathan smiled 78 times during

this interview with breaks his previous record by i think 78 so congratulations nathan all your success all right thanks guys appreciate it okay so that's nathan mckinnon of the Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche. On a scale of 1 to 10, Elliot, how surprised were you to see him A, smile, and B, laugh? He smiled a lot. That's weird. He smiled about 78 times, breaking his previous record by 77.

Anyway, he's a happy guy. He finally got his cup. But, you know, I think that once the season starts, my guess is he reverts back to sneering, angry, grinding Nathan McCann. Agreed. Coming up after the break, you'll hear from Sidney Crosby, but up next, Matthew Barzal of the New York Islanders.

Aaron, you're obviously still big into the style, eh? Yeah, I mean like i like just dressing nice yeah no yeah i think it's fantastic like i think it's great i didn't realize the boots are styling it i mean they look a little oh those are chelsea boots right yeah these are these are margelle love boots oh excuse me elliot elliot come on man elliot like wake up that was so five minutes ago Elliot I know I know geez Kimber what's happened to this guy in three years man turned his back on BC he's all about the fashion now the big apple got a hold of Matt Barzal

uh Matthew Barzal first question how was the summer and where were you summer was great was in long island for most of it uh played a ton of golf went back home for a month when i saw my family but uh weather in vancouver was a little bit so so so i was i just i need i need the sunshine and in new york is good about that in the summer we had a good summer in new york a lot of golf four or five days a week we got our, I know that's a lot of golf, man. It was fun. It was good. Right out of the rink, go play some golf and relax for the night. It was a good schedule. Wait a second. Wait a second. Relax for the night? This is the only part of the story I don't believe so far. No, no, no. That's it, Elliot. Come on. It's an easy night. Cook some

dinner, watch some sports. That's it, man. So I have a bunch of friends who grew up on the West Coast. And whenever a west coaster becomes an east coaster it's very devastating for them are you a bc guy now a new yorker okay so i think i still bring that canadian bc blood but it's floating around new york right now i feel like i got the go play golf in the afternoon go for a nice italian dinner at night you know what i mean like i feel like it's come full circle. I got a little bit of both now. So I feel like two worlds are going to collide,

having Vancouver and New York. That's a good combo. So are you 50-50? Are you 60-40 east? I think I'm tilting New York. I think I'm tilting a little New York. 51-49 maybe. 60-40.

This is music to the ears of the Islander fans, man. This is music to the ears of the out there fans man this is music to the ears of the out there fans no i love it out there i mean i i think it's underrated it doesn't get talked about enough how uh the lifestyle that you can live in in long island and uh being in new york you just have so much around you i was at the michael jackson broadway show last week playing top 10 course in in United States the next day. It's like you can do so many things in New York. There's so much. You know, you've got the nice beaches.

You got, I was in Martha's Vineyard for a few days, a little two-hour drive up there. You've got the Hamptons. There's so much to do. You're loving life right now. Like, I'm listening to you talk, and it's like everything about the summer. I should throw in that our practice is so good. We have the ice every day.

We do. We have full access to a beautiful gym. I should throw that in, practice facility, we have the ice every day. We do. We have full access to a beautiful gym. I should throw that in. Right, right. Man, this is a tough day for the people of British Columbia. Matthew Barzell is an East Coaster. I know. They only got me probably for another two, three summers.

Then it's full time. Then it's everyone, all my buddies from back home, they got to come out to New York if they want to see me. So, you know, you've heard it here first matthew barzell career islander right i mean if things go well i'd love to play my career on long island i'd take a lot of pride and then that i think a couple of my favorite athletes of all time michael jordan sydney crosby i mean tom brady's in in tamp now, but he was with New England for so long. That's just, I think, a really cool thing when you can see him in Malkin re-sign back in Pittsburgh this summer.

It was so cool to see Gino, Sid, those guys stay their whole career in Pittsburgh. So that's something I hope I can do. This was a really – and I want to focus on sort of the off-ice and the Islanders alumni more than anything else. This was a really and and i want to focus on sort of the the off ice and the islanders alumni more than anything else this was a tough year for that franchise whether it's the passing of clark gillies the passing of mike like this was a this was a really the alumni with the islanders is really strong those guys love each other you know when you win stanley cups like you know the old fred sheer align when tonight we walk walk together forever. There is that bond.

How much do you feel that at your level? That's a really great group of alumni. Like, does that vibe trickle down to your team? Oh, it does for sure. It does for sure. I think even with our playoff runs, it was like being in the bubble together. I'm so close with everyone on my team and taking that next step and winning. Then it's really like that's another level to to your guys to the relationship um but yeah i

mean what awful timing with clark and with mike bossy this year was those guys were there for um john tinelli's induction and butch goring's induction seeing them kind of sit around each other and tell stories and just kind of laugh and what it's been almost 50 40 years now since they won and it seems like they're all they still got that laughter they're still telling stories about back in the day and laughing and stuff so that's cool to see like hopefully i can you know have that bond i you know we won a championship in junior it's like texting those guys every other day still it's like 10 guys in a group chat we play fantasy football it's like when you win and that kind of stuff because online like our team right now we already have an unbelievable group of guys like we're all so tight so I think

I think that's step one and then when you win it like it's just makes it feel that much better did you win week one fantasy or no I went one in three I'm a I'm a man you're four teams yeah I'm a I'm a GM yeah I'm a serious GM, man. What's the worst fantasy football? Seriously, I do two leagues and that's too much for me. What's the worst fantasy football trade you ever made? Elliott. Come on, man.

I'm not the guy in the league that they, you know what I mean? I'm not that guy, man. What's the best fantasy football trade you ever made? I made a nice one last year with Brock Nelson. I think it was like Nick Chubb was in the deal. I think I gave him. I don't know. Okay, let me ask you this.

Those are tough to remember. Who's the biggest mark? I will say this, though. I will say this. Guys are texting me already like they know I'm the trade guy. Like they know I'm active. Like guys are always on the move. You know, like they know if they want to make a trade, they know to come'm active. Guys are always on the move.

If they want to make a trade, they know to come to me. So who's the biggest mark then? Who's like, I've got to make a deal with this guy because he doesn't know what he's doing? Oh, I feel like it's not so much that. It's more so you've got to find the weaknesses. You've got to find the weak teams

that need a guy. A guy goes down for injury, then you hop on it. You've got to be active with that stuff. But the Islander League, that's a tough league. We've got some good guys that that are dedicated and been playing a long time so yeah i'm looking i haven't won that one yet so that's amazing four leagues now just last year like it was tough year for you guys between the road trip and the covid that you guys got

just matt like i know there's a feeling that in the organization that that was an outlier year and that's not going to happen to us again. Like just take us through last year and where it kind of went sideways and how that's not going to happen again in your eyes. I mean, everyone knows about the 13 game on the road and then, you know, the COVID hit. I think the COVID thing was the biggest part because I think we went 11 straight losses. Like there was 12 regulars in the lineup and this

is the NHL like you can't go into a lineup I don't care what team you are you can't have eight or nine guys out and like expect to win hockey games like it's just you know you obviously are trying but teams are so good and the parity is so good that you know you have six seven guys out of the lineup it's it's it's not easy so and anytime you're just I feel like we're just chasing the whole year like I think for us this year um really got to focus on the start because we were five six games below 500 early in the season maybe even more than that and it's just like now you're chasing now every game is desperate you can't afford to go on a little two three game slide like so we were kind of in that in that uh space really early on last year so it's gonna be really critical for us i think uh to have a good start it's gonna be big you know last year with the rangers igor shisterkin became

a enormous story yeah right vesna trophy the whole deal leads into the playoffs do you think this is the season where the cat gets out of the bag about how good ilia sorokin is i think the cat is a little bit already out of the bag i think he's those that know no but i mean those that know no right i think uh yeah igor that know, know. Those that know, know, right? I think Igor had a great year, but I think if you watch Ilya Sorokin in practice, this guy is so good. He makes saves.

He's so flexible. And that's not a... Varlamov is. He is top-tier goaltender as well. Ilya Komodor from Russia and stuff. I mean, he's just like the flexibility, the saves he can make, the one he made on Panarin last year. I think it was the save of the year. Boy, oh boy. So here's what happens in the ranger zone. Lee bumps into his centerman, Nelson,

and now the rangers use that to their advantage, and they come back the other way, and there's a chance by Panarin, and that's just a fabulous save. Look at the position his body's in. The guy's a ninja, and the thing about him is he works so hard off the ice. He's one of those goalies that i always love where whistle blows grab a puck and you want to make him like go a little breakaway with the goalie and some goalies will just skate out of the ice and go get

water and he's oh he'll take every shot he'll be the he'll be the last guy on the ice so fun to have but i think we know inside our locker room how good he is so i think everyone does honestly know how good when when you have a goalie and the rangers did this like they have the goalie so like yeah they cheated right like there's some liberties you can take when you have a goal like that trying to do is get you to say the rangers aren't that good hold on i'm saying like under your previous coach like there's no way like okay we're gonna you know yeah it's not it's not gonna happen do you think that'll change with lane lambert like once you have that goalie that affords you certain luxuries right i agree i agree with that um i think lane lambert's you know i think him and barry obviously have some some similar philosophies like that's a good thing

like that's it that's a really good thing i think lane is just you know i think he's a really smart hockey guy like i think he really knows the game well and um i think winning culture you need to be defensive like you need to have good defensive structure and barry did it barry did a great job of bringing that into our team because we were kind of lacking that a little bit and it made us successful so i think that's a staple in our culture like having good defensive but i would say like when you know you have such good goaltending you can rely on them for like a big safe here or there. Maybe the D does get a little more active and makes a play and, you know, yeah, maybe the D does get a little active

and then maybe we do give up a little bit on that rush and, you know, Stroken makes a huge save or Varlon makes a big save. So I think our style is still going to be defensive oriented, but at the end of the day, it hurt us last year uh not scoring enough goals like that's going to take us to the next level so i think what there's going to be a good balance uh this year of both has lambert talked to you about how your range might change or your role might change or things you might be allowed to do i have twitter and stuff and i see fans i you know i talk to fans outside and i think that it's going to be like, oh, no, because Barry's obviously defensive-minded and whatnot.

And Barry did a lot of good things for my game. Nobody's taking any shots at Barry Trotz. No, no, no. Of course not. But I think that I know being with Lou and being with Lane and being with Barry, if our team's going to be successful, myself and everyone else in the forward group has to be good defensively. It's not just like, you know, now it's like just running gun hockey.

Like it's a balance of both. I think just the conversations I've had with Lane, like he expects me to be, to back check hard and he, that those are things I have to do. And when I'm doing those things, he says, you know, he's obviously told me that, you know, I want to get you on the ice and, you know, power play. But if you're not doing those things, I i can't i can't give you leeway to do other things so it's a nice balance i think we're gonna have and i'm looking forward to it what was your favorite zadino char moment of last year lots i think uh oh man actually there's a

couple fun there's a couple good ones i think i love char so just keep telling them i'm no yeah um i'm in the gym, and I'm working out. I like to work out during the season. I feel like I work out quite a bit. This guy, 45 years old, I'm one of the last guys hanging around the gym. I leave, and he's still in there. Then the next day, I come in. I leave, he's still in there.

I'm like, he's literally just an animal. He's working out more than everybody. He's 45. I'm going to stay in here for two hours one day to see if he like doesn't, if he's just like doing it. So like he is the last guy, you know what I mean? Maybe it's his thing. Maybe it's his thing. Phenomenon. I mean, just the, I mean, he works so hard. Like it was so impressive just to see like his work ethic in the gym.

And I think just the size of him is actually just, it's, it's mental. Like how big he is.'s like he was like six percent body fat 255 69 like like he is a massive human like it's incredible so and and along with that i think he uh he provided just a lot of great like uh advice for younger guys he gave you you know he was just he's just full like full of wisdom i felt like every time he he spoke he was like the i don't even know what the comparison would be it was like almost every time he spoke it was like some kind of wisdom you were taking something from it you know what i mean um it's more personal stuff you know i understand yeah i understand you don't want to share that that's right that's important right yeah what do you think when you see guys and we

think of like yakov trennan and nashville like when you see guys, and we think of like Yakov Trenin and Nash, but like when you see guys like challenge him? That's a funny, that was funny. It was like his, we were laughing. It's like his 1650th game and he's just pounding some guy, like just feeding some guy, you know what I mean? Like against the Sharks that night. And then I don't know if it was the Trenin one or who was it when he, he was literally like, hey man, are you okay?

Like, I'm sorry. Like literally he was like, he was like almost apologetic. Like I just, you know. Oh, it was Philly? I think it was Philly. I think it was Kewin maybe. Kewin, yeah. Right, right.

Yeah. And he just like annihilated, I mean, Zach McKeown's a pretty big guy too. Like, you know what I mean? Like, but I mean. What goes through your mind? I'm just curious, like you're watching the other,

you're on the ice or you're on the bench. Like what goes through your mind when you're seeing this? He like makes sure he's okay. I was like, this is, he's the biggest guy I've ever seen. Like he could, I'd like to see him go toe to toe with like Tyson Fury or something.

Hey, you know what I mean? I think he gave him a run for his money. That's awesome. Last one I have for you. Like, I love listening to talk, man.

Like going back from when you came in to now, like, you're a confident guy. You love to talk. Do you ever say, like, I wouldn't mind a little bit more attention? Like, I can be a photogenic star in this league, too. Now, you're playing for a GM who doesn't always like that, but do you ever think that? I kind of just roll with it. Like like if that comes my way one day i'd

be open to it in new york so i feel like there's opportunity for that but i'm a hockey player like at heart you know so but i mean like you see other guys from from different from different sports and stuff kind of they're doing stuff with designer brands and like that kind of stuff i think that's such really cool like why not like incorporate that stuff. Maybe saw Kyle Kuzma. I wouldn't, I wouldn't go this far. I saw Kyle Kuzma, like walking down the runway the other day,

you know what I mean? And in some outfit, I'm like, that's not for me. That's not for me. That's too much. You could do that. That'd be too much.

You could do that. Maybe one day, maybe one day. When's the Barzal line coming up? Barzal line? I don't know. Got to compete with the Elliott, the Elliott Friedman line.

Like, I don't know. That's a good point. Maybe one day. That's a tough one. Matt, there is no question you could do anything you want. I appreciate that, guys. And you're generous with your time.

Thanks so much for spending it with us today. I really appreciate it. Good luck this season. Thank you, guys. Great stuff, man. You guys are awesome. Jeff, appreciate that, guys. All right.

Have a good time. Sydney Crosby, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Before we talk about you and the Penguins, I want to talk about something we've been talking a lot about and will continue to do so, and that's Nathan McKinnon. So a year ago in chicago with the players tour we tried to talk to him about his accomplishments and he was having none of it he kept talking about you and what you've done and now he's got the stanley cup uh do you have a couple of thoughts on mckinnon the cup his play his place and the. That's a lot. I've got to cover a lot there.

That's the full 10 minutes. You know what you signed up for. Thanks, Jeff. You know what? Just seeing each year, obviously the two prior to this where they won, you could tell it really stung. In the summers, he wasn't happy. They came up short, and I think he expected to go further. He expected to give it more of a run than they did.

But I think at the same time, he was trying to learn through that, and he understood that that was kind of the threshold. You see a lot of teams got to get by that second round, and the teams who did eventually kind of get through it. And I just felt like these last, the two prior to him winning, he was just extra determined, and he wasn't going to be denied. I mean, you see the way he steps up in the playoffs anyway. I mean, he couldn't have done any more even in those runs.

He was unbelievable even when they were knocked out early. But the way that he's been able to raise his level in the playoffs, that's really hard to do, and he's done it consistently. So I'm happy for him. I know that it weighed on him a lot. I know that he expected, you know, with the group that they had in Colorado to be right there. And, you know, they took advantage of their opportunity

and I'm happy for him. I know how. So you didn't get cranky Nathan McKinnon on the ice this summer? Oh, yeah. I didn't say that. I didn't say that. He was pretty happy for the first week. He was happy the first week.

He sat there and laughed. Like, what is that? He was happy the first week. And then, yeah, he's thinking about this year now. You know, we talked about it. One of the things we asked him was, when he talks to you, he could always talk to you as someone, like, you've won a lot, and he hasn't won yet.

And even though, like, he obviously thinks the world of you he kind of admitted that there was some level of the conversation that couldn't be there because you had experienced something he didn't so how did the conversations change this summer now that he's been to that mount top of that mountain i think it just when he goes through certain things or experiences things, he realizes just how fine a line it is. And I think he probably appreciates, you know, all the little things that go into winning and not that he didn't before, but he sees them close up. He sees how many people contribute to winning, you know, and all those, all those role players that step up and all those plays that could have went either way that you know you do need some bounces too you can do everything right and you don't get a bounce

sometimes but I think he understands that a little bit better just having gone through it and you can tell that he appreciates it you know even more having gone through it so he's really proud of that group and you know I think he really appreciates all the guys who contributed to it. He said you weren't the drunkest, but you were in the top 10. Top 10? Wow. All right. Where would you have rated yourself that night? I'd say at least top five, at least.

I mean, he left two hours before I did. Really? I think I shut down the ale house that night, so, I mean, what else can I do? I mean, what does he want from me? You know, we talked about appreciating losing. And when you're going through it, you don't appreciate it. You hate it.

We get how you guys are wired. But then when you finally win, you kind of look back and say, okay, maybe I needed that struggle. And maybe I appreciate it more. I mean, you went through this in your career before winning your cups. Are you at a point where you can appreciate, like in your career, are you at a point where you can look back at losses and appreciate them? It's hard to say.

I mean, my first year, there was so much going on. Like it was so hard to really take everything in. You know, you just, that's a hard one to really balance but i think if i think about losing i think 2008 is like the best lesson you know for us for me personally couldn't have had a better lesson and a better team to to learn from as far as if you're going to have a tough lesson that's a pretty darn good team to get a lesson from that detroit team so yeah i mean you don't want to you don't want to ever lose but if you do you got to take something from it and I think we probably took the most and personally I took the most from from that 08 loss to Detroit.

Did you ever think Malkin was going to free agency? I was yeah I was sweating yeah I mean you just when it gets that close, you know how it is. Anything can happen. It was getting right down to the day. It was a lot of uncertainty, especially it's hard late in the year. You know it's a possibility. You want to think positive and you want to be optimistic, but it's still a chance that it might not happen so um i think that uncertainty was was tough i mean i'm sure it was for sure it's tough on those guys you know it was definitely for me just not wanting to go there mentally you know you're in the playoffs you don't want to think you know this could be our last game playing together but the reality is it could have been so uh it's it's great that uh that they're back with us i mean yeah, yeah, they made me sweat for sure. Well, from the outside, and you can tell me if you thought it differently,

I always thought LeTang was going to get done. I wasn't sure about Malkin, but I always thought LeTang was going to get done. Now, one of the things I wanted in that 24-hour period there when I went from his going on free agency to his signs is, like, you don't like anyone to really talk about anything that you're asked about or anything you say internally in the organization but i've ever wondered i've wondered said in this particular case if you called someone or you did anything

just to say we got to work this out yeah i didn't have to do that i mean you know of all the situations i've been it's not typically something i do, but especially in this one, I think it's pretty obvious how I feel. It's not like I have to declare that. I think it's pretty clear how I feel about those guys and what we've gone through, what they mean to the team, the fact that they're still playing at a high level. I don't think anybody had to ask me that to get a feel for it. It didn't take much of that.

If anything, it was just me texting those guys is it done yet what's going on you know so it was more of that you know just trying to get a feel for where it was at if it was going to get done do you think you guys will all retire together in pittsburgh now that'd be amazing i mean i think that's, you know, that's something we'd love to do. We'd love to win again. I mean, that's, you know, retiring together, yeah. But I think higher up on the list is winning together again. And that's our motivation. And, you know, those guys are wired that way. They're, you know, they're not just playing to retire in Pittsburgh.

They want to win. And that's why they've had success for as long as they have and that bodes well for us if that's the case you know one of the things I'm curious about I'll drop all the muck and the tang and all that anxiety talk here in a second but one of the things I'm curious about is you're a longtime captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins we all know your place on that team your place in hockey would you have other players on your team calling you texting you saying hey what's up with Malkin hey what's up with Letang is there anything you can share with us or is like I'm curious about the protocol here or is that like off off limits no I wouldn't say it's off limits but I think you know nowadays everyone it's pretty

easy to communicate with everybody and everyone pretty much has a good idea of what's going on and I think like you know whether it's me or other guys you know we all know we've been around hockey enough like the longer it goes it's not there's more of a chance the closer it goes to free agency that it's going to go the opposite way so i think everyone felt and thought that but i think everyone especially that i talked to was really optimistic and i'm sure they let those guys know how much they wanted them to come back and i was doing that and i'm pretty sure a lot of guys were have you given any indication as to how long like you know you got three years left you just turned 35 have you said you're gonna go 36 there no i i was told there'd be no i was told there'd be no math when i went no no 87 that's the one i remember but

i've wondered like i'm watching watching Chara this past year, and I know how much you love hockey. Yeah. And I've wondered, like, could we see you out there until you're 45 years old? No, I don't think so. I mean, I don't want to say no, but I would lean towards that not being the case.

You know, I'm thinking about three more years and then seeing what happens from there. Like, I don't, I know it doesn't do me any good to look past that, but I know that I want to continue to play at a high level and I played a lot of hockey. You know, it's something that takes a lot of effort. You got to be invested and your body has to hold up. There's a lot of things that you need to go right to continue to play you know at an older age so yeah I think that three years is my focus and then from there I'll just kind of see where I'm at is there anything else you want to do

as far as hockey wise just no like like you just talked about like your hockey life I wonder have you thought about there's something else you might want to do with your life or anything like that um no i think your mind tends to to go there as you get older for sure like you you understand the situation and it's a really difficult position because as an athlete you want to be in the moment you don't want to necessarily think too far ahead but reality is that that tends to happen a little bit more as you get older so it's just kind of finding that balance of you know knowing that's that's reality things but enjoying the moment and getting the most out of yourself and enjoying every day it's a great game it's the best job in the world and you want to play as long as you can motivation

you've always been a driven guy colby armstrong and it was he said in a funny way but there's a profound point underneath it just like colby well we were talking about you one day and he said i'll tell you what about sid he trains and he works out as if he thinks there's a league higher than the nhl that he's trying to get to that in his brain he still thinks there's something better than the nhl and he's trying to get to. That in his brain, he still thinks there's something better than the NHL and he wants to get there. How do you react to that? It's an interesting take for sure.

It's a Colby Armstrong take. It's a total Colby Armstrong take. Yeah, I like that. That sounds about right. Yeah, I just try to be my best. And I know every day when you wake up or you know when there's things you want to accomplish you know I want to say at the end of the day that I've that I've done that and I've made the most of whatever this window of time is going to be in the NHL and

I don't take it for granted one bit and I love it so you know, to me, it's easy to get up with that mentality every day. And I think just having that mentality, when that time does come, I'll appreciate it. But I want to know that, you know, I've left it all out there. So as long as I can do that, that's the most important thing. I don't think there's ever going to be any question about that. Thanks for your time, Sid. Really appreciate it. Appreciate it.

Okay, so that's the podcast for, Sid. Really appreciate it. Appreciate it. Okay, so that's the podcast for today. Hope you enjoyed it. Just hearing from Sidney Crosby. Before him, you heard from

Matthew Barzell, Nathan McKinnon, and Mark Scheifele kicked it all off. Don't forget, we're going on tour. Check the website, 32tour.com,

hosted by Boston Pizza. Taking us out as a band that adopted New Orleans as their new home, Motel Radio generated a ton of buzz over the last couple of years in the indie scene as a self-sufficient

group from their latest record, The Garden. Here's Motel Radio with Heat Wave on 32 Thoughts The Podcast. The regular It's been a crazy couple months There's a cold wind at the tail end of a wrecking ball Crushing everything on But beneath you I can feel you in the moonlight Lift me off the ground

Come on and turn me around Come on and turn me around come on and turn me around now go easy on me easy on me now come on and turn me around

come on and turn me around I'm content.