32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Stuff Is Insane

Episode Date: May 15, 2026

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman open the podcast by unpacking the firing of Kris Knoblauch by the Edmonton Oilers and the pursuit of Bruce Cassidy as his replacement. The boys then react to the Vancouver Canucks hiring the Sedin twins as CoPOHO's and Ryan Johnson as GM (20:00). They talk about the Maple Leafs letting go of Craig Berube as their head coach and who could be his replacement (38:30). Kyle and Elliotte talk about Macklin Celebrini retaining the captaincy for Team Canada at the IIHF Worlds (41:30). They talk about Matthew Schaefer winning the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year (48:00). The Final Thought focuses on the Philadelphia Flyers locker cleanout day (50:00).  In the second segment Kyle and Elliotte analyze Game 5 between the Sabres and Canadiens (53:30). They also break down the Vegas Golden Knights eliminating the Anaheim Ducks in Game 6 (1:15:30). They talk about the Avs finishing off the Wild in five games (1:21:00).  Today we highlight Montreal's The Liquor Store and their track Too Fine To Ignore. Check their music out here. Listen to all the 32 Thoughts music here. Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail. This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates

It's a crazy time of year. I think stuff is insane. All right. Where do you want, you got anything else for me, Kyle? Well, I think we found the title of the episode, Stuff is insane. Stuff is insane.

There's a lot of crazy stuff. I mean, this is the time of year where a lot of crazy stuff flies around. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast, presented by your Canadian Toyota dealers and the 2026 Tacoma. Get yours before red tag days are over. Dom, Elliot and Kyle back with you,

another Stanley Cup edition on your Friday. We will get to the matter at hand of the Stanley Cup playoffs. One series remains in the second round. Three now have punched their ticket to the conference final. But the news this week, Elliot, it remains pretty juicy in a couple of different markets. And we will begin this edition in Edmonton because now it is official. Chris Knoblock is out after back-to-back trips to a Stanley Cup final, after a three-year contract extension that never even got to see the first day of

while still the head coach of the Oilers and a first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Anaheim ducks this past spring. So now that it's official, now that you had Stan Bowman address the media about everything that has got on there in Edmonton and just the messy nature that all of this seems to be, what's your reaction to Thursday's news? Kyle, what I really tried to find out over the last 24 to 48 hours is how we got from there to here, meaning we got from the end of their first round loss to Anaheim to Chris Knobloch being replaced.

How did this process occur? You know, there's some things that you, said there I completely agree with. Number one, I don't think it's good for the oilers that they're firing him before his extension kicks in. It's just not a good look for the organization. I agree with you in the sense that it looks bad. I have heard from people I haven't heard from in a long time who wanted to express their anger and disappointment for the way they felt knob lock was treated. And so I wanted to put that. I was there too. I think we all understand that. We all understand both those things and we all understand

how bad they look. My big thing though was I think we all have our takes about it. I think we all understand how everybody feels about it. I really tried to figure out why this happened. And here's a couple of things I can tell you that I think we're part of the decision making process. Number one is the owner. I think Daryl Cates is really unhappy. I think he's angry at the result this year. I think he's angry at the way they played this year. And I think he made his displeasure clear. I mean, look, I've heard, I saw it reported that Noblock was to be paid $7.5 million over the next three years. I had some people say to me it was closer to nine or ten. Whatever the case is, Darrell Cates is eating that.

He's the owner and he has to agree. It's a tough thing to do to go to an owner and say, hey, we're going to eat $10 million. But I think he was so upset at the way this season ended. I think he was a driving force. I don't think you can underestimate the role he played in making his feelings clear that significant change needs to happen. There is great organizational pressure to win now for a lot of reasons, including the fact that Connor McDavid is only under contract for two more years.

So I think the owner's feelings were a very, very big part of this. As I said too, and I believe that even more after looking at things the last 24 hours, is the Oilers don't feel they're going to make any apologies for this. that after a season like this one, you have to look at what happened, you have to make hard decisions, and you have to say, we're going to make what we think are the best decisions for our organization so that we can win. And I think when you look back to when Chris Knoblock got hired,

I remember I jokingly called him on the air, Kyle, and on the podcast, comatose Chris because he never seemed to have a reaction to anything. He was so calm, like at times I wondered, was he breathing? He was calm. And the Oilers laughed at that. I remember the first time someone reached out and they said, are you insulting him?

And I said, no, I am just unbelievably impressed by how calm he was. And at the time, that was one of the reasons the Oilers, really liked the idea of hiring him. They felt they needed a calmer presence behind the bench, and they felt that's exactly what the players needed. And Kyle, they responded under him. They went to two Stanley Cup finals, a game seven, and a game six. And, you know, one thing I hate is people who say,

oh, well, he had a great team. You know what? There's lots of coaches who have great teams. that don't make one Stanley Cup final, never mind two or two in a row. We rip coaches when they don't get results. We can't strip them of the credit when they do. And I think the others felt that Noblock's demeanor and how calm he was was a major factor in getting the team there and was what the players needed at the time.

Now, Kyle, I think in the aftermath of this defeat, I am hearing that the authors feel there needs to be a different approach. And how many times does this happen, Kyle, that you go from one person as a coach and you make a change and, yes, Kyle is making a circle move with his fingers, you go completely different. You go 180 degrees, you go to the opposite. And I do think that's at play here. And I think the Oilers want a coach who will be a bit more of a grinder, a bit more strict, and on top of their players a bit more. And this points in the direction of one person, and we'll get there in a minute, because everybody knows who I'm talking about, because he certainly has that reputation.

But I believe the Oilers felt that their team, just like they needed a change in personality, when they brought in Chris Knoblock three years ago, they felt they needed one now. And one of the things that I was talking about with another coach, as we were talking about this on Thursday, and he suspected that was the exact reason that Edmonton made the change, he said that the big challenge with that is that if you're asking Noblock to act like that, the players are going to think he's a phony. They're going to say, oh, now, after three years with us,

you're suddenly this guy, this is who you are, and it can be a very, very difficult change to make. And ultimately, this is the path, I think between ownership, pressure and this kind of overall vision about how the coach needs to approach the team on a day-to-day basis, they decided to make the change. Like this is not all on knoblock. Yes, there were decisions that were made. They were out of his control that didn't help them. Yes, they had major injuries, especially down the middle for the Oilers. It is not all on knoblock. But I think one of the things that they discussed as an organization was they want someone to maybe grind their players a bit more, be harder on their players a bit more, push their players a bit more, and they didn't think that was him.

You can agree, you can disagree, but I really believe that is at the heart of this decision. that leads us to Bruce Cassidy when I was talking about this with people we were all laughing that it sounds like one guy because Bruce Cassidy he's got a great hockey mind he really knows the game he can grind you we've all heard the stories he will get on you he will push you

and he will make sure that you do what he wants you to do and if not, he will challenge you. As of Thursday night, I still don't believe anyone had been given permission to talk to him. I don't think it's a no. I just think it's a non-answer. Now, one of the things I do believe is that the Golden Knights, whether you agree with it or not, had decided they didn't want to deal with this during a series.

Well, as we know, they've knocked out Anaheim. They're not playing again until Wednesday. I suspect now we're going to get a bit more clarity. Is there a chance that he doesn't end up in Edmonton? Yes, there's a chance. But I think they're going to go hard at him. And the other thing that's interesting, I didn't realize until somebody pointed this out to me today

is that Bruce Cassidy and Stan Bowman have history. They worked together in Chicago. Before Bowman was the GM, he was a scout in Chicago and Bruce Cassidy after he was fired as coach of the Capitals he became a scout for the Blackhawks he had a tie-in

Bob Pulford had known Cassidy when Cassidy was drafted by the team and I don't know I don't want to speak for either one of them I don't know if they're friends but I think they are friendly and I think they enjoyed I heard they enjoyed working with each other, and they had kind of a respect for each other.

Again, that doesn't mean Edmonton is 100% a lot to get them, but I do think there's a history between the two of them, which means there's a familiarity there. I don't think Cassie's going to end up in Toronto. I think that it's unlikely that he goes there, and I wouldn't say he's their number one choice either, from what I'm. hearing, but I do think the Oilers have a legitimate rival in L.A. I think the Kings are very interested in Cassidy. I think they want to talk to Cassidy. You know, it just comes down to me, Kyle, unless there's a lifestyle reason you're picking L.A. over Edmonton, if you're talking about purely the team that can win you the Stanley Cup, you're closer to winning the Stanley Cup with, even with Edmonton's disappointment in the playoffs this year,

I just think they're ahead of L.A. You know, you watch L.A. against Colorado in the first round, the Kings have a long way to go, and they're also a team in transition. Bottom line, though, with the fact Edmonton's done this, the way they've done it, they have to get him. To me, it's you get permission to talk to him, you lock him in the trunk of your car,

and you do not allow him to leave without signing a contract. And Cassidy's leverage on them is enormous. As far as I'm concerned, Edmonton has no choice but to draw bags of money on them and make sure they get their man. I mean, that's just kind of the situation they've been put in. And everything I heard Thursday about why they may have made the decision, it just screams Bruce Cassidy. Could they talk to Peter Lavialat?

Yes, I think they could. Could they talk to Craig Barube? I think they could. They want people like that. I'll tell you, I was listening to the end of, because I was driving home from Buffalo, Kyle, I was listening to the end of Vegas Anaheim on the radio. And I was thinking if Vegas doesn't keep John Tortorella, he might be a guy that fills kind of what they want.

but to me it just screams Cassidy and I think if you're the Oilers you've got to make sure you get them. Thoughts, questions, opinions, ideas. Yeah, well, also, and there's a connection McDavid now has some familiarity with him with hockey Canada the last couple of years him being on that staff.

So there's a bit of a known commodity there. And I also, yeah, if Cassidy is the guy that they ultimately want, like even if you're unapologetic about how this all played out this week and something getting out before, you're able to officially make a decision on knob lock and just how the perception and all of that looks. By the end of it, you can't be going, well, we ended up with option B or option C. You've got to get your guy when this is all said and done. And, you know, I didn't go through, I didn't have a chance. Obviously, we had a game day here on Thursday. I didn't have a chance to go through

the entire Stan Bowman press avail. But, you know, one of the lines about him, you know, trying to find a coach that they can get the most out of the group and, and particularly how they defend. And, I mean, that's been the ongoing conversation in Edmonton since this whole era begun. Wouldn't you say that's always been kind of there. But when you look at like two years ago, and that's the team that Drysidle pointed out is that was the best Oiler team that he had been part of. And it wasn't just because they had got the closest

that they had got to game seven of the cup final against Florida. But what was the main reason? Like they had depth, they had options. They had other guys that they could play so the top ones didn't have to play over half the game. And lo and behold, that team defended better. Like when we came on, we were there, the conference final against Dallas,

We were there for the cup final against Florida. And there were some shaky moments, no question. But I don't recall the narrative in general around the Oilers being, once again, this is a team that is choosing not to defend. It was a different team. And a big part of it was personnel. Yes, there was coaching and the way Noblock had them going. But they had, in a lot of cases, the right people in the right spots,

for a team that could handle two. two months of a playoff journey and almost got the whole thing done. So, you know, as much as they want to get the right coach and if they have determined that Chris is no longer the guy, okay. But now, you know, it's the offseason, July 1st, however they go about it. Because it's not going to be through draft capital in the short term. It's becoming so, so critical in filling out a lineup that at least gives you a chance to whoever the coach ends up being. a chance to play the style that is necessary. And it's not always the same guys that it's been for the better part of the last decade.

I think I also wonder, Kyle, we'll see how this all turns out. But I wonder if a lot of these teams are just looking at with so little being available in terms of free agency, unless you think you can make trades or there's trades you want to make, how much change can you do? And that's why you have a pro scouting staff or your analytics department that you really trust. Like Colorado turned Parker Kelly

into a 20 goal guy. You know, like we're using them as an example. And they've, and that's 100% finding a guy that is fit in your system and just the environment that pulls that out of players. They rebuilt their goal tent

in a span of 10 days last year. That used to be looked at after they won the Cup, those years that ensued a real weak point for them. They got that figured out. And now, you know, they won the President's trophy this year. They've lost one game so far in the playoffs. Like, they're still every bit the favorite that you looked at them as back in January and December. So, like, I think there's ways to do it, Elliot.

It is a struggle for sure. but I mean, I think that's why you have those areas of your hockey department. I mean, we'll get to the Montreal game that we were at here on Thursday, but what was Martin St. Louis line that he gave you when you were asking about a possible goalie swap tonight in Yakobdobus? Empower those that have the expertise in that certain situation. Yes, I think you're right about that, 100%. I like the two guys they got at their deadline, Murphy and Dickinson. I thought they were great fits.

That makes me wonder if they're going to be able to keep them. And if you can keep them, you may have less flexibility to do other things. So I just found the whole thing very fascinating. Bruce Cassidy with that team could be really interesting. It just says to me that they want to shake up their group as much. as anything. You know, it wasn't easy for Trent Frederick under Bruce Cassidy in Boston. So that's another reason that this whole thing is interesting to me. Yeah, that's a good point. Do they see Cassidy is a guy who can unlock them? It's interesting. We'll see where this goes,

but I wanted to try to explain what happened. That's what I think happened. have added everyone. A couple of things I just want to do here. As I mentioned with L.A., I think they're very interested in Cassidy. I also would suspect they're going to have to speak to Jay Woodcroft now. Nobody knows Woodcroft better than Ken Holland. I've got to think he's going to be a factor in their conversation.

And while I don't think, as I said earlier, that Cassidy is going to be a factor, a big factor. a big factor in Toronto. I do think Woodcroft is going to be interviewed by Toronto, too. All right. And we'll get to Toronto in a moment. So the Oilers, offseason is already off to an interesting start in northern Alberta. Meanwhile, in Vancouver, that also became official on Thursday, Elliot.

The Sidene twins are in. They are co-presidents of hockey operations. Ryan Johnson is the next general manager of the Canucks. So this is something that we were anticipating to happen this week. And now it has, I think, unsurprisingly, the initial reaction among the fan base is excitement. There's familiarity. There's trust with the Cedines. And of course, how long Johnson's been within the organization and all the positive reviews.

he's gotten, whether it's from Jim Rutherford. I saw Max Sasson is on Dollywall and Donnie there and spoke very highly of him as well. What's your take on what you heard and what you saw out of Vancouver Thursday? Do you want to give your dollwall impression? No, because really it's Dom's impression. And I just, I love impressions. Kyle, Kyle, what do you mean, Kyle, Kyle? Kyle!

That's pretty good. They can't have two VPs. Elliot, listen, Elliot. Okay, so because I was driving home after Sabers Canadians, and I made some notes after the game, I asked Dom to give a checklist of what he wanted us to talk about because Dom is the president of the Canucks fan club. Okay, so this is what Dom gave us a list of, Kyle, and I'll try to answer them all.

Foote's future, head coach Adam Foote. So let me start out backwards a bit here. Did you notice how the Siddines and Johnson were very careful about everything they said, Kyle? Yes. Dom, did you notice that? It was the main takeaway. The main, okay, so someday John Ferguson,

who now works for Utah and used to be the GM of the Maple Leafs, is going to get another shot at this. Someday he will. And I always remember that one of the things that got Ferguson in trouble, in his first day with Toronto was they asked him, are you going to bring back Doug Gilmore? Gilmore had come back,

he'd been injured, playing for the Leafs. And they said, are you going to bring him back? And he said, we're not going to bring him back. It was his first day on the job. Just his introduction.

And instead of the headline being, John Ferguson is the new GM at least, hear who he is. Like the front page of Toronto's son was like, New GM, no Gilmore. Like, it was just, he electrocuted himself on the first day. And like I said, someday Fergie's going to get another shot. He, I think he deserves it.

But I've always remembered that. Don't do that on your first day. And I think that's what this was about. This was about the Siddins and Ryan Johnson. This was not supposed to be about anybody else. And also, I think in Vancouver, it's very easy to light yourself on fire. And they were determined not to do that. I think also, any decision they make about Adam Foote, they're going to do it with him directly.

He's going to hear it from them. He's going to, they're going to talk with him. he's going to know whatever they decide before the general public is. Look at this Craig Baroube Toronto thing. They said very respectful things about Barube publicly. I heard they were very respectful to Barube privately when they made the decision he knew before the general public did. And whatever happens here in Vancouver, that's the way it's going to be from now on.

One of the things I heard, Kyle and Dom, is that apparently the Siddins want to shut down the flow of information out of that front office. They are determined to make annoying people like myself and our lives a lot more difficult. And I think that's what a bit of today was about. We're going to control the information. Your guys are going to find out the information when we're good and ready, and that's the way this is going to go. Now, I can't guarantee it's always going to be like that, but I think that's the way they want to try to make it. We are going to shut down the flow of information of things we don't want. out there. And I think they were respectful to foot. And they said when, first of all, he's going to find out before any of you do what we decide to do. And secondly, we are going to try to release things on our own time. Now, I did think it was interesting that Ryan Johnson pointed out what I do think a lot of people feel in Vancouver. And that was that foot was thrown into a maelstrom, not of his own.

own making and there were a lot of things that went sideways this year that were out of his control. To me, one of the biggest questions is where they think this draft is going. Who do they think is going one? Who do they think is going two? And who's going to be there at three? And do they feel that Adam Foote can properly develop that player? And I think also, too, and I said this on radio in Vancouver, when Dom had me go on with Satchaw and Bick Nizar, and someone called me and said, I was listening to that, and he said, what happens if Vancouver thinks they're getting a defenseman at three? You know, you could do a hell of a lot worse for your first coach to be Adam Foote if your first pick this year as a defenseman who you

think could play next year. So, I mean, these are, some of the things that people were talking about with me. Anyway, I'd be lying if I tell you I knew where this was going to go, and I'm going to be even more careful after what happened in Toronto where some people got fooled. Like, I didn't know which way it was going to go, and I was a little bit surprised, but, you know,

there were people who got fooled because they read the Tili's wrong. So I'm going to be really careful here, because I think Vancouver wants to do what Toronto did, keep people guessing until they make their decision. Are you satisfied with that answer, Don? Yes, thank you. On to the next one. Okay.

Don gives me a checklist and I listen to whatever he says. Lili's going to put pressure on them to deal with Manny. Yes. I do think the Knox may have a decision to make here. I had heard that when Jim Rutherford was in charge, they were considering doing the same thing with Manny Malhotra that they did with Ryan Johnson. Nobody can talk to him until we sort this out.

I believe they were considering that with Malhotra. I don't know if anybody's asked them for permission to speak to him. I had heard that the Kings would might consider interviewing him too. I mentioned that in a couple places on Thursday that I heard that Malhotra's name came up in at least one interview with the Maple Leafs. They were asking if you wanted to make a coaching change, who would you consider as a replacement? And I didn't think about it until later I should have thought about it. I should have realized who it probably was, but I wondered if that was Mike Gillis who suggested it. Because obviously Gillis had him as a player.

He recruited him. He signed him as a free agent. And I know Gillis has enormous respect for Malhotra. So it makes sense to me that that would have been the guy who suggested it. And I did hear that the Maple Leafs were, you know, they know. they know him. He was an assistant. He worked in the organization.

I think they were intrigued by that idea. So I do think it's possible, yes, that they will force them to make a decision. Dom's next question was AGM's future. I think that goes to what I was talking about there. I do expect some change, but the Knochs are going to try to control the flow of information. I also had mentioned a couple of times that there were people who's, A lot of people whose contracts were up, I have heard rumors so far unconfirmed that some of them were extended. So I don't know if the changes will be as sweeping as they could have been, but I am expecting some change.

Jamie Langenbrenner leaving Boston. Where is he heading? There were some rumors that there were some philosophical differences on the Boston staff. You know, obviously Langenbrener is coming out Thursday after Vancouver made his decision, tells you that Boston didn't feel the need to do this until they were certain that he wasn't going there. I'm not sure yet. There's been some speculation about Minnesota, but I don't know that for sure. I thought the interesting thing on Thursday about the Canucks is they were asked about a time-tube. table for the rebuild. And they give actually a pretty good answer. The longer we take to be

smart, the shorter the rebuild will be. That just says to me that they're going to hit singles. Unless a superstar player drops on their lap, which I don't think anybody is expecting right now, they're just going to try to make smart decisions to make themselves better. And honestly, I think anytime you put a time limit on a rebuild or a clock on a rebuild, you are asking for trouble. Chicago's got a lot of good young players. They've still got, they're still trying to climb the hump. San Jose's got some good young players. They were closer this year, but they've still got to climb the hump. Anaheim won around this year, gave Vegas a good fight. It was a long time to get there. Rebuilds take time. and I think that was the right answer.

Hit singles, hit singles. Any word on what is happening with Alvin? I'm not sure. And why did they choose Johnson over gold? Okay. So, you know, I think this. I think there were two searches going on here. One was the Siddins, would they say yes, which they did?

And the other was for the GM, Johnson and Gold. And I think the Siddins at the end, they met with both of them face to face, they said it. They know Johnson. And I'll tell you this, when I reported on Monday on the pod that the Siddins were taking the job, someone called me right away and said, they're hiring Johnson. I go, what do you mean? And he goes, the Sedeans like familiarity. They're going to go with someone they know. Johnson was running the scouting meetings over the last couple weeks. He's been around them for a long time. And the other thing is, I think Johnson, never mind, I think, I now know Johnson was offered the job on Sunday night. So I don't know where all this other stuff was coming on Monday.

It's a crazy time of year. I think stuff is insane. But Johnson was offered the job on Sunday night. And then I don't know why it took until Thursday to announce probably some, probably negotiation at some point, too, of his contract. But I would say that he's someone they knew. He's someone they saw. And it doesn't mean that they don't think Evan Gold's any good. I think Evan Gold's time is coming too. It's just a matter of time.

But I think they chose the familiarity. And I believe it was their choice. Dom, you got anything else for me? That clears everything, boss. All right. Where do you want you got anything? else for me, Kyle? Well, I think we found the title of the episode.

Stuff is insane. Stuff is insane. There's a lot of crazy stuff. I mean, this is the time of year where a lot of crazy stuff flies around. Really? Didn't you think listening to that on Thursday from them, like, you know, as much as, okay, what are they going to do at third overall? How are they going to handle?

the development of who they have in house and who ultimately will be coming. It seems like priority one is like what sort of behavioral standards are we going to have in place for everyone in the organization. When you set foot in the dressing room, what are we going to be about? What matters to us? And then kind of build it up from there. And like not to keep making references to Montreal, but I think when Marta Saint-Louis and that whole new regime came in.

There was a lot of that that went on there, and now you're seeing it kind of bare fruit in the playoffs, where everyone's almost operating with the same brain in some way, shape, or form. I just listened to Johnson a little bit there on Thursday. Sounds like that's almost as big of a priority from the outset compared to, all right, like, what's our target come draft? What's our target come free agency and beyond?

you want to hear my theory on that? What was that? My theory on that is they feel that the pride in being a Knoch has slipped. It was fascinating and it triggered my mind when like that stuff about the community involvement. Yeah. I have to say, like I didn't grow up in Vancouver. Obviously I grew up nearby on Vancouver Island. Like that without even like it just as a kid with and it's all anecdotal.

Like, I didn't have any actual awareness in my mind of what that all meant compared to other markets in the NHL. But I remember feeling that as a kid that it was just like, man, like it just, the Kinnock players were always involved in stuff beyond the actual games themselves. So it was interesting that that was brought up and is clearly a priority too. Because it's a big deal. And you've heard Kevin talk about when, you know, that team was at the height of his powers when they played there. what it all meant. Yes, I took that to mean that, you know, look, we all know about last year, last couple of years, we don't have to relitigate it that.

It's over. We're looking forward. But I think it's all part and parcel. It's all a big, it's all the ingredients of what they think went wrong. They feel the pride in being a Knoch and the pride of representing the community as a Knoch was not there. That's what that meant to me. and nobody was more proud to represent the Canucks than the Siddins were.

And, you know, especially when when you're going younger and you're starting out, you have to have pride in the uniform, right? Like, you know, Kyle, like, I don't, I don't agree with everything the company I work for does, but I have a lot of pride to work for Sportsnet. Like, that's the way it should be. It has to be, it has to be like that. And that's what they were saying. Yeah, all right.

So they did not, as you put it, electrocute themselves day one at the podium. And it's a new era in Vancouver with the Siddines at the helm and Ryan Johnson there as well. So someone said to me, Kyle, you are getting nothing out of those guys. And I said, oh, yeah, let's see what I can do here. You were being thrown into the Cedine spin cycle. The Cidine cycle of silence.

Yeah. So those guys are going to tell you nothing. Yes. Yes. Yes. The term sedinery is going to take on a new shape here now that they're working in the front office. Had again by the sedinery. Yeah, got nothing.

Okay, so you touched on Toronto a little bit here earlier with, you know, Craig Barube now out as head coach of the Maple Leaps after two seasons. And yes, it sounded like it certainly caught a few people off guard. Do you think Barube himself was caught off guard by this? I kind of have wondered if some of the reason that the feeling that based on what I've heard after it happened, I do wonder, Kyle, of some of the reason that some people thought he was coming back was like I heard the, like I heard the meeting was pretty cordial. And I heard some people walked out of it feeling like, oh, okay, this is all going to work out. Well, you know, I don't know. I wasn't there. I can't explain why that was. But I, uh, I, I, I can't explain why that was. But, uh, I, I, I, I definitely the word was around that some people walked out of there with a feeling of optimism. And obviously that wasn't the case. But, you know, like I said, I do think they'll reach out to talk to Cassidy,

but I would not, I'd say it's extremely unlikely he's going to end up being the guy in Toronto. And I do think they are prepared to go fresh. someone knew, someone different. I think Malhotra, very legitimate candidate. I think Woodcroft, potentially a candidate. I do think, you know, if David Carl wanted to talk to them, I think he would be a candidate, and I think there's going to be others.

I don't think this team is afraid of some, like the conventional wisdom in Toronto is you don't bring a new person into there. I don't, I mean, Sheldon Keefe was there. I don't think they believe that. I think they are willing to take chances. If they find the right guy, they want somebody, like the word I heard on Thursday was build.

You know, Sundin and Cheka are supposed to build a new era. Can they find a coach who's going to build that with them? Hmm. Yeah, interesting times. And all those names you laid out, I think could potentially, fit that mold there too in

Toronto. Amber, by the way, was really pumping John Gruden. Did you hear that? No, I did not. Yeah, he was really pumping up John Gruden. I'm not talking about banana spider John Gruden, the football coach, talking about the coach of the Marley's, and they beat LaValle this week, and they took game one

against Cleveland the other night. So, I don't know what Amber's connection is with him, but he was really pumping his tires. Nice. Yeah, I mean, he's to Dave's point, building a pretty decent track record down there with the Marley's. Okay, anything else in Toronto? No.

Okay. So we talked last spot about... I live there. Yes, yes, you do. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for including that. You're welcome.

Your reminder. So we talked last pod about Macklin Celebrini, captain of Canada at the world championships. And now Sidney Crosby decided he's going to join. And so the conversation of, all right, so what happens with the captaincy? It's been determined that Celerini is going to stick with it. You know, Crosby was asked about it's gone.

Like, it doesn't matter to me. It's an interesting conversation now to have. Like I kind of said last spot, I know if I was in Celebrini's shoes, I wouldn't feel comfortable, continue to do that. but I also know, like, I don't have the same level of self-confidence of an elite athlete like Celebrini. So who am I to try to imagine what that would be? But Celebrini's going to remain the captain there. So, Kyle, this is my response to you that you couldn't do it.

Don't be a chicken. It's not about that. It's honestly, and again, only my own feeling. It's just a respect thing. I go. Yeah, I understand that. So another person I respect besides you, because I do have great respect for you,

is another one of our teammates, Justin Bourne. Okay, I'm a big, I'm a big Justin Bourne fan. Yeah. And he like you could not fathom this decision. And I'm just reading his ex post. Sid not having the scene for a Canadian team he's playing on is insane. Greats always talk about learning from the grades before them. If he's there, he's obviously the captain,

just give them the letter. Doesn't matter, but sometimes we twist ourselves in knots overthinking stuff. I actually think it puts Celebrini in a weird spot. I'd be embarrassed. I really like Justin. I think his stuff is excellent. I disagree with both of you here. And here's my hot take.

I think forcing Celebrini to get comfortable as the captain oversea over Sid on a team is the best thing that could ever happen to him. Well, I shouldn't say that because there's a lot of great things that are going to happen to him. No, I think this is a great thing to happen to him now because I believe that the only way you can make yourself better is by sometimes forcing yourself into uncomfortable situations and learning how to make them work. because I am with you and I am with Justin. If you put me on a team with someone like Crosby and I'm the C and he's the A, I'd be looking and saying,

what on earth am I doing here? What kind of bizarre world have I ended up on? However, if you stay with it, you force yourself to adapt to it and you're forced yourself to become comfortable with it. And I think that's good for Celebrity. I mean, the guy's still 19 years old. He's an incredible talent.

He sounds like an incredible person. And it's very clear, Kyle, the respect his peers have for him is off the charts. Like he was already the captain ahead of John Tavares and Ryan O'Reilly. Like talk about, like those guys aren't Crosby, but they're huge. respected among their repairs. So now that this is done, I'm looking at it like you are forcing Celebrini to adapt to this and handle this. And I think that's smart. Now that it exists and now that it's going to be like that, I'm actually really interested to see it.

and you know who's going to benefit the most from it? The San Jose Sharks. Because if this works, he comes back next year and he's even more confident in himself. And he's even more confident in his ability to lead. And I heard that Celebrini was genuinely uncomfortable saying the captain was sit on the team. I heard Crosby pushed back, said,

nope, you should stay, and I heard the players rallied in his support. Tell you this, if I was the sharks, I would be thrilled with this. And I think in the long run, Celebrini will say, yeah, I didn't like it, but it turned out to be really good for me.

sometimes we need to be uncomfortable to be more successful. Yeah, it's all great points. And there's no question kind of how a hockey Canada sees him going forward, especially as we've got a bit of an Olympic plan over the next little bit, the World Cup of Hockey, all those things like there will come a day where Sidney Crosby's no longer a player, Connor McDavid eventually one day, hopefully not for a long time yet,

will age out. And you can see that guy as the face of the future. And it's already starting to happen. When you name him captain in that environment, even before, as you say, Crosby comes into the fold, that's a big,

that's a big vote of confidence from hockey Canada right there. So yeah, I hope that's how it ends up being because he's done nothing but show he's capable of everything that, you know, even the wildest of expectations that have been put on him and even more to this point in his career. By the way, when they're down 2-0 to Finland after a period, I still want to hear Crosby start to get up and say something and celebrating this to respond, hey, this is my team now.

You go sit in the corner. I've got this one, sit. Sit down, old man. Yes, that's right. So, youth has served for Canada at the World Championships, and in that light, Matthew Schaefer, unanimous Calder Trophy winner, all 198 votes had him first on their ballots.

Only Tim Mussolani is the other unanimous. Calder Trophy winner in the history of that award. Another beautiful scene with the family on Good Morning America. I mean, gosh, just as if we all needed another reason to be behind the Schaefer's there. None of that was a surprise, Elliot, but neat to see and just well-deserved. Not only was it an incredible first season, it was a historic first season for him in the NHL. Yeah, and I think the most... impressive things Schaefer did this year was get a hundred and ninety eight voters to

agree on something because that never happens all a hundred and ninety eight voters had them in first that's an incredible accomplishment first since Tame was Salani in 93 and also the first defenseman ever to do it single-handedly changed the perception around the New York Islanders and as you said a really nice kid and if I could shout out one thing in particular it was the Good Morning America broadcasters who really realized the moment. Sometimes as a broadcaster, you really have to recognize, hey, this isn't about me. Get out of the way.

And they did. They did a great job. They saw how that was unfolding. They saw all the emotion. And they just stayed out of the way. And that is a class in broadcasting. I would show people. I would say, you don't even know.

who's hosting this segment. They're just like, this is bigger than us. We're getting out of the way. And that's the way it's supposed to be. Yeah, very nicely done there. And congrats again to Matthew Schaefer. Okay, final thought now, which is presented by your Canadian Toyota dealers.

In LA, the Philadelphia Flyers had their locker cleanouts. They included itemized list of all the players that were dealing with injuries. And it was a long one for the team that had a surprising run down the second half and into the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Danny Breyer said amongst other things, we're still in the growth part of the rebuild. And of course there's the Matvey Michkov question that we had kind of touched on after their season had ended,

and that being the big one for the flyers going into the off season. Everybody, seemingly, who spoke there on Thursday, backing their young forward. What did you think? Yeah, I really liked the way the Flyers handled that press conference Because there was a lot of room for Again, what do we talk about with Vancouver? Don't pour gasoline on the fire

There was a lot of room there to pour gasoline on the fire Number one, I thought the players did a great job of supporting Mishkov You know, I'm not there, that's true And so there are things that I don't see one of the rumors that has kind of been going around this year, and again, I'm not there every day, is that maybe he doesn't have a strong relationship with all of his teammates. Well, whatever the truth is,

those Flyers players made that very hard to believe. They came out and they supported them, and I thought that was very important. I thought, Talket Made a point of talking them up Because that's another one The belief is they don't have a great relationship

Talket Didn't say anything about him That I thought was out of bounds Or over the line And Breyer made it very clear That he considers Mishkov Still a very big part of their future You know

I think That situation is such a lightning rod That you're until he's successful, you're not going to be able to totally short out that electric storm, but the Flyers did as good a job as an organization in their exit meetings as they could. And I think what they did was they calmed a lot of their fins and especially people who support Mishkov down. They made those people feel comfortable that there was a path forward for him in the organization. and I thought they handled it really well.

Just wanted to mention it. Yeah, good stuff. All right. That was the final thought presented by your Canadian Toyota dealers. We'll take our first break. No thought line in today's episode. That'll be back on Monday's edition. But when we come back,

we'll look at the two games on Thursday night and the aftermath of the Minnesota Wild now that their season has come to an end at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche. 32 thoughts, the podcast, news after this. All right, Elliot, so Thursday night, we were back in Buffalo for game five of the Sabres and the Canadians. Montreal doubles up Buffalo six to three.

At the end of the game, after completing the postgame interviews for the broadcast, going into the dressing room, getting some of the postgame sound, I walk back towards our little studio area down at ice level, just past the dressing rooms to gather up my things before heading on out. And just down the hallway from there is a door that kicks out into the big plaza out in front of the arena. And the roar I heard from that plaza

as I'm gathering my stuff, Elliot, it was not Let's Go Buffalo, it was not Sabres on a warpath, it was Olae, Olae, Olae, Olae, Olae. That sound encapsulated at least the end of the night for Montreal, even if the start was different, but nevertheless, the Canadians

once again pick up a huge win on the road and have a chance to close out this series, game six, at home. What did you think? Kyle, before I get to that and my thoughts on that game, I have

I have to make a plea to one particular individual and they will know who they are when they hear this message. I was on the phone during the game with a call I had to take and somebody was waiting to talk to me. And I couldn't talk to them. I was on the phone. I could not drop the call.

So what they did was they wrote a message on their iPhone and they showed it to me. So I would like the watch expert and this person, if they know, if they hear this, they will know what I am referring to, the watch expert to send me a DM or go through the 32 thought line and tell me more about your message. And I know a bunch of you, because that's the way the world is. That's pretty funny, are going to start sending me cryptic messages. But I know what he specifically was talking about.

And the watchmaker knows what he was specifically talking about. So none of you are going to be able to fool me unless you hit me with this specific message. I didn't understand fully what you meant and I need to know. Okay. Someone trying to sell you watches? No, no, no, no, no, no. I will explain to you offline. And I will explain it to people in a future pod if the watchmaker

reaches out to me. Okay. Well, I'm holding you to that. Because there was a lot of holes in what you just described there. Yes, yes. Because I know what people are going to do. They're going to start coming at me with this crazy stuff. And if I give it away, someone's going to fool me. Okay.

If you're a Sabres fan, that was demoralizing. If you are a Canadians fan, that would, is ecstasy personified. At the end of the game, there were some Sabres fans I came across, Kyle, and I give them credit. They looked at me and Dave, and they go, we'll see you Monday for game seven.

I go, I like the confidence. I like the optimism. They looked at me and they said, right now it's all we got. Tough night. Tough night. And, you know, I think the really tough thing is, and everybody knows,

Kyle, they had Dobish on the ropes. They had them on the ropes. And they couldn't hold the lead. You know, I think the two most important things that happened in the first period were the two goals that Montreal scored. Because once again, the Sabres score early and Montreal ties it. Like if you're a Buffalo, you're like, we've got to hold a lead longer than that. Saber's score again.

and Dobish looks shaky and again you let Montreal tie it and you're like geez we're this guy's leaky we can't hold it and then he gives up that third one which was the worst goal he's given up probably in months and Martin San Luis is thinking of pulling him

that includes one that went off a stanchion that's right and he thinks he's getting pulled out of the game and Martin San Luis is thinking about it and as he explained later the goalie coach said leave him in there let him let him figure it out but right in that first period if you are the Sabres you have to deliver the knockout blow in the octagon and they didn't do it they didn't

if you're a Sabres fan you're like we had that guy And then at the beginning of the second period, the ice is tilted. The Canadians can't get out of their zone, but now Dobish is holding. And Kyle, the sabers lost that game in the first period when they let Dobish get to the room to reset. Because whatever he does, and we had the interview where he talks about visualizing and imagining himself as the wall and things like that, the wall cracked. in that first period. It was going down. But he gets to the intermission and he comes out renewed.

That's where Buffalo lost this game. You score three goals in the first period against the Canadians. You think you're winning this game. The other storyline in the goal, and, you know, it was interesting. So I was talking to somebody about Lukinen and the big win he had in game four. He comes in, he says, I'm excited. He started nervous. But again, you know, the Canadians could have done.

knocked him out and they didn't. And he got better as that game went on and he won. And someone said to me, the challenge for him is there's been a lot of cases where he came and he pulled himself off the mat. But the problem is he can't stain it. Like, and he said, someone actually said to me, his bigger game will be the second game. Because look, like he's shown he has the talent to win that first one. But could he keep the number one job?

Can he maintain it? and and this person said to me, from what I know of the sabers, they'll go back to Lion if they feel that they will not be afraid to go back to him. And, you know, unfortunately, Luchin couldn't hold. And, you know, Kelly called it. Kelly was hot.

He said Demidov would score. He was right. And Kelly also called it saying Lion would come out for the third period. And he did. And you've got to think Lion starts. And he said Dobish was staying in after the first. That's right. Kelly had a really hot night.

Kelly should just retire. He had a great night broadcasting. And I think we'll see Lion on Saturday. I don't think there's any doubt about that. But, you know, that was a night where both goalies were vulnerable. And Dobish pulled it out. And unfortunately, for Lukinen, he couldn't. And I understood why all the Sabres fans were crushed.

Like you're thinking the way that first period's going and even like the first four or five minutes in the second we got this. At worst, we're coming home on Monday night for game seven and you let that one slip away. That was a really tough one. I got to tell you too. I wanted to, I didn't notice this

until I got it from a viewer named Scott Weldon. He pointed out that Deline and Thompson have 40 penalty minutes. in these playoffs. Thompson is 22 and Dahlene has 18. I just think it's too much. You know, Deline's penalty, he was playing defense, but that Thompson penalty, and you could tell there was an embellishment penalty

called in the Anaheim game on Thursday night, and you could tell the way the two teams played the first two periods of Montreal Buffalo, they were warned. They knew they'd be on the lookout, and Thompson didn't like what happened on that play, but Thompson's got to be better than that. And he's the one who said,

we've talked about keeping our composure. We've talked about keeping our composure. But Deline and Thompson, 40 minutes and penalties, you need those guys on the ice. They just can't, no matter how frustrated they get, they can't lose their composure. Like they, that was a concerning one. This has been a tight series back and forth.

it's one of those games where you know you have no room for error Kyle but and the sabres have shown an awful lot this year this is a this is a big one for them because it's the first time in the playoffs to me they really looked rattled rattled at the end of this one yeah and the penalties certainly were part of it as you touched on and Montreal goes two for two in this game. And Craig Simpson always talks about it. You know as a player, like there's certain moments in the game where a power play creeps up and you're like,

we're not scoring here. Like we're taking advantage of this now. And they did both times. And now what's, you know, concerning for Buffalo too is that, you know, unfortunately, Alex Tuck had a phenomenal series against Boston.

And it just hasn't carried over. He still hasn't had his moment yet here. in this series against Montreal. Thompson scored, you know, a couple of big goals, but is minus nine in the series. And now on the flip side, you know, the Suzuki line had been struggling to get things going five on five for the longest time.

Like now they're starting to go a little bit here, right? Like Cauffield scored in three straight. Suzuki has points in every game but one in this series. Slavkovsky, you know, got on the board a couple games ago in Montreal. and he was a factor I felt in game five and the way that he was able to contribute. Like now all of a sudden, you know, the top guys for Montreal are starting to feel it

and the Sabres equivalent haven't got there yet. So, you know, now there's nothing to save it for if you're Buffalo. You go into Montreal. You know, you've won every game on the road these playoffs except one. That was game three of this series. So it's a situation that they are. comfortable in. But, you know, if game four was an opportunity missed or one that you felt slip away

for the Canadians, it felt like that tenfold for the sabres here in game five. And now, you know, just another one day in between to reset yourself and understand that, you know, one road win sets up a win and move on game seven. Yeah, I, Kyle, I, you know, one guy who has not made an impact yet in this series, I think is too good not to is talk. Mm-hmm. I just, I can't see this series ending without talk having a big night. Big night.

I'm with you. That's going to be crazy in Montreal on Saturday. So I'm, usually I go in the night before. I'm not this time. I'm spending Friday night with my family. And I'm going in first thing Saturday morning. I cannot wait for that day. It is going to be banana pants in Montreal.

Banana pants, yeah. Banana pants. It's going to be great. Finally a Saturday night. That's why the Caulfield came out of the dresser room after the game. It was like, finally, we get a Saturday. Oh, nice. Waiting out for one of those.

I wanted to shout out Carl Bicknell, who is an ex-f follower. He was the one who sent me the note. about Caulfield skates. Oh, way to go, Carl. Yes, he was the one who was standing, and you pointed out at the top of the show, he stayed with the ones from last game he scored with, and also Demidov went to the white tape,

and he was fantastic. Yes, he'd started the playoffs with white tape to white tape. Then he went black, it was, when was it? I think it was after the second period game, ugh, Either game four or game six against Tampa Which whichever game it was when he had that great

Maybe in game six that great chance at the side of the net on Vasilevsky on the power play And Vasilevsky got across And then he switched after that up until I think yeah game five back to white My only huge disappointment about this game Kyle Was that I am going to get blamed For the saber-tooth statistical meltdown. That's right.

So Sabretooth analytics just down the drain. Sabrelytics. So I and me and Dave and you are located at the top of one of the sections. And before the game, Sabretooth repelled down. And one of the fans turned to me and they said, you know, we're 2 and O in the playoffs when Sabretooth does the repel and we're 0 and 3 when he doesn't. So we're winning tonight. I said to myself, there is no way this is true.

Like, I am being punked. Someone is trying to see if they can get me to put this to air and then say, can you believe this idiot listen to me and put this to air? So I sent a text to the great Sabres PR duo of Nicole Hendrix and Chris Jerkin. And I said, this is the dumbest question I'm ever going to ask you. And I realized that's a high bar. But this is the dumbest question I'm going to ask you. But is this true?

They wrote back, yes, that actually is true. So the fans were actually ecstatic that, like, they were cheering this mascot, like, they knew what it meant. And then, of course, we pointed out and they lose. So, I'm sorry about that. Yes. I'm sorry about that. I actually did it when they had the lead, which only makes it worse. So we still got to do Anaheim and we still got to do Colorado and Minnesota.

But can I do my shoutouts here? Is that okay, Kyle? Yes, yeah, yeah. We got no thought line today, so fire away. The first thing I wanted to shout out were the fans in the building, everybody. So in the beginning of the game, there was a lot of excitement, as you could imagine. It's game five of a Tide series. two big, great fan bases, loud arena.

And they actually, so all of a sudden, kind of at a nowhere, they throw on the board. So May 14th was the fourth anniversary of a shooting in Buffalo where 10 people were killed. And the thing, so I was surprised and I was like, oh, this kind of came out of nowhere. I'd forgotten about this. But everybody instantly went quite. And hey, like in Buffalo, that's a big deal. And we all understand it and we all respect it. But there were a lot of Habs fans in the building and they went quiet too.

And they asked for a moment of silence and I didn't hear a peep, not a peep. And I just thought everybody that, it's hard in that moment because it's a very emotional thing at a time when everyone's really excited and being wound up for the game. And I was, I just wanted to say to all the people in the building, I was super impressed at how everybody respected it in that moment. You did not hear a word. The Sabers fans from Buffalo, obviously it's a big deal to them. And the Canadians fans who were in the building were incredibly respectful. And the other thing the Sabers did, which was really smart, was they didn't let it hang. It was reasonably quick. Everybody got the message. It was a great script that was written and said, and then they went on to the next thing.

I just wanted to say in a moment where the building was very excited to pivot like that, it's easy for a lot of things to go wrong. It only takes one person to be an idiot. And everybody handled it great and we're super respectful, and I wanted to point that out. Okay, shoutouts. Matt from San Rafael, California. So he came up and introduced himself to me at the game in 2015. he and his mother, June, decided that they were going to visit every rink in the NHL.

And that's what they were going to do. So that was 2015. Unfortunately, June passed away in 2023, but Matt is continuing to finish the job. He was in Buffalo for game five on Thursday night. And that was his 28th of 32. He says he still has to do Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, and Tampa. but, you know, it's an inspiring story, Matt, and I love that you're finishing the job

in honor of June who sounded like a great lady when you were explaining her to me. There was a couple there, Alex and Mallory, that are from California. Alex is from Canada. He and Mallory were there. Alex's uncle Rick was there, and they were enjoying the game back home

for, I think, a bachelor party. There was Eli Moville, who was there with his, buddy Sean. Eli is an assistant hockey coach at Fredonia State, which is the university, I think, where the bills used to do their training camp. And he told me that he was going through his hockey bag a while ago, and there was an opossum living in it. He thought that my raccoon stories would appeal to that. There was somebody who came up to me and say, have you seen a Buffalo raccoon since you were here.

I was like, thank God no. And he said, they're huge. I go, now I'm even more happy. I didn't see any of them. I had two people come up to me and complain that I did not eat blue cheese sauce with my chicken wings. I witnessed one of these.

It was just delightful. You love that. And enough with the honey garlic too. It was like he wasn't done with you after the blue cheese. Yeah, seriously. I had another thing. That's right.

You saw that one. It was pretty funny. And then so there was a gentleman that came up to me. His name was Jeremy Erbshot. And he said that his sister, Jessica, is married to the NHL referee, Kendrick Nicholson. And I said, do you ever go to games where he's working? And he said, yes. And I said, do you ever rip his calls or have a sign that says that was an awful call, Kendrick?

And he's like, no, Jessica would kill me. But we were having a good talk and is a really good guy. And he was pretty proud of the work that Kendrick does. So Kendrick, your brother-in-law, Jeremy, is a big fan. You should know that. And I also wanted to shout out Sterling and Ron from Cincinnati. A couple other fans, Gina and Brian. I couldn't get everybody's name,

but those were some of the more interesting shoutouts we had. But in particular, Matt, four to go in honor of your mom, June. And good luck in closing those out. Yes. And one more that we wanted to include, we met on our way out of the building, Chris Soul, who's a broadcaster with Erie News Now that came over and introduced himself.

He's a big hockey fan. Big Ranger fan, he said if I remember correctly. He was there covering the game. So it was great to meet Chris. And thank you for reminding me, Kyle, because I forgot to write that down. So thank you for doing that. And you could tell Chris, very, very excited to be there. Positive attitude, unlike the two of us who are jaded and dreary.

And a great head of hair. Oh, my God. Jealous of that. Yeah. Yeah, you and me both. Okay. Oh, please, helmet head. You've got the best hair in the business.

Helmethead, that's good. That's a good one, stink. Game six, Saturday night prime time, 8 o'clock from Montreal. It's, yeah, banana pants, indeed. So that was first up on Thursday night. The later contest in Anaheim, the Vegas Golden Knights.

the fifth time in their history already are back in another conference final. They finish off the Anaheim Ducks in six games. A great season for the Ducks. Mitch Marner goal of the playoffs, I believe, to this point. Unbelievable. Yeah, that was really something special. So where do you want to start here? Well, I mean, the Marner goal was a great place to start.

I think we'll probably do a lot more Vegas-Colorado preview on the next pod. They don't play until Wednesday, so we can wait until Sunday to do it. And we'll probably do more of an Anaheim package or review and look ahead on Sunday for Monday. But one thing that's going to happen, Dostal's got to stop. He's going to work on that first shot of the game. And I know that Marner won, he turned him inside out, but that happened a lot this year. Everybody knows how much I love that kid and how good I think he is. It's so weird how often he gets scored on in the first goal of the game.

You know, Vegas came in in a really ornery mood for two reasons. Number one, I think they're annoyed at all this Cassidy stuff. And their position is we're in the middle of a series. We don't need to deal with this now. And whether you agree with it or not, that's how they feel and they're annoyed by it. And secondly, they were really annoyed by the Braden McNabb, suspension. So I listened to this game on the radio while I was driving back to Toronto and I was listening to the Vegas feed with Dan Dova and Vegas insider Gary Lawless. And in the post game,

they interviewed Ben Hutton and they asked Ben Hutton about winning it for McNabb. And he said, yes, we were talking about that. Do it for three. Do it for three. And it was really good. It was a good interview, actually. And Hutton, who's a good talker, you know, he was very good discussing it. They clearly felt, you know, McNabb's been in the league 14 years and he plays a hard game. I've always liked the way McNabb plays.

They felt that was undeserved to get the extra game after he got kicked out of that other one. I think it comes down to quite simply, I don't think Paling was going to be able to play in the rest of the series. I think he was done. If it had gone to seven, I don't think he was going to play. And the fact that he got ejected from a game on a play that caused a pretty serious injury,

that's why he got an extra game. And whether anyone agrees or disagrees, that's my feeling on it. But clearly, Vegas was annoyed. They were really upset about it. And again, so they go into this game without McNabb, who's an important player for them, without Lozahn, who's been a very good piece for them. and of course Mark Stone, and they controlled this game.

And Kyle, we've talked about in this pod, how in two series now, the longer they've gone, the better Vegas has gotten than their opponent. It's two series in a row where they were tied two-two. They won game five at home, and they blew out their opponent in game six on the road. They did it to Utah, and now they did it to Anaheim.

and you know Colorado they look like Thanos right now inevitable but Vegas in the Western conference of all the teams they are going to play I think Vegas would have the best chance to beat them because of their

structure we'll see I mean we're going to find out all together but look now like Marner's leading the playoffs and points uh Dorofiev is now leading the playoffs and goals. He's really gotten hot. William Carlson came back and was excellent again.

They're missing a lot of guys, but right now they are better than the sum of their parts. And they're structured, they're disciplined, they're smart. This is a huge challenge. But like I said, for the second series in a row, when it really mattered, they were much, much better than their opponents. And the other thing should be mentioned

because it's a big difference from this year, they're getting saves. They're getting goal-tending. Yeah, yes. I thought the same how they closed out Utah in game six of that series and then here on Thursday, like they score first and just there was never a doubt the rest of the way.

You know what I mean? They looked like that. And how often this year, Elliot, that you made the comment as Vegas went along the way of, I don't really look, like you're not really familiar with what you're seeing out of Vegas. You know, like it was very uncharacteristic at times.

Well, like Vegas is looking a lot more like Vegas here. 100% as we've gone on in the playoffs. Should shout out Shea Theodore, too. He was really good at the end of this series. Really good. Yeah, glad you did that. So the Mark Stone injury still looms large there for the Golden Knights,

but back they go to another conference final where they will meet. The Colorado Avalanche, who finished off the Minnesota Wild in five games. That was on Wednesday night as they closed that one out. And as Nathan McKinnon said to Sean Reynolds in the post game, if you're going to run up a lead on us, best to do it early for our purposes, because we know there is still plenty of time to come back. And come back, they did.

Down three goals. And then Brett Kulak, the hero in overtime, his first playoff overtime goal. Colorado moving on, they emerge from the gauntlet that was the top half of the Central Division this year. And they go eight and one. A couple of things just about Colorado.

We'll talk more like I said about Colorado, Vegas next pod. But a couple of things I just want. wanted to mention about them. Kulak, who's one of the nicest people in the league. So the shift of the year in hockey this year, unquestionably, Jack Hughes in the gold medal game. But a 200-foot shift, how many people had a better 200-foot shift

than Kulak in that overtime? broke up a boldy caprisov two on one and then goes down the ice and scores. Yeah, that's a tough one to, that's a tough one to beat. That was the only thing that really can, the only thing that really concerns me for the avalanche, Kyle, is McCar is clearly getting beaten up. Mm-hmm. Like every, see, when people say they should disclose injuries,

because people don't target them. I'm just going to show them a car this year. Minnesota pounded him, which is all fair in the playoffs, right? He was going in and out. He was rubbing himself on the bench. He was leaving games. He is far from 100%.

And Vegas, who can be a very physical team, they'll do the same. my only my biggest concern for the avalanche is they're halfway through this is he's they're going to play somewhere between four and 14 more games right is there any chance he can't withstand this i hope the answer is no because i like to see all the best players play in the playoffs and i like to see the playoffs determined in the Stanley Cup given out by who's on the ice as opposed to who's off it. But that's my only concern for the avalanche is that he's really battling. And I admire him for it. He's really battling. I did want to say, too, so I listened to most of that game while I was driving to Buffalo

on Wednesday night. I got there in time to watch the end of it in the, I watched the back half of the third period and the overtime on TV, but I listen to most of it. It will not surprise you, Kyle, that the Avalanche radio broadcast in the first 10 minutes set new standards for craziness and insanity that had me staring at my radio more than I was staring at the road. They come on. for autopilot. So, like, the pregame show ends, and they play their tease for puck drop, and the announcer who's got a great radio voice, comes on and says,

I wrote it down. I actually, I actually, no, it wasn't. I don't know if McGeahey voices the top. Oh, okay, sorry. Okay, we haven't got to him yet. Well, okay. Yeah, so we haven't gotten to Dory. We'll get to him.

Okay. But so I had to, I actually pulled over and wrote this down because it was so crazy. In game five, the wild tried to put their money where their mouth is. And once again, the Avalanche collected change. I started laughing so hard. I was like, what did I just walk into here? I literally pulled over and I wrote this down. I was like, that is so good.

am keeping that. So I'm laughing. And then Rycroft, Mark Reikroft comes in and he refers to, so McCarron, they score right away, McCarron said up Johansson, and Rycroft called McCarronkowski and Skates, which I thought was actually a really good line. That was a really good description of him. But then, so they're down to nothing. And then Minnesota gets a goal disallowed. which clearly should have been disallowed. And the two of them are hilarious. They're like, they're trying to convince us listening

that they're not being avalanche homers for this, because they're saying this third Minnesota goal shouldn't count. And Rycroft's like, yeah, if I was even working the wild broadcast, I would say this wouldn't count. I was laughing so hard by this point. And then he's talking about, they're talking about how the av, The abs are really struggling to start this game. And he says, they look like a rudderless ship right now.

And he's like, you know how you can't pilot a ship without a rudder? That's what the avalanche are right now. And McGehy says, and I'm like, by this point, I'm literally looking at my radio going, what planet am I on? I say, you're now in Windsor. It's seriously, I was like, what? McGee says, you know what? There's another, you know what famous ship didn't have a rudder, Mark?

And Rydcroft has no idea. He's like me, he's like, where is he going with this? He goes, Noah's Ark didn't have a rudder. And Rydroft's like, I didn't know that. I was like, I guess, I say, you two guys. You guys are great. I was sitting here. I was listening to this.

I didn't know where they were going next. I said I could not be this good radio broadcasting a game. Oh my gosh. That is excellent. That is, well, I mean, that's that show at its finest. When it's like some early adversity, you're going to muster the way through it, and then it ends with just like, boom, through the roof energy, right?

And like the overtime winner, call a great game. They call it a great game. Like most of the broadcasters in this lead do. But I was sitting here and I was like, where is this going next? Noah's art. Anyway. You know what ship never didn't have a rudder? I'm like, what?

And then I'm guessing, like the Titanic? No, I had a rudder. It just didn't get steered very well. That's right. It's like I had to go baseball mode there for a hot minute. Like you just, you got to fill the air while the pitchers get warm. Well, they're doing the review.

Yeah. So like I said, my big question about Colorado was just McCar's health and is he going to last. But Minnesota, Garon, he's proven he'll take big gambles, did it for Hughes this year. Some people are like,

Was that really worth it? I'm like, come on. He traded for, like, what a stupid argument. I mean, he traded for one of the best players in the league. Right. Come on. What are you supposed to wait until you have 100% guarantee you win the cup? Before he make that trade?

Yeah, this is craziness. And like I said, my prediction is three years. That's my prediction. He's going to reward the wild. for taking the plunge with him, taking the chance, until I'm proven wrong, my predictions he signed for three years. I haven't yet got a good guesstimate for the number. But he also has showed big guts in his Olympic selections.

They won the gold medal. You know what's going to happen this summer. He's going to try again. It's got a lot of cap room. Doesn't have a lot to trade, but he has cap room. and it's just who he is. It's the way he's wired. You know, they lost this series 4 to 1,

like Carolina, Colorado's a steamroller. They're good. You know, they, everybody knows they have to find another center. I'm really curious to see if they keep McCarron, because I think someone's going to throw money at that guy. So I'm curious about that.

McCarran ended up playing 2C in, in game five and even though he fanned on the one timer he was huge in the early part of that game he's a good player but look I mean

one of the reasons they lost is that Colorado has like nine centers on the lineup they don't even all play center you know so Erickson X injury they couldn't overcome it you know somebody made an interesting argument to me.

They said Brodine, you know, he always gets hurt. Like, do you move on from that? And I'm like, you can't. He's too good. Yes, the injuries are a big pain, but the guy is too good. He's too important.

I, like, I see two things with Minnesota, like everybody else, you've got to get that center. And, but I think you also have to improve your depth. I think, you know, he had a lot of veterans there, which is fine. but Colorado also beat them around the edges.

Like there were just places that between down the middle and depth around the lineup, Colorado beat them in both those places. And the wild have to get another center, but I think they've got to improve themselves at the margins too. And you know, Garen, he's got a good team. They're all locked in. they're all,

they're a lot of great contracts. He will take his shot and he has the flexibility to do it. You know, the thing about Caprizov is he didn't shoot that puck in overtime and I thought he should have. But now Caprizov

and we'll see how long it lasts but right now he's going to be about to become the highest pay player in the league. Dale Talon's told a story once about Brian Campbell. I always love this story and I think it's true. When he signed Campbell that big contract in Florida, he told him, hey, Brian, don't worry about the money.

Don't define yourself by how well you do. You don't have to do more. We gave you the money. It's not your fault. We gave it to you. We threw this in front of you. And we want you just be who you are. That's why you got the money.

But Campbell, admittedly, he had, he put so much pressure on himself when he got that big deal. It was hard on him. Caprizo was about to go there now. And everybody knows he's a great player, is one of the best players in the league. But now he's, and we saw it this year, it's almost like he's a target now, Kyle. Like he's the guy who pushed the contracts in the new stratosphere. When he doesn't play like that, he's going to come up. under ferocious criticism.

And it's not always right and it's not always fair, but that's the way it is. And it's going to be interesting to see how Caprizov handles that. That's why I wonder if Hughes takes like a three-year deal of a really big number, that actually might ease some of the pressure on Caprizov. But right now he's that guy and he has to understand that's how you get judged. got to deliver. Yes, and for Garan, I mean, there's a number of contracts

coming off the books in the summer and also not only Hughes, but Jared Spurgeon would be extension eligible, Ryan Hartman as well. So, yeah, there's a bunch of different ways he can go about. And what's he going to do with Gustafin? Is he going to keep the duo together

or how's Gustafin going to feel? Because his extension kicks in next season. Yes. Yes. going from 3.75 up to 6.8. So, yeah, a number of different directions he can go in, which should be a busy off-season for a guy and a team

that has not been afraid to take big swings in the past and really has no choice but to continue to do so to keep up with the Joneses there in that division. All right, well, with that, we'll take one final break, and when we come back, we'll wrap up this edition of 32 Thoughts to Podcasts and the latest 32 Thoughts music track as well on the other side. Stay tuned. All right, before we go,

and case you missed it, game one of the Walter Cup final and the PWHL was in the books on Thursday. More late game drama between Ottawa and Montreal. They rarely play boring games against each other. The victoire tying it with three seconds left in regulation and then Abby Rock, her second goal of the night. She plays hero in overtime. So game one goes to the victoire, game two, Saturday there in the Walter Cup final.

And then Saturday night for us, game six, the Lone series remaining in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Canadians and the Sabres from Montreal. Hockey Central pregame show on the air at 730 Eastern, 430 Pacific time. Puck drop a little after 8 ET on Sportsnet and CBC. Canadians trying to punch their ticket for a date with the Carolina. Hurricanes in the conference final. It'd be a great scene Saturday night in Montreal. All right, taking us out today, a track from The Liquor Store, who, coincidentally, is also from Montreal.

The Liquor Store is all about making music that makes you want to move. They combine funk, R&B, jazz, and hip-hop to create something new that'll get you into the groove. They recently launched their latest album called Right Place Wrong Time, and we'll be doing a live recording in front of a studio audience next week on May the 20th. If you'd like to attend, you can purchase tickets through their Instagram bio. You can find this song and all the others that have been featured on 32 Thoughts, The Podcast this season on the 32 Thoughts to Music playlist on Spotify. Here is the liquor store and too fine to ignore on 32 Thoughts the podcast.

No.