32 Thoughts: The Podcast - The Harmonica Magic Is Gone

Episode Date: April 30, 2025

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Justin Cuthbert, Kyle Bukauskas, and Elliotte Friedman tour around the NHL's first round series:Sens-Leafs (1:00)Panthers-Lightning (19:38)Stars-Avalanche (24:49)Devils-Hurricanes (35:51)Kings-Oilers (42:01)Wild-Golden Knights (48:32)Jets-Blues (55:32)Canadiens-Capitals (59:58)In the back half of the podcast Kyle, Justin, and Elliotte run through the latest news and notes from around the league. Elliotte talks about the Penguins parting with ways with Head Coach Mike Sullivan (1:06:18). and delves into Rick Tocchet's departure from the Vancouver Canucks (1:17:40). Justin and Elliotte finish off the podcast by touching on Steve Yzerman's humorous exchange with the media (1:25:46) and the Utah Hockey Club apparently leaking Mammoth as their official nickname (1:30:01)Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates

Down to a minute remaining on the power play. Dostas-Bear to the far side, back across, too hard for Jarvis. Dostas-Bear with it once again. For the far circle. Stop! Oh, oh, wins it and sends the Hurricanes to the second round. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra AT4X.

Kyle Bacoskas, Elliot Friedman, Dom Sharmady, Justin Cuthbert coming to you after a fascinating night in the Stanley Cup playoffs. And with Ottawa and Toronto, it's impossible guys not to be swept up in it. If you're a Leaf fan, the terror. If you're a Sens fan, the potential. If you're a Neutral, the chaos. A series that was quickly uninteresting is now flirting with sports transcendency. The entire sports world will look up from its collective phone if the Maple Leafs, these Maple Leafs, cough up a 3-0

series lead. It is early. It's just a 3-2 series now after Ottawa wins 4-0 in Toronto on Tuesday night, but it's nearly impossible, no matter your position in this, to shrug off. Kyle, let's begin with you. Actually, let's begin with you and Brady Kachuk. Do you believe you have cast a seed of doubt in your opponent? I think so.

Uh oh. See, I gotta tell you something, guys. I don't believe in panic. I believe in a situation like this, if you're Toronto, you should believe in opportunity. You saw all those quotes in the post game, Chris Tanev, Craig Barube, we're still in control of the series, we're still in position. That's the way you've gotta think. You've gotta think, you've gotta train your mind to think.

If you were told beforehand you could win the series in six games, you'd be okay with that. And that's the way you have to prepare. And if I was there, that's the way I would think about it. That's the way I always think about things. Find an optimistic twist. Here's the thing Justin, I'm 54 years old. I was born in 1970. I've lived 50 of my 54 years in Toronto. The other four years I lived in London, Ontario, two hours west, which

still has a lot of Toronto in it. Now London is split territory. It's generally either Maple Leafs or Red Wings. It's halfway between Toronto and it. Now London is split territory. It's generally either Maple Leafs or Red Wings. It's halfway between Toronto and Detroit. But I've basically, by osmosis, spent my entire life around Maple Leaf fans. I know these people. I know this fan base. Let's just say the blood pressure medication is flying off the shelves. It is full-blown panic mode now that this series is 3 to 2. The key thing is, is that if you're a Toronto player, you can say that's outside noise We've got to control the inside. This is why Tanev is here. This is why Stanley Cup champion Oliver Ekman Larson is here. This is why Stanley Cup champion

Stephen Lawrence is here This is why? Craig Barube, Stanley Cup champion coach is here. This is what they were here to deal with. Is the crush of history. Like I don't blame the Leaf fans. They've seen a lot of bad endings to seasons. Maybe they were just bad seasons, but there were also promising seasons that ended badly It's very hard to tell people to ignore all this history

But in the room you've got to keep that out. You can't let it affect you but around them You know what the Maple Leaf fans are feeling that existential dread is creeping in. And that kind of negative energy is what they've got to block out. Kyle, you were there for the post game. How did it feel? How did it contrast?

Well, you know, we talked about this last pod, Justin, like, you know, Craig Borubi's done a really good job just instilling a completely different vibe through great moments of the year, tough moments of the year. It's been pretty well the same all the way. And I think from his perspective and for the most part, the players too, they're very much conveying the same thing that you just mentioned about, they're still up 3-2 in the series, but it's a different feeling now. There's no question.

There was a sense in Ottawa just when it got to three nothing and there was the potential for a sweep going into last Saturday, that whole notion of, well, man, they had waited eight years to make the playoffs, but does it really feel like you made the playoffs when, regardless of who your opponent is, you get swept in in the opening round? Like that's a tough pill to swallow after going that long. It was not unlike, you know, Justin, when Toronto a couple of years ago finally got

through Tampa and then they were on the verge of being swept by Florida. And it was like, well, did it really feel like they had gotten through to the second round if they had gone down that way? But you know, we'll get in Ottawa here shortly. really feel like they had gotten through to the second round if they had gone down that way. We'll get in Ottawa here shortly and I know we'll talk about the Toronto side of things here in a minute, but it is remarkable. We did the pregame hit there, walking through the lines of the fans trying to get into Scotiabank before the game Tuesday night. And there was that sense of just like every now and then, in the past, there's some fan that'll come up to you and go well what do you think how do you feel about tonight and I typically stay out of that but there was none of that here on Tuesday just like a

great sense of anticipation of like this is the night that the Leafs are going to to end this series there was a lot of optimism in in the crowd there for those wearing blue and white and it was I mean just palpable anger when Tim Stutzla iced it with the first of two empty netters and stunned silence before that with the Dylan Cousins shorthanded goal so it's it's remarkable how quickly a series can change Justin and yeah as you say from kind of being being one of the least nasty and in some ways, least compelling of the eight first round series, boy, we've got a lot of people's attention here now as it goes back to Ottawa for six. So we wait forever, it seems, for the Maple Leafs to come of age, right?

Like this is not like a complete immaturity thing, but part of it is them not being able to get over that hump. And if you go back to Ottawa to start the series, our conversations, the narrative was, hey, are they not ready for this? They were so juiced up for game one that they kind of played themselves out of it just a little bit. But over the course of five games, Kyle, they have taken on some composure. They have sudden know-how of the situation.

They handled that game brilliantly. It seems like they have sort of adopted that composure so soon that some teams, maybe the Leafs included, are finding it painstakingly difficult to adopt. I give them a lot of credit, Justin. I really do because you knew they were gonna learn some things, regardless of how long this series went, whether they came out of the right side of it or they didn't. They were gonna learn a lot of things.

I'm really impressed by how quickly they're applying those lessons. You know what I mean? Like, because over the course of this time that they had tried to get into the playoffs, it was getting kind of a tiresome storyline at times of like, well, we're learning lessons here and it's just going to help us get better down the line. The fan bases were sick of hearing that because it was like year after year of the same thing and falling short to be anywhere near the

playoff cut line. But now how quickly they're learning on the fly in the series, it's been something. And as the games have gone on, Justin, the big names are starting to get in on the action. You know? Like, I know it was an empty net, but Stootslo on the board again. Shabbat gets his first here on Tuesday night. Dylan Cousins, who hadn't had much impact on the series really hadn't done any penalty killing After Adam Goddard of all people makes an incredible play anticipating the pass from Austin Matthews He scores his first of the series

You know could chuck on the board again and with the arm up after making it for nothing Jake Sanderson, I mean we talked about him going in that he could be you know, the best defenseman Jake Sanderson, I mean we talked about him going in that he could be you know the best defenseman potentially in this series on both sides. A little bit of a quieter start for him but you know he scores the big goal in game four to bring it back to Toronto. He looked unbelievable I thought on both sides of the puck here on on Tuesday night. I know he didn't score and didn't make an impact that way, but just some of the decisions, his skating, the defensive plays, breaking up passes

in front of the net and doing it with such control. All the young players that you're looking at and going like they showed the graphic during the game of just the amount of Senators players just in the series have scored their first career playoff goals over the last week plus. It's come together very quickly for Ottawa. Who knows if it's going to continue here beyond a fifth and now a sixth game, but I just give them a lot of credit for how quickly they have learned some valuable lessons for a team that was very green when we watched them open up game one here in Toronto two Sundays ago. Linus Olmark too, who does have some pedigree, but not at this stage having success during

the Stanley Cup playoffs has definitely settled into this series, earning the shutout against the Maple Leafs on Tuesday night. He was excellent. From the Leafs standpoint, it's not that they lost. I think it's at this stage how the team lost. Like if you suffered from the same mistakes that the Senators suffered from in game one, which was, hey they're a little overzealous, they're gonna be making a mistake. I think that would be understandable. I

mean anyone who's played the sport, anyone who's been involved in minor hockey understands that yeah you get juiced up for a big game and you might make a mistake, you can have energy up for a big game and you might make a mistake. You could have energy backfire aggression work against you. But with the Leafs tonight, it was lifeless. It was flaccid. It was almost unimaginable to me that they didn't feel like they had any juice and how quickly the life was sucked out of the barn because they just didn't seem to have it. I know this is another opportunity on home ice to not let the conversation even begin

in earnest and yet they just opened the door wide open to it partly because of the way that they played this game. Yeah. And I think Craig Simpson pointed out on the broadcasts where the first two games in their building, when they had four shots on goal, they already had two goals to their name, you know, and it wasn't the case here on Tuesday. No goals came the Leafs way on Tuesday. Almark, of course, had a say in that, but you know, we had Curtis Joseph on just before puck drop, and the place is going crazy as the players come out and he's even being taken aback on like what a great scene here like he was caught up in

it. So like the crowd was was ready to go off here on Tuesday but but as you say like they're just there wasn't enough early on and Barube was you know pounding the drum of we've got to be aggressive but we can't be afraid here coming out of the gate and I'm not saying that they were but it wasn't the same level of taking the game over right from the hop that that we had seen at other points the early points of this series for Toronto and now like just some of the numbers that you see here Justin and Elliott like it's it's really hard to fathom like Sportsnet stats all for their last 30 power play opportunities

and potential series clinching games. One in 13 in series clinching games over the course of this era of the Maple Leafs. Like it's flat out hard to do. You know what I mean? Like it's really hard to fathom and I'm not here to suggest that all they're in trouble now. You see naturally a lot of the discourse that comes out right away when they lose a game in the fashion they did here on Tuesday. I still believe that this is a different group with Borubi at the helm.

They've got two more cracks at this. So I'm not prepared to sound the alarm bells off yet, but man, they are not doing themselves any favors in changing the narrative with how they've handled. Game four was one thing that could have gone either way, but how they handled game five here Tuesday. Some solace maybe in that, you know, at times it's looked kind of ugly in certain games under Craig Barube. like when it's not sharp It's looked like hey, what is what's going on with this team like what exactly are they doing?

It doesn't look like a typical Sheldon Keefe loss where it's like yeah They're throwing everything they can at the opposition, and it's just not working for them some nights under Barubei Have looked a little ugly, a little disoriented. And if this is one of them, maybe they survived this series. But if this is something else, then yeah, it is a tricky situation here for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Yeah. Two more cracks at getting it right. But now you've really got a team on the other side that not only are saying that they believe, you can tell that they really believe.

And that's a very scary opponent sometimes. Okay, Elliot, let's carve out some space here for the senators because I think early on in this series, we saw what looked like an immature team, maybe too riled up, maybe having their aggression work against them, allowing the Toronto Maple Leafs to take a commanding lead. And all of a sudden, they look like the more composed team. Five games into their tenure as a playoff team, the Senators feel like they've learned how to be a playoff team.

They've come a long way in five games, Justin. There's no question about that. First of all, they started slowly this game Allmark was great Allmark gave them a chance Kelly Rudy said before the game game five that Allmark had to be great and how Allmark had to steal one I think this one qualifies the way Toronto started they had that first power play which looked dynamite and he stood up there All mark was great I thought drew played his best game of the series

I think their best players continue to get better and they made Great hustle plays like I thought one of the biggest plays of the game was when Lorenz had that breakaway and Matt and Paulo and Perron combined to catch him and prevent him from scoring I thought that was maybe the biggest non-goal play of the game in this one. You know, Gadette made a great play to set up the shorthanded goal by Cousins. You know, the thing about the win on Saturday in game number four was they killed off that double minor in overtime. Tavares wasn't out there because he was in the quiet room. Now they still had a lot of great talent on the ice, but it wasn't Toronto's best powerplay.

This game Tavares was out there for all those power plays and they still shut it down. Like earlier in this series, they were getting destroyed by the Toronto power play. Now they've stood up and they've not only slowed it down or prevented it from scoring, but they've scored against it again. And I think that just shows you how far they've come. You know, I didn't think this was going to be a sweet. Obviously it was a monumental challenge. But one of the things that happened, Justin, is before the series, one of the things they talked about was

we have to make Toronto feel pressure. And they didn't do it for four games. Well, now after five, they've finally done it. And, you know, that's what the Sanders wanted to see. We have to make the Maple Leafs uncomfortable. And for the first time, like the Sanders looked like the uncomfortable team for the first three and a half, three and three quarters of this series. Now for the first time, Toronto looks like the uncomfortable team. And you know, I thought it was really interesting to listen to Marner postgame. Marner talked about after the four nations about positivity and Sidney Crosby running a positive bench.

I've heard that there have been times since then that Marner's kind of reminded people about positive positive. This is where it all comes to roost, right? Is it real or is it fake? And this is where a chance that Marner and the Maple Leafs get a chance to prove it's real. I don't think they'll go to wool. Craig Simpson wondered if they would.

I wondered if they would. I don't think that happens. But I do think you could see Robertson or Camp. I do think you could see roster changes for game six. I think this is a reminder, too, on Tuesday night that progress may just be temporary in some ways because Go back a couple years ago they get the win in game six over the Tampa Bay Lightning and

Immediately it feels like that progress given back as they're they're slammed by the Florida Panthers in round two It felt like they were building something through three games And maybe they've given something or given some of that back and now it feels like they have to earn it all over again, Elliot. I don't think that way, Justin. I understand why people do. I don't think that way, but I recognize that if they were to lose this series, it would be a massive, massive disappointment to say the least

I just I don't believe in thinking negatively Justin. I think it you beat yourself before you even start and I always go back to when like if I was in Toronto shoes My would be thinking if we could win this series in six games before it started, I would be happy with that. I think if I'm in Ottawa's shoes, I'm saying we don't have to win two more games. We just have to win one more game. That's all we have to do. To me, it's all about putting your task in the right place to help you succeed with it.

And I just don't believe in thinking negatively. I have a story I like to say about myself. I thought very negatively for the first 18 years of my life. So in the last 36, I've tried to be different. Well evidence there then that it can take some time, right? It's taken some time for this Maple Leafs team. It's been more than 18 years for them. If they felt like you here, Elliott, they might be in a better position in game six.

We'll see if they can harness some of that. Okay, let's go to Florida and Tampa Bay. Track back a couple nights here. The Battle of Florida, I mean, we got a classic eye for an eye subplot here, which is shaping the entire series. Brandon Hagel's hit, we've talked about on Sasha Barkov, it continues to reverberate. And in game four, which Florida won to give them a chance to get another five game series triumph over their state rivals in as many seasons, we got a couple more things to dissect Aaron Echblad taking out Brendan Hagel a short nasty elbow

Before kick starting a comeback scoring a goal that maybe he shouldn't have been there in a position to score given what he had done Previously though either way that opportunity won't be afforded to him next two games Regardless of opponent he was levied a two-game ban for his forearm shiver. Hits have been the story in this series. It's been ugly, it's been in the mud, and it favors the Panthers it seems when it's in the mud. Elliot, my question to you is, if the game is played this way, can anyone play this game with Florida and come out unscathed? Justin, it's a great question and it's a big part of the Panthers identity, but in some ways I think that's almost too simplistic because the reason they're winning this series

3-1 is not just because they're nasty or they're dirty or they're brutal, it's because they're a hell of a team. Especially defensively, they have shut down Tampa's offensive players. On the power play, Tampa had that five-minute major in game four. They couldn't do a thing. They have done very little on the power play most of this series. And by the way, Kucherov, he doesn't have a goal in his last 14 playoff games. Now, he has a lot of assists.

He's nearly a point-of-game player, or is a point-of-game player in those games, because of all the great passing he does, but they need him to score. However, nobody wants to hear us talk about this part of the series. They want to hear about the nasty stuff you were talking about. Ekblad, I thought he was getting one for sure. And then when Tampa announced that Hagel wasn't playing game five, I felt, you know what, he's going to get two. And that's what we got. And I wonder, to be honest, Justin, depending on the injury information they have on Hagel, I was actually wondering if he would have gotten more.

But two, and you know, I think that suspension was also about the NHL grabbing a hold on this series. Because while we love hard, fierce hockey, this series, they had to get it under control. You know, John Cooper had an interesting quote in the aftermath of game four. He said, what did he say? I'm tired of talking about hits. Where he's going there is that ultimately when you're a coach and you're a team, you just want to play hockey and you

want to talk about hockey. Like as nasty as these playoff games can be, you want to talk about what happened with Kachak or what happened with Hagel or what happened with Ekblad. You want to talk about hockey and you want to play hockey. And I think in his own way there, Cooper is saying, enough of this other garbage, let's play hockey. And that two game suspension, to me, that's the NHL saying the same thing. We're going back to hockey in this series. Now, part of the problem is that the call was missed right there, which was a huge miss.

Can't excuse that. It was a bad miss. No matter how bad diving has been in the playoffs and diving has been a scourge on this playoffs, as I said the other day, you can't miss this call. That was this suspension for Echblad, even though it came in game four, to me, it's the message from the league in this series. Enough of this stuff and play the games. And we'll see where we go.

Okay with Mikala only getting the fine? Yeah, I mean, he got ejected from the game. Yeah, I think so. I think so. Yeah, and they did get up that opportunity, obviously, to make their mark on that five-minute major. And that's really been the story of the series, aside from all the mud, is that Florida's just shut down that Tampa Bay power play. They had another opportunity to break through, but they couldn't in that moment, and it certainly has cost them. You mentioned John Cooper. His reaction to Eric Cernak's goal was unbelievable.

I haven't seen much like that. I mean, he was so fired up as Tampa was working their way into that game, and it's lost at the end with a couple late goals from the Florida Panthers. That series has taken a turn Florida has a chance to close it out in game five. Okay guys It felt almost intentional in Dallas on Monday night all this talk about no Dallas leads

Stars led for 59 minutes 51 seconds in game five a lot of talk about important players not Factoring into the goal scoring you got Wyatt Johnson scoring twice Miko Ran and Mason Merchant also on the board This hasn't been for Colorado and Dallas like the classic alley rope a dope But after Colorado threw and landed more punches, I think through the first four games of the series They are suddenly staggering here in the late rounds How did we get to the point where Dallas can now go to Colorado and eliminate the Avalanche? Well, first of all, I think this is far from over. I think one of the things that happens in the playoffs too often, Justin, is people look at the most recently played game and

say, oh my God, that is the line of where we're going. It's all headed this way. Like Colorado demolished Dallas in game four and people were saying, the Stars are done. They're finished. They're over. Colorado is going to pound them. No. In the playoffs, good teams do not allow momentum to go game to game. And the Dallas Stars are a good team, just as Colorado is. Just because the Avalanche pounded them in game number four, there's no excuse for a

team with Dallas that's as well coached as it is and as talented as it is to say, oh, we're done here. We're just going to roll over and lose. No, you regroup. You say, this is our plan and we are going to adapt and be ready for game five. And we talked in the last pod guys about how this is a series of tempo and this is a series of style. If Colorado is allowed to dictate the style, they are going to clobber the stars.

But if the stars are allowed to pack up the neutral zone and Colorado commits turnovers trying to go through there, Dallas can win the series. Now there was that fast goal last night, but again, even if you give up a goal nine seconds in, if you're a good team, you just roll your eyes and you say, that sucks, but there's still 59 minutes and 51 seconds to play and we should be fine. I thought in that game, the Avalanche, like there are a couple of goals that were directly related to turnovers that Dallas created during the neutral zone. And that's the way they're going to score.

They can't go toe to toe with the Avalanche. They can't trade punches with the avalanche. They have to set up a trap and hope the avalanche walks into it. And in the games they've won, that's happened. And it happened again. I think the other thing too is they got a couple of really fluke bounces, like that second goal was insane. You have to hope you get those.

But Ottinger, like of all the things that Dallas did badly before the end of the playoffs The number one thing that can erase all of those concerns is Ottinger getting back to a high level and he has I loved what de boer did in game number four. He took him out. He said this is an exhausting series We're giving you rest He was phenomenal. He and not enjoy was probably a little upset too because nobody likes to be pulled but he was back to himself He's been fantastic and he was as good as blackwoods been Autinger's been good. He was the difference in game number five and now

Like there's no reason the Avalanche can't bring this back to Dallas for game seven But the number one thing is they cannot commit turnovers in that neutral zone. That is Dallas' whole strategy. Slow down the game, bring it to a crawl, and if you make a mistake against us, we're going down the other way and we're scoring. And that's exactly what Dallas did for a couple of big goals. And I love the foreshadowing of Pete DeBoer in the morning before the game saying,

don't think any of our big guys have delivered yet in this series, but this is money time. And Justin, as you highlighted, why Johnson got things rolling. He had a three-point night. Rupe Hintz had multiple points. Miko Rentinen got off the board. You can only imagine what kind of weight that is off his shoulders and scoring in an important moment there.

You wondered coming into this knowing the injury issues that Dallas has had, it was like are we maybe going to be robbed of the potential heavyweight clash that this was built to be between the Stars and the Avalanche. But it's been a slugfest in a lot of ways. I know the last two games have kind of gotten out of hand a bit score-wise. One way Colorado, one way Dallas. But I just love seeing a night where the top guys take over. And now, like, you can only imagine what kind of thoughts and expectations are through the mind of a guy like Nathan McKinnon and the rest of the players on Colorado, knowing they have to answer back in their building to force

a game seven. It's just the most wonderful thing about sports when you've got these types of scenarios that demand obviously your entire team, but the best of the best in a series, in the world, to raise their level. Like Dallas, their top guys went to a different stage on Monday night and now Colorado, we're all looking at them saying, okay, now you're going back into your building. It's on you to do the same. It's awesome. Do you think that the message that Peter DeBoer delivered privately to his star players was as calm and as measured as the

one he delivered publicly to the media. I'm betting no. Probably not. So I think they were, remember we joked about Bruce Cassidy putting up the scoring leaders and saying to Stone and Eichel, hey, where are you guys on this list? I'm sure a similar approach was taken by Peter DeBoer. You know, I'll say this, you know who's been really quiet? Marty Nacius. Like we all talked about

Rantinen and how quiet he did. Well, he had an assist on one overtime winner in this series. They need a big goal in game number five. So he has arrived. Nacius, it's his turn to arrive. And if there's one guy I'd really like to shout out For Dallas we've talked about how Dallas's defenseman Somebody other than the obvious Thomas Harley who's been great had to be good for them better than you expected You know, I would like to shout out Alex Petrovic in the last two regular seasons He has played six NHL games. He's played 128 games in the American Hockey League for the Texas

Stars, but he has played six NHL games. However, in the last two playoffs, what else has he done? He's played 12 playoff games. He's played double the amount of playoff games and he has regular season games. So this is twice in two years he's worked himself into a valuable playoff player for the Dallas Stars. And you'll remember like before last year and he played one game in the regular season last year, he hadn't played in the NHL since 2018-19. So this is obviously a guy who's playing because he loves hockey, just loves hockey. He's played in the last few seasons, he's played like 400 AHL games and I think six NHL games. And he finds a way to compete in the playoffs and he had big moments and he's giving the stars good minutes. They're not getting caved in when he's on the ice. And I just wanted to shut out Petrovic because you really have to love hockey to play the way he's played almost

six straight years in the AHL and then shows up for two playoffs. Like that doesn't happen. So shut out to Petrovic. Can we also shout out Jared Bednar's doppelganger? You can shout out whoever you want. Oh my gosh. What is it about that first row behind the bench in that building? There always seems to be something. Usually we can't delve into what's happening behind the bench, but yeah, that was good, clean fun with the Bednar impersonator.

Not only did he have the hair down, like how did he know? Like he almost nailed the suit and tie combo. I wonder, I wonder, like if you sit there, you know, I wonder if they give you, I wonder if it's one of those executive seats where you get access to suites and maybe he brought like three or four different jackets. Like Bednar likes that jacket, right? Like he wears it. So I could see it just being a good guess. Like my guess is that Bednar wears this jacket tonight. But if you're doing that level of preparation, you might have three or four jackets.

So I'm wondering if he's got a suite or a lounge or something like that. Or there's like a Dallas Stars executive room where he says, look, I've got four Bednar jackets. I'm hiding them in here. Got his own wardrobe. He just keeps going back to coat check. That's all right, I need one with a little bit darker blue.

He's got, Josh Bogorad has his locker, Daryl Ray has his locker, and Jared Bednar impersonator has his locker too. That would be the nameplate. Jared Bednar impersonator guy Last note on this guys a bit sobering I think like the first reaction to this series was like wow what an awesome first round series I cannot wait for this

But now like we're a couple nights away from one of the five best, three best, two best teams being eliminated. I know that's the reality of the playoff format, and I'm not complaining about it, but there are going to be some seriously disappointed players from one of these sides because I think there's a real belief on both sides that you go to Stanley Cup this year. It seems like there is at least one of these every year. Don't you think, Elliot? There's at least one of these every year because of how good the league is and just the way

this playoff format is doled out. A hundred percent. And Justin, that's why when I look at the Stanley Cup playoffs and a team season, I don't look at when they lose. I look at who they lose to. Like to me, whoever loses this series is either losing a Stanley Cup final or a conference final. It may not be one of those, but that's the quality of opponent you're looking at. That's why, like with Winnipeg last year, it was a disappointing loss, but I say, and

even though it was a first round loss, to me that wasn't a first round loss It was a lost it was a conference final or Stanley Cup loss And that's the way I judge teams I look at it like I look at whoever loses doubt this series That way and I look at whoever loses the Florida series that way. You didn't lose in the first round. You lost a conference final or a Stanley Cup final. Okay, back to Tuesday night, a crazy game in Raleigh. Devils facing elimination, score three in the first period.

Hurricanes scored three in under six minutes to start the second period to tie the game. The teams then quickly trade goals. Then there's 52 minutes of gameplay into a second overtime period, minutes to start the second period to tie the game. The teams then quickly trade goals. Then there's 52 minutes of gameplay into a second overtime period played without a single puck beating Pyotr Kachetkov or Jacob Markström. But Dawson Mercer, a four-minute high-sticking double minor, Sebastian Ajo rips home a one-time shot from the flank, and the Hurricanes become the first team to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. An internal battle in Toronto, facing the Maple Leafs, and something of an internal battle facing the Hurricanes.

They've had a lot of success, but still without a win in the last six post-seasons past the second round. They are through to the second round. Reason to believe, Elliot, if you're a Hurricanes fan, that this year will be different. You know what's interesting about that? So I was looking at players that Carolina's traded away or lost. Shea, Tarravinen, Bunting, Pesci, and Nason. Those five players are all guys that are gone from Carolina after last year and Now the Hurricanes have passed their new teams in the playoffs

Like none of those guys are going around to Gensel, Natchez, and Drury, Gensel's on the brink, they're down three to one. Natchez and Drury, they're down three to two, although nobody's running off Colorado yet. It would be pretty incredible if Carolina made round two and none of those guys did. I like the way the Hurricanes played.

Look, the Devils played their hearts out in this series, Justin. They were beaten up, they were mangled, they didn't get a lot of offense from their depth offensive players. And Markstrom went from looking really vulnerable in that game to almost impenetrable, but when you're the Hurricanes and you're in that game, you have, or you're in that series, you have one job to feel no mercy for a weakened opponent. You are there to punish them and end the series as quickly as possible, and they did that.

You know, Freddie Anderson got hurt. Brendan Moore said he's day to day. There certainly doesn't seem to be a worry that that's a long term thing. Although you never know with Anderson. There doesn't seem to be that worry there. Carolina had a crazy couple weeks in the season when they traded for Raton and then it went poorly and they traded him again. But they've put it all behind them.

They reminded themselves of the importance of fit and Holl and Stan Kovan have been very good fits for them. I like their chances against either Montreal or Washington. I I think they have as good a chance as anybody to win As their opponent would to win and go on to the third round they They absolutely dominated a series that they had no excuse not to dominate now by the way Justin There were some Devils fans who didn't like the double minor on Mercer. That was the right call. It was not a true follow through. He passed the puck towards his left and he let his stick go up in the air. That's not a follow through. It was the right call. But, you know, I'm sure in New Jersey they're looking at

this and saying what if and that's what you do. They played as hard as they could. They were overmatched and overwhelmed by Carolina. Full autopsy can come later and you did mention the injuries. That's really the story I guess of their ouster. But this season came with a lot of expectations. A lot of people thought they could make a really deep run Potentially win the Stanley Cup this year Any quick thoughts on what they might need to happen this summer in order to you know Take the promise of this season and make good on it. Well, I think obviously they're gonna need to add

some depth scoring Whatever they did this year it just it didn't work as well as they'd hoped. You know one of the things too down the middle it's Hischer and Hughes and they're both incredibly talented guys and unfortunately Hughes got hurt this year. It's not the biggest one-two punch and I wonder if they're going to look for Some way to add some bulk down the middle That's another thing. I think they continue to think about but you know, the key thing is is that I Like they're gonna have to find more scoring up front.

They just didn't get enough out of their bottom six. And that to me was one of the biggest differences in the series. You mentioned it. Caroline is at a really, really good spot. Not to say that there's a walkover in the next round, but it's definitely a favorable path for the Hurricanes. But just like other teams in different situations, it feels like we'll start to really measure them in the Eastern Conference Final.

That's not necessarily fair, but when you do have some playoff success, you're just trying to progress, and wins in the Eastern Conference Final would mean progression for Carolina. Okay. And just one other thing. Go ahead. They'll be less beaten up than whoever comes out of Canadian's capitals. Most certainly.

Yes. And if they get to the Eastern Conference Final, likely more or less beat up than what we'll see with any series potentially involving the Florida Panthers, but we'll see if that ends up being the case. Okay, so to the Pacific Division. We'll start with LA and Edmonton because this has been quite the turnaround for the Edmonton Oilers. I'm wondering, Elliot, if games 1 through 4 were just an elaborate stress test.

The Oilers pushed themselves to the limit, situations that are almost unthinkable, demands on the system, only to draw a level in the end, and now the Oilers seem to have reestablished the order, or have reestablished order versus the LA Kings. Three straight wins for Edmonton, who do play a complete game for the first time, certainly in this series. Outshooting the Kings 46 to 22 in Game 5. Now one win away from eliminating LA in four consecutive seasons.

Have you figured out these Oilers yet, Elliot? Yes, I'm starting to now. I think first of all the Kings have got to be reeling here. They let Edmonton off the mat. There's no question about that. You know people are gonna say the the turning point was the challenge in game three and while I disagree with that challenge I don't think that was the turning point. The turning point was game four. They had Edmonton beaten and they blew that game both in terms of the style they chose to play and just they got beaten man-to-man on the ice.

They, even if they got smoked in this game like they did in game five, at the worst, LA should be up 3-2 in this series. It's pretty unbelievable and disappointing for them, Justin, that maybe they played their worst game of the year on home ice in game five of the playoffs tied 2-2. This is a team with a phenomenal regular season record and got buried from beginning to end. You asked me if I figured them out. I think one of the things that's really happened at the beginning of the postseason Trent Frederick could barely

move out there. He's starting to look better. Evander Kane played his first games in almost a year. He's starting to look a lot better. You know, when he showed up in the Ferrari before game five, you're like, this is gonna be a peak Evander Kane performance tonight. And it was. I actually heard he tried to show up in the Ferrari earlier in the series

But he was he didn't have the proper parking clearance to get in was the rumor so this time You know he's smart. He made sure he had the proper parking clearance to get in this time Like there was a play at the end of the first period. I thought was really smart McDavid was getting you know punished by Gavrikov a bit and he stepped in there to defend his captain but not in a stupid way that got himself a penalty. He did it in a very controlled way that sent a message but didn't hurt the Oilers. I think between Frederick getting healthier and getting up to speed, Kane getting healthier and getting up to speed, and playoff activation Jan Mark arriving like he did last year, they're a deeper team than

LA right now. Like we saw it again, there's just, they don't trust, LA does not trust as many players as Edmonton does. And I think that's a huge huge difference at the beginning of the series they were really having trouble without Ekholm and it's no fun to play without Ekholm and you know you're if they if they move on to the next round they wish they would have Ekholm there which I don't think they're going to but they have adapted to it a bit better. I think that's the difference

they're getting healthier they're rounding into form and they have more players making an impact and more trust in their roster than LA does. I'd also say Justin you know Pickard you know Kemper was unbelievable in game five like he was the only reason that wasn't a seven nothing Edmonton game. Pickard's challenge is to make one more save than Kemper whatever that number is and he's doing it and I give him all the credit for it. Yeah it is quite the reversal in this series. Like, yeah, the Kings had issues at the margins, like the fringes of their roster. They decided they couldn't trust some of those guys. But to look at the meat of both these two teams and suddenly believe, okay, the Oilers

have more there, I wouldn't have been able to believe that after game one. But if Ander Cain gets into the series in game two, looks like it's a little too fast for him, and I'm worried about that. Frederick the same way. I'm worried that he's going to have an impact in the series, but both of them have grown into the series, which has elevated the meat of the Oilers roster, and made it so that in a game five, which is crucial, McDavid and Dreisaitl don't need to factor into the scoring until icing it into an empty net I mean I would have never thought that could happen after watching the first couple games in this series and yet the Oilers have the lead And now can probably lean on McDavid dry sidle a little bit more when the series shifts back to Edmonton one more thing on this

series or on this game The harmonica content was boosted to the next level and you talked about parking clearance with the Vander Kane. I guess no such issues getting those escalates. The black cars into the building to get the harmonica crew in maybe the magic though has run out there. The harmonica players got great seats for the game to like just excellent seats so But now like Justin they lost game five The harmonica magic is over. Are you bringing them back for game seven if there is one no chance No, I don't think so although they had their 15 minutes. It was an awesome story, but you're not doing that

Not only was it a game five loss, but it was a game five loss where you got out shot 46-21. That's the end of the harmonicas. The end. Someone's gonna have to, you know, tour Southern California and find another... You're gonna find Southern California's best kazoo player next. Exactly, exactly. But you know, I like the 12 to 15 piece bands that they're bringing in so check out the old folks homes and see what they can unearth let's go to Minnesota and Vegas I thought the moment Marc-Andre Fleury entered this game making it 18 post seasons for which he's appeared

this was gonna go the way of Minnesota because a revenge opportunity and that's so flurry to me that he's had this kind of eccentric and successful career. He could get in and haught the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs before he calls it a career. But Brett Howden gets the winner for Vegas Vegas goes up three two in the series. Tanner Pearson who played under eight minutes with a great pass to set up the winner for Howden. I mean there are two unstoppable forces at least it seems and Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov in this series doing things that McDavid and Dreisaitl aren't, McKinnon and McCarr aren't,

Matthews and Marner certainly aren't and yet Vegas has pulled it back and they are within one win of advancing to the second round. I was with you. I think when Fleury came in the game there, a lot of people had visions of a storybook return in his final NHL season. First of all, another great game in this series. This series doesn't get talked about. I feel like a broken record.

Second straight podcast, I said it. But this series doesn't get enough credit for how great it's been. And the Wilde in particular, Fleury comes in, he's sitting for a couple hours and all of a sudden he's got to come in and Gustafson had been very good again and they defended incredibly well in front of him. They protected the house, they committed to defense, and again they gave Vegas everything they could handle. Bruce Castee made a change, he put Jack Eichel with William Carlson, they looked fantastic together. I think that was a really,

really smart move. And you know what? Minnesota should have won this game. It never comes down to one person, but it's got to be said, Gustav Nyquist, he has to stay onside there. There's no reason to go offside there. There's no one leaning on him. He's got room. He's got to stay onside. And you know, the one thing, and I mentioned this also last pod I believe in Steve Iserman at the GM meeting saying a couple years ago on Close plays on offside let the play go Let the play go if you're not sure

let's cheat towards offense and if the playsside, we can review it. And I don't know if the linesman here thought the play was onside or not. That was as close as it can get, and I generally think the linesmen are very good at this. But that's the right call to me. If it's that close, let the play go and we'll overturn it if we need to overturn it. When I saw it, I wondered if it was too close to overturn. I'm not gonna lie to you Justin, I kind of wanted it to be too close to overturn because I'm pro goals and that was so close, but I can't argue with the call. I'm gonna write about this a bit more, but I don't think, as you know, I spent a night in the Situation Room

before the playoffs just to be reminded of how it all works. I don't think offside should be a coach's challenge anymore. I'm going to show a picture I took of the monitors they have in there when I write about this soon. Basically there's a giant monitor wall at the front of the room, and each column has two monitors. There's one on top and there's one below. And the one on top almost always stayed live during play, but the one on the bottom you used to review and you could do it during play.

And the one thing I heard all the time was clean entry, this one's gonna be offside, or this one's gonna be close, while the play was still going on. Because the person at the individual station who was working that game They were checking Entries while play was continuing and there would be times the play was continuing and on that bottom screen they would be showing

the the entry so everybody in the room could see it I Knew after that kick Happened that in the situation room. They already knew if that play was onside or offside Now you have to go through the team saying we're gonna challenge it you have to show the linesman on ice The view so they can take a look at it. But these guys in the situation room, they know this call well in advance. They knew it. And I just from being there, I'm telling you they knew it that night right

away. And did I wish it would have counted? Yeah. but it was offside. It was close, but it was offside. It is now my opinion after spending the night in that room, this should not be a challengeable call, and that it should be handled like touchdowns in the NFL are. Justin, they already review and say is this a good goal? Like they review, the league reviews the kick, that's not a challenge. They always review did the puck enter the net legally? The offside should be made to be a part of that because it will make the games faster. We don't need long offside reviews. They're already checking them well before the puck has gone in or not. And it would trim the fat. I mean if

we're being honest, the coaches are not looking at it in real time and being like, okay no that was offside we got to make the call. You are going to your video team that is likely using the exact same technology in order to make these calls and it's just adding more steps, more layers to the process and as you mentioned, takes more time. A hundred percent and I'm glad you mentioned that. You're right because it streamlines the process. This should be taken away from the coach's challenge and made part of did the puck enter the net legally. Anything else from the series Elliott?

It's not over. I think the Wild would say that. I think the Golden Knights would say that. This is another one that surprises nobody if it goes seven. The final thought is brought to you by GMC and fellas. We have a couple dormant Canadian series. Nothing to speak in terms of on ice incidents, but with regards to Montreal and Washington and Winnipeg and St. Louis, a lot to dig into. Elliot, let's start with Winnipeg because so much conversation about Conor Hellebuyck after games three and four, and certainly conversations since what has stood out to you. I think for me, I remember a go back a year ago, a lot of the media that covered that Winnipeg, Colorado series complained about

Halibuck that he was not available and I have some very mixed emotions about that Justin I don't like generally media complaining if somebody doesn't want to talk to me in life. I don't want to talk to them either It's it's pretty simple when it comes to that I don't want to talk to them either. It's it's pretty simple when it comes to that But the one thing I do agree with and I think it is a factor in dressing rooms is players don't like it when things are going badly and It's always the same people who have to answer for it and some of the people say you know what? I'm not going to be available. I'm not going to talk. I think it's very important when things go bad that key players make themselves available as many people as possible and make

themselves available because I have seen situations before where teams privately say how come I have to go out there and answer for this and this guy doesn't. So that is a thing. So I thought it was really important on the extra off day between games four and five that Hellebock went out there, he faced it all. Some of the reporters who know him better than I do in the sense that they see him more than I do, like I thought it was a really good scrum. He didn't duck away from it. He took responsibility. He said, I have a plan of attack and I'm, you basically said, I'm going to figure this out. I liked it. He didn't use excuses. He just said, look, I have to be better and this is how I'm going to do

it. I looked at it. I look at it as you have to do that, not so much for the media, but I think for your teammates and your fans. And I thought it was really good. Now, ultimately, he's got to do it on the ice. And, you know, talk is wonderful, but you have to prove it. However, I thought it was important, like I said, for teammates and fans, that Hellebock went out there because last year he didn't. And I know it didn't make everybody happy. Now, just gotta deliver.

Yes, I think there's a lot of instances, of course, as an athlete when talking publicly, it's a we thing, it's we this, it's we that. This is one of those rare instances where the fact that it was I this and I that was most important for him, where I'm gonna do what I need to do to be better. I know where the corrections are going to be. It wasn't about well we all need to be better. He took it all on himself. It

was a very, very important step here. And knowing again you've got a lot of time in between both games and a lot of ink and a lot of space to fill up as the coverage and interest about this series continues to grow. And now, like we talked last pod about just the timing of the goals sometimes can be as important as how many goals you give up. I mean just speaking to you know when the lights were bright on, Lina Sallmark for example in Ottawa, like he made a couple of key key saves early on in game four like just okay a little of key, key saves early on in game

four, just a little bit of allowing the team to settle in and also the crowd too, because Elliot, as you've said, and I think you're very much on it here in that assumption that there's going to be some nerves walking into Canada Life Centre amongst the whiteout through all the rabidness that they always bring to a playoff game and having his ability to just settle things early is gonna go a long way to putting everyone at ease after the way things unfolded games three and four in St. Louis. You know Kyle, I blame Sean Reynolds. I just don't think Hellebuck wants to talk to him. That's what I think it comes down to. Yeah, get in line, Connor, I think if that's the case.

Could be Oak too, like either of those Winnipeg guys, either one of them. I don't blame Hellebuck for that. I don't like talking to those guys either. The lesser of two evils. Guys, the spotlight isn't necessarily burning as much as it is for Hellebuck for a player at either Montreal or Washington, but same cadence here with a couple off days. Any stray thoughts from what we've seen and what's to come from the Capitals and Canadians? If there was a series that didn't need an extra day off, it was this one.

There's no question about that. There's a lot of discussion there. I will say this Justin, I had people who took issue with my stance on Wilson's hit. You know I think it's gonna be interesting. There's a lot of lobbying going on on both sides in that series about you know what should be allowed and and what shouldn't so I mean obviously we know about the pregame stuff with the center ice red line the gamesmanship I believe both I think Wilson is obviously gonna be is a huge focus. Like

I didn't have any problem with that hit. I didn't. I think that is a playoff hit. And you have to be aware that he's on the ice. I will say this. And I'm looking at some video. I had some players reach out to me who say that there there's certain ways that they don't like the way that Wilson hits the way he turns right before he hits you and they think that and they don't like it they think it allows him to put some extra force into things that he doesn't need to do. This is one of those nuances, and I'm gonna talk about this with BXA

over the next couple of days and just ask what he thinks. Because I think he's a guy I really look at and ask about things like this. But obviously it's a huge focus. The other thing I heard, and I heard this about Carrier, Carrier's a guy who's been hit pretty hard a few times. This one, Brady Kachak, right before he was traded from Nashville to Montreal, he got hit really hard

by Brady Kachak, and he was out of the lineup. There was an illegal one by Kaprizov, I don't really count that one, but he's been hit a few times. And the same players who talked to me about Wilson, they said that he's a guy who has to learn to protect himself better and be aware more. Like they were concerned about him because they said, he's a really good player. And we've talked about how silently that was one of the best trades in the NHL this year. But they talked about how Carrier is a guy who's been hit several times and he's going

to have to do a better job of being aware because guys reached out, they said, I'm worried for his career. He's been pummeled a couple of times. He's going to have to do a better job of just being aware of what's going on around him on the ice. They weren't criticizing him. They were just saying, you worry about a player taking that many big hits. Also for Washington, it looks like Alexi Protas is getting very close.

Those watching the practice on Tuesday saying he looks very close to playoff ready. The other thing that I just is starting to fascinate me a little bit here, like Spencer Carberry earlier in the series, I mean, you don't see this often from the opposing coach in a playoff series particularly, but like was really pumping the tires of the Suzuki line about how they're

going to be a handful. We've got to be ready for them. And even on Tuesday saying you look at the resiliency of Montreal, you know exactly what we're going to get from the Canadians in game five with their season on the line. I don't know if it's some sort of reverse psychology spin that he's trying to put on things or maybe he just is a really nice guy. He is a Vancouver Islander for that point so it may just be that. He's not a nice guy. You are wrong. They are the rudest people on the planet out there. Leave it to the Torontonian. And I know from personal experience people I work with. Yeah exactly. No I, yeah you were you were at you were at the

the Empress going for a high tea last year for hockey day in Canada. Oh that was great that was one of the best experiences the high tea at the Empress that was really fun. Yes. I'm not the kind of guy who gets invited for high tea very often, Kyle and Justin, so the experience was really enjoyable., someone told me you wouldn't be invited back there. But I just don't know. It's so bizarre to see from the opposing team head coach how many compliments he's thrown their way and maybe it's just his version of trying to motivate his group of going, look, we're well aware of how good and dangerous this Montreal team could be.

So we've got to be wired the right way with the opportunity to close out the series. But that's been an interesting kind of sidebar thing. I mean, of course, game three. To me, it's been one of the fastest, heaviest of the eight first round series so far, and I just don't think we anticipated that going in. But man, it's been fun to watch. I would also say this about Montembeau you know I was under the assumption it was that left hamstring he grabbed some other goalie types are

wondering if it's a different injury and that's not what it is so I mean who knows here like truth is a casualty of the, but there were some goalies who had a different suspicion of the injury as opposed to the obvious one that we all saw. Okay, so Montreal and Washington and Winnipeg and St. Louis will reconvene on Wednesday night. That was the final thought brought to you by GMC. Okay, let's take a break. No thought line today, but we're going to go through some news, big news in the NHL of course, with Mike Sullivan. Let Go in Pittsburgh.

We'll also talk about the decision in Vancouver with Rick Tocket moving on. And does Utah have a name? We'll get into that after the break. All right. Some news and notes before we wrap up here, Elliot. And out of Pittsburgh, Mike Sullivan, no longer the head coach of the Penguins. He was the second longest tenured active coach in the NHL behind John Cooper, two Stanley Cups, the franchise leader in wins in the regular season, in wins in the playoffs. He's still expected to be the head coach of

Team USA at the upcoming Winter Olympics, did a phenomenal job with them at the Four Nations. But Kyle Dubas during his press conference on Monday touched on a lot of things, but kept coming back to, he felt it at various points throughout the season that maybe it was just time for a new voice and maybe differing beliefs and opinions on timelines between head coach and GM in terms of where this franchise is headed. Kyle, to me, that's what it came down to was the runway. How long is the runway? And Kyle Dubas got a seven-year contract for whatever he is with the Penguins. There's so many titles, I can't remember them all.

But he got a seven-year deal. And, you know, he asked for, he, and the reason he got that was because I think that he kind of looked at it like, okay, we can go all in early, but if it doesn't work and it may not work, we're going to need a long runway to get this done and figure this out. And that's where they are. That's what he feels. He feels that it's going to take a while and they're going to have to do a bit of a rebuild here. And I just don't think Mike Sullivan was overly interested in that. And that doesn't mean Mike Sullivan's a bad guy or anything like that.

It just means that Mike Sullivan's a coach who wants to win. And he wants to hear a plan that, oh, we're going to be back in two years, or we're going to be back maybe three years. He doesn't want to hear about longer than, I even think two is probably too long for Sullivan. So when Dubas says it's time, I agree, and I think it's time not because Sullivan can't coach or anything like that, they will have a very hard time finding a coach as good as Mike Sullivan is. And if anybody doesn't think Sullivan's a good coach go watch what he did the Four Nations this year yes he had great players but they

all bought into what he was selling and they played great so they will have a hard time finding a coach as good as Sullivan is. What they didn't have anymore was a united front on what the plan was or how long the path could contention that would take. And that's why this changed. Now I think there's a couple of storylines to follow here. Number one is what is going to happen with Sullivan. I just don't know how if you're the New York Rangers, you are allowing anyone to snatch Sullivan from your clutches. Twenty twenty one Chris Jury takes over for Jeff Gordon. He waited. He waited for. To make sure Sullivan was not available before he hired Gerard Galant. Okay

He was with Sullivan this year at the Four Nations he knows what he sees there and After all the coaching changes they've had in New York Over the last few years they have to get this right. I in New York over the last few years, they have to get this right. I just don't see any way the Rangers can allow themselves to be beaten to Mike Sullivan. I will be shocked if he isn't their guy, unless for some reason he doesn't want to go there. I will be shocked if he isn't their guy. The second story is Crosby. I do not like to speak for Sidney Crosby. He wouldn't even admit to us, Kyle,

that 87 was going to be in his contract number last year, and he actually signed for 8.7 million. He likes to keep his cards close to the vest. Dubas said, he does not think, think he was asked do you think this will affect Crosby's will to stay there he said no. You know one thing about Dubas is he does not normally give short answers so I just think he also knows it is not wise to speak for Crosby. All I'll say about him is this. He got told on Sunday, decision was announced on Monday.

Sidney Crosby does nothing when it comes to his hockey career quickly. He thinks and he plans and he prepares. It's always a process with him. If there's an issue, it's not going to be known over 24 hours. He will take time, he will think about this, and he will decide if he feels in any way differently. His default is always he wants to play everywhere in one place. He knows there are friends of his and people around him that would love to see him consider going somewhere and chasing a championship. I can't imagine it's easy for him to watch the playoffs right now.

You watch him and he's skating with the Penguins right now. He loves hockey But I'll just say this if in any way shape or form this is gonna change his opinion It's not going to be a quick snap decision. He's gonna sit down He's gonna think about it and he's gonna take time to properly assess how he feels about all this So I don't think anyone should jump to any conclusions. Okay, so you've got the Rangers connection with Chris Drury. Depending on what happens with Rick Tauke in Vancouver, there's also the Jim Rutherford connection there.

If there was a 1B or a second tier option. I don't see it. Like, I'm sure, like, basically, I'm sure, I have no doubt. First of all, I have no doubt that Sullivan's reps are feeling calls and getting a lot of calls. And I think there are even coaches who have jobs right now that are probably a little bit nervous that Sullivan is available. They wouldn't like that because you have to at least think

about it if you're most teams. Oh, there are people here, Kyle, that would love to fly to Pittsburgh, get a rental car, shove Sullivan into the trunk of their rental car and drive either to Manhattan or Vancouver. Rutherford would happily drive to BC with Sullivan in his trunk. Quite the seat at the border. Anything to the cursor? Like Jason Statham in the transporter, like driving with someone in a duffel bag. But But, you know, I don't see Vancouver being Sullivan's destination. I just don't see that. Again, I think if you're the Rangers, like James Dolan, he's like, we're the Rangers, we're big, we want guys to come to us, we expect people to want to come to us.

I just don't see how James Dolan allows Mike Sullivan to go anywhere else. I've been surprised and I'll be surprised again, but I would be, unless Sullivan didn't want to go there for some reason, I can't see how the Rangers get beaten out to it. Well, if his, one of his priorities is having a chance to be competitive again right away, you would have to think the Rangers among the coaching vacancies currently around the National Hockey League would be at the top or right near the top of that list. Okay elsewhere Elliot, you just wanted to touch on the Buffalo Sabres. The NFL draft is behind us. So Terry Pagula after doing his work with the Bills now checking in on his

NHL franchise. Yes so the the draft was done on the weekend and I guess the Bills GM didn't like questions about his wide receivers. Did you hear that? No, I missed that. I listened to a bit of it, like someone sent it to me, I guess he was unhappy with the questioning about the strength of their wide receivers and he went on WGR and popped off. It was really entertaining radio. Someone asked me, have you ever been on the receiving end of those?

And I'm like, oh yeah, that happens periodically. But now that that was done, I guess Pugula was meeting with Kevin Adams and they're figuring out what the path is going to be here. Again, I expect changes. I don't know how high they'll go or what exactly they'll all be, but I do think they are going to make some changes. So we'll see where it all ends up for the Sabres, but I heard they started meeting as of Sunday. All right, and as we roll on with the news block, I will pass the mic to our other co-host, Justin Cuthbert. Justin, take it away. Thanks, Kyle, and as we roll on with the news block, I will pass the mic to our other co-host,

Justin Cuthbert. Justin, take it away. Thanks, Kyle, and we fast forward to about 2 a.m. Eastern time after a string of games on Tuesday night. We'll finish up the news and notes here. Did you have anything to add, Elliot, on the Mike Sullivan discussion? Yeah, there was something I wanted to mention. A few people heard

some of my comments I made on the NHL Network and elsewhere about Sullivan and the Rangers not letting anyone beat them to him. I had a couple people who just pointed out to me that you should not underestimate his ties to Boston and just, you know, would the family want to go back there? You know, Sullivan's worked for the Bruins before, obviously. How would he feel about that? But you know, if you take a look at the Bruins roster, you have Swamen, assuming they don't trade him.

And even though he had a rough year I think he comes back next year determined to be better. They've got a great defenseman in McEvoy. They've got an elite player in Posternak who played great in a difficult situation. Yes McEvoy's his son-in-law how does everybody feel about all that but I just had a bunch of people say, I think you're discounting potentially the pull to go home. You know, so I wanted to mention that, but I will say this, historically, the Rangers are definitely willing to go deeper into the bag of money for coaches than the Bruins have.

So, you know, that's a factor. And I think the Rangers would look at it like, are we really going to be outbid by the Bruins for a coach? But enough people mentioned that to me that I wanted to say it. So it should be high profile, it should be highly profitable for Mike Sullivan as he transitions from Pittsburgh to another important NHL market, likely, again, if he wants to. Another coach who might be looking for a new gig, maybe in and around the game, I guess was the tease is Rick Tauke.

Will he, won't he? That comes to an end with the Vancouver Canucks deciding mutually to step away. So Vancouver also looking for a new head coach. It set the stage, Elliott, for yet another memorable Jim Rutherford press conference here, which is the second in as many weeks. But the decision from Rick Tocket and the Vancouver Canucks, where he may land, what Vancouver does, lots to get into here. The decision from Rick Tocket and the Vancouver Canucks, where he may land, what Vancouver does, lots to get into here.

I think with Tocket, I think he was done and he was burnt out, Justin. The more I think about it, the more I think that that was what happened here. The longer this went, the more I believe that this was the likely outcome. You know, even though Rutherford said we had conversations about, you know, going to see Pedersen, what's the bench going to look like, changing Gonshardt because he was part time and it wasn't working for anybody, talking about next year. I think you're always in that mode when the season's on but once it stops and you kinda collect and think big picture because that's when you think big picture. I think Tauke was burnt out.

You go back a year the Vancouver Canucks never thought they were gonna be in this position. They thought they were moving forward Miller Demko Hughes Pedersen that great seven game series they thought they were they were going they were going in their opening window of contention and this was a chaos fueled year that Ended very badly and with a lot of uncertainty and Justin I think he didn't want to face that again the uncertainty. I think you know the

I'm not blaming anybody for this, you know, Vancouver's a hot market anybody for this. You know Vancouver's a hot market. It doesn't bother me. High risk, high reward. But I think between that and everything that happened this year, I think he had enough and wanted something fresh, something new. I think you know what did Kyle Dubas say about Mike Sullivan? It was time. You know obviously Rick Tauke wasn't in Vancouver as long as Mike Sullivan was in Pittsburgh. But what did Rutherford say? Aside from Pat Quinn, most of Vancouver's coaches are two, three, and four years.

And I just think Tauke hit it. I think he hit his limit, and it was time. There were a lot of reports about the financial offer. You know, certainly there was a move made here to make sure that everyone knew that Canucks did not lowball Tocket. I don't think the offer was Babcockian from his days in Toronto, but I do think the offer was very, very fair and very, very market honest for Tocket. It wasn't, like I said, an absolute top level bombshell, but it was a very, very fair offer

for where Tocket deserved to be. You know, I think now a lot of people are gonna look at Philadelphia. I do think the Flyers have interest. We'll see what happens. I do think Tauke is going to have some options, so he'll decide what he wants to do. You know, Bick Nazar I was on on 650 and Bick was saying, you know know it was going to be tough for him and Canucks fans to see Rick Tauke want to leave Vancouver and go somewhere else like you said it would hurt.

You know what Justin I look at it like dating okay. We've all had someone we've been interested in who we've liked more than they've liked us. If you like someone and they say no or they choose to go with someone else What are you gonna do cry in the field position in the corner? No, you say that sucks, but the world stops for no one and maybe you feel sad for a few days But you move on There's other fish in the sea you go find another partner on. There's other fish in the sea. You go find another partner. There's only 32 of these jobs. They're going to have a lot of interest. I don't think this is what the Canucks wanted, but I just think at the end of the day, it was time for Rick Tauket. And I think that's

what happened. I think when the season was over and he really had time to think and process, it was just time. Vancouver, getting back on the apps, as they say. Yes. Match.com, not that I know what that is. I think you could do ratios and such on certain apps if they are trying to distill in their query who they're looking for, not necessarily names, but there's a lot to consider in Vancouver.

Quinn Hughes obviously looms large over everything. The need and the want to win is always there. How does Vancouver proceed now? I'd be curious to know how they feel about Malhotra. I would. You know, one thing about Malhotra is there's some pretty famous stories about when he first came to Vancouver when they called him, he said, are the players there going to be able to handle the way I need to speak to people and the answer was yes and he was an excellent fit there. I think Malhoutra is a really honest really blunt guy. I'm curious to see if they think he's ready for this. I think he would have

credibility among players but you know it was like Rutherford, you're right. Like it should be open mic night once a week for Rutherford. Like we all have this relative or friend or someone we know who just reaches the point in their lives whether they've got so much money they don't have to care or they're older and don't have to care where they just say everything that's on their mind. And, you know, he said, oh, La Violette, I really like him, and Sullivan wants to stay

out east, and like it's pretty hilarious. Hughes is ghosting me. I haven't been able to reach him. Like he just, it's so funny. He's just like, eh, you know, I feel like saying this, so I'm going to say this. And as a media member, I got no problem with it. I think the biggest question I have for Vancouver is, what kind of team are they going to have next year?

Are they going to give more opportunities to some of their young players to play? Or are they going to say, all right, this is going to be, we're going to go out and we're going to get some more people and we're going to charge to get back into the playoffs. And how do you want to play with the personnel we have? How do you want to play? So I think that that to me is the bigger question as opposed to who Justin is How do you want to play and where do you see a roster? Because that answers the question as much as anything else does the thing about Vancouver is Like a lot of the top names Talk it they're obviously not in on, Sullivan they're not

in on, Quenville I don't see them being in on. So a lot of the obvious number ones out there aren't going to be on their list. So where do they see their list going and where do they see their list going? And where do they see their roster? So Jim Rutherford, Hall of Famer, saying pretty much everything that's on his mind. Steve Iserman, Hall of Famer, saying more that's on his mind. It felt like a very, very honest Steve Iserman addressing the media on Tuesday.

What did you make of the Red Wings press conference? I gotta tell you, the one quote, This is the one quote I want to play so Todd McClellan is Asked about what the players said in the exit meetings a Reporter follows up good question Steve. Did you hear the same things? Here's Iserman Gonna be honest with you. I was daydreaming. I didn't hear a word Todd just said, so could you repeat your question? I gotta tell you, I laughed my head off

when I saw that. I just thought that was so funny. I think the follow-up question should have been what were you daydreaming about? I really would have liked to have known what it was. To me, the thing that stood out the most about Iserman's media conference was when he talked about Montreal and St. Louis not making any

trades and getting into the playoffs. Todd McClellan also had a couple comments about how the players were good enough to make the playoffs and when things went badly they got worse instead of pulling themselves out of it. So it wasn't about bringing in other players. It was, he was talking about how the guys already there needed to fix it themselves. And to me, that was a message, Justin, about Larkin's media conference,

when he said he wished that they would have made a trade. Like one of the things that happened in Montreal was, and Ken Hughes has talked about this a bit, about how he met with Nick Suzuki about what they were gonna do around the deadline, and Ken Hughes basically said to Suzuki, hey, you can help make this decision for us and make life easier on us if you become even better

and take over games even more, which Suzuki to his credit did. This press conference yesterday with McClellan and Iserman was a message not only to Larkin, but all the other players saying that we don't think anyone we trade for We don't think Anyone we trade for is gonna matter if the core we've identified here isn't better and so I think it's it's really interesting Larkin comes out honestly and says I wish we'd done more and Eyserman said that they talked and he won't reveal the conversation

but eyserman and McClellan basically throw the gauntlet down and say, doesn't matter unless you and the rest of your cornerstones in here do the job yourselves, which is kind of what Montreal said to Suzuki. so I Think I Think we got some real interesting behind-the-scenes thinking in Detroit presented publicly to Everyone and I'll say this I think Larkin played his played his heart out this year I thought he played great at the Four Nations. I thought it made him a better

player. But obviously his coach and his general manager think there's more there. One other thing too about Iserman, I kind of wondered a couple weeks ago if maybe he'd had enough, I think we got the answer on Tuesday. He's not done yet. Okay, and lastly, Elliot, some news late night potentially, not released to the public, but potentially leaked online. Do we have confirmation about Utah's team name? This happened so late at night, Justin, that I honestly don't know. It's possible the mammoth might have been leaked accidentally. I'll say this, I've watched enough X-Files episodes over the years to not believe in

coincidences and sometimes when I see this stuff I wonder if it's done on purpose to push the mystery or the engagement however I'm now looking at the YouTube page and it's changed it's like down this channel doesn't have any content. So either they're playing a wicked game with all of us at 2 23 Eastern time on a Wednesday morning, or they really did make a mistake and are now trying to undo it. One of these teams, one of these days, is going to have us all fooled that way.

I think that's a good point. 2 20 in the morning, start messing around with some handles, some YouTube pages. that's a good point. 2.20 in the morning, start messing around with some handles, some YouTube pages. Someone's going to notice and maybe they could pull the old bait and switch at some point. But for now, I guess the smart money would be on the mammoth. I don't want anything smart, especially money. Well, speaking of mammoth, three mammoth game fives in the Stanley Cup playoffs on Wednesday. Montreal and Washington will get it going. Florida and Tampa Bay will renew this unbelievable rivalry and St. Louis and

Winnipeg will close the show. We will be back on Friday morning with another edition of 32 Thoughts