32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Sweep Sweep

Episode Date: May 11, 2026

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman begin by reacting to the Montreal Canadiens 6-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres in Game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead. They then shift gears to the late game Sunday evening between the Vegas Golden Knights and Anaheim Ducks (22:41). Elliotte calls for an end to the "Marner discourse" (28:29). The fellas look back to Saturday night's tilt between the Avs and Wild (31:45) before delving into the Carolina Hurricanes sweeping the Philadelphia Flyers (39:30). The Final Thought focuses on the Vancouver Canucks front office search and the possibility of the Sedin twins moving up the ranks (54:20).  Kyle and Elliotte answer your questions and comments in The Thoughtline (1:00:44).  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

Think of what this kid's going through, and what a year it has been. No rookie goaltender. This year had more wins than he did with 29, and he's about to win another playoff game, and he's smiling. A fan had a stop sign with Dobish on it, and this building came to its feet. 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. Elliot, you and I are in Montreal where it was Mother's Day madness on Sunday night. Game three between the Canadians and the Sabres. It was a wild one. The Canadians, a big win to go up two games to one. Lindy Ruff said in the morning, he would love to shut the crowd down by getting one early. They got that.

Tage Thompson, 53 seconds into the game. But what was amazing, Elliot, and watching how the night ended, the love affair between Jakobovish and the Montreal Faithful that continues to grow. He seems like a guy that's checking all the boxes for someone who the city remembers for a long time, plays with emotion,

doesn't back down from anyone, and he flat out wins hockey. games. What a scene here on Sunday. Incredible scene. First of all, hope all the mothers out there had an awesome Mother's Day, a special day where they were treated and felt like the goddesses they are. And for all of us that come from mothers or are partnered with mothers, I hope you all took care of them and made them feel like the goddesses they are. It is their day. And boy, do they deserve it because a lot of us have made them crazy throughout the years. It was a fantastic

night. And, you know, I have to say, Kyle, even when Buffalo scored that early goal, I didn't think Montreal was in trouble. I agreed with Lindy Ruff. I agree with you. Buffalo had to score early. But I think the Montreal crowd, the way the Canadians have consistently battled and come back this year, I didn't think they were rattled. I don't think they took the air out of the building. They were like, well, that sucks, but there's still 59 minutes to play. And I think the Canadians have proven that especially after that first round series against Tampa and the kind of series it was, that they can take a punch and recover.

Now, I am going to give everybody here some advice, okay? It's free. Free advice, take it. If you can get a chance to watch Lane Hudson play, go see it. Spend the money on the ticket. Go watch him. TV does not do this guy justice. Of course, we do an elite production job at the NHL and Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada, of course.

But still, it does not do justice to go see this guy play. The keep-in he made on the first power play that led to a goal, just all the little plays he makes, you have to go to a game and spend the game watching him to really appreciate how good this guy is. Now, this year, it was a brutal year for the Norris. I'll be honest, he did not make my final five. But I can tell you this,

this might be the last year for 10 years. He doesn't make it. And I'm making this prediction right now, Kyle, right now. He is going to win multiple Norris trophies, not just one, and maybe not just two. He is going to win multiple norruses. So, first of all, do you disagree with anything I have said? Not in the least. Good.

Then you can continue with the course. host of this podcast. Not six. Could be seven. Could be seven. There's a famous quote. The first year Bobby Orr showed up. The Norris winner was Harry Howell. And after he won it, Howell was a great defenseman. Hall of Fame or played for the Rangers. He said, I'm glad I won it this year because Orr might win it for the next 10 years. And he was pretty much right. He wanted for the next decade. Yeah, Howell was not wrong about that. I don't think that'll happen, but he's going to win a couple. Can I tell a quick Hudson story here before you continue? So his first ever game in the NHL at the end of the season in Detroit, and we were doing the game was a Monday night when we still did the Monday night games. Alex Lyon actually told the story the other day because he was playing for the Red Wings at that time.

And so he remembers before the game, you know, going over a video, they're like, all right, Montreal's got this kid, Hudson, playing his first game, like dump it into his corner, just pressure him, pressure him, go at him, you know, like his first game in the NHL is going to be nervous. And I guess after the first period, guys are going out of him and he's, you know, shifty around the ice, bo, blah, bo, blah, walking around guys. First term mission, they get back in the room and they're like, yeah, maybe, maybe we don't pressure him that hard.

Maybe just try to contain, maybe contains the move here. Let's not go right at him. He seems to be okay with that. That was excellent. That's a great story. Outstanding story. Excellent. So one thing of what Hudson was, I spoke to him after the game quickly.

I was with David Amber and we waited until his scrum ended and then we spoke to him. And I said, okay, you're back in the film room, like that thing we did before the playoffs with the lightning. I said, what are you thinking on that Caulfield goal? And, Kyle, this kid's brain is elite. And not only is his brain elite, but the way he explains it to morons like myself is elite. So he says that Greenway was coming at him, and he says if Greenway lunges at him,

he shoots the puck between his legs. That's what he's going to do. But because Greenway slides, he knows now he can take the pot past him and skate closer and make a play. And I said, did you always see Caulfield? And he goes, actually, first I saw Demadov. I saw Demadov there. And then I saw Caulfield.

So just think about this. I know it's a power play, so it's five on four, but he's still doing this at great speed. And think of how quickly he's processing all these decisions. Okay, Greenway is going to launch. Oh, no, he didn't lunch. He slid. So I'm switching from this plan to this plan.

Oh, there's Demiwold. off. No, wait, there's Caulfield, and he makes a perfect play, and Caulfield puts it in. Like, this kid's brain, he's like Einstein. It should be preserved in a jar just for a billion years. And I said to him, you know, I understand you don't want to give away all this stuff all the time, but you should be doing YouTube videos of what you're thinking so kids can understand how you do this. And then I looked at Amber and I said, you are far small. smarter than Dave and I put together. He liked that. He thought that was funny.

But it's just, I love watching him play. I think everybody should go watch and play. And the thing I also really do appreciate it about him, Kyle's when the game's over, if someone asks him, what are you thinking? He'll tell you. He's really incredible. He really is. Yeah, and it was the same thing, like after he scored his overtime goal

against Tampa last round, talking to him the next day. and similar, just getting the breakdown of like, how on earth did you see an open there? Because remember, there was that great free frame where it looked like there was 30 people in between him and Andre Vasselowski and somehow the shot gets through clean. Just a marvel. And again, like you think about as big as that play was, Elliot, in the moment.

I mean, that's in the second period. That's one of six billion plays that Hudson makes here on Sunday night. And then for him to be standing in the restroom afterwards and you ask him, and he goes, like, his mind is right. back there, like frame by frame, taking you through what he saw from his perspective there. It's, it is fascinating. I mean, even just little things for any player, it still blows me away when, you know,

the interview and the intermission of, you know, take us through what you saw on your goal and the things that he, that they can recall there, you know, minds at a different level. And Lane Hudson is in a class of his own. He was tremendous here on Sunday. It's really been something to watch because you can tell this as a guy, and you've heard stories about him all the way through. I mean, he wears anything that could be perceived as a mistake, or when the team's not doing well, he wears all of it,

even if none of it has to do with him. It's just the exact type of brain, the type of engine that, I mean, teams are searching for years to try to find. that contract too that contract is going to age supremely you know when you look at this series Kyle there's just more players in Montreal contributing than there are

in Buffalo it's that simple there's no other way to explain it you know Thompson got a goal that definitely helped you know I was chatting with someone during the day and they were thinking they were wondering if they're going to have to break up Benson and Don't Buffalo

because those two guys have been really good. They've been two of their best players. But you're almost thinking if you're the savers, you might need to put them on different lines just to get more guys going. Now, I don't know that they'll do that, but it was an interesting idea somebody threw at me. You know, there was people were wondering, were they going to take out Lion?

I thought Lion really battled. I don't look at this as being his fault. One of the goals was just a brutal backcheck by some of the Sabres' best players. They gave up on the play, and Montreal just buried them. The only reason I thought they might take Lion out is the Sabres had big success when they put him back in in game two of the first series to get that third period, and then Lion went on a tear. I wondered if they would put Lukan and in for the third period

just to get them ready for the possibility of starting game four. But part of me, and Liddy Ruff really defended line in the postgame, which I liked. Oh, it didn't even entertain the question. Didn't even entertain the question. But part of me wondered if Ruff just was looking at the way his team was playing and saying, I don't want to scapegoat him with this. But it'll be interesting to see what they do in game four. I mean, everybody knows how this podcast feels about Lion,

but I'm kind of wondering if we see a couple of changes. I wonder if METSA plays on defense. But to me, the difference is if you were to look at which team, you were to count up the 18 skaters on the Sabres and the 18 skaters on the Canadians and said, how many of them are contributing, you would definitely go much deeper into the Montreal lineup.

Sabres just aren't getting a lot of help. And you're right, Dobish, who is a very emotional guy. Like our pre-game interview for game four is on Doebish. We taped it between games one and two and Buffalo. And, you know, one of the things I talked about was we would, we would just talk about his mental approach. You know, the Canadians are still very careful about what they expose Dobish to.

and we so we talked about his mental approach and he was really good. You know, there were a few things he talked about that I thought were really fantastic and he told us about some of the things he does and I'm looking forward to that piece. I think it is a chance to be really good

but he really rides the wave. Like the emotion, he feeds off the emotion and you could really see it. He made some huge saves when that game was still a game. No, it was 4-2 at one point. It was an uphill climb for the savers, but it wasn't guaranteed by any stretch of the imagination.

I thought he was, I thought he was really good. And the sabers just have to match this. That is the difference. There's just not enough of them going. No, Tate Thompson said after the fact, It's urgency without panic for them moving ahead. And to your point about getting more out of Montreal throughout the lineup compared to the Sabres,

I mean, Joe Villeneau gets the wolfhead after words in the dress room as their own player of the game. And it tells you a lot about who they've got contributing and from all the different facets. And St. Louis thought that they're not just Caulfield, but all the top offensive guys looked a little more like themselves, the two games down in Buffalo, and then, you know, Cofield gets one here on Sunday. Slavkovsky gets his first since game one

against Tampa, both on the power play, mind you, but they all count the same on the scoreboard. Canadians back-to-back wins for the first time in these playoffs. That's a crazy stat too, to be in the middle of the second round and don't have one.

A couple of the notes from this game, got nasty, really got nasty. Malenstein was lucky he didn't get a major for that hit on Dobish. You know, he went in there with no breaks. Yeah, he went in there with intent. And I thought there was a difference between what happened at that end and then what happened at the other end when Valeno collided with a lion. I don't think the two things were the same at all.

Josh Norris threw some punches at a Canadian who was tied up. Jack-Ey-decked Carrick at the end of that game. That was message sending time at the end of that game, late in that game. And I wasn't surprised at all. It turned like that. There were a couple of interesting moments just around it, Kyle. At the beginning of the game, when Kirk Muller came in with the torch,

everybody in the building was standing, except for two people who were in the the row right in front of where Dave and Mind's set is located. And the funniest thing is I realized that the only two people who were not standing in the building were Paul and Carolyn Flynn, whose son, Josh, is the assistant general manager of the Buffalo Sabres. So I kind of understood why they were not standing while everybody else was. But it was kind of funny. I was like, who were those two people not standing? Oh, okay. Now I get it.

What's their problem? Now I know what it was. It was pretty funny. So we interviewed Kirk Muller in the first intermission. He was the torchbearer coming in. And Kirk Muller had a friend of his named Pat Murphy there with him. He drove with him in from Kingston for the game. Mueller, by the way, has six grandkids now.

I was like, you look terrific. He goes, that's because I'm chasing all my grandkids around. but his friend's name was Pat Murphy and he was wearing a Kirk Muller jersey. I was like, nice. And he goes, look, and he lifted up his Kirk Muller jersey to reveal another Kirk Muller jersey. I was like, what?

I was like, what is this? He says, yes, this is my current team, Kirk Muller jersey. Underneath it is my 1993 Kirk Muller jersey. So he was wearing both Kirkmuller jerseys, but he doesn't want the 93 one to get stained or damaged in any way. Oh, my gosh. That's like Lloyd on Dumb and Dumber. You don't want to take my extra set of gloves.

My hands are starting to get sweaty. It was hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing. And then did you see at the game tonight was Olivier Rue? Yes, I was going to ask you if you saw him. I mean, you can't miss him. No, you can miss him. So for those of you who don't know who that is,

Rue is a 7 foot 9 center, the tallest player in NCAA college basketball history. He played for Florida last year, although he is transferring. And he was at the game on Sunday night wearing a Lane Hudson jersey. And we were wondering just how that jersey would actually look on Lane Hudson,

because Rue is a big man. But it was just, It was really fascinating just to see him at the game. We were walking by him as he was sitting in the media room, eating dinner before the game, and people were doing double and triple takes, even while he was just sitting down. But, you know, he's transferred from Florida.

He's in the portal, and I wish him the best. Spoke to him briefly. He seemed like a really nice kid, but just added to the overall atmosphere of the game. But I think obviously, Buffalo is reeling, I hesitate to say this is over. It's only two to one, but more Sabres players have to be involved. They just need more of a contribution from more guys.

So I happen to see Ryu just after the game was over, he was down in one of the media workrooms, and it's on Elliot, like he was, he had his knees bent just to keep his head from hitting the ceiling. Like it was almost like it's it was unbelievable to see in in person. It's fascinating. That was, it should have known Hudson was having a big night when you saw the biggest man in the building wearing number 48.

It was a good omen for the Canadians and, yeah, the basketball player that grew up just outside of Montreal. Good stuff. Also, by the way, Kyle in this game, I was hoping you were going to interview Kirby Doc because I had a story for you. Okay.

What was it? So I asked Kirby Doc, okay, if you do anything tonight, what's your mother's name? And he goes, Hillary. And I go, will she be here tonight? And he goes, oh, yeah, my mother's here, my dad's here. He named a couple of other people who says, my sister's here, boyfriend. And he goes, but Colton's not here. I go, Colton's not here.

Why is he not here? because he had to stay home and take care of the dog. Like, what? He goes, oh, yeah, he'd rather do that anyway. He was joking early in the playoffs, like in the first round when the others were still in, that normally they would text each other throughout the year, but the younger brother was leaving him on red.

The guy doesn't respond to me. I hear you, I've got a younger brother too. But no, I give his parents, Hillary and Dale, again, back in the first round, I think they watched the first two other games in Edmonton, took a red eye to Montreal, the day of game three here against Tampa, stayed for three and four,

and then went back to Edmonton, I think, for game five. They've logged a few air miles in these playoffs already following their two boys around, and now with Kirby still playing with Montreal, back to Montreal, they came. Love parents like that. Just love parents like, how about the new hooks tonight?

Yeah, you couldn't have drawn that up any better. Heartbreaking for Abby and the Boston fleets. I mean, Jesus, just a last moment killer in game number three against the Ottawa charge and then double overtime to end their season on Sunday because I think the plan was, whether it was the whole team or Abby one way or another after game four of their play,

series in the PWHL because it was an afternoon game Sunday. She was going to try to get to Montreal for at least like maybe the third period of the Canadians game on Sunday night. And of course, you know, double overtime eliminates that opportunity and then they lose and their season's over. So changes the five completely. But other than that, it was a great setup having Alex's mom on with you and Dave in the pregame show and then two more goals for new hook in the game.

He's on fire. He's on fire. But we should also shout out Renault Lavois, who was not allowed to work by his doctors, but was it the game? And he got a big ovation in the media room at the end of the game. And he was telling me just the amount of people who called him just to make sure he was okay. And, you know, there's a lot of great people in this. That's his story to tell about who called, but he was really blown away, and there's a lot of great people in the sport.

Nice. It was great to see him. Okay, so that was the story in Montreal. Early on Sunday evening, late Sunday evening, out in Anaheim, the Ducks have evened their series with the Vegas Golden Knights all square at two. There's no Mark Stone in this one for Vegas. Mason McTavish did draw back into the lineup. for Anaheim. Alex Colorn thought, you know, after they won game two on the road, that maybe their group was guilty of getting a little comfortable,

thinking that maybe things were going to come easy. It was a humbling result for them back at home in game number three. But another impressive response. I don't know if we can say that they're like the Montreal Canadians of the West, but they're another young team that is learning and figuring things out in the most high pressure of circumstances of the year, and all square with Vegas and full value for it through four games of this series.

Yeah, great game. And, you know, both teams made changes. Vegas made one they had to unwillingly mark stone out due to injury, and we won't know how long that is. Hopefully it's not long. I hate injuries in the playoffs. and as you mentioned, Mason McTavis returned,

as did Olin Zellweger, who got a chance to play. They changed their bottom pair. Ian Moore, who had a great series of forward against the Oilers, played defense with Zellweger in this one. And, you know, I'm not surprised that Vegas kind of wasn't the same without stone there. This was one that I saw the shots,

I guess, they were like 15 to 10. I was like, oh, one of these games again. But, you know, Stone obviously is a huge, huge loss if they don't have him. I think the one thing for Vegas, and again, we've talked about this a lot with Vegas. The longer the series goes on, the better you expect them to get. I think if there's one thing you're looking at this, you're hoping is your silver lining is that hurdle scored late, right?

And you're just hoping that he comes out and that gives him something. And maybe he goes on a bit of a tear here because you could see they moved Dorofiav up to the top line and he's dangerous. He scored on the power play. But I just don't know that Vegas creates enough offense that they could withstand Stone being out for a long time. Anytime you lose a top player like that, you're really going to struggle. but Vegas I think especially for them he is so so important for them and I just didn't think Vegas was as dangerous as they usually can be and you know I would the amount of this one that I watched I did get to watch a good chunk of it

I think as as Coulorne kind of said I you know you're worried will the ducks crumble after the way they got embarrassed in game three, and they most certainly did not. You know, I thought they were pretty good. I thought they were very deserving of the victory. And again, though, as I've said, if you're them, you have to watch for Vegas to get better as it goes on. This is also the second time in the playoffs, Kyle,

that Quenville could have made a change. in goal if he wanted to. He could have gone away from Dostal and gone to Huso, and he hasn't. He's stuck with Dostal, and this is the second time that he has validated Quenville's decision. So it's a good sign for them.

I hate to pick against Vegas. Vegas is kind of like, to me, that Freddie Kruger slash Jason Vorhees, Michael Myers movie villain, that you don't believe is dead until they're actually dead. You keep thinking they'll come back to life. So even though it's two to and lost,

I don't panic about them, but I'll be honest, I don't like them as much without stone. Creating offense really is harder for them without him. No, I mean, if there's one silver lining is, you know, how quickly William Carlson seemingly is he's gotten up to speed here.

I'm glad you mentioned him. I forgot to mention him. He took that one hit he took from Truba. Like you're thinking about a guy who's been out over half the season and he knows that Truba's about to kill him as he sets up that goal. That's a big guts play. You're right.

Thank you for reminding me about him. I'm annoyed that I forgot to do that myself. Well, that's what teammates do. We pick each other up. Yeah. When it fits. But yeah, him with Houdin and Marner, like they again were making stuff happen for Vegas,

you know, as they were in game three. Of course, Marner had the big night then. But they are going. And then beyond that, to your point, Elliot, the challenge for Vegas, is if they're still going to have to go on without Mark Stone, if that is in fact the case. A tricky one for them to try to dance around there

as they head back home for game five. can I say something that is guaranteed to end badly for me? Yes, yeah, you've got a good track record of this. I am so tired of the Marner discourse. What do you mean? He's gone. Can we just stop talking about him in Toronto? Well, it's probably never going to change.

But the guy, I mean, he can't not talk about the fact that he's playing well. No, I just know that. It's just every conversation about this guy, first of all, he's playing really well. Like, that's not what I'm disputing here. Just every conversation about this guy turns into discourse about how he left Toronto. It's over. It's gone. Like, everybody, can we please move on with our lives here?

Yeah, but that, now you're asking for rash, sensible thinking here. And that's not what this is about. That's true. You're right about that. So one of my leaf loving buddies was complaining and whining to me about the hat trick he got in game three.

And I said, if you don't stop this, you know what I'm going to do? And he said, what's that? I said to him, should the NHL give me a vote for the Khan-Smith trophy is playoff MVP? if you don't stop wanting about Marner, I'm going to vote for him

first, even if they lose the series to the ducks. Don't. There So. Could you imagine? Vegas is out two rounds. Somebody else wins the Stanley Cup.

Elliot Brubin's con, cons to my vote. One, Marner. What? Yeah, I'm just trying to prove a point to some people who won't let it go in Toronto. Yes.

And I need some people, just buddies of mine. But it's everywhere. It's all over my feed. This is, well, I'm going to have to mute the phrase Marner on social. Well, I'll just say,

so one of the questions coming up in the thought line has to do with voting around awards. I'll just say that I hope they think of including a policy in their language when it comes to those that vote on these awards, do not vote out of spite. That's right.

It is not allowed. It's not even spite against Marner. It's spying against my friend. Yeah, that's even worse. Maybe not worse, as bad. Oh, my God. Can we please move on from this? Please, I beg you all.

All right, we'll see how that. What kind of deaf ears that falls on? Good luck. Oh, okay. Well, good on Anaheim. They had to respond, and they did, and that one deadlocked at two games apiece,

headed back to Vegas. Meanwhile, two games on Saturday night included the Colorado Avalanche and the Minnesota Wild. So you talked about Quenville sticking with those staff. John Hines stuck with Yester Wollstead and proved to be the right call. You had a number of their players saying in the postgame, like, that was how we play.

That was wild hockey. It has given them life, a 5-1 victory against the avalanche, Colorado's first loss to the playoffs, and have gotten their foot back in the door of this series. It was interesting hearing Marcus Felino in the post game, reading his quotes saying we were a bit soft in the first two games of the series. series. If reporter calls a team soft, we get our eyes clawed out, but it's okay if Marcus Flino does it legitimately. Now you've got to do it three more times, at least, Kyle. You know, you may have to do it even more than that. You may have to do it five more times. You can't sit here

and say, all right, we played one great game and expect to win the series. They're going to do that again and again and again and again. And one of the things that, first of all, I thought Wollstead was great. But secondly, Kyle, I think. thought also for one of the first times all playoffs, the Wild won the special teams battle. Like, their penalty kill has not been good. Dallas lit them up in round one.

Colorado was off to a good start in round two. That has to stay the way that was. They can't go backwards on that. Like, that is a certain way to lose the series. And you know, I think obviously game four is going to be a massive game.

We'll see if Eric Seneck comes back. We'll see if Josh Manson comes back. We've got some injured guys here that could have an outcome on the series, but you know that Colorado's level is going to rise. Now Minnesota's has to keep it there. And I think the other one here is I am really curious, the way McKenzie Blackwood, I give Blackwood credit. He came in.

It was not a situation where he expected him to win, but I thought he was pretty sharp, Kyle. And he gave Jared Bednar something to think about. And it's tough when you go 7 and 0 and you get pulled and now people are talking about, okay, time to go to the other guy. But the way Blackwood finished that game, I actually do wonder if they're going to go to the other guy.

Right, because, I mean, it had kind of, you looked at him as having the inside track as the guy over most of the season. But Wedgwood had performed, of course, so well down the stretch and ends up being the starter going into the playoffs. I wonder, you know, if at the end up, at the outset, that conversation

what has had with Blackwood where you're saying, you know, at some point here, we're going to need you. Just stay ready. And does that time come in game number four on Monday? It's an interesting one. And it sounds like he's got a few decisions to make here, you know, be it Josh Manson,

be it, you know, a Kiwi Ranta. It looks like he could be an option health-wise if he wants to put him in. And just in general, is there a shake-up that he wants to Bednar, I'm speaking of, to try to make to give Colorado a boost. Of course, they've been going so, so well. But hits a bit of a wall in game three against the wild.

So there's some questions there for Bednar, but you know him. He is as honest with about any question you could throw at him. He will give you something straight. Lineups, however, he likes to keep close to his vest. Like every coach, he actually had a pretty interesting line, I thought, on Sunday. I was watching his press conference. He said something along the lines of, I will never tell you anything I haven't already told my team. So it's pretty obvious.

He's pretty blunt with his team, as most good coaches are, because you can be pretty blunt publicly too. The one thing I wonder about Wedgwood is, again, he's a guy who hasn't played like a ton of games like this in a row. So just like Walsett, Minnesota took him out after game one to arrest him. my question here is if Colorado feels that Wedgwood needs a break to and they don't have 47 days off in between games like we had in games 2 and 3 we're actually going normal times in this one this time yes yes there was time for

McKinnon to throw on the flippers and the goggles that was incredible eh the video of Hiv Swiven in the pool and uh like what was that the CIA Like, who's doing that? Well, I think, like, the horse is out of the barn with that stuff. But it's, anyway, the fact that they didn't run away from it. Like, I thought that was, that was part of the brilliance, too.

So, but the thing is, do you think that's weird? I don't think there's anything weird about that. No, I, maybe just because it was in, like, a hotel pool. I'm like, no, it's not weird. You're weird to think it's weird. What is that commercial that's from? That's the, the eggs commercial? Oh, that's right.

It's not weird. It's not weird. You're weird. Like, I'm looking at that and like, like, who cares? I've seen, have you seen people with flippers in the pool before? It's been a while since I've seen one in a hotel pool. But, uh, you may be at a rec center or a beach. That makes sense.

Yeah, thanks. Thanks for the beach suggestion tips. Yeah, I know that one. Yeah. But yeah, like I don't get why people thought that was weird. Yeah. I've seen that many times. Maybe I vacation in flipper-friendly hotels.

I'd love to know what those are. But I just love how we owned it too. We allow dogs and flippers. Yeah. Yes, pets and flippers encouraged. He just owned it. I give him credit. I do, too.

I'm in a public space here. I don't care. You know what I like, he said? he said I guess someone pointed out, you know, there were people online defending you and he goes, I really appreciate the people who have my back. Because I guess McKinnon's got this rep as being like just crazy with all his habits, like the diet and stuff like that. And you can tell he doesn't always like that people talk about this stuff or know this stuff. And so I like that he was genuinely appreciative of the people online who said,

There's nothing wrong with that. Yeah. And again, it's insane that people are filming this stuff. I know. I agree. It was like Kevin McAllister and Home Alone, and he's like, you mind if I work on my cannonballs? I'm like, no.

I just want to know, I have some theories about this. Were they stocking, it was someone stalking that pool for another reason and caught McKinnon doing labs. Yes. Someone was like, I just know if I stock at a nice hotel at their outdoor pool, I'm going to find something.

If we've learned anything over the last few months, all I got to do is hang out here long enough and I'm going to find something. Somebody is looking to sell drone footage to TMZ and they got McKinnon and his flippers. Maybe not. quite the same payday, but nevertheless, it went viral. It's good fodder.

Yeah, that's excellent. Okay, so game four, a big one in that series on tap for the Wild and the avalanche. And one second round series is already in the books. History for the hurricanes, Elliot. The first team to start 8 in the playoffs under the 16 win format, Jackson Blake. continues to rip it up. He was the overtime hero. He said afterwards, he just blacked out when the puck went in. That line has been on an unconscionable run for Carolina through two rounds here.

They have faced the minimum, Elliot, on route to the Eastern Conference final. First Ottawa, now Philadelphia. Sweep, sweep. The hurricanes are through. You know, people are ripping Carolina for this. At this time of year, you have nothing to apologize for. Nothing. Z. Ro.

Someone pointed out to me that the last time under the previous playhouse system, which I believe was 2013, the number one seeds in both conferences, Chicago, who later won the Stanley Cup and the West, I think Pittsburgh was number one in the east, and they lost a ball. Boston in the Eastern Conference Final, but both those teams played eight in the first round and seven in the second. So, you know, it's not like it's hugely different.

But anyway, I don't even care so much about that, Kyle. In the postseason, you get who you get and you have to crush them. You have to beat them. And Carolina does that. They don't have to apologize to anyone. Now, I think it's good to have a series where you don't play a lot of games and you get some rest. But I'm not sure that, you know, if you're, if you're Carolina, you're probably rooting now that Montreal's ahead two to one, you want them to win it in five. Because the earliest now you're getting to play is seven days.

Your shortest rest is a week. because even if Montreal wins it in five, that's Thursday, and it's not like they're playing Friday. So minimum you're getting a week off. You don't want all that. Like I still remember the Ottawa senators talking about the 2007 Stanley Cup final. They had nine days off after they beat Buffalo. And I think Anaheim wins that series anyway.

But the senators felt they were just lost by the time that series began. They'd just been waiting too long. Now, if any team can challenge that, it's this steamroller that the hurricanes are right now. But I don't know, all this whining about 8 and O and they haven't played anybody, we're, you just beat who you beat. It's not their fault that this is who they're playing against. Yeah, what are they supposed to do, tank? Yeah.

So, like the series goes longer. and I know a lot of people who were picking Ottawa to win that series in the first place. Right. Yeah, that was, and it wasn't a far-fetched one of just looking at, oh, boy, there's one team you didn't really want to face in the first round was at Ottawa

because of how great they looked going in. Carolina said, no problem. And then, you know, I think they kind of caught Philadelphia early in that series. They were coming off, obviously, an emotional one over Pittsburgh, so they get the upper hand there and then just didn't look back. I mean, you know, credit Philadelphia,

like they didn't lay down here in game four. You know, it was a different story for the 76ers. The next night in that building is they were swept by the next. That was a complete blowout. I was thinking the exact same thing. Complete blowout. The flyers. Exact same thing.

Really? Look at us. Yes. I am so, like the flyers get swept and they get a big standing ovation from their fan. and the 76ers get swept and 75% of their building is filled with Knicks fans cheering as the Flyers lose as the 76ers lose on their home court. Yes, yeah. It was two completely different scenes with the same result, really,

in one building in the span of 24 hours. Same around for nothing. It just shows expectations. Flyers, people didn't expect much, so they really appreciate the, effort. Sixers, they expect a lot. So they're furious. They won't even show up. Yes. And Josh Hart of the Knicks is bearing them on the way out saying this used to be a good sports city. Yikes. Oh my gosh. No, there's one thing of the Flyers reminded all of us

with their run here that it still very much is an excellent sport city. The scenes there were phenomenal. So we should say, Frederick Anderson now, eight games in, two goals or less, all eight. He's been incredible. You know, I thought it was interesting that the Flyers, you know, put in a couple of the kids in game four, Lucchenko, Oliver Bonk as well. Clearly, just looking for a spark, get something, knowing that the situation that they were in. You want to talk a little Mishkov here? Yeah, so, I mean, obviously that's the big. biggest Philly story of the off season.

You know, they've got to get a deal done with Drysdale. They've got to get a deal done with Zegris. I expect they'll really get going on Zegris in the near term here. But Drysdale had a really good year. And they have to get him done too. You know, it just shows you how crazy this Mishkov debate is that he doesn't show up in a picture of all the Flyers players going to see the Phillies on Sunday.

And immediately it's a firestorm until people realize he was either late. or he was there. Like everything that's going on with Mishkov now is a wild social media debate. So I look at it this way. First of all, they could really benefit from a temperature turn down. Season's over, relaxed. This goes in the background for a little bit, and they try to sort things out. I always, in moments like this, I always think about Jay Feaster.

And the reason I think about Jay Feaster was because he was the guy when Vincent LaCaville and John Torto Alto weren't getting along, he said the two of you guys are going to have to figure this out. I'm not firing the coach. I'm not trading the player. You guys have to figure this out. And eventually they won Stanley Cup together. I if I was in charge that would be my goal here you guys figure this out now it's a different era that was 20 years ago um you know I don't know if like again I'm not there I'm not on the inside it's very obvious to me that there is a problem and my and you know I I listen to the pot on Friday and we talked about Philly last lacking game breakers, or one more game breaker, I should say. And you brought up, isn't that what Mishkov is supposed to be?

And I said, you know what, you're right. It's just not working right now. But I remembered another thing I said there, Colin, that is it's always easier to solve your problem than trade your problem, especially in this NHL. And the more I thought about it, the more I thought you were right. And then if I was in charge, you would have to convince me why this would have to have to go into a different direction. You know, I think this.

When it comes to Mishkov, I still think a few things. He's still young. He's still, as the old saying goes, he's a stranger in a strange land, and he's been through an awful lot personally and professionally. I think he's way too young to give up on. Unless there's something going on there that's so bad that I don't know about, to me, he's still young to give up on. And the challenge is, if you do decide to trade him,

you're dealing from a position of weakness. Like, I think that's one of the things that has to be a factor here. Does anybody come to Daniel Breyer and the Flyers with an actual legit offer that makes them think? Now, somebody does, the calculus changes, but I also think that, you know, you're in a position where you're probably looking at this and saying, look what happened with Cutter Goce.

Now, even though Drysdale has been a real big improved player this year and he's going to, and he played a very big part in what Philadelphia did, you just look at Goce's natural gifts. And it's really hard to let two players walk like that in a short period of time. And I shouldn't even say walk. He got traded, but everybody out there knows what I mean. Goce was a really good pick by Philadelphia that didn't work out. And Miskov, I still say, was a really good pick by the Flyers. And I just don't think you can give up that easily.

I think if I'm Breer, I am saying we have to find a way to make this better. and we as the organization has to be better and Mishkov has to be better you would have to show me a trade that really made sense for me to do this and I mean I think it's incumbent on all the players everybody like I get the sense here

that just watching and the fact has been benched a couple times in the playoffs and nobody on the flyers seems to complain about it that the players there think that there is some justification to this. So I would look at it as, I would say to the players, I would say to talk it, you can't find guys like this. If we're going to move on from him, we better be sure, better be sure, that there is absolutely no chance it works out here for him.

And I would also say to Mishkov, I'm not going to trade. you. So your best answer is to make it whatever you're not delivering, you have to change that to. Unless somebody brings me something that says you have to trade this guy, that is how I would handle it. So, and there was the stories like right from early on in the year that we didn't come into camp the best shape that'd be fair to categorize it that way that's been out there

that's one thing that's one thing I also I'm glad Kyle I love when you put them on a tee for me I love when you're like just throwing me bell high fastballs I could hit into the crowd you know what you know what they should say to him and he should agree to it he should if that's true

that he wasn't ready last year, he should spend most of the summer in Philly. Yeah. I mean, because I, and then the reason why I brought that up is that it just feels like Elliott in today's world with the way the league is now and how fast everybody is and the pace of the game is at, like if that's your story coming into training camp,

it is very hard to turn things around as the season's ongoing. Like, it just, it's hard to find, examples of when you see a guy going, well, he did not look great coming into training camp, and then, you know, not in good shape, whatever the case may be, not putting himself in the best possible scenario to have a good start. It's tough to make up ground that way. So like that's, that's got to be nipped in the bud first and foremost if you want to have a better, a better chance at more success individually and as a team and that whole.

dynamic that you want to believe can still work. You know what? And the other thing, person I didn't mention who has to be a factor here are Ms. Kyle's representatives. This is where, like this is where an agent really matters. It's agents are not only about negotiating contracts.

That's important. But agents have to be a conduit. The best agents, when a team is unhappy and I know I've heard some of them say this to me like they'll be in situations and an agent will say to me

my guy has to be better like this is not sometimes they will hey sometimes it's the organization's fault sometimes it's the player's fault but the best agents they know when their guy is part of the problem and

the team can go to them like Kelly I did a story once on agents and one of the the things I was going to do was on guys who, there was a phase where guys were thinking about going without them, especially on the entry level contracts, because those were basically lined up. And Kelly Rudy said, I would never want to go without an agent. And I said, why? And he goes, because sometimes when I wasn't going well, like, the GM would call my agent and say, is there something wrong that we don't know about? Like, is there something we can help with? And he said there were

a couple times when the team would, when his agent said, you know, the team called and they're like wondering what's going on here. You're not yourself. And I think in these situations, a good agent makes a huge difference. No question. So that'll be the headline for the Flyers as they go into the off season, but should not take away from what was a really great finish for that team. And, you know, a lot of within all of that, a lot of great stories in terms of young players on the roster that are just getting started with the flyers. Okay, with that, let's get to the final thought,

which is presented by your Canadian Toyota dealers in Elliott, we circle back to the Vancouver Canucks and their search for the next GM or whoever is going to be the one heading up their hockey operations. And so it looks like maybe we could see an announcement as early as this week, but you want to, wanted to touch on the future of Daniel and Henrik Sidene. We all saw what went on in Toronto with who they brought in with ties to the organization.

What are you hearing with the twins and their roles within the Vancouver organization? So I think Monday could be a big day for the Canucks, maybe not necessarily in terms of an announcement, but in terms of a decision and internal. decision being made and possibly an idea of how the structure is going to work. And the answer to your question is yes, Kyle. And I don't think it is because Toronto did it. I think it is something in the works even before Toronto made their decision. But I do think the Canucks have asked the Cedines if they want to take more of a role

and how willing they would be in taking a greater role. If it happens, Kyle, I'm going to call it the Swedish startup. And that is Toronto, where John Chaka has the ultimate authority. But as we know, Matt Sundin is there in a major advisory role with a vice presidential title. I don't know what the titles would be in Vancouver if this is accepted. But I do believe that they have talked to the Sadeen's. about taking a larger role, and they were pondering the idea.

And I think there's a hope that there will be clarity in addition to who the new head of hockey operations will be. And I know a lot of us have been talking about Evan Gold and Ryan Johnson, but I think the Siddine's role in this could be important if they decide to accept the mission. as it's been presented to them. So I think we're kind of awaiting two decisions here. Number one, who the head of hockey operations will be,

and number two are the Siddins willing to take a bigger role. And you know what, now that they've seen how it might work in Toronto, you know, Sondin had to move from Sweden to Ontario for it. The Sadiens are already there. It's not like they would be uprooting their families. So I think it just comes down to time. How do they feel? And I think it would be a great thing for the Canucks if they did it.

Obviously, it's their decision. So both of them work in player development as it stands right now. So I guess from what your understanding is the ball's kind of in their court of like, is this something we want to do? And then the next steps from there? I think so, Kyle. I just think that they were asked and presented with the opportunity. I think that's probably the best way I describe it.

It's just that it's such a moving target. And also, you have so much respect for them. I don't want to put words into their mouths, but it's something along those lines, yes. Excellent. It would make a lot of sense. I don't see how you could go wrong with those two guys. I just don't.

Yeah. Beloved in that city. as you said, have stayed in that city and bring a lot to the table as is, I think, in terms of their work with the players in their system. And as we know, two brilliant hockey minds that would only help matters

in a organization that desperately need more people like the city. And so interesting, interesting, but not surprising, Elliot. Thank you for that. Okay, anything else? Yeah, just a couple of things I wanted to mention. How about Macklin Celebrini, Team Canada captain?

Yeah, that was kind of interesting, very interesting. Pave in the way for the future of not only him with his club team, though that would have nothing to do with Hockey Canada, but where Hockey Canada sees him in the future. Oh, very impressive, very, very, very deserving. very impressive. You think of who he's on that team with, John Tavares,

Ryan O'Reilly, and he's the captain. And you know the thing that's really good about that, nobody's going to have a problem with it, Kyle. None of those guys are going to complain. Mm-mm.

It tells you everything you need to know there. I also wanted to shout out Cam Stewart. Cam Stewart is someone, he's a player agent. He's joined CAA. And, you know, I've known Cam a very long time. I have a lot of time for Cam. And I'm just glad that everything has worked out for him

and that that's where he's going to be. I think Cam is one of the really good people in the game. And his son is just hilarious. So I just wanted to say I'm really happy for the Stewart family and Cam that he ended up in this situation. Awesome. Yeah, congrats to him. He is a great joy to speak with anytime you bump into him at the rink here and there throughout any hockey season. Great stuff. Okay, that was the final thought presented by your Canadian Toyota dealers. We will take our first break and come back with a brand spank and new edition of The Thought Line. 32 thoughts of the podcast continues after this.

All right, welcome back. Fresh new edition of the Thought Line coming your way, Elliot. It was in the elevator at our hotel here in Montreal on Sunday morning, along with a group of very pleasant Montreal Canadiens fans from Kingston, one of which asked, is Stank Friedman staying here? And I said, yes, and I gave them your room number. Well, that would explain the strange knocking. That's why they have dead bolts. I couldn't tell if I was dreaming it or it was real, and I wasn't getting out of bad. to find out. Good call. Yeah, that was good. You must have some shoutouts over your travels last couple days. I do. I do.

So Dave Amber and I went out late on Saturday night. We went for dinner and then we went out to a couple of local establishments in Montreal. And I believe one was called the Cold Room. and I found out that, yes, it was the cold room, very good place. And we found out that it is run by Jason DeMere's brother, Kevin. Good guy. Yeah, really good guy. No offense, Jason, but I think your brother can beat you up.

He looks much bigger and stronger than you. But I would say Jason was a better player, although Kevin, Dave said that he did a charity event this year with Luke Gadsdick where Kevin at a hockey tournament where Kevin was the MVP. I would say Jason is a better player, but Kevin could beat up Jason. Just by looking at the two of them. I don't know if Jason is some ninth degree black belt I don't know about. That tips the scales the other way. I also met a couple of fans.

That's the first thought that goes to your mind. You know what, Kyle? Well, I'll say this. You learn over the year. that never to judge a book by its cover, just because somebody may be smaller than you, just because somebody may not be as physically intimidating as you,

that doesn't mean they don't know how to kill you with one small move that you're unaware of. No, but I just love that that's like your first thought. It's like, oh, he seems pleasant, he's respectful. No, you know, it's, okay, how would this guy do against that person? He seems very pleasant and respectful, but he could kill me. There's no question. I met a couple of fans in there.

Leah and Serena, very nice people. During our stay in Buffalo, Kyle, on one of the off nights, or the off night between game one and two, you know, we went out to a restaurant called Hutches. You bailed, Amber bailed, lame, both of you. But I went with about 20 reporters, and we met a number of really nice people. The bartender there, Kyle Johnson,

big fan of the pod and a big fan of hockey. and I met there was a couple of families there having dinner at a table, and I hope I got all the names right. I wrote them all down, but as you know, Kyle, my printing is not exactly neat. So I was looking at some of the arrows I connected to all these people, and I'm not sure I have this all right, but let's try. There was a Tracy Merritt, very nice lady. there was the Mendel family, Donna, the sister Laura, and the mother Marlene. I did a video from the mother, Marlene, who was not there. She is apparently a huge hockey night in Canada fan.

She had fallen recently, and she'd gotten hurt, so we send Marlene our best because she always watches us. And the only negative about Marlene is apparently she's a huge BXA fan. Marlene, I'd say nobody's perfect, but you're as close as I get from what your two daughters said about you. They waxed poetic about you for minutes. And connected to this family is Griffin Mendel, a really good hockey player in his own right. Griffin played four years at the University of Denver. Then he played another year at Quinipiac, played in the American Hockey League for a few years,

was a member of the 2022 AHL champion, Calder Cup champion, Chicago Wolves, and has played the last two years in Cladno in the Czech League. And he was just back from the end of his season there. He's a defenseman. I mean, he's been a pro for five years. That's a heck of a player and a heck of a career. And this year, Yager played six games for that team.

And he was talking about how exciting it was to play with him. There was also Jackie Patterson, who her husband Dave wasn't there, big fan of hockey night. And also, this is a name I did not write down properly at the end. I couldn't even read it. But the last name I remember was Reichlagg or something like that. I met the Cassandra, her newborn child, Meyer,

and the husband, Trent wasn't there. So I wanted all big fans of hockey night and wanted to shout them out. I also met at the Buffalo game one night, Kyle, near our broadcast location, Zach Neiman, who's from Ajax. Zach played hockey at Buffalo State for a few years. And then he played in the SPHL for a couple of years as well. So I met him and his wife, and I believe they had a newborn at the game. If that wasn't you with the newborn, Zach, I apologize.

But I remember meeting you and your wife. We also met Kevin Timmons, who's Connors Timmy's uncle from the Sabres. And finally, John and Steve, one of them is married to Rebecca, who I wished Mother's Day 2 on Sunday and their young son, Cooper, who I took a picture with outside the arena in Montreal, and I already saw they had an Insta story about it. So a lot of shoutouts, a lot of people we've met, but I wanted to shout them all out. Well done. It's impressively to keep track of all this. I write it down.

As you know me, Kyle, Dave was asking me, he says, you have like four notebooks. Like, what is each different notebook you have? And one's my day planner and one is for the show and one is for the pod and one is my quicky, small, tiny note bad I keep with me. The only problem with that is that I often write things down and then later I was like, what did I write here? I can't even read it. That happens about twice a day.

That's great. Well, you got something resembling a system. And it's doing enough of a job here. All right. So, to the matter at hand, we will start with something we haven't had in a little bit here on the thought line. A voicemail. Riley from Columbus, Ohio. Kyle, Riley from Columbus, Ohio, just calling.

And with the current ballots, well, the ballots not released, but with the finalists for all these trophies. coming through. I was just wondering if there's any way that the league or the different bodies that house the people who vote on these awards, is there any way that they make sure that these people aren't either betting on them or even rigging a ballot to make it so that an outcome is more likely than others, you know, with the prominence of sports betting, especially the past years or so, and now with things like polymarket and Kalshi and all. all that. I was just wondering if the league is looking into problems like that.

Thanks, guys. Take care. Two things. Number one, Kyle, it took me four seconds into that call to know why you picked it. Yeah, it was a good question. Secondly, Riley, that is a great question, a great question. Because, yes, years ago, I'm no longer on it. But years ago, I was...

on the committee that was, I was on like the voting committee. So not everything is voted by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. For example, the GMs vote on the Vezna and the Broadcasters Association votes on the Jack Adams, but the professional hockey writers vote on most of the other ones. And I used to be a member of the voting committee. And years ago, when Frank Saravelli ran it, and betting started to become more prominent on the North America, and seen, Frank said that the league had reached out to him and said, we want a policy detailing exactly what Riley was talking about here. If you are voting on awards, you are not allowed

to bet on them, and if you have any bets on them, you had to cancel them. And I remember that year, I didn't even think of it, but I had placed a bet on someone to win the North. Now, I can sit here and tell you, I wouldn't let that affect my vote, but you shouldn't even have, you shouldn't even have the conflict of interest. It shouldn't exist. And I remember when Frank brought it up, I disclosed it right away. I said, look, I have one and I'll cancel it right now, which I did. And, you know, the good thing about that is the person I had bet on that year wouldn't have even come close, but you shouldn't even have the impropriety. Now, I don't really gamble aside from just with my friends and sports pools and stuff, but there is a policy now that if you're a voter, you cannot place a wager or you have to recuse yourself. And Riley, I think that's a great question. You don't want that conflict of interest. And I'll say that this situation was probably about, I'm going to look at it right now because I can probably tell you how long ago this was.

It was a few years ago. It would have been, I'm going to bet you that it was in 2020. I thought you don't gamble much. Yeah, that's very good. I'm going to say that that was in about 2020 that that happened. Okay. So that was around the time that, you know, gambling really kicked into high gear in North America. It's a great question, Riley.

It was brought up and you are not allowed to bet on winners or place a wager on winners. if you vote. Yeah, so I think this is the fourth, fourth year I've had the honor of submitting a ballot for awards. And, but in 2021, so you remember that was, you know, Tampa, Montreal in the final. And just before that,

Stanley Cup final began, they pre-produced the award show. You know, it wasn't obviously at that time, they weren't holding it live at some venue. It was like a half hour pre- produced show. And I was asked to help host it along with, I think Kenny Albert was the other. And so, of course, you're going through the script and you see like all the winners of the awards.

And as like someone actually joke with me, like going, hey, if you want to make a quick buck, you know who the winners are. And I'm going, yeah, like obviously, I know they're joking, but I'm going, but that ain't worth the risk. There's no chance I've even considering doing something like that. But it's good. So how much did you make? Yes, that's right. Exactly. Yeah, think nothing of my brother just bought himself a second house in Arizona. No, was not going down that path. So because it's just, yeah, it's not worth it. I honestly, and I didn't even realize that there was language in there to protect against that.

But I'm glad that there is. That's good to hear. Yes. Okay. We were specifically told that. Okay. Jeremy and Sam from the Fingerlil, lakes. Hi, Elliot. Oh, and I guess hello to the others as well. Yes, yes, Jeremy and Sam. I have always said how much I love the finger legs.

My son, Sam, and I met you at Game One in Buffalo as you were walking out of the tunnel in Section 110 to the concourse and you took the time to take a picture with us. Needless to say, given the Habs performance that night, meeting you, was all Sam could talk about. I'm not sure if you remember the look on my face when we stumbled into you, but I bet it was priceless as I was not expecting to bump into someone of your prominence. Oh, my gosh. See, this is, it's too much. It is about time that I am respectfully and properly described on this podcast. Please, please continue. Please continue, Kyle.

Please continue reading the question. That's right. That's suddenly, Steph just realized. Is this Jeremy Larue, by the way? Yes. Yes. Yes. You know what?

It's funny because as you were starting to read this, I was like, I was supposed to shut out Jeremy Laru too, but now this is happening. Okay, this is great. Well, having the stars aligned for us today. Yes. And Steph just realized the family vacation this summer is to Finger Lakes. now. That's where we're headed.

That's right. Upstate New York, baby. My question is, as the playoffs move on to subsequent rounds and the number of teams and games decrease, how are the on-ice officials selected? Is it seniority or performance

based? It is merit. They make the decisions based on merit. Basically, at the end of the regular season, they decide who moves on to the playoffs and round by round, they decide who keeps moving on. One quirk in that, by the way, Kyle, is that if a referee or a linesman announces their retirement or that season will be their last, they get one last

regular season game, they get to pick who works with them, and they get to pick what city it's in. They don't work the playoffs. That is one of the points in the system. By the way, I should mention who Jeremy is. Jeremy was a pretty good player. He played in the Central Junior League, Kyle, that you would know well from having lived in the Ottawa area. He played a few years in Brockville. And then he played four years of college hockey at American International.

And he played in both the IHL and the Central Hockey League for a couple of years. And Jeremy was wearing a Canadian's jersey. His son, Sam was wearing a Canadian jersey. and Jeremy looks like he could still play. You know, he's between us. You know, I'm in my 50s, you're in your 30s, and he's, I think, 45, and he still looks pretty good. So Jeremy, great hockey player, bad judge of character.

That's what we've learned here. And the other thing, too, about, of course, playoffs with the officials, that they, with each playoff game, there's a standby official at the rink. So there's five that roll into the Rink each night. Last one here. Edward from Salt Lake City.

Hello, Kyle and Elliot. If Carolina gets to and wins the Stanley Cup, I believe Jordan Stahl, Jordan Stahl, he is like one of the ultimate go-to quirk stats subjects, eh? I believe Jordan Stahl will set the record for longest time between winning his first and second Stanley Cup. He won in 2009 with the Penguins, and in 2026, that would make 17 years.

Chris Cellios currently holds the record at 16, having one with Montreal in 86 and Detroit in 2002. Great work with the podcast. Been following the NHL since 1974 when Tim Ryan and Brian McFarlane on NBC. So the first name I actually jumped into my head, and it would not be as long as that cut. was Bill Garen. Yes. Because Bill Garon, I think, was 14 years. He won in 1995, and then he won in 2009.

But that wouldn't be as long as even Chris Chelyos. Yes, correct. So right now, Chelyos does in fact have the record at 16. And then you've got Mark Recky at 14, Darren Helm at 14, Brad Marshan at 14. Wow. And yes, I suppose you would put 14 there for Garen. If you're looking at it at seasons, of course, you lose one due to the lockout in 4-05.

But yes, 14-year-calf. I agree. And then it's funny, Craig Ludwig and Brian Scroodlin are both at 13, and they won their first and second together, right, with Montreal in 86 and then together in Dallas in 99. Oh, that's hilarious. Yeah, that's funny. Yeah. So right now, Chaleo stands at the top. Mm-hmm.

But Jordan's... Well, they're a steamroller. Yes, yes. They do not lose. And, yeah, they got ample time to get ready for the next round. I don't know. Quick family getaway just to fill the time. I don't know what they do here.

But anyway. 50 years watching hockey, man. That's impressive. Very impressive. Considering that where you live right now, and I don't know if that's where you've lived your entire life, didn't have an NHL team for a long time. Yes.

Appreciate the dedication, Edward, and appreciate your question here today. So that'll wrap up this edition of the thought line. You can submit your own thoughts or questions or ideas to the thought line, either via email 32 thoughts at sportsnet.com, or you can leave a voicemail. 1833-3-3-1-3-1-3-2-32. One final break, and we'll wrap up this edition of 32 thoughts on the other side. Okay, so just some programming notes before we wrap up here today,

just the one game on the calendar here tonight for the listeners in Canada. Hockey Central, pre-game show will be on the air at 7.30 Eastern Time tonight, 430 Pacific. Ron McLean and the gang getting you set. including Brendan Dillon, who has been excellent over the weekend. Wonderful to listen to him. He is back in studio one more time on Monday night, getting you set for game number four between the Avalanche

and the Wild from Minnesota, a little after eight Eastern time on CBC and Sportsnet. On Tuesday, a pair of games, game number four back here in Montreal. Once again, Hockey Central, the pregame show, will lead into that one beginning at 6.30 Eastern. and puck drop a little after 7 for Pacific Time. That will be followed by the Golden Knights and the Anaheim Ducks. Game number five there back in Vegas.

Puck drop will be after 9.30 Eastern, 6.30 Pacific Time. Game will start on Sportsnet 360 and will eventually make its way over to the main channels once the Canadians and Sabres are wrapped there. So three games to look forward to over the next couple of days. We will be back on Wednesday to break down each of those games. whatever else is making news between now and that. Talk to you Wednesday.