32 Thoughts: The Podcast - The Coaches They Are A-Changin'

Episode Date: May 20, 2026

In this episode of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman begin with the Vancouver Canucks letting go of head coach Adam Foote. The coaching discussions continue with the Vegas Golden Knights as they seem reluctant to allow Bruce Cassidy to interview with other teams (10:30). In New Jersey, Sheldon Keefe keeps his job under new boss Sunny Mehta (24:00). The fellas check in on Boone Jenner and Charlie Coyle in Columbus (31:00). The Final Thought looks ahead to the Conference Finals matchups in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (34:30). Kyle and Elliotte answer your questions and comments in The Thought Line (1:00:33). Listen to all the 32 Thoughts music here. Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail. This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates

Shvikovsky, he can do a whole block just by himself. Sorry, not Shikovsky, excuse me. Great orchestra. And how about that Demi Moore on the answer? Boy, does she ever move. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast, presented by your Canadian Toyota dealers in the 2026 Tacoma.

Get yours before red tag days are over. It is Wednesday. It is the beginning of the conference final. It gets underway tonight, the first one up in the west, Colorado and Vegas. We will preview and talk about that a little bit later on. Also, Montreal, Carolina that will get started on Thursday. We will have a thought line here today. Elliot Friedman, Dom Schramatti, Kyle Bukosk is with you.

But we'll begin with a bit of news off the hop. Elliot says on Tuesday out in Vancouver, less than a week after being hired as general manager, Ryan Johnson's already made his first. set of changes. Adam Foote is out his head coach after one season, along with assistant Scott Young, Kevin Dean, and Brett McLean. I know you have been a believer that if you fire a coach after one season, it is an organizational misstep, and I'm completely with you on that. But they just get the sense with how tumultuous not only this year, but the last two years have been in Vancouver. There is a real sense with a new regime for a fresh start and making

changes to the coaching staff seems to be a part of the desire to get that fresh start. I think that's exactly what it is, Kyle. I would also suspect, too, if you really think about it, the Siddins and Ryan Johnson were officially introduced at the end of last week. And for Adam Foote to be fired on the first working day or first business day after Victoria Day, don't you think, Kyle, they'd pretty much made the decision and we're waiting to tell foot first. Like am I way off base to think that?

No. And didn't you get this and kind of some of the things that Henrik said but didn't say in our interview with him that, you know, something was going to be coming this week or would hear more this week of kind of what the plans were. It certainly gave you pause to think about that as well there. Yes. So I think this was a decision that was made as they took the job. They probably had a good idea.

If not, they'd already decided to do it. And yes, you know. how I feel about firing a coach after one season, but Kyle, clearly it's, we're starting over. The ownership has accepted a rebuild. And honestly, of all the things that Henrik Sedin said on our podcast, the thing that surprised the most people who know the Aqualini family is that the Sidin's had the juice where other people haven't had over the year to say, look, it's either a rebrandy. or this is not for us.

And the answer was, it's a rebuild. Of all the things Henrik said, that is the thing that resonated most with people who know the Canucks. Anyway. I would have thought it was the grouse grind line. People laughed and they said, that's Henrik. They said, if he would have said anything other than that, they would have been shocked. But it's a fresh start.

They're starting over. this is more about this is a new era, a new day as opposed to anything else. Now, I was on with Sadshaw and Bick-Nazar on Tuesday night, we were talking about the decision. And I don't know about you, Kyle, but it sure looks to me like this isn't much of a search beyond Mani Malhotra. And I think a lot of people will be surprised if it isn't Mani Malhotra. First of all, Ryan Johnson and his availability said, we've got to sit down and talk to him and see how he feels. And number two, the thing that really interested me, Kyle,

is that I've heard, like in the scouting community out there, they believe there's a real, legit chance the Canucks take Caleb Malhotra at three. Who knows, there's six weeks between now and the draft, Lots of things can happen. But talking six weeks out today, if you were to tell people in the amateur scouting community that Caleb Malhotra is going to the Vancouver Canucks, they would believe you without a question. That said, Ryan Johnson was asked about that, and his answer wasn't. Well, we'll have to sit down and talk to Mani and see how he feels about that.

it was, I'm not concerned about it. And we're going to pick the best coach. If you're really concerned that that's going to be a problem, that is not going to be your answer. And so they're going to sit down with them. They're going to talk to them. And the final thing, Kyle, is that we talked about on the last pod about familiarity. Ultimately, I think Ryan Johnson beat out Evan Gold as the decedine's choice because they know him.

They know him. They've worked with him. They helped all combine to win a Calder Cup championship a year ago. They know Vancouver's prospect based together. They know the organization together. Who else is part of that group that won a Calder Cup championship, knows the prospects, knows some of the the kids who've graduated to the NHL already and knows what they have. And is someone the Siddins has spoken glowingly about. They basically called him a player coach when he played.

And there were times the coaches didn't even have to go into the room on a team that was one of the NHL's best in the early 2010s because whatever they needed to say, Malhotra had already said it. Kyle, if he is not the coach of this, team. I'm going to be very surprised. Further to that, Ian McIntyre wrote a piece that's up on Sportsnet.ca right now off of Tuesday's news. Here was his lead.

When Ryan Johnson needed to hire a minor league coach for the Vancouver Canucks two years ago, he described his search process this way. Quote, there was a bunch of names on one list, and then there was one name on my main list, and that was Manny. End quote. that about says it all right there.

There's more to the piece that Ian wrote, but he could have ended it right there. Please give us the clicks. Ian and the website, sportsnet.ca, needs the clicks. I don't want Kyle getting an editor's note from Rory Boylan saying, thanks a lot, Kyle.

Now no one is going to read this piece. Yes, it gets better from there. Let me assure you. That's just the appetizer. That is just the tantalizing, tuna tartar of the entire dinner. The entree is still to come. So I think everybody's on the same page here.

And they don't have enough of a resume, this regime, the Siddins and Ryan Johnson, to really have us prepare for what they're going to do. But one thing we are learning early is that familiarity matters. And they're not just picking people because they know them. They're picking good people over. over other candidates because they know them. I don't think anybody is saying that Ryan Johnson is a bad hire,

but I think we are saying that what edged Ryan Johnson over Evan Gold was their familiarity with a good candidate. And I think, Kyle, their familiarity with another good candidate is the reason that most of us are betting on Mani Mel Hodra to be the guy. We'll see how it goes, but I think we're all kind of expecting this to go in that direction. We'll be shocked if it doesn't. Shocked.

Not appalled, but shocked. Yeah. And Johnson also mentioned on Tuesday that Cammy Granado, Emily Castungay, they aren't going anywhere. They will continue in their roles within the organization going forward. And, you know, as you mentioned,

Ali, I think it was, you know, about Vancouver in particular, you know, at the end of the season, there's a lot of uncertainty. Just don't leave people hanging. And as Johnson said, you know, Like everyone's scattered now. They've gone in different directions as the offseason has begun. And he said, he just, we wanted to get this done now.

So for those that wanted to seek opportunities elsewhere, they had sufficient time to do so. So yes, the day after a long weekend. They did not waste any time. So by the way, I did want to mention one more thing. Just about the whole Malhotra, Malhotra thing. I did. The only reason I've ever heard that people are concerned about that is that, you know, I can tell you there was a situation in Winnipeg where Dave and Adam Lowry. Dave was the head coach and Adam, of course, the captain was one of the key players. And one person from the Jets told me that the only problem with that, and this is someone who thinks the world of both days,

and Adam Lowry is that sometimes when you're a player in the room, you're just having a bad day and you like to complain about your coach. You just want to whine. Like, oh, like this freaking guy, and you might not even dislike him. It's just like, it's just how can you dislike Dave Lauer? Yeah, he says, how can you dislike Dave Lauerie? He's such a great guy. And again, everybody knows how nice Adam is.

And they, like, you just want to say, I can't believe this guy did this to me today. and it's always tougher. And nobody ever thinks that the player is going to rat you out to the coach, but it's just always tougher when it's family. He said that is the only thing that would ever concern him about something like that. He said, if you're a pro like the Lowry's, it's not about favoritism. And he said, if you were a pro like Mani Malhotra, and he says, Caleb Malhotra would never want to come into the NHL

and have the other players think. that his dad was bending over backwards to help him in a way that was not beneficial to the team. He says, pros don't worry about that. It's more like you just want to complain sometimes and you worry about doing it around the coach's son. That was the only thing. I actually went back and I called that player today to make sure I had that story correctly. And he said, yes, that's true. Yes.

It sounds like those will be two different conversations to be had within the organization. Who's the next head coach going to be and who are they going to pick a three at the draft in June? So that's the story in Vancouver. Meanwhile, in Vegas. So Tuesday morning, Elliot, members of the Golden Knights met in New York, the league offices, over the punishment they received in the aftermath of Game 6 against Anaheim, where they were assessed, John Chortarillo's assessed $100,000 fine. They lost their second round pick at this year's draft,

and it sounds like those penalties are going to be upheld. Then, hours later, Kelly McCriman, the general manager, along with Tortorella, are at the podium in Colorado, and McCriman began the press conference apologizing for how things played out that night in Anaheim, but he finished it by saying that it sounds like, you know, they are not willing, the team is not willing, to discuss Bruce Cassidy's availability, until after their playoff run is over. Your reaction to the news out of New York first

and what you heard from the podium in Denver. Well, Pat McAfee was the first person to get the news out about the punishment staying the same. I knew they were meeting at 10 a.m. Tuesday was not a good day for me. I was a little bit slow on things on Tuesday, Kyle. I will be sharper on Wednesday. But on Tuesday, the thing that really had me thinking was the word currently, like currently staying the same.

So what that says to me is that there's room for movement here. If Vegas behaves, for lack of a better term, there's some chance that things could change here. And to that point, I actually thought Kelly McCrimman made a really good statement. Kelly McCriman is a tough guy. He backs down from no one, but he knows that he can't come out fire and brimstone in this case. He's got a Game of Thrones style, bend the knee. Sometimes you've got to take the L. And I thought he came out with, for the most part, a pretty good statement. He came out, he said, you know, we take responsibility. That's never going to happen again. And there's two other things to it that I really liked. Number one, he talked about the lost opportunity for the fans of the Vegas Golden Knights, and most of them probably don't care. I would guess by some of the DMs I got while all this was going on. Most of them probably don't care, but it's always good to mention your fans. And the other thing he did, which I really liked, was he said, do not blame our media relations staff for this.

Vegas has a couple of really young, up-and-coming, good media people, and I like the fact that, and look, like Kelly McCriman, he runs the show there. Like, he's, you know, he's got a, he's got a very powerful place in that organization. And I like the fact that he made sure nobody went to them because this wasn't on them. I like that. I think that there are a lot of good media relations people in this league. And like many of you understand, the poop flows downhill. And a lot of those media relations people, they get into fights, whether it's above them or with the media, and it's stuff they don't always control. And I really like that he mentioned that on their behalf.

I thought that was very good. You know, we'll see. Like, I heard that, like, I heard the league is not too anxious to ease that draft pick thing. And it goes to what we talked about, Kyle. was it was the refusal. He didn't address this, which is fine, but the refusal to wear the mic. And I think the league would have looked soft a bit if they would have taken that draft penalty away. And I don't think it would have resonated with the teams if they did. And right now, I don't think they have really any desire to fool around with that. We'll see what the future says.

But right now that's got everyone's attention. And so, you know, And that part of the statement, I got no problem with. I thought it was well handled. And I'm assuming there will be no issues. And we all move on forever and ever and ever. Amen. The Bruce Cassidy thing, that was interesting. That was interesting.

Because McCriman there had an opportunity to end it all. He could have said, look, we're not doing it. We're not doing it. And he didn't. He punted. He punted until the end of the playoffs. A couple weeks ago on this pod, I said that sometimes I think media campaigns

for certain people or certain situations can really hurt. Because I think, you know, sometimes teams or individuals will look at it is this one is trying to use the media to get what they want. Or I'll tell you, too, I know of one situation recently where there was a lot of criticism and the people making a decision, they really dug in.

They were like, oh, yeah, you guys think this is all wrong? Well, I don't care. And we're going to prove that we're right and you're wrong. And like I said, like Vegas, you know, Kelly McRerman, he backs down from nobody. anyone who's ever watched any of old George McPhee's fight tapes know that he doesn't back down from anybody and William Foley, the owner of the team, he certainly doesn't back down from anybody. So as all this was going on, I began to wonder if they were taking so much criticism that they would just say, oh yeah, well, too bad.

So that's why I was curious about his answer. Like a lot of people were like, and I understand this, a lot of people were like, hey, you're not doing anything, even though you're playing. You can just take 15 minutes to say yes. But they also could have said absolutely not, which is kind of the feeling that's been conveyed over the past couple of days. Like I have heard they are adamant. They were not letting Edmonton or L.A. talk to Cassidy.

I don't know about Toronto. I really don't. Slight dissertation. Something else, too, Kyle. I asked if Cassidy could terminate his contract. Like, we've seen Alexander Texier terminate his deal with the blues and go sign with the Canadians. I was told, no, he can't do that. And I've also wondered if there's any kind of legal route he could take.

I don't know. I don't know the answer. I'm just really curious here, Kyle, because they could have said, you know what? We're putting it into it. We're not doing it. And they didn't. So it makes me wonder if there's another path here or, you know, we can't make trades anymore, right? Like someone joked to me when the punishment was upheld today,

Edmonton should offer Vegas a second rounder. Technically you're not supposed to do that anymore. I don't know. Is there some way to fiddle around that? I have no idea. Like, could you make a nut? People don't run with this. This is just me spitballing my brain full of bad ideas.

Could you make another trade? with Vegas and then as a silent handshake of that deal. You can talk to Cassidy. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. But it's just interesting to me that they could have said, we're not doing it, and they didn't. They punted.

Although again, Kyle, the word around the last couple days is that Vegas was not going to allow it to happen. We'll see if it changes. Now, one thing, Kyle, I never like to talk about something without, proposing a solution. And it won't solve this particular case necessarily, but it could solve this in the future. For a coach's contract to solve this,

should they be able to negotiate straight buyouts similar to college coaches instead of continuing to pay and offset when you get a new job? He told me that that's what college coaches do, You leave, you pay a certain amount, you get fired, you get paid a certain amount. It changes depending on the number of years left. And then you can go work somewhere else. Maybe that's the answer.

Just wanted to present it. See what people have to say. Well, just say that makes a lot more sense than the situation we're looking at right here. Yes. So we had a few thoughtline submissions about those two things you brought. up. A. could Cassidy terminate his deal? And could there be some sort of wink, wink, nudge, nudge trade that gets this taking care of? So our listeners, once again, in tune with how your brain works, which is a very scary thought. Very scary. So the answer to A, I'm told no

to B, who knows. I guess we'll find out. You know, I was on the radio the other day on the Hockey Central show with Marquesi and Futa. And I said, somebody told me that this is tied into, they gave Peter DeBore permission to go to Dallas after they fired him. And, you know, Vegas beat them the first time they played. But then in 2024, Dallas beat Vegas in the first round of the playoffs. And they were like, we're never doing that again. And I said, I don't know if I believe that.

And I'll tell you, Kyle, I got a couple calls. For people saying, you better start believing that because they think that's right in the middle of all this. So, whole, because you've said, you know, the sentiment is you better have a darn good reason to not allow permission for a team to speak to a coach that you fired. I mean, is that considered a good reason? Like, we're afraid that that coach beats us in the playoffs? It's a great follow up, Kyle, because I did say it, but I did say it, but I think it's gone even farther than that. I think it's simply contract law that if Vegas has him for another year and they decide, and as long as they continue paying him his contract, which they plan to do, they can say no.

And I'll say, like, I don't really want to talk about this too much more. I think most of it's been said and we'll see where this goes. But I just have a personal hatred of that because in our business, Kyle, our business has a lot of non-competes. And I've seen people's careers really get hurt by it. You know, you're forced to go into the dark. Maybe you get paid. But when you're like, I don't think this would happen to Bruce Cassidy, but I've seen it happen in the media business where you disappear for a year and maybe

get paid, but you're kind of out of sight and out of mind. And Kyle, there's a number of good people that you and I both know all around the business, different cities, different companies who have been hurt by that. And it just personally bothers me. It just does. I totally with you. So last question I have on this, because. the NHL Coaches Association put out a statement here as well?

I mean, did they have any real power to intervene here? Not sure. How does that body play into things? I don't know. I don't know that they do. I think you have to stand by your coaches. I guess the only thing is if there's some, you know, one of the things that someone said to me, I mentioned this on Stafer's show.

I have a friend who's a lawyer and he called me about this and he was curious about like he says do you think Edmonton would offer him a big contract and I said yeah I think they absolutely would and he was just musing could Cassidy say that this move has cost him X amount of dollars in the future it's a significant amount but you know he said as he said to me for every one lawyer who will tell you yes there'll be another lawyer can tell you no, it simply comes down to do people want to try and find out? I don't know the answer to this question. I just think that basically what Kelly McCormen told us is that if there's going to be any movement on this, it's going to be after they're done.

Okay. So we'll continue to wait on the fate of Bruce Cassidy and whether he will or won't get the opportunity to talk to certain teams at some point in this offseason. about a job next year in the NHL once again. Speaking of coaches, so news out of New Jersey, Sheldon Keith staying put with the Devils, and that was after a season of disappointing year for the team, a lot of uncertainty you felt around it. Tom Fitzgerald was out.

Sunny Medicine is the new general manager. It felt like kind of everything was on the table in terms of what they were going to do going forward. Were you surprised it all? all that that Sheldon remains behind the bench? Not hugely. So at our gym, again with the unbelievable gym stories, there are people there who make fun of me because I take my cell phone into the steam room with me. Yeah, rightfully so. And well, today I proved why I do it. Oh, you got the news on that when you were in the steam room.

I had a good, I had a good, I had a good, I had a good schvitz going. It was really pouring off me. I felt great. And the best part about it was, that visual sink in everybody. And then continue to listen. The best part about it was I walked out and I guess there's some people who have my notifications that come to their phones.

And they, I walked out of the steam room and a couple of them saw me. And they were like, did you just report that from in there? And I said, now you know why I take my phone in there. It's, do you go, are you like Chandler Bingstiles? You go in there, your glasses get all fogged up. You're like trying to see on your phone. No, I don't wear, I don't wear my glasses into the, into the steam room. No. Oh, gosh.

That's, I still, I know you got a job to do, but follow it on the steamer. So that's the reason I take it in there. Anyway, was I surprised? Not hugely. Number one, I think, first of all, I think Sheldon Keefe, I think is a good coach. I think that, you know, he's gone in there and it's taken a lot of those guys

time to get used to him. But also I think that, you know, Keith, I don't think Kyle Dubus and Sunny Mehta are exactly the same. I think that would be doing a disservice to both of them, but I do think they have some of similarities in the way they think. And, you know, Sheldon Keefe has shown that he's not afraid of working with someone who places heavy emphasis and analytics. And I think it makes sense to try it and see if it works. I think the other thing too is, you know, they made a couple of changes. Rogalski, the goalie coach and Sergey Breeland. And let me just say about Sergey

Breeland, and I can't say this enough. Just one of the absolute, nice, great people in the game. I have a lot of time for Sergey Breeland. But if you take a look at Shelton Keystaff when he first got there, Rogalsky was there, Breelan was there, and he, brought Shaw and Culleton in with him at different points. So now I think we can see a situation where Keith has full input on his staff for the first time. And so, I mean, what it does is it says, okay, now, Sheldon, you've got everybody here you want. And it's, it's all, like there's no, hey, I didn't have this guy or I didn't have this guy or our philosophy's did in the line. they're all together.

And I do think Keith is a good coach. I think it's been a rocky start for him with the devils, but I don't think it's impossible that he fixes it. They're going to have some interest. I'm very curious to see what this team does in the offseason because I think there's a lot of ability there, and I think they're better than they showed this year. So just a quick story about coaches and embracing analytics.

So during the Montreal Buffalo series, one of the rightsholder chats that we'll have. So, you know, in the morning, the coaches will do their press conferences for all the assembled media there that, you know, you see online and on TV or on radio or what have you. And then the coaches go and do a separate chat with the rights holders from TV and radio, the broadcasters that are doing the game that is not recorded, but, you know, there's sometimes some information that comes out of that that is helpful to be used on the broadcast. Anyways, so one of the mornings with Lindy Ruff, he starts talking about certain analytic information that he likes or that he's brought up to his team.

And I think it was Darren Pang that all of a sudden you can imagine, you know, Lindy Ruff talking about analytics. And he's going, what do you mean? You're into analytics? And so he just told a story that I guess he was talking about, I can't remember which exact stat he was presenting to the team. And I think it was Jordan Greenway that was like, since when are you someone who embraces, analytics and he goes, ever since I used to help prove a point. So I thought even a guy like Lindy Ruff who's been around forever, you know, anybody's capable of incorporating that data when it serves a purpose.

It's not just the new wave coaches. I think everyone's aware of it, a guy like Lindy Ruff included. Look, man, I would look for every age I can. If there's something there that can help me win, I'm all for it. DJ Smith, is he got a chance at staying in L.A. full time, depending on what happens there? Yes, I've been told not to discount his chances. He's over with Team Canada right now at the World Championships. And somebody said to me, you are making a mistake if you discount his chance to stay.

All right. And before we get to the final thought and set up our conference final matchups, anything new to report in Toronto's head coach search? No, I think it's still really early there. I think they're starting to reach out and set up interviews. Like I said, I don't know that they've actually asked to speak to Cassidy, but I still think they're in their bit again. I also heard that, you know, Chris Knoblock,

I'm not so sure he's going to be too quick. to jump back into all of this either. I think, you know, he's collecting some money. He's probably in a little bit of shock. He's got, he's got some time here. Okay. Another thing, too. Boone Jenner, Captain the Blue Jackets,

needs a new contract. Charlie Coil recently signed a big extension in Columbus. Sounds like things could be not on a great package. right now between player and team. What's your read there? Well, so Aaron Portsline reported on Tuesday that he fired his longtime agent, Joe Resnick, and replaced him with Pat Morris. And you don't hire Pat Morris when you're looking for a discount.

Put it that way. And so I don't think it is hugely coincidental, that it happens a week after Charlie Coil signs a $36 million extension. And I could be proven to be wrong. It has happened before. But it's a bad sign for where things are going between Boone Jenner and Columbus. Because if things were going well in that negotiation, you don't make the agent change, right? So it says to me that there's probably a little bit of disappointment.

And you know what? I think everybody has to be careful about how this is handled. Number one, Charlie Coil was the number one free agent out there, the number one center out there. And he had a really good year for Columbus. And he was in a position where he really had the hammer. and I think the other key thing here is that, you know, Charlie Coyle, you know, you look at his games played over the last few years, and it's 82, 83 the year before because he got traded, so you got that extra game, 82, 82, 82. and that's an important thing.

If you can stay healthy, that matters. And that's one of the reasons I think they were willing to take a bit of an extra risk at age 34. Jenner, nobody is ever going to question his heart, his willingness, or his love for the blue jackets. He's a career blue jacket. He's their captain there. But he's been hurt a lot, an awful lot. And I would bet, without knowing, I would bet that, that Columbus's offers to Jenner are much more of hedged against his health than what they would be doing for Coil.

And when I read that, it was a good scoop from Aaron, but when I read that on Tuesday morning, I said that's a really bad sign for Jenner and Columbus. And I know there's a lot of Blue Jackets fans who really love Jenner, at the very least that you're looking at that and you're thinking, you better be prepared for the possibility that he's not going to be in Columbus. It sounds to me like there's a lot of work there to keep him and Jenner feels whatever he's being offered is not is not anything he's willing to accept.

I hate to hear that and that's the only place of course. Still six weeks. So there's a long time. Yeah. The only place he's known as an NHL player, Boone Jenner and the Columbus Blue Jackets. Okay, let's get to the final five, which is presented by your Canadian Toyota.

dealers. Elliot later tonight, game one of the Western Conference final from Denver, the Avalanche and Golden Knights, the last two teams in the West to win the Stanley Cup, Colorado in 22, Vegas the following year in 2023. Two teams that still believe they are very much as good as the teams that won back then and trying to get back to the final in 2026. This feels like another heavyweight bout in the West Elliott, even if you want to favor Colorado by a bit. What's your feeling on this series heading into the opener? I'm looking forward to watching it. You and I are, well, you're in Carolina and I'm headed to Carolina. By the way, you have to do a Peach Cobbler scouting report on Wednesday, Kyle.

Is the Peach Cobbler back? I already told Mike Sunheim the long, the, long time media relations guru of the Carolina Hurricanes that I am turning around and leaving if there is no peach cobbler in the press meal on Thursday. Yes, yes. The early indications are not promising for you, Elliot, but we'll see. So should I just cancel my ticket? Pulled a miracle. Just save sports net some money?

Yes. No, but you've got to come down here because we need a photo of you and Logan Stankhoven, the OG stank and the new stank. I've had a few people calling me that lately. It's starting to catch on, unfortunately. That's so sorry. I love it. I know it's one of your greatest victories.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to watching this series. I think it's going to be awesome. I think it's going to be great hockey. One thing I remember was, one thing I remember was, Vegas plays Colorado, and that was the second round, right, Kyle, that year? Yes.

21? Okay, second round. And Colorado won the first two games, and I was exchanging some tax with one of the players on Vegas. And, you know, he just said to me, like, we're going to win this series. I was like, and you don't disagree with a player, even when they're down to nothing. And I was like, okay. And he said, I can tell you don't believe me, but we're still going to beat them.

And they did. They won four in a row. And I think this Vegas team comes in. Like, Colorado is a superpower. They lost one game, but they've been excellent, and as they proved in game five against the wild, that they, no matter how much you have them down, you don't necessarily kill them. They will come back and they will find ways. And the guy who I've really been unbelievably impressed with has been NACIS.

Like there was always another level to him. He has gone to that other level, and I think you could argue he's gone to him the level even above that. but Vegas will be confident. They will set up a structure that makes it as hard as possible for Colorado to get through them. That's what they do. They're not fast, but they play with great structure, and they will be confident. Colorado has to be the favorite in this series. There's a lot of guys on Colorado's team who are playing really well that don't

get a lot of the credit. Like McKinnon's playing great. Lannis Gogh is playing fantastic. We mentioned Natchez. He gets a lot of attention. But, like, I'm looking at some of their other guys, like, Brett Kulak, never mind just the shift he had to win the series. He's been great.

It would not surprise me at all if Colorado finds a way to keep him. And all of their forwards, like so many of them, are. are playing extremely well. Vegas, the one thing that can, there's a couple things that concern me for Vegas here. Number one, they've been dynamite at the end of series. They dominated Utah at the end of their series. They dominated Anaheim at the end of their series.

I think they have to do a better job of starting on time, this one. And number two, obviously the stone injury. and McCriman did not address him the other day, didn't mention anything about it. The stone injury is so big. I think he's so important because he's one of their best positional defenders, and they'll need to continue to be a great positional defending team to win this series. I mean, goaltending, Colorado's Wedgwood continues to be great.

Heart has only gotten better. I think this is going to be fantastic hockey. As I said the other day, the one thing that concerns me is that clearly McCar takes a big hit and he's vulnerable. He had a few days to rest. That helps. But there's something there that they're dealing with. And Vegas will be physical. You know, one of the Vegas guys, I was looking at some of their underlying numbers.

One of my favorite players there has had really bad underlying these numbers. in these playoffs. And that's Keegan Colissar. Like I think he's a really good player. Hasn't that a great year? But he's a guy, like he will be all over the Colorado defense on the forecheck. Like he'll be a guy that they will say make life physically tough on McCar, who's a bit vulnerable.

And I think Colossar in that role can make a big difference in this series. I just think that, again, I think. Colorado is the favorite. I think they got so many players playing unbelievably well. I just, Vegas is structurally and tactically. They have what it takes. Obviously, L.A. was not in the same league.

That's number one. Number two, Minnesota tried to basically outscore them. They couldn't do that. Vegas is good enough and structural. enough that they could make this hard. And I think everybody is just looking forward to what could be a great series. I think it was Corey Massasak was on with Marquesian Fuda earlier this week, teeing up this one.

And he referred to Landisog as like the fixer. Like he's kind of like Bednar's been able to put him in certain spots and things just get taken care of. We all know the presence and how he can calm things down in the room. room. But you think as Colorado's gone for, tried to make deep playoff runs in the years since they won in 2022, like now to have him back, healthy, played most of the year, of course, not just coming in, trying to get on a running treadmill. And that's been really wonderful of an asset. And you think about how deep Colorado was even when they were missing them. throughout these playoffs, he's only further cemented how great of a value piece that he is.

And the other thing, too, like I saw, you know, Mike Kelly was putting out just some numbers on certain key guys in the series. We talked about Tomash Hurdle and a guy that, of course, had such a just confusingly difficult second half of the year, a tough Olympics. Finally, he gets going a bit offensively towards the end of the Anaheim series. But he's really even beyond just the goal starting to go in for him has been a real handful around the net. And like that's going to be, I think a big key for Vegas is trying to get into those tough areas, especially as you say, you know, McCar isn't feeling 100% and to just try to put the pressure on whoever is in net for Colorado. Because doesn't it feel like for the avalanche, it's like you play good, you start. And if one guy falters, then the swap happens.

It seems like that's kind of where they're at with their with their goaltending at this stage. Can't disagree with any of that. All right. So, yeah, I can't wait to watch. That's going to be a fun, fun series. So great, great theater shaping up in the West. Meanwhile, yes, beginning here on Raleigh, Elliot, the Eastern Conference final, first of all, thank you to both the Canadians and the Sabres for giving us an incredible game seven in a series that featured a lot of blowouts.

not so dramatic endings to games. What an incredible ending to this series on Monday night at Key Bank Center. A heartbreaker for Buffalo. And we're going to get more into kind of debriefing the Sabres year. And as someone pointed out to you, we forgot to give Anaheim, it's due after a really great season for them and getting back to playoffs. So we will get to those two teams on Friday's pod.

That's the plan for that. But for Montreal. I do want to, one thing about Buffalo I do want to mention is, I think it's in Lindy Ruff's hands if he wants to come back. And I would have signed it to your deal, right? Yeah, I would expect that he's going to, yes. But he's, that's the one thing that's pretty clear. It's, it's his call. Okay.

All right. Yeah, because he certainly seemed re-energized by what they were able to pull off this year and one shot away. Yeah. What a great season. after 14 years away from the playoffs. But two straight game sevens, Elliot, so you've got the team that has faced the maximum in these playoffs in Montreal versus the team that has faced the minimum in Carolina

with back-to-back sweeps in getting to the third round. It's been an impressive run for the Canadians and what they've done is the youngest team in these playoffs. It feels like the climb only gets steeper starting in Carolina on Thursday night? It sure does. You know, Carolina, everybody knows they've been waiting there for a long time. It's a record amount of time.

Rod Brindamore has his players on the hamster wheels that charge the electricity in Raleigh Durham for the last week so they can keep physically ready to play this game. That's right. That's the one positive to come out of all of this. All the residents here, they haven't had a hydro bill for the last 12 days. The players have been powering the triangle. That's right. I got to tell you, Svechnikov, he can power a whole city block.

Aho, that guy can do an entire office building, 27 floors. Okay. The one thing I'd say about Montreal is, in the playoffs, you don't have to apologize for your victories. I really thought in game seven they were holding on for dear life for a good chunk of it. But I give Doebusch a lot of credit. It was very clear that they told Doebish,

like one of the things one of the goalies said to me in the league, Kyle, was that Doebusch, it's not only that they thought he might be tired, and he told you he was definitely not tired. Ah, 40 more. 40 more. But the goal he said that he expends a lot of, energy, like just fighting with opponents, right? And being emotional during games, physically and emotionally fighting with them.

In game seven, he did none of that. Like, he got run over by Zucker and he kept his composure. And I really thought, not only just the saves he made and the fact that he was Montreal's number one player in this game, but basically he had the discipline to change his approach. It wasn't like a gradual thing where he could do it over two or three games. They were like, no, you need to do this tonight. We need you to do this tonight so we can advance. And he understood the assignment and he did the assignment.

That is so hard to do. Think about it, everyone. You're wired a certain way for so long and your team tells you tonight you can't do that and you do it. It didn't slip. Did he slap Zucker in the face? No, it was Nick Suzuki. That was cheeky. So, that was cheeky.

So I was, I mean, I was really impressed with him. And, you know, this is going to be a big challenge for him. I mean, you know, the one thing, too, is I really thought that there were times when the Canadians man-to-man really broke down. I think that Carolina's ability, especially because they play the same system, that's going to challenge Montreal even more. I just think that Carolina is so big and so strong, and they're even more balanced than Buffalo was. Like we saw the Greenway line have some physical moments in that series, but they didn't play a lot. In Carolina, everybody plays. And I think, I think you said right.

I think it's an enormous challenge for the Canadians. And, you know, I think the thing, too, is that you got to hope that you can take one early in the series because the hurricanes are dopey. There's something about Brindamor and how he knows the human body that lets me say that if anybody's going to prevent his team from being dopey after being off for a week and a half, it's going to be him. it's going to be Rod the Bod. And I just, Montreal is so impressive that they've won these two rounds.

They've had a really hard road. Tampa was a great team. Buffalo was a great team. They had to win two games, sevens on the road. And they gutted their way through both of them, lopsided the other way. So much respect for this team. I just think this is, okay. First they had to climb Terry Fox Mountain.

Then they had to climb Kilimanjaro. Now this is like Everest, man. It just gets higher and higher and higher. Someone's going to say to me, it can't be Everest because there's one more around. Just give me this one, people. Okay. But that game seven, what a great hockey game. What an incredible, incredible hockey game that was.

you know, there was a lot of controversy. You know, for those of you who didn't see us talk about the intermission, people were wondering if the Sabres could have challenged the deno goal, no, but that's an automatic league review. They review every goal. And they say, did that answer the net? I thought that was the right call. I thought that was a direction.

I've seen pucks that were much more distinct kicking motions count. I thought, based on the way I've seen it called this year, I thought that was the right call. There were Sabres fans at the end of the game that were really angry about the puck that got behind Dobish that Malenstein knocked in. I tried to explain the rule to them. There was no consoling them.

They weren't rude. They were just mad. They were disappointed. The one thing is, if Malenstein didn't touch that puck and it went in, and there was nothing he could do. Like, it's totally instinctive play. It looked like it was stopping.

But if he doesn't touch it and it goes in, there's a chance that goal counts. If the referee has what you think is a quick whistle, if the puck goes in directly without anyone else touching it, it can count. But I don't know about you, Kyle. I looked at it today. I didn't realize it in the moment, but they thought it would have been goalie interference because Greenway puts a stick through Dobish's legs while the puck is underneath them.

So someone said to me that even if they counted a good goal, that one might have been overturned. I don't know if you saw it. Well, I thought I saw in the moment, I can't remember if it was Jonette or McCauley. Like even right away, one of their initial reactions kind of did the motion of Greenway to say, like, no, like he jabbed at it.

Like they had recognized. it right away. But of course, you know, the fact that the whistle had gone and Malestine swiped it in himself, you know, kind of erases the need for the conversation around that. But it just seemed like they had seen that live. So I wouldn't have been surprised if in an alternate universe, that goal initially had counted that suddenly now there was a challenge coming from Montreal. I agree.

So we'll talk more about the Sabres. Friday's pod, Kyle. But the one thing I wanted to say about them is that, you know, Martin San Luis had a line the other day about the toughest thing about your season ending is that you so badly want to get back to this, but you have to play 82 games first before you get there. And I think the best lesson the savers will learn.

And we will hear from them again. You know, I know there were some people this year. I told everybody I voted Dahlene as my Norris trophy winner. I don't think anybody's questioning that anymore after two rounds of the playoffs. I thought he was phenomenal, and I think they have a lot of great players there for a long time. And Benson took another step, and we'll talk more about this in a couple days. But I think the one thing that will stick with Buffalo is that they will look back at this series and they will say, the Canadians didn't beat us.

We beat ourselves. Like we had moments in this series where we hurt ourselves. And like you heard Tate Thompson say it going into overtime, we thought we were in great shape. And they, the Buffalo Sabres left that series thinking they were the better team and their own mistakes cost them that. And that will be the best motivation that that group of players will have going into next year is that. is that they are going to say, last year, we have regrets this year. We will look in the mirror and say,

we might have knocked ourselves out. That won't happen again. You know, the other thing too, Kyle, was the room opened, and there were only two players in there. There was Dahlene who was sitting there waiting for everybody as the captain. You know, Thompson eventually came out. Lucan had eventually came out.

I give him credit. He faced the music on a weird kind of goal that beat him. Yeah. He was very emotional. You could tell his eyes were red. He'd been crying. Who was sitting there in his uniform still? Who was the last guy in his uniform?

Alex Tuck. Yeah. And nobody bothered him. Everybody left him alone. And I don't like to overly read into things like that. But, you know, I don't have my tarot cards out to tell me what that meant. But it was, it was striking. You know, he was sitting there.

He was the last guy in his uniform. And, you know what? I have no insight whatsoever, which everybody knows about me is true. But I still think the savers and talk want to find a way to make this work out. I'm good. Because, I mean, anyway, yeah, we'll get to do that more on Friday. But I know it was a really tough series for him production-wise. but coming off an incredible series against Boston.

So do you completely reverse course after one tough series? I don't know. I don't know if that answer should be yes for someone who, if he in fact wants to remain in Buffalo, it'll be interesting conversation to have. Let me just say this about that, okay? The one thing, look, he didn't have a great series. we all know it.

I thought in the last couple of games, he made the one mistake on the back check in game three and he showed up instead, that's on me and I will be better. When you're Alex Tuck, you have to score. You have to. I did think that he played hard the last few games. I thought he was much better defensively.

The one thing I'll say is this. You got here with him. Yeah. It's still hard to get here. I think Yarmu Kekalayan is a pretty smart guy. And like, I'll give you an example of one of the things I've heard. Whenever, whenever a new GM comes into a team, everybody thinks that everyone's getting fired. Right?

Mm-hmm. New GM is going to come in there and clears out everybody because he wants his people. there, right? I have heard that the sabers, that one of the things that Kecklein and told his staff is that you have drafted

extremely well. Like you take a look at what they've got there. Benson, Hellenuse, Oceland, you know, they everybody's got injuries now, but they really missed him in this series. You know, Rasmus

Celine, obviously they hit that one out of the park. You know, people are down on UPL right now, but they drafted them. And like I think whenever, so that says to me that Kekeleinen came in with an open mind. He sees what they've done. And he's like, you know what? There's smart people here. So that leads me to believe, I mean, I'm sure he's got a line for Tuck. but he knows he got this far with Tuck.

And if you throw him out simply because of this series, that's not smart decision-making. If you think he won't bend to, if you think he's unwilling to take a deal or making you go farther than you want to go, that's one thing. But you don't throw him out because of one bad series after he was a major reason you got this far.

That's bad thinking. Yeah, I'm totally with you on that one. And then just on this series between Montreal and Carolina, I mean, we watched game six and from the second period on in game seven, when Buffalo was in that, we'll call it the JFG mode. It gave Montreal a lot of problems. And you think about how Carolina plays all the time. It is very much that way.

They swarm, they smother, they are relentless, So if Montreal is not prepared for it, if they don't have their fastball, as Martin St. Louis put it in terms of what really costs them in game six in particular, it could be a very long but short series for the Canadians. But this is a team that has grown up right before our very eyes, Elliot,

and has gotten over hurdles that we weren't certain they were capable of doing at this stage of where they're at as a team. So rule them out at your own wish. But I've got hopes that this could be a very compelling series yet here, too, despite how steep of a climb it will be for the young upstart Canadians. I'm with you. I hope so too. Okay.

That was the final thought presented by your Canadian Toyota dealers. Why don't we take our first break? When we come back, we'll do a brand new edition of the thought. line. 32 thoughts. The podcast continues after this. Okay, welcome back. Time for another edition of the thought line, Elliot.

We've got a few things we have to address from last pod, but first, I'm sure you have some shoutouts to get to. You know, Kyle, first, I wanted to begin this part of the podcast by recognizing Robert Irving, the owner of the Moncton Wildcats, who passed away at the age of 71 this week. Yeah.

Hockaday in Canada this year was in Moncton. We do an annual banquet every year on the Thursday. And it was interesting because we didn't know if he was going to be in attendance. And one of the things I was told I'd done an event earlier in the day was some of the people who worked with Robert Irving in his office. And we were talking about how to dress up for the banquet. And they asked me, are you going to wear a tie? And I said, no, I don't plan on it. And I said, are you going to wear a tie?

And this person said to me, we are waiting for Mr. Irving to let us know if we have to wear ties or not. And I said, oh, yeah. And he goes, oh, yeah. But they talked reverentially about him as the owner of the Wildcats. And what an unbelievable job he did. So I know that organization is in mourning today, and I wanted to send them all the best,

did have a chance to meet him briefly last year. I also wanted to shout out for a different and personal reason, which I won't get into here. But, you know, I was busy doing something on Tuesday in Toronto, and I needed permission from the McDonald's store at Bathurst and Fisherville in North York. And the manager there was her name was Claire. And I just had to ask her to do something. and just what a nice, polite, friendly, helpful lady, and she has no idea who I am. But if anybody from corporate McDonald's listens to this,

I want you to know that Claire, who runs your franchise at Bathurst and Fisherville is an absolute awesome person. Okay, Kyle, do you want to guess what the most response I received were about the last pod we did. Oh, I'm going to guess, because I may have got some of it, too. Did it have to do with the siblings? Yes.

Yeah. Yes. Yeah, we kind of blew up you and I. Now, I have an excuse. I still have PTSD from calling swimming at the rest of the rest of. Rio Olympics in 2016. So that's why I forgot Jamie and Penny Alexiac. As far as I am concerned, swimming at the 2016 Olympics never happened.

So I've forgotten her great run. I think that's only the second time I've ever made a joke about it. But yes, that was an absolute enormous, enormous miss that we missed the Alexiaks. And there were a lot of you who wrote in about it, including the great Sherry Ross and Dave Isaac, who formerly covered the Philadelphia Flyers and is a regular listener to this podcast. But there were many, many more of you. There were a number of other good ones. A few people brought up Tyler Myers and Quentin Grimes. Yes.

They, of course, are half-brothers. and someone mentioned to me that they're probably the highest paid duo. And I looked it up this year. Tyler Myers made $2.9 million in cash. And Quentin Grimes, who plays for the Philadelphia 76ers, he made $8.7 million. So if anybody made more than $10.6 million or $11.6 million, please let me know.

There's a listener of this pod. Her name is Jana. she's a big sports fan she also brought up Arthur Calliyev and Elvina Callieva and everybody knows who Arthur is

Elvina Callieva is a tennis player I actually looked her up she played a match a qualifying match the other day at the French Open unfortunately she was defeated but CalliEva is a member

of the women's tennis tour. You look like you want to say something. No, no, no. But I just, well, remember we brought up Calli of using a thicker knob on a stick because he grew up in a tennis family. Oh, that's right. Very good call. And she also brought up Macklin and Charlize Celebrini. And Charlize is 17 years old.

And she is a tennis player as well. On the ITF junior rankings, as of May 18th, she's ranked 270th. So thank you, Jenna, for pointing those out. There was also the suggestion for Phil and Amanda Kessel. That's obviously, you should have mentioned them too, not different sports, but obviously two great hockey players.

Well, yeah. And that's why we didn't because they both play hockey. Right. But you know what? I just wanted to mention it. I got a couple of really good ones here, by the way, that got mentioned to me a couple of really good notes. First of all, hey, Elliot, this is a person named Jojo who sent this to me. Hey, Elliot, just listening to the most recent episode, you and Kyle were talking about Ben and Lacey Kindle, both playing professional sports.

And I thought you guys would like to know that the athletic. In the Kindle family doesn't stop there. I play ball hockey with his uncle Paul in the Okanagan. He definitely isn't as skilled as Ben, but he's got some great hockey IQ, and more importantly, he's the beer guy in the locker room. Oh, nice. I argue, Paul, that that is the most important skill of all. And Todd Smith, you brought up.

I brought up the triple Lindy. Yes. You brought up the In Too Deep music video by Some 41. Yeah. Todd Smith wrote in and said, the In Too Deep music video is a parody of that movie. Yeah. And so the funny thing was after we were done recording,

you sent Domini the video clip from the movie back to school. And I'm watching the diving routine from Rodney Dangerfield. then I'm like, oh my gosh, that's where it's from. Yes. Steve, at the end of the music video, he does the triple Lindy. Yes. And wins them the diving competition in the music video. I like you, so many times during the trivia question,

backwards somersaulted into tying it all together. I had no idea in the moment. Neither did I. He said he called it the unintentional bridging of the generation. I'm born in 1990 and I have seen back to school a classic and grew up on music videos. Crazy to think how many listeners didn't know either reference. I sure didn't. We had a lot of Kevin on the last pod and there was a listener named Melanie who wrote in and said,

what the heck is Kevin going to all inclusives in between games? What's with all the bracelets? Oh, yes. He doesn't like, he, when he gets a bracelet from somewhere, he just keeps it on until it, like, falls off. I also wanted to shout out Tom McDonald. Tom McDonald gave me a hat. He has, he was wearing a tragically hip hat and I saw it.

And he puts his favorite song on the back. And he gave me the hat. I didn't want to take it from him because he had it with Wheat Kings, which is obviously one of his favorite songs. And he wouldn't take it back for me. Put it in my hand, he wouldn't take it back. And I just wanted to say thank you, Tom. And the hats he puts together, they're fantastic.

And I wanted to do some shoutouts. Jack Knox, I met at the Sabres game. His grandfather was Seymour Knox, one of the beloved owners of the Buffalo Sabers. I met a gentleman named Andrew, and his wife Rye, they came out from Florida. They're Devils fans, but they came up to watch Game 7 of Sabres, Canadians, and the next night they were going to see game one of the Eastern Conference final

and the NBA between the Knicks and the Cavaliers, which Dom tells me the Knicks came back to win in overtime. Really nice people. Andrew, big pod listener. I think he owns some bars and restaurants there in Cocoa Beach, which I've been to before. but they made a big sports trip out of it. Jake, who gave me a beer saber that I used for my NHL network hit before the game. Oh, I saw that. Yeah, that was very good. Yes, Ali, who was the security guard outside our set, protecting David Amber from all his adoring fans.

Very nice guy. I worked at Sabers games for a long time. the Benson family there were some of his grandparents were at the game super nice people Dave was actually working out in the gym

with a couple of Benson's grandparents and he said they were throwing the weights around in there that they were like as you could imagine Zach pretty tough guy the you can see comes by it honestly according to Dave

seeing them work out and there were just a ton of Great fans I met. And just so many awesome people at the Sabres game. Yeah, I also wanted to shout out. So in the first round, I was covering Montreal, Tampa, I reached out to Marshall Hame at Cornell University

because I was looking for photos of Jim Crozier, who played goal at Cornell, the late 80s and early 90s. His son, Max Crozier, is a member of the Lightning. and Marshall is kind enough to find some photos in the archives of his dad. And anyway, so Marshall mentions when we're going back and forth an email that he grew up in Buffalo and watched hockey night in Canada all the time as a kid with his dad. Fast forward to Game 7 in Buffalo Monday night. I meet his father, Mike, who is an off-ice official that works at Key Binket. I heard about this guy.

He was looking for you. Yes, yeah. So I was just, we were almost ready to leave the building. And he stopped me just out in front of our little studio space in the hallway. And yeah, he explained that his son, as it was Marshall, that helped me out at Cornell. So the Hame family from Buffalo, great people, do great work, both in university athletics and the NHL. And just wanted to shout both them out. And great meeting one over email and the other one in person the other night.

It was really cool. how that all came together. That's outstanding. All right, hit me with the questions. We're going to start with this, Elliot, from Dexter. I thought you guys might enjoy this. Habs fan living in Paris, France. Watch every Montreal playoff game

while on a call to my parents in Vancouver. They are Habs fans who met in Montreal in the late 70s. have been trying hard not to wake up my girlfriend with these games, but Game 7 OT woke her up at 452 a.m. And she was not happy. Never have I been so happy to be in the doghouse. And he attached a screengram of their text conversation. I will read them out the messages

that came from his girlfriend. Tuesday morning in Paris, 4.52 a.m. Dude, did we not have a chat about you being less loud? Come on, this is ridiculous. And then at 453, you literally are screaming and slamming doors. What the hell? That was the last one. all worth it.

He had kept himself quiet in the middle of the night through the first six games could not contain himself after New Hook scored the winner in overtime. Dexter, this is what you do from a man who is an expert at relationships. Yes.

Hold on. Is there someone on the line we don't know of yet? A special guest. This is what you do. Go on. Deep down, she understands. She knows how much. You don't need to grovel,

but you do need to give a nice repentance. That's it. Do something nice. It's all good. She gets it. What a concept. Thank you for your expertise. There you go.

Get her a gift. I'm happy for you. No, no, no. It doesn't have to be a gift. Just do something nice. All right. All right. Something doesn't have to be big, but surprisingly unexpected.

And all is forgotten. Good. Dexter, good luck. My advice column will be open next week. 32 roses All right Just one other one we'll get to here Hey Dom and Kyle

What? This is from Neil Yeah That's what it says Love the show Had a debate with my dad and friends And he says Islanders, Jets and Bruins fans

So we are definitely biased Toward elite goaltending About roster construction And goalie contrary during these playoffs. Do you think paying a goalie 8 mil plus is still worth it in today's NHL? A lot of the teams still playing seem to be getting great results from goalies making under 3 million, and the cap savings seem to help build deeper lineups overall.

As fans of teams with top-end goalies, we obviously see the value of having a Sorokan, a Hellebuck, or Swayman-level player, but does the cap era make it smarter to invests? invests more heavily in depth and trust system slash playoff variants in net. Curious whether you think the league is trending towards, quote, good enough, goaltending plus depth or of true elite goalies are still worth paying premium money to build around. P.S. A Winnipeg fan from NYC.

Let's grab a beer in Winnipeg for the Heritage Classic. You got it. First of all, Neil. No, you know where you're getting a beer from? From Kyle and Dom. They're the only ones. I would normally pay. I would normally pay for it, but it's not happening because you didn't say hi to me.

I'm personally offended. You know, it's interesting, Neil, I see this. You know who says that? Teams don't have that kind of goalie that's worth paying $8 or $9 million. Yes, yes. I thought the exact same thing. But you take a look, Neil, like honestly, Eastern Conference, before this, look at the last five years. Bobroski, $10 million goalie, Bobrowski,

$10 million goalie, Bobrowski, $10 million goal goalie, and Vasilevsky, who's what, nine and a half? So the last five before this year were two guys who combined make just under $20 million. Yeah, and it's always, I feel with this conversation, it's very a recency bias, right? Like to your point, the last two Stanley Cup finals,

you look at the goalie matchup, like where are you leaning towards? what do you think is more valuable? Yep. Right? And now we just happen to have a final four where there isn't a Sorokin or a Vasilevsky or a Babrovsky or a Halibuck in the mix.

And now the conversation swings the other way of going, well, do you really need that? Do you take the cap savings and spend it elsewhere to further deepen your team? I'm totally with you. It's all about how your team is built to start. Let me just say this. I'll clarify. Vasilevsky, the first year they won, he was making three and a half. Yes. But the last, but the next two years, they won one and they lost one. He was at nine and a half. So it's three years of ten million with Bobrovsky, two years of nine and a half Vasilevsky and one year of three and a half Vasilevsky. So I think it just comes down to, Neil, do you have a guy who you want to pay that money to?

Yes. And certainly with where things are headed. cap-wise that we know. I mean, an $8 million goalie two years ago is different than an $8 million goalie next season in terms of how much space that is eating up as quickly that ceiling level is jumping. Neil, thanks very much for that submission and that'll do it. For the latest edition of the thought line, you can write in an email 32 Thoughts at Sportsnet.ca or you can send in a voicemail, 18333.3.3. 311, 32332.

We'll take one final break and wrap up this edition of the pod. On the other side, you're listening to 32 thoughts. All right, just one final reminder of game one of the Western Conference final final later tonight and where you can find it for listeners in Canada. Hockey Central pregame show on Sportsnet at 730 Eastern, 430 Pacific Time, Ron McLean and the gang. However, we should point out, as Elliot teased, I don't know if it was last pod or last week. Anyway, they're all starting to mesh together at this point.

Jake Allen, a goaltender with the New Jersey Devils, who has done a wonderful job the last couple of playoffs. Coming on the panel at certain points of the playoffs with us, he is back tonight and Thursday night as well in studio. So really look forward to hearing Jake's perspective on things, especially when Montreal gets going. Of course, he was there, the early years of that rebuild and eventually getting to where they are now.

back in a conference final for the first time since 2021. So Jake Allen will be in studio tonight and setting up game one between Vegas and Colorado, little after 8 Eastern on SportsNet and CBC. John Barlett, Gary Galley, Sean McKenzie, is our commentator crew from Ball Arena in Denver. That'll be Wednesday night. Thursday night, of course, Montreal, Carolina, 8 Eastern as well.

Conference finals begins as we are half, way through the Stanley Cup Playoff Marathon. Until Friday, have yourselves a great couple of days. We'll talk to you then.