32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Sudden Death & Slide Notes

Episode Date: April 25, 2025

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Justin Cuthbert guides Kyle and Elliotte as they delve into all seven series that have been played since we last spoke to you on Tuesday:Senators-Leafs (1:00)Panthers-Lightning (20:00)Golden Knights-Wild (25:36)Blues-Jets (30:06)Kings-Oilers (35:34)Canadiens-Capitals (45:37)Avalanche-Stars (56:31)Kyle, and Elliotte answer your emails and voicemails in the Thought Line (1:03:53).In the final segment, Kyle and Elliotte discuss the biggest news and notes from around the NHL. First, they cover the Boston Bruins’ end-of-season press conference (1:12:28). They wrap up with a word on the New York Rangers, where Chris Drury signs an extension (1:21:19).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

The Canadian Tire Center is rocking. Matthews wins the draw. Benoit scores! Savant Benoit! He set up the winner two nights ago and he has the game winner in game three. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra AT4X, the Stanley Cup Playoffs roll on, Kyle Bacoskis, Elliot Friedman, Dom Schramatti, Justin Cuthbert, as we continue waiting for a counterpunch in the Eastern Conference. The Capitals, Hurricanes, Panthers have each won the first two games of their series, while the Toronto Maple Leafs have moved to within a win over the Ottawa Senators in order to advance via the minimum.

Let's start there, Kyle. You were at the Canadian Tire Center. You spoke with the unlikeliest of heroes, Simone Bedouin, after his overtime winner shades of Corey Cross in 2001. Was he willing to let his hair down in some of the ways Max Domey wasn't? Yeah, well, quite literally, the hair was down just in Cuthbert. And it's funny you mention Corey Cross because we were waiting. I mean, there's the Domi connection for sure from father to son, but we were kind of waiting even though that was a long time ago, those four meetings in five years. It's an entirely different generation now, but at what point during the series was there going to be a wink at what gone on in the early 2000s? We

had that here on Thursday night. As you pointed out, 2001. Now, roles are reversed. The series started in Ottawa. Toronto takes both games there. Game three is back in Toronto. Toronto goes up two goals. Ottawa ties it in the third period. They didn't have two goals to come back from here on Thursday but once again tied it in the third period. And just like in 2001, the unlikeliest of heroes for Toronto, a defenseman who's not known for his scoring prowess, Justin Simone Benoit is this generation's Corey Cross. Here in the city of Ottawa, it's not just Corey Cross, it's Corey Bleepen Cross, and from now on in the city, Simone Benoit will now be known as Simone Bleeping Benoit, except for me.

For me, he is the flat white aficionado for his love of coffee, but amongst everybody else in the city, it's Simone Bleeping Benoit. What a great game though. Like another tight check-in one, Justin. I mean the atmosphere was phenomenal. I know we're gonna get into that a little bit more as we go on here but just another tight game and another heartbreaker for Ottawa who I'm sure felt once again they were right there and there's a scenario where they're up two to one in this series and now Saturday they're playing to keep their season alive. There is one newspaper headline that I remember from my childhood, and it is from that Cory

Cross game winner, Cross one off. I will never forget it. It's stuck in my head. I have no idea why, but I guess it was just the improbability of Cory Cross, and I guess it's the exact same thing with Simone freaking Benoit. From the Ottawa perspective, it feels like some fortunate elements here from Toronto. Lady luck not on Ottawa's side according to Linus Almark, but is there something in their control that they are lacking?

Well, I mean, they got cleaned out in the draw here most of the night, Justin Ottawa did. And you think about early on in the series, game one, when those power play goals for Toronto were going bing bang boom, it was all off one face-offs. And again, on the game winner, Matthews, who had a great night in the face-offs, did it to him again there. And it's in the back of the net a few seconds later.

I thought Ottawa, you could tell, certainly after Matthews scored to go up a goal there early in the back of the net a few seconds later. I thought Ottawa you could tell, certainly after Matthew scored to go up a goal there early in the third period, I mean the building completely changed. It had been a really fun buzz up until then and then it went quiet. I'm sure you could sense it coming across the TV. And there was a gorgeous shot during the commercial break just before Kachuk scores to tie it. And it's him on the bench and it's the side profile. He's got his helmet off and he's drenched in sweat. And the look on his face is like, what else can we do here? Once again, Toronto had not allowed a shot on goal that period to that point and sure enough

his next shift he rips one off the rush past Anthony Stolarz. It's just I think it's the little moment certainly there's some bad bounces again like the power play goal it goes off a body like it's not shot into the net. Matthew Nise gets credit for it here in this instance, but you know those little moments in the game we're so used to over years and years seeing those start to go the opposite of Toronto's way as series goes on as playoffs go on. It's all been going Toronto's way through the first three games in the Battle of Ontario. So Elliot memories of a goal scored nearly a quarter century ago.

What were your thoughts when Simone Benoit buried the overtime winner tonight? You know what's funny, what you used to talk about that Justin, about goals about a quarter century ago, is that I think it was David Amber brought up by there have been I believe it's seven Toronto Maple Leaf defensemen who have scored a playoff overtime goal and he says to me how many do you think you can name and we are talking about a franchise where Bill Borilko a defenseman scored a goal that has been immortalized in song, immortalized in a documentary, is one of the most famous goals scored in Canadian history. Because of all of that, we are talking about Bobby Bond scoring a huge Stanley Cup final

overtime goal on a broken leg, a very big goal in Maple Leaf history. And do you think either one of those would be the first answer that I would come up with? No. My first answer was Cory Cross. I covered that game. I remember it very well. As a matter of fact, so Cory Cross wore number four for the Maple Leafs and after that goal there were people calling him Robert Gordon Cross

after another famous guy who wore number four in the National Hockey League. You know, I have to say this about Toronto. In the core four era, this is the best playoff series they've played. Now they have to close it out. It's not over yet. And Ottawa fans are going to start praying to whatever deity they believe in to pull off the miracle. But they look calm. They've never panicked.

Like there's two points in this series, games two and game three, where they held Ottawa without a shot for over ten minutes of the third period and the first time Ottawa put the puck on net, they scored tying goals. Adam Gadat in game two, Brady Kachuk in game three. But they've never panicked, they've kept calm. One of the biggest advantages on paper Toronto had over Ottawa entering this series was their playoff experience. They haven't taken dumb retaliatory penalties, they've stuck to what they do and that's the

biggest reason they're winning. They've gotten advantage in goal, their best players are playing well, their depth players are playing well, and I really do think Justin, one of the biggest differences between Toronto and Ottawa in this series is Ottawa has the best pure defenseman in this series, Jake Sanderson. But you look at the Toronto D, the depth of them. You watch Tanev, how many simple, brilliant plays he makes. You watch Ekman Larson, especially in game three, how many simple, brilliant plays he makes. If Toronto's going to be successful and go far,

it'll be similar to the blueprint of 2002 Carolina and 2017 Pittsburgh the one where they beat Nashville where LeTang was hurt, where they won it without an absolute stud on D but a 1-6 that knew how to play and be smart. And I just think, Justin, that's been the key for Toronto in this series, is everybody understands their role, everybody plays to their role, and they've never panicked. They've looked extremely calm no matter what's happened. A team taking on the personality of its coach

is the sort of trope that I've rolled my eyes at, I think a million times in my life, Elliot. But this is like the most obvious and clear example of that that I've ever seen. This team may have acted in some ways closer to Sheldon Keefe, but it's not even about Sheldon Keefe. It is about Craig Borube. They are suddenly Craig Borube disciples in every way where it's where his personality

is showing through in this team and in individuals that were different than they are now. Yes. And even even his assistant coaches have gotten it right. Like Mark Savard jumps around and he's the only one who stepped out of line. And he said, and I loved his quote when he was asked about it before game three, he said, if I expect the players to act that way, the coaches have to act that way, too. I have to say, Justin, I'm interested in the fact that you say you roll your eyes at that trope. I think it's so true. If your leaders are panicking, you're going to panic in anything in life. Anything.

Yeah, maybe it just needed someone who is like Craig Berube because that's the panic thing. It's just not in his DNA. It is so uniform. It is at a six out of 10 or less at all times. And frankly, it's just something that the Toronto market has not seen in quite a while. By the way, how busy do you think Corey Cross's phone is right now? I'm sure that he's going to... That's one of those things that people call them up from

media. First of all, all his friends are going to be buzzing him. And then media are going to be calling him and saying, this is the most unlikely Toronto overtime goal scorer since Corey Cross. The media is going to be calling him radio print, or I guess now we say digital instead of print. Radio print TV, oh yeah, the memories are going to come flooding back. And I'll tell you something too, they changed it to NICE and then they changed it back and there was a shot, a great shot our camera people got of Matthews going to

Benoit after and the big smile on Matthews face, like he wanted that to be Benoit's goal. And when Matt Sundin was captain of the Maple Leafs and Paul Maurice coached, Paul Maurice always said the best thing about Sundin was he was always happier for someone else who scored as opposed to himself. He celebrated other goals more than he celebrated his own goals.

That's what I was reminded of watching Matthews, that celebration. All right, Kyle, there's one question I have for you. How many Leaf fans were there? It looked pretty Leafy on TV, I have to say. You know what my guess was when we talked after game two, Justin and Elliott, was that it would be around 70-30. It certainly felt like that on Thursday, maybe a little more towards Ottawa. Now, of course, there's going to be Maple Leaf fans

in the building. There's no way you're keeping all of them out. And quite frankly, I was exhausted of the storyline before I even got on a plane to go to Toronto for games one and two of this series because the discourse on this started right away. Give the senators organization credit. They did what they could to ensure the initial allotment of tickets ended up in the hands of A, their season ticket holders, and then those that wanted to come to cheer on the Ottawa Senators without going to any outlandish attempts to keep them out of Toronto Maple Leaf fans' hands. You know, Justin, there was only, they only had about a thousand tickets left to sell to the general public for this game, so there wasn't a ton made directly available to those rep in the blue and white to begin with.

You know, there was certainly, again, you could see them throughout the building, but once that place got going, I give Craig Anderson a lot of credit, so he was the alumni they brought back. He did their ring-the-bell routine before the players came to the ice. He gave a brief interview to the house just before that. He started the pageau chance like out of nowhere, Like the place went berserk when they saw him. So he did his part in getting the crowd going. It was quite clearly, you know, and a pro Ottawa crowd, a heavy Senators crowd in this one because I've done the

last number of regular season games in this building, you guys, where it was the complete opposite. It was a total Maple Leaf takeover. That was not the case here on Thursday. However, with the series at what it's at now, I think there's going to be an even more infiltration of blue and white come Saturday knowing Sens fans may not be able to bear to watch the prospect of being swept in their own building in the hands of Toronto and more Maple Leafs fan going, I don't care what I've got to do. Get me into that building to see them try to clinch on Saturday. Were there any people holding up signs, Leaf fans I mean, holding up signs saying Kyle Bacoskas got me these tickets?

No, there were not, Elliot. Much to your chagrin. I know you were clamoring and doing all you could to try to make that happen. One sign I did see flash up on the video board at one point during the game and unfortunately I couldn't get my phone free in time to grab a picture of it. Someone had a sign, not just a sign, it was a very large sign of that bloody a sign it was a very large sign of that bloody image of you Elliot sitting there in studio in the preseason with your sends playoffs on the cue card it wasn't even like a black and white sign someone ponied up the funds to get a

massive colored sign of Elliot sends playoffs I understand people are free to do what they wish with their money. I will never completely understand the return on investment on something like that. So Kyle, what you're talking about, I got a text from Julian McKenzie of The Athletic and then right after that Sports Nets and Adua informing me of what had happened and I just started laughing Like I can't believe somebody actually did that So let me just say thank you very much to the person who did it This is a life achievement unlocked. I thought I would never have

That someone would ever put me on a poster. When I was a kid I had a bikini photo on my wall of Heather Thomas. People who are my age will know exactly what poster I am referring to. I could never have looked at that photo of Heather Thomas and said someday I would be on a poster too. Thank you very much. Now Justin, I want you to know I haven't given up hope on this. I want to tell you and Kyle that on Wednesday morning, wait a second, I don't even know what date it is anymore,. I screwed up on air too on Thursday morning Steph and I did a Costco run and I went to second cup to grab a coffee before I went into the Costco and there were these two gentlemen sitting there and we started chatting and

one of them his name was Andy and the other guy was Thomas nice guys and Andy was telling me that he and seven friends are Taking a party bus up to Ottawa for game four. They've got a driver They're taking the party bus up They're watching the game and then after the party bus driver is going to take them back home great day trip for a bunch of friends and I said to them, I only have one request. And he said, and they said, what's that? And I said, you have to go there with a sign that says, Kyle Bacoskas got us these tickets. So I

have not given up hope that this is going to occur. Very likely that there is increased leaf presence for game four, but hopefully your man inside Costco gets it done. You know, Justin, it's three-nothing. It doesn't look great for the Senators. At this time of year, though, I think we've watched too many three-nothing comebacks whether it was the Kings over the Sharks or the Flyers over the Bruins and Yes, I know this feels very different but I Never believe a series is over until it's over. I

Think that the biggest challenge you have Especially for a young team like Ottawa, is that it feels overwhelming. You're sitting here and you're saying, we just got into the playoffs and now we could be out of it. You've lost two games in overtime. Toronto to me, it's very similar to Montreal, Washington. Washington is just a little bit better than Montreal and Toronto is just a little bit better than Montreal and

Toronto is just a little bit better than Ottawa and they're experienced enough and the other team is inexperienced enough for the two favorites to understand that. If you're Ottawa there's only one thing you can do and that is say we don't need to win four games we've got to win one game don't worry about climbing the mountain to the top it's like going to Everest worry about the next base camp don't worry about going from wherever you start to the top of Everest one part at a time. And if you're Ottawa, that's all you can do is say, we've got to win a game at home on Saturday night.

And it's not even about feeding insecurities that may exist within the Leafs. Like it's actually just about the next victory for Ottawa because you can't think that far ahead. I mean, the Leafs will meet their demons at some point during this run, whether it's against Ottawa or another team. But for the Senators now, it's just getting about one victory, getting it back to Toronto, and trying to do it a second time. Right. 100%. Okay. Keeping it in the Atlantic. Pretty stunning stuff in Tampa Bay after winning a Laffer in game one it's an

airtight defensive performance in game two for the Florida Panthers and now they can build on a two-nothing series lead with a pair of games in Fort Lauderdale oh and they get the return of Eric Blatt as well Elliot winning games in multiple ways is a staple of a Stanley Cup champion and it looks like the Panthers are back to those winning ways in those multiple ways. What did you think of Florida's performance and how they've handed it to Tampa Bay to start this series? Oh, I'm shocked. Not that Florida's incapable of it because that's a great team, but I just didn't see Tampa Bay being smothered the way the Panthers are smothering them through two

games. They had three shots in the third period, that's it. But the thing that's really stood out to me, Justin, and I'll admit I'm paying more attention to Toronto, Ottawa than I am Florida, Tampa at the same time, but what I do see, especially on the penalty kill, the Lightning, they're getting stopped. Like Tampa Bay has so much talent from Kucherov on down, a top-five power play in the league this year, and Florida's just not letting them do anything. They can't gain the blue line. They can't do the things that they like to do.

They're completely getting smothered all around the ice. Nate Schmidt is one of the leading goal scorers in the playoffs. He's a great guy. I'm really happy for Nate Schmidt. But five out of five on the penalty kill. And you know, the thing is too, Justin, is that a team with Matthew Kachak, Sam Bennett and Brad Marshand is playing exactly like a team you would think would have Kachak, Bennett and Marshand on it. They have this swagger, they have this arrogance. It's exactly like when they put this all together, you would have said, I think it's going to look like this.

It has looked exactly like that. And to go in there and win two in a row in Tampa and put on the kind of defensive clinic, like Bobrovsky, he's been really good. I wouldn't say they're making it easy on him, but it's gotta be disheartening for Tampa Bay to get through everything you need to get through before and then realize you got to beat him. And again I would say this is far from over but the Panthers have put on an absolute clinic and you've got to think that you're not gonna have Canadian hero Brandon Hagel for game

number three. Oh okay so yeah Brandon Hagel lev game number three. Oh, okay. So yeah, Brandon Hagel levies a massive hit on Alexander Barkov. It is called a major penalty. Elliot, you're expecting supplemental discipline? Yeah, I am. I mean, I like a tough, mean, nasty game, especially in the postseason.

The problem is, Barkov never touches the puck. Like, if you watch the play, it's Headman who knocks the puck around the boards, not Barkov. So he can't be hit there. Now I, you know, Paul Maurice said there was no update after the game or gave no update after the game. And I think there's some hope that the worst-case scenario has been avoided but we'll see like especially in these situations you generally have to wait a day or two to really understand what you're dealing with but you know Barkov never touched the puck and you know some people were like he didn't hit him in the head fine that's good he didn't hit him in the

head but he wasn't eligible to be hit like it wasn't there I was actually shocked like if you look at the rule book if a player is injured by Interference and gets a major they can get a game misconduct for that. So I was actually a little surprised Hagel didn't get that. I love the player I think a lot of Canadians fell in love with Hagel at the Four Nations this year but he made a mistake here and he's probably going to get set out a game for it. We're expecting a hearing and when you get a hearing you're expecting a suspension. It's extremely rare that you have a hearing and don't get a suspension. You know, he just made a mistake

and it's going to cost him and the Lightning. Yeah, moment born out of frustration for sure and that's kind of my thing with Florida is that they present peak hockey frustration. You mentioned adding Brad Marchand to a team that includes Sam Bennett and Matthew Kachuk and go down the line but you just lost game one at home. You're trailing in game two. You can hardly muster 20 shots. You go 0 for 5 on the power play. This team has beat you five of the previous six times in the postseason, including a series victory last year.

It just gets to the point where they've had enough. And that was shown through with Brandon Hegel late in that game. Yeah, it was a pure frustration in play, you're right. And now Tampa's going to have to find a way to go on the road. They're not incapable. It's a very capable team. And the other thing we were reminded of too at the Four

Nations is that Cooper can pull this stuff out of his players. So it's far from over. I think the Panthers would be the first ones to admit? So it's far from over. I think the Panthers would be the first ones to admit to you it's far from over, but the road just got a lot tougher, at least on Saturday afternoon. Also Thursday night, Vegas and Minnesota. I think, you know, Lightning and Panthers included. The most surprising developments might come from this Vegas-Minnesota series. Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Erickson-riksen Ek come back and the Golden Knights are simply without an answer for that wild top line, which also features Matt Boldy.

Kaprizov and Boldy have dominated these playoffs. Three more goals between them tonight, four goals apiece in the playoffs through the first three games. The Wild now up 2-1 in the series after dropping the opener, Elliott. Vegas seems to be out without an answer for this top line. I'm surprised by this. I have to say I really am because Vegas is one of the best two-way teams and you know one thing about Kaprizov is that he was going to, he was on a heart trophy run until he got hurt.

He has been robbed of a legitimate shot at the heart trophy because of his injury this year and maybe we kind of forgot all that. But if you would have told me in this series the three games in that two stars on a team would have no points, I wouldn't have said it would have been Eichel and Stone. You know, I wouldn't have picked them and I apologize for the Minnesota disrespect, but it wouldn't have been Eichel and Stone who I would have picked. Boldy's been fantastic. And you know who's having a really good series too is John Hines from a decision-making point

of view because he moved Rossi back down with two different line-mates and they've looked really good. Rossi scored. He didn't make any lineup changes after game two when it certainly looked like they could have. And Zev Bouim, for example, got his first NHL point. So far, what Hines has been doing has worked. The other guy I'll give a lot of credit to is Gustafson and Goal, because when I saw that 2-1 goal, the Patrangelo goal, that one had an odor

to it and when I saw it, we were live on the air when we played that highlight, I was like, oh wow, that's a bad goal and you always wonder how a team and a goalie are going to react but Minnesota held and when it was 4-2 in the third period, Gustafsson made a couple of big saves. Like, you're always going to give up a stinker from time to time that just happens. How do you rebound? And Gustafsson was great. So I give the Wilde a lot of credit. I think they've given Vegas more of a fight than a lot of us maybe gave them credit for or expected. And the other play that really

stood out Justin was Ryan Hartman at the end of the second period before Kaprizov scores. Like Hartman just makes a brilliant play. He has time. He's getting the puck at the boards and he looks up at the clock and he's like, Oh, I just better shoot it. And he does and Kaprizov score seconds later. So they had a lot of guys who really lifted to a high level. I think everybody knows that Vegas is not going to go down quietly. Their pushback is going to come.

They're too good for it not to happen but Minnesota has arrived here and they've said to all those people including myself I'll admit who disrespected them or counted out their chances they have told us that this is going to be a fight and Vegas is gonna have to earn every inch of its comeback here if they are to do it. Yeah I think they've made Vegas look slow at least they did in game three and I don't want to discount them either Elliot because I don't know maybe we are trending to something that would be considered unexpected LA and Minnesota in the next round.

But I think Minnesota's a fascinating team. Who had that parlay? Probably Ailish, if we're being honest. But if we're moving, you know, you're looking at this summer and next season, the Parise and Souter deals finally coming off, some financial flexibility with a team that has all these young stars Some of which returning recently to the lineup. I just think Minnesota's you know, the future here is very very intriguing Don't forget also that Capri's I was gonna get 11 t billion dollars. That is true. That is true still something to play with I hope

That is true. That is true still something to play with I hope though Okay, let's move to st. Louis where it was a really strong bounce back performance for the Blues tonight an early lead established through a Dominant first period and they kind of settle into a more favorable game condition for them being stingy Protecting a big advantage and then they just laid it on in the third period the Jets give up seven for the first time this season, a worse loss than they had across four bad losses to Colorado last spring in the postseason. So a bad period snowballs and for Winnipeg now it means some pressure on Sunday against a team with 13 straight wins at home to avoid square one in the series. Your thoughts on a big big win for st. Louis. Yes stinker for the Jets no question and that Again, even though it was two nothing Winnipeg, and I really liked the way they were playing this was not going to be an easy series It was far from over and coming back home. I give all the credit in the world to the blues

They came out right from the beginning they pounded them them right away and they never let up off the gas. You know, I will say this, there were moments it could have gone sideways for the Blues. At the end of the first period, Connor got a great chance on a rush with Shifely and Bittington makes a huge pad save, very calm pad save too. Like you wonder if the Jets cut it to 3-1 in the last minute of the first period, is it a different game? But we'll never find out because he made the save. There was the disputed goal, the disallowed goal, which we'll get to in a second, but they were relentless. Even though there were moments that the Jets pushed back,

you know, the Blues, they never let up, they kept coming. See, in the playoffs, I don't believe in running up the score, right? I really don't. It would take a lot for me. Like, 7-2 is 7-2. You got to win. You know, I don't also believe momentum needs to go from game to game. This is not a total goal series. It's first to four. So, the Jets should have short memories. They should say, look, this is what we did wrong. We have to match the Blues at the beginning of the game. Here's also what we think. But the next game starts 0-0 and we're still up 2-1. It doesn't have to be panic time for Winnipeg. They got their

butts kicked. You knew St. Louis was going to come back. You know de Mello was a loss He was sick didn't play and you could tell it just threw everything for them off kilter They just they weren't themselves. They got beaten they got pounded and now everybody goes back to the drawing board for Sunday I think st. Louis. This is their w they earned it. They took charge. They never let up This is their W. They earned it. They took charge. They never let up They pounded them into the ground and that's what you have to do, especially when you're down in a series and you're at home You mentioned the disallowed goal Cole Profetti Not looking to be Jordan Bennington It was a great save from Jordan Bennington, but it looked like the Profetti shot could have snuck over the line through the glove of Bennington I think it was the classic probably in but can't prove it. Oh, I think so

I think that puck was in like I I Totally believe that was a goal and you know profetti who's a scorer scorers know when they score right that was in and But the problem is they understand it. It's it's a no-goal call on the ice. And they can't prove 100% that that puck is in the net. Like, we showed one on the broadcast, Justin. There was a game last year with David Riddick playing goal for the Kings against the Oilers in the first round, where he caught a puck that Dry-Cytle shot, initially it was no-goal, and when they reviewed it, you could clearly see it was in the net. And it was given to Dry-Cytle.

They called it a goal and it was the right call. Now one of the things that happened that night, Justin, was Riddick was using an all white glove, white laces, white glove, and I don't think that's ever gonna happen again. As a matter of fact, I had a couple goalie coaches tell me that they were like if we have white gloves right now Nobody's using them like that. We're never doing that again

But that one was more clear-cut than this, you know, Justin I do think we will see the day when there is the The tracking system that they can have I know they have looked at certain situations before I know this is something that they've worked. I know they have looked at certain situations before. I know this is something that they've worked on from time to time but they've never gotten it to a point where they really believed they could say this is a hundred percent good. Like I know people talk about the Hawkeye in tennis just with the ice and under the ice, it's always been slightly problematic.

I've just heard it's not perfect enough. I can't wait till that day happens, so we don't have to worry about this stuff anymore. But Justin, I think that's a goal. I don't like that they couldn't change it, but I understood why they couldn't change it. Yeah, still waiting on the chips to be in the pucks without anyone noticing while stick handling, I suppose. Yeah, I mean, a 2019 All-Star game, I remember them talking about it,

how, you know, we're unveiling this, it's going to be ready, and we're still waiting six years later. It's a game where the surface, the puck, the equipment, everything used makes it a little bit difficult to ensure that technology can help us out, but it'll come eventually, I hope. You know what? Thank God when that day occurs. Yeah. Okay, let's move to Wednesday night's games. Edmonton and Los Angeles. Kings take a 2-0 series lead. They hang 11 goals on Stu Skinner. They get another one on Calvin Pickert. Two games at the crypt. It's been a beat down. Adrian Kempe leads the playoffs with seven points, although these wild guys might be chasing that down. So that was temporary,

I suppose. They beat up on the Oilers signaling that the one-sided nature of this rivalry may be over. Elliott, let me try a new analytic on for you. Okay. Percentage of teammates rowing in the same direction as Connor McDavid and Leon Dreisaitl. I don't want to completely absolve them Elliot but the support for those two players, those two superstars clearly lacking after two games. Yeah this has been a big disappointment to say the least Justin for the oilers and The pressure will be on them now, you know, Luke Gastic and Kevin B XO were pretty calm

They say you're not in trouble till you lose at home And that's true and I always do believe in calm like anytime you have two nuclear weapons on your side You can those two can win. Here's the problem, Justin. The Kings, in the previous three seasons, when they met in the playoffs, I think they had 12 goals in one series, I think, or 12 or 13 last year.

They had, I think, 17 in the sixth gamer, and they had 20 in the seventh gamer. The most they had was 20 in the six gamer and they had 20 in the seven gamer the most they had was 20 in the seven gamer they've got 12 after two games the Kings and As great as McDavid and dry settle are they're not gonna out score that all by themselves Whether they've gone out and they've got guys or they've had guys develop, they have consistently added offense. You know, it starts with Kopitar, they draft Byfield who's finally becoming the player they hoped, they trade for Trevor Moro who's become a better goal scorer there, they trade for Fiala, who's a big time scorer. Kempe develops into a really talented offensive player.

They go out and they get Fogel, they add Kuzmenko. I think the other thing, Justin, the guy deserves a lot of credit is Drew Doughty, because Drew Doughty has agreed that he would come off the power play, right? So they're running a five forward power play that's just clobbering the Oilers and Doughty has enough ability to accept it and say, okay, I've gotta come off the power play for the good of the team, right? And so your hypothesis is right,

like they don't have enough support, there's not enough guys helping them out. And I think the difference now is the Kings have enough scoring up and down their roster where they can handle the the two guys and say we can match them. Still early who's in goal game three looks like Calvin Pickard looks like and the penalty kill you know it's not as simple as saying that Echolme's not there but there have been some of those goals Justin where you look at some of the plays and even some of the seam passes and you're like if Echolme was there does a stick get on that puck does the front of the net get cleared out a little bit better and the thing that also really worries me too for Edmonton

Trent Frederick, he's a gamer. He's trying Nobody would ever say that guy's dogging it you can see that his power and skating just isn't there You know a Vanderkeen he played his first game in a year. How fast is he going to be able to get up to speed? I got to tell you Justin, I never like to say it's over. You doubt the Oilers and McDavid and Dry Settle at your peril, but every single worry the orders and their fans had going into the series has hit. Every single concern they've had is playing out right in front of them. It is too early. It's too early to count them out. It's too early probably to talk about the summer, but the Evan Bouchard restricted free agent situation is a fascinating one. Again, Elliot, we don't have to do it. But do you think

about that every time there's a moment for Evan Bouchard and there were a couple moments in game two? You know, I don't because I just don't think it's the right time yet, but I remember when I first started Hockey Night, I used to joke that in Toronto, Justin, there was the McCabe rule, and that is whenever something went wrong, the cameras went on to Brian McCabe in Toronto, and it became an easy thing to do like he wouldn't even be on the ice and the camera would like pan to him and it's like there's some guys they become like social media targets right it's just easy to pile on them you know

Bouchard whatever you know warts he may have and whatever issues there might be like I thought the the whole thing about him on that byfield goal, I thought it was really unfair. I really did. I'm sitting there with BX and Lalonde, and BX is a defenseman who played 800 and something games, and Lalonde's a coach. And both of them are like, why are people getting on Bouchard?

That one's not on him. It's the plays broken down. It's a two on one. And the only thing you could say is that maybe he has to rush at Byfield at the end to force him to make a decision. But then what happens is if he does that and byfield passes to the guy that That Bouchard was covering. It's an easy tap in and people rip Bouchard for that like I Look, I think people are free to criticize who they want criticism and fair is fair. No problem but I think in his case It almost becomes like oh It's an easy thing to do.

It's an easy guy to dunk on. And it becomes almost a self-fulfilling prophecy. Like, does he make mistakes? Absolutely. But I look at that play and I say, people are inventing things because he's gotta take away the pass and leave the shooter to Skinner. And that's where I think it goes too far, because it almost because, oh, it's it's Bouchard.

Oh, it's his fault. And that to me is when it gets to be too much. Probably best to defer to BX on defending two on ones. But I do know that the Oilers have to get better defensively. And and we'll see, you know, the paths they take in order to achieve that you know It's just like you know the only thing to Justin is they just look the Kings like the Kings were always the team that was Kind of seen as like the slow Plotting ponderous team and they're they are beating them up and down the ice like it's

It's been a slow process for a lie, and they have to close it out like that's for a light and they have to close it out. That's the thing. They have to close it out. You would think that with Kemper and Goal, they have the advantage in net, that they could win two out of the next five and close this out. Stranger things have happened. You have to prove that

Glengarry Glen Ross, you can have the coffee because coffee is for closers, but with Kemper and Goal and they've got the best defensemen in the series. Like you know to be honest if you rank them, how many... to me Gavrikov has been the best defenseman in the series, but right now if you were them, how many, to me, Gavrikov has been the best defenseman in the series. But right now, if you were to go, okay, let's rank them all, you know, how high would the top or their guy be? There's a lot of players on this Edmonton team that have to raise their games. Not over, but definitely taking on water. Kyle, much of the anticipation ahead of game two between Edmonton and LA is what they would do.

With the anthem or better, would the harmonicas return? And after the response from the Kings, it probably was no surprise that they went up getting the result that they did. And they can't go away from that if they're going to continue winning at home. I just wanted to point out Justin and Elliot. So the Korea Town Senior and Community Center, they're the ones that have been delivering the harmonica Star Spangled Banner in games one and two. I look at both games when it cut to Andrei Kuzmenko on the LA bench and just the smile and the joy in his face. He took such enjoyment over what was happening and you look at his production to kick off the series

against LA. Five points in two games if anyone on that LA side has benefited more from how the tone was set from the national anthem at crypto.com arena for me my money is on Andre Kuzmenko now how does he take that bottle it up on the road in Edmonton that's gonna be a huge test for him okay the Capitals held serve in Washington two wins against Montreal to open the series and two games Elliott that played out nearly identical capitals established some dominance early. They do their scoring and then they threatened to see it rendered meaningless by a furious Montreal push. But missing from that push in the third

period on Wednesday night was Patrick line a not a single shift in the third for line a the line a new hook Demidoff line was crushed in game one. Bottom six still very much an issue in game two. So how does Marten St. Louis proceed to A, keep line A in this series, but B also conjure up something meaningful within his bottom six? Look I think the biggest thing is is he going to keep line A in the series? Like to me there's two ways you can go here and obviously we'll see what happens on Friday morning at the morning skate in Montreal, but there's two ways you can go. You can either say, okay, Patrick, we've thrown down the

gauntlet. We have thrown down the gauntlet We have thrown down the gauntlet What are you going to do about it? you get one more chance to prove to us that we don't take the next step and you're not playing or door number two in this game of let's make a deal Justin is Santa we can say look if I'm not going to play him at the end of a game where one shot can tie it, there's no spot in the roster for him and he's not gonna play at all. Like I only see two roots there. It's either the motivation, you got embarrassed,

you're gonna show me wrong, or, no point in playing you, you're out and somebody else goes in. And you know, I mean, do you see another option there, Justin? Do you see any other path that San Luis can take? It's crazy how, you know, Demi D'Avva has arrived here and not like he's you know The guy that they can lean on to be their everything clearly he has that electric Start and he's playing in this series

But it almost seems like it made line a somewhat redundant and playing a third line with Demidov and line a like it just can't be trusted Against heavy competition high skill competition. There's just not enough defensive acumen, even with Jake Evans playing in between them. So, you know, Patrick Lina, the fourth liner, does it work? Just in theory, no, it probably doesn't. And, you know, he shouldn't be a guy

that doesn't belong on a playoff roster, given that he has so much talent. But I did, you know, raise an eyebrow when I saw their first lineup with Demidov and Patrick Linais playing on the fourth line. That was never in my eyes going to work. Yeah I think you're totally right and we'll see. You know Armia who's a guy you think would be a playoff kind of guy, a guy who can play a little bit of a heavier game. He got one shift in the third period too.

So San Luis got some interesting decisions to make and I'm very curious to see where he's going to go. You know, the other thing about this series too is that the capitals are about to get heavier. Like Protus is getting closer to coming back, right? He's making the trip. So the longer this goes on, like I think the Suzuki line and Suzuki himself, they're giving the Capitals trouble.

And I give them a lot of credit. Like in a lot of these games, it's the same thing I talked about with, I mentioned briefly with Toronto and Ottawa, is that Washington's a bit better than Montreal. And even though they're not the same team that won the Stanley Cup, obviously seven years ago, they've got more experience than Montreal. And, you you know they're taking advantage of that. They're just they're just a little bit better and it's the reason they're a little bit ahead. Two close games, an overtime game and basically a one goal game with an empty netter. That experience helps you with those or

helps you in the key moments that separate the games. I really like how much the Canadians have competed. I've loved Montembeau, but we'll see when Protus comes back here because I think that's one of the things that you know the that Suzuki line has really given Washington a lot of trouble. San Luis not afraid to give them big minutes, and especially long shifts. And in both games, those longer shifts have kind of bothered the capital centers, who tend not to play their lines that long. Protus coming back will help with that. You know, I got to tell you too, the whole cross check stuff has been crazy in the playoffs.

There was a cross check called in the Toronto game that made me wonder, Justin, if after what happened with Caulfield getting smashed in the face in game two, that maybe these referees were told to watch out about this stuff a little bit more. And Friday night, home playoff game in Montreal, it's gonna be bananas in there. It's gonna be an awesome, awesome experience. Of course, they made the Stanley Cup final in 2021, but you weren't allowed to have a lot of fans in there. Even though I'm convinced that the Canadians

jammed thousands more people in that building than were supposed to be in there, even though I'm convinced that the Canadians jammed thousands more people in that building than were supposed to be in there. This is going to be the first true Montreal playoff experience in a decade, and it's going to be spectacular, spectacular in there. Another potential decision for Martin Saint-Louis may involve David Savard Elliott. I don't know if you know by now, but I like cross-sport comparisons. He logged only eight and a half minutes, fourth line minutes basically, made a critical error on Washington's first goal.

You got Arbor Jack guy waiting in the wings. You know the Bell Center crowd may want to see him. But the cross-sport thing is this, David Savard announced that this would be his last season. This would be his last playoff run. And in the fight game, UFC, boxing, whatever, when a fighter does that, they are kind of showing their vulnerabilities and it's real difficult for them to succeed. Most fighters who announce, hey, this is my retirement bout, end up losing their retirement bout. But you want to do right by the player. now it's hey this is my retirement bout end up losing their retirement bout but

you want to do you want to do right by the player if you're Mark Dansello this guy is you know given something to this organization embarrassing him in his last season maybe that's not the move that they want to make but if you can only count on him for eight and a half minutes and it may be the fighter that just doesn't have it at this point, maybe it's worth pursuing. It's a good point. I think at this time of year, I think Savard's been good for the Canadians, but the Canadians have been good for Savard too. I don't see a problem at this point of year with it with a coach saying, hey, we need to make a change. At this time of year you have to try to win. You have to

try to ice your best lineup. And if Marten Sanlouis believes that Savard has to go out and say Jacki has to come in, you can't be Sandal Mantle and you should do it. You know one of two things is going to happen. If Savard doesn't play game three and it doesn't go well, you know you're guaranteed a game four and you can always put them back in there, right? And if Savard plays game three and it doesn't go well, you can simply say, hey, you know, we just have to make the change. I do believe in sentimentality on some level, and you'll hear that when I talk about the Dallas, Colorado game that we're still going to discuss. But I think in the postseason, you're there to win and you've got to make those proper decisions.

Like again, when it comes to line-A, we had an argument about it on the air and I said, you're not going to put them in at the end of that game when you have one shot to tie. And Kevin and Derek and Luke Gastic all said, no, you are trying to build a culture and if you're going to do it, you have to stick to it. And I think that's part of the decision. You have to try to win the game and you have to show your players that the most important thing you can do is try to win the game. So Montreal third periods have been furious pushes to tie and at the center of that Kyle has been the 18 year old Lane Hudson. Right and as you know Justin like when you're just playing on instinct as opposed to thinking like that's when the best

stuff happens as a player and so Lane Hudson is a guy we have watched blossom before our eyes this year. I mean, he took command, it feels anyways, of the Calder Trophy race down the stretch. And now he gets into the playoffs, of course still playing a ton over 25 minutes. They're in game two, but it's a different game now. As we all know, there's not the same amount of room, the same amount of time to do the type of plays and the type of reads that he likes to make and has made and has great success with it. But one thing that Martin St. Louis said early on this season as he was still finding his way in his first full year, This season as he was still finding his way in his first full year

It was Hudson is someone who's very good at self correcting even as a young player He is not someone that you need to as a coach remind him Repeatedly of things to continue to point out things St. Louis said like for the most part like he when there's a mistake made on the ice There isn't even the feeling that he's got to go talk to him because he comes to the bench and already knows what his error was and the ability to, as he said, self-correct. So as this series goes on here, and it's like dog years in the playoffs in terms of experience. You played one game, you played two, you've already doubled the amount of exposure to these types of games. He's one guy for Montreal.

I'm really going to be locked in on watching as this series goes on against Washington as the self-correcting abilities, how much of that shines through for one of the most exciting young defensemen in the game. The final thought is brought to you by GMC and Elliot. Let's move to Colorado and Dallas. We won't talk about Carolina and New Jersey because there has not been a game since our last discussion, nor some major developments.

But in Dallas. Why do you hate Carolina and New Jersey Justin? Why do you hate them? I don't know I took some heat from some Winnipeg fans when I was just trying to say nice things about St. Louis so let's not paint another pitcher here Elliot. Colorado Dallas something that I didn't think I was ever gonna see again did in fact occur Wednesday night Colorado Gabriel Landeskog captain of the Avalanche suiting up in an NHL game, a big one to boot after almost three years sidelined with a knee injury.

It gave life to a building and his team, but no fairy tale ending. Dallas wins in overtime, second straight game. Tyler Sagan, the winner, the old guard kind of leading the way for the Stars. Pete DeBoer's team finding a way without Miro Heiskenen and Jason Robertson. Some reflection, Elliot, on Landiscaug's path back and how Dallas has crawled back to lead this critical first round series. Okay, so we'll talk about Dallas in a second. Let's do Landiscaug first, Justin.

You know what I liked most about that whole Landiscaug thing? Well number one was that he made it back because you could tell that the amount of respect he had from other players, like even the Dallas guys saying how great it was and all the players who showed up in the box to support him his family everything else the Colorado fans was that it was a rare individual event during a playoff series like think about it that's not the NHL way, right? To make the playoffs about one person. And a lot of NHLers wouldn't do that.

And I think that it shows the amount of respect for Landisgog that the Avalanche would do that. The Avalanche are all about team, right? That the Avalanche would do that the avalanche are all about team right that the avalanche would do that and The Dallas players would understand that and the league would do that like you look at all the social media things that came out The videos of him driving to the rink the interviews he did with the avalanche broadcast team like they made this an event. And yeah, you would have that for a regular season game, but in the

playoffs for it to be as much about one player as this was with all the pre-production that came for one player. Normally you'd say it's the playoffs. We don't do this. This is not the DNA of our league. It's the playoffs. We don't do this. This is not the DNA of our league and I think in a bit of a way the NHL took a step in saying a 21st century step that says we're gonna drop the

way that we handle Marketing and in the playoffs and we are gonna make this about one guy now when the puck dropped it was different But I loved the overall presentation on the day of the game. The Avalanche tweeting out the picture of his locker with the shirt with the team jersey in it but also the video, the ovation, the single lap Justin for a guy who's been in the NHL for a long time. It shows the deep respect that everybody has for Landisgog. But I just thought it was very non-NHL, the NHL that we know. And I liked that people were willing to take that step. He ran over Ranton on the first shift.

They scored that goal on the great Brock Nelson pick. I knew it was going to happen too. I got a text from a friend of mine who was a Leaf fan who was like, wait a sec, Justin Hall got called on that three years ago. I knew someone was going to send me that text. Yes, you're right. It's a penalty, but it wasn't called. It was a brilliant play by Nelson.

And then it all swung to Dallas. And, you know, I'll say this about the Stars. They know, especially with Haysken and Robertson out, they cannot turn that series into a track meet and cannot allow it to be a track meet. And the Stars basically threw quicksand all over the ice and turned that game into a crawl. And I'll say this, they were brilliantly prepared, the strategy was brilliant by their coaching staff, but the credit to the players too for understanding what they needed to do, realizing what they needed

to do, and committing to what they needed to do. They were, you know, there's moments that go wrong, but a lot of the time they were structured perfectly, they are in great position, and Autinger was phenomenal. Like at the end of regulation when Marchman takes that double minor, everybody thought they were going to lose, everybody. But they held on, Autinger was brilliant, Like he has to be the best player in this series for Dallas and he was phenomenal in game three. The other thing I really liked for Dallas was you look at the winning goal, Marchman, who committed the penalty, made a play, but

Justin, who had the primary assist? Miko Ranen and How do you think Miko Randin whose whole season and life has kind of been turned upside down is? Gonna feel after game three where he goes home And he makes a huge play on the game-winning goal to set up Sagan to score it like if you're Dallas Like you still can't do track meet, you still have to be disciplined and you have to wait till everybody comes back and gets healthy. But there's two things, there's two or three things I really love for Dallas out of that game. Number one, they won. Number two, Autinger was tremendous. But number three, that's probably the best that

Mikko Ratnen has felt since he got traded. I love Jake Oettinger in the post game. I think he committed to buying Essel Lendell dinner, which is par for the course, but also said that he wanted his kid's godfather to be Essel Lendell if and when he has children, so you'll have to double check that in five years or whatever Jake Oettinger decides to start a family

Yeah, we're gonna hold them to that by the way Justin What year are we in the Dallas wins 2-1 and the goal scorers are Tyler Sagan and Jamie Band? I know it's I find this team unbelievably fascinating because it's like they so desperately are fascinating because it's like they so desperately are needing to turn over the roster but they have bridged these two eras it is the old guard and these new Lions these young players who are so whippersnappers they're so talented they're so good Jim Nel has obviously done a tremendous job and it feels like maybe there's too big of a chasm between them and that maybe Jamie Ben and Tyler Sagan can't do it at the level that they need to

for it to all come together, and then Jamie Ben and Tyler Sagan have had such a strong start to these playoffs. I would not have wanted to be around Nathan McKinn in the last 48 hours. That was the final thought brought to you by GMC. Let's hit the Thoughtline next. All right, welcome back. Time now for the Thoughtline. Just Elliott and myself for this one. Freege, as you know the drill, 1-833-311-3232 if you'd like to leave a voicemail,

or you can email 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca. Do you have anything in your holster to get off your chest before we get to today's submissions? I do not. Wow. That's gotta be a first. Ha ha ha. Playoffs, man. I'm too busy. I'm focused.

I'm focused. All right. All right. We need your focus for these ones here today. We'll begin with Barry in Cambridge, Ontario. G'day, gents, and Elliot. I apologize if this has been asked before, but my question is this. Can a team have two separate penalties against them on the same

play and if so, would the result be a five on three power play? This came to mind during the Battle of Ontario, game one, second period, Adam Gaudet called for cross-checking Austin Matthews. At the same time on that play, John Tavares was being accosted in front of the net by some of the senators, which could have been a hooking or interference penalty assessed as well. Had a second penalty been called on the play, how would that have been served? Accosted. Good word.

Yes. The answer is yes. You can't have two penalties on the same play. It happens once in a while. It's not often, but it does occur. And it's a five on three. The two penalties are served at the same time. And if a team scores, then you can pick which player comes out of the penalty box first.

The team that suffered the penalties picks which player comes out of the penalty box first. And also too, if it's the same player committing two fouls during one play before the whistle, then it becomes a double minor. Right. Right. If you're called to the hooking, the play goes on, and now you've tripped a guy 20 seconds later, it's a double minor.

It's rare, but I've seen that one happen too. Good reminder, Kyle. No, no worries. Barry, thank you for the question, and always good clarification, especially this time of the year. All right. Up next, Jeff. Hello, Dom. I guess the other guys too. That's really good. I like these. They're getting better and better. I have to say. People are very creative, I have to say. Very good.

Now that the playoffs have arrived, it means the season is coming to a close and I don't want it to. There's 15 series left, a minimum of 60 games if all 15 series were sweeps, a maximum of 105 games if all 15 series went the distance to a game seven. I'm assuming there's never been a 60 game playoff or a 105 game playoff, you are right. So my question is, what is the all time record for least and most playoff games played?

How close did they get to the 60 game floor or 105 game ceiling? Thanks guys, love all that you do. And go Canucks! Never mind. I think that person's real name is Dom, not Jeff. Yes, Dom's gone undercover yet again. Dom, you can just ask us. We can check it ourselves, okay? You don't have to submit a question of the thought line. Okay, so we should point out, Elliot, we've narrowed it down to since the 86-87 season

when they began doing four rounds, all best of sevens, to fit the criteria of minimum 60, maximum 105. Okay. Do you have a guess of the like, what, just a number? I'm gonna say the lowest play pure guess lowest is 80. Wow you're very close. And I remember one year one of my years at hockey night because I all when I was doing the job that you do now ringside which I really do miss there There was one year, if the maximum was 28,

I think the highest I ever did was 26 or 27. So I'm gonna say if 105 is the max, my range is gonna go from 80 to 99. Wow. All right, so you're almost bang on with your low. 81 is the lowest ever. Wow. All right, so you're almost bang on with your low. 81 is the lowest ever. Wow, pure yes. Happened twice.

Okay. 95 and 2007. Okay. And a little off with the high. The most was in 2014, 93 total games. I'm actually surprised it's that low. I have to say I'm surprised it's that low. Good question though.

Yeah, a little bit too. So that was like Rangers-Philly went seven in the first round. Colorado-Minnesota, that was the reverse sweep LA over San Jose in the first round. And then LA went seven games against Anaheim. And then they went seven games against Chicagoaheim, and then they went seven games against Chicago before beating the Rangers in five.

Alec Martinez, the Stanley Cup hero that year. Yeah. If that was like the second round, surprise the four. Yeah. Yes. Second round, three of the four series went seven. So that helps stretch it out. But we have never hit the

century mark for total playoff games in one given year. Thank you, Jeff. I mean Dom. I mean Jeff. Last one, a voicemail. Ryan from Rocky Mountain House. I just have to... Yeah, there's a, at the end of the regular season. What if the last 10 games of the regular season points were not given out anymore and you could actually steal another team's points? What are your thoughts? Let me know. Take care. Bye.

Stealing points at the end of the regular season to try to track down a team in the standings. I actually love the creativity of the idea. I don't think it'll ever happen, but I love the creativity of it. It's a great idea. Yes. I know you're not a big, I think you should leave, San Elliot. You haven't dabbled in that yet, but there's-

Not yet. One of the sketches is a game show, and there's a character in the game show called Chunky and so if you get that, if you come up with the Chunky on the board then like this mascot comes out on the stage, they gobble up your points. So that's all I can picture when I think of the idea of stealing somebody's points the final 10 games of the regular season. It's like a Chunky. It's like Whammy. Big box, no Whammy. Exactly. Big box, It's a chunky. It's like Whammy. Big box, no Whammy. Exactly.

Big box, no Whammy. Oh, the Whammy. Eh. By the way, if you, and this is, we're completely going off the rails here. If you have never seen the documentary of the guy who figured out the sequencing of the Whammy, like the order of the squares, how they got lit,

you have to go find that. It is incredible. This one person figured out the order of how the squares lit up and then he's winning and winning and he starts battling exhaustion. It is incredible. starts battling exhaustion, it is incredible. Take an hour and go watch it. It's time to play Press Your Luck. Great, great. There are some great game shows back. I know they revived it, but man, fun concept. Wasn't the same, never the same.

Ryan, great idea. I would love to see it, but I hear what you're saying, Elliot. We may never. So this is where we dream. Dream big. All right, we'll take one final break, touch on some news around the league. When we come back, 32 Thoughts of the Podcast rolls on after this. Okay, welcome back.

Elliot on Wednesday, the Boston Bruins held their end of season press conference, Charlie Jacobs, Cam Neely, Don Sweeney, all at the podium fielding questions for a while. It got spicy at times. It was so Boston at times. It was very entertaining in that sense, but there was a lot to unpack there. Don Sweeney believes good health and an effective summer. The Bruins are a playoff team come 2026. Where do you want to start in the fallout and end of season pressure in Boston? You know, Kyle, I'm glad you started there with that was so Boston because that's exactly what I thought watching it.

I read about people being surprised that the Bruins came across as defensive or that they pushed back. I don't know how anybody could be surprised. Boston has always prided itself as being an alpha among American cities. They don't retreat in Boston. They come right out and they tell you exactly what they think with all attitude. Cam Neely, not a guy who ever retreated on the ice. Don Sweeney, not a guy who retreated on the ice.

Like, these guys are not built to retreat. And so, if anybody expected differently, I'm a little bit surprised at that. Now, I will say this. When you are expecting your fans to accept a ticket price hike or price hikes after a season like this one you probably should be a little more humble about it. I will absolutely say that on behalf of the fan base. However, I think what you saw from Neely and Sweeney in particular was a window into how tense it was

in the Bruins organization this year. Neely basically admitted that he's not convinced he's gonna give Sweeney an extension. Don Sweeney undoubtedly knew that before the press conference. You can't expect him to be in a happy mood. So that press conference went almost exactly how I expected it to go. I thought the reporters asked a lot of very tough but fair questions. There was nobody there who I think asked anything

that was over the line or off sides or unfair. I thought it was perfectly reasonable and acceptable the things they ask. You shouldn't expect to be treated well or softly, maybe a better term instead of well, softly after a season like this one. It was funny, like one of my buddies saw, I guess the clip was floating around of Cam Neely and he points at Kevin Paul Dupont.

Like Kevin Paul Dupont asked some questions about drafting and Neely like points at him at the end of the press conference and like beckons him to come over. And someone said like, does that ever happen to you? And I'm like all the time, like welcome to the big city. This stuff happens all the time. And it's just the way it goes. Like sometimes you ask tough questions. Sometimes people aren't in a great mood. They're not really happy. They're not really happy about it. It's rare it happens like that in public.

Most of the time it's in private, like you get a text message 10 minutes later, what the hell was that? So that was rare. But you know what, you just handle it polite but firm and that's the way you go. And I have no idea, and I have no doubt that Kevin Paul Dupont handled it the same way.

Didn't back down, said I'm perfectly reasonable to ask that. And if that's how you feel, that's how you feel. My reaction, Kyle, is that, like, when Cam nearly answers that question about Sweeney, that's all you need to know. That Charlie Jacobs came out and did the interview actually with Kevin and said look these guys I feel have done a good job most of the time and when you have one nightmare

season I'm not throwing it out. It's like what Mark Chipman said to us about Kevin Chevaldayov. He says I think he does a really good job and if we have one bad year, one disappointing year, that's not the way it works in business and I don't think it's the way it works in sports. Okay, but what if you have two bad years in a row? And the Bruins know and Sweeney knows that he has to get this right or fix this

or put it in the proper direction or he's in trouble and Neely knows that this is on his watch too and if he doesn't fix this or get this right, you know, right now all the attention is going to be on Sweeney but eventually it's going to be on him as well. And that makes people tense. Like, I'll say it again, that Boston organization, it was not a fun place to be this year. And if anybody doubted that and the fans are upset, totally understandable. But if people don't think that that pressure was felt internally, all you had to do was watch that press conference.

So the first thing I look at right now is, and there's a lot of questions, obviously, I thought it was interesting. They said that, like I said last week that I think they're going to get asked about Swainman. I don't think they should trade them. Like I said, I think that they should give them a summer, a distraction free summer to work on his

game and come back ready to play next year. I, they kind of send them a message saying, you know, Hey, you're not going to be gifted the number one role you should expect to compete. And you know what, when you sign a guy to that contract, he's your number one guy, but there's nothing wrong with saying to him, you know what, you have to work back and earn that again. I think that's perfectly fine. The other thing I'm wondering about here with the coaching hire, I think

Jay Leach is going to get some looks here. I think there are people who feel that Jay Leach is close and that Jay Leach's time is coming. He was an assistant coach in Boston this year, really hard year. Um, they said that Joe Sacco is going to be part of the process. He was an assistant coach in Boston this year, really hard year. They said that Joe Sacco's gonna be part of the process. The leech thing is interesting to me because I think the Bruins know that they could lose him,

and you make a decision internally, do you wanna lose someone, or do you think that that's your guy? But can you sell him being your guy after a season like this now it's the way I think Kyle is if you think someone's the right guy you make the choice you make the choice if you think you are Jay Leach is the right guy make him your coach say look this year bad year he's better than that we're better than that but I're better than that.

But I know some organizations don't think like that, so that's one of the storylines I'm wondering when it comes to Boston. And also the history too, head coach of the Providence Bruins for a number of years before he went to Seattle and then came back to Boston as an assistant. With the carburetor. That's right, that's right. Yes, he should walk in there and say, see the carburetor. That's right. That's right. Yes. He should walk in there and say, see the carburetor? I taught him everything he knows. Yes. You see the Jack Adams winner in a couple of months? Everything he knows. But there does seem like there is a bit of a disconnect clearly in that market. That's a demanding market. It

doesn't matter what sport you play in that town. It's a demanding one, no question, but it's almost like, you know, the question is about drafting and developing. It's like that's the canary in the coal mine of going, look at what the last 10 years, maybe not 10 years, six, seven years have been like in that department and to suggest that a quick fix and some better health is gonna fix everything, we'll see. It's gonna be. You know what, I'll say this, Kyle, like everybody looks at those three picks in a row

and how they didn't work out as well as they hoped. This is a team that got Pasternak late in the first round, they got McEvoy late in the first round. Yeah, yeah. They're like everybody else. You have your hits and you have your misses. They had some big misses, but they've also had some big hits. You bet. But like this year, you can't expect anyone to be happy.

And obviously, those guys were a little bit sensitive, just a little. Yeah, they were ready. They were ready for a few of those. OK, so that's the story in Boston. The New York Rangers, meanwhile, Chris Drury signed to a multi-year extension armed with that, and now continuing the process to find their new head coach. Was it any surprise that he got a new deal?

Was I surprised, Kyle? Yes, I was. And the number one reason I was surprised was not for the reason you'd think it's just that one of the things that people really try to keep secret in this league is executive contracts both term and Financial so when and I mean what a time for it to drop at five o'clock on a weekday Which was obviously planned. I didn't even really realize that Drury was in a place

where he would need to be extended. So when I saw the announcement, I was kind of like, was his contract up? Did they just tear it up and give him a new one? Was he a year away and they just gave him an extension? You're thinking, where did that come from? So that surprised me. just gave him an extension you're thinking where did that come from so that surprised me now where I wasn't surprised was this during the year as

things really soured and went off the rails for the Rangers one of the things you're asking around is is Chris Drury in trouble? And people who know the owner of the Rangers, Jim Dolan, a lot better than I do, said, I will bet you that he's going to double down on Drury. And I said, why do you think that? And they said because he likes Drury, he put Drury there, and that is just Jim Dolan. If you try to back him into a corner he is gonna say nope I'm right and I'm gonna show you I'm right and it takes a lot for him to give up and he was gonna back him in a forceful way that everyone would see it and all those people credit to you you were

right because that's exactly what happened Dolan back Drury in the most forceful way now I think there's another level to this and we know this year that Chris Drury made some tough choices that alienated some of his players and alienated his room. And you know, for example, you've got Mika Zabanićad saying, hey, we both signed a contract in good faith and you're gonna live up to it. I expect you to do it because of the no move protection he's got, which is totally fair.

That's his right. do it because of the no move protection he's got which is totally fair that is right but this I believe is Dolan's way of saying this is my guy he's in charge with some of the big decisions he made this year you don't surprise your owner he's you go to him with the plan you say this is what I'm going to do, particularly an owner like this one, and he says okay I accept your plan or he tells you he wants something done, which could also happen with this particular owner. I don't think anything happened this year that James Dolan was against or didn't want to happen. He either told Drury to do it or Drury said this is what I want to do and Dolan backed it. So what this is to me is a sign if players think that this year reflected badly on Drury or he was losing his control of the

organization he didn't have the same grip of power or that they were going to be able to say no Chris we're gonna band together and change the way things are done they just got their answer. They just got told that what happened this year in the owner's eyes was what needed to be happened and he has the support. So I think it's twofold. It is Dolan backing Drury and Dolan telling the roster that the way Drury is approaching this, I'm good with that. And we'll see how it all unfolds.

All right, games to keep an eye on tonight as the Stanley Cup playoffs continue. On the air, 630 Eastern, 330 Pacific, setting up game three, Canadians and Capitals from a packed Bell Center. First time they'll see a playoff game at capacity since 2017 at seven Eastern. Eight Eastern on Sportsnet 360 is game three between the Hurricanes and Devils.

The nightcap, 10 o'clock, eight Mountain on CBC and Sportsnet. Game three of the Kings and the Oilers as Edmonton tries to get themselves back into that series against Los Angeles. Appreciate you taking some time with us again on a otherwise perfectly good Friday. Thank you once again to Justin Cuthbert for joining us

over the course of this playoff ride. We will talk to you again on Monday. Have a great weekend, everyone.