32 Thoughts: The Podcast - The Cup Final Is Set

Episode Date: June 3, 2024

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Jeff and Elliotte review Game 6 between Edmonton and Dallas that saw the Oilers clinch their spot in the Stanley Cup Final agains the Florida Panthers. They discuss the job Kris Knoblauch has done through all of this (14:42). The Oilers conversations make way for the Florida Panthers (24:13). They delve into Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett re-entering their old battle of Alberta days (27:30), and they talk about how deep the Florida Panthers roster is (31:47). Jeff and Elliotte also give Paul Maurice his flowers (34:55). Jeff shifts the conversation to the news and notes around hockey beginning with fresh details surrounding an emerging 3-on-3 professional hockey league (42:07). The fellas also talk about the GM search in Carolina (54:17),  how Ottawa's coaching staff is shaping out (1:05:19), and the leaked coffee meeting between Mitch Marner and Craig Berube (1:06:28). The guys answer your questions in the Montana’s Thought Line (1:12:35).Jeff and Elliotte wrap the podcast by pondering what is next for the New York Rangers (1:25:05).  Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailThis podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.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.

someone told me that they believe there's a player who's in the final four of the stanley cup playoffs who who has reached out about it which i don't think they should yeah it's that's that's yes it's mcdavid he's defecting right in the middle of the playoffs and with that the stanley cup final is set welcome to 32 thoughts the podcast presented by the gmc sierra elevation elliott it's like 2004 all over again the province of alberta versus the state of florida but it's not tampa and calgary it's florida and edmonton 20 years later your thoughts on how we got here. The Dallas Stars, who threw everything at Stuart Skinner, including 35 shots, to Edmonton's 10. The Dallas Stars come up a little bit short.

The Edmonton Oilers win this series in six. They now face off against the Florida Panthers. We'll get to them in a couple of seconds. But you were at the rink. You were there. I remember being in Edmonton in 2006 with CBC and my producer, Tracy Lightfoot. We went to games against San Jose and against Anaheim. And I don't think I had ever been inside a building that was as loud as Edmonton was.

I didn't even go to the final against Carolina. But just in the Anaheim series in the San Jose series it was a deafening deafening experience how was it on Sunday night it was deafening there were times I absolutely could not hear what was going on on the air first of all I want to say it was one of the best crowds I've ever seen in terms of being at a game and And I joked about this in the post-game hit, Jeff, but when you're a hockey fan in Canada, and there's for good reason sometimes, there's a feeling of impending doom.

Like you want to believe that you can win. You hope to believe that you can win, but you really believe that in some way some deity that no one has ever heard of that maybe only 35 people in the world know has placed a curse on your team that is going to prevent you from victory maybe you get a bad bounce maybe somebody gets injured maybe a bad call maybe the other team just beats you but you always believe that you're going to lose you hope for the best but assume the worst this is one of the few times i can really remember walking into arena and just from the people i was talking to in the field in the building

this was a crowd that thought the oilers were going to win they did not care they believed the oilers were going to win they were not care they believe the Oilers were going to win they were never nervous even when the Oilers started poorly even when the ice was tilted like we saw all the records tonight oh yeah um fewest shots by a team to win a conference final 10. they didn't just edge it they smashed it the previous record was 17. we're shot differential by a team winning a conference championship minus 26 beating the previous record minus 23 they erased kevin bx from the record book because that was his 2017 docs that were involved in that game but the crowd was never nervous they never thought they were going to lose even when dallas scored to make it two to one

did you hear them in the last three four minutes they were so loud i couldn't hear for every clear simpson every every time every time edwards he cleared the pot let's go let's go oilers and and i couldn't hear cuthbert i couldn't hear simpson i tried to hear mcdavid's interview with kyle i'm gonna listen to it after uh we the pot. I couldn't hear a word of it. It was deafening in there. Like I've been lucky enough to be in some great crowds, the bird's nest in Beijing, 91,000 people watching Usain Bolt win the 200. I remember being there. The Olympic gold medal in Vancouver in 2010 for the man like I've been very lucky I've been able to be at some

Incredible crowds that was as good a crowd as I ever heard and you know on some level I do think they willed the Oilers to victory tonight when my career is over and and I am fired Which could be next week. We'll see. That's a night I'm always going to remember. Always going to remember. Well, there's a few things to remember from that one. First of all, the McDavid power play goal early.

The first shot on net in the proverbial stick handling in a phone booth. How many times have you heard that cliche? Oh, this guy could stick handle in a phone booth. How many times you've heard that cliche? Oh, this guy could stick handle in a phone booth. That's how tight it was for McDavid. And that's Miro Haskinen that he did that to Elliot, which is not lost on anybody. Well, can I talk to you about that one for a second? Sure.

So someone sent me a text and they said, this shows McDavid's incredible hockey IQ. Tanev would have been there normally as a right-hand shot, but he's in the penalty box. So Haskinen's there and McDavid sees that. It's left-hand shot versus right-hand shot. And you can see Haskinen's all twisted. That is McDavid turning an elite Norris Trophy caliber defenseman inside out because he recognizes Hask on his weak side and that makes that goal even more incredible to me and which I didn't think was even possible there was another goal that was pretty interesting to me Elliot I say halfway tongue-in-cheek because the two nothing

goal again a power play marker this one from Zach Hyman I don't know about you but I'm not used to seeing Zach Hyman score from distance and for Zach Hyman slot is don't know about you, but I'm not used to seeing Zach Hyman score from distance. And for Zach Hyman, slot is distance. Snap that thing in short side. It wasn't like go to the far post and tap it in off a shin pad or an elbow pad or off the tip of his stick.

Zach Hyman scored from a little bit of distance on this one, Elliot Friedman. Yeah, everything weird happened. The team that had the ice tilted against it won and Zach Hyman scored from distance. Okay. that had the ice tilted against it won, and Zach Hyman scored from distance. Okay.

You know, I just have to say, like, just the joy. You know, I was trying to decide, like, who were they most happy for, the Oilers? Were they most happy for Nugent Hopkins because he's been there the longest, Ekholm because they love him, Skinner because he's been up and down, Nurse because of the heat he took. Skinner because he's been up and down.

Nurse because of the heat he took. I want to remind me to talk about that in a second because I do want to talk about a conversation I had with a couple others about that. McDavid and Drysaddle just because they're the leaders. Hyman because they love the guy. I mean, name it. There were so many people you could tell that these players were happy for. And when the players did their hands, because they all lost their sticks. So when they did their gloves up in the circle at the end, like, the place was deafening.

It was, you know, it was interesting. Amber said to me at the end of the game, if the Oilers win the Cup, who gets the Cup right after McDavid? And there's, I know we're really getting ahead of ourselves here but these are the kinds of things that you talk about but well amber amber goes from this is a natural disaster to this is the greatest thing that ever happened in a faster than a the world's fastest car goes from zero to sixty like he is seriously bipolar but he he talks about this kind of stuff and he said who gets the cup after mcdavid and i was like a don't talk about that and b you know what that's a really good question there could be

a lot of choices i would think to get ahead of myself on this one see i always it goes captain first and then i default to the longest serving member. That's Ryan Nugent Hopkins. Right. So that's where I would default. The only thing that would interrupt that, if it's someone that has a remarkable story, something they've overcome, someone at the end of their career who might not be the longest serving member, but you know they're wrapping it up and they may have just been on your team for a couple of years something like that but my default position on it is always longest serving member of the team but again so getting way ahead of ourselves florida wins let's let's even this out okay let's even this out so barkov takes it first who gets it second so let me go and try hang on give me a second here to go look and see i don't want panther fans throwing like hot dogs or pretzels at me because i didn't do this for them when i

get down to florida and to me while you're thinking about it ak blad would be the guy unless unless they pulled a total surprise and did paul marie's second. I know what you're going for there. But players hate coaches, so no. Coaches withhold ice time. It's Aaron Eckblad. It's the longest serving number. Maybe. But again,

go back to the Philadelphia draft when they took Aaron Eckblad. Things weren't looking great for the Florida Panthers. And he stuck through a lot of bad teams. Anyway, this is a ridiculous conversation. I can't believe you started us down this road. David Amber did technically. Oh, one thing I wanted to mention here.

I just want to throw that out there. This out here because I want to annoy you a little bit. Although I think you'll like this one. So you talked about Connor McDavid's suits on Sunday night. His last three games, the McDavid suits, right? Yes. And I think you mentioned he wore different pants. No, I was wrong.

They look dark on the first one, but I think they're the same green ones. Okay, so you know where my brain went on this one? And I've always thought that was brilliant. Now, this may not be 100 true but the basis of it i believe is there are some dis that disputed but nonetheless go with me on this one okay you know who used to always wear the same suit and had a closet with seven identical suits in it because he didn't want to waste time deciding what to wear when he richie rich

it because he didn't want to waste time deciding what to wear when he got rich rich uh no close albert einstein the einstein of hockey and that's what i'm going for do you know what color the suits were that were in question gray correct he had seven gray suits oh my goodness in his closet seven identical gray suits in his closet now some people have disputed it he wore a number of different things but by and large the suits that he had were all if not not if not identical at least similar and the story always was that einstein didn't want the pain of having to make another choice in his day so just bought seven gray suits and wore them you know what if someone walked up to mcdavid and said this to him he would give them the pure mcdavid snarl it's so good it's so good it's so

he's got a great evil eye and you would get it yeah i know okay can we talk about can we talk about nurse for a second nurse had a great game and nurse had a huge block shot at the end holy smokes he was really great after the controversy and uh i don't want to get so much into that i want to talk about the match-up and and what we're about to see here but i wanted to include this in the podcast because it was a really interesting conversation. I talked to a couple people about the day where the nurse took a lot of heat and he had the really short scrum and kind of the fallout, and then he had a massive game with, I guess it was down to 11 hits. They took one away, but still phenomenal.

He played great after that and and he had a good scrum this morning where it looked as if maybe not all is forgiven but all is kind of put behind everybody but i'll tell you what someone said to me and i backed it up by talking to a couple of other people i think this is really interesting they said to me that the oilers understand and this is i'm talking about the other players they understand criticism of a guy needs to play better like that is not what bothered them but what bothered them in this particular case and i and they have raised it before i don't know if they've raised it publicly but they have definitely raised it privately and one of them mentioned it to me is that they really get angry when nurse's salary

is brought up that to them crosses a line and you know i said well you know salary cap this kind of thing and they but you know what they said they said said, that is BS. Okay. I said, okay, why? I'm hearing out. And he goes, it's not his fault that he was proposed that contract and he signed it. And so they feel when that gets brought up on nurse, it crosses a line and it's unfair. Now people may disagree with that. Everybody's entitled to their opinion. But that is how the players feel. And when they get mad about that specific criticism of Nurse, that is what they think. They think it's unfair and crosses a line because any player in the league would have signed that deal. 100% true.

My comment on that would be, when you bring up salary, that's not a criticism of the player. That's a criticism of the manager. Players think that it's a criticism of them. No, it is. That's a criticism of the manager. No, you can't.

That to me is a weak defense because anybody is going to take that personally. Anybody is going to take that personally. But then on the one hand, you're saying everybody would take the deal. That's not your fault. It also gets brought up as we have to get rid of this guy because he's making this salary.

And they don't think that's right. But that's the reality of the conversation around salary caps. You don't have to like it and it's uncomfortable, but that's the reality. I'm just saying that that is why those players take it so personally. Because they did take it really personally. Sometimes I feel that what we don't think enough about is we look at how this affects one side of the equation and we don't necessarily think about how it affects the other side of the equation and I just thought that was a real

interesting window into why the Oilers players get so mad about it um you ever thought on Chris Knobloch through all of this? When you look at moments that change the team profoundly, usually we think of a big trade. Not so much. The most profound move this year

that altered the course of a team's trajectory this year was the hiring of Chris Knobloch. I was thinking about this a while ago. I wanted to bring it up here on the podcast. The first time I had someone say to me that Chris Knobloch was going to be an NHL coach

was 2017 at the Memorial Cup in Windsor. Erie Otters had just lost to the Windsor Spitfires. Rocky Thompson coaching the Windsor Spitfires, Chris Knobloch coaching the erie otters had just lost to the windsor spitfires rocky thompson coaching the windsor spitfires chris knoblaugh coaching the erie otters and you know who told me someday this guy's going to coach in the nhl jeff jackson correct because he said the same thing to several people in 2017 i don't know if it was 2017 that far back I don't know if it was 2017 but I heard it for a while yeah are you trying to say that you

broke the story no all I'm saying is that was the first no that was the first time I heard I don't know it sounds like you're trying to take some because Jackson had a couple when he was working for our group and then Wastrom and he had to bring it and radish on the Otters team anyhow

and was impressed with how he handled his clients, I would imagine. Anyway, that was the first time that I heard his name in NHL. You know, to me, the whole thing is really interesting because the Oilers were struggling when Jay Woodcroft took over and he righted them. Like, he righted his ship there. And who were a lot of people picking at the beginning of the year?

The Oilers. And we were talking so much about the Oilers and particularly Woodcroft, who I think is a good coach and will get another opportunity. So much that other teams, remember other teams were like reaching out to us. Can you stop freaking talking about these guys already?

Yeah. And now here they are and you're right they didn't get off to a great start and they made the change and they righted themselves again um you know first of all i think knoblock has made a lot this has been talked about a lot He's made a lot of big decisions in these playoffs that have worked. He has shown he is unafraid and he's got big guts. Big, big, big guts. He's not afraid. But I think the biggest thing in the Oilers is, I'm going to have to go back and listen to these, Jeff, but do you remember the beginning of the year,

we did a whole bunch of interviews with Edmonton players. Oh, yeah. And we talked about why they lost to Vegas. But do you remember, beginning of the year, we did a whole bunch of interviews with Edmonton players. Oh, yeah. Know what they all said? We talked about why they lost to Vegas. And everything they talked about, there was depth. And we all, like, I thought Dallas had the best depth in the league. Edmonton out-depthed them in this series. It was also, what did Dreisaitl say?

It was along the lines of we would have this one shift where we just lose the game. A mistake would cost us the game. Everything that they said they learned from last year, they learned. I think the players here deserve

a ton of credit because the Oilers have gone from McDavid and Dreisaitl create magic and everybody else is along from the ride to everybody on that team checks. Everybody on that team pays attention. Like, like, I'll tell you something. Like, apparently I heard that. So in game five, Corey Perry threw a kind of a weird drop pass, and everybody was like, why is he doing that? I think I have the play right. If I have the play wrong, someone will let me know,

and I'll figure out the right play. But Perry threw kind of a weird drop pass for Dreisaitl, and Dreisaitl wasn't there. And we kind of wondered, A, was Perry, because he'd been hurt with his shoulder early in the game he not feel like he can shoot and the second thing was like where was dry side like what was going on and Chris Knobloch he said that dry side deserves a lot of credit for that play because maybe he wasn't there but it was because he was looking to check his defensive responsibilities to make sure

he wasn't leaving anything that could turn dangerous and how many times had we heard about something like that about dry settlement david in the past not as much like we knew they were really determined guys and they wanted to be great but they were always thinking offense first. And I think when your best players are like that, everybody's like that. And I think Edmonton has changed the mind of how people perceive them. And I think the other guy who deserves a ton of credit is Skinner. Because two weeks ago, he lost his job. And in game six, he had the biggest game of his life and the biggest moment. Like when, like, you know, like some people were like, oh, it's the old alley rope-a-dope.

And I think at times they were putting a shield around him and daring Dallas to get through it. But there were other times they were holding on for dear life, like, like a seven-year-old at Six Flags. Like they really were on a a roller coaster. And Skinner was great. Like, the one goal was a really good goal. It was a really challenging play. And it was going to take a really good goal to beat him. And I give the guy a lot of credit. A lot of credit.

So, 34 saves for Stuart Skinner in that game. And Kelly Rudy, I'm not sure. Listen, you couldn't even hear Cuthbert and Simpson. I don't know if you heard the studio. Kelly Rudy after the game said that's the best game Stuart Skinner's ever played. I would agree. I would totally agree.

And you know what? Like, you know, the one thing now, and I want to turn our attention to Florida a little bit here. You know, Skinner, Skinner's going to have to be that guy again. And the one thing about him is, and this is the next level for him. He generally has one game, a series that you, you say, Oh, and he's, there was less of that, this series, and he's recovering from it better. I don't know if he can have an uh-oh next series because he's facing a guy who just outdueled Shesterkin who was the best goalie of the playoffs and is at a level that high himself and one of the things about Bobrovsky that I really respect about him

was he is bought into what Florida has sold him And that is that you can't play all the time. You need rest. This is why. And when you get rest, you're better. And once again, Florida is going to have a week off between games. And I know everybody hates the two days off on travel days. And in Edmonton, Florida series, these teams are going to need it like this i saw all these stats ron quoted one that this is the longest series in nhl stanley cup history

the viewers may not like it and the fans may not like all these days off and i get all that but it's going to give both teams the best chance to win. Because if we had to play every other day with this travel, it would catch up to these teams. Never mind the reporters covering the series. We would definitely not make it. We'd start with 200 reporters. Someone think of the reporters, please. And down to 75 at the end, yes.

But the players would be spent. They just wouldn't have enough gas. And that is one of the things that gives Florida a good advantage going in is that Bobrovsky's going to be rested. So Skinner coming off, I agree, the best game of his career, he's going to have to be even more consistent to give Edmonton the best possible chance. You know, Jeff, one thing in the room

after the game, I just asked Matthias Ekholm, what's the biggest thing that you'll tell your teammates about going to the final with Nashville in 2017? And he said, we fell behind 2-0 and we couldn't crawl out of that hole. He said, we have to start on time. And you know, Florida will, because they were there last time. And you know, Florida will, because they were there last year. And he kind of talked about the enormity of the moment. Like you get to the Stanley Cup final for many players for the first time, and you think you're ready. And then all of a sudden you blink and it's over before you realize, you know, Adam Henrique, same thing. He went to the Stanley Cup final with the Devils in 2012. And remember, they were down three-nothing to the Kings

before they really made that a series and got to six games. But that's what Eckholm said that he will tell them. He says, you cannot fall behind two-nothing. Like, you have to get in. You have to start right away. And I thought that was an interesting point. Okay, let's get to Florida here. But one more

closing thought here on the edmondson rollers when we were in edmondson for training camp and did all those interviews as you mentioned what was the saying cup or bust cup or bust from the edmondson rollers well they got there and for all those guys that stuck to their guns about it congratulations and corey perry now is 15 going to the stanley cup final record is remarkable anaheim tampa dallas montreal and now edmondson okay so let me share something with you from a conversation that i had with someone on friday on my way home from the radio show this person brought up this is someone who's been around hockey forever who said to me that he believed that the florida panthers were a replica of the boston bruins 2011 team that won the stanley cup not necessarily player for player there is no chara on this team there's no chara anywhere yeah it's kind of a big hole in your argument though well that is this this is like the 2011 bruins without charlo

marchand no there's no there's no there's no there's there's i'm gonna i'm gonna get there i'm gonna get there in in how they were built and how bill zito put this team together and how they play now there's one obvious comparison and that's Barkov and Bergeron. And how many times have you heard me make the lame joke that Barkov is finished for Bergeron? But the comparisons are undeniable. But you look at how Bennett plays, and you look at how Reinhardt plays, and oh, there's that number 19 again. What's his name? Oh, Matthew Kachuk. And you look how he plays. again what's his name oh matthew kachuk and you look how he plays like there's more similarities elliot than differences from that 2011 boston bruins team no and i know yes chara is a gaping hole but no one outside of no one outside of montreal with larry robin so i'm going to be

so i'll give it to you jeff i you know i'm here i'm just i'm just a nice guy. I know. That's what everyone says about you. I am really... The Sportsnet stats group had an unbelievable stat about Barkov. No goals against Kucherov. One goal against Pasternak. No goals when they were facing Panarin.

He was on the ice for an hour and a half against these three guys in the first three rounds and they scored once against him. So the Bark off for bergeron is 100 there and i'm really looking forward to seeing whoever they match him up against but you know the other thing too about him is remember was a year ago just before the final i think it was in the first round last year where you know we were among people talking about can you win with this guy is just not mean

enough and the whole thing about is you can be a nice guy off the ice which he is but you still have to be he's one of the nicest guys but when they're on there you got to be mean and uh you know he is at least found found that and um you know he's it was a few podcasts ago we kind of talked about how and almost i mean not the gretzky era obviously lemieux era but there was an era in this league that he probably could have been an mvp candidate won a heart trophy i just think it's so hard now with mcdavid and dry sidle and matthewl and Matthews and McKinnon and Kel McCargo, I think, will win one someday. I think it's just going to be so hard.

But to me, he's a heart trophy level player now. Yep. You know, one of the interesting things here, and I think this is another obvious statement, but all of a sudden, Matthew Kachuk and Sam Bennett have re-entered the Alberta chat. And we all think of some of the wars that Sam Bennett had with players like Evander Kane, for example. And we think of the battles that Matthew Kachuk had with everybody on the Oilers. Boy, you know what? That is a great, great call.

That is so good by you. You know, Evander Kane admitted during this series that it was a little harder for him because Dallas wouldn't get involved in the scrums. Oh, guess what? That's not going to be an issue against the Florida Panthers. Yeah.

And specifically Sam Bennett. Absolutely. That is, you know, for example, here's another good one. So Zdorov and Kane had a real battle in Edmonton, Vancouver. And early on in that series, it was going Zdorov's way. I had a couple of those guys who told me that Kane deserved a lot more credit than he received for that what he did was the door up because they said at that series went on kind of canceled the dora about it was

like that's a kane's adorab thing we don't have to worry about that that's what the other rollers were kind of like thinking and they said that he didn't get enough credit for how much he kind of took that away from the rest of the Oilers now in this series he didn't really have that he got hurt for a little bit in game six but you know they really felt and and I didn't ask any of this again I'm going back in my head in the aftermath of that Edmonton Calgary series boy is it good on you that you brought this up in the aftermath of that Edmonton Calgary series they felt he took a Chuck out of the series like remember Kachuk made the money sign yeah at him they were like remember the older said later that was that was a really

bad idea now Kachuk i think is a bit of a different player this year he can still be a pain in the ass and he can still be very tough but you know one of the theories is that after the body trauma that he went through last year in the vegas series and that that bad injury he suffered that kachuk learned that he has to pick his pick his spots a little bit more, you know, because he was a target because he made Vegas so mad. And so I really wonder if he'll be even interested in reengaging in that. He might just say, I have bigger goals here and I'm going to leave this alone.

But I know the Oilers really thought that when Kachuk made Kane mad, Kane took Kachuk out of that series. Like he wanted no part of an angry Kane, the Oilers felt. I would bet now they'll say, look, you stay away from Kane because we need you here. But if it is allowed, but Kane will be engaged because those Panther guys won't go away from him. Oh, by the way, another Panther that could get the cup early.

I can't believe we didn't think of this. Kyle Ocposo. Yes, but again, the veteran guy chasing the cup his entire career just obviously hasn't been with the Florida Panthers as long as Aaron Eckblad, but I could see Ocposo as well. Don't forget Jamal Mayers. He got it pretty quick. Yep.

That's another good one. Absolutely. Let me drill down on one more thing here with the Florida Panthers. What do we talk about a lot in the playoffs? We talk about third lines. And we talk about depth. We started this conversation with you talking about depth and how Edmonton out-depthed the Dallas Stars.

You know, one of the emerging lines here through these playoffs is the third line of the Florida Panthers, led by Anton Lundell, who's having a really great playoffs, and Listerainen and Tarasenko, who have not so very quietly, if you've paid attention, really distinguished themselves through the playoffs as an effective third line. Again, no one thinks this is going to be easy at all if you're Edmondson.

And just the fact that these three players, this line is hitting a stride too, that it's not just Barkov and Bennett and Kachuk and Reinhardt and Verhage. They're very deep. They're good, man. And that third line is excellent. That third line is really good.

It's a really good and really deep team. And there's a lot of things we should talk about the Panthers here. First of all, the extension of the Florida dominance. And I know there's a lot of debate about the fact it's a no-tax state and the advantages they have. I don't want to hear about that when it comes to the Panthers right now. And you know why I don't want to hear about that? Because the Panthers were in a no-tax state for 30 years,

and they didn't have this kind of success, right? But can I add something there, though, to it? Yeah. They didn't have ownership like this though well that that's one thing that's one thing and that's my point the Panthers weren't the Panthers aren't successful now because they're in a no-tax state they're successful because they're the best they've ever been as an organization they have stable ownership and they make good decisions. Like look at all the good calls they made.

Look at all the good moves they made. You know, the Bennett deal turned out great for them. The Kachuk deal was very risky with what they gave up and it's turned out very well for them. Oliver Ekman-Larsen is a pickup, turned out to be great. Reinhardt is a pickup, turned out to be great. Reinhardt is a pickup, turned out to be great. You know, I remember Scott Luce, who ran the draft when they drafted Barkov. There was a lot of criticism at the time for, it was McKinnon one, Barkov two. Like, Drouin was a big stud back

then. So was Seth Jones, who went right after him and said, no, that's our guy. But consistently now, the Panthers have made very good and very hard decisions. They got ripped when they fired Andrew Burnett and hired Paul Maurice. People just destroyed that move. But things have gone. They have made really good decisions. They're stronger financially. You know, they've done a really nice job inside that arena,

building some really nice lounges trying to improve the experience of their fans uh i took steph and max there late in the season and steph was like you know the music here is really good um so like you can talk about no tax state for as long as you want with florida it doesn't matter what the tax rate of your state is if you're not a good organization. And that is why they are where they are. Because now finally, if you want to say that's an advantage, and I get that it is, they're finally smart enough, they know how to use it. Like, like when they finally said, look, why is Tampa so successful across the state? Because they use all their things that should be good about playing in Florida and they make themselves a winner. Well, now the Panthers

are doing the same things. And now the Panthers are doing the same things. And that's the difference. The tax rate's not the number one reason. It doesn't matter if you don't know what you're doing. And finally, that organization has a better idea. Ownership spending, ownership, the spending and investing and making great decisions. Now, um, you mentioned Palm race a couple of seconds ago. Now, listen, everybody in this organization is enjoying this. The players are enjoying this. The managers are enjoying this. Like the fans are having a great is enjoying this. The players are enjoying this. The managers are enjoying this.

The fans are having a great time with this. Obviously, you're in the Stanley Cup final again, two seasons in a row. I don't know if there's anyone enjoying this more than Paul Maurice right now, Elliot. These post-game pressers are must-watch and must-listen to. The Gillis of the NHL.

These are incredible, Elliot. They are. And he's having the best time of his life. Well, the thing is, too, and one of his real good buddies is Peter DeBoer, who had a tough one on Saturday, although he joked about it on Monday and he made peace with Tim Kalash on Sunday,

joked about it on Monday. And Peter DeBoer was fantastic in these playoffs. He was approachable. He was thoughtful. You know, he was really fantastic to deal with in the playoffs. He was thoughtful. He was approachable. He was accommodating. You know, he was really a pleasure to deal with. And, you know, when that happened on Saturday night, it sort of came out of nowhere because you had no reason to believe it was coming. It just happened. And, but, and the thing that said to me was it was the pressure of the moment.

Um, you know, Dallas was, was going so well. And that night on Saturday night, they looked like they were running out of gas. Even when they were playing Game 7 against Vegas or they were going against Colorado, I never really thought they were in trouble. Even Game 7 in Vegas, I was confident that Dallas was going to win. That game after Game 5 was the first time I really looked at Dallas and I said, oh boy, they're in trouble.

And I think he did too. And I think that came across in the moment. And, you know, obviously he thought, although we apologized for it the next day, he thought that there was some questioning about the commitment of the team. Paul Maurice hasn't had to deal with any of that. They beat Tampa in five. They beat Boston in six. They beat thea in five they beat boston in six they beat the rangers in six um you know i've never looked at florida in these playoffs and said oh boy like this team's in real

trouble here and so maurice has been able to be the way he is because he's never i i don't even though dallas like i said was in a game seven I don't think they ever looked over the abyss really until now. And Florida hasn't had to do that at all. So, I mean, it just shows you that you could be the most approachable coach. But when you really think, oh boy, we're in trouble, that can change at the snap of a finger. By the way, the other thing I wanted to mention about Florida too is in the third period of that game against the Rangers, shots were, what, 9-2 at some point?

Like you would think the Rangers would be coming at them. Florida just completely smothered them. No, smothered. It's a smother. They were ending that game. They were ending the series. It's a great team. A little bit later on, we'll talk about what's next for the New York Rangers. In the meantime, what's next for the Dallas Stars? We have people

like Matt DeShane, UFAs. We have Chris Tanev as a UFA. We wonder about things like Ryan Suter buyouts, and we wonder about the future of Joe Pavelski. Yeah, I wasn't in the dallas room after i had some other things i had to check out but those guys i heard got really emotional when they were asked about pavelski and joe pavelski two years ago he signed his extension in march

and last year he signed his extension in on jan 1st, which was the first day he was eligible. If you sign a one-year deal, you can't sign an extension until January 1st. So they always knew he was coming back, and he said, I'd like to do it early. I think we saw the writing on the wall this year. And Pavelski, I thought, in the first period of the game was really dangerous. He started on the fourth line. He got moved up to the first. But the way the Dallas Stars were talking about him postgame, I think we all know where

this is going, right? So he's a Hall of Famer and he's a hell of a player. And, you know, if it does happen, I think a lot of people are really going to be sorry to see him go. He had a great, great career. Seventh round pick. Great career.

2003 draft. We always talk about it. Yes. And he will leave as big an impression off the ice as he left on it. as big an impression off the ice as he left on it. And that's a real credit to him. You know, I believe that they want to keep Tanev.

There will be a lot of competition for him, a lot of competition for him. I believe that they want to keep Duchesne, and I think Duchesne is really open to that as well. I think they also know they've got to do, there's some big contracts coming. Wyatt Johnson is eligible for an extension this summer. Thomas Harley needs a new deal. Jake Ottinger is one year away from needing an extension. You know, Jason Robertson is a year away from being eligible. He's got two years left. So they've got some flexibility, but they've got some big, big deals coming.

some big big deals coming and the one thing that i know that they have talked about is just make sure we have our planning right so they're looking at ottinger and they're looking at johnston and they know that they can't do anything that makes it impossible or jams up their cap or with them ruins their cap but i really do think they'd like to keep Tanev. And I really do think they'd like to keep Duchesne. So we'll see. Jamie Benn, one more year remaining on his deal. So that one comes off the books, whether it is completely eliminated or there's an extension at a lesser amount. He has one more year on his deal there. Glad you mentioned Thomas Harley, who had a really good season this year for the Dallas Stars. That one to me feels like a bridge here as they try to get to your point, as they try to shift money around because there are big deals on the horizon,

but we'll see which way they go here. I mean, Dallas will once again be an interesting team to follow for a number of different reasons here. This window is still wide open for Dallas, by the way. Maverick played in that last game and there's one that's on the horizon, probably be a full-timer as soon as next season.

So, things still looking good for the Dallas Stars. I know that sucks to be a Stars fan right now, but still great season for your team. Really, really good season. Alright, Elliot, now time for the news. News on the march. As we like to say, what do you make of, and now there's a website,

Major League Hockey, the proposed fall launch of the new three-on-three league. What have you heard? What do you know? I went through the website. I have my questions. I've talked to people. I have other questions. What what do you know i went through the website i have my questions i've talked to people i have other questions what questions do you have well steve dangle was the one who first mentioned this story and he got caught up in what i will refer to as a vortex

of craziness and then you know he kind of backed away from it and e brad Schlossman, who's a tremendous reporter, covers North Dakota. He did some legwork into it and he found a lot more questions than answers. And it kind of went away for a little bit. But as you said, there's a website now and I've had a chance to speak to some people, including some players who have reached out and Nobody's really comfortable going on the record Which I totally understand and one of the reasons is is that if you want any information about it as a player You're asked to sign an NDA So the players didn't really want to say much about it

But a couple of them did confirm to me that they had at least reached out to find out what exactly is going on here. And here's what I can tell you. Number one, I do expect some kind of announcement during the Stanley Cup final about this. A revelation as to exactly what this is, what the goals are, and what they are trying to do. So I think the picture is going to become a bit more clear sometime during the Cup Final, which begins on April the 8th, next Saturday. Now, by the way, there was a chance the Cup Final could have started a little bit earlier had Dallas and Edmonton gone only five games. But as we know right now, that's not going to happen.

So the Cup Final now starts the 8th. I do expect an announcement sometime midway through the Stanley Cup Final. There's a lot of questions about where the money comes from it. Is it Saudi? Is it Middle East? about where the money comes from it. Is it Saudi? Is it Middle East? The only thing anyone would tell me

is that the company that's behind this is not based in the Middle East. I think, but I don't know, but it's based in Europe. And that doesn't mean I know necessarily where the money behind it is, but the company, from what I understand, is based in Europe. And I think there's a bunch of players who've reached out. They're curious about it. I know you're going to talk about this,

but they're talking about a $30 million salary cap. Look, if there's a chance to play hockey for money, and money you know people are going to be interested so a lot of players have reached out a lot of agents have reached out and you know someone told me that they believe there's a player who's in the final four of the Stanley Cup playoffs who who has reached out about it which I don't think they should yeah it's carl that's that's yes it's mcdavid he's defecting right in the middle of the playoffs but you know someone said to me like that's an example of how much at least interest there is in finding out what this is about but i think we're gonna get a clue and maybe some answers sometime during the Stanley Cup final.

Believe me, I understand all the skepticism, but I've really tried to find out, okay, what is going on here? And this is some of the best intel I've been able to get so far. You know, I talked to a couple of agents over the weekend who reached out as they're continuing to canvas and try to figure out what this thing is because I think you have a responsibility to your clients to find out, to your point, what this thing is, and if there's money available to play hockey. Going through it, I mean, there's a few things that are pretty ambiguous.

And as you mentioned, we're looking for an announcement sometime during the Stanley Cup final. Planning to launch in fall of 2024. I think a lot of people are focusing on this $30 million salary cap. I mean, really, Elliot, it can be a $100 million salary cap. It can be a $300 million salary cap. It says nothing in here about them having a salary cap floor or a minimum spend for every team.

So you can make it a $100 million salary cap for all that you care. If you're not going to be spending that money and there's nothing that compels you to do so, it doesn't matter for $30 million salary cap. A $100,000 bonus is mentioned on the website as well. You know, one of the interesting things here too is you try to canvas around and try to figure out, okay, which markets are they going to be in? And then moreover, which ranks are they going to be in here? On the website, it says that Major League Hockey has, quote, targeted franchise in 16 cities, not done deals with or poised to announce or have secured 16 cities,

but they've targeted 16 cities. And there's a world of difference between targeting a markets and having a markets to the point about salaries as well. And how many pro players you can have on a team on the website. It talks about three pro players per team and the rest of the lineup which will be a 14 player roster 12 players and two goaltenders being made up by ncaa athletes u sports major junior etc you know it talks about scouts having already gone through a draft and that'll be released at some point to which point i have to wonder to myself, well, if we don't have any markets announced

as they are targeting franchises in 16 cities, how do you complete a draft? They maintain they have coaches and managers. There's an email to apply for various positions as well. I'll say this. I believe that is true. That they have managers and coaches? And the reason I believe it is because I think that there have been people who either aren't happy with their current setups wherever they're working or aren't in a setup at all who have reached out or have been contacted by them saying, do you want to come work for us?

I do think that that is real. I did reach out to one person who I don't know very well, whose name was sent to me and they haven't got back to me, which says to me that there's something they don't want to tell me. So I think there is something to that. I've like one thing that happened when the PWHL started up last year, Jeff, I think there were a number of executives who weren't happy where they were, or were looking for a new challenge who reached out to them. So I 100% believe that there are interested individuals who have spoken to them, if not been hired by them. I, I'm fully of the belief that there are interested individuals.

I just don't know how many have either coaches or managers been secured so far for all of these markets. I'm beginning to suspect at least one, judging from the fact that he's not getting back to me. Okay, so we have one because as I mentioned last podcast and you're reaffirming, sometimes around this time of year, people get swollen fingers and they're not able to work on iPhones. So we'll see. I mean, then there's a whole idea of, you know, can three on three hockey work and what type of appetite is there for it? I mean, that's for each individual to determine. I've always looked at hockey as a struggle sport and not one where necessarily you'll want to have 20, 18 games. Like every now and then a big blowout is fun and a big 8-5 game is fun.

I just don't know if, I don't know. I don't know if my appetite is there to see that on every rush turns into a goal or a scoring chance. I like it as a struggle sport, but we'll see. That's for everybody else to decide. I think there's a couple other things I like it as a struggle sport, but we'll see. That's for everybody else to decide. I think there's a couple other things I just wanted to mention about it. Number one, I think one of the big questions a lot of the players have, and I don't know that they got a straight answer was, is the money guaranteed? That's obviously a big one. Is it going to be

something where you don't necessarily have a guaranteed contract, but you'll be paid, whether it's every two weeks or twice a month. Obviously, a lot of players with NHL histories or pro histories are really curious about that. And that's something that needs to get done. One of the things that players asked about was, is it going to be like the NHL or the AHL or the KHL or wherever that you move and go live in your city and what's travel going to be like things like that things that you sort of take for granted at the NHL level like I don't I don't think these teams are going to be flying charters around so no I don't I don't I don't think so I don't like just again like so much of this is all speculation you're trying to imply based on what you've seen but it's going to be according to the website,

a Friday, Saturday league. So I don't necessarily know that you'll be compelled to live in the market that you play in. Yes. I'll say this. Listen, it might be like NLL,

like national lacrosse league where you're falling in for the, for the weekend games. There's obviously a lot of skepticism and we all have our questions too. But like I said, I think we're going to get some answers uh in the middle of the stanley cup final now the the one thing that someone said that was really interesting to me is they said that you know who they would go after if they were this league and see if he would be interested phil kessel oh wow that is Phil Kessel. Oh, wow. That is a... Because Phil Kessel wants to play.

Of course. He tried to go to Vancouver last year. It didn't work out, obviously. But I'm under the impression that he does not want to retire and he still wants to play. Marketable name. A marketable name. And said, if you're going to go after someone to try to make them like a little

bit of the face of your league or add some legitimacy said one of the guys they would go after is phil kessel however they also said you've got to make sure it's legit because you don't want to piss that guy off nope i don't think he wants to be part of anything small time. So we'll see where this one goes. I think we're all curiously interested in this. I think we all have our doubts. Everybody has

their doubts. We'll get our maybe we'll get our answers. Okay. Speaking of answers, I had Don Waddell on the radio show the other day, new general manager for the Columbus Blue Jackets. And he said a couple of interesting things. He did mention when he was in Carolina, him and Kekulainen were working on a deal

to send Elvis Merzlikens to the Carolina Hurricanes. That's when they were hunting for a goaltender. He mentioned that they need to clean up some contracts, some paraphrasing here, but something along the lines of we need to do something with the contracts that we have here. It's funny too, because when he said that, Elliot, the first thing I thought of was, I mean,

Jim Rutherford said something similar, if not identical, when he went and took over with the Vancouver Canucks. So do with that what you see fit. And the other one was that he plans on being general manager here and keeping that title. Although in the back of my mind, I can't help thinking to myself, I'm not saying that he's lying. I truly believe that he's going to keep that title.

Are you calling Don Waddell a liar? Here's what I'm saying. Don, I think you just have a headline for the pod don waddell is a liar i think what he will probably do is shepherd along someone like rick nash yeah that's the key word that's what i could see i could see happening the key phrase i heard was a while that was he's going to be the gm for while. So that says to me that, you know, there's, there's been talk about, you know, if Ken Holland leaves Edmonton and Don Waddell and Ken Holland have a long history, he could be the GM. I don't, I don't, based on what I heard here, that's,

that's not happening. I heard he's going to be the GM for a while. And I agree someone like Nash makes a lot of sense. Now you mentioned another name there that I want to discuss. We could have potentially a GM trade here because I've heard that Jarmo Kekulainen is a contender in Carolina. Oh, wow. Yeah, they've been doing interviews. You know, I had one person who wondered to me if Eric Joyce, who was doing the interviews there he might keep the job but i've also heard kakalainen's name as as a contender

there but this is a unique one sorry jeff were you about to say something i was just going to say you know in the spirit of you know good for the game and create buzz and do something couldn't they not have if this is the way that it's going to end up could they not have just done a general manager trade for fun oh you know what i knew you were going to say that by the way you had a tweet on saturday that i thought was really embarrassing but we're going to talk about that later oh the hats the hats and the trophy yeah that was an awful tweet just a great it was a great tweet and this idea of a gm trade it's horrible like i got away from this on Friday. I got away from this on Friday. And you bring back the awful on Sunday.

Anyway, one of the things I want to say about the GM search in Carolina is, and I heard this from someone who did not interview, but knows a couple people who did. And that is that the hurricanes are making sure everyone's eyes are wide open about how this is all going to work and that is that whoever gets this job is going to be the manager but they're not going to have the power that this job is going to be as a facilitator somebody who collects information and brings it to the other members of the front office, well, including Tom Dundon, who obviously has a huge say, but Eric Tulsky, Darren York, whoever's going to fulfill, Aaron Schwartz, whoever's going to be part of that front office,

but the new GM hire is not going to have the final say. And what this person told me is that some people have kind of backed away from the process because of this, that this is not going to be a traditional job. I personally think that you have to make people's eyes wide open. Like if it's going to work like this, you better tell people that going in and Carolina is doing that. But and I think there's always people who think, well, you know what, I'll get the title, I'll go in there and I'm going to run the show. That is not going to happen here.

I think that they are making it very clear that whoever gets this job is going to fill, is going to be in the role that I kind of described a couple seconds ago, but won't have the final say. And I think there are people who are okay with that. But I think there are some who aren't. And I've heard that Kekaline is one of the people that is kind of is one is in the conversation here. That would be an interesting one. We'll, we'll stay tuned to see what happens there. Okay. Meanwhile, speaking of hires,

That would be an interesting one. We'll stay tuned to see what happens there. Okay. Meanwhile, speaking of hires, very quietly last week, and everyone in the USHL, I mean, this is a big story in that league, Callie Larson. Yes. Who had been with Dubuque, the Fighting Saints of the USHL, for a number of years.

Hired by the Edmondson Oilers, Senior Director of Player Development. What's the story on this one? So I got a text last week from a friend of mine who is in the scouting business. And he said to watch this name, Callie Larson. And I said, okay, tell me about him. It wasn't a name that I really knew. And he said that this was a guy who has had a chance to leave Dubuque before and has been very, very picky. And this guy is a big fan of Larson's. He'd never mentioned him to me before last week, but he sent me a note saying, heads up, he's on the move. And I think it's a great get for whichever organization gets him.

And he actually thought that Larson was going to Ottawa. And obviously, that wasn't the case. He actually thought Ottawa. And then when I said, I don't think it's Ottawa, he said, Pittsburgh. And obviously, it wasn't Pittsburgh. I was like, keep guessing. I said to this guy, you're like prime Mark McGuire right now. You're either hitting it into the fifth deck. Like, you're right. This guy's getting a job, but you're swinging and missing and striking out with where he's going.

So we ended up in Edmonton. And, you know, when it came out, like I said, oh, it's Edmonton. And the guy said, boy, that is a great hire for the Oilers. And, you know, I went around, I asked some other people., you know, who knew this guy, who knew Kelly Larson. I shouldn't say this guy. Like, that's so disrespectful. Who knew Kelly Larson better than I do. And, you know, they said that that is true.

Like, some teams have tried to pluck him out of the USHL before, and he's always resisted. So it probably is a very good sign that Edmonton got him. But this is the information I got. He's a guy who's played, he's coached, he's scouted, he's managed, he's a senior executive. Obviously, he knows young players very well because he's worked with them in the USHL. And I think that was something that's important

to a lot of teams right now. You know, how do millennials think? How do you communicate effectively with them? And, you know, he's been GM president of that team. So he knows how to manage his staff. He has to think big. And, you know, he's a pretty organized, smart guy. Like I heard really good things about him like i said i

don't know him at all it was recommended to me um chris peters does a great job covering hockey he has a podcast with him and i'm gonna sit down and i'm gonna listen to it but that was recommended uh to me as well but you know a couple guys did tell me that's a that's a nice little coup for edmonton to get larson because he's turned down some jobs before, and now he's going to be an oiler. Elliot, we should mention as well, congratulations to the Saginaw Spirits, who on Sunday captured the Memorial Cup, defeating the London Knights in a thrilling game. 4-3, 20 seconds left. Josh Bloom was a Vancouver Canucks prospect.

An overage who had a really interesting year playing in the ECHL, playing in the AHL with Abbotsford and then getting sent back to North Bay. Subsequently traded to Saginaw. He started in Saginaw, was a captain. They traded him to North Bay last year. Have a chance to go chase a championship. He comes back. He's the hero.

Owen Beck, the Montreal Canadiens prospect with a pair of goals in this one. Saginaw went up 3-0. London came back, surprise, surprise, to tie it at threes. And then Josh Bloom ends it 4-3 is the final. Congratulations to the host team. Congrats to Chris Lazzari, the head coach. Dave Drinkle, the general manager. And Craig Goslin as well, who has gone above and beyond and reached into his wallet.

He's the owner, one of the owners of this team who's been fantastic for not just the team, but the city as well. Um, and a tremendous job hosting. So congratulations to the Saginaw spirit, Elliot. It sounded like this was a heck of a game. I was following it on X. Was it that good? It was wild back and forth.

I mean, it's always good when you have the host team in the final because the crowd is so great. And the crowd was great with Saginaw. They went up 3-0. And the shots on goal, Elliot, wait for it, were 20-1. Didn't they score their second shot, London? Yeah. Yes, on their second shot to make it 3-1. Easton Cowan scored, Sam Dickinson scored.

And then all of a sudden that crowd, because it's London, and you've seen London do this before, all of a sudden the crowd kind of gets that nervous, that anxiety, feel like, uh-oh, the tide has turned here. And then 20 seconds left, Josh Bloom ends it. And it's the proverbial cork of a champagne bottle with the Saginaw spirit of fans. It was a wild one. And now, Elliot, the questions become what happens with Mark Hunter, the manager and owner of the London Knights?

Well, first of all, congratulations to Saginaw. I saw a stat. They were the first U.S.-based OHL team to win the Memorial Cup. I didn't realize that. I would have thought like Plymouth had some good teams. Erie had some good teams. Detroit had some good teams. Detroit had some really good teams.

Yeah, I didn't. I was like whoa I I kind of thought one had so congratulations to them on that great accomplishment you know with Mark Hunter depending on what would happen with Ken Holland here in Edmonton I kind of wondered if Hunter would be the GM I'm less convinced of that now um I I't think so. I could be wrong, but I don't think so. You know, it's going to be an interesting time for Edmonton because now the last day of the finals, the 24th, you know, there's a board of governors meeting on the 26th, the awards on the 27th, draft 28th, 29th, and free agency the the first you know it like i don't know where this

is all going to go here but it is possible that the current management team of the oilers is going to be making all these decisions and if there is going to be another general manager that person may not be involved in this draft and i don't you know i don't know I would say it's a hundred percent but I think it's possible and so it's I mean look if you win the Stanley Cup who cares right but um it's it's very unusual situation because of how close this is to the draft and the fact that you know your general manager's contract is up. So it's a really fascinating dynamic. And I know people get upset by how late the Stanley Cup final is.

Now that ESPN is a TV partner, because they have the baseball playoffs in the first week of October, season's going to start the second week of October for as long as ESPN's involved. Ottawa Senators and the coaching staff, what's this whole beast going to look like? It sounds like it's going to be, Bruce Garriock had a report that Daniel Alfredson

is going to stay on the coaching staff, and I've heard similar. It sounds like that coaching staff is going to be Mike Yeo, Nolan Baumgartner, Alfredson, and Ben Sexton. That sounds like what the group is going to be. I still hear some conversation about Lane Lambert and Toronto. I'm also less certain about Mark Hunter and Edmonton. I know we just talked about Edmonton.

I should have done this there, but I don't think in a linear way. My head goes all over the place. I'm less you know, maybe I'm less convinced about Hunter as GM in Edmonton. I wonder if there is a role for them there, if he wants it, but I'm less convinced of him as GM there now. But,

you know, we'll see. But it sounds like some of these moves are, are starting to happen. And we'll finish up the new segment with this name, and this won't get much attention. Mitch Marner, recently photographed in a coffee shop in the West End of Toronto with head coach Craig Berube.

What is your Spidey sense saying on Mitch Marner and Toronto Elliott? So everybody is really trying to not pour gasoline on the fire here, Jeff. So let's do it. No. Here we go. Crack it open. Who's got the matches? Everybody's trying to be really careful here. But one of the things that a few people have told me is not to be surprised

if this plays out over next season with Marner in Toronto. Now, there's a lot of time between here and then, and things can always change. But this is such a delicate conversation between player and team because everyone is determined to look like a winner here the Leafs are determined to either make a good trade or with the cap room that's created by that trade do something big that they know they can't afford to have a swing and a miss with this one and also the player is determined and more importantly the people around the player are determined to do this that make themselves look good that they're not going to agree to anything that they think puts them in a bad light so this is a really complicated thing going in. I want to throw a couple other points out there to you. Number one,

I think that there is some real concern about how the Toronto fans will react to Marner if he starts next year unsigned. And you can't avoid that. And some people and me, I'm the kind of person who's like, look, if you want to bet on yourself, bet on yourself. I've been on myself before. Other people have bet on themselves before. If that's what Marner wants to do, I think he has all the right in the world to do it. But he has to understand that some of the fan base is not going to react very well to that and you have to play through that are you comfortable with that can you handle that and i do believe that's one of the things that's been discussed and i think with the maple leafs

the other issue that they are dealing with here and i think there are people in the organization who feel very strongly about this is that they traded Nazem Qadri a couple years ago when they were mad at him and look Qadri got suspended twice in a row there there are people who felt very strongly at the time that they had to make that trade but Nazem Qadri went somewhere else sorted himself out was a critical member of a Stanley Cup champion, and is a player that Toronto very much missed after he left. And I think there are people in the organization who are looking at this and believe, could this be Cadre too? Where Marner goes somewhere else, the spotlight is less intense. He learns how to balance everything

and goes out and becomes a key player on a Stanley Cup champion in another city, which I do believe could happen. To me, that is a very legitimate thing, that Marner could go somewhere else quieter and really thrive. I think he's a great player, and I think he could become an even better

player without the spotlight. And I do think there are people in the organization who are very scared of the possibility of that happening. And I think that's part of the background to all this. So look, like if the contract demands on both sides are crazy, it's going to lead to an eventual divorce anyway. But I have to tell you, I don't think there's a certain, I know there's people who are like 100% he's getting traded. On Sunday, June the 2nd, I don't know that I'm so certain of that. And I think one of the biggest challenges here are going to be the sort of like the feelings of everybody involved. I just think that this is going to take a lot of diplomacy for a lot of people to do properly. This is a, you're right. This is a delicate one.

You always run the risk in this situation of going into next season, obviously without a contract. And then here come the howls of, I'll just be blunt, Elliot, Muskoka five, the sequel. And how do you handle skating through that? Like you remember when that happened and those were some, you know, veteran players with some pretty stiff spines you know matt sundin and ryan mccabe and darcy tucker i think if both you're the player and the organization i don't think you want the player to go through that and i don't

think you want the team to go through that that's why this one has the potential to be a firecracker and that's why i agree with you when i say this one is a really tricky one yes sort out yeah because any time there's a report that paints one side in a bad light or says this one person has to do this i think people get their backs up i agree all right um that is a story yeah that will not go away uh unlike us we will take a pause we'll come back with the montana for you we are not going away unfortunately there's more of our our blather coming up here in a couple of moments. Montana's Thought Line,

and then what's next for the New York Rangers? Still to come on this podcast. Listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Welcome back to the podcast. Time now for the Montana's Thought Line. Montana's Barbecue and Bar, Canada's home for barbecue. Thank you to Rick Turner, 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca.

The way to get in also 1-833-311-3232. As always, the Montana's Thought Line curated lovingly by Griffin Porter. We'll start in beautiful Duncan, B.C. I love Duncan. That's where my sister and her family lives. Joel from Duncan, BC. Hey, Jelly Dom. I was scouring the internet in search of pro-stock

Maple Leaf hockey gloves and came across these that were made for Chris Tanev. Do you suppose that these might have been made in anticipation of Tanev joining the Toronto Maple Leafs in a trade that fell through? If I'm correct, can I get fast track to be Elliott's successor as a hockey insider so I can, quote, try the ribs all across North America? I always wanted to get paid to talk hockey.

Love the pod. Will continue to listen religiously as I do. Joel, thanks a lot for that one. Pro returning gloves with Chris Tanev's name on a pair of maple leaf colored mitts. You know what happens, Elliot? I'll just be blunt. Okay.

When a stick rep or a glove equipment rep for any major manufacturer, who obviously they always talk to their clients. When the client says, look, I'm going to waive my no trade and it's going to be one of these three teams, that rep gets to action and starts to order things just in case. Because when the player waives and arrives in a new market, the gloves and such need to be there. and arrives in a new market,

the gloves and such need to be there. Did you ever wonder how quickly it is that a player arrives in a new city and bam, all of a sudden, wow, how did he get green gloves so quickly with his name and number on them? I think that's what happens in these situations, Elliot. That's true. And I don't blame the companies at all

for being on top of that. Good on them. Smart. I think that's planning. I remember years ago, there was a writer for MapleLeafs.com and they put up a, when Sergey Gonchar's name was linked to the Maple Leafs in trade rumors, he did, he put up what's called a ghost page on the Leafs website with a Gonchar profile

in case he got traded. So this editor or writer or whoever they were, they were just being on top of their game. Look, oh, we've acquired Sergey Gonshar. I've already got a page ready for them. Well, you have to create a URL for that. And some Leaf fan typed Sergey Gonshar's name into the Leaf roster, like figured out the URL and typed in Gonshar's name. And Leaf roster, like figured out the URL and type in Gonchar's name. And lo and behold, there was the page.

And people were like, oh my God, the Leafs traded for Gonchar, which hadn't happened. And I remember it caused the Leafs some aggravation. And I asked someone who was working for the team at the time, like this person's not in any trouble, are they? And they were going, well, we're not really sure what to think about all this. And I said, they were trying to be conscientious on top of their game. And happily, they saw it the same way.

They completely understand. But yes, that's what happens. You know, for example, you know, Jeff, I'm not going to say what it was because I don't want to get anybody in trouble. want to get anybody in trouble. But one of the ways I knew about a trade and you knew about a trade was because the player had said, get me some gloves in this particular color. Correct. Again, never revealing that player's name, but I think that that happens on a consistent basis. That happens a lot. And that's just that that's just, that's smart by the manufacturer. I think that's really, really wise for the manufacturer. I cannot blame someone for wanting to be ahead of the game.

Just like I couldn't blame that editor-writer for wanting to be prepared, I can't blame the manufacturing company, the equipment company, from saying, I'm going to be ready for my client. It's good business. I hate to break the news to you, but there's already obits that are written for a lot of players who are in their advanced ages right now. And when they do pass, all you do is fill out the final year at the end of the last paragraph and hit

send that's being prepared as ghoulish as that may sound. Let's get to a voicemail, uh, Brett and Maryland. Hey, Brett from Maryland. Big fan of the show. Watching game four with New York and Florida. And on Florida's first goal, I noticed the flashing lights in the puck. I was wondering if you guys noticed that as well. If you'd seen it or heard about it. And whether it was the NHL that installed the lights in the puck.

Or something ESPN is doing. And I've also long wondered if it was some sort of tracking device in the puck. So I could see if it crossed the line anyway. Bye. Bye Brett. Thank you for listening. Yes.

It's aliens. Actually alien technology. Alien pucks is, uh, whenever my hair looks really bad bad someone sends me that guy from the history channel going it's the aliens that's pretty funny america so the answer is yes it's the puck tracking but i'll also say that was unusual like that doesn't really happen. And there was someone on X who had a tweet that went viral asking what that was. And it is the sensors.

There's no question about that, but that's not usual. And one of the things I wondered because I asked, I said, I've never seen that before. And I asked if they were testing maybe, because there is puck tracking, but there's nothing to test if it's over the line and a legal goal. And that was actually the first thing I wondered is if they were testing something like that, like a new system that allowed that, that reacted like that, if the puck was completely in over the line. The response I got was, puck was completely in over the line. The response I got was, Elliot, do you think we'd really be testing something new for game four of the Eastern Conference Final? Do you think we'd really be fooling around with the pucks there? And I was like, good point. You got me on that one. So you

have, so it's not like they're testing anything. Jeff, you have an alternate theory. Yeah, it's the simplest one. It's just a trick of the light. Like this is Yeah, it's the simplest one. It's just a trick of the light. Like this is like, there's a sort of element of the old Twilight Zone. The monsters are due on Maple Street. You want to make people turn on each other, just flick the lights off and on a couple of different times. And they'll lead to wild conspiracy theories

and eventually turn on each other. I honestly, I'm with you on the puck trackers. And I just think that this was a case of it was just a trick of the light. Like, that's it. That's what I believe. No conspiracy. Easiest explanation.

I wish it was more sophisticated than that, and we can go deeper into it, but Elliot, in this case, I don't think I can. By the way, Jeff, that is an outstanding Twilight Zone reference. It's one of my favorite ones. It's one of my favorite ones.

I would recommend that if you've never watched the original Twilight Zone, that is a great episode because it still holds true today. Oh, yes, it does. And I know people who like the Gorilla on the Wing episode

with William Shatner, but I've never watched it all. I've only heard about it. The Monsters That Do on Maple Street is the best one. Yeah, it's great. Great episode. Rod Serling also wrote Planet of the Apes. Did you know that, Elliot?

No, I didn't. Oh, yeah. I'm a huge Rod Serling fan. One day, Elliot, we'll get into the genius of Rod Serling. Okay. He was a genius. In the meantime, let's read Alex's question. And I love people

that send in questions that you and I have moaned about years and years ago. And here's our chance to complain about something again. From Alex. We'll end on this one. With the home teams

performing so poorly in the past several years in the playoffs, is it time for the NHL to unstandardize the ice surface? I believe the NHL should take a page out of international football's playbook and offer teams a range for their home ice surface. For example, rink length, 180 by 200 with 80 to 100,

and the radius of the corner is 22 feet to 28 feet. I believe this would allow for a greater variety of team strategies to flourish as small and fast teams could build a larger ice surface to better exploit their speed and larger more greedy teams could make the ranks smaller to really frustrate the opposition i'm curious what you two think the legitimate home ice advantage question from alex elliott i would have no problem if teams wanted to do that I would be very curious to know what the NHL would think about that you know there used to be the ranks that did that but I have

no problem with that the only thing is I don't want stupid stuff like it minute made Park where the Astros play where they had that hill going up to the center field wall that can do it that I can do that stupid I can do that but as far as I don't rank rank dimensions or, you know, tighter corners, things like that. Like I'm, I'm, I'm fine with it. And I, and I like it because it's not just about like, as Alex says, like that really winks at how you construct your roster and you build, you build your roster around your rank. You don't build your roster around the rink. Like, I really think that the... I was having this conversation.

It's funny. I was having this conversation on Saturday night with someone watching the game. We were going back and forth on DM. And I really think that the NHL... You slide into people's DMs, Merrick? Well, this is actually someone sliding into my DMs talking about a super sexy topic,

which is NHL arenas. Oh, baby could i could see you being an internet creeper yeah that's my style um but the conversation revolved around like i was trying to make the point that i think that in the last round of ranks being made and now calgary's got a new one on the horizon um that they didn't make it mandatory that you had the potential like just the potential to expand the rink and not by the standard of the international ice hockey federation i don't want 200 by 100 but even just to have the option to make things a little bit wider now they've missed it and it'll be, you know, cost prohibitive now and too labor intensive to do it. But I do think that the NHL missed out on an opportunity to just prepare because you never know where the game's going to be at, Elliot,

like 15 years from now, 20 years from now, heck 10 years from now, at least give yourself the opportunity to reconfigure the rink a little bit if the game and its innovations necessitate it. But to Alex's point, I really like the idea because then you have teams that are built for your arena and you really do have home ice advantage. And you see it in drafting and you see it in trading and you see it in who gets picked up on waivers, etc. I love all of that. So, Alex, thank you for that question. Joel, thank you for the question. And a very laid back and chill Brett from Maryland, thanks for the voicemail.

Montana's Thought Line, Montana's barbecue and bar, Canada's home for barbecue. What is next for the New York Rangers? The answer in moments. Jeff, Allie, and Tom of 32 Thoughts try their ribs today. Oh, yeah. Welcome back to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra Elevation. So, Elliot, what becomes now of the President's Trophy winners, the Metropolitan Division winners, a team that made it to the Eastern Conference Final, a team that made it to the Eastern Conference final, a team that made it to the Stanley Cup final in 2014,

a team whose anniversary of winning the Stanley Cup stretched back 30 years, and we were celebrating it this year, thinking maybe, just maybe, they can end another cup drought. What happens next to the New York Rangers? The number one thing is Shusterkin. What's his next contract going to look like?

Everything else for them is option B. He was their best player in the playoffs. I thought Florida deserved to win the series. As our parents always tell us, life is not fair. But it was fair that Florida won. They were the better team, and Shisterkin was marvelous. So to me, when you take a look at their entire contract situation and every decision that has to get made, Shosturkin is the key. What's his next number going to be?

For example, I had someone who said to me, he's got them in a really tough spot. The Rangers part of this negotiation is going to be, and this is exactly how it's going to go. It's going to be the same thing that McDavid gets and Matthews gets and McKinnon gets and all the great players get. And the way you start these negotiations is say, look, Igor, you deserve whatever you can get. Whatever you want, you deserve it. However, how can we do this in a way that we can still win around you,

where we can reward you, but we can build a team around you? Because the cap's going to go up. You'll have this contract for another year. Then the cap will go up another five percent and then barring any major changes we're expecting a big jump but you're still going to say to him there's a limit to what we can do and still win so that's the sweet spot here is igor whatever you want but how can we make it so we can win? So that's number one. Hang on, hang on, hang on. What do the Rangers do if he comes back and he says,

which goaltender was better in the Eastern Conference final, me or Bobrovsky? Well, you, Igor. Okay, I'll take Bobrovsky's deal. Well, I got to tell you something. If that's what it's going to cost you, you take that and you laugh. You roll out the seven times 10. You say, Igor, we'll sign that right now.

I think they're going to be fortunate if it's as low as 10. You do, eh? So you think he's headed for number one goaltender status for salary? Why not? Why shouldn't he be? Listen, I'm just used to goaltenders all coming in underneath that. Honestly, I was thinking of like Sorokin's 8.5 no wow okay no no no no no no no no no no no no no then look out we have a new story a new clubhouse leader 5.7 like honestly honestly like are you do

you think i'm nuts for saying that they're lucky if this turns out to be seven times ten I'm fine with it all I'm saying is the one position that I always say is underpaid our goaltenders and we've seen it consistently like all these guys I think when you consider how important they are to a team I know everyone moans about how much they're paying their goaltender well try life without one yes try life without one so this extension I could always be wrong I've been wrong before I will be shocked shocked I tell you and appalled maybe not appalled but shocked I wouldn't be appalled because people are entitled to sign the deals that they want to sign I would be shocked if this isn't the number one goalie deal in the league. And it's good.

Wow. I feel very confident in predicting that. Well, I'll get ready for a whopper then. Not saying that he doesn't deserve it, but I'll tell you what. Did you think that when he was going through his lost time this season, when Jonathan Quick was the number one goaltender, and it really took until All-Star weekend where Shastrikan finally was able to pull it back together that we'd be talking like this in June.

No, but that was January and February, and this is now. I get it. When it really mattered, he was phenomenal. Yeah. He kept him in all of it. Yeah. He gave them a chance. He kept them in all of it. When it really mattered, he was phenomenal. Yeah. He kept him in all of it. Yeah. He gave them a chance. He kept them in all of it.

The numbers are in crazy. The BR Open Ice account on Twitter X, he faced 524 shots over 16 games, 926 save percentage. New York outshot 13 of their 16 games this was goalie stand the bunch with all the everybody else on the rangers he was incredible yeah he was he was their best player and uh you can argue whether or not he's the best goalie in the league but he's his contract is coming up at just the right time and he's going to get paid like it and and then after that the next question might be what are they going to do with lafreniere's next deal well you want to talk about the emerging superstar all of a sudden i mean it's a it's a wonderful bit of business that he was able to do

for himself and he has one more year until um restricted free agency where he has arbitration rights i don't think anyone expects it to get there. But nonetheless, and in the playoffs, as we kept waiting for the Criters and the Zibanejads and the Artemi Panerans to get going, game in, game out, consistently, Alexi Lafreniere produced. You got to hand it to him. And you got to hand it to Peter Laviolette. And I know during the regular season,

we used to always joke and say, well, if you have a player who's having an issue just put him with artemi panarin and you know he's the eraser he'll rub out any issue that you have but good on lafreniere because you talk about the pressure about being number one number one overall pick and a number one overall pick in new York City with that spotlight and that glare. He's been able to overcome it, and he looks fantastic, Elliot. He looks great. And I always believe that if you're an organization and you believe somebody's a core part of your team, you sign them as early as you can for as long as you can because the price never goes down.

Now, the one thing I'll say here, now, first of all, the Rangers know him better than everybody else, so they can make this decision. But this is one of those situations where it wouldn't shock me. And I'm not reporting this because I, this one, I'm much more confident about what I said about,

it's hysterical than I am about what I'm about to say about Lafreniere here. Okay, be sloppy, go. Be sloppy, be sloppy, go, go, go. This is one of those situations where I can see everybody agreeing to wait. Let's play it out. He's not an unrestricted free agent.

Now, if the Rangers put money down on the table that everybody here is happy with, then you do the deal. But if the Rangers are at all unsure here that this is what he really is, or the agent says, I'm not really sure of, I want to give my guy more of a runway to show that he might be worth even more. This is one of those situations where I can see two sides deciding to wait and see what

they've really got here. Like, I wouldn't have a problem with that. I'm not saying it will happen, but I, I, this is one of those situations where if you said to me that both Lafreniere's camp and the Rangers camp said, we're going to let it play out and deal with it later. I would be okay with that. I would, I would understand that. Now, I think one of the things that happens here, and I saw this all over, media on Sunday, and social media is not a true indicator of feelings, but you look at it, and everybody is, all the Rangers fans, they're upset, they're disappointed. I would say everybody here, you cannot overreact to this loss.

Yes, last year was bad, the first round loss to the Devils, but you've been to the Eastern Conference Final two of the last three years. That's really hard to do. It's not what you want. You want more, but it's still an accomplishment. It's a really hard thing to do. And I think people have to recognize that this is a team that is a good team with a lot of good pieces.

And, you know know fox was hurt um you know i i have to say miller i i think could have been better this year i i thought he was good but i still think he can be better i think there's more there i I wonder if the Capococco experiment, I wonder if they decide to move on from him. You know, I thought Trocek was a stud. I mean, the big one is about Trouba. And, you know, look, by the way, I want to say one thing. About that goal, the Rangers were not able to review that. They were not allowed to review that. I know some people actually said to to me why didn't they challenge the reason is even though the high stick

happened in the offensive zone the puck was touched in the neutral zone and technically that's still part of the play a missed stoppage can only happen in the offensive zone so Laviolette and Laviolette knows the rules. I learned that the hard way a few years ago with him. He was not allowed to challenge that. So if people were wondering whether Rangers didn't challenge, because the puck was touched in the neutral zone, they weren't allowed to do it.

The one thing about Trouba is, and I know he's a polarizing guy, like Trouba, you have a player there is unlike a lot of other players. And it does help the Rangers that Trouba terrifies people on the ice. Like, if you take him off that team, could he be better? 100%.

He could be better. And I think he'd be the first guy to admit it. But if you take that guy off your team, you are losing something that a lot of other teams don't have. And I guarantee to you that there's a lot of players on that team and a lot of people in that organization who like the fact that they have one of the few guys in the NHL anymore that players are like, is that guy still on the ice? Because I'm a little nervous that he might kill me and I think you'd really be losing something if you subtracted him from

that team now maybe they ultimately decide to do it or he ultimately agrees to go somewhere I don't know I'm just talking out of my butt it would really change the way that other teams feel about the rangers you would be really changing the identity of your team you would um he's a throwback guy and once upon a time how many guys did every team have of those on their blue line elliott like minimum two sometimes three um i i Um, I, I am with you on that one. He, he reminds you all that this is a dangerous game played by large men with ill intent. Anyhow, I think if you're a, I think if you're a Ranger fan, like, look at like two of the last three years, you've been in the conference final. As a matter of fact, when you, when you, when you look at New York based based if you look at new york area teams like you had the rangers and then before that it was a carolina hurricane it's before that the rangers and then two two seasons before that

was in new york islanders yeah been a nice little run for the new york area teams here it's kind of spoiled you know we talk about tampa and florida your last five coming from the one state uh have a look at new y. They're doing okay, too. To me, when I look at the Rangers and what's going to make them better, they'll have to look around the margins and how do they improve. Do they feel they have to change some of their depth? What do they have to do with that? But the key thing is, I'm looking at a lot of these guys like Miller, Trouba, Kreider, Zbigniew,ad, Panarin. I'm going to all of them

and I'm saying, guys, what do we need to do to get you guys to the next level? Do you have to rest more in the regular season? How are we doing this? Because number one, it's still hard in this league to make the playoffs. And they have a roster that you feel pretty good is going to make the playoffs every year. That's not an insignificant thing. You don't want to screw around with that too much. But I'm looking at Zbigniew Jad, who I think is a really good player, but his postseasons don't match his regular seasons. Miko, what do we have to do here to get you to the next level?

Panarin, I thought, was good in the playoffs until this round. seasons miko what do we have to do here to get you to the next level um panarin i thought was good in the playoffs until this round and the guy had an mvp level season this year you're not getting rid of them even if you wanted to i thought trochek was fantastic what a season he had and what a personality he is but like i look at that team and i say we have good talent here there's a reason we won the president's trophy there's a reason we've made the eastern conference final two of the last three years how do we squeeze more out of this orange yes we gotta bring in some people around you maybe we always have to add you know fox was hurt other than i thought he was great but that's what i'm looking

at with these guys we have to squeeze more out of the oranges we already have as opposed to getting rid of guys and because we might be mad at them for this last week let me throw a name at you okay because i think the new york rangers are basically coming back with a near identical team. I'm with you. Jury is out on Capo Caco. As much as we talk about never giving up on kids and young players, you do wonder about the future of Capo Caco here. Let me throw a name out at you.

Okay. Brennan Offman. Brennan Offman scored 21 goals this year with Hartford. Brennan Offman is a first-round draft pick of the New York Rangers. I think they're going to give him every chance to show he can make the team. That's what I'm saying.

Like, you start to bring in more of those players from the American Hockey League. Like, he showed that he can play pro hockey. He can play in the American Hockey League. And I know it's tough to crack the left side of the New York Rangers. Trust me. I mean, you just mentioned Artemi Panarin,

a heart trophy-type season, and then you throw like chris chris cried or like i get it like it's hard that left side is really a hard one to crack but still when you talk about players and you know making sure they're they're healthy and rested for the playoffs i mean one of two things you can well three things you can sign them for them you can trade for them or you can find them within your own organization and that's why i keep coming back to, before you go out and make a deal, see what you have under your own hood. And I wonder if Brennan Hoffman is the answer to that question. The one thing I do wonder, Jeff, I wonder if they regret not trading for Gensel. That's a huge one. That is a, well, that is a big one.

And, or someone like that, they never, someone like that. They listen last, last year they brought in Kane and Tarasenko. Like they took big swings for big name players. This year was sort of,

you know, nipping around the edges and they didn't do it and they saw other teams around the eastern conference well i mean last year was the year that everyone in the east loaded up you know against gensel was the big one and carolina got him and carolina paid a premium to get him i do know what you mean um and i think that's going to be a major conversation in the offseason. Do we need to rethink that? Carolina broke their mold to bring in Jake Ensel, as you mentioned a couple of different times.

I mean, it's hard not to think that you missed it, right? It's hard not to think that because you needed one more guy to score. What couldn't the Rangers do by the end against the Florida Panthers? They couldn't score. No. They're getting saves. They just couldn't score. I think that's a great point.

Now, because you mentioned it, I want to end the podcast with this. Not touching the Prince of Wales trophy, but putting on the We are the Eastern Conference champions. I was so embarrassed for you. Why? Why were you embarrassed about it? Because it's embarrassing.

It's such an embarrassingly merrick tweet. I've always, I laugh at a lot of dumb traditions in sports, right? Don't step on the logo on the floor. Well, don't put it on the floor if you don't want people to walk into your dressing room and step on it. I've always just found it weird the way there's this, oh, don't touch the trophy. When I'm pretty sure that it's someone from the organization that brings the trophy into the dressing room, the players don't touch the conference trophies because it somehow

jinxes their chance at winning the Stanley Cup. But that doesn't mean that you have to put out such a dumb tweet like, well, how can you wear the hat? The hat, which celebrates the fact that we've just won the Eastern Conference, but we won't touch the trophy that indicates that we've just won the Eastern Conference. Do you ever watch Triumph, the Insolent Comic Dog? Yes, of course. Yeah.

The, um, hang on, hang on, hang on. Oh yeah. The, uh, the, uh, the sock ripoff. Yes. Okay. yeah. Triumph the Insult comic dog refers to people as super nerds. That tweet made you a super nerd. I was embarrassed for you.

How long have you known me? Like, seriously. Do you think I'm ever going to grow up? I know I am the picture of manliness, but that made you a super nerd. Of course. It's total hockey geek. It's total hockey geek.

Do you not find it odd though, the way that we're not here for that trophy, but we're here for this hat. We're the Easter conference champions. I've never spent so much as a millisecond. Yes, you did. Sleeping about that. You thought about it on Saturday night.

Yes, you know what I thought about it? I thought about when I saw your tweet and I was like, I thought about how stupid this is. I know. Hang on. You went to bed Saturday thinking, damn it, I wish I would have tweeted that. No. I thought the reverse of that. You know what I actually did think of when I was having that 22-hour travel day on Friday?

I thought about that I was like an Arizona employee in the first two weeks of April. My life was being affected by decisions that were being made. I had no control over them. And someone knew the truth, but it wasn't the people who really needed to know the truth. That's what it felt like. And like Charlie Brown, you just kept getting the football pulled away from you at the last moment. Okay.

Six times on the plane, six times off. I was going to ask you, no one wants to hear media complain about it. But how many times? That was a tough one. Six. To me, it was funny at first. And Dom and I had our little giggle. And then it just got really bad.

Well, you know what? The one thing I want to give people credit for, and if this happened, I didn't see it, but I don't think it happened based on the reactions that were out there, is that one thing I really hate is when travel goes badly and people take it out on the flight attendants or the person at the counter. Those people have no control over this situation. The weather was bad. Someone sent me some pictures of the hailstones that hit Dallas and Denver. They were the size of softballs. So it wasn't like this wasn't legitimate.

But that was the thing I liked the most. I didn't see it, and i i don't i didn't see it i'm pretty sure it didn't happen if if i'm wrong i'll apologize but the flight attendants and the pilots thanked everyone for the way they handle it but nobody lost it on any of those people or the gate agents yeah like they got no control over the situation i hate it when i see people go crazy on them and let me end the podcast on this saying, and I've always reminded myself of this whenever I've had delays. I would much rather, Elliot, be down here wishing I was up there than up there and wishing I was down here. And on that, we'll wrap.

On those words of brilliance, after my tweet of brilliance on Saturday, which Elliot very secretly wishes he had sent out himself. Don't be fooled here. That's it for the pod. 32 Thoughts. Thanks so much for listening. We're back on Wednesday morning. you