32 Thoughts: The Podcast - The In-Season Cup

Episode Date: October 2, 2024

Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman welcome in The FAN Pregame's Ailish Forfar and The FAN Hockey Show's Matt Marchese as the quartet select their teams for the annual In-Season Cup.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 & Cam Barra 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.  

Okay, before we get to the special in-season cup episode of 32 Thoughts the Podcast, we would be remiss if we did not at least attempt to bring you up to speed with where things are at in the Jeremy Swayman-Boston Bruins contract dispute. Elliot Friedman, you just got back from the Board of Governors meetings in New York. We're going to talk a little bit more about what you learned there in Friday's episode, but I'm sure by now, many of you have probably heard or read Cam Neely's line from Monday at the Bruins press conference that I know I have 64 million reasons why I'd be playing right now, suggesting that that's the offer the Bruins have tabled to Swayman's camp.

Louis Gross, Swayman's agent responded with a statement saying among other things that that was the first time that number had been discussed, that it was not fair to Jeremy it has just become very ugly publicly this week Elliot so what else can you tell us about where things stand between the two sides before we get to that Kyle I just wanted to shout out and I know you would too another another Boston Bruin, not a player, but a broadcaster, Sofia Yerkshevich, who was a co-worker of ours at Sportsnet a few years ago before she left all of us losers in the dust and went on to bigger and better things.

Sofia, who is a huge part of the Bruins broadcast, she released a statement earlier on Tuesday saying that she's taking some time. And so we just want, you know, Sophia's got a lot of fans at Sports Night. Everybody who worked with her, huge, huge Sophia fan. So we just wanted to send our best, give her privacy and that I know Kyle, you agree with me. Can't wait to see her back on television.

Absolutely. Always got a bright smile when you see her either on television or at the rink. Was a heck of a teammate. Enjoyed getting to know her when she was with us at Sportsnet. And it's great seeing her do some awesome things as she's grown in her role with the Nessun Broadcast down in Boston. So certainly, Elliot, all the best to Sophia. All the best, Sophia.

We'll see you soon. All right. Swayman Bruins. I think the Bruins, before that media conference on Monday, had eight times 7.5 on the table. I think after that press conference on Monday, whether they did it formally or not, everybody knows they have eight times eight on the table. They started, and I think Ryan Whitney was right on at four times 6.25. I think at one time they had eight times 6.5 on the table or thereabouts. So if you talk about the stake in the ground, that's where Boston started here. Now they're at eight. Jeremy Swayman, as I've reported many times, I've heard his initial stake in the ground was Charlie McAvoy, eight times 9.5.

Charlie McAvoy, eight times 9.5. It is harder to figure out exactly where Swayman is, but I do believe he's come down. And if the Bruins are at eight, I think, I can't say this 100%, but you people pay for my opinions with what you pay for this podcast. opinions with what you pay for this podcast so my opinion is he's around nine high eights that is purely my opinion based on everything I've heard over the last day so unless one side here is really going to change what it does or completely caves, we still have a chasm to leap. I still think the Bruins want Swayman. I don't think they're interested in trading him. I think they want to keep him. And I think despite everything that's happened,

they want to keep him. And I think despite everything that's happened, Swayman's first choice is to be a Bruin. Now, I just don't know after what happened Monday, how they're going to get back talking again. I don't know if they have anything scheduled. I don't know where this is going to go. The one thing I did know was that after what happened Monday, everybody was going to have a cooling off period to figure out where they want to do. Was Swayman still wanting to be a Bruin or would he ask for a trade? I think we're still getting through that process now of coming back to the table whenever that's going to be. I still think at this point in time, I'm not convinced Swayman's going to take eight times eight. So, and again, I think his choice is to be a Bruin, although know the other day was certainly emotional. So

we're kind of at a standstill again right now Kyle. I'm not sure where we go from here though I just don't think we're close enough yet for a deal. The way the Bruins look at it, they've moved a long way. The way Swayman looks at it, he's moved too. I still think we need another move. Someone's got to move again to get this done. And I don't know where it's going to come from. So 8.9.5, not only is that McAvoy's contract, that's also Andre Vasilevsky's deal he signed with Tampa.

That was a few years ago, of course, before he won his two cups, but after his winning the Vesna. I wonder if this does get settled, the long-term damage of not only this negotiation, but also the arbitration hearing last year. Remember, when was that? In January sometime when Swayman was named to the All-Star game last season in Toronto. What did he bring up that night? Going through that arbitration process and saying, hearing things that no player should ever hear. Swayman is an emotional guy, Elliot. Yes, he is. It's part of what makes him such a great competitor, such a great goaltender. How worried are you of no matter where this ends up going from here,

the relationship between player and team is damaged to the point where it has some long-term effects. Well, look, I think he's emotional, which is why everyone's taking a timeout right now. I think that's pretty normal. But Kyle, if Jeremy Swayman decides to sign for eight years with Boston, as far as I'm concerned, it's over. If you take an eight-year deal with the Bruins, you're saying, you know what?

Clean slate. We're moving on in a good way, in a good way. And I wrote about this a little bit the other day about how I had one really tough negotiation. And at the end, when I decided to take the money, I said, okay, if you're going to say yes to this, no more complaining. You know what you're saying yes to, and you're agreeing to it. So you've got no more right to complain. I think if Swayman stays, and I still think it's possible he does, you have to say, all right, I'm committing for eight years, clean slate.

I was going to say, you probably had 32 million reasons to say yes to your deal. If I had 32 million more reasons when I signed that one, I wouldn't be working today. This is not the United States. We don't get paid like those guys. We don't walk away from 20 million like Wodge does. We don't do that in Canada. You know, I think a couple other things, you know, I was at the board of Governors on Tuesday, and obviously some people were talking about it. And I think that in that setting, and it's pretty normal, I don't think that, I think that there would be a lean towards the Bruins side of things because they're managers. Although, or executives and high at high ranking executives or owners. Although I don't think it was unanimous. Like there were some people who were very surprised

they went public, but I'll tell you what one guy said to me, I thought was really interesting. He said, this is why, and this is one of the more secretive guys, very, very secretive guy. He sought me out and he pulled me aside and he said, this is why I don't tell you anything. And he said, this got too public. Look at what's happening. And he feels that the reason that the reason Neely did what he did was it got too public and the Bruins felt they were getting pummeled. So he was out there to make a point and there's no question that that media conference the Bruins

had with Charlie Jacobs and Neely and Don Sweeney and Jim Montgomery up there that was a coordinated thing they had a plan and they got to their plan so you know I said to the guy but that's not where we're going right now. Like people want this drama out there. And he laughed and he said, you may want this drama out there and social media may want this drama out there, but I still hate it. And this is not good for anyone. So that's why so many people don't want this stuff to become public. That's why so many people don't want this stuff to become public.

I thought that was pretty interesting and an interesting perspective that he shared with me. But, you know, honestly, I just my last comment on this before we go to the in-season cup is, you know, I really do believe deep down the Bruins and Swayman want this to work together and I think what this time out is about right now is Swayman deciding if he still sees this as a possibility and I don't think it's impossible but it's a great question you ask and I think you know if you're Swayman and you ultimately say yes to an eight year deal at eight million or eight plus million, you have to say, all right, everything I felt before, I have to let it go because I signed and I took the money. And the other thing we don't know here is if Swayman comes back to the Bruins and says, no, I'm not accepting this offer, but I want to keep talking.

What do the Bruins do from there? Where do they go? Because like I said, I think they want to keep them. So what happens in that case? I don't have a good answer. The other thing I wanted to mention was, did you see Brad marchand's quotes i did what did you think when you saw that by the way how are you in marchand these days yeah much better good much better you you guys uh broke up for a little bit i remember this very well you guys broke up for a couple years i remember yeah remember. Yeah, but all good now. What did I think of them? You know, I thought it was a teammate defending his teammate, kind of knowing there's no good I'm going to do here by weighing into it,

but also understanding his role as captain of the organization. He's also entering the final year of his deal by the way yeah i thought it was the right move for someone in his position to take and as you wrote about in your piece on sportsnet.ca on monday elliott you know things can start to change once the season begins in terms of the other teammates feelings about their guys contract negotiations and now there's games of consequence being played i thought it was the exact type of response you would get from someone like brad marchand in that spot so my opinion kyle is that that said to me the players are tired of it. They want it over. You do, eh?

Yeah. He's basically said, look, they'll sign and everything will be forgotten and everybody will move on. That's what it said to me. The players are like, let's end this. Anything else you want to add?

No. Let's get to the in-season cup. All right. Let's do it. We'll see where this all stands come Friday's episode. But for now, back to our regularly scheduled podcast. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by GMC. A special midweek episode today because the in-season cup is back after a one-year hiatus we're going to introduce you to who is competing for one of the most coveted titles in podcasting this show

dedicated to everyone drafting their teams here and this one elliot friedman is here he is the commissioner of the in-season cup elliot how much prep and research do you do in advance of this potential life-altering journey we're about to embark on it's pretty simple Kyle I I divide my teams into tiers I basically just say okay this team I really like this team I like a little less this team I like as much as the first one this team I don't like at all and so as I'm looking at my list here, I have, how many tiers do I have? I would say I have one, two, three, four, five tiers of teams. And so that's the research I do. You?

Incredible. I did none. We're just going to feel it. There's a big difference between winging it and seeing what happens so let's see what this is analytics versus heart right here this is the analytics versus heart in season stanley cup race right here we'll see who wins okay so let's meet our two new contestants this season we went through a rigorous vetting process prior to being selected. And by rigorous, I mean they answered Dom Schramatti's text message. Introducing first, the pride of Nobleton, Ontario,

one of Humber College's great success stories. He's the host of the Fan Hockey Show along with Mike Futa, Matt Marchese, ladies and gentlemen. Hello, Matt. How's it going, guys? I thought you were going to talk about somebody else when you said one of Humber College's finest, because that definitely was not me.

It is you. We're great. We're thrilled to have you part of this. Finally, former Big Green at Dartmouth College, now a big part of things at Sportsnet, the better half of the fan pregame show alongside Justin Cuthbert. If I'm the annihilator of ice cream, she is the disintegrator of hot dogs alish forfar alish welcome thanks guys that's so disgusting but i'm happy yes it is true it is true it's very much

true great great to have you both so let's go over the rules here quickly for those that are listening aren't aware new to this concept or just want a refresher so momentarily we're going to have the draft where all four of us will pick our eight teams it's a simple snake order draft there are two crowns up for grabs at the end of all this there's one for the most days accumulated with the cup and whoever is holding the cup after the final day of the regular season now this season because the florida panthers won it all last year, they will start with the in-season cup opening night for them. October the 8th, they host the Bruins.

So we're not going to count the first two games that the Sabres and Devils are playing overseas in Prague at the end of this week. Clean start the 8th of October next Tuesday. So for example, if the Panthers were to beat the Bruins to start the season, they then play again two nights later. So that would be two days they accrue with the Cup. And then whoever beats the Panthers to take the in-season Cup from them that day, they begin their count of days until their next game. And over the course of the season, the in-season Cup will make its way through the whole league in theory.

And everyone's tallies will grow from there. Okay, time now to determine the order of the draft dom our producer has put together something to reveal it all dom take it away welcome to the in-seasonason Cup Draft Lottery. Your draft order has been determined by fastest goal scored by the team you selected in Sunday's preseason action. Okay. Matt selected Utah Hockey Club.

Center race now, tip to Gunther, racing down the right wing. Gunther scores! Alish selected the Colorado Avalanche. Head man feet for Steinberg. Cherry picking. Steinberg shoots. Save made by Halberg. And the rebound rolls to the corner.

Matthew Steinberg was just like George Washington chopping down the cherry tree. Kyle selected the Dallas Stars. The Stars springing ahead for Hintz again. Shorthanded., dragged to the inside. He scores! A gorgeous goal! Shorthanded tally for Ropey Hintz. And Elliott Friedman selected the Ottawa Senators.

Back to Stutzla on the turn. Gets in. Turns, gets a shot. Scores! Stutzla blows it over the arm of Jarry. 2-1 Ottawa. Two, one Ottawa. Selecting fourth overall with their team scoring 18-32 into the game, Matt Marchese.

Shameful. Selecting third overall with their team scoring 13-21 into the game, Eilish Fofar. All right, that's good. I can take that. Selecting second overall, with their team scoring 6-41 into the game, Kyle Bukaskas.

And selecting first overall, with their team scoring four minutes into the game, Elliott Friedman. This seems a bit rigged, guys. Fixes it. Wow. Your two guests are picking last. I don't feel welcome. Elliott Friedman. This seems a bit rigged, guys. It fixes it. Your two guests are picking last. I don't feel welcome. Yeah, shocking.

First of all, Dom, I have to say that was very, very well done. Very, very well done. Yes. Claps. It was even better done the fact that I got the first pick out of it. So it was good production value

and you get the A for effort and the A for achievement, which is how my old grade school report cards used to go, although I didn't get too many A's. Okay, here are the stakes. So there will either be two winners and two losers, or one person can win both, which would mean one winner and three losers or one person can win both which would mean one winner and three losers and so a leash and Matt if you are two or one of the winners you get to pick one of the losers to produce a show for you oh my god that's great so you want us to lose our jobs or what oh man who's this has to produce one of your shows and included in this is a meal that the loser has to buy lunch or alish in case, probably dinner. That's stunning.

I love this. Now, Kyle, people don't know this about Kyle, but he has a little bit of the alligator arms. So he was wondering. Catching strays. Since Ailish and Matt both have a co-host, Justin Cuthbert and Mike Futa, yes, dinner must be bought or lunch must be bought

for the co-host and the regular producer and the operator as well. And we're a hungry team on my side. Okay. Yes. All right. So that's how it works. If you guys get to pick one loser to be your producer for a day.

Kyle, what did you select if you're one of the winners? Okay. what did you select if you're one of the winners? Okay, so because I am often on the road, constantly mobile, for one day, I will pick someone to be like my virtual concierge. So when I'm traveling to a different city, I want to know, where am I going for dinner?

Where are the coffee shops? The hotel better have my confirmation and room ready all of those things to make my travel as seamless and effortless and as comfortable as possible that's the stakes for me I'll do that for you anytime oh that's kind of you but I need to earn it you have to lose in order to do that make it harder for them here, Ailish. Come on. Elliot, what's yours? If I am one of the two winners, I am going to pick one of the two losers

to be the runner for one night of Hockey Night in Canada. Oh, no. I'd also love to do that. Maybe I'm just too eager to be involved. No, not for Elliot, you wouldn't. Come on, not for Elliot, you wouldn't. Come on, not for Elliot, you wouldn't. Ailish's first pick is San Jose. That's true, yep.

Okay, so are we all ready to go here? Everybody understand the rules and what's at stake? All good. Yes. Okay, so... Elliot, you have the honors. I, with the number one pick overall, am going to take the defending Stanley Cup champion, Florida Panthers.

Okay. Probably the right move. Well, he's guaranteed days right out of the chute. No, I'm not. They have to win. Well, no, because if they lose opening night to Boston, and as Cam Neely says, they've got 64 million reasons to lose. You know, if they lose opening night, I get zero days.

Zero days. Okay. I will go, thinking it'll stay in the east for a little bit to start, the New York Rangers. That's tough. I'm writing all this stuff down in case anybody thinks they're cheating here. I'm making sure. I'm also keeping track.

Ailish, you're next. I will then go with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Stunner. Big blue for big green. Let's go. I'm just going to go with my heart. I did zero prep as well, and I think the Leafs, they might have the cup for a little bit,

at least in the regular season. Oh, boy. That one's going to go a long way in Toronto. All right. I am going to go a long way in Toronto. All right. I am going to go with the New Jersey Devils. Ah. And you get to pick again. I get to go again here.

All right. I'm going to go with a lot of East teams here. Let's change it up. I'm going to go with the Edmonton Oilers. My turn? I'll take the Dallas Stars. Oh, that's who I was going to go with. You're uninvited.

You're de-invited. Okay, so if she's taking Dallas, I will go with the Vancouver Canucks. Oh, I was going to take them. You're also uninvited. It's too late for that, Frej. We're finding out Frej's tiers really quickly here. Yes, we are. There is one team left on my top tier, and that is the Colorado Avalanche.

So they will be one of my picks. Top tier, and that is the Colorado Avalanche, so they will be one of my picks. And my second pick is going to be the Nashville Predators. Oh, that is a good one. Nicely done. Okay. Okay. I will take the Carolina Hurricanes. I will take the Vegas Golden Knights.

You guys are moving a little too fast for me here. Well, keep up, buddy. Let's go. This is getting a little difficult. I didn't think it was going to get this difficult this early. I didn't think it was going to get this difficult this early. I'm going to go with the Tampa Bay Light. Oh.

Still a believer. Sort of. Call me a sort of believer. And then I'm going to go with... You know what? Dark horse here. I'm going to go with, you know what? Dark horse here. I'm going with Utah. Wow.

Nice. It's a little early, but kind of like them. You like teams with no name? They're going to be the Yeti, Elliot, and I will not stand for HC forever and ever, amen. Okay, I'm going to take the Boston Bruins. We'll grab the trophy probably first from you guys. Oh, wow.

Bold. It's a great depth selection. It could pay off right away. Okay, now it's me again. Hmm. You know what? Give me the Detroit Red Wings. You can have them.

Tough crowd. Shot fired. Yeah, tough crowd. This is great. She was raising her hand two minutes ago. Yes. I feel that because I have already picked them to make the playoffs. I knew this was coming. Yeah, it has to happen.

I'm going to take the Ottawa Sanders. That's beautiful. And the second team I'm going to take the Ottawa Sanders. That's beautiful. And the second team I'm going to take, there's two teams I really like here, but I am going to take the Winnipeg Jets. Oh, damn. That was mine. All right, then.

We're really in the mushy middle here. I'm just throwing darts. I think it's the end. I don't know if it's the middle. I think we're at the end here, Aleph. You've got decisions to make here now. I will go because we were just there at the LA Kings. Recency bias.

I knew that was going to get me or you. Recency bias. Okay. You just like their jerseys. I do. Man, if I was going to buy jerseys, I would have taken the Ducks first. Really? Oh, they're beautiful.

You like the orange. I think they're incredible. They pop in person. All right. I'll take... It's me, right? It is English. I'll take the St. Louis Blues. All right. I'll take, it's me, right? It is English. I'll take the St. Louis Blues.

All right. Play Gloria. Big year for Robbie Thomas, perhaps. All right. I am going to go with the Philadelphia Flyers. I wanted them. Well, Elliot, you don't want them because if you've seen how my fantasy football seasons have gone,

you don't want any of the teams that I'm picking right now. So that's probably a good thing. I'm going to go. You know what? I'm going to go with. McCaffrey and Cooper Cup looked good when you took them. Yeah, them. And I mean, there's A.J. Brown.

I mean, we could go through the whole list. Boy, I'm struggling between two teams here. I'm going to go with the Washington Capitals. I am back up and I'm going to take the... Yep, this is just looking at words. How about the minnesota wild okay all right i don't like that i don't get much of a ooh when i make my picks that means i'm picking wrong we're all wrong right now so it doesn't matter yes that's the great part of this. Like there's a schedule loss somewhere along the way. That's going to add like another five to 10 days to somebody's total.

Yep. You can just throw everything out of whack. Have they been, no, I don't think they have been. I'm going to take the Buffalo Sabres. So two for me here, right? Yes, sir.

I am going to take the Pittsburgh Penguins and I am going to take the New York Islanders. Boy, I forgot they were there. Very impressive. Like you forgot they were in the league?

No, no. No, I hope I didn't. With the show that I'm going to be hosting, I hope that I didn't forget that. They're not a team that you get excited about, Elliot. That's great for Islanders fans. Yeah, they're going to love that. Reminder, noon to 2 Eastern.

Noon to 2 Eastern. Unless you're the Islanders, we don't get excited for them. All right, I got to go back out west. The Seattle Kraken. Okay, so we've got, I think, like six teams left, if my math is mathing. Yep, you've got two more picks. Elliot and I only have one. Let me take the Chicago Blackhawks.

It's bedard season. I was pretty interested in them too. I like that pick. The people of Toronto are not going to like me for this one, but I'm going to take the Montreal Canadiens. Savant Mal. Yeah, that's the one. It hurt me to say that too.

I was just at a very French wedding and I learned a few things, like Savant Mal, Tre Bien. I bet you learned a few things. Was that just the drink or the food? You had to go to a wedding to learn those? Yeah, I didn't learn much at Dartmouth, you know? Just C's get degrees. Nice, nice.

I'm going to take the Anaheim Ducks. Wow. All right. My turn again? Your final pick, Hayley. Calgary Flames. Look at them hanging around in the weeds. Sleeper pick.

You guys got the nicest teams at the end. Yeah. Good for you guys. I will take the Sharks. Oh, off the board. So that leaves me with the 32nd and final pick with the Columbus Blue Jackets. And I will gladly welcome them to Team Friedman. That's beautiful.

So we've all got our picks. All right, Kyle. Everybody feels great. Do you want to read out the list? I love my team. Kyle, just to make sure that everybody is clear here. Okay. So for Team Marchese,

the Devils, Oilers, Lightning, Hockey Club, Flyers, Capitals, Canadians, Ducks. For Team Forfar, the Maple Leafs, Stars, Golden Knights, Bruins, Blues,

Wild, Blackhawks, Flames. That's good. Team Bukaskas, Rangers, Canucks, Hurricanes, Red Wings, Kings, Sabres, Kraken, Sharks. And Team Freedmen, Panthers, Avalanche, Predators, Senators, Jets, Penguins, Islanders, and Blue Jackets. Sound right to everyone? Yep. Excellent. I love it.

I look forward to one of you being the Hockey Night in Canada runner. Yes. Gladly. And we should say, before we go, for those wondering, how are we going to keep track of all this? How do we know who's in the lead? Who's accruing days on X? Follow at InSeasonCup. They do a tremendous job, have been for a few years now. Elliot, you know the brains behind that operation a little better than I do. I believe there's actually a Campbell River connection to the in-season cup account, by the way. Anyway, they will keep track of all of it for us. We appreciate their efforts and that's where you tune into as this journey unfolds. Thanks. Thanks, Matt. Best of luck, Matt. Thanks very much for participating. And Dom, excellent, excellent opening opening and for everybody

out there please have your own pool put whatever twists and turns you want to put on it that appeal to you and your friends and we look forward to following along and remember take advantage of the defeated thanks everyone

can't wait to win it all gets underway on october the 8th good luck to all participants until then we will talk to you again on friday