32 Thoughts: The Podcast - The Chasing Days Are Done

Episode Date: April 7, 2025

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman react to Alex Ovechkin capturing the NHL's all-time goal scoring record. Afterwards, they delve into what is being dubbed the "Sunshine State Conspiracy" against the Toronto Maple Leafs (27:00). Kyle and Elliotte talk about referees paying attention to Elvis Merzlikins' propensity to draw contact (40:00) and banter about the Senators being close to clinching a playoff spot (46:18), before talking about Minnesota's crucial win on Sunday (47:25). Elliotte touches on a few NHL prospects including the Flames' Zayne Parekh (55:15) and The Final Thought focuses on the NHL possibly combining the Draft with Free Agency into one long event (59:57). Kyle and Elliotte answer your questions and respond to your voicemails in the Thought Line (1:05:04).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

Well, so they initially moved to Detroit. They held on to the Cougars name for Victoria for a few years Team wasn't doing well. They wanted to change it up. They became the Falcons for a hot minute and then James Norris as we're recording Ovedkin just scored He's got it. I'm watching on my iPad. I must be on a huge delay. I got a commercial break going Left circle power play. Well, that helps us for a question later on in the thought line. Now I want to see this thing. Why am I so far behind?

Strom, crisscrossing with Chikrin through center. Send in Wilson on the flank. Cross eyes of Vechkin. Fires! Wow. Oh my God. The chasing days are done! I love the dive. Send in Wilson on the flank cross eyes. Oh that's good fires Oh my god I love the dive

Well, whoever paid 1,100 us for their ticket Welcome to 32 thoughts the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra AT4X, a historic addition. Elliot Friedman and producer Dom Alex Ovechkin. We should have known when we saw Nick Castellanos hit a grand slam on Sunday afternoon that something of real consequence was also happening on this day. And we got it on Long Island. Alex Ovechkin, 895. To quote Joe Beninati, who has been there as the play-by-play voice the entire Ovechkin ride in DC,

the chasing days are done. Alex Ovechkin is the greatest goal scorer in the history of the NHL Elliott. It was a wild ride, Kyle, to see the old 2016 World Cup interview pop up all over social media on Sunday. So let's play the relevant clip here for everyone. The NHL record for goals is 894. Wayne Gretzky, do you ever think about that being number one ever?

I don't think somebody will beat this record. In this hockey right now, in this league, I think it's impossible. Impossible to catch Gretzky? It's impossible. You could challenge it. You might be able to do it. I have to have six seasons with 50 goals. I don't know if I'm gonna be able to skate in six seasons. I want to tell a little bit of a story about that. I knew we were gonna interview Ovechkin after one of Russia's practices and I wanted a question that he hadn't really talked about before. At

that point in time it it was still 2016. You know, Russia had lost at home in the Olympics a couple years earlier. He hadn't won the Stanley Cup yet. That was a couple years away. I was looking for something different, something new, not the same old thing. And it was David Amber who was the person that suggested that. And we're going to talk about Amber and another individual who was all over this in a minute. But I was kind of like, I think that's crazy. But Amber was persistent and I didn't have anything else that was new and different.

It happened to be the best part of the interview because that was the thing he was most engaged with and most engaged about in the conversation because he thought it was so ridiculous. And not that I was really thinking about him breaking Gretzky's record at that point in time, but I thought if he thinks it's ridiculous, why am I going to think it's believable? So I never thought we'd be here. And especially that happened over the last few years as he kind of slowed down pace-wise because the team wasn't as strong. And you'll remember the second half of last year, I remember watching the Capitals at the beginning of last season, they had a game against Toronto

early in the year, Kyle, where they got curb stomped by the Maple Leafs. And I said, this might be the worst team in the NHL this season. That's how bad they looked. And you could tell at that time, he was just kind of going through the motions. He wasn't excited about it either. But the capital surged in the second half. Even though they got wiped out by the Rangers in the playoffs, you could tell that Ovechkin was energized a bit.

He scored 23 goals in their last 36 games. And he kind of put himself back on everybody's map I remember at the end of last year everybody was thinking Okay, he still got it. He finished strong And he kind of reminded all of us That he could still turn it on That he wasn't done. He was kind of in hibernation, Kyle, as opposed to finished playing possum playing playing possum.

Yes. But I really believe that this doesn't happen this year if Brian McClellan and Chris Patrick and the rest of the Capitol's management don't hit it out of the park in the off season. You know, Washington starts this year, they're really good, and he's energized. I think the strong season of the Capitals, the chance to win the President's trophy, that is a very big part of this story because Ovechkin sees a good team and he sees the possibility of a winner and he's energized I think the two things go hand in hand some people may disagree with me that's fine but I absolutely

believe a hundred percent a thousand percent that we are not here talking about this late in the season, Ovechkin being number one all time in goals if the capitals are as bad as they were at the start of last year. These two things are together. And I'll tell you something else what someone said to me is he breaks his leg and people are like, oh, too bad. It's not going to happen this year. And he comes back and he's on fire again. And, and, and still the team being good is a huge part of that.

But you and I had a, an MVP conversation a couple of weeks ago. And one of the people who I really respect the most around the league, he says to me, it's crazy that people aren't talking about him in this MVP race. That maybe he doesn't win, like there's other great candidates out there, Dry Cytl, Hellebock, McKinnon, Kucherov, Eichel, name who you want to name, but he thinks that A, this is one of the two best teams in the NHL this season and be the pace he scored at he doesn't understand how people aren't talking about Ovechkin as a potential Hart trophy candidate he thinks it's

crazy I don't think it'll happen in terms of him being the winner, but I think he will get some votes but again, I think the key part of this mix is The way the Capitals have been a top the league with the Jets all season I think these two stories are the same plot of a book and without one I don't think you have the other. Right because as much as Ovechkin is energized by being part of a good team and seeing a path to having a good year and who knows where this all ends up this spring on the flip side of that there's the energy of the rest of the

group going he could do it this year and my gosh, now he just missed a chunk of time because he broke his leg, but he comes back and he keeps scoring again. So he could still possibly happen. We can't rule this out. It goes hand in hand with each other. And to the person you talk to his point, that's fueling a lot of the team success. I think is just the enthusiasm that the group has that he's chasing this thing. It's galvanized everybody in the most positive and effective of

ways. So to suggest that he would be in the short list for those most valuable to their team this year, it is a no brainer. Does he win it? I'm not sure we're going there, but it's it's a really compelling case Because as you say play impossible for a couple of years a little reminder down the stretch last year Just in a light that we hadn't looked at, you know One of the well the greatest goal scorer of all times one of the great players of all time in a few years now of all times, one of the great players of all time in a few years now, but it's been a great reminder as he's continued to rip off goals at an unbelievable pace considering his age and all the circumstances around things this year that he absolutely deserves to be part of that conversation. It's really something, really something.

So we were looking at Gretzky's last goal. So Gretzky's last goal in his career was goal number 1072 of his career in the World Hockey Association, the old Pro League and playoffs and the NHL regular season. And that goal passed Gordie Howe for number one all time in goals. When you add up Howe's goals in the NHL, the WHA and the NHL playoffs, he got to 1,071. Gretzky's last one was 1,072. It was also against the Islanders too and there was a big celebration though not as big as this one. So Ovechkin, when you add up all of his goals, NHL regular season, NHL playoffs and KHL, he played a season during his NHL career during one of the half lockout years. And he also played four years in the KHL before he played or sorry, it was the Russian league

then, it wasn't the KHL back before he started his NHL career he's at 1022 so he could catch Gretzky in that as well he has said recently that next year the last year of his contract is likely his last year in the NHL he said he didn't think so when asked if he saw himself signing an extension with the Capitals and maybe would go back to Russia and play. So that's another thing we're going to start keeping an eye on. And you know, I think it is important to recognize, so a few weeks ago, we were talking about this chase and I credited Dave Amber with being the first one to put it in my head and I received an angry text in the way that only he

can send an angry text from Ray Ferraro saying wait a minute, wait a minute. The person who mentioned it first was John Buchagross of ESPN who as Ovechkin has even said was the first person ever to ask him about it and John has retweeted the blog he wrote about it from back in February of 2010 so Dave Amber, I hate giving him credit. I will give him some, but I am gleeful to give someone else even more credit. And that person is John Butchagross because he was

the first to say that this was possible, believing in it before Ovechkin even believed in it himself. Yeah, I even had to send Amber a text on Sunday just to congratulate him for the role he played in all of this too, along with John Buchigras. He's gonna be impossible to deal with. Well, he doesn't listen to this plot. None of this is gonna get to him.

I know, but I know that. So now that you're gonna send him the text, I have to work with him on Friday night in that Ottawa Montreal game. He's going to be impossible to deal with. He's going to, he'll probably wear like his suit jacket, the tie and a t-shirt that says, I knew Ovechkin would do it. I could see Amber dressing like that for the show.

Yes. He's probably got, well, what the shirts that they handed out there to the team after the game Sunday. There's one already being couriered to his house as we speak. I'm surprised he wasn't there. Yes, that's right. Somewhere in the background there, exchanging hugs with everybody. So Amber's thrilled, Bucigrass is thrilled.

You know, if there was one person that was not on the ice today that you would have loved to see on the stat sheet for this game and that goal would be Nick Backstrom, of course. But the fact that Dylan Strowm got a secondary assist here, Elliot, you know how much in tune that guy is to stats,

history of the game, all of those things. And for his name to be attached to this great moment, along with Tom Wilson that had the pass to Ovechkin and he whipped it past Elias Sorokin. You could just see how gleeful and giddy Dylan Strohm was after the puck went in and through all the postgame aftermath and celebration too.

Obviously happiest for Ovechkin, but his name, when you look at who assisted on the goals is going to be part of 895 forever. This event was not for everybody and I recognize that and I respect people's opinions. But there were a lot of things about it that I liked. Number one, I liked Ovechkin refusing to go on ice against Chicago with the empty netter. I had great respect for that. I liked that decision. I liked the fact that he scored from his regular place. Like it wasn't the patented slap shot, but it was from the face off that left circle. I thought that was fitting.

I liked the fact that he didn't sit out a road game, that he wasn't afraid of doing it on the road and that he didn't, you know, their next game was at home. Could he have sat out? Could he have kind of lolly gagged like Bull Durham Durham like in the movie, you lollygagged the first base? Like, no, he didn't do that. He went all out. I liked Wayne Gretzky wearing the Gordie Howe pin. I thought that was a really nice touch. I thought the Islander fans were fantastic. We have seen over the years the Islander fans not being entirely welcome in certain situations like John Tavares' return, but on this one they rose to the moment

and they were spectacular. And I have to say it was as if Lou Lamarello wrote and pushed send on the tweet himself, Washington goal two one islanders. That was beautiful. Like in the middle of all of that craziness. That was such a perfect Lou Lamarello team tweet. I didn't see it initially and a huge Islander fan who works on our broadcast producer, Jeff Juradette, sent it to me and when I saw it, I laughed as hard as I did at anything all weekend. It was just perfect.

And you know, Sergey Kucherov, who's the longtime media relations guy for the Capitals, he thanked the Islanders and Kimber Auerbach, their longtime media guy, for all of their help on Sunday. But I just thought that Islander tweet, in the middle of all that, I don't know why, but it was just such a perfect tone for the whole thing and the Islander identity. There was a lot about the way it unfolded that I thought that if I was in charge of it, I would have wanted all of those things to happen too.

And the thing about that tweet, it wasn't even Washington. It was just WSH Gold. Two to one. I could just, yeah, you imagine him bursting into the content team's office and be like, give me the laptop. He probably had, you know, I could just imagine like he had a template. Like if he scores, this is what it's going to look like. And then the people working Islander Social had to just fill in the proper numbers.

Put them in the score. Yeah, exactly. That's great. All right. Can we role play here for a sec? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. All right. Elliot, you are an Islander season ticket holder. Yep. You're watching on Friday night. Ovechkin gets $8.93, $8.94, and the game ends. You know your islanders on Sunday are hosting the caps. That could be the game that $8.95 occurs.

You start to see on social media the screen grabs of the various third party reselling sites, the prices that pop up, seats in the 300s for around, what was it, the 1,100 US we saw and presume someone like yourself would have decent seats in that building. So let's say you're looking at that going, I could easily get $1,500 a pop for my tickets Sunday. No chance of me getting them up for $1,500. Maybe even more. No, it would take an awful lot for me, Kyle. It would take an awful lot for me.

I'm a sports fan. It would take an awful lot for me to give up the opportunity to see something like that, it would have to be a huge, huge number, huge number. So I'll give you an example and we'll get your answer on this for a second. 2019 the Toronto Raptors won the NBA title over the Golden State Warriors and I knew somebody who had seasons ticket to the Raptors at the time. And he went to one of the games in Toronto and he sold his ticket for another game in Toronto and then game six, the one where the Raptors won the championship was in California.

But game seven, if the Warriors had won game six, game seven was going to be back in Toronto. And he was saying that he knew that if there was a game seven Raptors Warriors he was gonna get offered a ton of money a ton of money he was thinking that he was gonna he was gonna clear at least 20 or 30 thousand dollars for those seats whoo and I said to, I don't know that I would give it up to see the Raptors win game seven or play game seven. Because you might, like if you were a Raptors fan, you might never see that again.

It might be your only time ever to see it. I said, I don't know even for that if I could have given it up. So like for $500 or $1,000 or $2,000, there's not a chance if I was an Islanders ticket holder that I would give them up. I would, and you know the other thing too, you know we talked about, we did the other day that fan who talked about going with his son

to that game. Yeah. Like if I was going with like either my wife or, and she's a big sports fan, or my son, I, to be there not only to see it myself, but to see it with one of them or someone else I would have really liked to have gone to a game with. It's also about the company, right? I don't think so, Kyle. It would have taken a lot for me to do it. You? Yeah, I agree with you though sometimes I don't like to, I'm with you on this one. See, when I first started to pursue this career, my dream was sitting on the desk doing highlights at night, you know, and I just kind of fell into what I'm doing now working Rinkside,

but that truly is the best part of the gig is that you're in the arenas you are witnessing what's happening whether it's a big game a neat moment an unbelievable save a spectacular goal that's gonna be on highlight reels years and years down the line just being able to absorb all of it in first person is by far the the coolest part. So I would be really hard-pressed to pass up an opportunity to witness what we saw on Sunday afternoon on Long Island in person. I would say this one thing we both know is Dom the producer of this podcast would have done it for like eight dollars. If he made an eight

dollar profit he would have sold his tickets. You know that episode of the Simpsons where the stock goes crazy and Homer sells for $20 and buys the premium Duff beer while the other guys are buying fancy cars and all that stuff. Dom is Homer buying the premium Duff beer after $20. Ha ha ha. Boat's a boat, but a mystery box could be anything. It could even be a boat. Ha ha ha. Yeah, when we were discussing this the other day,

he could not have responded fast enough. Oh yeah. I'm sorry. People think like I'm picking on Dom or I'm making this up. Kyle will back me. He was like, oh, I could make 38 cents, sold, sold. I'm out of here. I have been running short on bubble gum. Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha.

Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha. Anything else on the great school score of one prime before?

Yeah, one thing I wanted to add, so I was looking at this, you all, you know, because as we started talking about this, it was so unexpected that I think to a lot of us that Ovechkin would do it you start to think okay you know I mean because if he assuming he plays another year which he will he's gonna be well over 900 like he could be close to 950 right so again you're looking at something that appears to be unattainable but if he could do it there's someone else out there who could do it and you look at the goals per game record of all time Gretzky and Ovechkin are both 0.6 goals per game which was seventh all time and ahead of

them you know there's Psy, Denani and Babe Die those guys played in the 20s Maryla Mu it was the same level as the two of those guys,.75. Those guys are 2, 3, and 4. Pavel Bure was 6th at.62, which leaves two people. Fifth all-time at.64 is Austin Matthews. So right now, there's a guy playing, and he's just under 400 goals. So there's a 500-goal disparity right now there's a guy playing and he's just under 400 goals. So there's a 500 goal disparity right now. But Austin Matthews is on pace to do it depending on how long he plays.

And I hope that he plays long enough and is healthy enough that somewhere down the road we get to see the opportunity for Matthews to make a run at this. Just because I think from a pure love of sports point of view, it was so exciting to watch this that I want to see it again. I would like to see Matthews or someone else make a run at this in my lifetime. But the guy I want to shout out is number one all-time and that is Mike Bossie,.76. And you know, I mean, Ovechkin, he earned it, he deserves it, he goes down as the greatest goal scorer of all time. What a talent Bossie Um, to me, you know, he's right there as the greatest goal score I've ever seen. Number one, all time 0.76 goals per game.

His career cut short because of injuries. Um, I loved bossy. I loved hearing Kelly Rudy's stories about him. If you can't get the puck on my tape, we'll get rid of you and find someone else who will. He was demanding of himself. He was demanding of others. He passed away a couple of years ago.

You know, Ovechkin is at 1,487 career games. If Bossy was at the same number of games, he'd have 1,130 goals. And I thought it was fitting, even though it's not the same arena, and Gretzky mentioned that arena, he lost a lot of games there, I thought it was fitting on some level that it was against Bossy's old organization. Because it kind of links Bossy to this goal scoring conversation in a way, I know I'm'm reaching here and for those of us who are old enough to watch Mike Bossie play what an absolute stud of a scorer he was and I wish that he was here with us now that he could have been part of this whole chase because I think his he was a great broadcaster he worked

for French broadcasting but his opinion in all this would have been awesome and his perspective on all of this would have been awesome as great as it would have been to see it happen at home as you say the world can work in some funny ways the fact that it happens on Long Island the Islanders Gretzky scored 894 against and you say the tide of bossy career best goals per game average of all time there's some Synergy within all of that too. So congratulations to Alex Ovechkin standing alone atop the mountain of all-time goal scoring in the National Hockey League.

Okay, Elliot, you know, I woke up Friday morning. Okay. A little, a little sleep deprived. We were up late recording Thursday and I was kind of kicking myself. I thought we should have maybe spent a little more time discussing what looked like an automatic or close to automatic lock that we would be seeing this spring, the Battle of Ontario for the first time since 2004. And we very well might still.

We very well might still. Yes. Very well might still. But all of a sudden, we wake up Monday morning and the senators having shut out Florida and then Columbus over the weekend are two points back of the Panthers, four-third in the Atlantic division while the Leafs comfortably for now sit first in the Atlantic. And I'm sure you saw Sunday in Detroit the Panthers lineup, Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart and Gustav Forsling joining Sasha Barkov, Nico Sturm, Dmitri Kulakov, of course Matthew Kachak, players not resting. What kind of different conspiracy theories were you hearing as all of this was unfolding Sunday?

I saw Biz wearing the tinfoil hat on TNT. There's a lot of that going on right now. So we have a producer at our place who you know very well, who shall remain nameless, but you know very well, who is a huge Leaf fan. And he comes down to the room I work in on Saturday nights and we plan our second intermission headlines hit and he's like, okay the Leafs are in control they're that they're gonna be up they're gonna be in control of their destiny for first overall in the Atlantic this is great and I said to him

you know Ottawa if they hold on here they're gonna be just four back of Florida and as we know as you just mentioned they're going to be just four back of Florida. And as we know, as you just mentioned, they're now two. And it was like I had thrown a bucket of cold water at him. He stopped. He froze. He contemplated it. And his sunny disposition had been destroyed. He was like, what?

What? And he looks at me and goes, you have ruined my night as he contemplated what I was saying. So then, so today we're texting as part of our group chat and I sent him that lineup. I can't remember who it was if it was Jameson Olive or who it was that had tweeted out the lineup. And I sent him that lineup. And you could just tell how he reacted when he saw the tweet. And I said that the one thing that could happen here, Brian, because the Maple Leafs have a huge back-to-back on Tuesday, Wednesday. They play the Panthers, whatever lineup lineup they're gonna put out there on Tuesday

And they've got the Lightning on Wednesday, which is a huge game like that one basically could decide the division and His response was I said Tampa Bay could still catch Toronto and even if Ottawa catches Florida could still be the Battle of Alberta, and I'll give you one guess what he texted back to me. You won't get it. No. I didn't get the Trent Frederick one last week either. That one was pretty... If you weren't getting the Trent Frederick one, you weren't getting this.

You know what he writes back? He writes back, it's not happening. Tampa Bay is in on it. That's why they lost to Buffalo. Oh no. It is, Kyle Vakoskas, the sunshine state conspiracy. Hated rivals Julian Brizbois and Bill Zito fixing the standings against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Congratulations, your first division title since the year 2000.

And here are the defending champions waiting for you in round one. There are a lot of tin foil hats going around. Biz is wearing one on national television and one of our top hockey night in Canada producers wherever he was on Sunday afternoon he was wearing one too because it wasn't just the Panthers lineup it was the lightning are in on it. And I wrote to him, this is going to make excellent podcast content. And here it is. Nice, your head was in the right place today. That's good.

Oh, I was stealing this. But that is, that's a, so Ottawa can clinch a playoff berth this week. They play Columbus too. And then, you know, as we mentioned, Toronto has that big back to back. And it's all of a sudden, like we were sitting there going, battle of Ontario, battle of Florida.

Now with two weeks to go in the season, it's all over the map. Like this could go in a lot of different directions between those four teams. Yes. Well, remember last year too, it seemed like it was going to be Toronto, Florida in the first round.

And those last kind of two games, Florida and Boston flipped. And I remember this because a lot of our crew, there was that final Wednesday night hockey game of the year. Toronto was in South Florida. Yep. And I think a lot of our crew, there was that final Wednesday night hockey game of the year. Toronto was in South Florida. Yep. And I think a lot of them were going down there thinking they were doing that Wednesday game and then staying there for the first two games

of Toronto, Florida. They were gonna be on the beach on Thursday. Uh-uh. The joke's on you. Get on your jet blue flight, you're going to Boston. There was like, there was a few hours of some ornery crew members just taking some time to allow their new reality to sink in. So

I ended up being in Toronto, Boston. We could see a similar scenario this year where it's down to the, we know everyone's in the playoffs, but it could be down to the last couple of games to figure out what the first round matchups are, at least in the Atlantic. Florida finishes a bit early too. I think they finish on the Tuesday and Toronto plays on the Thursday. Whatever happens with the Maple Leafs, I don't think the Leafs are going to play until Sunday or possibly Monday in the playoffs. Monday?

Yeah, I think it depends on who they play. So we'll see how that all works out. But yes, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean it's not true. By the way, I did get a note, like I said in the last pod about Isaac Howard, I've had a few Lightning fans reaching out to me about him. I do take requests periodically. Like you're never getting anything out of the lightning, but I did get a note from someone who heard the pod and the lightning fans wondering about Isaac Howard. And that person said to me, there is a plan here. So that says to

me that we're in a situation where that is likely going to work out and make I would be surprised after receiving that note that it didn't work out in a way that would make lightning fans happy. That's all I can confirm anything. But that's the note I did get. And I wanted to pass it on. Can we talk about a conversation I had with a player this weekend? Oh, I would love to. What happened?

So I've had some DMs from Blackhawk fans. In the social media age, people, you know, like the joke social media accounts, the parody social media accounts, you always have to be careful. Are you looking at someone's real social media page, whether it's Instagram or X? And you know, there's one out there. It actually does make me laugh. It's called Elliot Friedeg. Like I've seen it a few times and It just makes me laugh whenever I see it.

But you always have to be aware of people saying things like this actually, this happened to me last week and I'm still not very happy about it and I'm going to deal with it because someone who should have known better claimed to another person in the NHL that I said something when I didn't, but I'll deal with that later. But I've had Blackhawks fans sending me DMs saying, did you say this? And invariably it's about Connor Bedard is really unhappy and this summer he's going to ask for a trade. And I DMed a couple of fans back and I said, no, I never said anything like that. And it keeps filtering out there.

The same people keep mentioning it. And they're like, you're going to have to address this. And I said, no, like you can't address everything. And you can spread that I sent you a DM saying it's not true and you can publish the DM. Like I don't care, but I'm not going public with this. Well young Bukaskis on the weekend I was talking to one player and he says can I ask you a question? I said sure and he goes have you reported that Bedard's going to ask for a treat this summer? Come on. No I swear to God and I laughed and I said, no, I

haven't but I know there's some fake social media sites out there saying that I have and this player knows Bedard and he said during a game another player came up to him and said, hey, have you seen what Elliot reported? Is that true? And I guess the player was asking him because they know he has a relationship with Badaar. Oh my gosh. So we were kind of laughing about it. We were kind of laughing about it. And I said, you know what, it's a fake account. It's not true. And now I have to mention it at least on the pod. And the one thing I always say to people is,

if I'm gonna say something like that, there is going to be a definitive place or whether social media post or blog post where you are gonna see that. That's not something that you're gonna find on social media with no documentation to back it up. That's going to be on a podcast or a post or a blog or something like that. So it's just wild how this came up on the ice.

So I figured I'd better deny it here. My goodness. Does that not get exhausting at a certain point? It's actually kind of funny. It's probably not so funny to Bedard or the Blackhawks, I concede, but I actually thought it was kind of funny. Well, I'm glad you've got a good sense of humor about it. I'm not sure everyone else involved in this may share the same sentiment. No, no, but it was wild because I was thinking if the Blackhawks believe it were true that I actually did say that, I figured somebody there would have called me. Right. An angry phone call would have been received from a

312 number, but they obviously thankfully didn't buy it either because I never heard from anybody there. All right, so this weekend we saw, well there's a lot of compelling stories, but one of them, I mean one of the best stories of all season, Elliot, has been how close and how long the Columbus Blue Jackets had stayed in the fight, had stayed in the playoff race, but it looks like the clock has struck midnight here for the Jackets after being blanked, back-to-back games against Toronto Saturday Sunday in Ottawa didn't fare much better Daniel Tarasov in goal didn't last to the five-minute mark Elvis Mers-Leakins who played the night previous came in to finish the game But they just couldn't get anything going

offensively there Mers-Leakins though the Saturday game against Toronto that and I go back to what you mentioned earlier coming out of the GM meetings of some video of certain goalies starting to circulate internally between the league and some of the clubs as they try to crack down goalie interference, who's looking for contact with attacking players more than others. And Ruzlikens was a name that you mentioned. And then Saturday against the Leafs,

he gets called for a tripping penalty, which I didn't like the call one bit, but he gets called. You weren't the only one. You weren't the only one. Of course, I know like Chris and Craig are kind of- The guys in the studio didn't like that call either. Chris and Craig in the booth.

But as you said, as you said, it was the significance of the call, not maybe the call itself. So we had talked about on Friday how we'd heard, this goes back, and we'll talk about the blue jackets as a whole in a second, but this goes back to the GM meetings. And one of the things the managers were going in with was the goalies were taking too much advantage and you know when they did their exercise to agree with this call and in the vast majority of cases they backed the calls that were eventually made but one of the things

that was said Kyle was if there's a goaltender who initiates contact too much like there are players who have the embellishment reputations. So should there be goaltenders who have the same reputations for trying to embellish contact and the week after Mersleikens had two plays and one of them, you know, I think all of us didn't like that goal being taken down, but he took advantage of Paul Mary going into the crease like Paul Mary gave him an out but the one that I know people didn't like was Sherwood with the Canucks in overtime on the Friday night because Sherwood didn't go into the crease and Merzlikans locked skates with them and went down and there was no call but I heard that

the people were starting to say look like this is what we want to stop this is what we don't like and I heard some clips went out of Merzlikans to the officials like every week Stephen Walcom he sends out clips to the officials that says these are some of the things you should look out for and while I haven't spoken to him or anyone there I was told it was it had happened and then when I saw him or Sleekins get called for that like whether you agree or disagree with the call that's fine but that says to me he's the first goalie to get that reputation that he will sell contact and that referee was right there it happened right in front

of him it was Merzlikin and Knives and there was like no one else around them so and the contact was obvious so that said to me that's an official who saw a clip Merzlikin's it's, it was clearly outside the crease whether you agreed with the contact or not and you know that's a guy being looked at and it's significant because now it says that he's got a reputation number one number two, it sends a message to other goalies that they're looking for this now. So I thought it was a significant call because of the context it happened in. And you know what, like I'll say this about the Blue Jackets, you're right, Montreal won on Sunday night too. They continue to take care of business. Like they really continue to take care of business. They really continue to take care of business, the Canadians.

They were down in Nashville, they came back and they won the game. You could tell, like at their morning skate on Saturday morning in Toronto, there was definitely a feeling from the Blue Jackets, like we have to do something this weekend. And they shut out, get shut out twice, as you mentioned. Now they've got the Islanders between them, Red Wings between them the Rangers between them and the Canadians. They've fallen Far back and the other thing too. That's really a challenge for the Blue Jackets is of all the teams chasing that spot They're the lowest in the tiebreaker. They've got 24 Regulation wins so, you know there they wouldn't have the tiebreaker against anyone.

And it's been a phenomenal season for them, much more than what was expected. But you're right. I think the end of this weekend was, unfortunately for them, the end of their chances. Talking with somebody over the weekend there, and they pointed out, you know, how great that outdoor game was in early March Elliot.

And they said like, you have to remember. And I, you know, I not even forgot about it. I just hadn't even properly realized that the fact that it was at Buckeye Stadium and Ohio State wasn't exactly the most welcoming and embracing them when they first came to Columbus came to the NHL because the Buckeyes were kind of the the lone dog. They were the king. If you will. Exactly.

They were the king. Exactly. So the fact that a Blue Jackets game was held in their stadium was not insignificant. And it seemed like after that night night like they were in such a great position to continue to ride that into a playoff spot and who knows from there but you know I think as we'll look back there that ended up that was the that was the pinnacle of their season I'm sure you know of course the team and the fans would have loved to see it continue to go forward here but

considering that had been so many years in the making those that were there that night Like that's gonna be a memory that they'll take with them forever Well, whether you were in the crowd watching or on the ice and part of it there as a member of the the Blue Jackets organization Those guys should hold their heads high like this year From what was expected and what was delivered, no team played harder or did better than Columbus, regardless of the way that this ends up. Yes. By the way, you must be happy.

Why is that? Because your team is basically in. Who's my team now? Are you wearing your Senators underoos right now? No, no. Every few days now I see that still of you with Sens playoffs from the preseason. I won't tweet it till they're in. Like I've had Sens fans tweet it.

No, not until you're in. Did you see Duke Houston on Saturday night? Oh boy. You know don't count your chickens before they've hatched. Yes my goodness. Do you when you go to games and sit in the in the press box like you did on Sunday night do you take your pom-poms with you do you leave them at home? You are unbelievable Unbelievable I know you guys get the fist-pumping going in studio. You guys are in your own little world back there Nothing no consequences

That's where the fandom really exists at our place. Yeah, sure at the arena. We're just there to do the game Okay, so that was a Columbus story. How about their expansion brother, Minnesota, and how critical of a win that was on Sunday? I mean, you could see the emotion on Matt Boldy's face finally, A, getting a goal and getting some momentum there as they push back against Dallas and needed over time to do it. But talk about just depressurizing a little bit there in the state of hockey. You could feel the stress in Minnesota. You really could. And you know, unfortunately for Canada that comes at the expense of the Calgary Flames

and the Vancouver Canucks. But the Wild deserve that win on, on Sunday. They, they were the better team. They carried the play against Dallas and all of the sudden it looks like Kaprizov is in on the horizon and we may see him this week. Right. Um, we'll see, we'll see how that all works, but

they earned that win. And so I was reading Michael Russo's story about the postgame with the Islanders the other night when Bo Horvat and you know obviously Horvat felt terrible about it. Immediately he turned and apologized and called for the trainer after he knocked Middleton into the boards. You could tell he felt awful about the play, but when I read how Bill Guerin had kind of walked into the scrum and said you guys shouldn't be talking to John Hines, you guys should be talking to the referee about how that was called

a minor and then he did it a second time. We've covered Brian Burke and we've worked with Brian Burke. We've seen these situations before where even during the playoffs, Burke will step up and do something to either distract from his players or show the stress from time to time. But you could sense the Wild after they lost that game to the Islanders, they were really worried about their own situation and what was happening behind them. The Flames again, they lost that game to Utah and I was watching the quotes all week after they lost during the week and their players were like, we still have runway. This is not over. We still have runway. And they didn't start very well against Vegas.

Like Vegas was all over them. That game could have been eight nothing if it wasn't for Wolf, but the flames found a way. They probably could have won that game. Like Akira Schmidt made an unbelievable save off backland right at the end of regulation that saved, that may have saved Minnesota's season even though he's playing for Vegas and then they

got just a terrible bounce in overtime that cost them the game now the flames can still take care of business here they've got San Jose and Anaheim before they play Minnesota that game can still be meaningful for Calgary and the thing I really do like about them is they bounce back they tend not to let things Minnesota. That game can still be meaningful for Calgary and the thing I really do like about them is they bounce back they tend not to let things hang over their head but in about a 12 hour period 20 hour period on Saturday night Sunday it went as badly for Calgary as it could have but they fight they don't quit and you know just as a hockey fan I want that game between Calgary and Minnesota to mean something this week

But I'll say this the wild they earned that one on Sunday They did not they got some lucky bounces, but that was a game where you look at it And you say they deserve the bounces they did not back into that victory. They own that game. You know Dallas, first of all, I missed it on Saturday afternoon. Someone sent me a note about it on Sunday, but Leah Hextall reported on the ESPN broadcast of Dallas Pittsburgh on Saturday that Jim Neal had told her that Miro Hayskinen may not play the first round of the playoffs, which is, you know, a huge story. not play the first round of the playoffs, which is a huge story. Dillon Holloway, by the way, I don't like what I'm hearing there on him and we're still awaiting I think a full update, but I don't like A, what Jim Montgomery said it and B,

what some of the rumors are, but you have to let that play out because he's had a great season too. That would be a big loss for St. Louis. And you know, Kyle, the biggest injury question this week is Connor McDavid. And I don't know what Edmonton's loss to LA on Saturday did, if it changed anything in terms of the timing but I always believe that we were going to see McDavid sometime mid to late this week. Gene showed some video of him skating hours before they played the Kings on Saturday afternoon and he looks pretty good. Gene said that he thought that McDavid needed some cardio work that you know McDavid was a little low on the cardio numbers but he he was

impressed by what he saw so I would know yeah Gene would know Gene's in great shape you know Gene knows cardio so it looks to me like we're gonna see him at some point this week I just would I would be surprised if it was Monday night. But we'll see later in the week. It's it's coming. And that's probably the biggest injury story in the league right now. But Dallas had a really rough weekend. They lost to Pittsburgh. You know, they were talking on Friday about how they were putting the pressure on

Winnipeg. Well, they get one out of four points and Winnipeg could have really put a stake through them but they couldn't beat Utah. But still, like it's all, you know, I don't know if this was Dallas' best chance to take the division from Winnipeg, there's still time, but if they don't win the division, they're gonna take a look at this weekend and say, this was the weekend where we had the opportunity and we didn't take advantage of it. And what are the odds that Christopher McDonald,

AKA Shooter McGavin gets brought back for another wild game here down the stretch? He got the crowd going on Sunday with the let's play hockey chant, had the finger guns going just as shooter would back in the day. Happy going to you. That was great. Coming out later on this year. That was cool.

By the way, I want to shout out to Vamelka again who beat the Jets on Saturday night. Twenty starts in a row. I love Kevin just ripping that whole feat on Saturday. Luke Gazzick was like, that's got to be one of the most impressive things going on in the league right now. He's like, why? You know, it's almost like Utah has assigned him to an extension. They're like, we're making sure we're getting our money's worth out of this guy. You think that's a good contract? Wait until he plays every game for the next five years. Then that'll really be a good contract.

By the way, Zane Parek. Yeah, going to be interesting. He's he's going to Calgary and we'll see when they feel they can throw him in there. But I think Calgary is going to get a taste of this guy and their fans are, it's a really interesting situation. I think now that Calgary is kind of settling where they are, there's some fans, again we've talked about this, mushy middle, mushy middle and they could give up a first round pick to Florida because of the old Monahan deal. I don't know, like I understand you're always worried about asset management you want as many picks

as you can get but they're not as bereft of players coming that you want to see. They signed the forward out of UMass last week they've got Perret coming up but he's already signed they don't even have to sign him they're gonna take a look at him they've got They've got more coming. I know in a vacuum it doesn't look great, but I look at the overall picture of what the flames have coming. I don't think it's a devastating blow. I think in the long run, again, the way they've changed the attitude around this team this year will be more beneficial for this group than I think everybody realizes now.

I hope Perret gets a chance to play. I want to see this guy. 107 points in 61 games as a defenseman. Yeah. And there's always going to be an adjustment period, but I really want to get a taste. I want to see him against NHL competition. Yes's the whole world junior thing this year yeah even going through the draft process last year I mean I don't follow it of course nearly as closely as as many others do but just being there in Vegas Elliott it felt like there was as talented and as excited as some were about him there's

always there was the yeah but conversation with him as well I can only imagine how motivated he's going to be. He's you know what he has Kyle just meeting him he's got it yes whatever it is he's got it there's a presence about him there's an electricity about him and what have I often said I would rather have to tame a wild colt than motivate a boring donkey that's what you've always said yes I say I have t-shirts made up of this I handed out on my business cards do people still have business cards or do I sound like a boomer? No, I think the boring donkey line gave you boomer status already now you're just piling on Couple other prospect news more requests I had

just you know st. Petersburg got knocked out in the playoffs and The Hurricanes fans and the Canadians fans are wondering about a couple of really talented prospects Alexander Nikish, the defenseman. Just about in every trade conversation the Hurricanes have had in the last year, they've been asked about Nekishin and they've refused to do it. And it'll be interesting there, like Russian contracts, they last until the end of May. And these things, they're always touchy, right? Like I'll tell you, the last time we talked about Demidov, it kind of got taken out of context a bit

and teams don't like it when that happens because they're worried that the teams that have their rights overseas are going to react in a bad way. So I think, I think the best way to put it is, I have no doubt the Hurricanes hope they can get Nikitian here as soon as possible, and maybe even play him this year. But you never know until the Russian team agrees, right? And you're sort of at their mercy, because even though there's not really an official transfer agreement between the NHL and the, and the KHL, there is an understanding that you respect each other's contracts and because the contract doesn't end until the end of May, if the Russian team doesn't want to

send them over, they don't have to, and there's not much you can do. So I think there's always hope there, but until you know, you don't know. I've heard Demidoff's case is a little bit more challenging in the sense that, well, first of all, they had a quote today that kind of made it sound like they would like to keep him over there, but also he's still eligible to play for their junior team over there, which is still active. And there was some thought that maybe that could happen. Again, I would tell everybody not to run with this as the gospel because you never know

until you know. And what's true now might not be true in 15 minutes but I would say that the best answer I could give you is that it's unclear because there was some noise being made that he could still play. That league is called the MHL and there was still some talk that maybe he plays for them. Same deal as Nikitian, his contract is up at the end of May so we'll see. I know Canadians fans and hurricanes fans want more than that I just think I'd be claiming a lot more than I actually know if I claim to have a 100% Answer either way. All right. Well, that'll bring us to the final thought which is brought to you by

GMC and Elliott you and I have been banging this drum for as long as we possibly can here of no more decentralized draft beyond this year. It sounds like as time has gone on, well we know where Gary Bettman stands on it, that maybe as you have put it a little bit of buyer's remorse, but they are contemplating an idea of how to, how do we say, amalgamate a number of league events once the Stanley Cup final is concluded at the end of June and into early July. So what are they considering here? So one of the things that came up and it was at the GM meetings, but it wasn't in front of the whole group.

Like I heard it was in one of the smaller groups, but it's gained some traction from some people in and around the league, is every December, baseball has what's called their winter meetings. And basically, everyone gets together for four days at some location. And like they've done it at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, if you know what that is. It's a massive hotel and they've done it there before as one particular place. And basically what it is, is it's a big baseball extravaganza. All the teams are there, the agents are there, free agent players go there, the media is all there.

You know, for example, like ESPN sets up their MLB network sets up there. It's, it's just a big off season four day meeting showcase news area for the sport. It's pretty cool. You know, I've talked to our guys before like shy DVD who go cover it. It's, it's like a small wall to wall smorgasbord of news and interviews and FaceTime. It's great. So what someone suggested, and I don't know who it was, but what someone suggested was that, look, we've done the awards and the draft in the same city before. If we're going to go back to the central draft, which smart people like you and me want, and most fans,

why not add free agency to it too? The teams are already there, the agents are already there. Like there were some teams, Toronto was one of them, that stayed in Vegas last year for free agency. Why doesn't everybody just stay there? Agents are there, the team's there. If a player wants to come in and meet with one of the teams, they can come in and meet with one of the teams. Why not do the same thing? Yes. I love the idea. That could be some great TV moments, right? All of a sudden

the player shows up at whatever the hotel where things are happening. Oh, who is he going to talk to? Stuff like that could be kind of neat. Yeah, that's great. I think it's fantastic. As one person told me about it, and this was an executive, he said, not a league executive, but a team executive who heard about it, he says, some of us are getting dragged into this kicking and screaming, but we have to realize we are

more in the entertainment business than sometimes we care to admit. Now do you think through this they would consider pushing back the start of free agency? No, I don't think you can because that's the start of the calendar, right? Yes, I understand. But I just wonder for timing. So the league calendar ends June 30th. Well, no. With how late the playoffs go? The league calendar is June 30th. Well no. With how late the playoffs go.

The league calendar is June 30th. It ends and starts July 1st. I think you do it all there. Yeah, no I see it but I just wonder if. No. It was more so my cash. Yeah, sorry. I don't think you can Kyle.

It's a good question but next time please submit it to the Thoughtline. But it's a good question but I just don't think you can move it. Yes. My thinking was going back to all right, if there's talk of a little bit longer regular season now with the international calendar every two years, how does that drag out a playoffs that goes late enough into June already? That was just my where I was coming at it from. But July 1st, it is. Kyle from Ottawa. Good question. We have a voicemail. That would be good humor.

We go to a voicemail of ourselves. That's when you know we've just completely lost the plot. That if you guys ever hear that listeners, we're low on submissions. That's when we need you to start. You're doing great right now. There's plenty of good submissions, but if you ever hear Kyle or me or Dom on the Thoughtline, you'll know we're really low. Voicemail from Feliut Eadman. Go ahead. All right, that was the final thought brought to you by GMC. Let's take our first break and come back with the Thoughtline. No voicemails from myself or Elliot, we promise.

You're listening to 32 Thoughts, the podcast. All right, welcome back. Time now for the Thoughtline. 1-833-311-3232 is the phone number to call if you would like to leave a voicemail or you can submit an email at 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca. Elliot, could you hazard a guess at what the latest Pandora's box that we have opened with this segment. I am scared to even try. It's the weird names in new places with relocated franchises, names that don't fit on the surface. Okay, I thought maybe it was because you didn't know that the Lakers were from Minnesota first. No, no actually there is a wink to that

a little later on here. Okay. But it's more so either questions or other suggestions. I like other suggestions. I like when people do that. Of team names not totally fitting when they go elsewhere. All right. So our first submission today Comes from a long way away Anthony from Australia. Oh boy

Hello, Kelly Dom longtime listener first time writer from Australia a question in relation to team names not fitting their locations after being moved and then the question about Victoria and their records not moving to Detroit after the expansion sparked this thought." It's actually a sale and relocation. What is a Red Wing and the backstory behind it? I understand the wheel and the Motor City being the connection, but I don't understand the name. Do you know who came up with the Red Wing name? Or what prompted that?

Wasn't it because the team was initially known as the Winged Wheelers? All right, so Elliot, you're partly right there, okay? Okay. Because when the franchise moved from Victoria to Detroit, those first few years, they were still called the Cougars as they were in Victoria. Team wasn't doing well. They wanted to change it up. They were renamed the Falcons for a hot minute and then James Norris came in and bought the team. Norris from Montreal, he grew up playing

on a team called the Winged Wheelers. It was red color uniform back in the day. He loved that name greatly. He wanted to call Detroit. I love that name greatly too. The Winged Wheelers. The Winged Wheelers is fantastic. But according to the Detroit Free Press,

he got pushback from his friends that said, winged wheelers is a little bit too clumsy, so they adjusted it to red wings, kept the color. Let me just say this, his friends are losers for suggesting that. And they're all dead now, so they can't even respond. They're losers and they're all dead now, yes. So that's how it started.

That's how they got to the Red Wings. Was James Norris, of course through the Norris Trophy as named after, he came and bought the team and from his origins in Montreal, the Winged Wheelers eventually became the Red Wings and the tie-in, as Anthony pointed out, to the Motor City. So I think over time it's fit. Yeah, it's a good name. Detroit Red Wings is an excellent, excellent name. It does really roll off the tongue.

But Winged Wheelers, that is elite, that is next level. Nobody in sports is like that. We love a good alliteration here on the pod. James Norris didn't listen to a lot of people. He shouldn't have listened to those guys. Okay, so that takes us to John in San Jose. Okay.

John writes, hey Dom and the rest of them. Would a team be investigated if they were doing quote, too much gamesmanship with a conditional draft pick? For example, when the Sharks traded Mackenzie Blackwood, it contained a conditional draft pick that could bump up if two out of the three criteria were met, one of those being that he needed 30 starts after the trade. If he was at 29 starts and the Avs kept starting Scott Wedgwood and then pulling him in the

first stoppage of play, is that allowed? Blackwood could play almost the entire 60 minutes, but would not be credited with a start. So in theory, that condition would not be met. Just curious if there was any repercussions if teams tried to game things too much. Thanks, PS. The recent discussion of teams moving reminds me of the opening of baseball. Soon it was commonplace for entire teams to change cities in search

of greater profits. The Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles where there are no lakes. The Oilers moved to Tennessee where there is no oil. The Jazz moved to Salt Lake City where they don't allow music. The Oakland Raiders moved to L.A. and then back to Oakland. No one in Los Angeles seemed to notice. You want to know something very funny about that is there is one media relations person in the NHL who sent me to listen to the podcast and sent me the baseball clip. So this is not the only person who thought of baseball

when it come to our conversation. So, in that particular case, yes, I think there would be complaints. Yes, I think there would be conversations about what is fair and what isn't. Um, I will say this years ago. Uh, the first thing I thought about was when Lou Lammer, Ella was running the New Jersey Devils. They had a goalie named Mike Dunham. And Dunham one year had to play 25 games to be a restricted free agent instead of an unrestricted free agent. Like basically right now it's known as group six free agency. If you've been a pro for several years and you haven't played in enough NHL games, you

become an unrestricted free agent. It's there so if a player is blocked in one organization, he gets a chance with another one to be a UFA. That's the easiest way to explain it. Well, Mike Dunham about it's got to be about 25, 30 years ago. He was the backup to Martin Brodeur and the Devils played him in I think 26 games and a whole bunch of those outings. I think it was less than 10, but it was enough that they took it to arbitration. He basically played for two minutes. Like I think it was less than 10, but it was enough that they took it to arbitration. He basically played for two minutes.

I think one was like 30 seconds. And so he and his agent and the Players Association took it to an arbitrator and said, this is a joke. Basically these aren't appearances. I'm only being put in so they can say I got to 25 and they lost. And it was obvious what Lamarello was doing. Like he didn't even deny it. His argument was, hey, it's an appearance.

Is it listed as an appearance? Yes, therefore it's an appearance. And Dunham actually lost that case. That's the closest thing I can remember to it. But would people complain? Yes, they absolutely would complain. Would the NHL or anyone be able to do anything about it? Unless an arbitrator feels differently now

than they did back then, the answer is no. Wow. I remember this one. That's a great memory. Not for Mike Dunham, but just for you recalling that. It wasn't so good for Mike Dunham, but just for you recalling that. It wasn't so good for Mike Dunham, but it was good for the podcast. Yes.

Holy smokes. All right, John, thanks for submitting that one. Up next we have a voicemail, a prophetic Fiona from Seattle. Uh-oh. Fiona from Seattle here, go Habs. Just wanted to ask, since Ovechkin is just about to break the record probably on Sunday and has scored against a lot of goalies, my question is what goalies has Ovechkin not scored on? Because I know he's lit the lamp on a lot of goalies, but I'd be curious to know which ones he has not scored on in his career.

Love the pod, keep up the good work and go Habs Go. Fiona's got a lot to cheer for lately. Habs keep winning. Absolutely. So when Fiona submitted this voicemail, Elliot, there were 35 goalies Alex Ovechkin had played against and not scored against and now after Sunday it is down to 34 because Ilya Sorokin was on that list but is no longer Whoa, that's a good one. Good job Way to be on top of things Yes, well sports net stats, you know that oh, that's true. Well, well, Sportsnet stats, you know that. Oh, that's true.

Well, at least you asked. Yeah. So now with Sorokin off the list, there are still 10 active goalies that he has gone up against and not scored on. I'm not going to ask you to get all 10, but I just wonder if you threw out a name or two. Is there one who's played the most games? Do you have that? or two. Is there one who's played the most games? I don't have total appearances against them, but I think a number of these would probably just be one, maybe two times against.

Would Jordan Binnington be on there? No. Okay, that was the first name that popped to my head. I was thinking about like a Western goalie he might not play against a lot. Yeah. So we're talking the Eustace Ananens of the world. Okay. Vitek Vanecek, old teammate. Oh, right. Akira Shmead, Joey DeCord, Kevin Lankin. That's pretty good, Joey DeCord, Kevin Lankenheim.

That's pretty good, Joey DeCord. Joel Hofer. Right team, wrong goalie. Anthony Stolars. Really? Lucas Dostel. Somewhere there's a Leaf fan saying, I gotta hope Washington doesn't play Toronto in the playoffs because they know Vetchkin is going to put 12 by him. That's right.

And Jakub Dobysz for the act of goaltenders. So young guys who started with Washington like Neuwerth and Varlamov. Neuwerth is one of those guys. It made sense once you said Vanechek, because remember the Capitals had a bunch of young goalies, right? Yeah. Neuwerth, Varlamov started there,

but he would have scored on Varlamov. He scored enough against the Allenders over the years. Correct. Can you think of another former Capitals netminder that he would not have scored against Jose Theodore? No Halak No in the playoffs he would have scored on him trying to think only Colzig

No, he was He was in the building on Friday night Peter Morazzic No, oh you were scored on Morazzic for sure anyway, yes, he wasn't playing but he was no no I I figured the way you were setting me up there There was someone who was coaching or broadcasting Darren Pang casting Darren Pang

Scored on Darren Pang. Well, that's technically the right answer then. Yeah. What are you laughing at me for Darren? Well, he hasn't scored Glenn Hall. He hasn't scored on Glenn Hall either. Well, we're trying to we've Turk Broda, how is he not there jock Blount? Who Exactly, Turk Broda, how is he not there? Jacques Blond? Who? Braden Holtby. Oh, right. Yeah, that guy. Braden Holtby. That guy.

Great goalie. So the list is short, we consider how many goalies he has gone up against over his career. But there are a few of them that managed to escape unscathed. Okay, we got one more here, Elliot. Okay. And I want you to find a comfy seat for this one. Okay. Sit back, relax, because this story, I mean this is incredible and I have no reason to

think it would not be true, like there's too much detail in here to think that someone would just make this up. But Darren who submitted this would make this up. It's a bit of a lengthy one but it just kept getting better. I'm like I think I've got to leave it all in here. Here we go. Darren'm like, I think I've got to leave it all in here. Here we go. Darren writes in, hello. I really enjoyed listening to Monday's pod

where you were telling stories about your first NHL game. It made me think about mine, so I thought I'd share it. My dad was a big Habs fan his entire life, but had never been to the forum to see a game. He decided to take me to a game in March of 1987 when I was a kid to see the Habs play the Flyers. We went to the forum early that Saturday morning to see if we could get autographs as players entered for their morning skate. A crowd had already gathered and I immediately recognized an older kid from my hometown of Bathurst, New Brunswick, who was also seeking autographs.

That older kid was Andrew Dobson, Noah Dobson's eventual father. So, the group got autographs from Brian Hayward, Craig Ludwig, Chris Cellios, Rick Green, Guy Carboneau, and even Ed Hospidar. Boxcar Ed Hospidar, who started the big brawl in the playoffs. Oh, very good.

Yes. Very good. As the group of fans dispersed, my dad turned to me and said, let's go, we're going to that practice. I said we shouldn't because we'd come all this way from New Brunswick to see our first ever game and if we were caught sneaking into the building, we'd be arrested and miss the game later that night.

But I went anyway. We found an open door and there was a security guard there. He asked if he could help us and my dad who noticed a group of kids inside the forum pointed and said, actually where with them? The security guard smirked and said, okay, go ahead. What a world in 1987, eh? Where with those guys? Oh, come on in.

No further questions asked. Okay, we walked up to the group and I noticed the tour guide was Chico Resch, the Flyers backup goalie. Resch was about to escort a group of goalies from Prince Edward Island to the Habs practice. Resch saw us approach and asked me my name and if I was a goalie. Now I hadn't played goal in a formal game in my entire life, but I lied and I said,

yes, I've been a goalie for about a year now. And Resh said, welcome. I had just met my first celebrity and I told him a blatant lie within five seconds of meeting him. Resh gave me a book about hockey players who were born-again Christians, perhaps to make me feel better. We entered the bowl. Okay. That one I wasn't expecting. We entered the bowl and my dad and I were awestruck at the red, white and blue seats

we'd only seen on TV. We got autographs from Dick Irvin and Steve Shutt. We sat and watched practice. The Habs players gave Shane Corson a big cheer as he got on the ice as it was his first game back after a broken jaw. After practice we met Patrick Waugh, Claude Lemieux and Matt Snaslin. I wanted to meet my hero Bobby Smith. I took a picture with him but was too nervous to utter a word. As we were leaving the building we noticed some

different players in red and white jerseys get onto the ice. It was the 1972 Soviet Red Army team which was in town for the 15th anniversary of the Summit Series. And so we stayed and we got to watch the Soviets practice. Wow. The game later that night ended in a 3-3 tie and the thing I remember most were the bright lights inside the forum and Ron Hextall slashing any Habs player that skated by his crease. As we got off the plane the next day to drive home to Bathurst, a report came over the radio that Dave Hodge, the Hockey Night in Canada host, had been fired for flipping his pen in the air after the show when the network decided not to show that Montreal-Philadelphia game

that went to overtime after the Toronto game had finished early. And so, the Ron McLean era began the next weekend. Such a memorable experience with my dad with so many things happening, we'll remember it forever. Yeah, more than a many things happening, will remember it forever. Yeah, more than a few things happening. Wow, those are great memories. I still remember that night with Dave Hodge and Ron McLean, like it was yesterday. That is a great story.

We've had some great stories on the Thoughtline the last couple of episodes, the one about the father taking his son to his first game, this one here today, keep them coming. We're happy to play them. One thing about hockey is it's supposed to be this kind of thing that brings everyone together with great memories. I think we all have that thread, we all have that in common. So keep them coming.

But that's a fantastic, fantastic memory. You know, the thing about it is, if you're a security guard at the forum or any building, Kyle, you get that all the time, people trying to sneak in, and you know who's legit and who isn't. And, you know, a lot of the time, you have to say no, right?

You have to be the bad guy. But boy, are you lucky if you happen to be there the one day out of maybe five or ten where someone says, okay, you look like, you look earnest, you look like this is really meaningful to you, we're going to turn a blind eye to it and let it through. Because probably nine out of ten times, nineteen out of twenty times, people can't do that, right? So it's awesome when you get to be the one person

who is the exception. Did you get to a game at the forum? Yes, I went in the second or third last year. I drove up from university in London and I went to a game there. Did it exceed all the hype and pomp and circumstance as it was described? Some people, I loved Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. I loved the odd in Buffalo. What a great building the odd was. I did get a chance again in university. I drove down to Chicago and I went to Chicago Stadium for a game.

I was fortunate enough that I was old enough that as these buildings were getting close to being replaced, I had an opportunity to go and go see a whole bunch of them. I don't think I ever got to the Boston Garden, which is a regret. Obviously I went to Joe Louis Arena, but I think Boston Garden would be the one

I never got to that I regret not being able to go to. Because that was a bit unique. It was smaller, and the Boston crowd, when it's riled up, it's really something. It's awesome to be a part of. So I would say if there's an arena regret, it's that I never got to that one. You must have gone. Actually, you know what? Maybe you're too young.

You must have never gone to the Pacific Coliseum. Well, when I went, that was the home of the Vancouver Giants. Oh, the Giants. Right. Yes. So I saw a number of games there watching the Giants play. And back when Sportsnet had the CHL rights, I did a Friday night hockey on Sportsnet game from there. And that was really cool. Yes.

That was a great, great building. I visited some friends in Vancouver around 1987 and 88, and I went to the Pacific Coliseum. So I did have the opportunity to go there. Yeah. I saw an unreal fight between Craig Cox and Ronnie Stern. That I remember. But I Boston Garden, like I said, that's the one I never got to. I know Chris Cuthbert has said like it, when you would go into the forum on a Saturday,

like you could eat off the floors. It was so meticulously maintained and cleaned. You know why Saturday night Chris probably did I could see him doing that Like dropping a hot dog on the floor Counting to five seconds and then picking up and eating it like that's right out of his personality Dick Irvin's just shaking his head Can't believe what he saw That's great first round of the playoffs. You know what you should do? You should you should do that with Chris every time you walk into a building. Hey Chris would you eat off this floor? We can have a power

rankings. You can have a scoreboard. Yes. Game three leaves Panthers or leaves Senators. Chris did not eat off this floor this morning. We are 0 for 1 in the playoffs. Just keeps going on. That's the question. Can you eat off the floors here? Yes or no? And then we move on. That's great. Thanks for submitting that, Darren. Great story. Great memories. That'll do it for today's edition of The Thoughtline. We will take one final break and wrap up this edition of 32 Thoughts the Podcast. Stay tuned. We'll be right back.

Okay, before we go, an update on Elliott's travel schedule. A few weeks ago, you were in Edmonton and Winnipeg. Where are you off to this week and what are you doing? Montreal. I'm going in there. They have a huge game Tuesday night against Detroit. The Red Wings still hanging around still hanging around But someday they've got to make the leap like actually get into position So that'll be a huge game on

Tuesday night And then we're gonna tape something with a Martins San Luis for the playoffs on Wednesday, and then I will be back I am working Montreal Ottawa on Friday. You doing some playoff work this week? Yes. So here in Ottawa, similar to what you've got going on, I think we're going to have a chance to sit down with a few players. Brady Kachak, Thomas Shabat, Drake Batherson, Dylan Cousins.

We'll see who else as they march forward to planting an X next to their name and we continue to gather content for our playoff telecast once they get rolling. Are you going to ask Marty about why nobody wears 26 in Tampa anymore? Is this poking fun at my Trent Frederick question? A little bit, but I'm also kicking myself that I couldn't get there on my own when you were asking me what you thought you asked him. The dumbest question I could have asked Trent Frederick?

Yes. By the way, the Oilers fans have been hilarious. When I tweeted yesterday that Knoblock had said that Frederick was playing, people were asking me, a couple asked me, what number is he wearing? And I wrote back 11. And there was a guy, he took the score bug

of one of the Oilers games last week. Oh yes, with the ones everywhere? Yeah, with the ones everywhere. And he sent it to me, he tweeted it at me, and he said, who's the first Oiler that comes to mind when you see this? For me, it tweeted it at me and he said, who's the first oiler that comes to mind when you see this? For me, it's Trent Frederick.

I liked it. That was really well done. There's so much nonsense out there. It's really refreshing when you just, there's a good- Social media has gone completely insane. There's a lot of crap out there that has is going to has made the world a worse place and it's only going to get worse because of the things that people are allowed to post. But once in a while you come across

something like that and you just can't help but laugh your head off. Yes, because it's well done. Very well done. All right, so we've got that on tap this week. Flames fans, you know, tonight, you've got a big game in San Jose. That can be seen nationally on Sportsnet One, 1030 Eastern, 830 Mountain Time.

Scotiabank, Wednesday night hockey this week from Tampa. The Toronto Maple Leafs are in town. Another Atlantic division clash, which will likely go a long, long way towards determining who finishes atop that division. Later that night, the St. Louis Blues are in Edmonton, another game that can be seen nationally on Sportsnet 360, so the Toronto-Tampa game at 7 Eastern, 4 Pacific, and then Edmonton-St. Louis at 10 Eastern, 8 Mountain Time. And of course, the next time we record,

it'll be in the lead up to, as Elliot alluded to, Montreal and Ottawa Friday night from the nation's capital. We're getting down to the nitty gritty here, Frege. Enjoy your travels to Montreal and we'll talk to you again on Friday. All right, Kyle, have a great week, everyone. Don't get off the floor.