32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Staving Season

Episode Date: May 1, 2024

Jeff and Elliotte open this edition of 32 Thoughts by diving into Game 5 in Boston that saw the Toronto Maple Leafs stave off elimination with a 2-1 overtime win. Next up, the fellas take a look at Game 5 between the Canucks and Predators, where Nashville survived with a 2-1 win (8:34). The guys debate whether head coach Rick Tocchet should have challenged the Roman Josi goal for goaltender interference (13:45). Jeff and Elliotte turn their attention to the teams that couldn't stave, beginning with the Winnipeg Jets who crash out with a loss to the Colorado Avalanche (18:07). They also highlight the New York Islanders, who couldn't force Game 6 back home (26:26). Finally, they touch on the Tampa Bay Lighting bowing out to their in-state rivals in the Florida Panthers (31:25). The guys talk about whether Steven Stamkos' days might be done in Tampa (32:38). Jeff and Elliotte park the playoff talk for a moment to talk about coaching across the league. They touch on Mike Sullivan's status in Pittsburgh (38:56) and Dave Hakstol losing his job in Seattle (43:34). The guys answer your questions in the Montana’s Thought Line (50:18).They wrap the podcast by talking about the Edmonton Oilers, who have a change to send the Kings packing on Wednesday (1:03:56). They also delve into the tight Golden Knights-Stars series (1:05:58).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailThis 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.

A hit for John Tavares. Tavares digging in on his off wing to the net. Double in front. Scores! Matthew Nyes has won it! And the Leafs will take it back to Game 6 in Toronto! The night of Game 5s, the night of eliminations, we said goodbye to two teams on wednesday we'll get to those in a couple of moments welcome to 32 thoughts the podcast presented by the gmc sierra elevation merrick at the home studio dom schramatti at the home studio elliot in the car driving home after another busy night car cast time here we go another busy night around hockey night in canada and we'll start with the early game that had everyone on the edge of their seat

and everyone all nervous around the city of Toronto. It was backs against the wall for the Maple Leafs, and they had to do it without Austin Matthews. And there was a goalie change. And this was a fascinating game. I think it was either you or Kevin that brought up the point that Boston looked nervous early, and they did. They never quite grabbed this thing.

2-1, it took overtime. Matthew Nyes with the overtime winner here. 2-1 is the game. The Boston Bruins still with a 3-2 series lead as the venue shifts back to Toronto. What stood out for you, Elliot, in a game that, listen, the Maple Leafs grabbed early and dominated in that first period before letting Boston come up for

a breath? First of all, it's Matthew Canize now, according to BXA, who picked him correctly to have a big game and score in the overtime, which he did. And I would like to say that it was me who said Boston was nervous

because anything smart is mine. Anything dumb comes from Kevin. So people have to recognize this. I thought Brad Marchand, Kyle actually showed the clip during the game. Brad Marchand was asked about being up 3-1 in the comparison to last year, and he cut off the question.

He was like, last year was last year, this year is this year, I don't even want to hear about it. Jeff, you know what the question is? The question is moot. It does not exist. After watching that game and the way Boston started, the question is not moot.

The question is a legitimate question. And that is, you know, if you really think about it, on Thursday night for game six, you're going to have Boston, which is all of a sudden has had trouble closing, versus Toronto, which can't win at home. Like something's got to give on Thursday night. But I thought Toronto was really good. I thought Marner played really well.

I thought Domi played really well. I thought Bertuzzi played really well. I thought their defense played really well. I thought Wooluzzi played really well. I thought their defense played really well. I thought Wool was excellent. Considering Wool didn't face a lot of chances, he faced a lot of grade-A chances. Ooh, they had some great, yeah, I was going to say, they had some great looks, particularly in overtime,

right before they scored. Like a lot of players that Toronto needed to step up had great nights and Tavares who I didn't think had a great night offensively uh made a huge rush in overtime to set up the winning goal you know I think a lot hang on pause on that for one second yeah that's a remarkable play the one thing that listen we've all talked about the skating before with John Tavares. Like, he beat him wide. Yes.

He beat him wide with some speed. Like, I think that's something noteworthy here. I don't think we've seen a burst like that from John Tavares in quite some time. Yes. It's no question that that has been the biggest critique of Tavares over the last couple years. And in a big moment, he delivered it. You know, what really stood out to me was, was the first intermission interview with Jake McCabe.

Now, normally I would tell, I would tell Dom to post it, but you can't tell by the words you have to see his face. He doesn't even look at Kyle, which to me is good judgment as opposed to anything else. But he doesn't even look at Kyle. He is all business. He's staring straight ahead. It's short answers. You know what's happened here, Jeff.

They know what everybody said about them. You cannot escape it. There are some cities you cannot wrap yourself in the bubble. This is one after a game like Saturday night is one. And someone texted me in the middle of the game, and this was a GM of another team. And he said to me, you know a coach is in trouble when the team won't play for him. And they said that these guys are playing for Keefe and they're playing for each other.

and they're playing for each other. It's very clear that whether Keefe said it to them or they said it to each other, after the way they lost in Toronto, boot off the ice, ridiculed by the fans and media, they said to themselves, no matter what happens, no matter what happens, we are going down hard. And they took the game, and as we said, the Bruins look nervous. And I thought they played great. Now, I thought Boston came on in the second half

of that game. And that's probably a good omen for them on Thursday in Toronto. But what you do is you create a little bit of doubt in the Bruins and you create a little bit of belief in Toronto. And game six will be tougher than this one. But I bet a lot of people like when Florida knocked out Tampa on Monday night, I put out the tweet saying, you know, Florida will now play the winner of Toronto-Boston, and everyone's like, okay, Boston. And then on Tuesday night, when I said that we don't know what's going on with Matthews, I think it's more than a simple illness. But we'll find out, as you assume in the playoffs, after their season is over and people are tweeting at me, they're like, oh, like in three hours.

So although like they knew what everybody was saying about them and they found a way. It's it's going to be fascinating. And we'll find out whether there's an actual series here by the time the next game is over or whether that game that we just saw was the Maple Leafs winding their watch on the way to the electric chair. We shall see. But the Matthews thing is huge. Make no mistake about it. If I would have told you that someone from Arizona scored an overtime

for the Toronto Maple Leafs to force a game six, you probably wouldn't have said Matthew Nyes. But that was before we knew what was happening with Austin Matthews, which is... That's a good one, Merrick. Unavailable Elliott.ie yeah so i actually like i didn't think they handled the kneelander very well but i think they have been as forthright as they can be on matthews um because i think that this the matthews thing has developed over time like Like last week, a number of us had reported I wasn't the only one. It was food poisoning or a viral infection or a virus of some kind, whatever. And now I think it's either that has evolved into something a bit more or I think also he's possibly banged up.

So I think the Maple Leafs, as that has developed, have been pretty reasonable with their updates. I just think it's a little bit confusing as to exactly what we're dealing with. And we should also mention Brandon Carlo didn't come out for the overtime. So if he's unavailable, that would be a big loss. Although I saw that Derek Forbert looks like he's eligible to play. Although Carlo would be a pretty big loss if they didn't have him. Okay. Elliot from, from one. Okay. Elliot from one Canadian team to another. I think many of us thought that it was going to be close out Tuesday for the Vancouver Canucks coming off the big emotional come from behind victory against the Nashville Predators in overtime a couple of nights ago.

There was a comeback in this game. It was Nashville after Nikita Zdorov with a gorgeous solo effort that if it stood up as a game winner and series clincher would have been an all-timer in the history of the Vancouver Canucks organization. But Roman Yossi and Alex Carrier kind of had something to say about that. Two to one is the final score in game five. We are going to a game six, the series three to Vancouver. What stood out here? Oh, by the way, what was with Hoaglander and Carrier early? It seemed like every time Hoaglander was on the ice, he was running at him.

That said to me that the Canucks basically told Hoaglander, if you want to stay in the lineup, we need to see something from you. And that's what that was. And he hasn't scored. He had zero points in the first four games, but he hit everything that moved, and you really noticed him. That, to me, was a player who was basically told, hey, we're not going to embarrass you publicly or anything like that, but we have to tell you internally, if you don't start doing something, we're going to have to find somebody

who will. So that to me was a guy who knew his spot in the lineup was potentially in question. This is probably fair. You know what our parents always say to us, Jeff? Life isn't fair, but this is probably fair. The series probably should be 3-2 Vancouver because they probably should have lost the last game and they should have won this game. I thought this was a great game.

I thought it was great hockey. I don't know what's going on with the shot counts in the playoffs because I looked up at one point and it was 11-9 and I felt like each team had was incredible. I really enjoyed every minute of that game. And, you know, I thought it was going to be Vancouver in seven, so I can't say I'm overly surprised at this. I'm sure that Canucks would have loved to avoid the long trip across the country. I bet that they're looking at this and saying, you know, hey, we lost an opportunity here. But, you know, look, they just lost a close, tight game.

There's not much else you can do. You know, I think it'll be interesting. You know, DeSmith and Shelawes both won a game in Nashville. So I'm curious to see what Talkett and Ian Clark are going to decide here. I assume it'll be DeSmith, but I don't know. That's just me throwing spaghetti against a wall. And I'm sure the angst over Pedersen will continue. And that's just going to keep going until he busts out and scores. There's no other way to avoid that.

But I thought it was a great game. And if I'm the Canucks, I'm not panicking. That one could have gone either way. What I continue to enjoy in this one is that it's nasty to the point of it being personal with the players. Yes, yes, it is. They're at each other every single shift. Like, I know you called it in seven.

I hope it goes seven. You know, I hope Nashville wins the next game and we get a game seven because this series has been fantastic. One thing I've noticed that's really interesting in this series, Jeff, is that Rick Tockett doesn't challenge where a lot of other guys challenge.

He didn't challenge that Luke Evangelista touch to the glove, which I think he would have lost anyway. So it was a smart non-challenge. But other guys would have challenged that, I think. And in this game, that game-tying goal, and John Shorthouse pointed out, he said maybe, well, it's one, one. And if you're wrong,

you hand them a power play in a one, one game. I like, if I was coaching, I would have challenged that one because it's close. And the play is in the blue paint. And it looks like she loves gets whacked and the puck goes into the net. Now,

would I have been right? I don't know, but seeing how the league clearly feels about plays in the paint i i would have challenged that one but talk it just seems to be in a place where he's saying you know what i'm not challenging these things unless it's much more absolute well one of the things that's really interesting because the one thing that we were used to now very much is right after a goal there's the the the shot to the bench to see the coaches and they're all doing the same thing they're looking at the ipads or i'm looking for a zone entry or in this case elliot to your point they're looking for the crease play and they're looking if they should challenge for goalie interference. The thing is on this one, like

Roman Yossi cuts across. Now, I know it's, you know, if you're in the paint, you touch the goalie, liability goes way up, but he has the puck. And if you have the puck, you're allowed to go into the crease. It wasn't Yossi I was wondering about. If you watch

it, Nyquist takes a whack at Shelovs. He's whacking at the puck, right? And he kind of pushes Shelovs a bit. He does. You know what? You're right. He pushes Shelovs, and Shelovs pushes the puck into the net. So it's not.

Actually, does his stick actually touch Shelovs? Because the stick gets pulled away. He gets hit by Zdorov before he actually pushes him. I don't know. Yeah, you know what? Zdorov pushes him away. Okay, so you think Zdorov pushes him away? Maybe.

I thought he's doing what he's supposed to. He's doing what he's supposed to do. He's jamming at Shelaw's for the puck. And we thought, looking at it, that you could at least argue that he pushed Shelaw's towards the goal line. Which, technically, you're not supposed to do. All right. Which technically you're not supposed to do. All right. Are you confident enough to make that call

and not put your team shorthanded for two minutes? Here's the, and that's the big question. And I can't disagree with Taka's decision not to do it. The one reason, and we were going to talk about this if the game went to overtime. The one reason I would have considered it, and my argument was going to be, that the night before in the Tampa game, they established that the blue paint means you lose. Right?

Yes. Oh, yeah. And I would have taken that chance. I would have. I might not have been right, and I concede that. This is not a slam dunk, and that's why Talkit may have thought, you know what, I'm not wasting my time with this, but

I would have challenged it because of what happened with Tampa. Now, you know, the Tampa guys were upset, obviously, and not that I blame them, because I don't really like those goals being wiped out. But, you know, my theory on this, Jeff, is they're trying to establish and they have established that if it's in the crease, if you go into the blue without help.

Yeah, that's on you. is we'd much rather have it be black and white or blue and white in this case than have us making judgment calls on is a battle fair like when i listen to kelly rudy say in the intermission of the tampa game i want to see the goalies battle in theory i think he's right in practice i just think that leads to a whole Pandora's box that nobody wants. Because then it doesn't become as clear as was he pushed into the blue or did he go in on his own volition?

It becomes a decision about, well, was he really, was that a battle or was that too much? And God knows we don't want that determining everything. It's awful. We've seen it before. It's horror awful.

Anyway, I would have challenged that one. I keep saying, if you don't like that standard, tell me what's better. That is an interesting one. But the only difference, though, like in the Tampa-Florida game, the closeout game, you're right. They were establishing stay out of the blue very much but the difference with this one is you're still allowed to go into the blue if a you have the puck or b you're pursuing the puck yes in the tampa florida situation with declare and sorelli they didn't have the puck. Yes. And as much as I can kind of look at the declare thing and say, maybe I don't like that one,

Cirelli to me was, as you like to say, blue and white. Anyhow, we got a game six in this one. So we're off to Nashville again in a lovely series between the Predators and the Vancouver Canucks. Now, to the exits, Tuesday night. Yeah yeah the Winnipeg Jets uh out in five um a Colorado Avalanche congratulations they are through to the second round they will play the winner of the Vegas Golden Knights Dallas Stars series which is quickly turning into the most intriguing series in the Stanley Cup playoffs we We'll get there in a couple of moments.

The one thing about the Colorado Avalanche, let me get a quick thought here on them first before we go to Winnipeg. They're rolling. They just took apart a team that is coached by Rick Bonus where the premium is on defense, and they picked apart a goaltender that's going to win the Vesna Trophy. And these are the goals they put up in each game. Game one, a loss, but still six.

And then it was five. And then it was six. And then it was five. And Tuesday night, it was six again. Those are monster numbers in five games against a defensively oriented team. Elliot, your thoughts on this series? Well, not only that, but also Winnipeg scores a minute into game five

and Colorado scores two minutes later. Winnipeg ties the game at three. Really rough goal, the Pionk one that knocks in his net. Nobody wants to see that. Winnipeg fights their way back, ties it at three, and Colorado scores the eventual winning goal two minutes later. Like, it wasn't only that they scored, Jeff. It's that they counterpunched so effectively.

After the first game, whenever Winnipeg looked like they were gaining momentum, Colorado just stuffed it right at them. And that was the thing that really stood out to me is that they really had a difficult time sustaining any momentum. Number one, good for Georgiev. He was on the ropes and he out-dueled the eventual Vesna Trophy winner. and he out-dueled the eventual Vesna Trophy winner. The Winnipeg for me, like, it's really weird.

I have trouble figuring it out. And basically, I'm disappointed for the Jets. One of the things that I really think about a lot in the NHL is not so much when you lose, it's who you lose to. Okay. People are going to look at this and say, oh, the Jets lost in the first round. When I'm doing my year end evaluations, I'm not saying, oh no,

we lost in the first round. If I was the Jets, I'm saying we lost to a potential Stanley Cup champion. This is not the same series as Carolina Islanders or Washington Rangers. And I think that's very important. I understand why fans react that way. I get that media will react that way. I don't react that way. I get that media will react that way. I don't react that way.

I see them as they lost to Colorado and they should react as such. You know, I think also, remember, a year ago, Jets fans wouldn't have thought, as disappointing and as crushing as this is, they didn't think this year was going to be this good. A lot of things went right for the Jets this year. So now where do we go? Number one, they have some really good prospects. I'm not sure they're all ready for the NHL right now. They have to marinate a bit, but they have good prospects. Number two, I think this is generally an organization that makes good hockey decisions and they've been pretty successful at keeping good players and having them want to sign, despite what Jeff, I would call geographical limitations on their situation. i think the jets do landing i think the jets do a lot of things right but what i don't what i think they have to figure out and admit at 1 47 a.m eastern just a couple hours

after they got knocked out i don't have a good answer for it, but what I would really think they should dive deep on and really look into is why things fall apart for them in the playoffs. They won the first game against Vegas last year, and they collapsed. They won the first game against Colorado this year, and they collapsed. Now, these are good teams. That can happen, but you know what? Especially this year and they collapsed. Now, these are good teams that can happen. But you know what? Especially this year, you're a good team, too. And there are moments in these collapses where it doesn't appear as if everyone's on the same page. So that's that's where I'm looking at. Like, that is where I'm going. How do I attack that? How do I attack that we seem to crack in moments of extreme pressure?

That's where I'm looking at. Look, there's the bonus question. They have a team option on him. It was a really hard year for Bonus and his family. I think that, you know, that is going to, you know, I think we all wonder what that's going to mean for his future. I thought Dylan Sandberg made some big steps this year, but they play in a division where you need a tough mobile defense and they are still working on that i i i and and tough mobile defensive play not just the blue line but the whole team they're not good

enough yet at that to and that's one of the things but the other thing I'm looking at is why do they crack because I think that is an organization that generally makes good decisions but there's something that happens in playoff series that they have to dial down on um I have no answer for that one. It's too early. Yeah. The one thing that I do wonder about with the Winnipeg Jets is, is it a team that needs a couple of younger players in the lineup for a sort of youthful shot, a youthful injection? Because you know what that can do to a team. Like, sure sure they make mistakes i get it you know it's it's tough ask any coach it's tough coach kids and you know this isn't a

developmental league and they're going to make mistakes and they need to learn and all that but i just look at winnipeg and i just wonder if you're looking at next season that you mentioned they have a lot of really good prospects too and guys that are close if they need like you know two at least two good young players in this lineup like I I can't help and I say this every year I mean every year I just wonder is this going to be the year that it finally comes together for Billy Hanala and the Winnipeg Jets and the answer to that continues to be no well he got crushed by an injury this year that that hurt him absolutely but i mean you know where i'm going with with philly how many times he's been false started and they've got wonderful players whether it's you

know uh brad lambert who came up for for duty chas lucius on the horizon we all know we've talked record already not too long ago here on this podcast. There are good young players coming. That's just the one thing that I'm curious about with Winnipeg. Couple young players, youthful legs, couple of kids around. That's what I wonder about with Winnipeg. Are you putting your Perfetti jersey away for the summer?

I'm curious to see what happens with Perfetti in this negotiation i i really am and again is it too early to talk about offer sheets jeff when do we ever see offer sheets i'm just throwing it out there because i'm the guy that does it yeah that's true. You do. Okay. Also, Elliot, on Tuesday night, we said goodbye to the New York Islanders. They lost the Carolina Hurricanes in five. 6-3 is the final there.

And you know what? Good for the Islanders in this one because they went downstage their own comeback as well. And then two quick goals in the third, including a wacky one from Stefan Nason, to which Thomas Hickey, our good friend, broadcaster with the Islanders, said, Porky Palmer with the helper. Always appreciate the nod to the podcast there, Thomas. Much appreciated there.

Good on the Islanders for trying to make it a series by the end. They weren't going to get swept, and they had to come back in the game, but let's face it, Carolina's really good. Carolina's a really, really good hockey team. They'll play the Rangers in the next round, and that should be a heck of a series. Yeah, Jeff, it played out. This rarely happens, but it played out almost exactly the way that we called it. And that was that the Islanders would give Carolina everything they had,

but Carolina was just a little bit better. And that's exactly what happened in this series. New York fought. They fought right to the end. They were just dealing with a team that was a little bit better than them. And when I look at New York, I think they will continue to look for scoring. I really believe that that's where they're going to focus on. They have been doing that for some time.

I think they will continue to do that. They were just in this series, and everybody could say that against Carolina, but I think that's the way they feel in general. They just need some more scoring. that's the way they feel in general. They just need some more scoring. You know, also too,

that identity line has been a huge part of their organization for a long time. Remember Anders Lee, when we spoke to him at the player tour before the season, and we asked him, do you ever see a day without them? And he goes, I don't even want to think about that.

Which I thought was a great quote because it shows how beloved those three guys are. But now we might finally be there, unfortunately. So, you know, it sounds like the identity is going to change a little bit. I had a really interesting call from someone. I had a really interesting call from someone and they said to me, does Merrick still think Mark Hunter is leaving London? So I ask you on this podcast right here, do you still think that Mark Hunter is leaving London? I've heard all the same rumors that everyone has heard about Mark Hunter, whether it is columbus or whether it is edmonton i'm really curious to see what happens with mark hunter as soon as the london knights are done their run in the ohl and look they may win the ohl championships they may

end up in the memorial cup here they may end up winning the whole thing. But I've heard, like everyone else has, that Mark Hunter is a highly sought-after commodity in the NHL, yes. So this person said to me, and understand the organization we're dealing with, that there would be absolutely no tipping of the hand. But he said, if Mark Hunter was going to leave London for anywhere in the NHL,

if Lou Lamorello was looking for extra help in the front office, wouldn't he ask about Mark Hunter? Here's what I wonder about Mark Hunter. Like, first of all, of course he would ask about mark hunter here's what i wonder about mark hunter like first of all of course he would ask about mark hunter and they have relationship going back to when they worked together with the toronto maple leaves of course if there's any truth to this we just cost mark hunter the job but let's just yeah no kidding right yeah sorry mark um i i would wonder if he would want a situation where he could bring in an entire crew. Like he could bring in an entire staff.

Yeah, I don't have the answers to all that. Not just come in as, you know, as a solo act. That's what I would want. Like, would that be more attractive to Mark Hunter? So that I don't know. would he be looking for again this is assuming that he would be going somewhere because there is significant interest out there in him is he more interested in bringing a whole act or just him solo tour or bringing the band that i don't know paul mccartney was good in both he sure was um okay so as we mentioned the carolina hurricanes will face off against the new york rangers next uh the colorado avalanche will play the winner of vegas and dallas also we should mention before

we get to some news here um mentioned earlier sort of under the umbrella of goalie interference the tampa bay lightning and the florida panie interference, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers. Call it the proverbial passing of the torch. Certainly felt like that. But the Panthers are the new state champions. They defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning, take them out in five. The questions begin about Stephen Stamkos. John Cooper very much stood up for Stamkos and said what we all think, I think, and that is he belongs in Tampa.

But John Cooper doesn't hold that pen. I don't hold that pen. You don't hold that pen. Stephen Stamkos holds one of the pens in that relationship. The other is Julian Breezebois, and that is the most important pen here. Your thoughts on Tampa's season, your thoughts on what's next for the Bolts? Well, I thought they gave Florida everything they had. your thoughts on Tampa's season, your thoughts on what's next for the bolts. Well,

I thought they gave Florida everything they had. It was similar to the, I guess the Islander care Carolina series. One team was better than the other, but you knew that the team that wasn't as good on paper was going to fight. And that's exactly what Tampa did. You expect nothing differently, nothing differently from the Lightning. And they gave us exactly that. Jeff, for me, when it comes to Stamkos, for me,

he was one of their best players in that series. Oh, going away. And he played hard. And so I'm looking at them and I'm just saying, okay, maybe you can go out and you can find a replacement. Like that's the one thing here. Tampa's going to have to make changes. Yes.

They have cap issues. Yes. But the one thing about them is that they're Tampa, and players are going to want to play there. So they're going to have the opportunity to fix things easier than some other teams would. So that's important to remember. But, you know, are you going to find anybody who obviously cares as much

about the organization and plays as hard for the organization as Stamkos does. You're definitely going to change the DNA of your team if he's not there next year. And that doesn't mean there aren't guys who play hard, like Kucherov plays hard, Hedman plays hard, I mean, Point plays hard. All these guys play hard, but, you know, he's a linchpin of a lot of that. So, you know, I was talking to a few people about it on Tuesday. I was like, what do you think?

What do you think? What do you think? And I've said this before, and I know I'm repeating myself, but they know they have a guy there who wants to be there. And I think the sweet spot for them is to come in with a number and figure out what the number, and I know what you're going to say the term is. is that they feel he'll say, okay, I'll do this, as opposed to they lowball him so much that it actually makes him think, you know what, that's ridiculous, and I'm going to look elsewhere.

So that's where I think it is. Like, the way Cooper talked after game, they got knocked out actually made me seem more optimistic about the possibility, but you know, it's, it's emotion. It's post game. You just, you just have to be careful assuming everything until I hear. Otherwise my position is there's a deal to be made here. Unless Tampa comes in too low. That's the thing I think could scuttle it.

I'll say this. One guy did tell me that everybody like Stamkos is one of the most liked players in the league and everybody recognizes that he wants to stay in Tampa. That's his number one choice. But if it gets to a point where he might actually consider somebody else, there's going to be a lot of recruiting out there going on. That's what people say to me. Everyone's at any team.

Now, listen, we just mentioned a team a second ago that needs scoring any team that needs anything remotely close to what Stephen Stamkos brings, or has someone on their team that Stamkos used to play with, or has a coach that used to coach him, or a manager that used to manage him, or has enough cap space to accommodate him.

And he has a lot of kids that he can help shepherd through their careers. If it isn't Tampaa his name will be everywhere yes now you also mentioned john cooper's name there yeah who has i believe one more year left on his contract with the tampa bay lightning yeah is that an issue at all? You know, he's going to talk on Wednesday. I'm sure we'll get a bit more clarity. There's a lot of noise around this time of year. And there's some with Mike Sullivan, too, and we will get to that. But what I think it is, is there's a bunch of teams here that need to hire coaches

and it's it's interesting like I said on the last podcast that I think there's some teams that really like Berube and they're looking at okay do I have to sign him before I lose him to someone else? And then someone called me on Tuesday and they made a good point. They said, one of the challenges here is what if you hire someone and then Sullivan becomes available or Cooper becomes available? And the thing is, like, I don't know what to make of this stuff yet. One of the things about the Lightning is I would suspect that they have

discussed an extension with him. It's kind of not Tampa's way. I would suspect that they have discussed an extension with him. It doesn't seem to me, Jeff, to be very Tampa to want to go into the last year of this contract without an extension, unless for whatever reason, there's only two reasons they wouldn't. Number one, they're just not sure after 10 years he's still their guy or number two after 10 years he's not so sure he wants to do this anymore and basically i think that's why there's a lot of noise around cooper is because people are

just wondering is there any chance that he or they would want to change your scenery after all this time so i'm sure we'll get more of an answer on wednesday but that's where i think in this particular case it's all coming from okay well dovetailing john cooper then you just mentioned his name uh what is the latest uh either you know scuttlebutt fact speculation rumor uh hint about mike sullivan of pittsburgh yeah this is another weird one jeff because i was under the impression that it was pretty much a slam dunk that sullivan was coming back to uh pittsburgh that Sullivan was coming back to Pittsburgh,

that they were more than comfortable with Sullivan as the person to lead them through the next phase of whatever this is, really, even though there was a GM change, even though it's Kyle Dubas, not Ron Ekstall. I had heard that the working relationship was set to continue into next year. And now all this is coming out. And, you know, I think it's the same as Cooper in a sense.

I think there's teams that are looking for coaches that are like, what happens if Mike Sullivan's available? Is he available? Is there any chance he doesn't want to stay in Pittsburgh? And if the answer is yes, just like Cooper, there are teams that would want Sullivan. And I think, you know, one thing I've heard about New Jersey, and now, you know, New Jersey is allowing Travis Green

to interview for other jobs because just in case he isn't kept as the head coach they realize they can't be unfair to him the word on Jersey Jeff is they want to take a big swing they want to see if there's a big swing that they

can take out there and you know obviously John Cooper and or Mike Sullivan would be as big a swing as you could take and Craig Berube is obviously right there as we mentioned earlier in the week so when when people are wondering about Mike Sullivan going to the Devils, I think it's because if the Devils knew that a guy like that was available, they would absolutely go after him. But the thing is, and we'll see where this unfolds over the next few days,

I was under the impression that he wasn't available and he was staying in Pittsburgh. And another team joked with me today that if Mike Sullivan does end up in Pittsburgh, you're going to see the mother of all tampering investigations driven by the Penguins here. So we'll see where this unfolds. It's not what I'd heard, but that doesn't mean it's wrong it's just it would be surprising to me but I think it what it says is before teams hire they want to make sure these guys aren't actually available and I have seen this happen before. I have seen teams wait this out before just to make sure. So it's not unusual. as well caught many by surprise uh i think some looked at this one and said i don't know this is a third year expansion team they're doing okay last year they made the playoffs beat the defending

stanley cup champions that was great i know they had a super high shooting percentage that they dined out on everybody was scoring all four lines and that was gonna that was gonna take a dip um this season and it did um did this one surprise you at all? Did this one catch you? It did. I had some other people who told me I shouldn't have been as surprised, but it did for the reasons you mentioned. One year ago, he was in the second round of the playoffs with the team,

and he got an extension. Four coaches with extensions. Wow. Now fired before they even coached a minute of them, and this is going to affect coaches with extensions. Wow. Now fired before they even coached a minute of them. And this is going to affect coaches' salaries. You know, maybe some people with huge leverage are going to be just fine, but it's going to affect some others. There's no doubt about that.

But, yeah, I was surprised. I had some other people, like I said, sorry, but I was surprised. Now, Emily Kaplan from ESPN reported that the exit interviews played a very big role, that the players indicated that they wanted to change or they would be unhappy. I don't know that, I mean, I think things like that are always a factor, but I think there was another factor. So the NBA, it's kind of a known secret in the NBA, Jeff, that after they get their TV deals done, they're going to consider expansion. And they're getting close to getting their TV deals done.

And the expansion teams are expected to be Vegas and Seattle, bringing back the Supersonics, which would correct an injustice. The Supersonics leaving a great basketball city. And what I think is that part of this was about, if not most of this was about, we need to make sure if the Supersonics come back that our team is a little bit stronger. And

I watched that media conference with Ron Francis. Jeff, he's a poker face. He doesn't give away a lot. He did not look happy. He did not look happy. And so not only am I looking at where they're going to go to replace Haxtell, but I'm also just wondering about the overall sense of the organization. for scoring. But what this says to me is that the pressure or the press is on. They need to be more consistently successful. They need to be more entertaining because the sports marketplace there

might be getting a little bit more crowded and they want to make sure that their place is secure. I do believe that a big part of this coaching change. I hadn't heard that one before, but that's a really interesting and plausible reason here. Now I'll be honest with you. I just assume that it's Dan Bilesman coming up from Coachella Valley at the end of the season. I have this too naive naively.

Look, I think he's a very serious contender i i you know when this first came up last week that was the first name i mentioned and jeff i just assume until we find out that balsam is not in i think he's a contender the other thing that i wonder about and again going back to that presser given the um given the way that ron francis didn't play a poker face um as you like to put it i wonder if that means as well that there are more moves coming from the seattleken this summer. I believe it. I think they want to be more aggressive. I do. You know, Francis is patient.

He's always patient. I think, like, I think this is an organization that wants to be a little bit more aggressive. I absolutely think you're onto something here. Okay. One more thing here quickly before we go to Montana's thought line. Sean Couturier is now represented by CAA, so he has changed. And what I wonder about with this, Elliot, is normally when we see players of his stature and a player like Sean Couturier's case has gone through a significant injury and we all know the situation this year between him and John Tortorella with the Philadelphia Flyers.

When I look at everything, my initial thought is he wants a change. And I don't mean change of agency because he has that. He wants a change in his career. Am I looking at this correctly? Potentially. I would say this. I believe that last year was a very loud year in Couturier's career, including at one point where his agent, then agent, Eric Lupien, went public in his defense of the player.

What this says to me is that Couturier wants, and probably the Flyers too, wants something a little quieter and want to work on managing the relationship a little better. But what it also says to me, like pat bresson he's a facilitator he know he knows a lot of people he's very connected what it says to me is if it gets to the point where everybody here realizes it can't work for whatever reason then he has the ability to help them get deals done so well the the obvious and the obvious one is jack eichel like he was a huge part of that situation obviously yeah and there's a lot of people like that that that that was that was my

first thought my first thought went to he's gone to CA and Pat Brisson look what Pat Brisson was able to do for Jack Eichel does Sean Couturier feel the same way again that's just first thought one of the things is Jeff is that if they are going to deal Couturier it's a much more complicated trade there's a lot of term left he's battled injuries you know it injuries. It's not going to be player for players as the Eichel deal was. There would have to be a retention and some other things there.

It's a different trade. The bottom line is yes, he can do that. That's one of the things to watch here. The other thing I do believe is that the relationship between Couturier and the organization got white-hot intense last year. And I just don't think the Flyers want that.

And I don't think Couturier wants that. I think it's one of those things where they just want to see, is there a way the overall situation could be managed a little differently? And that's what this is about too. Okay. On that, we'll hit a break. So the Com Montana's Thought Line is next. Keep it here. listen to the 32 thoughts podcast ad free on amazon music included with prime so elliot time now for the montana's thought line. Montana's barbecue and bar, Canada's home for barbecue. Try the ribs. Try the ribs.

You got to try the ribs. Thank you, Rick Turner and Elliot. You'll be glad to know Scott, who emailed in from, I got to pronounce this properly, glad to know scott who emailed in from i gotta pronounce this properly frucatone new zealand says i think elliot should do is try the ribs bit at the end of the montana's thought line so we can get the best of both worlds so can you throw in a try the ribs on your own here for each try the ribs 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca that one's for you scott 1-833-311-3232 don't say we don't love new zealand 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca 1-833-311-3232 okay this comes to us from ml from sweden hello jelly dom long time first time last episode you talked about chl alumni getting to choose which league

their sons get drafted into that got me thinking about the afl the aussie rules football league oh yeah i guessed it as you guessed it australia they have the guy in the white hat and the white jacket pointing at one point so good it's so good i love that you could tell the directors love that cutaway. They couldn't get to it soon enough. 100%. Well, it made the whole event. They have this thing called the, quote, father-son rule, where teams get exclusive rights to draft a son or daughter of a player that has played more than 100 games for that club. Now, there are a lot of stipulations and adaptations of this rule, and I'm merely a Swede having lived down under for five years, so I'm not entirely sure how it works.

Nevertheless, wouldn't it be sweet if the NHL implemented a father-son rule? And since you agree with such enthusiasm, where should we draw the line for games played in a single franchise? I'm thinking 1,000. Love the pod. Take care and change. Hey, Elliot, take care and change hey elliot take care and change your spark plugs there you go we got a new one change your spark plugs i like that that's

awesome the um the chl does have that rule about being able to choose your league the the um and i'm going to turn this over to you for a second get your thoughts on this the last time this was an issue to my knowledge was 2010 at the ohl draft in 2010 now there's sort of an unwritten rule amongst managers in the ohl that a gm like teams will allow a gm's son to be drafted by that team like they don't jump in front of the queue they don't jump in front of the line and grab a general manager's son if he's going to be drafted. But there's a certain limits. And the 2010 draft, Kirby Reichel was up for it.

Warren Reichel was the manager of the Windsor Spitfires, longtime NHL-er. And in the first round, he didn't like warren reichel of the windsor spitfires didn't take kirby took another player and the barry colts who picked one after the windsor spitfires thought that hang on a second so he's going to take a first round pick and then get a first round pick value in his son in the second round. That's being greedy. So Barry took Kirby Reichel one pick after Windsor didn't.

Wow. Elliot, it caused drama in the OHL. I remember that. That was a real scene. And it was kind of an issue for a couple of years until he finally made his way to Windsor. Anyway, that was the first thing that I thought of when I read this email. Obviously, in the NHL, I don't think anything like that would ever happen. It was great fortune, for example, that the Coyotes took Josh Doan.

He got to play in Arizona this year before the team moved. Josh Stone, he got to play in Arizona this year before the team moved. But one story that this kind of reminded me of was Kevin Lowe's son, Keegan. And Keegan was taken 73rd overall in the 2011 NHL draft by the Carolina Hurricanes. And after that draft was over, Kevin Lowe admitted that Keegan told him, please, I don't want to be drafted by the Oilers. I'd like to start and create something on my own. And it wasn't anything negative or anything like that. And Kevin said he totally understood.

But sometimes maybe the child doesn't want to follow the same path and wants to carve their own roots and that was the one i remember interesting email interesting concepts and uh and and just love that conversation nonetheless okay uh yeah fun idea why not eh okay voicemail time hey guys got a quick question about gambling and injuries so william neilander is not playing because of the migraines, but that was not known to us going into the series. So gambling odds would probably change if the public actually knew about William's injury and the fact that he wasn't going to be playing in game one, two, or three, or more games than that, right?

So just wondering if, you know, your guys' thoughts on that and moving forward if there's going to be any reporting of injuries going into the playoffs or going into games just like the NFL has where you have to report a player's injury and what the injury is. It's just, you know, gamblers like myself and my friends, you know, it would have been really nice to know that the odds would have changed if, you know, the Leafs second best player wasn't going to be playing in the series. OK, so a couple of things there. One, that is a voicemail, obviously, from last week.

And to leave your name, let us know who you are. Yes. Unless unless you want to remain anonymous. Unless unless, yes, you are in witness protection. In that case, do not leave your name and probably disguise your voice. First of all, I'm glad you selected this question, Jeff and Dom, because this is timely. So my general feeling like, as you know, I'm I'm a wagerer, but I'm not a big one. I never bet anything I'm uncomfortable losing. And if I don't bet for a month or two, it doesn't bother me.

So I'm like, I'm a small time wagerer. My general feeling is buyer beware. And that's not just on gambling. That's just on basically everything that if you're going to put down a wager or you're going to buy anything a do all your possible research and be recognized that things are going to happen that you can't control so that Jeff is generally my overriding philosophy buyer beware however and it came up with a few people after this after the kneelander injury now the nhl is taking money and the teams are and the tv networks we should say like we are

not clean in all of this we are taking a ton of gambling money and it definitely seems unfair, insincere, whichever word you want to use, that we are taking all of this money and not providing people with the full information. Like, I think a lot of people used to think the way I do, oh, you bet and a guy was hurt. Tough noogies. However, I think more people now think, wait a sec. If the teams and the leagues are going to get into bed with all of this, they can't just take the money and say, ah, sorry, we can't help you. some people about it this week and here's the thing okay right now and this is what this person said to me and this is a big person so i think if he if he says it to me a i believe it from him and b i believe it to be the general feeling right now there's just not enough money bet on hockey for the nhl to step in.

Maybe that's not the right answer. Maybe that's not the answer people that want to hear, but I suspect it is the right answer. There's so much money bet on the NFL, both in terms of wagering and fantasy football, that there are legit penalties if you do not do your injury reports properly. Like if players miss games and they're not on the injury report, you get fined. That's a punishment. And it's because they won't admit it, but they know there's so much money gambled on the NFL. It's not going to be perfect, but it's got to be respectable.

The NFL injury report has probable, questionable, doubtful, out. That's what they do. And basically out is out. Doubtful is 75% plus not playing. Probable is like 25 not playing and you know obviously questionable is 50 50 but jeff i really do believe that was the answer if there was more money bet on the nhl i wonder if betman and company would come down harder on this why should it matter though like a dollar to someone gambling in football is a dollar to someone gambling in footballs a dollar to someone gambling in hockey it's still like look how quickly they reacted to the shane pinto situation like they are very sensitive about it obviously and they and they should be actually they didn't react that quickly to pinto that was a long investigation they had to figure out exactly what happened with that that that's different that is

because even before they took gambling money if a player was suspected of betting illegally or what pinto did which was having his friends get into his account he would have been suspended back then too that isn't new it's not the same and you know what jeff it's not the right answer but it is the answer if there was more money betting on the nhl i think they would care more so you know what the solution to this problem is bet more bet more yeah bet more okay we'll finish up with this one. Caden from Edmonton. Dear Dom, Elliot, and Jeff. I'm currently sitting in the hospital with my newborn baby.

This is my first. He was born two days ago and is already getting startled by dad trying not to yell at his laptop during games. Well, first of all, congratulations, Caden. Me and my partner just put him to sleep and are getting ready to try to watch game three, the Oilers versus Kings. I was listening to the thought line conversation between you and Elliot about the head coaches on Friday's edition of the pod Elliot was praising Jeff superior random trivia skills

saying he wouldn't have guessed any of the answers it got me thinking who in the business has the most knowledge of random obscure dates names and fat i love no no no no no not me it's not me it is not not me not me no uh he said i love listening to bob stoffer on oilers radio network do trivia and it blows me away how much he knows stoffer is excellent i guarantee you hold on one second i guarantee you stoffer cheats can't prove it, but I guarantee you he cheats. That's going to be the one takeaway from this podcast. No, you know who the king is? He strikes me as a cheater.

Yes. You know who the king is? Liam McGuire. Yeah, Liam is really good. I have not met anyone that comes anywhere. Like when you talk about, as Caden from Edmonton mentions obscure dates names and facts there is no one better than Liam McGuire his trivia books I'm just gonna pull these up here next goal wins what's the score he's got a couple of other ones as well I believe they're

fantastic he also Elliot and you'll love this one he also wrote the story of other ones as well i believe they're fantastic he also elliot and you'll love this one he also wrote the story of goldie goldthorpe who the character of ogi oglethorpe was based on from the movie slap shot like yeah no liam is liam's super legit and trust me uh there's i i have not met anyone in my life that comes anywhere close to liam mcguire for me he's the guy that's a good pick i can't argue that pick yeah he's uh he's he's tremendous anyhow thanks so much for that for that email and uh do yourself a favor buy some of liam's stuff um because some of the things that he knows and is documented and puts in these books um really get you thinking and when you want to talk about people that know things,

that's the guy. Not me, not me. The Montana Stateline, Montana's barbecue and bar, Canada's home for barbecue. Wrap up the pod next. Jeff, Elliot, and Tom on 32 Thoughts. Try their ribs today. Whoa, yeah.

All right. Welcome back to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented as always by the GMC Sierra Elevation. Elliot, we'll finish up the pod today by talking about two series we're going to watch tonight. Game five, Vegas Golden Knights and the Dallas Stars. Game five, Los Angeles Kings and the Edmonton Oilers. We'll start with Edmonton and LA. Edmonton leads the series three to one. They can close out tonight at home.

And then begin the questions about the Kings. The Oilers played a great game in Game 4. Sure, they got outshot, but they didn't give up a ton of great chances. I think if you were to take a look at the overall scoring chances, you would say they were pretty even if Edmonton was not ahead. I think a lot of people felt the Oilers played a really mature game. The kind of game that you have to win from time to time if you're going to emerge victorious in the playoffs. So, great night for them.

And what they've shown is that they can win different ways in this round against the Kings. They can win the high scoring way or they can win the low scoring way. LA, I mean, Dubois, I hate to harp on it, Jeff. I really do. But if he finishes this season with a whimper that's a mega problem for the kings you're hoping when the playoffs start that he begins to show his difference and that the regular season was not real or there was another side to him he simply hasn't done enough of that i think that's going to be the major question and again we'll see what happens here we're still not at a King's elimination yet but I think that's going to be the first conversation that everybody has um should Edmonton beat LA here and move on to the second round also the

Vegas Golden Knights and the Dallas Stars now this series is tied up at twos there's a more than really good chance here that we're going seven in this one and count me in yeah every game's been really good uh that game four was excellent uh four two with the empty like even the empty netter in game four rupe hens blocks a shot he's in pain scores the empty net goal from his blue line and he's like he's in so much pain that he doesn't even want anyone to celebrate with him he's just cemented the game he's like just get me off the ice uh Wyatt Johnson scores a power play goal that legend continues to grow uh the Donoff with the insane shots uh from an almost impossible angle like there's just been there's the whole McNab on stankoven Jamie Ben on Braden McNabb dynamic that took about five seconds. It was just five seconds

of beautiful violence. I don't know, man. Count me in for this series. It's the Nobody Wants to Win at Home Vegas Golden Knights Dallas Stars series tonight. We'll watch game five in Dallas. One thing that really surprised me, Jeff, is that how many people said

to me, do you think Vegas considers a goalie switch? No. I think Logan Thompson's been really good. I agree. Would you? There were some people who didn't like him in game four. I guess they're talking about the one off the mask from Dodonov. Oh, come on. That's an impossible

shot. Like, I'm sorry, but like, he's got nothing. He's basically not. It's a perfect shot. That's what I thought, too. What's Logan Thompson going to do there? I was actually surprised, though. I had a number of people say, oh, they really need Aiden Hill. And I'm like, I don't think.

Game three saved their bacon. And I really don't know how to handicap this one, Jeff. I think it's so evenly matched. The one thing that really stands out to me to handicap this one, Jeff. I think it's so evenly matched. The one thing that really stands out to me from the two games, especially the last game, from the two games in Vegas, especially the third one, is that Dallas finally got through the Vegas defense. Like the two games in Dallas, they got smothered. They got smothered. And, you know, so to me, that's what I'm watching for in game five. Do they continue to be able to work their way through the muck?

If so, I really like their chances. If not, I think Vegas regains control of the series. But other than that, I don't have a great handicap of this one. They're just too evenly matched. And just give me more of Jamie Benn and Mark Stone going head-to-head because I am here for it. These games tonight you can watch on Sportsnet, 7.30 Eastern. It is the Vegas Golden Knights in Dallas to face off against the Stars.

Watch that one on Sportsnet 360 and on Sportsnet. And then Game 5 between the Kings and the Oilers, 10 o'clock Eastern, Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet and Sportsnet One as well. Okay, that's it for this podcast. Thanks for hanging in right to the very end. Enjoy the hockey on Wednesday. We will communicate with you again as usual on Friday. Enjoy the next couple of days.