32 Thoughts: The Podcast - The Importance of the Emotional Linchpin

Episode Date: December 13, 2024

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman delve into the return of JT Miller to the Vancouver Canucks following an almost one month absence from the team. They also talk about the importance of the emotional leaders on NHL franchises (5:00), before unpacking what the Canucks are searching to add to their roster (9:00). Afterwards, they talk about the injuries to Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz (18:03) and Ducks forward Trevor Zegras (25:15) before speculating on the future of John Gibson (29:34). They talk about the Calder race between Celebrini and Michkov (34:24) and Kyle and Elliotte discuss the big blowouts from Thursday night. Mainly, the Islanders almost blowing a 5-1 lead followed by an angry Patrick Roy at the post game podium (39:15). The Final Thought focuses on the fellas' main takeaways from the BOG meetings from Florida this week (46:36). Kyle and Elliotte answer your questions and respond to your voicemails in the Thought Line (1:04:33). Kyle wraps the podcast by teeing up this weekend's action (1:24:51).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailThis 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.  

Dear Elliot, this is Celia, your long-lost connection from Western. To jog your memory, I was our band's... Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra AT4X. Dom, Elliot, Kyle, all with you after a 14 game night on Thursday in the National Hockey League. So a lot to get to there. There were blowouts. There were incredible moments. Big offensive performances.

So much going on. Elliot struggled to keep his mind on which goaltender for the Maple Leafs he was trying to talk about when reporting news after the Leafs-Ducks games't blame you there was a lot to there was a lot to keep track of oh my god that was ridiculous first they said joseph wall and it was stole hers then i called and spirit and um and nick kiprios came into the room he was waiting to watch craig berubi's press conference said, you got the wrong goalie.

So thanks, Nick, for pointing that out, or else I wouldn't even notice. And then I called him, what, Alex Stollers? Yes. And, you know, Kyle, I have a rule that, you know what, if you're going to be that clueless, and it's really not that big a deal, it's not, but if you're going to be that clueless, let the people use you as a pinata so i was like you know what take me apart i'm good with it i meant anthony but have your fun yeah yes the comments were superb so well done taking a knee on that one they never let you down in those moments. If you say to people you have carte blanche to rip you,

they rarely do a bad job of it. That is very true. So we'll get to Stolar's Toronto story in a little bit, Elliot, but why don't we start in Vancouver? That was a huge win for the Canucks. They blanked the defending champion, Florida Panthers, Kevin Lankanen's third shutout of the season already. But the big story going into it was the return of JT Miller

almost a month after he took a leave of absence for personal reasons. He was back in the lineup in the morning. He stated he was back. He told the media there in Vancouver he didn't want to talk about anything, about why he was gone and the circumstances around it all. Just wanted to talk about hockey. It was a neat moment once the puck dropped there on Thursday night. The JT Miller chants early in Rogers Arena and late as Vancouver and Miller skated to a huge victory.

You know, I've thought a lot about this whole thing over the past couple of weeks first of all trying to be sensitive to what Miller was going through but just the overall situation as you said Kyle that was a great victory for the Canucks I still think the Florida Panthers are the Eastern Conference favorites to me they won last year but they have established this year that the eastern conference still goes through sunrise and more importantly still goes through that pretty good outlet mall right next to the arena that's the grass mills that is the big key here of course so like when to get to get that four nothing win that's a great win for the caducks they got on them right away they scored two and a half minutes in and and pretty much were in

control that one was not in doubt to me but you know what else that game said to me, Kyle, what was that? JT Miller is still the emotional leader of the Vancouver Canucks and especially where their fan base is concerned. Right now, like they love their players. They love Hughes. The fans do there.

They love Pedersen. They really love Garland. They love Besser. They like all their key guys. But nobody has the emotional connection to the fan base that Miller does right now and part of it's the way he plays part of it's because of what he just went through but he's got that link like when that wrestling card was there the WWE was there the wwe was there the fans are yelling jt miller during the card and so that is hard to fool around with um you know canuck fans can tell me if i'm wrong but i don't see another player that has that same kind of connection to the crowd. Now, that changes over time, and there are other players

that can eventually replace that. But when a player is at the height of their powers with that, you move on from them or you change them at your own peril. You have to make sure there's someone else. Like when the Bruins won the Stanley Cup final, that guy was Lucic. Like he was the emotional super cog to the Bruins and their fans at that time. And you go and you take a look at all of the teams that win the Stanley Cup. There's always one player that's kind of that emotional

linchpin. And I think you always wonder when a player comes back, does that change? And I think we learned on Thursday night that does not change. And this wasn't easy on anyone. This isn't easy on Miller. This isn't easy on the Canucks. This isn't easy on the organization. Like, nature abhors a vacuum, and Kyle in particular, Vancouver abhors a vacuum when it comes to their hockey team. Those fans are insatiable. They want Canucks news. They want to know what's going on.

And as a result, there was a lot of stuff that got rumored which was not true or didn't need to be discussed or went over the line like you take your pick and the jim rutherford came out and he got mad and um whatever the case is like i think everybody including the canucks were wondering when miller got back what would it all look like and i think what we learned is that in the short term this is not going to be a problem like if the canucks came out and they got spanked by the panthers and miller was terrible then i think we'd have a problem here. But they came out. They were excellent.

They won convincingly. And I think what you learned is the connection is still pretty strong. And we'll see where this goes over time. And we'll see how things develop over time. But you couldn't have had a... Like, you look at Vancouver this week. They had a couple of really important returns. They had Demko come back.

And they had Miller come back. And, you know, what happened is they lost the game to the Blues, which was unfortunate, but they got a point out of it. And they won this game to the blues which was unfortunate but they got a point out of it and they won this game against the panthers and i think the canucks will take that and i think what they'll particularly take is that demko got out of the game okay and miller got out of the game that the spiritual connection between him and the fan base wasn't broken and the team, which had played well in its absence, played well in his return.

Like, there's a lot to like about what happened to the Canucks this week. Especially when you consider, for some bizarre reason, they've struggled at home multiple times throughout the year but Thursday night had to have been one of the most convincing results that they've had at Rogers Arena this season and it's funny you mention all that like you think about last season they got off to a great start they stayed relatively healthy until the playoffs of course but they were able to ride so much of what they did early on into a really special regular season that had

them first into the division hasn't been that way this year they've had to grind a little bit more but as you say two important pieces back this week so you mentioned in your blog that came out Thursday night the idea that the Canucks are going okay let's see how we look with Demko and Miller back in the fold what are the tea leaves kind of telling you of where Vancouver goes from here yeah it's it's like the one thing I think is the Canucks you know the other thing we should mention is they hadn't been good against the best teams, and to me, Florida's among the best teams. So that's another good omen there.

The Canucks have a lot of bodies. Someone pointed out to me this week, they make a lot of moves up and down between the NHL and Abbotsford, and some of that is just the way they're managing the cap. But also some of that is they've got a lot of bodies, especially around the fringes of their roster. Right. And I think they're trying to alleviate that a bit. You know, Vincent Darnay, they signed him this summer. It just hasn't worked. it just hasn't worked um it just

hasn't worked and i think they're trying to see if there's a market for him if they can give him a soft landing somewhere else like i think they're looking to add a d and i think they're also still looking to add a forward at some point and what's the challenge for me is I keep getting mixed messages I keep hearing like they want it they want they're happy that Demko and Miller came back and they want to see how their group looks with the two of those guys but also I'm hearing that they still want what they want they they might want to move a couple of bodies. And sometimes, and they're very aggressive. Like, Rutherford is aggressive, and Alvin is aggressive. And sometimes you're at the mercy of the other team, right?

Like, I think with Blackwood this week, you know, San Jose, one of the reasons it happened was San Jose had Carolina interested and they had Colorado interested. And I'm sure there were others, but those were the two I knew. And finally, San Jose was in a position where they could say, okay, we've got multiple teams pushing hard at us. Let's go. Give us your best deal.

And they made the trade. And so sometimes that's what it comes down to. Like if you're Vancouver, you've got to be on top of things in case that moment, like another team is like San Jose and says, we're going to do this now. So like I keep hearing different things about where they're going, but I think they're interested in a forward and a D. They want to see what they look like with their guys back. And they're trying to make moves around some of the

depth players in their rosters so i think there's a few different balls in the air kyle i'm not like i'll be honest i'm not a hundred percent sure what the timelines are going to be or exactly how this is going to go but the key thing for them is the biggest questions is did their two guys coming back get through their first challenges? And the answer is going to be yes. And I think something else, too, is I think this was a reminder of, like, when you look at the Canucks, Hughes is a phenomenal player. Like, he is, he's one of the best players in the league. He's a calm guy.

Pedersen is beyond talented. And he's a calm guy petterson is beyond talented and he's a calm guy you know i think you want one of your cornerstone players like they've got some fiery guys like garland is a really fiery guy um you know sherwood is obviously a very fiery guy um you know, Joshua is a fiery guy. But there's nobody among your top players who has got the spark of Miller. And, you know, I think Vancouver here, they were getting calls from other teams. What's going on here? What's going on here?

Are you thinking of moving on? And the Canucks were like, no. And Miller hasn't asked. And, like, I think it was just a really challenging time because teams are always going to call you and say, what are you thinking here? And Vancouver's like, this is kind of out of our control and we don't like the noise.

But I think, again, like we kind of said here, Miller brings something to your table a lot of other guys don't have in his personality. For sure. I think you're trying to say we've got to make this work in our team concept, but he's unique to us, and we need that. Even Besser told Ian McIntyre the other day, it's been a lot different without him.

So just having him around again, even before you step on the ice for a game, you could sense within the room, it's different for all the right reasons in Vancouver. And it has to stay that way like i think i think he has to bend and the other guys have to bend everybody has to bend a little bit it's like a podcast kyle you've got your talents i've got my talents although i'm still trying to discover exactly what those are and we have to bend them together to make the podcast good.

And hopefully by the time we are both fired, we will find a way to do that. Yes. Dom is the welder and we are two pieces of metal. Like scrap pieces of metal, not like the good metal like a bad alloy that's what we are well it was peddled to the metal for vancouver against the panthers thursday and now they got the bruins saturday night at home as well another must watch on the west coast you know it's been it's been 14 years i still love watching the bruins and the caducks oh yeah and you know what the bruins aren't coming in really well right now they got their asses kicked by the jets and seattle they lost to seattle and that one was weird to me. Like Seattle scored early and Boston just sagged.

I don't know what's going on there right now. They got their, they got their bump. I mean, the shots were 25, 14 after two periods, but just seemed to me like they sagged a little bit. I don't know. No, they didn't have much come the third period. Yeah, they didn't have much. But Boston-Vancouver, man, like those games to me,

whenever I see those two teams on the schedule, I get wired for that, even though it's not 2011 anymore. Okay, Anthony Stolarz, Elliot. You worked the Anaheim-Toronto game Thursday night. 11 anymore. Okay. Anthony Stolarz, Elliot. You worked the Anaheim-Toronto game Thursday night. So Stolarz left the game. I'm going to interrupt you first here, Kyle, before we do Stolarz. I meant to do something at the top of the pod that I forgot to do,

but I want to do it here before we get to Stolarz. Oh, please do. And this is one of the guys that when I first started Hockey Night, he was a guy who reached out and wished me the best and I've always enjoyed my conversations with him, is Kelly Chase. And so Hockey Fights Cancer Night in St. Louis was on Thursday night and on one of their dasher boards, they put up a picture of a, I fight for 39, like it was on the dasher board. And, uh, Kelly chase announced this week

that, uh, he's going to get, he's going to need a bone marrow transplant, and his brother is going to give it to him. And obviously 100% match. He's the donor. And, you know, I know the Blues consider Chase part of their extended family. When they won the Cup, I remember the joke was like kelly chase did so many speeches and was part of so much stuff celebration after the blues won the cup that people were joking like did kelly play did he win the Stanley Cup with the blues because he's front

and center and all this stuff but um you know i i know that the blues uh are really inspired by kelly and really think of kelly so i i just wanted to mention that uh i'm a little annoyed at myself i didn't do it at the top of the pod so i'm gonna do it here uh kelly we wish you all the best and what there is nothing that epitomizes family more than his brother agreeing to be his bone marrow donor. So just wanted to mention that, Kyle. And now we can go to Stollers. Yeah, really beautiful, Elliot. Thank you for remembering that and a neat scene in St. Louis on Thursday night.

Okay, Anthony Stollers. Yeah, so left the game after the first period Thursday against his old team, the Ducks. Craig Berube said they would know more today, Friday. As we know, guys got an injury history. Had a career high 24 starts last year. And it's interesting, Elliot, because, you know, against his old team in Anaheim, He was a popular guy there. They loved him down in Florida. And I was talking to someone a few weeks ago that played with them. And he was just looking at the situation he's in now in Toronto with Joseph wall. And he thought that is a perfect, perfect situation for Stolarz because they were working as a tandem. He's a guy that the history is one thing a bigger body and so to be in

a situation where you're not asked to play 55 60 games a season that's perfect for him and you could see how it was playing to his strengths and wall strengths as well before the injury happened here uh thursday so it was a tough one to see. We don't know much, of course, of the extent of it all, but what was your reaction to how that all unfolded Thursday? Can I tell you a fine story? Yes, of course. So Dave Amber does this thing, and it's his questions, right?

Like Dave loves the hot takery dave is dave is hot for the hot takery okay and so he so i matt marstrom produced this game and matt calls me on uh thursday morning he says you're ready for the hot takery? And I just rolled my eyes and, okay, what has Amber cooked up this time? And so one of his questions was, are there, and this is a Leaf regional. I think we need to clarify this. So this is Leaf focus.

And he says, what Leaf player do you think is most likely to win a trophy this year? And I know what's going to happen. I'm on the panel with Justin and Nick, and they're like, I think they're going to go with like Marner, Selke, which is a good pick. I think it's a good pick. So I'm trying to think, like, what else could I come up with? Like, I don't think there's a Leaf this year that's winning the Hart Trophy. I don't think there's a leaf this year is winning the heart trophy i don't think there's a leaf this year is winning the

norris trophy i mean stolars has had a great start but i don't think they're winning the nor the uh the vesna trophy or anything like that so i think about it for a few minutes and then i say okay i okay, I got one. I got one. And they said, and Marzi goes, what is it? I go, do you want to really rock the boat here and see some fireworks? And he goes, okay. And I go, you can't tell I want to put this on the air without telling anyone. I'm going Stoller's, Conn Smythe. Oh, wow. And I just wanted to put it up there. It's like that Sens playoff thing I did at the beginning of the year. I just want to see the reaction.

Like, I just want to see the reaction. Like, I just want to see the reaction. If I, if there's like a font on the screen under my face of saying leaf, the most likely to win award and Stoller's con smite. This life is just one big experiment for you. I'm like Einstein. I like experiments. Okay.

So then Amber canceled the question. He's like, we're not doing that one this time. So I was like, okay, I get it. No big deal. He led stuff. It's his call. He had stuff he liked better. But after the show was over, I told those guys about it.

And I was like, could you imagine if I would have put that up there? And then two minutes later, we find out Stoller's isn't coming out for the second period. Right. Because it was the first intermission you guys ran through those questions. Yes. Yes. Like, they would have been all over me, trashing me. It was you who put this up and Stoller's got hurt.

me trashing me it was you who put this up and stole hers got hurt so anyway i'm kind of disappointed it didn't happen because it would have just been great television but anyway so like obviously you hope he's okay he's had leg and knee problems before like this is the thing like like so justin and nick and i had an argument. They'll talk about it more on their show, Kipper and Bourne, on Friday. But I don't think those guys were crazy about Stoller starting on Thursday because he played Tuesday and he played great, but he had a heavy workload. He's not a guy who's played a lot and he's got an injury history. And they were like, why didn't they go to Wolfe? And they've got back-to-back this weekend and my point was that i think that i don't agree with that argument because

it's not like wool doesn't have an injury history history too like in toronto because stolars hasn't played a ton and because wool hasn't played a ton and because they've both had injury history, you're kind of damned if you do and damned if you don't, Kyle. Yeah. Like, to me, it's like either guy you're playing, unfortunately, could get hurt any time. And what sucks for Toronto is that they've both been playing great. They've both been, they're giving you one of the best, not only one of the best goalie tandems in the league,

but one of the best dollar value goalie tandems in the league. But the one challenge that Toronto had to deal with was you've got two guys here who've been hurt, and you know this can happen at any time. Now, Wolcott hurt at the beginning of the season. He's been better. If there's any silver lining here, it's better it happened with Stollers in December as opposed to, like, say, April.

But, you know, we'll see where this goes. We'll see how serious this is. But that, to me, is the only thing the Maple Leafs had to worry about. And I think Stollers has been their MVP at the start of the season, is that you just worry one of these guys gets hurt and unfortunately now it looks like Stollers got hurt yeah and I'm with you like it's easy in hindsight to go back and go well maybe you shouldn't have started but the fact that they've got back-to-backs coming up this weekend against Detroit and Buffalo I

didn't see a problem with him going back to him, even though he was a very busy man Tuesday night in New Jersey. So we'll see what kind of update comes over the next little bit when it comes to Stolarz and the Maple Leafs, but at least there was a bit of solace in the fact that he finished the first period and was able to leave the ice under his own power and really not setting off any alarm bells until he did not emerge for the start of the second okay keeping with the injury theme elliot earlier

in the day trevor zegras of the ducks you reported that the team then announced it that he had surgery done to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee going to be out six weeks you're saying that's a much, much better timeline than the team initially feared. So what else can you shed some light on there? Well, it's great news for him. And, you know, that guy's been through enough. He should just be allowed to play.

And it's good news for them. You don't want a guy out that long. I always worry about, like, some of the worst injuries I've ever seen kyle in any sport or when a guy just goes down and immediately waves like they know these players they know and when i saw ziggurats did that like he goes down he immediately waves the bench i was like holy smokes he's out for the year and I know that night they were worried about that. So I'm just happy. I'm happy for him.

I'm, you know, like, just injuries are bad. I want guys to be healthy. You know, whether you're struggling or you're not, I just want people to be healthy. And I was glad to see for uh Zegers uh that he is also made me think of like when Max Pacioretty got injured earlier on in in the season he kind of had the wave going too and everyone thinking oh man how serious is this gonna be and he's back now a month later and he was tremendous Thursday for the Maple Leafs.

So good news for Zegers as well, but not as bad as they initially feared. You know what's interesting about that, Kyle? There's been a lot of injuries this year where, like, you think about, say, so now Zegers, you pulled a good one patch already. Like, I'm thinking about Patrick Liney, too. I'm sure there's some other ones. Drew Dowdy. Um, when they first happened, like,

like we thought these were traumatic, traumatic injuries. But what's interesting to me now is in all these cases, like they wait, they take their time. And I don't know if you find second or third opinions that are better, or you're just prognosis appears better with a couple days rest. But it seems to me like there's a lot of guys here say, I'm not rushing into the first thing, particularly if it's going to be really long.

I want to use my options to make sure I'm going through the right treatment or the right path. And maybe it doesn't have to be so long. Like someone was saying to me that the, the Jack Eichel Buffalo thing changed everything for the league. Because, you know, Buffalo was unsure about the treatment that Eichel was going to use. And it turned out cause it was new at the time, and now you see how good Eichel is and how well he's playing,

you realize that maybe there's less to be afraid of, and I think up and down the league, I think there's a better understanding. I always thought after that, when the new CBA talks began, this was going to be a big deal. And now I've got players kind of saying, yeah, it's important, but teams are much better about how do we work together to determine your best path. So if anything good came out of that, it was this.

Right. Really great point. Okay, so you worked the game Thursdayursday i worked the game wednesday night when anaheim was in ottawa john gibson got the start that night and yeah you want to talk about a heavy workload him and the ducks were under siege for large stretches of that game they had a much better showing against the leafs than they did against the Sens. But Gibson was put to the test in a lot of ways because of it all. You wrote in your blog, so the Mackenzie Blackwood sweepstakes are done. But as you pointed out, there has been, depending on who you believe, a potential relationship between Carolina and John Gibson a couple of times where do things potentially

stand there could you see a path as Carolina still looking around you said they were interested in Blackwood does the focus now shift to a player like John Gibson who has been out there for a while you know I think Gibson is I could have I think there was a couple of the names I could have mentioned like there's some other goalies out there like it'll be interesting to see what happens with vamelka and utah uh he's played very well for them uh this year uh utah actually got a uh big win on thursday night they won in colorado blackwood didn't play. He backed up Wedgwood, but they won there. And Vemelka started, made 23 of 24 saves. So he'll be another one that people talk about, depending on what Utah is doing here and how they decide to proceed but the Gibson and

Carolina one I wrote that as the way I did because I will tell you a couple years ago and it was a time when Don Waddell was the GM in Carolina and Bob Murray was the GM in Anaheim that I heard that one was getting close. And the problem was that some people said it was true and some people said it was not true. And my brain was completely fried. Like, because there were people I trusted giving me both information. So I knew somebody was not telling the truth, and I couldn't figure out who it was. So I just kind of stayed away from it, to be perfectly honest. And then I know there was not a lot of noise last summer.

And again, I just don't know where it ended up or if it was ever really close. So it's like John Gibson and Carolina is that couple that kind of flirts with each other. But do they ever really get together? And how real is the flirting? But there's something there. There's been something there in the past. And obviously, it's never worked for both sides. And so you just never know if it's going to come to fruition. Look, I think Gibson would like to move. I think Anaheim would like to move him. And I think depending on what everybody's willing to do here, Carolina would be a perfect landing spot for him.

But, you know, barring that, you know, one of the things that a couple teams have pointed out to me is that how many people out there are actually looking for goalies? Now, you know, Toronto was not one of them, and hopefully this isn't a problem for stolars but if it is they could become a team so injuries can change your whole situation but generally kyle when you look at it like how many teams are looking for goalies not a lot and as a result like carolina can afford to be a little bit picky i you know i think they like blackwood as i said i i think that was very legit um you know right down to the end i like i

don't think that those two teams colorado and carolina were far apart in what they were willing to do. And at the end of the day, San Jose just picks the deal that they like better. I just think that Carolina kind of looks at it as there aren't a lot of teams looking for goalies right now, so we can afford to be a little bit picky we'll see i like um i you know i i went and i saw carolina on tuesday at home against san jose and like as the game got went on they got stronger like you know they're they're an experienced team they've got a lot of guys who've been around. San Jose is a little bit raw. They've got guys who are learning how to play.

And you really saw that. Like, San Jose gave them a really good battle, but in the third period, the Hurricanes really owned them. They turned it up to a level that San Jose couldn't get to. And, you know, I think Carolina's proven that they're a lot better than people thought they were going to be. And I'll tell you who knows a really good fit there is Goss Despair. I think that guy's come a long way as a player and credit to him. But they looked really good.

And, you know, the guy who really impressed me on Thursday after that game, like Celebrini, he plays hard. He really cares. I think he's a franchise player. If you watch the winning goal on Tuesday night and Chatfield is the one who shoots it, the puck is in the crease and Celebrini tries to clear it. And he basically gives it right to Chatfield. Like he's trying to make the response. He's down in front of his own end.

He's helping defend. He's not being cute around the net. He's just trying to get rid of it, which is what you're supposed to do. And unfortunately for him, it just goes right to Chadfield and that leads to the goal. And then Celebrity comes back, you know,

so it sucks for him. He's like, damn, I put the winning goal right on the other guy's stick. And what does he do? He comes back on Thursday with a 3.9 as they beat the Blues. Like, what a player this is. But I just look at Carolina and I see,

even though the players are different to some degree, the identity is the same. Like, they keep pressuring you. They keep getting all over you, and they're supposed to get... Like, Bryn Amor is a big conditioning guy, so as the game gets going, you should be stronger than the other team.

Like, they still hit that formula. And I think they're out there looking, and I got to think John Gibson is secretly salivating at the possibility of playing goal for them, but it's got to work for both sides. So you've got celebrating doing his thing. And then Mishkoff in Philadelphia,

he's signing autographs in the tunnel after being ejected Thursday night. That was great. He attempted the Michigan against the Red Wings, almost pulled it off. Cam Talbot played it perfectly. He was going after Alex to bring it off the face-off to begin the third period. He was just everywhere, it seemed, again, for the Flyers.

I mean, the Calder race is getting very fun and intriguing here as we go along. It's been awesome to see both players. Well, we should mention Lawton here because he had four goals, including the Slapshot Breakaway goal. Talk about announcing your presence. Hi, I'm Scott Lawton. I'll be playing tonight.

In case you weren't aware of it, here you go. I love the Slapshot Breakaway goal. What a great night for Law go. I love the slap shot breakaway goal. What a great night for Lawton. What a great night for the Flyers. Four goals. As we all predicted, the first four-goal game in the NHL this season would belong to Scott Lawton. That was awesome.

Yeah, it was a fantastic night. I love that Mishkov did that. And when we heard the story about it, that the fans spoke to him in Russian, and he said he would do it later right i don't know you know like like i gotta tell you i saw i saw keith jones and um the flyers are represented the board of governors by keith jones and john masters is one of their alternate governors and we were talking about that and uh when i saw them there and you know i was i was just saying to

them that you know michigan is going to own that city before too long like you know you you take a look at you know the current kings of philadelphia sports i mean they've got bryce harper i don't know is is schwarber or rel mudo bigger than bryce harper i don't think is is Schwarber or Real Mudo bigger than Bryce Harper I don't think so um you know the the uh the Eagles are are bickering with each other a little bit right now but they've got Hertz and AJ Brown you've got Joel Embiid like Mishkov is he he's gonna be like he's gonna own that town if he keeps that up. Now, the team's got to get better, and they've got to start winning a few more games,

but you can see it. You can see it coming. He's got personality plus, but that lot in that snapshot goal when I saw it, I just started laughing. Right. I got to tell you too i think i think briere is another guy who's really looking out there like what can i do here you know what can i do here i think right i think you're hanging around yes but i think he's an active guy i think he's you know he's he much a, you know, what can I do here?

What can I do here, guy? How can I make my group better? What's out there? I think he's one of those guys, too. Hey, did you see Patrick Waugh postgame after the Islanders beat the Blackhawks 5-4? I did. That game was 5-1. They gave up three goals in the final nine minutes of the third period

to make the score much closer than I'm sure he thought it should have been. A win is a win, and we play to win games. But I guess times has changed. Because in my days, if my team would have done that to me, I will break a stick in that room. I'll be very upset to see my team playing like this in front of me. Ilya is a gentleman. He's a first-class person.

But that was unacceptable. We didn't compete. We didn't battle in front of the net in the last eight minutes that's unacceptable we talk about it this morning to be stronger our goalie deserve more respect than this from ourself so i will say this you know what i think gave what even more license to kind of rip them a bit the fact that he was a goalie himself no i wasn't gonna go with that okay maybe like it's not it's not a bad guest cal it's not the worst guest you've ever delivered on this podcast that's a long list i think it's because they won when they when they held on to win, Waugh's like, I'm going after these guys. Look, I don't know what's going on with the Islanders this year.

In the third period right now, the Islanders could be winning 36 to nothing. And if I bet, I'm not sure I would bet on them. I don't know what's going on with them in the third periods. That was like the Penguins for the longest time. They I think while I was like, we held on to win this one, I'm giving it to

these guys. I'm giving it to them. And the reason was because I don't think he likes to pile on his team. He really tries to avoid it. So he doesn't have to do it after a W. And secondly, he can say to them that they made Sorokin look bad. That quote, that'll resonate with those guys.

Because those Islanders guys, they talk up Sorokin. They know how good he is. They know he's critical of the team. And they, in slap shot parlance, will feel shame that Wa said that they don't look like they care about him. That'll work. That'll hit them. He's also one of the greatest goalies of all time. He's still an executive director of the goalie fraternity,

and he saw one of his guys having his stats impacted negatively because of how the team in front of him finished out the game and he was like i don't like that like i love the line about going back in my day i would have broken my stick over the wall coming back into i'm surprised you didn't grab one and just break it on the bench right but the thing that the thing that will resonate with them the most as he said they made sorokin look bad yeah that'll hit those guys right between the eyes they'll feel that one there were some wild score lines on thursday pittsburgh nine two oh the lightning beat up on calgary like that was another third period runaway eight to three what

did kucherov have like six points oh second time he's done that and that ties a franchise record one goal five assists i mean the uh oilers beat up on the wild seven one we'll see what happened there and also but i think jacob middleton got a got an injury that's going Oilers beat up on the wild 7-1. We'll see about having Bouchard there. And also, but I think Jacob Middleton got an injury that's going to keep him out for a while. Like that shot by Bouchard that hit his finger, I don't think that's good. I think that's going to be a loss for Minnesota for a while. It's a heck of a night to be on the couch.

That's all I'll say. Couch potato. Couch potato. Couch potato Kyle Bukoskis. It's almost alliteration. I guess. A lot of good games. A lot of big blowouts. I'm curious to see if Middleton being out

does that give Juracek more of a shot what does Minnesota do there you know what yeah I was about to mention Nashville so someone read my notes on Thursday and I posted them around midnight

and I talked about how trots how trots was was determined not to make brunette the scapegoat to it and he said to me that that Nashville went in Dallas that buys that prize brunette time it buys him time. O'Reilly came back, was really good. You know, when O'Reilly got hurt last week, we were told he was week to week. Right.

Yep. He's back. Only one week. You know, I would tell everybody here, okay, so I thought that he was the only guy, Trotz, that did weekly hits. Kelly McCrimmon does one in Vegas too. That was a good game, Vegas Jets.

Kelly McCrimmon does one in Vegas too, but Kelly's too smart. Like he's not giving away anything. He's too smart. But Trotz's one on Tuesdays in Nashville, that's must-listen-to stuff. Like he's he's too smart but trots is one on tuesdays in nashville that's must listen to stuff like he's pretty blunt and um it was interesting because you know how last week there was that marcia so quote he gave to the french reporters about how he's warming up with one two guys in warm-ups and then it changes in the start of the game like who does that and to their credit the radio guys in nashville they asked trots about that and he said like

he was trying to honor marcia so and zachary larue who don't normally play together he wanted to honor them by letting them both play in montreal and somehow that got totally missed so so yeah you know what that's exactly what i said i said nothing tells you more about what's going on in nashville this year than that and you know he you know like brunette's trying to do them a favor and make it make, and Marc Cisseau totally misses it, and Trotz has to explain it to them. Just crazy. Like, just what a year that is.

But just great games on Thursday. And, you know, I think this, too, we're getting closer. Like, the trade freeze comes next week. I think there's a little bit bubbling out there. I don't know if it'll go anywhere, but there's a lot of talk. I just don't know if we'll get a lot of action. All right. Well, on that note, then, that'll bring us to the final thought, which is brought to you by GMC.

So we're back home in our respective homes again, Elliot, after a few days down in Florida for the Board of Governors. Great weather down there. Not so great here in Toronto and Ottawa now. But coming out of those two days of meetings, usually at this time of year, the governors have a pretty good sense of what next year's salary cap will look like, at least a number that gives them an idea. And there seems to be a lot more variance

here now because of going back to what you reported a little bit ago of possibly being a higher number than what the 5% built into the current CBA agreement would dictate. What were the ultimate takeaways for you from those couple of days of meetings down in Palm Beach? Well, I'm going to flip it. What were the biggest takeaways for you? Well, Elliot, I like the fact that the commissioner at least was open to discussing the fact that the league and the players, though they have set February as when official conversations will begin about what the next collective bargaining agreement will look like. will look like. The fact that they've already been having conversations indirectly and unofficially, and they will continue to do so, I think perhaps sets the tone that there is no real reason to be concerned over what that's going to look like when it comes time to do up a new CBA. And as you said

for a while, there really doesn't seem to be any true sticking points that could drive a real wedge in things. That was a positive sign from my end. And the other interesting thing too was, and we talked about it a little bit, the idea that maybe the negotiating window before free agency could become a thing and it was bill daily that kind of suggested it and it was away from the general media availability that they do after the meetings were done you know bill daily will go off to the side and be more of kind of informal. I don't think Bettman likes that very much, by the way. But yet it keeps happening.

But the point that he made was that. You know why it keeps happening? Because we as a species, the reporters that cover the NHL, we're really annoying. That's why I think it happens. Right. Well, we're waiting around for hours on end those couple of days. It's like we've got to try to get something out of of this but the point that he made was that the players wanted it they got it and then they didn't want it and it went away and now it could be an option again

so i had a buddy who watched the uh who watched the scrum and then you say he said i had to go back and watch it again before i explained to you my thesis so he went back and he watched it a second time and do you know what his thesis was to me what he's this guy does not work in sports he's got a real job he doesn't work in sports he says's got a real job. He doesn't work in sports. He says to me, Bettman thinks you guys are really dumb. It was classic Bettman down there. And I said, that's probably true. I'm not going to argue with you,

but why do you think that he thinks we're really dumb? And he goes, and the guy, my buddy says to me, it's because like you listen to him talk and he's like, he says, well, we're going to start negotiating in February. But then he takes pains to point out, well, you know, we meet every couple of weeks or we meet informally beforehand. It's like, it's like, you know, I was like, sorry, I just think this is really funny. He said, he, my buddy says he compared it to, you know, when people sometimes talk to people who don't speak english as a first language and they speak really slowly he said that's what like betman talks to you guys like and i was i was really laughing i couldn't stop laughing at this well if you could if there was a pov of like a betman pov of who he was all looking at you would know why yeah it's like so so anyway

so i was laughing at this and and you know basically he's trying like betman is trying to spell out to us that that they've been talking for weeks. Like what did we call it? Soft negotiating. Yes. Like that's the word of the week. Soft tampering, soft negotiating. He's basically telling us that they've been negotiating for weeks and the,

so they're like, they're, they're moving towards a point and then the serious stuff is going to begin in February. So like he's, he's, he's, he's,

he's trying to say like, don't write that negotiators are starting in February. He's basically saying that's when the big, that's when they really are going to get down to it, but they've been negotiating for a while. It's like, like at the end of the conversation, my friend said like,

how big a hint do you need? Like, listen to what he's telling you. Anyway, I, I was just laughing about it when my buddy was explained. Cause sometimes when you're right in the middle of it, you don't think about all these things.

Like you're just listening to the answer for the answer. And you're not looking at the nuance, but by buddy who's watching it and is detached from it he's like he's hitting you with a sledgehammer as to what he wants to tell you and none of you guys are getting it my feelings when i walked out of there was this is getting done and there's a decent chance it gets done by betman's goal of game one of the stanley cup playoffs when he does a state of the union and one of the reasons I believe it's possible is as long as this doesn't hit a snag

then you know I thought you have to write a whole new CBA but a couple of really good lawyers said to me no you can just update the MOU the the current agreement. You just have to update it, and then you can get it done by then. And, you know, I'll say this. Like, one of the things Bettman makes it very clear is he doesn't like it when stuff that gets discussed there ends up in the media without his control. And I don't think, you know, I don't think there's anything as yet that's come out that I think he would be. Like, I had a few details in my column, but I don't think he's anything as yet that's come out that I think he would be like.

I had a few details in my column, but I don't think he would get upset at any of that stuff. I mean, we'll find out. But he doesn't like it when things get out. And so I think the governors, especially around CBA, they're very sensitive to that. But it's clear to me that the way these guys are talking and that they don't think there's going to be a big issue here. Like they think this, they all think the cap's going up now more than the 92.5, but they think he's going to negotiate it. He's going to say, okay, we'll agree to do this, but what can we put on the table that we could get in return? And they think there's a few things that he might be looking for,

and they're very careful about saying what they are. My suspicion is I could see one of those things being, is I could see one of those things being, can they get the maximum term from seven and eight years down to five to six or six to seven? But I don't know that for sure, but that's my suspicion that that would be one of the things. But I think when it's pretty much peacetime, there's not going to be a lot. People are going to have to pick one or two things that are really important and see what you get. But there's not going to be a lot of major change here.

I think it's going to be... I'm very curious to see what's the biggest change that comes out of this CBA. Because I don't think there's going to be anything too massive at least not to the central economic system which is the key to the way the league works like do we get the ltir playoff change i think there's some teams that want it i find it very hard to tell because because not every team will tell me so i've had i don't know how many teams are really in favor of that and i've also heard from some players that i think some players are really in favor of it but i heard that one of the things that was talked about was

what if you're the guy that can't play? How are you going to feel about voting for something and you're the guy who gets voted out of playing a Stanley Cup playoff game? And one player told me that really stuck in his head. So we'll see where that one goes. Like the tax one, I think there are teams who feel very strongly about the tax, tax equalization, but I think there are other teams that don't. And as Daly said to us, he referenced the now decentralized draft, which had like an 80% vote to change. That says to me, you need a majority of teams that want to change something.

Now, I'll say this, the teams that want the tax equalization, they are extremely passionate about it. I just don't know if there's enough of them. I don't know. I think that's the fairest way for me to say it. You know, is there anything else here? I don't know. I don't think, again, I could be proven to be wrong, but I don't know like i i don't think again i could be proven to be wrong but i don't think anyone's gonna try to change it from 50 50 once the split comes back in i don't think that either side is going to try to gain a point or two in their favor i don't think that's happening i do think the schedule is on the radar um that it'll eventually uh could go to 40 to 46 that's really genius to go to 84 i know the players the players have been asked about it i know they're considering it 84 regular season games down to four uh pre-season games and one of the things that a

few people have told me is that the league wants to see like, are there creative things we can do with those extra two games? Like not just like, okay, get one more home and one more on the road. Is there somewhere, is there something we can do with them? You know, international hockey, it's very clear to me that the league wants to increase its footprint. Like that's why we're talking world cup and, and Olympics. I think they want to do more. You know,

I think the fact that dry of dry sidle and Stutzle, someone reminded me like Germany is a place they could probably do a little bit more. I think that's one of the countries on their radar. But, you know, like, again, there's really nothing here that should prevent anyone from playing hockey. And the Board of Governors kind of walked away with that knowledge that a deal is going to get done. There are some things that the league would like to try to change, but they know they're not getting a lot of them. And I'd be curious to see what they prioritize.

And also, I think the happiest who were that entire time down there was discussing the idea of the Florida Panthers getting an outdoor game as soon as next season. Yeah. Marlins play because they got soon as next season. Yeah. Marlins play because they got a retractable roof. Yes. Um, I,

you know, and, and I'll, I'll say this since I first mentioned it, um, like there's a lot of people who are like, you know, it's like I tweeted out and,

and people were posting pictures of swimming pools. Like the ice is going to look like this. And that makes me laugh. Like, it's funny. You know, I think the thing is, like, we criticize this league, and sometimes for good reason, that they don't take chances or they're too conservative. Like, people rip the Lake Tahoe thing.

I thought it was great. I know the glare was a problem and the ice was a problem, but I like the fact that they did it. thought it was great i i know the i i know the glare was a problem and the ice was a problem but i like the fact that they did it you know i think sometimes the league has been worried about trying things because of the criticism they get for it you can't live your life like that you you have to especially in the world now with social media you know people are going to rip you all the time for things you just have to do them right you just you just have to do them and i like the fact that they're going somewhere a little different i like the fact the state of florida is being rewarded and and they push for

that for a while right and they did and they did and like you know some of the things since i first mentioned it some of the things they told me was, like, this might be a game where the roof is open and closed during the game. Like, depending on the weather, because they get a lot of rain, maybe it's only open for, like, 15 minutes, or maybe it's open and then closed and then open, depending

on the forecast. Like, I think that's one of the things they consider. And also, like, the ice. Like, they might have to be really responsive. Like, it's going to be a challenge to make good ice. But they feel that they're in a better position to do that now than they have in the past. Or is there other ways they can do it? Like, they have really, really worked on this one. Like, this is, like, there's, like, I don't know all the answers,

but somebody said to me it's a real source of pride within some of the people in the NHL that they're even in position to be able to propose to do this because they took it as, like, people think we can't do it. Let's prove we can. And I like to see that kind of thinking be rewarded. Like, I'm a big believer in don't think about what you can't do. Think about what you can do.

That's the way people should live their lives. So, like I said, I think it's coming. And I'm happy for the fans down there. I'm happy for the fans down there. And again, I think a league that sometimes has been careful stepping out of its comfort zone, I like the fact that they're trying to step out of their comfort zone. Especially because, I mean, you've covered way more outdoor games than I have, but the big issues that always come up, it's precipitation and sunlight.

So if they are, in fact fact going to a venue that has a retractable roof like you're eliminating so many potential problems there so even though the idea of man an outdoor game in south florida how could that be possible i think there would be way less challenges in other places where maybe you think it would be easier to do because of that reason alone so i love that this could be happening have you have you thought about i'm with you have you thought about a place where you'd love to see an outdoor game that it hasn't happened yet like taking logistics out of it completely? Yeah, just... Oh, I mean, Lake Louise would be phenomenal.

Yeah, that's too bad because I think because of the government rules, they can't have signage there or anything like that. That's a great one, though. Right, National Park. Yeah, that's a great one. That would be really neat. Even if you went in Europe somewhere, you know somewhere specific but um just to have that sort of feel around a game yeah i'd love to see europe too i i think that to me is something that

they they have to try to do as an outdoor game in europe somewhere right even if you went like wembley or something like that would be incredible. Yeah. Just the fact that you could say you did it there. Yes. I like the idea of, remember a few years ago, I don't know if they still do it, but the NCAA teams played a college basketball game

on an aircraft carrier. Oh, right. And I actually suggested that to the league, and they said, you know what? We're not going to do that. And I said, why not? It's cool. And they said, the problem is that if you're going to play a game like that,

you want your fans to be there. And you can't really do that. That's fair. Ah. The places we would take this league, Elliot. Yes. Yes, yes, we could. That was the final thought brought to you by GMC.

We'll take our first break. Stay with us. The Thought Line is next. You're listening to 32 Thoughts, the podcast. all right welcome back time once again for the thought line the phone number to call 1-833-311-3232 if you wish to submit an email 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca is the place to do so. Elliot, any housekeeping before we proceed? No, no strange text this week, so I think we're all good. All right.

Well, we're going to begin. No phishing scams on my phone. Stay tuned. We're going to begin this edition. Remember when we had the question submitted about father-son coach-player examples? Yes. All right. We'll have a listen to this.

John writes, Hi all. When I was a kid, we used to live across the street from Punch Imlach and his family. They were always very nice and generous to me and my three hockey-playing brothers, and many times leaving hockey tickets for us to go to Leaf games. Anyway, I do recall a few times when Punch's son, Brent, was called up to play for the Leafs when Punch coached. It was a long time ago, so I hope my memory is serving me well.

Perhaps you can check it out. John, your memory is serving you very well. Brent Imlach, Elliot, played three games for the Toronto Maple Leafs over the course of two seasons, and his father was the head coach all three of those games. Excellent, excellent one. I thought Brent Imlach might have played when I was a kid, which was the late 70s when Punch Imlach returned under Harold Ballard,

which didn't go very well. But Brent Imlach returned under Harold Ballard, which didn't go very well. But Brendan Imlach played in the 60s, so that was before I was born. And you got one other one, Kyle, that was sent in? Yeah, so Peter in Colorado added two. Dan Jeffreon, who spent one season in Montreal where he was coached by his father, Bernie Boom Boom Jeffreon.

Another good one. Another good one. Another good one. You know what someone actually said to me that is the problem with these kinds of situations? I never thought about this, okay? So what do you think that players think is the biggest challenge with one of their teammates being coached by their dad? The obvious one would be favoritism,

but maybe at that level it goes the other way. Actually, it wasn't that, because I assumed it would be favoritism or, as you said, the coach trying to bend over backwards and saying, I'm not showing favoritism so the son actually gets penalized. It's a great answer, but it's wrong. But just so you know, I would have done the same thing.

Someone told me that their biggest problem with it is that when you're sitting in the dressing room as a player, sometimes you just want to dump on the coach, right? Like you just want to complain. There are days you need to vent and you need to complain. Coach this, coach that. It might not even be that serious, but you're just having a bad day or you just had a bad game or you're the guy who's made the example of in the film session that day. Right. And you can't do it. You feel that you can't do it when one of your teammates is actually a bigger problem. These couple guys said to me, it was actually a bigger problem than

favoritism or bending over backward to not show favoritism. I thought that was interesting. I wouldn't have even thought about that. Gotta be able to vent without any guilty conscience. Venting is key. Venting is big.

Gotta vent. especially on this show okay curtis from bonnie lake in washington state so we were discussing video review last pod curtis writes i stole this from the wonderful joe posnanski all replay review has to be done in regular speed if you need slow motion it's close enough to let go done thanks for the great pod yeah i i don't know about that one i yeah i i again i always appreciate the ideas and the submissions and anything like any anything you guys want to do to throw an idea in here, I'm always welcoming it. Please send them to Griffin, and he will forward them to us.

I don't buy that one. If you have the technology, use it. That's the way I feel. I will say this. That's not the first time I've ever had that said to me, and I disagree with it every time. So I'm a consistent naysayer to that proposal. Right.

The same way I will be a consistent naysayer to a time limit. Yeah. We're stuck in our ways. I just think that's really dumb, but you go ahead and do what you want to do. Yeah, I will. Because you just talked about if you have the technology, use it, but you also are okay with the time limit. You're contradicting yourself.

No, I'm not. It makes perfect sense. the time limit. You're contradicting yourself. No, I'm not. It makes perfect sense. It's perfect. Gosh, it is not. As a flawed human being, you cannot understand this logic. Okay. Agree to disagree, and we'll move on to a voicemail.

Jason from Stratford, Ontario. Hi, this is Jason from Stratford, Ontario, Brock University alumni, home of the great Kyle Dubas as well. I went to school with him. My question was, with the change in the free agency happening and all the warnings coming out from the NHL about tampering. Do you think that there will be a slew of trades in advance of free agency for late round draft picks to gain exclusive negotiating rights for unrestricted free agents?

I envision a whole bunch of trades coming out maybe the week before July 1st for seventh round picks, just so teams can gain those negotiating rights and not have to worry about any tampering issues. Thanks, guys. Love the pod. First of all, when he said the great Kyle Dubas, I thought that was actually Kyle Dubas using a voice modulation machine. Oh my gosh. I think that's a great question. I think that is an excellent question and an excellent point. I think the answer

could very well be yes. I think that is one of the things that we could see as a change. Like we joked, I was with some of the other reporters this week, Kyle, as we were at the Board of Governors and we were joking that we could see as a change. Like we joked, I was with some of the other reporters this week, Kyle, as we were at the Board of Governors, and we were joking that we might be sitting there for four or five hours on July 1st and not doing anything as players sit there

and wait to put in their deals. Okay, it's been three hours. Do you think they'll accuse us of tampering? Has it been long enough? Has it been long enough? hours do you think they'll accuse us of tampering or is this good enough it's been long enough but i i think that's another one that could work you know that used to happen you used to see that quite a bit where uh players got traded for picks uh right before like like you'll remember a few years ago when he was first a free agent in nashville dan hamhees got traded twice before free agency.

He got traded from Nashville to Philadelphia. Ryan Perrin, I actually forgot, was in that deal. And then when he didn't sign with Philadelphia, he got traded to Pittsburgh for a third rounder. Oh, yeah. And then he didn't sign with either. He went to Vancouver. But obviously, there's precedent for that. And I think it's a great point. I absolutely I could see that happening.

Chris Tanev, another one recently, last year, right? Toronto acquired him before ultimately signing him to an extension. So basically what you're telling me is that I didn't have to go back to something that was 15 years old and was to two teams that didn't even sign a guy. If I simply would have looked back to last summer, I would have gotten this right. Yes, but you're older than I am, so we remember things differently. I think I'm having short-term memory problems. I think that's what it comes down to. That could also be very true.

Jason, thank you for the voicemail. Up next, Francis from Nordique Nation in Quebec City. Oh, wow. So Francis has been a fan of the pod for a long time, he says. Thank you, Francis. Thank you indeed. Goes on to say, once a year, I like to watch old classical dumb movies. You and me both.

One of my favorites. Dumb and Dumber, the original. It's not long ago i learned cam neely has a bit in the movie of course sea bass more than just a bit more than just a bit do you recall any other players or even former players who might have had a role in a movie most of what i found was a silent role as a hockey player yeah so there were a handful of cameos. You go back through, I mean, the Mighty Ducks trilogy, there's a whole whack there. Mike Medano, Basil McRae, Chris Chelios,

Wayne Gretzky, Paul Correa. The movie This Is 40, Elliot, a few of the Philadelphia Flyers at the time made brief cameos as themselves. One that comes to mind of a player actually playing a role would have been Marty McSorley in Con Air. He was a pilot in one scene. Yes.

That's a great movie. I love Con Air. Great cast. Anyone else for you come to mind? I would say, I mean, I have to tell you, Gretzky was on Saturday Night Live and some of those skits just made me laugh. Oh my gosh. Some of those skits.

Wayne's World? Waikiki Hockey. Yeah. Yes. So, and also he was on, I think the Young and the Restless he was on too, right? Yes, he was. I think the young and the restless he was on too. I don't know why,

but every time I see Waikiki hockey, uh, like when he shoots the meat at the table and Dana Carvey's acting like, uh, like, like, like a real snotty guy. I don't know why it just, that one just makes me laugh all the time.

That was really good. And then the sketch he does with wayne's world where him and wayne wayne campbell are basically playing for janet's love yes that's right another great one someone told me that brent burns was in the show viking yes i've never yes i've yes i've never watched viking but i've heard great things about it and you want to talk about perfect for a role oh yeah if there ever was one for brett burns great that's a fun one francis thank you for writing in up Up next, Henry. Hello, 32 Thought Squad. Watching the Blackhawks-Bruins game was thinking about how Nick Foligno, current captain of the Blackhawks, was also captain of the Jackets.

Made me wonder, who has worn the most Cs? Think of Tavares with the Islanders and the Leafs having two, Messier with the Rangers, Oilers, and Canucks with three. I'm wondering, has anyone ever been the captain of four teams? Well, the other guy I remember who is the captain of three teams is Terry Roszkowski. Very good. There's four players that fit the bill of captaining four teams three okay so we got

no one's done it four and just for argument's sake oh you know what i'll tell you something ruskowski might have done four if you include the wha he was captain of three NHL teams, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Pittsburgh, and someone once told me he actually captained a team in the WHA. We'll give him three plus. Why don't we go with three plus? Okay. I like that. There's two more, eh? Messier, Roszkowski. One second. For the sake of this argument, I'm removing Kevin Dineen and Ron Francis

because they did it for Hartford and Carolina, but consider the same franchises. So we're going three different franchises. Yeah, that's cheating. You don't get it. If the team moves, but you're still the captain, yeah. Ron Francis and Kevin Dineen are cheaters. They don't count.

Yeah. still the captain yeah that that's ron francis and kevin denine are cheaters they don't count yeah um okay they were remembered that's how ron francis remembered going into the hall of fame did scott stevens captain three teams he did not oh he didn't captain washington okay oh that's right they had rod langway yeah he wouldn't captain Washington? Okay. Oh, that's right. They had Rod Langway. Yeah, he wouldn't. Yeah.

Because Scott Stevens captained the Blues and he captained the Devils. Right. So he didn't captain three teams. Okay. We were just talking about one of the guys. We were? Yeah. Like when?

Like today? Yes. Now this is going to put your short-term memory theory to the test it absolutely is going to put my short-term memory theory to the test oh gretzky there you go yeah boy i'll tell you i would have immediately gone to do like a full brain scan if i did if i had forgotten Gretzky. Yes. Yeah. I would have driven you to the clinic.

Could you imagine? We were just talking about Wayne Gretzky for like five minutes, and you didn't remember. Oh, my God. That would have been terrible. Memory of a cat. Okay, so we got Gretzky, we got Messier, we got Roszkowski. Okay, what era am I talking about for the other guy?

90s, 2000s. Okay, 90s, 2000s. Let me know when you're ready for your next hint. Was it Tom Fitzgerald? No. Oh. Because I was thinking about guys who were like the first captains of expansion teams. Very good.

That's not the right idea though, right? No. Okay. Was it Doug Gilmore? No. Another good guess. Okay. Was it Mike Keane?

No. I think these Keane? No. I think these are all decent guesses, I would like to say, for the record. I'd just like to make myself feel good here, basically, is what I'm trying to do. Was it... Ready for my next hint? No, no, no. Let me just... I'm kind of just going through all the teams in the league it's not andrew ladd is it no no that would be too late i think so keith kachok it is not but you're you're getting warmer i'm getting warmer and getting warmer for the sake of brevity and this podcast being under six hours

kyle i'm gonna concede defeat on the third one or the fourth one who are we talking about here yeah it's it's a bit of a backdoor three. Chris Pronger. Oh, my God. I can't. Wait a sec. First of all, he's going to kill me for not knowing the answer to that. Secondly, I was trying to think of, was he the captain in Philly and I just forgot? And I don't blame you because it was only 13 games with the Flyers.

That's why. And then the one season after winning the Cup in Anaheim. Well, because the funny thing is, if you remember in Anaheim, he was only the, I do remember him being the captain there, but you remember why he was the captain there? Because after the Cup, Scott Niedermeyer took time off. So they took the sea away from him and gave it to Pronger. Like, I remember it, but I think he was the captain there for a year because then Niedermeyer came back.

But I forgot, because when they went to the Stanley Cup final, Richards was the captain. So I forgot about Pronger's captaincy in Philly. That's bad on me. And you know what that's going to mean? The next time I see him, I'm getting the Bieber treatment. Oh, boy. Two by four to the back of the legs.

Oh, that's bad. You know what? I got one of my friends. You know what he's going to say to me? One of my friends is going to say, let me get this straight. You got Terry Roszkowski, but you missed Chris Ponder. And that was the first one. That was like your layup.

Well, you know why? Because that was the late, great Don Whitman. When I first started Hockey Night, one of the first games we worked together, he said, I've got a great trivia question for you. Because I think at that time, no, there would have been others. I think he said at that time, who was the first player to captain three NHL teams? And Terry Roszkowski. And Don was a Western guy.

And Terry Roszkowski is a Western guy. I think he's from Saskatchewan. And Don loved that trivia question. So I always remembered that one. But my buddies will say, like, let's get this straight. You got him, but you didn't get Chris Pronger.

Yeah. It's the way your short-term memory works yeah it's terrible it's seriously all right last one here you ready yeah this one's from celia come on you're kidding me dear elliot i could you wait so before you even read this i can only imagine the glee on your face as you read this. I was doing somersaults. Dear Elliot.

This is Celia, your long lost connection from Western. To jog your memory, i was our band's oh is this a try the triangle player is that what it is jog your memory i was our band's star triangle player which is likely why you don't remember me i knew i should have stuck to playing the piano anyways i was recently struck by a deflected puck at a Devil's Islanders game. In a fit of frustration, I threw the puck back onto the ice. But this is not where the story ends. Upon arriving home, the puck was neatly placed on my mantle.

I suspect Gary Bettman controlled it from an iPad and sent it to my home. Well, I can't type for too long as I believe it is watching every move I make. Please text back at your earliest convenience. Whoever wrote that, you are a genius. You are way too dedicated to this podcast, and I thank you for it. You are a genius. I think Celia really does exist.

Now, Steph's going to be like, hey, do you want to listen to the podcast back? You're like, nope, no, that's fine. We don't need to. No, no, no, we don't need to listen to this episode. No, it's all good. I remember what I said. I thought that was the perfect way to conclude this edition. That's fantastic work.

That's excellent. Very, very well done. Whoever did that. Thank you again, everyone. Thank you, Griffin Porter, for putting it together. 1833-311-3232. 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca. Back to conclude proceedings after the break.

Stay tuned. Okay, welcome back. Before we go, we thought it was a good time to remind everyone once again, we have a live podcast coming January the 16th. It's a Thursday, all part of the lead up to the Hockey Day in Canada festivities next month in beautiful Canmore, Alberta. We will be at Silvertip Golf Resort for a live show, live guests and plenty of audience interaction. So the event is actually sold out. But the good news is we have tickets to give away 10 pairs in total.

If you haven't heard. And here's how you can put yourself in have tickets to give away. Ten pairs in total if you haven't heard, and here's how you can put yourself in the running to get them. Send in to the 32 Thoughts Thought Line voicemail, 1-833-3101-3232, your best impression of me or Elliot on the pod. Dom and Griffin have been telling us that the voicemail has been filling up already with submissions. We can't wait to listen to them and pick the winners

for a pair of tickets to the live show coming up in Canmore. Okay, in terms of this weekend, there's a lot of hockey to watch. Saturday in particular, starting at 4 Eastern, 2 o'clock Mountain Time, the Oilers host the Vegas Golden Knights. That can be seen coast-to-coast on Sportsnet. A big game there. Hockey Central Saturday, as usual, gets underway. 6.30 Eastern, 3.30 Pacific.

Another trio of early games this weekend. Toronto is in Detroit. We have an all-Canadian matchup in Winnipeg. The Jets hosting the Canadians. And the Senators welcome Sidney Crosby and the Penguins. Then on top of that, two late games. The Bruins are in Vancouver and the Panthers visit Calgary.

Ryan Lomberg will finally receive his Stanley Cup ring. There's only so many hours in a day. We appreciate you spending a few of them with us. Have yourselves a great weekend and as always, we'll talk to you again on Monday.