32 Thoughts: The Podcast - The Ground Shifted Under Woodcroft

Episode Date: November 13, 2023

Jeff and Elliotte expand on the news that Jay Woodcroft has been replaced as Head Coach in Edmonton by Kris Knoblauch. They dive into the reasons behind the coaching change and why Knoblauch and Paul Coffey were chosen to step in. They also discuss what is at stake for the Oilers this season. Next, Jeff and Elliotte shed some light on the latest with Nikita Zadorov who reportedly requested a trade out of Calgary (25:30), talk about the Florida Panthers who are 7-2-1 in their last 10 and are getting quickly getting healthier (35:13) and Elliotte gives an update on a possible Samuel Montembeault extension in Montreal (41:00). Jeff and Elliotte then talk about Bo Horvat's return to Vancouver this week (1:14:54) and they wrap the pod by talking about this year's Hockey Hall of Fame class (1:17:14).Jeff and Elliotte answer your questions on the Montana’s Thought Line (56:07).Audio Credit: Bally Sports WestEmail the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and Cam Barra 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.

I think they're a bunch of gutless bastards, to be honest. That was really strong. That's a good quote. Gutless bastards. He called them cowards, gutless bastards. You know, Dom, this is our title for this podcast, gutless bastards. I wonder if we could even, if we named it that,

would it stay? How long do you think that that title would stay on the 32 thoughts podcast so here's the question is this now jeff jackson's edmonton oilers welcome to 32 thoughts the podcast brought to you by the all-new gmc sierra hd so there's the question elliott's what is the answer is this now jeff jackson's team jay woodcroft dave manson out chris nobla and paul coffee come in to take their place the short answer is yes that i do believe this is jeff jackson's team now the longer answer is that i believe the ground shifted under jay woodcroft quite frankly i don't think that anybody would have envisioned that a month ago jay Woodcroft. Quite frankly, I don't think that anybody would have envisioned

that a month ago, Jay Woodcroft would not be the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers. There was definitely a hope and a desire and a feeling from a lot of people, including a lot of Sportsnet experts, that the Edmonton Oilers would be among the top teams in the Western Conference, the team would be humming along, and we'd all be talking about ponies and unicorns when we were discussing the Edmonton Oilers. Unfortunately, it didn't occur.

I don't think failure this year is an option. As was discussed at the media conference on Sunday afternoon, when they lost to San Jose on Thursday night, there were some serious conversations about where this was going to go and if it was time to make a change. And I think also with the fact that Leon Dreisaitl has one more year on his contract and Connor McDavid has only two, there was definitely a conversation about we cannot let this fester

we cannot give these players doubt that there is any desire for us or any question that there we're going to push ourselves toward a championship and look like Jay Woodcroft had the greatest winning percentage in Oilers coaching history now it, it's not exactly apples to apples. Glenn Sather won championships. John Muckler won championships. But Jay Woodcroft was very successful. And it's incredible to me on one level that he only got one full season as head coach. This is a guy who I have no doubt is going to be a head coach in the NHL again

and very soon if he wants to be. But the way that this season started forced the Oilers into a panic level that nobody expected. And that brought a situation where change they felt had to happen well here becomes the question then because you mentioned the contracts of leon dry settle and conor mcdavid and you know the moment is upon us kim there can be no more squandered games we've talked about all this you can't you know you've used up all your bad games you can't have any more clunkers anymore i believe was your line from last week or the or before that. Stinkers, I think was the word I used.

Not plunkers, stinkers. I'm more of a poet than you, though, Elliot. So I'm going to go with plunkers. That's true. Here becomes the question then. Why go with rookie coaches? Rookie NHL coaches. Mind you, these are coaches that have, well, the head coach certainly has developed players,

both in junior hockey and at the American Hockey League level, but these are not accomplished or experienced NHL coaches by any stretch of the imagination. Given how sensitive this situation is right now for the Oilers this season and the subsequent two seasons, it not how should we say interesting some might say concerning that they go to a rookie bench i think this jeff one thing everybody's trying to do is they're going back through their notes or they're racking their brains for conversations about who does jeff jackson? And if you ask, and you're around the Ontario Hockey League a lot,

you know your junior hockey, Knobloch won a Western Hockey League championship too. If you go back over the last five or six years, who does Jeff Jackson like? The guy that got hired today. He likes Chris Knobloch. 100%. That has been going on forever.

Yes. Yes. Forever. For years and years and years and years, Jeff Jackson has been talking up Chris Knobloch, and that is why he's the new head coach of the Edmonton Oilers. I think there was a day under Jackson that Knobloch could become the coach. Yes. I think there was a chance it was going to come on november the 12th 2023

no i didn't think it i don't think anybody thought it but that's what we're all doing right now people were talking about this being a mcdavid call i i don't buy that i think this is a McDavid call, I don't buy that. I think this is a Jeff Jackson call. And there's a lot of different dynamics at play here. One of them is, look, Ken Holland, he's the manager, he's the GM, he's doing a lot of the legwork. But I think in a lot of ways, this is the first sign about how this is now Jeff Jackson's organization. Ken Holland is in the last year of his deal. He will do what he needs to do. He will consult. He will make calls. He will do the legwork. He will basically consult. He will tell Jeff Jackson what he thinks the landscape is out there but because Holland's in his last year I think you're beginning to see the turnover the turnover

to Jackson Paul Coffey is another guy who's got a big voice I think what we saw today was sort of an understanding that their Oilers are in their transition phase from Holland to Jackson. And because Jackson is a huge Knobloch fan, I think in a lot of ways, this was his call. One quick aside here, and I want to get back to Edmonton, but I want to make sure we get this point in because we've talked about on this podcast a couple of different times. Years ago, Nashville granting Kirk Muller permission to go to Carolina. He was coaching in Milwaukee, the AHL affiliate. This doesn't always happen. The season's underway. You don't want to let your head coach go in the American Hockey League because of how important that team is for your parent organization.

Do you have a thought on the Rangers essentially allowing this to happen for each? Well, first of all, not every team would do what the New York Rangers did. As a matter of fact, I heard from one team on Sunday that absolutely would not do what the Rangers did. But at the end of the day, Chris Knobloch has been given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and that is to coach Connor McDavid and Leon Dreisaitl at the NHL level. And good on the Rangers for allowing that to happen.

Not everybody would do it. Look, the other thing, too, is that Kyle Dubas, when he was the AGM in Toronto, Colorado asked for permission to talk to him. And the Maple Leafs, and this actually went down the road and it looked like he was going to be the GM of the Avalanche. And at the last minute, the Maple Leafs pulled back and said, we're not going to allow this. And it was Mike Babcock who went to the Maple Leafs ownership or the senior management and he said well we've got to make him the gm now right like we can't block him if if we're going to block kyle dubas from doing this in colorado he's got to be the manager in toronto and what happened he did take over as the manager

in toronto so i think this if you're the new y New York Rangers and you're going to block Knobloch from getting that job in Edmonton, you have to promote him and you have to promote him soon. Well, look, Peter Laviolette's the new head coach. Knobloch had a chance to become the coach in New York. He didn't. They went to Laviolette. They liked that choice better. And look at the job Laviolette's doing. They're off to a great start so i think if you're the rangers and you don't have a chance for knoblock to grow in your organization i do think on a lot of levels you should let him go now i will say this i've met some hardcore business people in my life who are against that who don't believe in that and say no to that but if it was me i would

say look you're not going to be the head coach of the rangers go there and i'm glad that new york did that back to the oilers what did you make of we get back to chris knobloch here and paul coffee but what did you make of that moment where ken holland said he had spoken to vets and jeff jackson said we didn't talk to the players about this decision. They just play. Okay. So this is what I think about that. I do believe,

and I got some Intel over the past couple of weeks, you know, Jeff, when a team is struggling, it's not unusual for the manager to call agents and say, Hey, is there something wrong with X player that we don't know about? We need X player to play a lot better. Is there something bothering him? Is there something in

their life that we're not aware of? Is there something we can do? And I think a lot of those calls were going on. Sometimes when a coach will tell a player, we need you to be better, or a GM will tell a player, we need you to be better, or a GM will tell a player, we need to be better. But sometimes the GM will call the agent and say, hey, we need you to help us impress upon this guy that he needs to be better, unless there's something going on that we don't know about. And I think all of that was happening. I believe over the last couple of weeks, especially since the outdoor game, the Oilers were meeting with a lot of players and saying, what are we going to have

to do to make this better? I think at the end of the day, Jeff Jackson made this call. I think Ken Holland obviously consulted with him. I take them at their word when they said the two of them discussed this and said it was time. But ultimately, the fact that it was Chris Knobloch, that says to me it was Jackson's call. I don't think the players overthrew Jay Woodcroft. I don't buy that. I believe at the end of the day, Jeff, that there is so much on the line with this Edmonton season. They have to contend, as I said, the contracts coming up with Dreisaitl and McDavid. The idea of going backwards was not allowable. It was not an option.

Now, I think a couple of things. I think the Oilers were feeling they weren't throwing in the towel on the season. You know, if you take a look in the last five years you had St. Louis going from last place early in January to winning the Stanley Cup in 2019 last year you had Florida going into the Stanley Cup final after being on fumes in January and February I think Edmonton looked at it and said if we're gonna make the move we're to have to do it now because failure this year is not an option. And that's why I think Jay Woodcroft is no longer the coach. Not because he's a bad coach, not because he suddenly became stupid, but because the Edmonton Oilers looked at it and said, failure this year is not an option. You know, one of the things I reported on on Saturday night is the Oilers had called around the league to try to find,

is there something we can do? Whether it's up and down our lineup or in goal, is there something we can do? And they thought the only options that were available to them were really bad, where I think they knew they were dealing from a position of weakness, that they might have to make some moves that were not potentially palatable, but they were not willing to do what was presented to them because they're even worse than they thought. And all these other teams were saying, look, if you're not going to do this, we're ready to wait and squeeze you or wait longer because we don't have to rush so all of a sudden you get in a position where you're like okay we can't make a trade so there's

something else here we've got to try now i had one really interesting conversation with a coach a really experienced hall of Fame level coach on Sunday. And if you go back to that press conference, one of the things that they are asked about is basically accountability. And basically what the reporters are doing is they're asking is, should guys be benched more in games? Like you look at this league, Columbus has benched a ton of guys. Calgary benched Jonathan Huberto.

Like this is the year of the benchings. A lot of guys are getting benched. And Ken Holland, he took the heat for this one. He said, look, Jay Woodcroft and I had talked about that, but because of the moves that I had to make, basically Holland says the roster's too thin to bench anyone and I give credit to Ken Holland because he didn't try to blame it on anybody else he didn't say it was he said he ate it he took that poop sandwich he poured some paprika on it he maybe gave it a couple other seasonings and he ate it. And what this coach said to me is that in Jay Woodcroft's next job, and again, it will

come soon if he wants it to. That's the one thing he thinks Woodcroft will change. He said, look, they had to win games. He couldn't bench guys in his next job. He will bench guys because Woodcroft's going to look at this and he's going to say, if I could do something over again, he would have benched guys,

but I couldn't because my roster wasn't deep enough. And I thought that was really instructive that Holland said that. This is going to sound like a dumb question, but you've known me for a long time. What's different now? Like the Oilers play against the New York Islanders on Monday. So this is the debut of Chris Knobloch.

On the David Amber show. The Edmonton Oilers. On the David Amber Rogers Monday Night Hockey. He was there for Connor McDavid's first game in the NHL, a Thursday night against the St. Louis Blues. He's here for the Chris Knobloch experience with Connor McDavid. You know, because Knobloch at the press conference, one of the things that stood out for me was when he said,

and I can't fault him for being honest, he said, we can only change so much. This is who we have and this is who we are. So what's different now? I know there are two different coaches. I get that. But it's still the same team. I know this is Jeff Jackson's team now.

Yeah. And he's calling the shots. He's got the hands on the wheel. So that's different. But it's still the same players, the same curiosity about did Connor McDavid come back too early and is Matthias at home still hurts and what are we going to do about all the high danger chances we're surrendering and how about these

goalies that have been hard to hit all year what's different what's different is this young merrick even though you're older than i am young yeah the excuse is gone. Like again, I will. That's what I was getting to. This is all on the players now. I will say this until I'm blue in the face. This coaching change was not about Jay Woodcroft. It was not. This coaching change was about Edmonton cannot afford a disastrous season. So what are we going to do to try to change things? That's what this is. You know, you heard Paul Coffey talk about it. You heard Jeff Jackson talk about it. You heard Ken Holland talk about it.

After they lost to San Jose on Thursday night, they all started to say, it's time. We have to try something else. And that's where it is. And you can take a look at it this way. Jay Woodcroft has 14 playoff wins with the Oilers. Only three others have more, Sather, Muckler, and McTavish. He's the first Oilers coach to take the team past the first round of playoffs

in consecutive seasons since Ron Lowe. We all know about the goalie issues. I mean, we can all take a look at this and say he's got a 64% winning percentage, 78, 41, and 13. It's a great record. This was not about Jay Woodcroft as a coach. It was about losing and going badly at the absolute wrong time. And it forced the team into action.

The ground shifted under him. Holland was a guy who brought in Woodcroft, and there's a new there's a new sheriff in town and like but the thing is like i don't think jeff jackson was looking to get rid of jay woodcroft but all of a sudden the season starts the way it starts and you're sitting there and you're saying there's so much at stake, what can we change? All right, we change the goalie. That's one.

We try to make moves. Not happening. Not right now. What else can we change? Well, you know, there's a coach out there that Jeff Jackson really believes in and we feel that we're backed into a corner that we have to do something that's what happened here when I say the ground shifted under Jay Woodcroft that's exactly what occurred he went through a losing streak at the absolute worst

possible time life Jeff sometimes it's about who you know sometimes it's about who you know. Sometimes it's about what you can do. Sometimes life is about location, location, location, the three most important words in the English language. But sometimes life is about timing. And Jay Woodcroft's worst stretches head coach with the team came at the absolute worst possible timing you know Elliot we've talked a lot about Jay Woodcroft um on this Sunday as we record we should probably park a little bit of time as well to talk about another coach who was dismissed and that is Dave Manson who for a lot of years did a lot of good things with and for a lot of good defensemen. Yes, and Dave Manson, people of our generation,

when they think of Dave Manson, Jeff, they don't think about the defensive coach. They think about one of the most intimidating players in the history of the National Hockey League. He terrified people people like legitimately scared people elliot there were people who did not want to skate within 14 feet of dave manson because they were frightened about what he would do to them and in many of those cases jeff it was for good reason well you know many of you probably saw the the story a couple weeks ago about the

Colorado Avalanche this year had a mother's trip and at the suggestion of Ryan Johansson there were a number of shirts that said for Lana and Lana was the mother of Josh Manson and the wife of Dave Manson and she passed away in August in Saskatchewan after a battle with melanoma cancer. And, you know, look, like, I don't want to trivialize it or undersell it or oversell it any way. I think everybody understands how hard that would have been for Dave. And then, you know, as much as the professional challenges are, they would pale in comparison to the personal challenges that he went through. But it's a lot.

It's a lot for someone to go through over a, you know, a two and a half to three month period. So just want to say hope Dave's okay. And like Jay Woodcroft will be coaching in the NHL soon, you only assume that Dave Manson will be too if he wants to. So just hope he's doing all right. And I know there is a league full of people who are thinking about him.

There's the business and there's the human side. And sometimes the business really sucks. And I think for a lot of people, they would be thinking about Manson on Sunday. As I mentioned, the first game in the Knobloch era, Monday against the New York Islanders. Anything more you want to add on the Edmonton situation before we move this program along?

We spent so much time on Edmonton last podcast. This is turning into a rival for Bob Stauffer's show now. No, first of all, we're better than Stauffer's show. There is no way we are worse than Bob Stauffer's show. I like when he talks old junior hockey stories and G-Bear stories. I love when he gets into them. Oh my God.

You know, I gotta tell you, I was speaking to Stauffer on Sunday and I want to stress that this was after everything had happened. I guarantee to you, I would love to see Stauffer's call log on Sunday, how many people called him, and he just wasn't answering his phone. But he was whining and complaining about the Golden Bears. Jeff, they suffered a ridiculous loss in the Canada West Conference Final. I saw the highlights.

I couldn't believe it when I saw it. They lost to UBC in the most ridiculous way possible. Go Western, the Purple Satan won. But they lost in the most ridiculous way possible. And Stauffer. Oh, yeah? Yeah. So Stauffer was complaining about that.

The Oilers changed their coach, and he's complaining about the way that Alberta lost in the Canada West final. You know, I think this. I don't think all those players are going to agree with this. Like, that's number one. I think Knobloch's going to have a challenge. Like, that's number one, is that I donloch's going to have a challenge. That's number one.

I don't think all the players agree with this. Knobloch goes in there after a win, so everyone's going to feel a little bit better about themselves. But I will say this. I think one of the biggest challenges is that McDavid hates to lose. And when he loses loses he is miserable that's the thing i like about him the most like you can talk about his speed you can talk about his skill you can talk about all the things he does he does a lot of great things i think the best thing about conor mcdavid is he is miserable when they lose. And because they've been losing a lot,

he's their captain, he's miserable, so the whole team is miserable. When your captain and your leaders and your coach is miserable, and I think Woodcroft really tried not to be, but when McDavid's miserable because he's the captain, the whole team is miserable. I think Knobloch, who knows him because he coached him, is going is miserable i think knob block who knows him

because he coached him is gonna have to get him out of that you know me and my love for grumpy hockey players though yeah like i'm never gonna complain jeff like if if i if i was losing as much as they did in the first 13 games of the season i'd be miserable too i understand it but that's the thing like one of my big annoyances about not just hockey but all sports is the um is the performative after a loss i'm so upset about this you can't live like that a lot of players don't a lot of it is a performance and the minute the cameras are turned off and everybody walks away it's like okay i got through that one but like this has been going on for a long time and mcdavid is i i agree with you he is legitimately pissed off he's had it and he's and he's like legit pissed if you're a team that's in first place in your

conference and you lose a game and you're 20 games over 500 i don't think you have to be i don't think you have to be performative i think everybody understands that but i know where you're coming from this is a team that was having an awful stretch at the start of the year. And I just think the level of anger and the level of disappointment was sky high. Sky high. Okay. The other newsmaker of the weekend, I'm getting off the Oilers page here, but not going too far, not straying too far away from Edmondson. Four-hour drive?

What is happening? Highway 2. What is happening with Nikita Zdorov? So it was interesting. Oh, yeah. It was interesting. So Zdorov plays under 16 minutes on Friday night, and they lose to Toronto.

He delivers a huge hit in Bertuzzi. And I'll tell you something else, Jeff. The word going around on Sunday night is that a Maple Leaf player said to Zdorov on the ice, you're exactly what we need. So that leads to a... Hang on. Was that former teammate London Knight Max Domi?

I don't know. Like, honestly, they wouldn't tell me who said it. Wouldn't surprise me. They were teammates with the Knights. Yeah, you know, I just don't know. Like, I can't answer. You know what, Jeff? You could be right.

You know, it's rare for you, but you could actually be right about something. I just don't know who it was. Like, someone told me it was set on, they heard it set on the ice, that one player said to Zdorov, you're exactly what we could use here in Toronto. And he delivered a big hit on Tyler Bertuzzi.

But Zdorov gets off the ice, and I don't know if it was a slap shot text to the agent, like play me or freaking trade me or whatever happened here. But Dan Milstein, who was the agent you know basically said you know he wants out and buy your tickets in Toronto Zdorov could be here so you know you know I will say this the flames were really quiet on Saturday they were not answering calls they weren't getting back to me it reminded me of my high school days when I used to try to call members of the opposite sex and say, would you like to go on a date with me? And I just never got an answer.

You know, Craig Conroy, I want to tell you, it really hurt. It brought back traumatic memories. Anyway, I think that Calgary wanted to dial it down. I think they wanted to calm it down. You know, if you listen to Zdorov talk to Ryan Leslie and the other media after the game on Saturday night in Ottawa, you know, he basically just said, you have to understand,

but I'm not going to go into it any more than that. And, you know, I think this, I think Zdorov, if he's only going to play 15, 16 minutes a night, I think he'd rather do it in another situation. But I think the Flames were upset. I think some of the players were upset. But, you know, like, it was funny. I was talking to a couple agents, and, you know,

they were saying to me that, you know that more and more players kind of want this. There's some agents who are absolutely dead set against that approach. They say it's not the way we should do things and I don't like it. But there were a couple agents say to me that this newer, younger generation of players, they see how the basketball players kind of control the narrative and they're in charge and they're like you know like i had a couple guys tell me that they have to fight off some of their young guys about this that their young guys are like do it do it do it and they're like that's not the way that this should work. So, you know, we're kind of in that middle ground.

But, you know, whatever the case is, like, I think Calgary's got some interesting stuff going on. Like, the one thing I think the Flames said is, we're going to do this on our schedule. You know, maybe we'll trade Zdorov. If he doesn't want to stay here, we'll do it. But we're going to do this on our schedule. It's not going to happen on his schedule. It's going to happen on our schedule. And I do think that, you know, look, like going into Friday night,

they weren't that far out of the playoff race, and it's still early. But, you know, they got one point out of a possible four on the weekend we'll see where everything is but I do think the Flames kind of just wanted to see how this season would play out but now you've got Hannafin where it looked like an extension was getting close has fallen apart there's nothing yet with Tanev you know Zdorov's agent pops off like this. You know, all of a sudden, once again, you've got three UFADs. The one thing I really think it did was it brought some other teams into the conversation. Like people think that, you know, I've mentioned Arizona with Hannafin.

I think there was something there. I think they talked. I just don't know how far it got, and it's obviously not anywhere right now. Toronto and Vancouver have both been mentioned with Tanev and Zdorov individually, and I think Toronto would love to have both of them if they could.

And I don't know if it's with an extension or I don't know how it is, but I just think that Calgary said, look, like this is going to happen on our terms. But I think it brought other teams out of the woodwork that like someone said to me on Sunday, you got more work to do now. Like everybody knows about Toronto and Vancouver now because of that tweet. Who else is out there? You got to do your work and figure out who else is now involved. So I think if that did anything, it brought other teams into the equation.

And now, but it's on Calgary's timeline. Like I said, they made it very clear. We are going to do this when we are ready. Now, a couple of things with the Flames. Number one, Lindholm has got to get going. Like he's not helping himself here Lindholm has got to get going. He's not helping himself here, and he has got to get going. Eight points in 14 games. Yeah, but the thing is, just not a huge impact, right?

He's got to make more of an impact. And secondly, and I give you credit, which I don't like to do too often, but Hubert Ochoa. Say it loud so everyone can hear in the back. I give you credit, but I don't like to do too often, but Hubert O changed. Say it loud so everyone can hear in the back. I give you credit, but I don't like to do it too often. You were the one who pointed out that Hubert O changed his equipment. Yeah, using some Bower gear now. Yeah, so I looked into it, and I was told that,

I'm going to get the answer for you here. Yes. He changed everything at the beginning of the season, everything except the stick. But that's a good pull on your part. A really good pull on your part. It's a geeky pull, I know. I like that.

I respect that. Respect. No making fun. That's respect. When they... I don't like this complimentary, Elliot. I like the poking fun at me, Elliot Friedman. No, but that's what players do when they want to change everything. It's like, okay, everything's going to change.

I want new gloves. I want a new helmet. I want new skates. I'm going to try a new stick, a new pattern, new everything, just to get rid of that old feel from last year. I mean, it's not that uncommon. I think I mentioned here a couple of weeks ago how Ovechkin was using, because I guess his CCM contract ran out

and he's not a Bauer client, but he was using Bauer sticks. I think he's sampled Warrior as well. I think they shipped sticks to him. And I think that, like Huberto is not a Bauer guy right now, but I think he's trying out their product and you do that. Like you change your whole,

it's one of the things that whenever players are going through slumps, I kind of look at like, okay, what's different. What are they trying to do? And sometimes you can see, oh, those are different gloves.

Oh, those are different skates that they're using. And Huberto just joins a long line of those players that are you know trying new things to try to get a new feel for their game so hope it works for him i really do i i really now but the thing is i i always wonder about that specifically with skates because players are so sensitive about skates and it's such a huge part of your game that that's got to be the one that perhaps is the most difficult to change once you get used to your brand of skates to change to something else you're talking to the guys like that's that that's that's the biggest adjustment

but we'll see we'll see where that goes by the way one more note on Zdorov circling back as I'm fascinated now who would have said that. Mitch Marner was also on that 2-14 team. Oh, my God. I don't know who it was. I just heard that that had happened. I'm just doing my best Elliot Friedman. Was it Max Domi?

Was it Mitch Marner? Was it Chris Cherney? Was it Josh Anderson? They were all on the team. But the difference is when I do that to you you know who it was I honestly don't know who it was

what a wild weekend in Toronto too for example when Klingberg didn't play on front against Calgary and Sheldon Keith said he was hurt I had people telling me

he was going to Robida Island oh my goodness can you imagine no no and he played the next day and i'm sure he wants to play in sweden which i completely understand but people and i thought it was really interesting that on saturday night reeves doesn't play and they get two instigators giordano and domi for defending themselves and the only thing i think about there is normally they're kind of waiting for Reeves to do it. And now with him not there, the group is saying, well, we can't look for anybody else.

Now we're going to do it. When they talked about standing up for themselves, that's exactly what they were talking about. It was almost as if Reeves not in the lineup. Well, we can't wait for him we have to do it ourselves someone's got to do it uh you know who's doing it right now the florida panthers yeah we're talking about them for a second parking on the panthers here now ekblad and montour are on the horizon yeah it sounds like ekblad is going to be a little bit longer but you know there's some talk that by the end of the california trip they may get these two back uh they got sam bennett back uh in the game against the blackhawks on sunday they're seven two and one in their last

ten yeah they've won four four games in a row um and they sold out Sunday afternoon for Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks now the dolphins weren't playing okay so they they were so that there's no conflict there so but still 19k that's good Sunday and you go wow that's a great number but it's just a great number like I'm I'm happy for the for the Florida Panthers you know Bennett's back and some defense been back they're second in the Atlantic, 9-4-1. Things are looking good here for the Florida Panthers, Freach. They are, and especially with all the injuries, as you mentioned, they've done really nicely.

I'm a money puck guy. I shouted them out on Saturday night. I really like their side. Expected goals. They're sixth among the NHL teams, all teams, and expected goals they're sixth among the nhl teams uh all teams and expected goals and i know that there's teams out there are always very careful about me using that number on the public sites as opposed to the private information but i still think you know if if you're six that's probably means you're trending very well they're seventh seventh in shot attempts percentage. Like they're controlling the play.

I think they deserve a lot of credit for what they've done so far. And the interesting thing about this is we're starting to get closer to the Patrick Kane decision. I think this week he's going to start talking to some teams. Like Bill Zito, the GM of Florida, has been one of the most aggressive general managers when it comes to Kane. Like they don't have a ton of money. They can't offer him the most money. They can probably offer him only a one-year deal. I'm not 100% sure on that, but I know they can't

offer him a ton of money this year. He like the salesperson the phone salesperson that calls you during dinner oh my god this guy again like leave me alone like I heard he's been very aggressive with Kane come here we can't give you the most money but we can give you a chance to win and you know last year obviously they went to the Stanley Cup final, but this year I don't think we were expecting any more, but that team's record is good and their underlying numbers are good. And I don't know if Keenan's going to end up there, but Florida incredibly and maybe unbelievably

has made its case early in the year with how they've played. You know, I have to tell you something. I wanted to mention something else. There was a story that came out on Friday night about Logan Thompson and not being able to put the ribbon, the Hockey Fights Cancer ribbon, on his mask. You know, he's played three games in a row with a Hockey Fights Cancer mask, and Grubauer played with one

too so it's weird like it seems to me very strange that you know two goalies would be able to play with one and one without I have a theory on this and my theory is that when Logan Thompson wanted to put the ribbon on his mask it was in the summer and you know nothing was kind of allowed at that time so I think that it was just the I don't know who made the decision like I'm not even convinced this ever got to the NHL I don't know who made the decision but the decision was made not to put it on at the time but like put it this way I think if Logan Thompson just showed up in his next start with a hockey fights cancer ribbon on his mask I don't think anyone's gonna care I don't think anybody's

gonna complain I don't think that's gonna be a problem because you look at Grubauer and you look at Bobrovsky and you know they're they're wearing the masks so I don't know what happened here it's it's strange it's it's it's different but I just can't imagine this would be a big deal considering you know the other two guys are wearing the mask and Bobrovsky's done it for three games in a row and I'll tell you this I want to shout out Bobrovsky Bobrovsky's mask is beautiful like Like it is a beautiful, beautiful mask. And when you think about things in the league that can be done to show how players care and things like that. You know, first of all, Bobrovsky was a guy who during COVID, he was very generous in helping out some people who either lost jobs or lost wages during COVID. He was extremely generous.

And secondly, that mask is a beautiful tribute to hockey fights cancer. A lot of credit to Bobrovsky. That's gorgeous. I think that all the hockey fights cancer masks are beautiful in their own unique ways. And when the conversation turns to that, I will always shout out and draw people's attention to the history of this type of mask. And I don't know about you, Frej,

but not that I want to say that one's better than another, but I got a special part in my heart for when Jimmy Howard put the picture of Dave Strader on the back plate. Yeah, it's a beautiful one too. Beautiful call. That was maybe my favorites. A couple of more things before we get to break and the Montana's Thought Line.

You reported on Samuel Montembeau. By the way, Jake Allen, really good game. Man, Allen was great on Sunday, albeit in a losing effort, but Jake Allen was great. Samuel Montembeau and a contract extension with Montreal. Where are they at? So I think they're working on it. You know, one thing I think Montreal would like to do

is I think they would like to solve this three goalie issue. And one of the ways they feel that they can proceed about solving it is, is Montembeau staying? And Montembeau statistically this year has had a good year. I think when you use some of the advanced stats, that his numbers have been quite good. I'd heard they were talking to him. The one thing that someone said to me is,

you've got to be careful with this stuff because I love when people point out my mistakes, but they said, look, you said Hannafin was close to getting done, and now it looks like he's probably going to get traded. And it looked like it was close, and then it kind of fell apart. So this person said to me, I don't want to handicap Montembeau because you were an example of something there that looked like it was close and didn't work. So after I was finished pulling the shrapnel out of my heart from this dressing down, I just kind of said, look, I think they're really trying. Montembeau in the postgame was asked about it by Eric Engels.

He said, look, yes, we're talking and nothing's done, but I'm hopeful. But I'm wondering if Montembeau gets done, it sort of allows Montreal to have a bit more certainty because if they keep Montembeau and they decide what they want to do with whether it's Primo or Allen, at least they know they've got one of the two done and they keep the other one. So I think that's kind of where we are right now.

I think they're trying to get some certainty on Montembeau and we'll see what the answer is. I mean, that was a hell of a game, Montreal and Boston, on a saturday night like just a really really good game and uh you know i uh i just think the canadians want to know want a bit of certainty here and there they're really trying i'll tell you something else too i wouldn't be surprised at all if boston tries to get swayman done too because he's on a one-year deal and he can extend on january 1st um so i'm curious about that like the way he started this year how well he's played how well they're going would not surprise me at all if the bruins are are looking at that as. I know you love Thatcher Demko,

but is Swain the best goalie in the league right now? Well, I'm picking Demko because I picked him for the Vezna after last year's complete disaster. So the answer is no. Demko's the best in the league. Okay, very good. A couple more things. Is there a thaw happening between the Chicago Wolves

of the American League and the Carolina Hurricanes. This was a bad breakup and the Carolina Hurricanes have had to place players all over the world. Elliot, not just in the American Hockey League or the ECHL players have gone home, gone overseas. It's been challenging to say the least. Listen, Scott Housen at the AHL knows this one's a problem. Bill Daly, Gary Bettman at the NHL knows this is a problem that needs to get solved. And now we're seeing Carolina Hurricanes prospects

being assigned to Chicago. Are they dipping their beak back in the fountain here? I think so. You know what happens is, you know, one of the old lines is necessity is the mother of invention. And look, Chicago is in last place in the Central Division of the American Hockey League.

They're 2-6-1. And Chicago is a team, they want to win games. They're the independent AHL team, one of them. And it's not only about development for them, it's about winning games. And here you go, they're in last place in their division. And so the necessity is we got to get some players. And I wouldn't be surprised if you see some of those guys

who ended up in the ECHL for Carolina end up there with the Wolves because some of those agents were really upset and the Wolves need players. So I think there's been a lot going on behind the scenes between the Hurricanes, the AHL, the NHL, and the Wolves. But it's like we talked about with Edmonton, you know, Jay Woodcroft should be the coach of the Oilers, and he would be if the team was winning games. Well, the Wolves, if they're winning games, they'd have the leverage. Unfortunately, they're losing games. They don't have the leverage anymore, Jeff.

So I think you're going to see some of those Carolina guys end up there. So this is strictly business. It's always business. Strictly business. It's always business. Let me ask you about that Dallas-Minnesota game. Yeah. More so from the Minnesota point of view.

You mentioned that four teams are heading to Sweden for the Global Series. Minnesota Wild are one of them. They may be without Brandon Duhame hitting Thomas Harley from behind in that game on Sunday. After the game, and it's a punishing loss, 8-3 is the final. Minnesota Wild before they leave for Stockholm where they'll play both Ottawa and Toronto next Saturday and Sunday.

You know, I think this, like, you know, after Woodcroft got let go, someone said to me, do you think Dean Everson is in trouble after that game? And, you know, I said I would be surprised. And, you know, don't forget that the Minnesota Wild live with a handicap that a lot of other teams don't have to deal with. And the guy who, to me, would really recognize that is Bill Guerin. Now, you know, obviously I think ownership, there'll be pressure. You got to win. They want to win. But I think Dean Everson has squeezed everything out of the Minnesota Wild that he can considering some of the shorthanded nature. You know, I will say this about Craig

Leopold, the owner of the Wild. I don't think he forces his coaches or GMs to do anything, generally. I think for the most part, he hires you to do a job, and he lets you do the job, and I think that's the case definitely in Minnesota. But one of the stories I was told, and I meant to ask Chuck Fletcher this at the draft, but I didn't, although I believe it to be true, was when Chuck Fletcher fired Mike Yeo as head coach of the Wild. They lost an afternoon game. They were really struggling. And Craig Leopold went to Chuck Fletcher and said, you know what you have to do, right?

And apparently Chuck Fletcher said, yeah, yeah i know and that's kind of the way that leopold does things he doesn't force his guys to do anything but when he does he makes it very clear sorry i should say this on the rare occasions he does because i think i don't think he does it a lot you know he'll save his moments for when he really needs them, but he'll make his opinion known. You know, it's tough there. One of the things that really concerns me about them is their goal differential is minus 14. You know, that's the worst one in their division. And I think goal differential is a very important stat. I think it's a very big deal. Of course, it doesn't help that they were minus five on Sunday night,

but the one thing I really do believe is they have a handicap that nobody else has, and I believe Everson does a great job of drawing out the most he can from a team that is shorthanded compared to everyone else. And, you know, the final thing I'd say about Minnesota is Kaprizov has not had a great year. He hasn't been himself. And, you know, Vancouver's proof,

if your best players are your best players, it can make a big difference. But I think the thing is, too, is that Gustafson has struggled. Kaprizov has struggled. And, you know, I just think, like, it's sort of like the anti-Vancouver. Vancouver is overachieved because their best players have been phenomenal. Minnesota's struggling because their best players haven't been. I look at Colorado.

They're struggling right now, too. And Fransos is gone for the season. Fransos is gone. I like to say Joel Kivaranta. Yeah, he's gone for the season. You know, like, there are some really good teams out there. Like, take a look at Edmonton. They

are struggling, obviously. Seattle went to the second round last year they are really struggling Minnesota is struggling Colorado I mean Colorado still in second place in their division but you've got Betten are basically calling them garbage you know but that'll work with that team like those guys will understand what he's talking about you know you've

got the islanders um you know ottawa buffalo teams that had big hopes and i have to tell you like i know that the goalie isn't there vasilevsky and it is a big deal but i've had a couple people tell me that they're starting to see some real warning signs about the lightning that you know everybody thought they'd get a summer off and they'd be all right but you know I have to tell you and I've said this many times right off the lightning at your own peril and I wrote that at the beginning of the year but there are a couple people who know how much i really like the lightning and they say i don't know like it it might be time there like it just a lot of wear and tear on those bodies and it might not be as simple as one early summer but i remind, it is the fool who bets against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

A billion percent. Hey, you mentioned the Islanders there a second ago. I wrote this down earlier and I forgot where I wrote it down because I'm losing my mind. What did you make of Casey Zizekas blasting Islanders fans after they chanted for Lane Lambert's firing. Here's the quote. It's the same thing as Kachuk.

If they want to be like that, they can stay home. If I'm Man, that's a tough one. Whether you're the communications director, whether you're the owner, if you're in charge of marketing, that's a tough one.

When the players are telling fans to stay home. Yeah, it's generally not the marketing pitch or slogan that you'll put up on your building. Stay home. Islander hockey, stay home. Like you won't. It's actually kind of funny. Could you imagine?

32 Thoughts podcast, don't listen. Yeah, it's not good although i will say when i first heard it you know on long island like those are some of the uh the the toughest meanest fans in the league i thought on one, some of those fans might actually respect. It's like when someone pushes you to see if you'll push back. They're trying to draw you out to say stand up for yourself. I thought on maybe some level, the fans on Long Island would kind of respect Casey Sazekas telling them to shove it up where the sun don't shine. They'd be like, hmm, I can kind of respect that. These are the people who booed the hell out of John Tavares

in his first game back. So on some level, I bet they get it. To me, it's the same thing as what Brady Kachuk did. Your fans may not always like it, and some people will tell you you shouldn't do that. But he's trying to galvanize his team he's trying to say look like they're murdering our head coach we have to rally around our head coach and that's what i think that is so look like my general reaction to this stuff je Jeff is two things can be true.

Number one, fans are allowed to say what they want to say because they pay the money and they're the reason we're all employed to not every player or organization is going to agree with what they say. And that's what happened here. When I heard the quote, you know where my brain flashed to right away. Do you remember Bob Ganey blasting Montreal fans with Patrice Brisebois?

Do you remember the exact quote? Oh, yeah. We don't need those people here, right? Yeah. But it goes on. So I looked it up. I'm like, I remember it was like really, really strong. Here's the exact quote from Ganey.

This is back in 2003. Quote, we don't need those people. We don't want those people. They're jealous people, yellow people, Ganey said of the fans who booed Brisebois. I think they're a bunch of gutless bastards, to be honest. That was really strong, Elliot. Gutless bastards. He called them he called them cowards no dom this is our title for this podcast gutless bastards i wonder if we could even if we named it that would it would it stay like yeah how long do you think that that title would stay on the 32 thoughts podcast page wouldn't happen because of all the the layers of editing that this thing goes through and the layers of approval that this thing goes through

there's no chance i think dom should try chance see what happens come on dom and gainey elliot went on to add our message to them these fans is to stay away we don't need you. This is from booing a hockey player, Elliot. Hey, man, Bob Ganey is one of the toughest people alive. If anybody would deliver that message, it would be him. Bob Ganey, for sure. All right, on that we'll break. Montana's Thought Line, next. Listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. okay welcome back to the podcast it's time now for the montana's thought line montana's barbecue and bar canada's home for barbecue try the ribs 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca is the email

1-833-311-3232 is the phone number, Elliot. I was out at an event on Sunday night, and a gentleman named Tom came up to me, and he says, you know what I really liked on one of your more recent podcasts? And I said, what was that? And he said, I really like that question about whether or not the referee's arm gets tired

when he's making a call the delayed the delayed penalty call and i looked at him and said there is no way you actually like that like there's not a chance there are not two people who think like merrick does there's no chance he goes i didn't ask it it was a good question i know but it was a merit question and and you picked it and he said no i really loved it i really liked that question and it made me think of two things number one people are insane and number two number two it's always a reminder that there are great fans out there who have really different questions about hockey so it was just a reminder to me never to treat any of your questions as dumb or not worth answering

even though i think that anything that could in any way align with the way merrick thinks is bananas what did you always say to me bananas. What did you always say to me? What did you always say to me? There's no such thing as stupid questions, only stupid people asking questions. There's something along those lines. You know what's funny? Because when I actually do Q&As with young journalism students

or I'll go to a company and I'll talk to people, one of my lines is is don't be afraid to ask questions. Only reporters ask stupid questions. So I never make fun of the questions that people ask, but for some reason I thought that one was really bad. Evidently not. I thought it was a great one. And I thought Dave Jackson was excellent in answering it. Thank you. That was good, I have to say. Dave Jackson. That was really good.

That was good. Yeah, he was great. Okay, let's start with the voicemail. This from, oh, what a great name, Jeff. Hey, guys. Love the show. I was just listening to your recent podcast, and Elliot had a phone call from an Elliot about Jack Campbell and the waivers.

So Jeff here thought he would have a message for you guys. So with the Jack Campbell waiver situation, and he has to be made available to all 32 teams, what if, for argument's sake, someone, say, like Dodonov, got put on waivers instead of being traded? Is he still available to all 32 teams? Or is he exempt from his teams, like Anaheim, perhaps? Or, you know, maybe it's not a trade.

So too bad. That list is null and void. All right, guys. Love to hear your thoughts. Take care. So there's a couple of things here. And I think, Elliot, Todd Marchand may have been the canary in the coal mine on this one. I think, Elliot, Todd Marchand may have been the canary in the coal mine on this one.

Doug McClain would have been the general manager of Columbus trying to trade him. And he said he had a no trade clause. And Doug said, I'll put you on waivers. And the team that I want to send you to will claim you. At which point, I think agents realize we need to turn no trades into no moves uh so we can't be placed on waivers um you can be placed on waivers and claimed by a team that is on your no trade yes so that's why if you ever look at these sites cap friendly or puckpedia like some people have looked at them before and it says nMC and partial or modified NTC. And people are like, well, why would you need a no move clause and a no trade clause?

It doesn't make any sense. And I say, oh, it does make sense. And the reason it makes sense is a no move clause prevents you from being put on waivers. And the trade clause prevents you from being traded. So if you see a player that has a no move clause they can't be waived if you see a player that just has a no trade clause they can be waived now one thing i checked that everybody should know is because i had someone asked me once if you have a no move clause can you be bought out the answer is yes you can always be bought out so there's three levels of protection no trade clause no move clause which is even higher than the no trade

clause and the partial no trade is probably the lowest of the three never mind probably it is the lowest of the three great question from jeff doug hi guys i love your insights keep up the great shows puzzled by the number of players another waivers question i'm puzzled by the number of players placed on waivers for the purpose of contract termination over the past few years i'm not referring to players who have got in trouble what conditions must be met to cancel a contract instead of a contract buyout does the player have to agree to this this is also a great question we saw one recently last week with andreas johnson yes the player has to agree like you know like for example i had a bunch

of people in my dms who were asking me, could the Oilers terminate Jack Campbell's contract? And the answer is no, without Jack Campbell's approval. And considering there's about 15 million to 18 million left on Jack Campbell's contract, he's not going to be agreeing to that. So, you know, that is basically it comes down to, does the, do the player and team agree? And a lot of times it happens because a player's not happy with their situation in North America and they want to go back to Europe. They know they have an opportunity there. That's where most of these cases occur.

Excellent. Again, here comes another good one. Um, this is a voicemail, Ben in Erie, Pennsylvania. I have a question that came up during last night's Ottawa-Vancouver game. So Brock Besser scored in like 15 seconds, but it went off the bar and out and play continued on for about a minute or so before automatic review kicked in. The play was called dead and it was a good goal. Now, I was wondering what would happen if either team accrued a penalty during that time um would the penalty count or would it not count because it occurred during dead time and uh would that change uh if it was a major

penalty versus a minor penalty, thank you. Bye. Ben, that's really an interesting voicemail because I talked to someone in the league about this not too long ago. And we were talking about what happens during dead time or the twilight zone time. Everything gets rewound to when the goal is scored. Well, what happens during that dead time? What essentially counts and penalties do? So it's not as if it's, okay, this is 1970s hockey, and I should be incarcerated for what I'm about to do, but it's not going to count because that goal went in,

so I'm going to fill my boots and swing my stick. No, that's still a penalty. It may count as twilight zone time or wormhole time or whatever you want to refer to it as but infractions do count you commit a foul you will serve a penalty so don't commit fouls yes don't commit fouls even if you think the goal's gone in and it's going to be called back and there's going to be a horn and the goal counts don't think you can just you know do whatever you want as you know clockwork orange style i know elliot loves that reference clockwork orange style. I know Elliot loves that reference.

Clockwork orange style. Don't do it. Can I be really petty? I kind of like it when people are petty, yes. Okay, I'm going to be really petty and trite. That's a really good call. But one thing is like nails on a chalkboard for me in that call. And I hear it all the time.

I just cringe when someone says good goal. Why does it bother you? What's the difference between good goal or a goal? You know what officials on a video review, upon video review of the puck cross the line, we have a good goal as opposed to we have a goal. Oh my God. We have a goal.

If we don't have a goal, do we call it a bad goal you know my other pet peeve you like this one too okay what are you sure i'm gonna like it no you're gonna hate it actually um but that's why i'm gonna say it uh when people refer to the area in front of the net as the slot area as opposed to the? How many empty calorie words are we going to add on things? Good goal. Slot area. It's a slot. It's a goal.

Don't need to add stuff to it. You know, I wish my life was so easy that I could worry about stuff like this, like you do. Elliot thinks I'm fun. Okay, one more. This is an interesting one. Kuritz from Waterloo, Ontario. Jeffrey and Elliot. My question is about the current

Connor Brown situation in Edmonton and Jeff Jackson as a whole. My tinfoil hat question is, does he not have incentive to want to keep Conor around to trigger his bonus and ultimately increase his agent commission? Or now that he is no longer an agent,

does he lose his ability to collect agent fees slash commission from players? Curious if the NHL has a rule about agents who take fun off his jobs and what happens to their agent fees hang on big fan thanks to you both and try the risk that is that is a really good question the answer is yes you you there are rules and i do think so one of the things about in the summer

was there were rumors that jackson was going tomonton, but it was impossible to confirm, like really difficult to confirm. And I think that one of the reasons it was difficult to confirm is because everybody was radio silent because of how he had to divest himself moving from agent to team. So yes, that is a great question. Yes, there are rules about divesting yourself from your agencies. Great questions this week. Absolutely. That's the Montana's Thought Line, Montana's Barbecue and Bar, Canada's home for barbecue. Again, to get to us by email, 32thoughtsatsportsnet.ca, by phone, 1-833-311-3232.

by phone, 1-833-311-3232. When we come back, we'll remind you of some of the best games of the week that are on the horizon. Circle your calendars, folks. And yeah, we're going overseas to Stockholm. More podcasts in a moment. Elliot, I want to ask you about the Radco-Gudis goal from Sunday. Open at the right point is Gudis. He'll wind and fire off a San Jose stick.

Scored! It floated in the air and Blackwood never picked it up. And it floated in the net. Now, there are two Anaheim teams. There's the Anaheim Ducks and there's the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. And here's my question to you about that Radko Gutis goal. Is that Gutis goal the most Mighty Ducks of Anaheim goal ever scored? That is not an Anaheim Ducks goal. That is a Mighty Ducks of Anaheim goal ever scored. That is not an Anaheim Ducks goal. That is a mighty Ducks of Anaheim goal that was scored by Gutis. Agree or disagree? When you think of everything, whether it's the

movie and the characters and what they represent and all of it and the jerseys and all of it, is that not the most mighty Ducks goal you've ever seen? A knuckle puck? the most Mighty Ducks goal you've ever seen? A knuckle puck? It was a three-pointer. It was awesome. Honestly, it's the most Mighty Duck goal I've ever seen.

That's a great question. I'm trying to think off the top of my head. I know that this is going to be, someone's going to come up with something better. Well, actually, guys, there's going to be one of those. Don't worry. Comic book guy from The Simpsons. Worst goal ever. Elliot, before we talk about the Hockey Hall of Fame, and Monday is going to once again be a wonderful evening for hockey,

and before we talk about what might be the most interesting game of the week, and then some other games later on in the week in Stockholm, I just want to shout out a couple of people specifically that I met over the weekend. I was in Lake Placid for the first time ever. If you haven't been, it's gorgeous. Did you meet Mike Arruzzione? Okay, I kind of, well, I didn't really, but I went to the Mike Arruzzione team shop. I went to the Mike Arruzzione team shop I went to the Mike Arugioni team shop. Can you not give a straight answer to a question?

I kind of not really did, but I went to the Mike Arugioni. Well, I didn't meet Mike Arugioni, but I went to the store named after him. So you didn't meet him. That kind of counts. The answer is no, I didn't meet him. No, but I went to a place where there are autographed pictures of him but i met someone that i really like a guy the name of todd zold who's a big fan of the podcast i don't think he's gonna like you much after you blasted his shop the mic i did not blast shop i blasted

your answer to the question oh okay good thanks very Thanks very much. Very cool spot. Todd's a wonderful guy, runs a great shop, and it was hustling. They do these Can-Am tournaments. Every weekend, this Can-Am is going on. Did you meet Jim Craig? I think it started. Well, I was in a shop with a picture of Jim Craig and Ken Morrow. Did you meet Dave Silk?

and Ken Morrow. Did you meet Dave Silk? His name was on these jersey hoodies that they were selling at the Mike Garugioni team shop. Elliot? They had statues and bobbleheads of Herb Brooks, if that counts, too. They got a lot of cool

stuff there. Some cool hats, some dry fits. Real nice. Anyway, met Todd. Wonderful guy. Had a nice conversation with him check out the michael ruggioni team shop uh when you visit lake placid hopefully if you have kids that play hockey they get to have the the can-am experience in lake placid it's fantastic um a gentleman with the name of rich kiss pulled me aside the other night as well he's a huge podcast fan uh he's a new york rangers fan living in Philadelphia.

That, sir, is brave. But I want to give a special shout out to... Was he one of the Rangers fans that took over Philly in that one game? Oh, man. I bet he was, too. Like, he's like a diehard Rangers fan. So it wouldn't surprise me. By the way, I'm looking at the Mike Iruzioni team shop online right now. It's cool, eh?

It's some nice stuff. Those toques are really nice. Some of nice stuff some those uh toques are really nice uh some of the hats are the toques are i mentioned the uh the the sweater jerseys they're the the hoodie jerseys those are real nice too some good stuff there folks some good stuff um met a young man on saturday by the name of jack campbell his mother, Jennifer and his dad, Ross real like super kid and knows like, you know, Elliot,

like you and I pretend that we know like a lot about hockey. This kid is dialed and knows a ton about hockey, listens to everything, including for some reason, this podcast. So I gave Jack some homework. He's promises that he's going to listen to every pod and he's going to make sure that we don't make any mistakes and if we do make mistakes

he's going to call us on it elliot that kid is going to have the highest phone bill in the world no kidding jack we are going to keep you busy uh wonderful kid wonderful family and i love it when when i get to meet people who listen to the podcast because they are wonderful people like Rich, like Todd, and like Jack. So thanks to all three of them. I've got to tell you, the Aruzzi-only Captain Vintage crew,

it's pretty nice. Are you like angling for Todd to send you something? It's possible. I can't deny that that is the attempt here. Is that a life-size cardboard cutout of her Brooks that would look great in my cave oh wow Elliot okay a couple of things here I

want to finish with the Hall of Fame before we get yeah NHL heading to Stockholm the global series so I love this because I love NHL games at different times of the day so thursday detroit ottawa two o'clock eastern bam awesome that's great i like that friday yeah friday detroit toronto two o'clock eastern bam uh saturday 11 a.m eastern from minnesota ottawa and then oh elliot's I know you got hockey night on Saturday.

And it's a late one always on Saturday night. But Toronto, Minnesota, 8 a.m. on Sunday, Eastern time. First of all, you're like Emeril. You're bam, bam. Like that's. I know it feels like that. But so I usually work the regional games, Leaf regional games. And because we're working late on Saturday night,

the Leaf regional game is early Sunday morning. They told me, you know, you can have Sunday morning off, Leaf Wild. Did you take it off? You have my- And I said, I will work it, but you have to understand I'm coming right from the bar. And they said, you can take it off. At least you're honest i'll be coming right from my speakeasy right to the toronto minnesota i wanted to mention you know who i met this week was the parents of your radio producer david sis oh no way you know dave's uh dave's a scout for the own sound attack

of the ohl did you i did not know that That's about the only thing his parents didn't tell me about him is that he's a scout for the sound attack. Huge hockey guy. Yeah, Dale DeGray's got him a good one there. Got himself a good scout there. Okay, so that's the global series, but

the game of the week in North America as I look at it, Wednesday, Vancouver, and the return of Bo Horvat. How's that going to go? You can tell Horvat's a little bit nervous about it because of some of the things he's been saying. He basically said, I think some things got misinterpreted there,

but I really love playing in Vancouver. Usually I find when you start a sentence by saying things got a little bit misinterpreted, it's basically third and 17. Like, you're pretty much in trouble on this play. But the thing is, like, to me, Horvat you know he's he was good there he was the captain he was the captain there for a reason it didn't work out but you know he really cared um look like things are going well there right now um I bet you he gets a good reception I bet you he gets a good reception.

I bet you he gets a good reception. To me, it's not I hope so. I think that it just didn't work there. Boy, I got to tell you, this is a good reminder, Jeff. I had some really interesting feedback about what I said last pod about how the fact that whole thing came up with the draft was a reason that they didn't win I had a bunch of people reach out to me and say not only is that true but you could basically talk about that for every team that doesn't win when you're relitigating things 5 to 10 to 15 to 20 years after it happens,

it's because you're not a winner. And so, you know, Bo Horvath got traded when the Canucks were still trying to find their way. Look, this year, are they on like a shooting percentage, save percentage bender? Yeah, but ride the wave and their best players are playing great. They weren't like this a year ago. They were really struggling to find their footing.

And I think most Canucks fans are going to recognize that. They're going to say this was a guy who was traded, our captain who really cared when we hadn't figured it out yet. And they're not going to blame him. They're going to look at the overall situation. All eyes on Wednesday. This one should be a beauty. Okay.

Finish up with the Hall of Fame. A thought on a few of these individuals. Well, first of all, it's the year that the Hall of Fame plays catch up or make good or make do with goaltenders. Yes. I don't know about you, but I've always felt the two positions that the Hall of Fame has always sort of come up light as far as, you know, because they've come up late on the women's end as well.

But as far as positionally, goaltenders and defensive defensemen. Those are the two areas where I think the Hall has kind of fallen a little bit, but not this year with the goalies. Mike Vernon, Henrik Lundqvist, and Tom Barrasso. Four-time gold medalist, Caroline Roulette. Caro goes in, as does Pierre Turgeon.

Ken Hitchcock gets the nod as well, and the late Pierre Lacroix. Your thoughts on this class? Well, first of all, this is one of my favorite nights on the year, even though we don't broadcast it. I always love the speeches. I think the speeches are really beautiful. And I think you get to see, you get a chance to see what really means something to these people. And, you know, I think when you're going into the Hall of Fame, obviously you're going into the hall of fame obviously you're the elite of the elite at what you do

and i i think you get a real window into the soul of you know the the things that are meaningful to these individuals what's meaningful number one being great number two winning and and probably it's the it's two before one but there's always things that you don't think of. And I started a new tradition this year. I'm going to keep doing it every year, Jeff. But I went to the media conference on Friday for the inductees. And the thing I asked them about was what is the best compliment that you ever received? And some of the answers were really good. You know, Mike Vernon talked about, he got a letter once from the football coach at the university of michigan lloyd carr like kind of out of nowhere he met him at an event

and then not long after lloyd carr sent him a written note about you know just you know obviously lloyd card watched and seen what he did and he said it was really meaningful that this letter appeared out of nowhere from Lloyd Carr. And he also said he got one from Lou Lamorello after he got in. He got a handwritten note from Lamorello when he was inducted, or when the announcement was made last year. Eric LaCroix asked him about his dad, and he talked about how, you know, Peter Forsberg

in 2001, he didn't play in the Stanley Cup final, you know, Colorado beat New Jersey, but Forsberg had suffered a, had surgery for like, I guess, a ruptured spleen after they won the Western Conference final and he wanted to play. And Lacroix told him I don't care how much I want to win the Stanley Cup here this is about your life and you're not going to play and years later guys like Forsberg and you know Joe Sackick and Adam Foote when they had kids Lacroix showed up in hospital to you, welcome their children into the world. And like things like they said, players told him like, because I'll tell you this, Pierre Lacroix, as you know, he could be ruthless.

He was a really tough negotiator. He made really hard decisions. But when it came time to show like players the human side, he could do that too. Ken Hitchcock talked about players like mike medano and rick nash and keith primo who said to him uh you could be tough on me but now i understand uh tom barrasso talked about um mario lemieux would say to him um you know we need to win and you're the guy who's going to get it done I believe you you're the guy who's going to get it done for us and so those are the things I really like is I when when you're the

best in your field and anyone who's going to the hall of fame is the best in their field obviously and it's an elite field and you're at the top of it I'm always really curious to see who are the not only not so much who are the people they thank but what they say about those people and what really mattered to them so i always love like bernice carnegie had an incredible speech uh last that's the best one ever yeah at the hockey hall of fame and i love that i love watching the speeches i i really do funny too because i was going to close by mentioning bernice as well the bar has been set high like there have been some great speeches in the past but last year the way that bernice carnegie spoke and the way that she held the crowd and the way

that she took the crowd on an emotional roller coaster in her speech about Herb Carnegie was spectacular. That is the bar. That's going to be a tough one to beat, but I do encourage people, because I love Hall of Fame speeches. I just love speeches to begin with, whether you're doing valedictorian speeches or Hall of Fame speeches. I really enjoy listening to them.

Do yourself a favor sometime this week. If you haven't heard what Elliot's talking about, do yourself a favor and go listen to Bernice Carnegie last year on the induction of Herb Carnegie. It is the most beautiful Hockey Hall of Fame speech I think that there's ever been. Congratulations to the class this year, Vernon, Lundquist, Barrasso, Roulette, Turgeon, Hitchcock, and Lacroix.

An excellent class. Congratulations to them all. This podcast returns Friday morning, our usual time. Enjoy your week. I'll talk to you Friday.