32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Stayin’ Alive

Episode Date: May 26, 2023

We got hockey this weekend! Jeff and Elliotte recap the Game 4 between the Stars-Golden Knights (1:00), Florida is off to the Stanley Cup Final (16:30) and they wonder what the off-season will look like for the Hurricanes (12:00).The guys also discuss the investigation by the NHLPA into Kyle Dubas and his agent situation (28:00), the latest on the former Toronto GM (34:00), NHLPA x NHL meetings (36:30), updates on coach/mgmt vacancies around the league (37:40), Buffalo resigns their captain (39:10), Anthony Stewart lands himself another gig (40:30), and Jeff gets his rule change thanks to Champions League Hockey (41:30).Watch the Mason Marchment piece HEREEmail the podcast at [e-mail] or call The Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailOutro Music: Say Yes Dog - Feel BetterListen to the full track hereThis podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.Audio Credits: Enigma Productions, KTCK-AM, Sportsnet, Virgin, and WQAM-AMThe 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.

Oh, wow, there's a rabbit running down my street. I do like, by the way, how amused you are that there was a rabbit in your backyard. You should really come up to the country sometime, Elliot. No, it was on the street. It was running down the street. I saw a fox run across the street today, Elliot, where I live. You should really come up here every now and then. You can come out and wander up. Wild turkey and bears. I bet you my neighborhood rabbits would kick

the ass of your neighborhood foxes. We live in a really tough neighborhood here. Oh, you do, eh? Okay. Well, we have bears not too far away from us, Elliot. So anytime you want to send your rabbits up here, you go right ahead. Some of our wild turkey around the corner

can probably handle your rabbits. Nonetheless, we move on. Another wimpy animal. Elliot, Elliot, did you hear the news? We get a hockey game on Saturday night. Welcome to 32 Thoughts to Podcast presented by the GMC Canyon AT4X. Jeff Merrick, Elliot Friedman, and Emil Delic.

And yes, the Dallas Stars. Thank you, thank you, Dallas. we get to watch hockey on Saturday night Elliot Friedman it took overtime, Joe Pavelski who else, Dallas Stars win final score 3-2 Joe Pabelski and we're going back to Vegas. Joe Pabelski keeps the Dallas season alive and sends this series back to Vegas after a 3-2 game 4 win.

This place is bedlam right now. Ottinger looked good. Aiden Hill looked good again. eichel looked good again but jason robertson a force in this one your thoughts on game four i actually thought the biggest story of the game was ottinger he had a really rough game three i don't know if you saw him in the off day between games three and four he looked really rough and he sounded really rough we talked so much about emotions. Can you bring us to the emotions sitting on that bench seven minutes in with a ball cap on and then the process of trying to get yourself to a good spot for tomorrow?

Yeah, you pretty much feel like you want to cry. You know, it's obviously, you know, put your whole season into this and you want to play your best in these moments and when you can't do that for your team and you know for your fans it's one of the worst feelings in the world so it's it's part of the position you know this is when people say you know the ups and downs this is the down. I'm never going to give up. I'm never going to stop believing in myself.

I'm going to go out there tomorrow and put it all on the line and do my best for Ford. We've talked to you every series about bouncing back from the wall. He said he wouldn't give up, but it was very clear that he was a bit shaken. And, you know, Jeff, the amazing thing about both of the games for the way that Florida started against Carolina, the Pan thing about both of the games for the way that Florida started against Carolina, the Panthers could have won that game eight to nothing. And Freddie Anderson held in Carolina and got it to at least 1956 of the third period. In this game, again, Vegas scores early.

Ottinger actually, too, like right off the opening faceoff, they shot it from their own blue line, the Golden Knights did. And he had to freeze it, Ottinger actually too like right off the opening face off they shot it from their own blue line the Golden Knights did and he had to freeze it Ottinger and Kelly looked at it and goes I don't like that so and then it didn't look great and then he made one huge save behind the net he had an exchange with his own defenseman that didn't go well. It led to a great chance for Mark Stone. That was about six minutes in. When he did that and made that save, I thought it really turned the game around. I thought Dallas found their legs.

The building got into it a bit, and they finally got going. So to me, as good as Robertson was, and he was really good, the story was Ottinger. Because again, that game could have gone eight nothing for vegas and when he found his legs they found their legs and we had a really good entertaining hockey game you know i thought when uh when carlson tipped that riley smith pass uh right past ottinger i thought i mean we the same way oh here we go again vegas scores early here come the wind out of the sails.

This is going to be a repeat of what we've seen recently, but good on the Dallas Stars for very much hanging in there. You know, we're going to get to the Panthers and the Carolina Hurricanes in a second, but, you know, one little bit of symmetry here. I don't think, you know, I think you and I are on the same page about this. We didn't like the Jordan Stahl overtime penalty

in that Florida Pan panthers carolina hurricanes game but uh braden mcnabb with the high stick on title andrea that opened the door for the dallas stars to jump back into this series and force a game five thoughts on that one they haven't always been successful but they have tried to call that high stick all playoffs we've seen a lot of those calls yeah and you know i had a friend who was down in the game in dallas tonight and he sent me a note that you could see on television if you weren't in the arena that those officials were unsure i don't know if one of the linesmen called it or what really happened but he said to me that they played it on the video board. And he said,

the game ops people for Dallas should get a puck, like a game puck for that, because he said he thought it influenced the entire crowd. And then the officials, it's funny, like there was a game this year and people listening to this will remember this i don't remember the exact circumstance but it was a toronto boston game where something happened that got shown on the video board and it influenced the call it it

helped the bruins the game was in boston so it happens sometimes in theory it's not supposed to happen i remember we were doing a playoff game in philly once it might have actually been the 2010 stanley cup final and there was a call the referees were trying to sort out and in philly they played on the video board and it influenced the call i remember the league got a little annoyed at that because they said you're not supposed to do that and i mentioned that to the flyers and they say hey they said basically like we're the flyers you can't stop us from doing anything so that was their reaction so i guess if you can get away with it you can get away with it

okay i'm dying to say this to you as soon as it happened i said to myself i'm gonna say this to elliot on the podcast just to hear him groan i'm gonna say something dumb right now and i don't care i just want to hear your reaction you know what i thought on that high stick okay i thought that ty delandria was making the case inadvertently against playoff beards did you see him go to the official and try to like pull apart his beard to try to show where there's a cut yeah that's tough i don't care listen it's late at night i've watched a lot of hockey this year so have you we're all uh a little bit fried we just watched a really good game and had some fun i just thought i'd throw something dumb out at you just to gauge your reaction and you know how much i love annoying you about goofy hockey stuff i am impressed by

your dumbness let me just say that i am impressed by your dumbness. Let me just say that. I am impressed by your dumbness. Rising to new depths and sinking to new heights. That's what I wanted to say on my business card. Rising to new depths and sinking to new heights. No Jamie Benn in this one. Two game suspension for the cross check on Mark Stone. And I thought that was a gutsy effort.

It was. A real gutsy effort by the Dallas Stars. No Dodonoff in this game either. but gutsy effort by the Dallas Stars. You know, I was hoping he would play Maverick Borg just because I wanted to see it. Like I'm not arguing with the Borg here. He's got to do what he thinks is right. I wanted to see it, but they put in Oleson who had one goal all year and hasn't played since April 6th.

And the guy almost won it wanted the end of regulation. Sure did. That would have been when I tweeted out that Oleson was taking line rushes. I had a couple of stars fans who tweeted at me like, are you serious? We're putting that guy in. And he almost, he almost wanted,

that would have been unbelievable. That, that would have been great to listen. I share the same feeling about Maverick Bark, but I always have to catch myself in like these high pressure like this is an elimination game yeah i get it for the dallas stars like you and i don't have a hand on the wheel so we're like yeah go magic let's see if there's magic in maverick bork if you're peter deborah you're not you know cheering for magic you want to know what's happening when you throw

someone over the boards uh in, in an elimination game. You know, we're going to get here, Jeff, we're going to get almost asking Dallas PR to send us a DeBoer quote. Stop telling us who to play. That's right. Stick to broadcasting.

I think that one was directed towards you though. Elliot, if I recall correctly, before we shut it down on Dallas, you know, you had a really beautiful piece this week with Jacob Slavin. And I know how personal that was for you. It was beautifully done.

Thanks. And we had a piece tonight with Mason Marchman. And, you know, I just wanted to say that Mason Marchman took some convincing to do this. Like, it's been almost a year now now and we did the interview right before the playoffs but brian and him were obviously very very tight and it's still hard for him and mason took some convincing to talk a little bit he agreed to do two questions which you saw in the interview and he shared that the pendant and the necklace that he's uh he doesn't wear it during games obviously he doesn't want anything to happen to it. But,

you know, I just wanted to thank him for agreeing to do that because it's not easy, obviously. And, you know, we just want to say we appreciate it. That's all. That was an excellent piece.

And for those, if you didn't get a chance to watch it on the show, the, the link for it will be available in the, in the 32 thoughts podcast link for it will be available in the 32 Thoughts podcast notes for this podcast. So make sure you get a chance to have a look at that one.

Meanwhile, the Florida Panthers continue to roll. Barkov back. It's Kachuk. Binding Reinhardt. He's shot. Hit iron, I think. Looks like it had.

Now Pichek and it runs. Score! For Twinkler to go. It's a series winner again for Matthew Kachuk. Now, the point that I was trying to make to you on radio on Thursday was, technically it was a sweep. But that series did not feel like a sweep.

Who are you, Rod Brendamore? That's the unfortunate part of this. He's going to look back and everyone's going to say he got swept. That's not what happened. I watched the game. I'm there. I'm cutting the game. We're in the game. We didn't get... we didn't lose four games

we got beat but it's you know we were right there and i just could have went the other way and this could have been four games the other way and tonight didn't it feel that way did it not feel that way to you elliot it was a close series like i mean it was not a lopsided series the historians will look back at that and say four nothing beat down it was not a beat down it was very very thin margins very thin margins normally when you have a sweep there's usually like one game where it's like seven to two or six to one right yeah not this one this was close all the way through but the uh the florida panthers continue to roll here and we're going to talk more about the Panthers in the days and weeks to come here as this, you know, whatever this is that we're seeing right now continues. But I want to hear your thoughts on the Carolina Hurricanes.

And listen, no Svechnikov, no Pacioretty. Those stories are well told. And now there's a lot of business for Don Waddell to do here in the offseason. of business for Don Waddell to do here in the offseason. They have decisions to make on goaltenders, namely who's coming back to play with Kachetkov, who we, I think, both believe is going to be on this roster next season. Yep. Jordan Stahl or Jesper Fast or Paul Stastny or Shane Gostisbare. Like, there's a lot of decisions here for the carolina hurricanes and there's also contracts that are one year out most notably sebastian ajo so if you're don waddell where

does it start well i think it starts with jordan stall because he's your captain he's still a very big part of what you do and during the season the word was that it was going to get done. But I think it starts with Stahl. And the second place I think it goes is Ajo. And the League and the Players Association met on Wednesday in New York. We didn't get any clarity on whether or not the cap is going to raise by more than a million. I know some teams are hoping it's going to go between, and agents too, between one and a half and two, but we didn't get clarity on that yet.

But something like that would be big, obviously, with Ajo in a year for now. Does he sign? Does he wait? And the thing about the Hurricanes is they let Dougie Hamilton walk. They said the value he thinks he's going to get, we're not doing that. And that's also true for the goalies. I just don't see them overpaying to keep either Anderson or Ronta. They'll put their value on it.

And if not, they'll move on. But there have been situations where they've bent a bit. And Svechnikov was one. He turned down their initial offer. And eventually they got situations where they've bent a bit and Svechnikov was one he turned down their initial offer and eventually they got to where they were I have to think that when it comes to Ajo and Stahl there will be room to bend a little bit more because they're such huge parts of the team like Stahl he's not a signing that's going to break the bank, but Ajo will be. And I think they'll be willing to be a little more pliable with Ajo, but not too far.

Like they have a limit. So when I think about the Hurricanes and the way they negotiate, I don't just think about what the player wants. I think a lot more of what the team wants, because if there's a team that seems less inclined to buckle to pressure, it's them. So I always ask what is Dundon's limit? He puts the value on a player. How far does, is he willing to go? You know, what I do wonder about here is, you know, this is another year where we come away

from the Carolina hurricanes and this year specifically saying this is a team that needs more goal scorers. This is a team that needs to manufacture more offense and goals are expensive and goal scorers make a lot of money for one very good reason. It's the hardest thing to do in the NHL. Now, I know it's getting easier because more guys are more trained and we've realized now you can coach for offense, you can coach for goals, but still the guys that score goals tend to get paid. Carolina, considering how close they got to the Stanley Cup final, are maybe coming to a realization that I know we have value attached to not just our team, but everybody in the league. Is it time maybe to bend on that and maybe overpay to quote unquote, get the guy?

You know what I mean? Well, one of the guys they lost was their own guys, Svechnikov, right? Yes. So he's coming back and he's locked in. You know what i mean well one of the guys they lost was their own guys fechnikov right yes so he's coming back and he's locked in you know what i don't know that i see it at some point in time something's in your dna there's a way you run a team there's your philosophy and this is carolina's philosophy this is dundon's philosophy now the one thing i wonder is patcher ready's health he came back unfortunately he got hurt yeah i had heard that they'd already been some conversations and there's differing opinions on how far down the road it went but i think they were talking about keeping him so i wonder if that conversation begins with Pacioretty.

Interesting. I'm 34 years old. Now I know he's still got the shot and they need more game breakers, but an injury like that at 34. Freakish athlete too, Jeff. No, I know. I get it. Aging curves plus injury.

We'll see. What do you make of the Florida Panthers at this point, Elliot? I know the headlines are dominated by Bobrovsky and Kachuk, and for good reason, Paul Maurice and what he's done to this team. But what do you make of the Panthers? Do we make sense of this yet? There's no flutes. NHL Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Branding Officer

Brian Jennings will now present the Prince of Wales Trophy to the Eastern Conference Champion Florida Panthers! I believe if you win 12 games and you get to the Stanley Cup Final, you've earned your trip. They beat in the Eastern Conference the first place team,

the second place team, and the fourth place team. You want to talk about getting there the hard way? They took down heavy weights in the conference. There's no easy series for the Florida Panthers here at all.

It's amazing that they won the first one in seven, they won the second one in five, and they won the third one in four. This is not a fluke. Like I said, they earned it. Bobrovsky, again, they get the rest. It's become a storyline. Bobrovsky, can you get him refreshed?

And if they've gotten any luck at all in this, aside from the odd bounce that goes here and there that every team gets but the luck has been that Bobrovsky's never been overly taxed like they've never had to worry about him getting exhausted like he does when he plays seven eight or nine games in a row they've always had enough breaks between games or now between series where you don't worry about that. So everything's coming up. Bobrovsky. I have a new nickname for him. Okay.

I saw him how skinny he looks when he's out of his gear and how he has transformed back into the Vesna winner of old Bruce Banner. When he's out of the equipment, he's Bruce Banner. When he's in the equipment, he's the Incredible Hulk. Hulk! Smash! The gamma rays have hit him.

Don't make him angry. You won't like him when he's angry. Is that what you're hinting at here? You won't like him when he's angry. I always keep coming back to this because I don't think that there's one way to play. I don't think that there's one way to win. I don't think that there's one way to construct the team. And I think that's one of the reasons

why I really like what the Florida Panthers are doing here. Because in this era where we talk about homegrown talent and draft and develop, and that's the way you have to be successful, I hate hearing conversations like that because that's true until it's not. And you have a look at like i i hate hearing conversations like that because that's true until it's not and you have a look at the florida panthers lineup this is mostly trades free agent signings waiver wire i mean barkoff's there you know he's a he's a drafted player anton lundell

is there he's a drafted player. Aaron Ekblad is there. He's a drafted player. But after that, Elliot, this is all roster construction by whatever means you have available to you. Trade, signing, waivers, you name it. That's how this thing has all been put together. Honestly, I kind of get the feeling

that there's almost, and I know you really have to squint maybe to see this point, but work with me here. There's almost like an expansion team vibe about this Florida Panthers team. Anthony DeClaire bounced around. Carter Verhage bounced around. Nick Cousins bounced around. Gustav Forsling bounced around.

Brandon Montour bounced around. Gustav Forsling bounced around. Brandon Montour bounced around. And they've all found a home and a spot with the Panthers. Like, I'm racking my brain trying to figure out why this works. Like, I hate the conversation of there's only one way to make a successful team. Because what we're seeing with Florida here flies in the face of all of it, Elliot. I don't disagree with you at all i think the one thing is is that you have to have assets to trade that people will want and they've carried away a lot of their draft picks yeah but calgary has to like getting huberto and wieger to make that deal

for kachok right yep and there's a lot of revisionist history about that trade right now there were a lot of people who thought calgary really won that trade big oh for sure like there were a lot of people thought calgary leased florida but you have to have things that people want to make a trade like that absolutely you do and and you're right everybody was gaga for jonathan huberto right this is like oh heart trophy guy, 100 points, one of the best passers slash playmakers in the game. What a fleece job by Treleving. And they got Mackenzie Wieger.

Holy smokes. Talk about buttering the bread on both sides. Look what Calgary just got. I'm with you. And a lot of people looked at this deal. They thought, wow, slam dunk for the Calgary Flames. So we will see what happens next uh we mentioned this on radio we had brief chat about this that no matter who the florida panthers face off against this will be the all no tax state

stanley cup final ellie we saw it before with alice in tampa but that was the bubble but now we're getting all no tax state final one thing I'd like to say is people are arguing like, oh, the ratings will be bad. First of all, you're not getting the biggest markets every year. Like you're just not. So your product has to be good. say this is there's a lot of American-based fans out there who hate the Canadian fans because they think we're snobs of hockey. This doesn't count. No one wants to watch this. Florida versus Vegas or Dallas. This is not Puritan hockey. And maybe our ratings in Canada will be down because there's no Canadian team there. But if you ever want the opportunity to say to the Canadian fans up yours,

you've got one way to do it. And it's to watch this final. Like if you want to show that you believe in growing the game and this is good for the NHL, that Southern markets are playing for the Stanley cup final. And it's kind of happened already, but you know, this is probably the most Southern final. And it's kind of happened already, but this is probably

the most Southern final ever. I mean, Dallas-Tampa Bay, that was in the bubble, so I don't know if it really counts as much. But if you want to show that this matters and you want to stick it to the Canadian hockey snobs, you better watch.

You're never going to get more of an opportunity to do it. Never never i always find it hysterical and again i listen i grew up in canada you're canadian you grew up here so did amel and growing up one of the things that i couldn't understand is why more people in different parts of the world didn't understand how great this game was. And I think a lot of, and I'll just focus on Canada here, a lot of Canadians felt the same way. This is the best game in the world. Why don't they appreciate it all over the world? Why don't they appreciate it in different states in the US? Why is it so localized in the Northeast?

Why aren't other places in America embracing hockey? It's this wickedly great game. It's fantastic. Well, now they have, and now we're upset about it. You know, now there's, you know, now, now Florida has embraced hockey and we're upset about it. Now, Texas has embraced hockey and we're upset about it. Now, California has embraced hockey. We're upset about it. Now California has embraced hockey.

We're upset about it. Nevada, Tennessee, et cetera. And I just laugh because of how many conversations I had growing up where we smugly looked at the United States and said, psht, these guys don't appreciate hockey. They're dumb. Well, they get it now and we're pissed off. We can't be happy about hockey, Elliot.

I'm convinced we can't be happy about hockey, Elliot. I'm convinced we can't be happy about hockey up here. You know, we're pissed off because we haven't won in a long time. And I think you and I, we both do worry about the future of hockey in Canada. We do worry about that. That's another conversation

I don't want to get into right now. We've done it on your show a couple of times. But, you know, either you like it or you don't. And like I said, if you want to stick it to the Canadian hockey snobs, here's your chance. Watch this. All right. On that, we will hit our first pause here on the podcast.

When we come back, the news, whether it is Kyle Dubas agent investigation, whether it is the NHL NHL Players Association meetings, whether it is action happening with the Buffalo Sabres and maybe the Nashville Predators, and I'm going to try not to do too much of a victory

laugh when I talk about Champions League here, Elliot Friedman. Oh my god. You know it's coming. More 32 Thoughts in a moment. Hey guys, Liam from Chicago here. First time, long time. Just got to ask, where do you get your outro music from? It's nothing but hits.

I love it. Send it to my buddies. They love it. And, you know, I just didn't think you guys thought it in you to keep pumping out those great songs. So, is it Jeff? Is it Elliot? Is it Amal? Let me know. Keep up the good work, guys.

Thanks. And Amal coordinates the music. That is so lame that you made Jeff read that so you could get credit. Super lame. It's definitely not Elliot. Listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Hey, it's Todd in Phoenix, and I wanted to call about Monday's pod. I have an 11-year-old, and I gave Merrick grief over a Phil Collins reference. Kids today think Phil Collins is pretty great. My son asked me to turn it up whenever In The Air Tonight is on the radio.

So I guess I keep up the good work. It's just phenomenal. So take that, Elliot Friedman. My references, although they may be dated, nonetheless, they still found a home. And for your son, by the way, if he likes the song In The Air Tonight, there's only one thing better than that song, and that is the Cadbury gorilla. Have you seen this, the Cadbury gorilla and the, in, in the air tonight commercial for Cadbury chocolate, Elliot? I have not. That's before you go to bed tonight is my gift to you. It's a cozy, I don't know, 90 second commercial for

Cadbury to the opening of In the Air Tonight. It is pure joy. Anyone who's listening to this podcast, who's seen this commercial, knows what I'm talking about. You haven't. Many haven't as well. That is my gift to you today on this podcast. Just go to YouTube and type in Cadbury Gorilla In the Air Tonight and think of your little buddy Jeffy.

Okay, news, Elliot. Time to get serious once again. So NHL Players Association investigating the situation with Wasserman. Now Wasserman is an agency that represents hockey players, most notably Austin Matthews, Connor McDavid, Roman Yossi, etc. They have agents like Judd Moldaver and Jeff Jackson and Dave Gagne. Now, at the other end of the building, let's just say, there's a group, again, Wasserman, who represents Kyle Dubas, and that is Chris Armstrong. Now, it doesn't directly

contravene Players Association rules, but there are some agents, and I got a couple of texts, and I'm sure you did as well, that said, hang on a second here. We have specific rules about this. How does this situation not contravene what we're not supposed to be doing? No, I'm stopping you right there. I'm stopping you right there. I'm stopping you right there. They do not have specific rules about this because I looked into this the moment it happened where it

got revealed that Chris Armstrong of Wasserman was representing Dubas. I got the same text. This is a conflict of interest. And I looked into it basically the next day. And first of all, I want to say jeff is that there were some people who thought that the leafs did this like the leaves were in some

anti-dubis let's grind them into the ground campaign right that we're going to turn him in for this this is not the Maple Leafs doing this. As you said, this is agent-driven. Now, I will say to you, there are some agents who do feel very strongly about this. Very strongly. But there are other agents who don't. Agenting is a really, really nasty business. They're always looking to get edge on the other one it's extremely competitive it's just as competitive as the games to be perfectly honest and if you go

through the roster of nhl certified agents you get some as i said who feel very strongly and some who don't. But by the NHLPA's own agent certification rules, there is no violation here because Chris Armstrong is not a certified agent. If he was a certified agent to represent players, then he could not represent Kyle Dubas. But because he's not a certified agent, he can. Now, the argument here is the same company. Yes. The argument here is whether or not the same company should be allowed to do it. And there are people who think that should be changed. That if you represent players, you can't represent GMs or coaches or anything like that. And as a matter of fact, when I was first breaking into the business was around the time the NHL rule was changed for that, because that didn't used to be a rule among the Players Association, and now it is.

Now, I did a little bit of work here, Jeff, because one of the things I looked into was what happens in other sports. Like, is this an NHL-only thing, or does this happen everywhere? And what I found out is, in basketball, there's a massive agency called Octagon and Octagon has hockey players too, but there's a massive agency Octagon. Their biggest client is a guy you may have heard of. His name is Steph Curry. But this year there's, there's a coach by the name of Quinn Snyder who took over the Atlanta Hawks during the season. Quinn Snyder hired Octagon to negotiate his contract. So in the NBA, this happens.

Now, I will say this. I think the person he hired at Octagon is not someone who does players, so it's similar. In the NFL, i found one case like one of the biggest agencies the nfl is called athletes first i found one case where they had an agent in their organization who represented both players and a coach and the coach he represented was Matt LaFleur who's the coach of the Green Bay Packers so in the NFL this happens and it's even thinner lines or blurrier lines than the NHL I checked Major League Baseball I didn't find examples now that's not to say that it doesn't happen or it can't

happen but I didn't find examples so i'll say this because this is one of the things i looked into does it only happen in hockey and not elsewhere it's quite the reverse actually but there are some agents who don't like it and they think it should be that case i just don't know where it goes but as it's written in the nhlpa's own agent bylaws this was not illegal do you see then the players association perhaps changing their regulations for this or at least having that conversation like what should we do with this i don't know that look we have a new executive director, Marty Walsh. Like, what does he think?

Yep. I guess the next time we see him, we're going to ask him, but I don't really have a good answer for you. And as you mentioned, this was not the Maple Leafs trying to sabotage Kyle Dubas by any stretch of the imagination. But we are still wondering, and it is a day-to-day watch here, what the latest is with the former Toronto Maple Leafs general manager.

I think Pittsburgh is prepared to wait. It's a long weekend in the States, Memorial Day. I think Pittsburgh is prepared to wait through the weekend to see how Dubas feels about this. I believe a chunk of the Fenway ownership is at the F1. So in Monaco, so they can get back and maybe finalize this. I still do think if not Dubas, Matthew Darsh is in the picture.

I don't know if there's anyone else, but I think Darsh is in the picture. Like I've said a couple of times this week, I think it's Dubas' job if he wants it. It's just obviously not closed yet. And I think some people have wondered if he's keeping one eye on Ottawa. I think we're getting really close to the end of that. I heard there was some movement on Thursday night. Look, if you've seen any of these stories about the Nico Sparks bid this week,

I think that's just become an incredibly nasty process. Like just some of the mudslinging behind the scenes has been really, really, really something. Like it's, I think that there's a desire to get this closed as much because they want to stop sniping as much as they just want to get it closed. To be honest with you,

you know what it kind of feels like right now? And I'm with you. I do wonder if Kyle Dubas is waiting to see here what happens with Ottawa and if there's a place for him with whichever group ends up being successful here. But it does feel like, and you've mentioned this a couple of times, some of these bids are incredibly complicated. I had one person mention to me, you know, don't be surprised if this drags on to the next governor's meeting. Like we thought it would be all wrapped

up by the time the governor's meeting was ready to go. One person said to me, you know, don't be surprised if this thing, you know, still continues. And I said, well, what happens then? And he said, we don't know at that point. I think they're getting close. I heard Thursday night. There was some movement. Now I'm like you and those people that you've talked to as well. I do wonder if he's keeping an eye on Ottawa here and that's gotta be a

tricky dance because as we've talked about before, I'm guessing there's only so far that Pittsburgh is, you know, willing to wait for Kyle Dubas to make his decision. And we'll see. Maybe a lot of this is just dependent on what happens with the Ottawa sale. We'll see where this one heads. So a couple of things around the NHL.

This week, a meeting between the NHL and the Players Association, front and center, the salary cap, no surprise there. Jeff, we don't have an answer on that yet um you know like i've said there's some hope for some flexibility instead of a million maybe one and a half two but we'll see i heard it was definitely made very clear that the coyotes are playing in mullet next year like if there was any doubt that that was the case i think that was indicated you know some of the other things that may have been discussed, including increasing the schedule or the salary cap,

I didn't sense there was any finality there. A couple of other things around the NHL. I think we're waiting on Nashville and Barry Trotz to see what decisions are... I think that's getting close to a determination uh one way or another and i think nashville has definitely considered its options and i think they're at a point where they're going to let us know or let everybody know the way they're going you know the other coaching searches calgary i think is still obviously very early in theirs i think anaheim

is continuing to do interviews by the way i want to mention someone sent me a note that i said mike babcock could be a contender in anaheim i never said that i don't think he fits their profile at all but i think anaheim continues to do their interviews and I heard it's possible they could be doing some at the Combine I was asked the other day who could be first and you know a lot of us thought it might be Columbus I had someone say to me they think the Rangers could be moving closer to that list too and Washington I mean you know we kind of know the group there i think halpern was supposed to come into washington next week so unless that's changed i'm not sure that they're ready to do it unless the the carburetor forces them to make a decision this week so i mean we'll see we should also mention toronto i believe brad tree living has now been interviewed by the Maple Leafs. And I think there's more.

I think there's a few names we haven't figured out here yet, but I, I would guess that among the other interviewers are going to be potentially Bergevin, Botterill and Shirely. But I think there's more. I don't think those are the only ones. To the Buffalo Sabres quickly here.

A little bit of business done by Kevin Adams and that is the re-signing of Kyle Ocposo. He signs a one-year deal of $2.5 million for the Buffalo Sabres captain. I like the signing. I think Kyle Ocposo is completely valuable for that team. Also,

they signed someone who's playing at the Memorial Cup for the Quebec Ramparts. That is Patrick Waugh's name, who you may be hearing by the time the Memorial Cup wraps up in various coaching searches. And that is Vesivalod Komarov. He is a defenseman they drafted last year in the

fifth round. And also, I think a lot of people are starting to wonder what's going to happen with Ryan Johnson, the defenseman from Minnesota here, Elliot. Yeah. I had some fans who sent me some DMS saying, can you ask about Ryan Johnson?

I did ask a little bit and basically the, you know, the Sabres, if they don't get them signed, they get an extra compensatory draft pick second in the second round because he was a first round pick but someone told me that you know the sabers they seem to be confident that they can get this done there's work to be done and it sounds like they'll be content with whichever way this goes they're very happy to get the player if not they're more than happy to get

the pick but there seems to be some confidence uh with the Sabres that they can get this done. We will see. Okay. I want to take this opportunity right now to congratulate our colleague and friend, Anthony Stewart. Yes. Who was appointed the president of the Kitchener-Waterloo Siskins. That is a Junior B team in Ontario. A legendary Junior B team.

I mean, we've had a lot of alumni, whether it's Don Beaupre or Don Ori or Jim Lorenz, Tanner Pearson. He played there, John Mitchell, George Hainsworth, Rose air payments.

So a lot of relatively big names coming out of that organization. And by my count, I think Stewie has about 15 jobs now. He is officially the hardest working person in hockey, period. I don't think he has a peer. Congratulations to our friend and

colleague, Anthony Stewart. Just remember the little people, Anthony. Remember the little people. So when we get turfed, we'll be looking to you for a job, Stewie. Don't forget that. Okay, I want to mention this, and I got a note from a friend

of mine in Finland when the news first broke and sent it to me, and I was, whoa, okay, well, I didn't see that coming. And this is, by now you've probably had a peek at this online, the Champions Hockey League are introducing three rule changes next season. You might have heard about one of them, maybe on a podcast. So the first one, this is essentially, well, this was the way it was in the NHL until it was changed when the Montreal Canadiens started filling the nets.

Minor penalties will be dealt with the same as major penalties. Essentially, it's a two-minute major. So minor penalties will continue even if the opposition team scores a goal. Again, historically, the Montreal Canadiens ended this rule because they would end games by going on the power play, fill the net, and the game was over. That got it changed. Serving delayed penalties. A minor penalty will be served even if a goal is scored while a delayed penalty is pending. So you can score and then you still go on the power play. And one of the things that I was talking to someone about

on Thursday morning, Elliot, was how many penalty minutes vanish every season by teams scoring on delayed penalties because the player doesn't go and serve those minutes. Just as a curiosity. I just have to say I've never wondered about this at all. You have a more fulfilling life than I do, Elliott Friedman. I think we've established that. Now, here's the big one.

Shorthanded goals erase current minor penalty. If a shorthanded team scores, the minor penalty against will end. Well, first of all, let me just say i'm really happy for you jeff because i know one of your goals it was to get something that you wanted a rule into hockey and i'm not saying this is a joke i i am legitimately very happy for you because i think it's great i first of all i think it's a great rule i'm glad someone is trying it yeah i wish the nhl would do it i think it's fantastic for you i i really do like you know i'm not a big believer in legacies jeff i i think once you're gone people move on i i don't believe in legacies yeah but i really think that that is a great thing that you'll always be able to say there's a Merrick rule. Like there's a rule in the sport that you champion.

I think it's great. I'm really happy for it. We'll see where this goes. Trust me, Elliot. I've bored so many people around the NHL with this idea. Some find it amusing. Some dismiss it quickly. Some are of the mind, you know, let me think about it and get back to you.

But like you, I'm just glad that there is a league that is going to try it. Now, someone, another friend of mine in Finland sent me a note saying that he suspected that this might be Jorgen Lindgren's plan all along. Doesn't know where he got these ideas from, but it sounds like Jorgen Lindgren, who all along. Doesn't know where he got these ideas from, but it sounds like Jorgen Lindgren, who's the president of Champions League, and he was also involved in the harmonization of the IIHF and NHL rule books, that it might be him that put all of this together.

So that's another chase for me. And if anyone in Europe knows the answer to that, where all of this came from, and maybe your favorite goofy little hockey podcast had a little part in it, please send along the information. But you made me a very happy person this week. NHL, pay attention.

This is a great rule. So on that note, Elliot, taking us out is a trio that met while studying music in the Netherlands, but now reside in Berlin. Say Yes Dog is a project that gives all three members an opportunity to inspire each other while evolving organically. From their 2019 record Voyage, here's Say Yes Dog with Feel Better, 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Only I don't know when should we forget or should we repair I guess it's out of control Speak it loud, I know it's hard To face the fears right from the start

Not difficult, but still it's hard Another time, only I don't know when Outro Music The film's given to me I think it's better you know