32 Thoughts: The Podcast - The Carcast Is Back Baby

Episode Date: April 21, 2025

In this playoff edition of 32 Thoughts, Justin Cuthbert and Kyle Bukauskas kick things off with the Battle of Ontario before Kyle makes way for Elliotte via the famous Carcast. Justin and Elliotte also touch on the Leafs vs. Sens series (27:51) before moving onto Devils vs. Hurricanes, where Carolina took Game 1 (37:59) and Golden Knights-Wild (43:50). Justin and Elliotte shift to Saturday, where the Winnipeg Jets took a 1-0 series lead over the Blues (49:08) and they discuss the Avs rout of the Stars (54:17). Elliotte ties up some loose ends heading into Montreal-Washington (1:00:00) and The Final Thought is a surprise question from Kyle to Elliotte (1:03:14).Justin and Kyle answer your emails and voicemails in the Thought Line (1:06:01).In the final segment Kyle and Elliotte touch on the firings of Greg Cronin by the Anaheim Ducks (1:11:30) and Peter Laviolette by the New York Rangers (1:16:03).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

Original penalty on the ice to Toronto number 89, two minutes for high-sticking. Ottawa number 15 has two minutes for roughing. And then Toronto number 2, 11, 25, 74, and 89 have two minutes for roughing. And then Ottawa 43, 15, 22, 33, and 81 have two minutes for roughing. Welcome to 32 thoughts the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra 84 X. Kyle Bacosk is with you. You'll hear from Elliott Friedman in a moment. Dom Schamade is our producer, earning his paycheck this episode and going forward even more than usual having to cover up for all the issues Elliot and I present each and every time we record one of these bad boys. And introducing a fourth member to the pod for the duration of these playoffs.

You have heard them, whether it be on the fan pregame show with Ailish Vorfar or elsewhere across the Sportsnet family of radio networks and audio channels as well. Justin Cuthbert is here, will be the glue that holds us together throughout this playoff journey because mine and Elliott's schedules conflict at the best of times over the course of the season. And with him in studio over the course of the playoffs and myself on the road at home on the road again, it's going to be a whole

bunch of mishmashing and Justin's going to keep us all together and on track. So Justin, welcome. We appreciate your Herculean efforts over the course of these next two months. I don't know if it'll be Herculean, but I'm pretty proud to be tapped as facilitator here. I think my role probably akin to the player in warmups ahead of an NHL game, brave enough to go into the crease to pull pucks out of the net so his teammates can fire more shots, or I guess in this case, more thoughts. I'm proud to be here and I promise this is not part of the punishment after Ailish won the in-season cup. Yes, I know.

And her name, we don't speak of too much on the podcast anymore because of how the in-season cup ended this year. It was dramatic. It was dramatic. It was very good. But yes, you are the Jake McCabe for us in a lot of ways and so much more, Justin. So great to have you along. Yeah, it's going to be exciting.

Two months, let's go. This is the best time of year. We had night one tonight. We're both in the building for Toronto, Ottawa. I mean, how could you not be excited about this? Yes, it was good. So Justin, I have to tell you, I don't know if you heard this,

we do our last pregame hit just before O Canada shortly after seven o'clock in the building. And we're going to reposition from our on-camera hit up top in the 600 level down to where me and the crew hang out during the game at ice level. And I can hear the fire alarm going off at Scotiabank Arena and the lights flashing throughout the hallways. And so naturally the first instinct is, oh, is this a false alarm?

So elevators are no longer an option, of course, when the building goes into that mode. And so we take the stairs back down to get to the 100 level concourse and I see firemen starting to make their way through the building on the concourse. And I'm going, well, again, is this a false alarm or is there's actually something going on here? It turns out actually up on the 300 level, Justin, there was an issue, one of the kitchens.

I don't know if there was actually a small fire, one point or if it was just smoke that they had to put out, but there was a need for first responders to be there I just thought it was a clever you know initially for a while I was wondering if this was just you know a clever way to set up game one of the the Battle of Ontario it all seems so fitting but it sounds like once things got rolling it was nothing too serious within Scotia Bank Arena but what a way to start game one of Toronto and Ottawa

before the puck even dropped. Well it's proof nothing gets in the way of a Stanley Cup playoff game. In fact, I've actually noticed the fire going off before at Scotiabank Arena and the only place you'll find it, I guess in the press box area, would be in the bathroom. Like I went to the bathroom today and it's going and no one is at all fazed by it whatsoever. It's just something that, yeah, and I think it has happened before and it's something you power through.

I suppose you generally don't wanna take these things lightly, but it seemed like nobody was getting in the way or nothing was getting in the way of game one of the Battle of Ontario. It's been too long. It's a little fire stopping, I think. Yes, exactly. The show must go on and it did. And as I say, thankfully, it wasn't anything too serious. But yeah, even before I could get back down to ice level already, there were firefighters on hand there at Scotiabank just to make sure whatever the issue was up on the 300

level, it was contained in the small area that they needed to keep it to. And thank God, I mean, Maple Leafs fans have been through a lot, clearly, these last nine postseason appearance. Not that it was, the result was already in hand. Of course, the Maple Leafs had to go out and win the hockey game, score those six goals,

but if something was to interrupt the flow of tonight for Maple Leafs fans, I don't know if they'd be able to forgive the cook who may have started something in one of those kitchens. Yeah, yes, exactly. So can we talk about the atmosphere here for a sec before we get into the game itself? It was a real, I was curious what you thought and felt

from your seat, Justin, but I thought it was a really good building here tonight. Naturally, I know, especially during the regular season, Scotiabank Arena can be a quiet one, and even in the playoffs compared to some other buildings, it's not quite up at that same level. But it was really going here on Sunday night. The reason why I wanted to bring it up, interestingly enough, Justin, is that someone that works

at the arena there I was talking to during the game, and they pointed out the fact that, you know, because it's a holiday weekend, a lot of the, I guess you'd say the portion of the crowd that historically would not be as loud as some of the other sections of the building. They're the ones that typically, they take their holiday weekends seriously, the family time if there's dinner plans or whatever.

They're the ones more likely to give up their tickets on an occasion like Easter Sunday, even though it is game one of the Stanley Cup playoffs. And so I just wondered, because of all that, the tickets that ended up in the hands of people that were a little more loud and boisterous, and the fact that it was for many a weekend to celebrate, because it was the holidays and such like that over Easter weekend, it all just fed into, and then Toronto gets off to a terrific start so there was no reason for the air to be let out of the balloon on on Sunday. But for a building that you know it does have the reputation for being even in the playoffs a little bit more of a quieter one that was not the case here on on Sunday like they they were ready to rock right from even

before the drop of the puck. Yeah maybe a happy coincidence with Easter Sunday. I gotta be honest, I do an hour post game show or pregame show rather before the game on 5.90 fan. And we were a little bit worried up there because it felt like people were trickling in a little bit late, but once things got going, once you got the music lights down,

music up, everything going on, a little bit late, but once things got going, once you got the music lights down, music gop, everything going on, yeah, the fans did make it seem like it was more than the average game and of course it was more than the average game. I will say though, it can't all be those giving up tickets to those who are a little bit more boisterous because as the game was out of hand or in hand for the Maple Leafs with about 10 minutes left, we were noticing a lot of empty seats. A lot of people were trying to beat the traffic, which is historically bad here in Toronto, but on Easter Sunday probably wouldn't be all that bad. So there were some who were beating the traffic and not celebrating it to the very end, but you

can't as a Maple fan, complain about the atmosphere tonight. It was way better than it normally was, and Brady Kachuck hurt it a lot, that's for sure. Yeah, he did. Things like that, like the Brady sucks chance, you don't expect that from that building, right? Now, I think from Ottawa's perspective, I mean, I don't look at the atmosphere tonight or anything around just the feel in the building to really have too much of an impact as that

game played out. Like I don't credit anything that they were intimidated by it or anything along those lines. I think the issues for them were because of some other reasons. But for a lot of those players, as you know, Justin, they were making their Stanley Cup playoffs debuts here on Sunday. So why don't we get into the game here a little bit now and just where do you want to start in terms of what was turned out to be a route for Toronto? And really the game comes down to the power play opportunities that the Leafs took advantage

of as things got a little bit out of hand for Ottawa in that second period. Yeah, certainly. I think the story of the game, Ottawa's penalty taking and then the lack of penalty killing. There were three goals scored within 10 seconds of a one draw on the power play for the Maple Leafs. I mean, the Nylander goal in particular, there was absolutely zero resistance off of faceoff win. It felt like if not blown assignments, something going seriously wrong in terms of what was supposed to happen for Travis Green. Now, you know this Ottawa team and its penalty killing woes more than I do.

You know, 19th overall in the NHL this year in terms of killing off penalties. The Maple Leafs have had some great success in the back half of the year on the power play, but it didn't feel like that was what was causing it. It was more or less breakdowns for Ottawa. What did you make about their inability to, you know, give the Maple Leafs power play

really any issues? Yeah, so that's the interesting one because as you say, they were a middle of the pack team on the PK over the course of this season. So they've been running what's called a diamond formation on the penalty kill, Justin. And actually, Travis Green was talking about it in our broadcaster chat a few hours before the game on Sunday about running that type of formation when they're a man short. And it was one of the reasons why Matthew Highmore dressed in place of Nick Cousins because he has been a top four penalty killer for Travis Green when

he's in the lineup for the Sens. He wanted to have that option there, especially now with Josh Norris after he was traded to Buffalo. He killed penalties for Ottawa for much of this season. But he says playing that style when you're a man short, it's one of those things where if you're not completely on it, if you're a half step slow, it can look really bad. There can be some breakdowns whether it's cross-scene passes or just the low to high type plays. If you're not able to anticipate things quick enough and process things quick enough, it can look

ugly. And I mean, it wasn't even, as you say, like those three goals that Toronto got to, it didn't even get to a point where there was the ability to have a breakdown of a cross-scene play or anything like that. They just couldn't win a face off. And then the positioning, like the Tavares goal, I thought it was just a good effort by him to A, get the deflection, the first shot, and then they weren't able to get a body there in time for him to get the rebound. And Nylander, like it was funny, Tavares was asked about Nylander deciding to shoot that one himself.

And he's like, yeah, I'm going to let him trust his instincts there. But even he had options, as he was barreling right down the heart of the matter, like he had Matthews over there off to his flank. It just wasn't obviously a great night at all for Ottawa's penalty kill. And you look at it from the Toronto side, Justin, you know, there's something that we watched through their series against Boston last year, the power play, I mean, it sunk them. There were so many moments where they could have changed

the game if it had come through and it didn't. And then here on Sunday night in game one, you know, they had stuck with the five forward formation for it and the opportunity to put the game away in the second period, they took full advantage. Yeah, you got to give credit to Mark Savard and those running the power play, obviously Craig Barube, his hands on what they're doing as well. I think a lot of people were really critical, myself included, of the Maple Leafs running

a five forward power play early in the year when it was really struggling. And I guess the thought was, why are you working on this now? You're never going to use it in the Stanley Cup playoffs. How could you leave yourself that open in games where the margins are so thin to Mitch Marner trying to defend a 2-1-1? It just seems so silly. But they stuck with it despite it not working early on. And there were some injuries and things that they were dealing with that made it so that,

okay, Morgan Riley was getting some reps and Oliver Ackman-Larson got a few reps as well. But you could tell what they really wanted to do was present the five forwards under the marks of our ran power play. And it started to have a lot of success over the back half of the season. And any constant, any worries, them running five forwards out there was kind of lost because yeah, this has been a major, major issue in previous post seasons. Four guys, five of you include Matthew Nyes that are so dangerous offensively on a normal game when it's played across 82 that they just couldn't get it done in the playoffs.

When they started getting the ball rolling, it didn't seem like they were going to turn back and it really, really was the difference tonight. Those power plays striking in the manner that they did, the opportunities given to them by Ottawa and just every time it seemed like, hey, something could happen here, the winds could change, the momentum could shift, a power play arose and a puck hit the back of the net. Right. So, and I'm looking at some of those penalties for Ottawa that they took. And we all get a kick out of Travis Green post-game saying the Leafs did a good job

selling some of those penalties. I mean, Ridley Gregg, you're putting matters into your own hand with the cross check there. Initially called a major, it's reduced to a minor. But even some of the other ones, obviously you can understand, Sens fans didn't love the first Stutzla penalty there, the boarding call against Kristanev. Again, you're giving the officials the opportunity to call a penalty with how you went into them. And even when you saw the replay, I mean, Stutzla did not follow through. Like you could tell part ways like, oh, I've got him in a bad spot here and he kind of

let up, but the damage had been done by that point. And understand maybe a lot of people didn't love the penalty on Adam Gaudet, the cross-check on Matthews that put them two men down that led to Nylander's goal in the power play. Even on that one, like you know in the playoffs, like you cannot give the officials a reason to raise his arm up. And was it an absolutely brutal force type cross check? No, but the fact that he extended his arms out

the way he did, I think you're just asking for trouble. And they all said it in the post game that that was the big story. Brady Kachuk himself was like, it's no secret. We've got to stay out of the box. That was a point of emphasis for them coming in. And whether it's just you get caught up in the emotions of being in the playoffs. And I know Kevin Biaxa on the panel highlighted how many hits Tim Stootslid thrown through two periods, not particularly his game, but you're into the playoff mode and you want to show how hard you can play.

But there's a line, of course, that you've got to be careful that you don't cross there. And for Ottawa, whether you loved all of the calls or you hated all of them or you were in between on a few, too often they just gave the officials reason to call penalties. And the eight years in the making, there's still a long way to go in this series, but it definitely cost them dearly here in game one. Yeah. If I have a grand takeaway, Kyle, from the game and how these two teams match, and I guess the relative context of the Maple Leafs' previous failures, you know, this is their night straight appearance in a postseason, just one series victory, which

is unbelievably poor, obviously. Don't have to outline that or underscore it anymore. But it finally felt for probably the first time ever that without the opponent being Tampa or Florida or Boston, that Toronto was the experienced team, that they had the know how edge, the how to edge. It felt like Toronto understood the situation more than Ottawa did with a lot of those penalties and vulnerabilities being, I guess, the prime example there. Toronto has routinely dealt with teams that know how to handle themselves

in these spots. And it felt like for me the first time where Toronto had that experience edge and that they took advantage of a team that had that immaturity. Yeah. It's interesting you say that Justin, because listening to Mitch Marner the day before game one, and he was asked about that first playoff series that this group had in 2017 against Washington. And he said he just remembers that Capitals team. They were so calm. They were so composed.

He said they knew what they were doing out there. And that's in a lot of ways what and how Toronto looked here in game one. And the other thing too, Justin, there was that storyline going into this series of Toronto has all the pressure. You mentioned their playoff failures in the past, despite getting at least to this point for nine straight years. And Ottawa's coming in, they've got nothing to lose. This is a new experience for the majority of those guys.

All the pressure is on Toronto. In my mind, Justin, I felt coming into this, Toronto only is going to feel that pressure if Ottawa makes them feel that pressure. And as I say, there's still a long way to go here in this series. I think back to in 2022 when they played Tampa in the first round, they blew the doors off of them in game one and then much tighter the rest of the way over the final six games.

Like lots of things can still change here. The Lena Salmar question of course is a big one as he tries to reset himself after a tough start to the series. But until Ottawa makes this edition of the Maple Leafs feel the pressure, I think they're going to continue to look like the more experienced group as we saw here Sunday. And there's a head start on not feeling that pressure, right? I thought it was pretty appropriate given what we've seen over the regular season that Mitch Larner gets an early goal,

William Nylander scores in the game, John Tavares as well, because this season, despite Craig Borube coming in and wanting this team to play a little differently, taking care of their own end first and just being less of a track meet style of team, Marner, Nylander, and Tavares all thrived. Marner getting to 100 points for the first time. William Nylander scoring 40 again. I think this was the best Tavares season since his first with the Maple Leafs and no one now after seven seasons can complain about the length of the contract or what he would look like at the end of it. And I'm not singling out Austin Matthews who had some great moments

in this game, but it was a down season from him and it was the other three that sort of shouldered the load. And you're mentioning, you know, Ottawa has to make them feel something. Well, this team has a head start, the Maple Leafs that is, in not feeling that way because they've got out to such a great start that there were some cookies early and some goals for some key guys who don't have to worry about, hey, when's my first moment going to come in terms of production. The moment did come here finally for Brady Kachak,

25 years old, been in the league for a while, had to watch his brother play 70 postseason games, I believe before he could get his, and of course winning the Stanley Cup this year or last year. I don't know what your expectations were for his first game, his first moment on the postseason stage, but I think a lot of people had something in their mind after watching him at the Four

Nations. But I think the thing that was interesting to me about the senators is that public enemy number one wasn't necessarily a Kachak, it was Ridley Gregg. And part of that is the five minute call that was reduced to two in the cross check on John Tavares. But Greg was very much the center of attention or the Maple Leafs attention given his, I don't say antics, but his postseason play tonight. Yeah. You knew that, I mean, obviously the main headliner is Brady Kachuk, but there was Ridley

Greg very much there as well for Ottawa as someone that you knew you had to keep an eye on early in this series. And he showed why here in game one, like there was a guy who didn't seem overwhelmed by the moment of playing in his first playoff game. Yes, that cross check got away from him. You can't have that. But he scores, gets his first playoff goal, and then I'm sure you saw late in the third period where he drives to the net, loses his footing,

and slides into Anthony Stolarz. Unfortunately for Stolarz, he was all right. He said postgame, I'm fine, and just kind of caught me in an awkward spot with my knee getting crunched up against the post, but he said, I'm all good. Craig Simpson is on that all the time, Justin. When he sees a forward driving wide and having a bit of a step on the defenseman, he is always all over them for saying, just take it to the net. Like don't curl back and post up, take it to the net because either A, the defense pulls back and you get a great scoring chance, or B, the defenseman takes you out and it's a penalty. And also you may end up with the defenseman taking you out,

sliding into their goalie and not so much thinking, oh, you got a chance to hurt him. But just with that contact, and you know if you're doing that again, the goalie and the net's going, okay, like there's a chance there could be some contact here again. Like now he's thinking about it a little bit more.

Like there's just way more positives that can come from putting your head down and trying to drive to the net. He did that there. Thankfully for Stolar, he was okay. There was no goals scored from it. But that's how he plays the game, Justin. And he's gonna continue to be all of that

that we saw here on Sunday, you would think, for however long the series goes. I'll throw out what could be considered something for Senators fans to potentially build on or hope on. You know, Stolarz allows the first goal to make it 2-1, and it might have been one of the worst goals Stolar it 2-1. And it might have been one of the worst goals Stolar has allowed all year. Not because it was a shot he should have had, but the rebound he let loose in the slot.

And then the second goal he gave up, there was another rebound that he failed to corral, leading to the Senator's second goal of the game. Now, they weren't able to build on those moments, but I think everyone's been trying to figure out all year, hey, how do we get one on Stoller's? And two goals that were very similar, two retrievable rebounds that he couldn't corral. I wonder if that's something senators will be talking about in advance of game two. Well, that and also, Justin, like Derek Lallone on

our panel and in both intermissions was saying, like, I like how Ottawa is playing at five on five. Travis Green said the same thing post-game. So when they weren't being forced to kill penalties, like, I think there was a lot there for whether it was the head coach of the team or even Derek, who's channeling the coach's mindset there very much watching back in studio. Like, there was a lot there to like and suggest that, yeah, the score line looked very humbling there in game one,

but this is a Senator's team that should absolutely still believe they have an ability to A, earn a split between the first two games in Toronto and certainly not feel like they are overmatched against a Toronto team that won the division and looked very composed here in game one. So still a lot of hockey here to be played, Justin, which is great.

21 years, it's been way too long since we've seen Battle of Ontario in the playoffs and hopefully more fireworks still to come between these two teams over however long this series goes. Most definitely. fireworks still to come between these two teams over however long this series goes? Most definitely. Some silly stuff at the end, which I guess is expected in a playoff game that gets a little out of hand, but when's the last time you saw a referee pull out a cheat sheet in order to complete his duties, calling a penalty and announcing it to a live crowd?

So you know what? It's funny because that was Garrett Rank, right? And I'm certain that you remember a few years ago, Florida played in Ottawa, I think it was like a late November game. Florida ran them out of the gym and it was like another one where it got completely out of hand at the end, like even uglier than what we saw here on Sunday between the Leafs and the Senators. And Garrett Rank was working that game too, and I'm sure it was him. And he had to make the call to the building of what all the penalties were. And it was some of the line of like, everyone on the ice here has a misconduct among other penalties.

Now he's starting to get a bit of a penchant of having just some great deliveries when he's had a laundry list of penalties to announce. So he's getting used to it. He's getting the hang of it. That was pretty entertaining as a way to wrap this thing up tonight. Well, fitting that it's rank because he's an accomplished golfer as we know, and it's kind of like a yardage book, right? Like he's referring to the notes before he delivers the final ruling or I guess chooses the club

that's needed in a specific moment. So I thought that was pretty funny and it's one of the... Referees don't get many... Well, fans don't want referees to show their personality on most occasions, but it looks like he's got a little bit of an idiosyncrasy that he can't necessarily shelve in all moments. Yes. The entertainment factor at the end of the game that was already out of hand and we knew

what the result was going to be, it just kept everybody into it until the final horn. It was good. Last thing on the game, just a shout out to those that you're working with putting together the broadcast. The Nylander rock star shot on the way into the arena paired with his goal and the reaction and celebration for his goal, the kiss and the point to the crowd. You could not melt together two better highlights to illustrate the aura that is William Nylander. just part of all the good things that happened to the Maple Leafs tonight, but a good moment on the broadcast as well.

Yes, playoff mode for everybody, not just the players, not just the coaches, the production as well. And they came ready here to kick off game one of this series. That was awesome. All right, Kyle, it was good catching up at the game and on the podcast, and we'll continue to do this during the Stanley Cup playoffs. But now, first car cast of the season with Elliot Friedman.

Elliot, it's a pleasure. All right, first of all, Justin, just wanted to say thank you so much for your help. It's nice to finally get some good help on this podcast. And I would just like to say quickly that everyone on the road is a terrible driver except for me I want everyone to know that okay. That is good to know especially with a long two months ahead We're gonna roll through all five series that have begun in the Stanley Cup playoffs including the three games on Sunday

We'll start there Elliot the Battle of Ontario Was interesting chapter one certainly was interesting. Chapter 1 certainly was interesting. I thought the most interesting thing from the game because there was so much talk about how Brady Kachuk is going to introduce himself on the postseason stage and yet the person who drew the most ire from Leaf fans and I guess the Toronto Maple Leafs was Ridley Gregg. Well, that shouldn't be a surprise. Gregg has gotten under their skin before. The best thing about this series, Justin, is it happened even faster than I thought it was going to.

But all the Senators fans saying, I hate them and I'm biased towards the Leafs. And all the Leaf fans saying, I hate them and I'm biased towards the Senators. It didn't even take 60 minutes of Battle of Ontario for those start to start to fill out my timeline and my DMs. That's the best part about this series. Everybody thinks you hate them in the fan bases and everybody thinks you're biased against them and everybody thinks no matter what you say it's not enough credit to the team that wins. It's awesome and I cannot wait for six more games of it.

I was just going to say it was spectacular. I mean we got silly stuff at the end and just on the topic of Greg because we can definitely get into the cross check but I don't't know if the broadcast picked this up, but Greg got kind of pushed into or toward the leaf bench. His stick went into the leaf bench. Matthews took it, snapped it, and threw it away. I know we're in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but just night one for the Maple Leafs, and we're getting stolen sticks, snap sticks from star players like Austin Matthews.

I heard about this actually post game. Someone sent me a note that it happened and to me it just adds to the level of love I have for this series. You know the thing about Ridley Gregg is I'm not surprised. We already know the Maple Leaf players don't like him and Gregg has a unique ability to get on everyone's case like opposing fans and players cannot stand him. He's one of those guys that you love if he plays for you and you hate if he plays against you. And by the way, the collision he had with Stollers in the third period, Kevin and Kelly thought it was on purpose. They're like, he knows exactly what he's doing. Now I'll say this.

I heard there were Lee fans who say that should be a suspension. It's Morgan Riley. It's not the same as Morgan Riley. I hate to disappoint everybody, but it's not the same as Morgan Riley. The reason Morgan Riley got suspended as hard as he did was not only about the cross check. If you go back, it was about the fact that he chased them around the ice or into the side of the ice. They got angry at that. The league did because it was not a quote unquote hockey play. It was at the end of the empty net goal and he got suspended for that. Now, I think Greg is really lucky he didn't get thrown out of the game. I would have been okay there with them throwing him out of the game, but that's not the same thing as Riley. I'm sorry, it

just isn't. The whole thing for me was, there's a bunch of Sanders fans complaining the calls were soft. Fine, you can complain the calls were soft, but here's what you can't complain about. Those Sanders guys who were playing their first playoff games, they were not enough in control themselves. They lost control of their emotions. They forgot who they were. You know, Kevin mentioned Stootslow in the broadcast that he had eight hits and he's like, what is he doing? And Travis Green has said before that if he has one critique of Stutzle, it's that sometimes he goes for hits not to take away the puck, and he takes himself out of the play and that definitely happened. Those guys were too hyper. They were too wired and I'm assuming it'll be better

for them in game two. You can blame the referees all you want. I don't think this one is about the referees. I think this is about the senators. They were too over emotional. That to me was one of the biggest differences in this game. I assume they'll be much better for game number two. Yeah, too hyper, too wired, and yet the person we expected to be a little bit out of control

was not like that in Brady Kachuk. Now, it wasn't necessarily his best game. I don't think he had the impact he wanted, but many people may be surprised that it wasn't the Brady Kichuck show in a lot of ways as we waited for this day in his opportunity to finally grace the postseason stage. Ellie, when you look at the Maple Leafs, it's pretty clear, it laid bare a little bit in that, okay, Toronto finally had the experience advantage, and how did that look on this Maple Leafs team who didn't have to deal with a team that knew how to control themselves

and handle these situations? Boston, Florida, Tampa, clearly they have some of that situational know-how, the post-season know-how that Ottawa was without. But a lot of good things happening for the Leafs. Three power play goals, two goals from defensemen, stars already with one on the register with Nylander, Marner, and Tavara's scoring. I wonder how you, aside from the opponent, saw some differences in the Maple Leafs

last night. Well, I think the one, the two things are, number one, Stoller's was great. I was really impressed with him. When that game was still in doubt, he had to make some huge saves. And I think at the beginning of the year, you were looking at this tandem wool and Stollers and you were like, I hope this is good, but it's been really good. And it continued in game one of the playoffs. He was rock solid. Number two, like last year, one of the reasons they lost to Boston was their power play was so bad.

They scored more power play goals in game one of this series than they did all of seven games against Boston last year. You mentioned the Stars scoring. The four of them, the core four, they had nine points. I thought Matthews, one of the penalties I didn't like was the Godet one, but what did Matthews do well there? He recognized it as a penalty.

He threw the puck to Sanderson so that they touched it and they got more of a five on three. And then when Godet took a shot at him to try to see if he could get him into retaliatory penalty, he didn't do it. There was a lot to like about this game for Toronto, but the one thing I always remember Justin is these playoffs series are not total goals game two. It's 0-0 again it's gonna be a different game for a lot of these teams that lost game one and one game one and

It will be this will be a different Ottawa team in game number two but whoever coaches the Ottawa penalty kill I don't remember it off the top of my head as I'm driving home they're going to be going to the drawing board on Monday because Toronto shredded what they wanted to do they it wasn't only that they scored, but Justin, all their great chances from the middle of the ice, they dismembered that penalty kill. And they did so with immediacy. Three goals scored in under 10 seconds to start power plays. There was just no resistance from Ottawa that looked a little disorganized, at least in

that initial coverage after losing face offs. You mentioned the clean slate clearly important for the Ottawa Senators and I would say so for Linus Almark. In terms of concerns how high up on the list would you have Almark if you were a Senator's fan? Well Kelly took issue with when I said it because he said look at a lot of the goals. So Kelly knows I would say a touch more goaltending than I do. So I'll give him another benefit of the doubt and we'll see where we go for game number two. You know what Justin the other thing from the Toronto Ottawa game, you know,

Travis Green post game. He had a comment along the lines of, you know, we've got to be a bit more calm and under control but I thought Toronto bought some of those calls or sold some of those calls whatever he said I thought there was a couple calls that they did a good job selling but it's tough stuff on the rafts but we can't take that many penalties for sure. I have to say Justin I I wasn't sure about that approach after this game. I think that if I was Ottawa I would just say like Brady Kachuck said we've got to be a lot more under control and I would have let Steve Steyos or like go to the league or go to the series supervisor and say, here's the calls I didn't like.

And maybe the maybe in a game where they weren't as disciplined as they needed to be, I would have handled those things privately. But, you know, I'm not the coach of the Ottawa Senators and Travis is no dummy. He's got a message He wants to send but sometimes I wonder if those messages are better sent in Private, although if it happened a second straight game, then I'd be a lot more public about it. Okay, where else we go in here? I think we should touch on all Sundays games before looking back to the two-game slate on I think we should touch on all Sunday's games before looking back to the two-game slate on Saturday. Devils, Hurricanes, a dominant effort for the Hurricanes, basically doubling up on shots. This is what we've come to kind of expect, not necessarily two goals from

Logan Stankovic, but we know that the Hurricanes can handle themselves in these moments in first-round series, they can win series. I'm just shocked, Elliot, of the play of the New Jersey Devils languishing in the way that they have since losing Jack Hughes. If you go back to January 1st, only five teams had fewer points than the Devils. Markstrom has to make 41 saves in a losing effort. You rarely see a save total like that in a loss.

How come the Devils have fallen apart in the manner that they have after losing, yeah, your best player and the guy that is your engine, but injuries happen and a lot of teams deal with it better than the Devils have. Marshall. Honestly, Justin, I think the honest answer is the injuries that New Jersey had were to players higher in their lineup. You know, Hughes and Heesher, they're top two centers, Hughes is out, and Hamilton and Seigenthal, they're top two centers, Hughes is out and Hamilton and Seigenthal, they were two of their best defensemen and even though Hamilton is back, I think it really affected their defense over the last few weeks of the regular

season. Like if you took a look at it and you watch the Devils with Hamilton and Seigenthal are out, there were clearly some defensemen there and at least one pair that Sheldon Keefe didn't trust. And you could see that it affected the way they played, it affected the way he deployed them, and they simply weren't the same. You know, Dawson Mercer, I think he's a pretty good player, but the number two center has proven to be a lot for him to handle. And if you take a look at some of their bottom six, they've really struggled. I just think that New Jersey, some of the depth they had, it just hasn't worked out as well as they hoped. And you know, when you play Carolina, you expect to get out shot. But one of the things that people say about the Hurricanes

is that they don't always have the great scoring chances. You're going to give up volume, but you don't always give up great chances. This was not like that. In game one, the Devils were completely overwhelmed and the Hur hurricanes seemed to get a ton of great chances and then you lose Dylan for a time being, you lose Hughes for a bit of time, although he came back, you lose Hughes and Glass on the same play and honestly I can't believe that happened with Markstrom. I watched it again and still can't believe it happened. Like you can't have that happen and now Glass looks like he could be out a little bit. So, everything

has gone poorly for the Devils. I think a lot of people saw the Hurricanes as the favorite in this series because the Devils have been so banged up and even though Hughes is back now, you know, they still obviously aren't set in their own zone. They've got a lot of problems and even Hamilton's return didn't solve everything. Tough to lose so many games for months on end and yeah, there are legitimate excuses, you know, losing important players, being without your superstar, but it's hard to flip the switch, right?

It's hard to make it different, hard to put your foot in the ground and make sure the results are different, especially against a team like the Hurricanes who are essentially perfect in the way they play shift to shift, five on five, and I know that hasn't manifested into anything beyond a win in the second round, but that is a really, really difficult flip to switch. John Hines played- That is a really really difficult flip to switch John Heinz. I'll say I'll say this too about that game Yeah, the Hurricanes were not thrilled about that start time. They thought it was a really bad start time for their fans on Easter Sunday

They felt their fan base that was that was a bad setup for them from what I heard and this was another team that Told me this Is that the hurricanes didn't want it didn't want to play sunday They would have had to play back to back monday and tuesday and that's not ideal either So I would say For a for a setup that they weren't thrilled with I thought their fan base really showed. Like that building looked wild at the start of that game. Yeah, big tailgate culture. Gotta have the Stamina. Maybe the early start helped out a little bit inside the arena, given that less time was spent outside. As I mentioned,

John Hines pulled a bit of a, tried to pull an ace out of his sleeve. Zeev Bouyam making his NHL debut in game one versus the Golden Knights, but Brett Howden scores twice. Vegas wins, the empty netter, meaningful maybe to some, but meaningful to the Vegas Golden Knights who start out what is potentially a return back to the Stanley Cup final with a big win over the Wild. I was talking to Kyle during most of this game. What struck you from game one between Vegas and Minnesota? Well, I was curious to see Buehman. You could tell that he, the game was,

and you could tell Justin that the NHL players who defend a little bit quicker and close out on you a little bit better. He was not used to that. Like that pass that led to the penalty late in the game by Boldy. No, he probably in the NCAA, he probably makes that pass. No problem. But William Carlson, an experienced shrewd pro, he is right there and he can bait you into it and the game clinching penalty.

So I think like you can see like the way he passes and the way he receives passes, boy, there's a lot of skill there. But he was introduced a little bit to, you know what, everybody here is just a little bit quicker. There's great players in the NCAA, but there's a lot more greater players in the NHL. It'll be better off in the long run for the experience, but he learned that lesson on Sunday night. You know, the other thing about this game, this was a mean game.

Like it was a, it was a nasty game. It was a Vegas game. They, they defend really well. Uh, it took a high skill play from Capri's off to score their first goal. Um, and the one thing I think for Minnesota is are where are they going to get scoring after that line? Like that line's going line is gonna score They're gonna need help and that's the one thing I thought they really weren't dangerous enough outside their line that one line That'll have to be big for them. The other thing is we were talking about this So on a night where there was a lot of discussion Justin about cross checks There was one in this game that went uncalled and to Nick

Hague and the one thing we were talking about is Vegas has done an excellent job of highlighting how they don't take penalties last three years least penalized team in the league this year. They put it up on their social that they've never that they set a record for fewest penalties taken. And sometimes you get reputations for being a dirty team. Sometimes you get reputations for being a penalized team. Sometimes you get reputations for being a team that dives or players who dive when they didn't get a penalty for that cross check, we were talking about it, does Vegas get the benefit of the doubt because they're clean?

And I'm curious about that, because you know in between these series, teams lobby. They lobby, right? So they're going to go to Vegas after between games one and two they're gonna say hey anything you guys want to talk about they're gonna go to Minnesota between games one and two and they're gonna say anything you guys want to talk about and you know what Minnesota is gonna talk about how on earth does that cross check not get called and I just think it might be genius marketing

by the Golden Knights. Just like, hey, we don't take penalties. We're putting up on our social, our record setting for not taking penalties. And I just wonder if it gets into people's head and they get the benefit of the doubt where other teams don't get it. And you know what? They've earned it. And now they're making sure everybody knows it. For now, that seems like a winning combination. You know, you can play and contest and win these nasty games and you can be tough and physical. But for the most part, you're staying out of the serious trouble. You're staying out of the penalty box. You can brag about

being one of the least penalized teams like the Vegas Golden Knights can. Like it just doesn't, if you think about it in your mind, necessarily jive because we know that Vegas can play that physical game. They can be a nightmare to play against. Sometimes Justin you think no penalties, you think wimps, right? Not with Vegas. Those are not wimps. No Lady Bing candidates necessarily on that team. Actually they have one, Eichel, and nobody would call him soft either. No you wouldn't. I don't know if he's Lady Bing for me. Maybe I'm missing something in terms of the stats. I'll have to go back. But he

doesn't scream Lady Bing to me. No he doesn't. But you know what, he was on the, I was thinking of like the biggest collisions he's been involved in. And I guess he was on the receiving end in that Stanley Cup final a couple of years ago with Matthew Kachuk. Okay, let's go back to Saturday. And you mentioned, you know, who's going to score after the top line for Minnesota. I kind of had that same thought for Winnipeg and not that they can't produce offense because they have they got a great powerplay. And that top line is brilliant. They got talent throughout, but I'm watching thinking okay

Man, there's a lot on Mark Shifely to produce There's a lot on Kyle Connor to produce and they upgraded IA follow from the fourth line put him on a top line And that's a big spot for IA follow and yet they do come through they avoid overtime They score late they win game one versus St. Louis after taking what was a pretty significant punch from the Blues. They get back to Jets hockey in the third period. But do you have concerns about the goal scoring with the Jets? I don't. As a matter of fact, I think that was as good a win as the Jets could have. You mentioned Halobach. If you would have told me that that's how Halibuck looked in game one, I wouldn't have predicted them to win. Like to me, like

a lot of times Halibuck bails them out, but this was a night where they bailed him out. Like if, like you know St. Louis is going to come back and you know that series is far from over, but you know, you win game one with Hallebuyck looking that shaky early on, to me that is a five star win for them. And I'll say this, I thought Shieffley was dynamite, I thought Connor was really good. I thought a lot of their guys were really good,

but Shieffely really carried the male and I Think like the last thing I'm really concerned about with the Jets is I think they can score I really do and the other thing you really noticed from that game was That Scott Arneal really trusts his third and fourth lines Like how many times out there in a big moment? Did you seemitriy Domestikov's line going out there? And how many times did even Baron's line got offensive zone draws at times? So I don't worry about that, Justin. And I got to think if you're St. Louis, if you lose this series, you sit there and you say to lose game one where hellebuck didn't look that good That's one you regret you you sit there you say man

We gotta have that one, but again mean game really mean intense Nasty game, you know shyfully. I've really liked them, especially since the Four Nations. You know, he was obviously very disappointed. He didn't get to go and he's channeled it the right way. But I think St. Louis going to be a lot better. And I think that one's going to be as far from over. Are you as confounded as I am about the, I guess, shy postseason nature of Connor Hellebuck? Like it was pretty easy to dissect what was happening. You guys were great on the panel with it, just not coming out and being

the goaltender, challenging shots in the way that he's normally accustomed to. And it burned him with those three goals against St. Louis. It feels like there's a mental game there with Connor Hellebuck. He allowed 24 goals in five games last playoff. He's assumed to be three time Vezina Trophy winner. He'll probably win unanimously. I am just stunned that he's got a shot to win the heart this year too. I think he could win it. Yes. I was surprised. You know what? I just think it shows to you that even the greats sometimes get nervous He was nervous. He wasn't himself. I would be shocked if he's like that in game two though Justin I I really would I'm I think he was nervous. I

Mean even the best of us get nervous. I'll tell you what I did like Justin. It was different Last year one of the reasons reasons Hello Buck took a lot of criticism in that Colorado series was he didn't come out and talk to the media at the end of the game and when they were struggling. And you know, look, I don't really take that personally. Like to me, you don't wanna talk to me, fine. There's a lot of people that don't wanna talk to me.

But the one thing I think is is if your teammates have to go out when you're losing You have to go out when you're losing like that. That's one thing that I would say if I was judging myself And I was playing poorly and we were losing I would say I would say I've got to be out there with Everybody else answering the questions and he and I don't know if the other Jets were mad But I do know that there were people last year who looked at that and said like you know what? I don't like that from him and in this game. He wasn't very good but he still came out and You know and he even looked a bit more relaxed like one of the things that Jets have talked about this year is

Just getting hellebuck to enjoy life a little bit more not be I'm sure he enjoys life. I'm sure he loves his family We know he loves the outdoors but just around the rink like let his guard down a little bit and you know He he did this year and then you know, he did this year and then, you know, he did it after game one. Like you can be disappointed and you can say, look, I'm going to be better. I'm going to work on my game. We expect to do all that. But the team won, like be part of it.

And that was there. I think that's a good sign for him after game number one. And yeah, his play certainly improved in the game, maybe not to the extent as it did for his team. The Jets dominant in the third period and get the win over St. Louis to take a 1-0 series lead. Okay, let's go to the Avs and Stars build as the best series of round one. It's possible it doesn't get to that despite Dallas having a pretty good effort but extending

a losing streak to 8. Also 8 consecutive game 1 losses for Dallas after the defeat at the hands of Colorado on home ice. Of course some good news about Heiskenen but Miro Heiskenen not available yet. I'm watching Arturi Lekinen's bicycle kick to open the scoring and I am like Wincing because I can't imagine a world where they take that goal off the board. Thankfully it didn't happen But I guess because it stood the most interesting thing for me with this series is just the situation that Miko

Rantunen is in and I think it's something that a lot of people not necessarily can Sympathize with or put themselves in those shoes, but yeah, we all have a separation from something or someone or whatever, and it puts you in a bit of a mental bind. And I don't know if that's the case for Miko Rantunen. This is a proven playoff performer, but I just don't know how he's gonna be himself

in this series. Yeah, yeah, you have to put that behind you. Again, I only judge people as I judge myself. Justin, if I was in a playoff series like that, I would say I got to let that go. Like, my new team is counting on me. And, you know, Craig Simpson's talked about that, about, he's told the story about how when the Oilers lost to Gretzky and the Kings the first year that Gretzky came and I know it's Wayne Gretzky they felt they lost because

of that and he said that when the end at the end of the series Glenn Sather walked in and told them I you let your friend beat you you let your friend beat you and I know simmer and when he tells that story I could only imagine how much that stuck in their craw That say there was able to tell them that because they had to eat it, right? so like if your friends can be friends, but You still have to want you can't you cannot let that happen to you in a playoff series I'm sorry I wouldn't if that was me and I was in ranting in shoes I wouldn't accept that from myself if someone said to me it's okay or if it doesn't go the

way you like it you know why hey you're by you were just separated from the team uh-uh I would not accept that for myself So I don't know that I would accept it for anybody else. The real shame, the real problem for Dallas here is that they played a great game for the most part. Like they were the better team for most of that game. And the first two goals come in on a Hugo Sanchez bicycle kick and a Tim Wakefield knuckleball. Like you've got to be sitting there saying, which, how, who did we upset? Which hockey gods did we make mad and how do we fix it? Because that's, that's just an awful way to lose a game after controlling it as much as

they did. You know, Hayskinn, I don't know. I really don't know. I know he's skating now. Again, at this time of year, it's so hard and we'll see what news comes out Monday. But Justin, I heard some real skepticism that he's going to be a factor early in this series. You know, Robertson, anytime they say week to week right before the playoffs, it's not good.

But, you know, you, like, if you're Dallas, like, they look disheartened at the end of game number one, and I understand. But you got to trust if you play like that, and they played really well for the most part in that game, the bounces are going to start going your way. There's, there's no other option. There really is no other option, but to come out and play like that again and hope you just get the breaks that you didn't get in game number one. There's no other option. Yeah. Pete DeBoer saying after the game, it's quote,

the best we have played in three to four weeks and it results in an eight straight loss. They are reeling right now and you're right, they played really well. It's just without Heisken and without Robertson, you're asking a little bit more from everyone and when they do deliver and you don't get that win, you don't get the result. It is disheartening. There is no comeback player of the year award in the NHL, but I imagine Mackenzie Blackwood, if there was one, would be in the running for it. Yeah, great here. Great pick by Colorado. They identified him. They tried to trade for him once before they got him. He was, you know, even as you said, DeBoer gave

him the credit. He was the better goalie in game number one. You know, it was funny. The one goal that was scored when his stick got caught in the netting. I was talking to Kelly and I said to him, would a coach ever go to you that can't happen again? Like more tape on your knob. We can't have that because imagine if that happens in game seven of a series later, something like that. And Kelly said that there would be some coaches who would say something to you and

there would be other coaches who are like, you know what? That's my goalie. I'm not talking to him at all. I don't know if I was coaching a team. I might say the black would put a little more tape on there so that doesn't happen again. Okay, five series underway, three to come. Anything else, Elliot, before we wrap? Yeah, just the series still to come. Obviously, for Montreal and Washington,

Logan Thompson has been practicing now. We talked about these on the Friday pod. So we'll let most of those stand But Logan Thompson's been practicing now. I think we're all curious to see how do they announce their lineup for game number one? You know Demidov someone sent me an Instagram post saying he's already gotten an endorsement in Montreal for something. I have heard like, it's kind of funny, he's only played two games, but apparently the sponsors are falling all over themselves to be associated with this guy. It's kind of hilarious.

I think he's one of the real X factors of the playoffs. You know, one of the things to Edmonton, L.A. is also Monday night. Chris Knobloch announced Sunday that. Stetcher is not going to play at Colts, not going to play in a Vanderkeens, not going to play. Now, I'll say this. I think the NHL has been working hard and on some of these teams about injuries. And I've mentioned it in previous pods. Justin, if you look at it, Dougie Hamilton came back in game 82. Tyler Sagan came back in game 82.

I can't prove it, but to me, I find it very interesting because in past some of these guys might have waited until game one and the fact that those guys played game 82 and Evander Kane is not playing game one for Edmonton, I don't know that I believe in coincidences. I think these are some situations where the league was like, we want to see your medical reports. And what it says to me is they are going to work hard at changing the LTIR rules in the next CBA, that there will be a mechanism there or there because they were really diligent they were on teams about this and I just find a lot of these I don't know that these are coincidences I I can't prove anything

but I heard they were really on teams about it and some of these injury decisions not all of them in terms of who came back for game 82 and who isn't playing game one. Justin, it just says to me that they were effective or they were pointed in what they asked for. And finally, Tampa and Florida. I look forward to that series beginning sometime before the middle of August. That is good to know on the potential LTIR shenanigans. I mean, game 82 felt really honorable, honestly. And I guess if we missed out on the game ones, maybe by game two or game three, some will be able to come back. Okay, the final thought is brought to you by GMC,

and it's a treat. We've got Kyle from the past leaving us a note on the thought line. Hi, Elliot. It's past Kyle here, and I have a question for you. It seems already we are early in the playoffs and there's a bit of tension on the panel. We're not even three nights into this thing,

and already I mean I'm used to and expecting the fire on the ice in the Battle of Ontario and there were some testy moments It felt like on the panel in the early going Can you please explain and provide any further insight into what's been going on? Amongst the studio crew to begin the Stanley Cup playoffs. Oh Okay, I think he's talking about what a loser. I think he's talking about the kicked goal conversation. Because we were showing the kick goal from Dallas, Colorado game one. And

I was showing so there was a video review and they showed us this at the GM meetings. It was from Remembrance Day 2024 this year. It was the winning goal for Montreal and Boston. And the Sabres asked for a review because a puck hit Mike Matheson's glove and then the Canadians scored. And their argument was, the Sabres was, it was a glove pass that was missed. So therefore it was a missed stoppage. And what the NHL ruled was there's a difference between a glove pass or a kicked puck and then a puck that just hits your glove or hits your foot. Like they said that that kicked in goal or the goal from Dallas that wasn't kicked in like he was tripped

And it went on and hit his skate like they said this goal with matheson He didn't glove the puck. It was a clearing attempt that hit his glove and went somewhere So I was saying this and I was saying this is why they ruled that way And then ron was like no they shouldn't have Because that's a kick and I'm like no don't do that because I didn't want to confuse the audience I was trying to explain why they ruled that way So I said to Ron like no don't do that or be quiet or something like that After I had to say to him. I think that's a little bit too harsh

I didn't mean for it to come off sounding like that. Oh, Kyle noticed. It's nice. This is a nice precedent, though. You two sharing messages potentially over the next two months on the thought line. I think this could be something. I've got news for you, Justin. It's not that nice a precedent. That was the final thought brought to you by GMC. All right, Elliot, we'll leave it there. Don't wake up the house. The real thought line is next. All right, an abbreviated thought line.

Just one question for Kyle and Justin, Elliot taking the thought line, just one question for Kyle and Justin Elliott taking the thought line off, which I guess we can be okay with given that there's just one submission for us to go through today. That's weak. That's weak, Justin. He's always trying to get, no, I shouldn't say that. He deserves one off because he grinds through a lot of trivia questions here over the season, Justin.

So we'll give him this one off. He does. And we're working our way into this. So I think we can handle this one. I actually feel like it's manageable for us. So here it goes. Austin in Dallas, hey Dom and support cast, diehard Jets fan in enemy territory here. My question to you is after watching the Jets and Hellebuck dominate the stars on Thursday, that was the regular season,

has there been a goalie to dominate like Hellebuck and have the potential to win this many awards slash trophies? The Heart, Vezna, President's Trophy, Kahn, Smythe and Stanley Cup depending on an unreal run that I think they can do. I can't think of another goalie that has had that chance coming into the postseason, maybe Broder in the early 2000s. Thanks guys. Love the pod. Wow.

Yeah. I mean, all of those, Justin, I can't think of somebody that would be able to say they checked all of those boxes in one season. You'll remember Carey Price in 2015. He won the Hart, won the Vezna, won the Ted Lindsay, won the Jennings, but obviously the Canadians did not win the President's Trophy that year and they didn't have the team success in the playoffs.

They went out in the second round that year to the Tampa Bay Lightning. I mean, I think back, you know, one of the more recent examples, Tim Thomas won the Vezna, the Stanley Cup, and the Con Smythe all in one year. You know, you think of the other goalies to win the Hart and the Vezna in the same year. Remember, Dominic Hasek did it back to back years, Jose Theodore in 0102, Jacques Plante way back in the day in 6162. But for that big of a list, Hellebuck's got a chance here. And I think that would be precedent and setting and historic if he was to pull off a feat like that. Yeah, it's a great submission because it does sort of underscore what's at stake here. And I didn't think about it that way. You know, going back to 2015, Rangers closed the season with six wins in

their last seven games to negate a potential president's trophy win in Montreal. And yeah, you go back to the Hasek years, back to back card trophies culminating in 1997 and Buffalo had the third best record in the East, losing in the second round of the playoffs. So no one's had, at least to my knowledge and certainly in my working memory, the Hart and Vezna opportunity paired with the president's trophy in tow

with the Stanley Cup and cons might still to be decided. So this is a rare terrain here that Connor Hellebuyck is walking and despite it not being his best effort in game one versus the St. Louis Blues, you get the win and maybe that helps him settle into the season or in in the series rather, with such a good performance, especially in the third period from the Jets. Yeah. Do you think he listens to this? Like maybe he listens to this and hears the opportunity of all these awards he could potentially

win in one season and be like, okay, now I'm comfortable. I had a rocky first game against St. Louis, but after hearing Justin and Kyle and Austin, who submitted the question, put it this way, I've now got my priorities straight, the blinders are on, and he could be lights out from this point onward. I mean, it could be one of the great seasons in the history of the NHL, these five awards. But there's no way he's listening to this. By the same player, but no, I don't think he is. I certainly don't advise that he does that given that there's so much at stake here for

the Winnipeg Jets. I don't think he needs to be wasting time with the thought line despite my personal affinity for it. No, exactly. That's what we're here for. And it's never a waste of time on the thought line. I will tell you, Justin, it has become one of my favorite parts of the pod. I've thoroughly enjoyed how intuitive, inquisitive, and creative our listeners are when they submit,

whether it's an email or a voicemail, and Austin and Dallas was no different. So thank you for the question and the thought. We're human beings with basic needs and interests and trivia still to this day. It works. It certainly works for podcast hosts and podcast listeners. OK, that's the ThoughtLine reminder. You can reach us at 1-833-311-3232.

That's 1-833-311-3232 or email us at 32thoughts at Sportsnet.ca. Kyle and Elliott will close the show next with some reaction to the despistles of Peter LaViolette in New York and Greg Cronin in Anaheim. Okay, welcome back. Before we go, we wanted to touch on some other news and notes from around the league. And Elliot, when we recorded last Friday night and dropped Saturday, two of the coaches that we were kind of wondering about what the futures held for them. Greg Cronin in Anaheim, Peter LaViolette in New York and sure enough about a few hours after that pod dropped both men were relieved of their duties. Why don't we start in Anaheim

Elliott because Pat Verbeek echoed, confirmed your sentiments last episode when you said and and he confirmed, that his expectation of his Anaheim Ducks is to make the playoffs next season. Yes, this is going to be a big summer for Anaheim, and I think that that's something that factored absolutely into his decision. There's a couple of things here. I did think that Pat Verbeek was going to wait to talk to his players before he made any decision. And number two, that I do believe

that a lot of Verbeek's thought process into this was, if we are going to make the playoffs next year, and as you said, the expectation is to do it, will we get it done under this head coach or do I need to go? Elsewhere now you know I think number one. I want to say about this job is of All the jobs that are going to be open the sneaky one in terms of interest I think is going to be this one Kyle. I think there's a lot of coaches out there We're going to look at the docks and say That is a team

on the upswing. They like their talent, they like the young players they have there, they've got a lot of them and the thing too there is Kyle they have a lot of cap room to do things and if they can't necessarily do it in free agency which is not giving up anything to get something except for a paycheck. They have the flexibility with their young players that if they want to make trades, they are going to have pieces that people are going to want to make those moves. Now, I will say this, the Ducks historically have not been the biggest paying team for coaches. So I think there's kind of a knowledge there that you're you're not going to be a five million dollar man if

you're going to coach the Anaheim Ducks but on a pure roster future setup list Anaheim is going to be very high I think there's going to be a lot of interest in this job the last thing I want to say about this is we talked on the pod on Saturday morning that Verbeek was gonna listen to his players. He did, but I think Verbeek kind of wants people to know that this wasn't like a player revolt or a player decision. I think he listened to their input as he should but Pat Verbeek Ultimately, I believe made this choice Because he felt that he needed something a little different to get to the playoffs next year I know I know Cronin's taken a lot of heat about what some of his players feel

I don't believe at the end of the day this was the Verbeek made the change because he was like my players Demand this I don't think Verbeek is that kind of a guy I think he's gonna make the call as he sees it He he manages like he played the little ball of hate and I think he felt that this was the decision that had to be made Ten more wins, right? That's what he said.

He was trying to find somebody that can get us. That was the difference for us this past year of why we did not get to the playoffs and trying to find the right mix, the right person in charge that can bridge that gap. And of course, we'll see what happens in the summer there too with Verbeek and how they try to bolster their line up there. Elliot, anything else on Anaheim before we... I would just say this, I wouldn't be surprised to see Cronin end up in the AHL again as a head coach if he wants to. I know Colorado thought really highly of him and some of the prospects there

thought really highly of him as a teacher at the AHL level so I wouldn't be surprised to see that happen again possibly. I wonder here Elliot, how long of a process or how much thinking you know does Chris Drury have on his hands here because okay he's made a coaching change so that's one thing you've got to sort out but also too as we've talked about this is an organization that took a bit of a hit reputation wise this year also. I'm really curious to see where this is all going to go. This is going to be three coaches in four years.

If you go back even further, you know, they've gone, like Drury said, he wouldn't be against hiring a first-time head coach. So they've gone David Quinn, Gerard Gallant, Peter LaVillette. Like that's the full spectrum, Kyle. Yeah, all since 2018. All since 2018. So, you know, the Rangers have tried all sorts of different things here. I'm really curious to see where this is going to go. The fact that he said first time head coach, that says to me

that they're going to take at least a look at David Carl and gauge his interest, that they're going to want to talk to him and see if he's interested in them. I'll say this, people say nobody's going to want the Rangers job. I understand why coaches might be wary after everything that's happened and I think they're gonna be wary about what's gonna happen with the roster. It's very clear that they... The one thing that has to happen with the Rangers this offseason, Kyle, is they have to set a tone that whoever comes back next year you got to be happy you got to be happy to be a ranger and and look like this was a hard year

if I was in charge I'd be going to everybody if you're not happy here tell me now I'll get you out of here and because you have to set for the beginning and for the next year a new tone has to be set so I think a coach is gonna want to know that he's gonna want to know who's happy here and who isn't but the one thing is is only 32 of these jobs so the idea that nobody's gonna want to coach the Rangers that's crazy number two the Rangers tend to pay pretty well so you know hey Kyle I know you know me, my happiness can be bought. Hey, you want to give me a raise? I'm suddenly very happy. So, like, you know, the people are going to be happy to take the Rangers, the Rangers money. But

I do think there is going to be wariness about who's really happy there. And you have to go into this knowing your job security isn't great. To me the most fascinating thing is, and this will kind of turn out over the next little while, what exactly are they looking for? And the fact that he said new first-timer, that says to me they make a call to Carl and we'll try to figure out what the rest of this is. But I'm a little unsure of where this is gonna go. But I do think, and while I do think candidates

are gonna be wary, I don't think that it's gonna be impossible for them to find people. It just isn't. All right, just some other things to keep an eye on here, Elliot, around the league, whether it's direction they wanna go behind their bench or managerial direction and overall organization philosophy Vancouver Utah Buffalo the Islanders anything we want to touch on in those markets so we've got five

availabilities right now right we've got Rangers and Ducks and we've got the interim situations Boston Philly and Chicago you know the Carl thing hang hangs over the Blackhawks. There's no question like that. There's no doubt they're interested. Do they make a big preemptive strike? They try to take them off the market quick. I think we're all sitting here wondering about that. Vancouver, I'll be really interested if this isn't sorted out by this week. I really do think the Canucks would like to know this week, but you know, again, as I said on Saturday's pod, I think there's what the Canucks want and I think Tauke is

taking a deep breath and trying to get an idea of what the market looks like out there. So we'll see if this situation comes to a head this week or goes beyond that. I'm curious about that. Nashville, I think also this week we're going to get an idea. As I said, if you read Andrew Burnett's comments from the weekend, he's at least prepared for the possibility that he might not be back there as head coach. I think we'll get some clarity on Nashville this week. Other teams I'm looking at, Utah. My gut feeling on Utah is that Armstrong and Tournier stay, but I'm sure we'll get clarity this week. Seattle, you know, that was a really interesting press conference on Saturday with Ruff and Kevin Adams. Adams confirmed some of what we're talking about, that there may be some changes in the front

office there and potentially with his position he didn't know. I thought it was interesting and I mentioned Lukinen that the teams thought Lukinen would be available. Adams really defended him and so now obviously I'm not, I think I'm right about what could potentially happen there. We'll see the jury's still out there, but maybe I was wrong about Luka, and maybe the Sabres are more behind him than some teams had an indication of. Islanders, Lamarello participated in the exit meetings.

He hasn't talked yet. I don't freak out when people don't talk right away because teams do it more and more now. But the one thing I did hear about the Allenders is I think Lamorello would like them to play a little bit tighter. You know, Patrick Watt is not for a guy who was one of the best goalies of all time. He's not afraid not afraid to play five four games. Lou Lamorello historically is not as crazy about 5-4 games and so I wonder if there's going to be a talk about the way they play. Varlamov, very interesting, he says he's going to be okay for next year. I think that's a big sigh of relief for the

Allenders. There was some worry initially that was going to be longer and I wanted to shout out Stefan Rosner who does really good work covering the Allenders. He confirmed what we'd heard that Bullquist looks like he's getting an extension in New York. I heard two years he said maybe two or three he does a good job covering them so I've got no reason to dispute him and we'll see what happens with some of their other D. And you know Mike Sullivan said that he expects to return in Pittsburgh and I've got no reason to believe that's going to be any different. Like I do think there are other teams out there. Like I think there was one report out there. I didn't see it. I only heard about it. That Sullivan would be the Rangers first choice. I have no doubt that's true. I have no doubt that's true

I just don't believe he's gonna be available 10 a.m. Local time today Elliott also the Vancouver Canucks management year-end Media availability at Rogers Arena that will be one to watch also come with an empty notepad to that one And it will leave filled. Those guys like to talk and we love them for it. Yes, it is the opposite of ice cream trips for us. Come empty, leave full. Yeah, sure.

All right, well hey, we should just also mention quickly as we wrap this thing up, but three games to keep an eye on on our network. We have all four, of course, but are on the air at six thirty Eastern later tonight with Hockey Central Game one, Montreal, Washington at seven Eastern on Sportsnet Game two of St. Louis, Winnipeg on CBC at seven thirty Eastern, six thirty Central time at 10 Eastern Eight Mountain Game one of the Edmonton Oilers and the LA Kings for the fourth straight year.

And also on Sportsnet 360 at 930 Eastern, 630 Pacific, game two of the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars. Wanted to thank Justin Cuthbert, who's aboard with us for this playoff journey this year as our schedules have completely gone haywire over the next two months. So we appreciate him helping navigate things today and throughout the remainder of this playoff journey. And thank you, Kyle. And I know you're pulling double duty.

I wish you much better luck in game two than you performed in game one. Yes. Yes. I'm not even sure how much you saw of me in game one, but you were bang on. You were bang on as usual. Great, enjoy the hockey tonight, everybody, and we will talk to you again on Wednesday

as we've gone to three episodes a week. Talk to you then.