32 Thoughts: The Podcast - The Chicago Blackhawks and the Stanley Cup Final

Episode Date: June 27, 2021

A former Chicago Blackhawks player is suing the organization alleging sexual assault during the 2009-10 season. Jeff and Elliotte give their thoughts on the situation (00:00) and try to provide more details from what they have gathered. They also preview the Stanley Cup final between the Canadiens and the Lightning (6:30), wonder how the Islanders […]

I wanted to start this podcast with a statement on a serious topic, the Chicago Blackhawks. Some of you have asked, whether it's on Twitter, direct message, direct message on Instagram, why I didn't address this topic earlier. I certainly in no way doubt the excellent reporting by Tony Arnold of WBEZ Radio in Chicago who broke the story, the Athletics, Katie Strang, or anyone else. It's pretty simple though. I wanted to spend a few extra days doing my own work and my own research just to be sure

about a couple of things. Plus, I felt using the opening of the podcast and the blog, which will drop Monday, as a much better place to coherently outline my thinking instead of on Twitter. Things just get mangled sometimes on Twitter. There's always what you see and hear out there and what you don't see or hear out there. In stories like this one, there's always things that reporters or sources can't or don't print or say, and I wonder what those things could be. The accusations are ugly. And what I want to make clear is that the people I spoke to bent over backwards. They took pains to support Paul Vincent, the skills coach from 2010 who reported the abuse to senior management.

For that reason, I feel very strongly that however the legal process concludes, the Blackhawks must come clean and detail what happened. I believe the team and its employees have been told to keep quiet, not say a word. It's led to a lot of rumors about what punishment could happen, but right now it's all speculation. As with several other reporters, the NHL declined comment to me. It's not unusual. It can happen. And I've learned also don't assume anything when the league says no on something.

What stood out to me was Deputy Commissioner Bill Daley's statement to The Athletic. He wrote, quote, we have been in contact with the club regarding the matter, but there is no ongoing investigation. We do not have any further comment at this time. Daley's a smart lawyer. He includes nothing without reason. No ongoing investigation. Does that mean no investigation at all? There will be an investigation or there already was one.

It's open-ended and I wonder, at this time, well, that says to me, don't assume there won't be any statement or consequences sometime in the future. My question is the timeline. Generally, when something is in litigation, results are slow. If you've ever dealt with the law, it doesn't move quickly and defendants aren't going to give away anything that's going to hurt them in court. But, and this is a big but to me, but we are at a time in the nhl calendar where hockey

operations is front and center gm stan bowman would be active during both expansion and entry draft preparations there would be multiple media availabilities he and the blackhawks will not be able to avoid tough questions also commissioner g Gary Bettman will undoubtedly be asked about this during his annual pre-Stanley Cup Game 1 conference Monday night. No matter the eventual outcome, there must be clarity. We need to know what happened here so we can make sure it never happens again. Nothing else will be accepted and nothing else will be acceptable jeff do you have anything you'd like to add further what elliot just said um i too agree

the blackhawks need to come clean about what happened i've covered junior hockey for most of my professional career and stories like this as all know, have been all too common. It's ruined careers and more importantly, it's destroyed lives. I grew up in Toronto. Stories of sexual abuse at Maple Leaf Gardens were both disgusting and also heartbreaking. The published details in this case are horrifying and revolting and any guilty party needs to be dealt with in a serious and significant way. This is at all levels as well. The legal process in this case will play itself out as Elliot mentioned, and we shouldn't be surprised at any lack of transparency along the way. That's a legal reality. And we may have to be settled with this not arriving at a conclusion that gives

anyone satisfaction or any sense of closure either. But I'd like to ask you to consider what this means for hockey right now. I don't need to remind you, this is a huge story with enormous implications. Here's something I do know. There are ugly truths hidden in the history of this game. And as much as we insist that the Blackhawks make good, I would also put forward that other teams and the league, along with the Players Association, need to do the same and go through a thorough review of how they operate and how they've operated. Some are already doing this. Some stories exist in whispers and will always remain a secret. While others are more out in the open and obvious, we just choose not to see them. And we all know the conversations are coming. NHL Executive VP Kim Davis joined the NHL

telling everyone around her to, quote, get comfortable being uncomfortable. For me, that means questioning what we celebrate and cherish in the game of hockey. I'd encourage everyone who hears this to think about the people that say trophies are named after. Who were they? What did they stand for? What did they do outside of shuffling a puck along a block of ice? Learn the history of this game, how it started, why it started, and who's been involved along the way. And also, this is a big one, consider the statues outside arenas and ask yourself, while the player may deserve to be there, does the person? There's an old saying, great men are seldom good men.

That's true in life and sports and certainly true in hockey. Okay, Elliot, the Stanley Cup final is all set. It's a defending Stanley Cup champion, Tampa Bay Lightning. And as we all predicted, the Montreal Canadiens. Now we dealt with the Habs on the last podcast.

Tampa defeats the islanders in game seven uh one nothing another shout out for andre vasilevsky we'll deal with the uh the fallout now for the islanders and what's next for lou lamarillo squad but it's tampa it's montreal it all gets underway on monday open the podcast up here with your thoughts again i want to say make it very clear that my mont Montreal friends have told me I am not allowed to pick the Canadians and they would prefer I spent the rest of my time dumping on the Canadians because it seems to work for them. Look, I got to say it's amazing. It's an incredible story. It really is. I still in some ways ways, can't believe it. But, again, they've

earned their way here. People say, oh, this is a fluke. It's the Canadian division. I don't want to hear any of that garbage. If you win three rounds to make the Stanley Cup final, you have earned your place in the final. I don't care what anybody else says.

The Canadians have earned their way to be here. And, and, Roger Soucy, I'm doing this for you and all the Montreal fans. They are no longer Islanders light. They are Islanders extra strength. They won New York, gave it everything they had, came up agonizingly short. They are now Islanders extra strength. And to me, Kucherov's health is a big deal. But the thing about Tampa is they can play you any way.

You want to play up-tempo, they can play you up-tempo. You want to play tight and tough and grindy and dirty, they can play you that way too. You know, it's interesting to me, like Gary Galley and I had a big conversation. I pointed out in Game 7, the first intermission of game seven of islanders tampa that the islanders kind of gave kucherov a more genteel ride than i thought he was gonna i thought he was gonna get some extra shots you know whenever he got engaged they give him the extra bump the elbow the cross check here and there. They weren't doing that. And Gary thought he wondered if the Islanders were told or were warned by even by their own coaches or anyone else,

if you guys go after Kucherov, they're going to be looking for it. Montreal will not be like that. They will be harder on him. Look, I think Vasilevsky and and price great goaltending battle montreal's discipline playing their way tampa can win any way to me kucherov health is a is a huge x factor over the series can he continue to play in the pain i think he's in you see tampa is interesting to me because i agree with you they They'll play any way you want. And when you look at the team

that perhaps did that better than any team in the history of the league, Elliot, that's the early 80s New York Islanders. And the thing that would frustrate you by playing that Islanders team is they would let you decide what kind of game you wanted to play. And then they would beat you at it.

Tampa is like that, but the Islanders did it en route to four Stanley Cups. Tampa's going for its second right now. And you can make the case that in the salary cap era, maybe two equals four. When you look at how you need to manage your nickels and dimes, please no jokes about being $17 million over the salary cap. And maybe that does equal four Stanley Cups of the Islanders. But do they not remind you of that team that Islanders squad that if you want to play tough we're cool you want to play skill we're good two to one that's us six to five well that's us too yeah does this Tampa team seem

like the early 80s Islanders to Elliott Friedman yeah I think that's a great comparison I mean I don't know if they'll have as many people make the hall of fame as that islander team did billy smith pot van bossy trache clark gillies and a lot of i don't know if there's going to be five hall of famers from this team but i think they're really good i'm it's not even their stars really i mean their stars obviously points been really good scoring nine games in a row but i think a lot of their other guys have been phenomenal. McDonough is hardly another guy. I think he's been really good. I think that Gord line has been terrific.

I think Killorn has been excellent. I said this last night. If Montreal wins the Stanley Cup, they earned it. There's no fluke. And this will be the toughest challenge they face, but they could do it. Everyone's going to say it's an upset if Montreal beats Tampa Bay. I'm not convinced of that anymore. As long as Montreal sticks to their recipe, disciplined, make it hard to get through the neutral zone, make it hard to get to the net, price stays sharp,

and they beat you with their elite level goal scores when the opportunity comes. As long as they stay with their recipe, it's not an upset if they beat Tampa Bay. I'm just going to throw something at you right now that is just all about my eyeballs and no research whatsoever. Really irresponsible of me to do this, but here we go. Does it not seem like montreal forces more icings than any other team in the playoffs was it you who texted me that the other night yes it was i couldn't remember who texted me that the other night looks to me like they force more icings now it might have just been in that one previous series against vegas and vegas got

more and more frustrated and had to change their strategy and it was more stretch passes and that led to the icings I don't know all I know is Montreal plays a system that is so frustrating and suffocating that one of the byproducts has to be one a you know icings because you're not going to convert on your stretch passes and B, that leads to offensive zone starts for the Montreal Canadiens and face-offs right next to your net minder. Like they are right now an incredibly tough team to play against.

The question is, can they hold that structure and that style together playing against this potentially explosive Tampa Bay team, which can score not just quickly, Elliot, but they can score suddenly. You know, like how many times have you heard an announcer say, and suddenly Tampa scored two goals and suddenly a minute 48 later, Tampa scored three goals. That's the thing about Tampa is they force you to abandon your structure. And listen, we saw that in that one

blowout game against the Islanders. Like there are a few, if any more buttoned down teams in the New York Islanders and Tampa was able to get to them. To me, the question is, can Montreal hang on to their structure long enough to start frustrating the Tampa Bay Lightning? And even then when you consider how much this Tampa Bay team has gone through, I don't know that you can frustrate them. Like, have you seen signs of frustration from Tampa? No, I don't think you can. Plus they've won, right?

They've won. So they know that there's ups and downs. Like they've done both though. Like they've had horrible losses, you know, losing to Columbus the way they did a couple of years ago they've had you know stanley cup victories they've had appearances in the stanley cup final to lose like they've gone through so much this group with all these core players sure you mix around the fringes that's a that's a given i don't know that when you have that type of experience and that type of both winning and losing you can even frustrate a team like the tampa to say nothing about a coach now who's going into his third stanley cup final

in john cooper i don't know man this is like you're right like this is the toughest test for montreal period in the most obvious statement you'll hear all podcasts long i totally agree you know i think think Tampa has to be the favorite, and they are the favorite. You know, Montreal's odds plus 230 was what I saw when the series opened. Saw that, yeah. That's a good long shot bet.

And you know what? To be honest, like I said, I don't even think it's that much of a long shot. You just said it. If they play their system, and that's what I said too, if they stick to their identity and continue to be Islanders' extra strength, to me, it's not an upset if they play their system and that's what i said too if they stick to their identity and continue to be islanders extra strength yeah to me it's not an upset if they win this series i think the kucherov thing is so important i actually wondered now that he played game seven

would there be any chance tampa would sit him maybe for game one or two. Now I'm not talking that based on any knowledge. I'm talking that based on what I saw. Okay. So, and, and we all saw the same thing about Kucherov who did not look like, you know, laser beam Nikita Kucherov in game seven. It was a much different player. So are you suggesting that perhaps since games one and two are in tampa what tampa does is keep him out until they quote unquote really need him like if you hold him out from game one and you win

well you've won there's no point in playing him game two if he needs no i i don't agree with that like then you're talking him being out for a week right yes i don't know i mean i don't know i don't know what the injury i don't know what I mean, I guess you could do that. I don't know what the injury is, though. It's a rib. I'm pretty sure it's a rib. You know, I have to say, there was a whole huge battle,

like I said on Friday's podcast. Yeah. There was a whole huge battle about where he actually got hurt. I believe it's the rib. Have you ever had a rib injury? Yes. So, you know, every time you breathe,

you're reminded you have a rib injury. It is awful. That's why when I had a rib injury yes so you know every time you breathe you're reminded you have a rib injury it is awful that that's why when i had a rib injury i just didn't breathe it is awful you mentioned all the the players on this team and you go from you know kucherov to point to sorelli and stamcoats, right down to Ross Colton. The thing that I love about Tampa and do with all their defensemen as well, even like, listen, man, Eric Chernak has a very definite and deliberate role on this team.

Everybody has something that they do. Everybody has a job. They're all like a bunch of worker dogs and they all have their assignment and they do it. Like it's a marvel. I know I'm building this up like David versus Goliath here. How's Montreal going to do this? But the more you see Tampa, the more you can't help but just being flat out impressed with this squad. It's going to be a good final. I'm really going to enjoy it. I'm really looking forward to this final. Just make it go long.

I would hate for it to get to this point. Cause how hockey would this be Elliot to get to this point only to see a sweep? Like, I don't want, I give this Montreal. It's not going to be a sweep. I know.

I hope it's, I hope it's not. I just don't want this. I give this Montreal Canadian story is going to end in the final and they don't make it. I will sleep for a week in Guelph jammies if it's a sweep. Letting the gravity of that just sink in for one second. By the way, do you think I was going to listen to that garbage podcast you tweeted at me on Saturday?

No, of course not. What was that thing you were on? You're not interested in quality. It's a Guelph Griffins podcast. Talk to the guys for about an hour. Yeah, it's all about the Griffins, my experience there, all of it. It's good times. You'd love it.

You'd learn a thing or two along the way too. Yeah, but I will sleep in Guelph jammies for at least a week if it's a sweep. Oh, man. I can just see that. I can just, I'm going to drop my tweet and save it. Send for the jammies. Hashtag goiffins go if there aren't guelph jammies i will just take one of my t-shirts and i will take a red marker and i will spell guelph on it g w e l f yeah yeah okay

well done uh i can we all tell you went to western i see now i'm split because i'd love to see you do that but too i don't want this to end in a hockey fashion. Like the hockey story for the Stanley Cup playoffs is you can get to the final as an underdog, but generally you're not going to win just because it is such a grind. And by the time you get there,

you're as an underdog, you're just exhausted because you're not quote unquote built for the Stanley Cup final, whatever that means. It's just a history of hockey. I just hope that it doesn't end that way, if it does for the Montreal Canadiens.

Either way, I just hope this one is a long series. And with that, we'll kick it off. Elliot's all set. I'm all warmed up. Welcome to 31 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra AT4. Hey, Matt, can you just talk about what you're feeling right now? And is it feelings that you have yourself?

And is it for your teammates both? I think it's just for everyone. You know, it sucks getting back to this point and I'm short again. I've got guys like Bales and Greener and veteran guys that, you know, it's a union guy. You know, I got a few more years, but guys are, you want to win for those guys. It hurts seeing those guys in the locker room.

You know, afterwards, just don't know how close we were. Did we just hear slash see Matthew Barzell age in front of us? Elliot Friedman. That's a clip from the closing out press conference after the Islanders lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning game seven. Matthew Barzell with Brock Nelson at the podium,

really trying to keep it together and fighting back his emotions as best as he could, referencing veterans like Andy Green. You know, I'm always interested in hearing young people talk about a Stanley Cup experience and older players talk about a Stanley Cup experience and the older players tend to generally cherish it more, knowing how much it takes to get there

and how long it takes and younger players i remember talking to brad marchand on hockey night in canada radio once after his bruins had won the stanley cup in 2011 and it very much felt like in his voice and in his mind he thought well we're gonna win like three or four more of these things. And he's still, still chasing it. Hearing Matthew Barzell talk the way that he did already at the age of 24, he's a young guy. He understands how getting there is really hard and he's been close a couple of times and listening to his voice and how he talks, you almost get the sense that he's wondering, am I ever going to get this close again? What did you think of Barzell's presser? You asked if he was coming of age. I don't know

if I agree with that. I think it's just who he is. I think he really cares. Oh, for sure. This whole thing, you battle with your coach sometimes. Trotz has battled to get more out of him. Barzell, I'm sure, has battled with Trotz before. It doesn't mean they both don't care or they don't have the best in mind for each other. It just means that Trotz has enormous belief in what Barzell can become. And sometimes like a father with a son, you have to discipline them in ways to make them get to that next level. Barzell, to me, I loved watching him in these playoffs. He competed.

I never questioned his competitive ability or willingness to compete. You know, I think there were times where he was so creative, the other Islanders in the ice didn't know what to do with it. And I think that's kind of what happened is I saw a lot of times that teams against him tried to take away his passing options. Like he went in and he'd make a great entry or he'd create some room. And then it was almost like they said, you think you're passing anyone else? You're not passing anyone else. And one of the things people have told Barzell is he has to be more selfish because people see that they see he's a pass first guy.

And as a result, if you take away his options, sometimes he's not as dangerous, but I think he's worked hard to improve all of that. I thought he competed a ton. Oh yeah. And I just saw a guy who was devastated in the moment. So I don't think he matured that answer shows a maturity or anything like that.

I just think it shows how much he cares and whether we ever doubt that Barzell wants to be an Islander or is proud to be an Islander. He clearly really loves his teammates. Like he went out of his way to talk about guys like Josh Bailey and Andy Green, who might never get this chance again. Yeah. Like to me, it's not about him.

It's about the group. And, um, I mean, the way he played showed me how much he cared and I'm sure he's going to be thinking about that one that hopped over his stick killer. Oh, and that's,

that's tough. Like it's not your fault. It's nothing you did, but it just sits with you. Yeah. Ice man. Ice. Like, it's not your fault. It's nothing you did, but it just sits with you. Yeah. Ice, man. Ice. Like, really, that's all.

You look at it and you say it's late in a period, and that's ice. That's not you. You know, I really thought after game five, if the Islanders got through the first 20 minutes relatively unscathed, they were going to win the game. And I just remember at the first intermission thinking the Islanders are going to win this. And, of course, they gave up the shorthanded goal and they lost.

But I got to tell you, there was a time after one period I said, that's exactly what the Islanders needed and they're going to win this game. And I think they know that even though they didn't get a lot of chances, the lightning were as good as they were. I'm betting they felt the same thing after game five, where they were down three, nothing after one, they thought if they get out of the first period scoreless,

they're going to find a way to win. Uh, we should point out as well. And I know injuries are reality of sports and you just deal with them, but all that without Anders Lee, um, a remarkable achievement for the, uh, for the Islanders, you know, at, at various times, and we've talked plenty about Matthew Barzell. We've talked about Ryan Pulak, uh, and the shot. We've talked about Adam Pellick, you know, the emerging, you know, uh, sneaky Norris

trophy candidate, uh, whose name should pop up on some ballots. Who else stood out for you from this entire Islanders run? Not just this series against Tampa, but from the entire run, as far back as you want to go, maybe even into the regular season. Who jumped out for you?

Mayfield. And not just because of everything that happened in game six. I just think that Scott Mayfield has come from and i you're almost disrespecting him by saying nowhere but nowhere to become a really effective player a really good player nobody thought that he would be what he's turned into and he's turned into a heck of a player i think mayfield would be that guy for me i think Beauvillier is a really improved player. But if I had to say one person, I would say Mayfield.

So what now then for the New York Islanders? I mean, there's a number of unrestricted free agents. The trade deadline guys, Kyle Palmieri, Travis Sajak, a mainstay on the fourth line in Casey Sezikis, unrestricted free agent there as well. We talked about and mentioned Andy Green a couple of moments ago. He's a UFA.

Some restricteds, including Ilya Sorokin, Adam Pellick, Anthony Bevilier, Michael Del Col. What happens now with the Islanders? Well, I called Lou Lamorello earlier on Saturday and he told me everything he was going to do. Starting with who's getting QO'd. Yeah, that sounds like Lou for sure.

So what do you sign this guy to? And he told me every step of the way. That's the funniest thing you've ever said on this podcast. That's great. I'm sure there's some people who drove off the road hearing that. Well, I'd look at it this way. I would be surprised if they didn't have a good idea like sorokin's a restricted free agent right yes and after he came over from russia i would be

very surprised if they didn't have a decent idea of what his second contract was going to look like so that's one thing to me the most important guy you have to deal with is Pellick. He's a restricted free agent with Arbrights. He's one year away from unrestricted free agency. He's one of your best players. And I think they get him signed. Everything starts from there. You get Pellick done and then you figure it out. If Andy Green wants to come back, he knows he's going to have to come back for a minimum salary number. He basically just did that. So I think everybody kind of understands that.

To me, it's all a matter of you get Pellick done and you work around it from there. What about Pavilion? Is he not in that Adam Pellock category as well as far as being i don't think he's at that level i mean i'm sure they have a number that they say like they have steve pellegrini there who is lamorello's cap guy steve pellegrini was at the nhl a long time he's got a lot of experience with this kind of thing i'm sure they have a number that they're looking at and saying that's their number for bevillier but pellick because he's got ufa on him that's the one you

have a year from now that's the one you have to take care of as good as bovillier is pellick's the number one contender i think the other thing too is you know sasikis part of their identity but he's 30 yeah i think there's a lot of guys on this team who are going to have to say, if you want to stay here, you're going to have to take less than what you're going to get elsewhere. So what's that going to be? The other thing we always have to keep in mind

when we're talking about teams that fall out of the Stanley Cup playoffs is they return to their regular divisions next season. And so for the Islanders, that means they go back to the Metropolitan. And that's a division with the Caps and the Penguins and the Carolina Hurricanes. And maybe the ultimate question mark, and we still don't know what the team's going to look like depending on what the Buffalo Sabres decide to do with Jack Eichel, and that's the New York Rangers.

They go back to the metropolitan next season the islanders do how do they stack up with these heavyweights hurricanes capitals penguins have you mentioned what the philadelphia flyers are going to be because we don't know carolina is a really interesting team to me right now because I think they're going to take care of Svechnikov or at least try to. But Jordan Martinook's dad went to Facebook the other day and said his son is done in Carolina. There's a lot of talk that Warren Fogle is done in Carolina. that Warren Fogle is done in Carolina. We know that Dougie Hamilton's out there checking his marketplace.

Carolina clearly here is telling people, like they did with their coaches, we got a number, and we're not going past that number. So I'm really curious to see what that's going to mean for a lot of people and a lot of the pieces around their roster. Svechnikov, I think they deal with and they get done.

He's a young piece. He's younger. He's the owner's big draft pick. They've already offered him, what was it, eight times 7.5. Obviously, when you're offering them that kind of deal, you want them. So my question is, what's going to happen to some of those other people like martin nook is a huge part of that team yes the the personality of that team fogel is a young player that they've invested in he's a swiss army knife yeah like warren fogel's a swiss army knife for that team playing

wherever you want in whatever situation so like when I look around that division, I don't know. Philadelphia, we all think they're going to make changes. Pittsburgh is going to reload to come back and try to win. Boston could be a really fascinating team because in the last offseason, the taps were turned off. This time they're going to be turned back on. Washington, their goal forward every year. I think it's going to be fascinating

to see how some of these teams attack the offseason. Yeah. You wonder if at the end of it, Metropolitan Division is going to be the best division in the entire NHL. Even still, though, as we have a look at the Stanley Cup final, and it's two teams from the Atlantic Division.

One more name I want to throw out at you from the New York Islanders, and it's not a player, it's a coach. What happens now with Lane Lambert, assistant coach of the Islanders? Well, there's still two jobs open, right? Yep. Buffalo and Arizona. I have always believed that Lane Lambert was going to be interviewed in Arizona, but I had some people tell me they were less sure about that now because of just how long the Island honors were in the race and Arizona getting deeper in

their search. You know, Arizona, they told Mike Van Ryan, he's out. I believe Pascal Vincent, who's now in Columbus, got interviewed a couple of times by Arizona. He's out. I think Todd Nelson's still in it. Possibly Nate Lehman. I don't don't know Buffalo I think Rick Talkett's in there I think Granato's in there I don't know who else I have to admit I'm not completely sure on Buffalo but Lambert now is available Lamorello will let him interview I'm sure but you know who else I'm wondering about now is Luke Richardson for which team team? Well, I wonder about Arizona. Okay, why? And the reason I wonder about Luke Richardson for Arizona is that

they're going to rebuild a bit around Jacob Chikrin. And the Richardsons and the Chikrins are tight. It's like one of those things. Someone's brother is married to someone's sister, like that kind of thing. I don't know what it is exactly. But the Richardsons and the Chikren's are tight. And I think Luke Richardson wants to be a head coach. This opportunity has put him,

kind of taken him from out of the picture to very much back in the picture. And I wonder if Arizona asked to talk to him. I wonder even if Jacob Chikren brings it up and says, you know, like this is someone who's really tight with our family, who I really believe in. And I'm not even saying it's like a thing where Jacob Chikrin says, give me Luke

Richardson or I'm on the next flight to some other NHL city. I'm just wondering if he just says it like, you know, that guy is a guy I know and I, and I believe it. So I realize I'm kind of making something up as I go along here, but it's one of those things where you look for connections and it makes sense. I'm just glad that this run has at least brought Luke Richardson's name into conversations

because for far too long and because the opportunity hasn't been there. It hasn't for a Luke Richardson who you can't help but cheering for. One quick final note on Lane Lambert. How close was he to the Anaheim job when he interviewed there? Well, the one he was really close to also was Colorado when Jared Bednar got it. With Anaheim, I'm not sure how close he came to Anaheim. If I remember correctly, and someone will tell tell you i'm doing this off the top of my head i believe the anaheim job was a dallas akins travis green and rick bonus that came down

to i think lambert was in the mix but from what i understand i think lambert was closer in colorado than he was in anaheim but someone will tell me if i'm wrong one other um just i want to sort of get it on on everyone's here, if they're not familiar with the name and the person, you just mentioned Pascal Vincent's name a couple of moments ago. He joins Brad Larson's bench in Columbus. He's considered a real up-and-comer or an emerging coach, you know, getting close to taking his NHL shot here, right?

Yes, I do think so. He's been in Winnipeg for a while in their organization with the Manitoba Moose. Like I said, he interviewed in Columbus, where they kind of began to like him a bit. And he did an interview, I think twice in Arizona. He's been around a little bit. Some of the teams that were talking young,

they definitely were interested, or fresh fresh were definitely were interested in in vincent that's an interesting hire for him here i want to um tie a bow here around the vegas golden knights and a couple of things um do you have a thought on alec martinez revealing he played with a broken foot there's a lot of people who look at it and say that's hockey and there's a lot of people who look at it and say we have to stop glorifying injuries i believe it's up to the person you know i have i have an old saying um you know i don't like to tell other people what to do because i don't like anyone to tell me what to do if if if alex martinez wants to play and he can't hurt himself worse than he's hurt himself, and a doctor isn't saying you can't do that, then it's his choice.

That's kind of the way I look at it. If it was me and I could play and I knew I couldn't hurt myself anymore and the Stanley Cup meant that much to me, I would play. Do it in a heartbeat. And if people don't like that, Hey, that's, it's my body, my choice.

That's what I decide to do. Elliot, a quick note, uh, Calgary flames, a lot of noise around Matthew Kachuk. Should there be right now, or is this just everybody's looking for a target?

So here's the thing about this one, Jeff, when I heard about this one, Jeff. When I heard about Seth Jones, I reached out to everybody involved and they didn't like that I knew, but they didn't deny it. When I heard about Ekman Larson, I reached out to everybody involved

and they didn't really like that I knew, but they didn't deny it that I knew, but they didn't deny it. Same thing for Hamilton. People weren't crazy that I knew, but they didn't deny it. And that one, there was, I think, a letter that went out to every team. So there was no reason to deny it. This one, I reached out and people denied it. And it was forceful denial. And I sent a note to Shane O'Brien. I'm not one of those people who likes to dump on others' reports. I think that happens too much in this business where media members carve up other media members to try to look smarter or better.

I'm not really interested in doing that here. But I am saying that unlike the Jones or the Ekman Larson or the Hamilton reporting, I got a lot of denials. Now I think last year was obviously a very hard year in Calgary. And, you know, there was that situation early in the season where I think Kachok was upset

about the one game against Toronto and his teammates said, you know, we can't have this every game. I think there was some friction. That's about just so just our listeners remember that's with Jake Muzzin flipping the puck at him. Yes. You know, that was a lot.

I was early in the season. That was a long time ago. I don't believe he's asked to leave based on the response that I got. Like I said, I think last year was a hard year. I think nobody likes being in a situation like the way it finished up in Calgary last year. It sucks for everyone, organization, executives, players, coaches. But unlike the other three situations, I got big time pushback.

In the other situations, it was, I can't believe you know about this, you little so-and-so, but we're not going to tell you it's false. So there was a different tone with this one here for sure. Okay, so everybody in Ottawa should just calm down about a Kachuk-Kachuk reunion in the nation's capital then? I think for now, yes, you should. Here's the thing about Matthew Kachuk. If the Calgary Flames are going to expose and I would assume lose Mark Giordano in the expansion draft, haven't we been talking about Matthew Kachuk. If the Calgary Flames are going to expose and I would assume lose Mark Giordano in the

expansion draft, haven't we been talking about Matthew Kachuk not leaving Calgary, but becoming the next captain of the team? I'll bet you this. I bet you they're going to protect Kachuk. Safe to say. Robin Leonard as well. We'll end on this nice note. Robin Leonard talking about how Marc-Andre Fleury's kids sent him pictures to wish him good luck in the games that he played against the Montreal Canadiens. Just ended on a nice cheery note. You know, you made the point last podcast that, you know, whenever you hear two goaltenders who share a crease talk about mutual respect and support and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, that's the yearbook answer that's the one that you expect to hear in front of the cameras and the microphones and a lot of times that's not true someone wants the crease and doesn't care who they have to step over to get it but that's not the case here fridge at all no and i like like i

said sometimes you hear things like that and you think it's phony. It's not phony. Those two have worked a tough situation at times into a pretty good relationship. People tell me that they aren't making it up. They're not doing something for show for the public. It's a legit relationship between those two.

Again, like we talked about on friday i don't know how you can come back with the same duo next year i think you're going to need some flexibility to do some things number one and number two i just don't know if you really want to do that okay one thing i wanted to mention here before we wrap up the podcast today and get to the music, we're doing, in honor of a Stanley Cup final that finally includes a Canadian team, a car

cast after every single game. So it might be four games, five games, six games, fingers crossed, seven car casts. These will be 30-minute podcasts. We do almost immediately following whenever Elliot gets off the set, really. So stay tuned for these

after every game in the Stanley Cup Final. 31 Thoughts, carcast style, again. All right, taking us out, a track that's been on repeat in our producer Amal Delic's home over the last week. The 2015 record, A River's Invitation by the California Honey Drops is a beautiful piece of instrumentation and lyrical work.

With Lead Me Home, here's the California Honey Drops on 31 Thoughts, the podcast. Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh

Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh Ooh you