32 Thoughts: The Podcast - The Most Pleasant Surprise Starts

Episode Date: October 27, 2025

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman begin the podcast with their most pleasant surprise starts to the season. Once they role through that, Elliotte takes a beat to highlight the Buffalo Sabres and how they've really stood up for each other (19:18). They get into a whole conversation about Kucherov's disallowed goal on Sunday and video review (23:50). Elliotte gives an update on Vancouver's Kiefer Sherwood (32:06). They delve into the Calgary Flames and how they responded to the Sharangovich  benching (36:07) before highlighting Nazem Kadri's impending 1000th game (45:22). Elliotte circles back to update Vancouver's pursuit of Pavel Zacha (50:00). The Final Thought focuses on Macklin Celebrini and his hot start to the season (52:14).Kyle and Elliotte answer your emails and voicemails in the Thoughtline (57:42).Kyle and Elliotte talk about the latest developments with Mitch Love (1:33:04).Today we highlight Ontario rock band The Honest Heart Collective and their song Outrun. Check them out here.Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates

Before we officially begin this pod, I just wanted to shout out one listener. His name is Noah Coleman. I'm not going to tell you why, but he knows why, and we know why. Noah, we wanted to shout you out to start the pod. Welcome to 32 Thoughts the podcast. Happy Monday. Hope you had a great weekend. Kyle, Elliott, and Dom back with you.

So, Elliot, a week ago at this time, I asked you a question of the most impressive individual stat to start the year. This time, I'm coming at you with a similar type question. It is most pleasant surprise start to the season, team-wise, all right? So we've got the New Jersey Devils who lost their first game and have since rattled off eight in a row. Yes. Seattle Cracken, five, two, and two, with a 12-day road trip as part of their start to the year. Yes.

Utah, eight and two. they have scored more goals than any other team in the league as of Monday morning or the Pittsburgh Penguins, the one team that was supposed to be trying to not get better, six two and one to begin the campaign. Sources tell me that the Penguins may have used some of our podcast commentary as motivation, too, to start the season. Oh my gosh. You know what, we are not just podcasters, young Bacchus, we are Anthony Robbins-like motivational speakers without the multi-million dollar business. Right. Can I just say first of all how enjoyable it is to see new faces at the top, not the same. same old, same old.

To look at the standings, and it's early, you know, there's still a lot that has to happen here, but you take a look at some of the teams and you see Montreal up there, Detroit, up there. Devils have been a playoff team, yes, but their numbers are great. Something about the Devils, too, is I know people are saying, oh, they're not facing anybody very good. I don't care about that. If you are going to be a good, if you're going to eat a hearty meal, Kyle, there are going to be some empty calories in there. All you can do as a team is beat who is on your schedule. It's not the devil's fault that the teams they have played don't have great records. All you can do is beat the teams that are assigned to you. And if you're going to have a great record, you've got to beat up on the lessers of the league. That's just built into the equation. So spare me that stuff. Pittsburgh, yes, big surprise. Islanders, the way they started. You thought they were doomed. Buffalo,

the way you started. We were all ready to punt them to the American hockey league. And then Utah, as you mentioned, absolutely, 8 and 2, Seattle, 5, 2 and 2. Remember the way the Kings started? They looked like they were also in big truck. and they're coming on. Utah, by the way, they're taking a run at most exciting team in hockey to watch as well. Montreal's certainly done their part, but boy, the mammoth are just a joy to watch.

So they are fantastic. And that line, that line of a coolly between Petrka and Gunther, that is going to torture teams for years. Like the rest of the Western Conference has got to be looking at that and saying, I think we're going to be seeing them for a while. This is not a one-year wonder. This is not a two-year wonder.

This is not a three-year wonder. This could be something that you deal with for six, seven, eight years. Peturca, newly signed. Genther, they just signed him a year ago. And I'll keep repeating this every podcast, if I have to. Logan Cooley, Mammoth, he's a star. The price never goes down. Sign them.

Get it done. I know it's going to be higher than you like, but you know what it is? It's a double-year fan base. He's your guy. So I look at them and I, the really interesting one there is Cooley gets all the attention because they tried to sign on before the season.

The interesting one there is the league's leading score, Schmaltz. I heard that the two sides weren't even close. He's a UFA after this year, and I just heard that however things went there, they weren't even close. And that happens sometimes. I think, you know, especially when you're heading into UFA years, The team, he's a little older than some of the other guys.

He's just coming off a long deal. The team sees a value. The player sees a value. And you hope to figure it out. That happens from time to time. But there's only one thing that Schmaltz can do. And he's going to be 30 in February. The only thing he can do is he can play.

He can say, okay, we don't see it eye to eye right now. I have to take care of my business. And early in the season, 16 points in 10 games, he's taking care of his business. But you're right. You know what sells? Offense. And, you know, the thing that the mammoth really have,

not only do they have an undefeated mascot, Kyle, they also have a team that in a new market as you're trying to build up a base that is fun to watch. you're not going to have too many nights with that group where you're going to go home and say win or lose, it wasn't fun. Like they are fun to watch. It's entertaining hockey.

And the other thing is, it looks like when you take a look at the players they added this year, like the Tannos and the Nate Schmitz of the world, they found guys to fill the holes they needed to fill. right? Like TANF was what they needed. I think if there was something that people felt about Utah last year is they were too small,

they weren't physical enough, they could kind of be pushed around. TANF is a guy who fills that. Nate Schmidt is a guy. You're not asking him to be, you know, the number one guy. He fills a role. It's perfect.

Schmidt is perfect for that great team guy. I'll tell you something else, too. Like that Vamelka, he doesn't get a lot of attention, that guy's a heck of a goalie. They're going to go dry from time to time. Offenses do. The games get tougher. That can happen. But I think this team, if they get you to play the game that they want to play, they're

trouble. And I do really enjoy watching them. I think in this league, especially in the East, sometimes the, you kind of lose a little bit on teams because they're the ones who start their games at like 9 Eastern or 930 because you watch Eastern games and then it's easy to start a Western game at 10. Sometimes I do think those teams kind of in the middle get lost a bit, but this team, you know, we talked about how Montreal was appointment television. I love watching these guys too. We need more high-scoring teams and they are for entertainment purposes. and they're a, they're a, they're a high scoring team.

They're a fun team to watch. You know, is there anybody else of these groups of these teams that particularly grab your attention? Hmm. Who haven't we talked about yet? Well, since you're completely unprepared for the start of this podcast, I'll go with another one here. I started this whole thing.

And it's just like, you know, I figured you would take the hand off and, you know, just run up like Sequan Barkley. Like you'd just hit the line running or Christian McAfee. and you'd be bursting the defense for 10 or 15 yards. But since Dom and I are the only ones prepared for the start of this podcast, I'll go with Seattle too. I want to give them a lot of credit because I did not see this start for the Cracket. I did not see them going on this road trip and starting 5-2 and 2 with 12 points in their first

nine games. And the thing about Seattle is, you know what they look like to me, Kyle? they look like the team that won the playoff round a couple years ago. Same thing last week, yeah. Yeah, greater than the sum of their parts. You know, one of the things Seattle's really been looking for is a star, right? Like they have like a star offensive player. Someday, okay, someday, and I was watching Jason Botterall,

who I like to refer to as the less intelligent Botterol supporting our teammate, Jennifer, at all times. I was watching Botterol on After Hours. It was really good with Scott with Botterill and Shane Wright the other night. But you know I was mentioning there was a team out there that I think was thinking about the McTavish offer sheet and, you know, maybe getting one of their picks back so they could. do it. The more I think about it, the more I wonder if the Cracken was the team. Because to do what they would have needed to do, Dallas has a pick of theirs. But obviously, it didn't happen. But instead of worrying about what they don't have, the Cracken are doing extremely well with what they do have. I've always been a big fan personally of Lane Lambert. I've always been a big fan personally of Lane Lambert.

I think is a human. I'm a big fan of his. You know, when he was in Toronto and for the game Saturday, a couple Saturdays ago, I asked him about, you know, just what a year under Craig Barubei taught him. And he said that the best thing he learned under Craig Baroube was you have to trust your staff. You have to delegate. You, I mean, you oversee and you're in charge, but you have to trust your staff to do what needs to get done

so you can focus on the players. He said that Baroube's strength is his relationship with the players. The players trust him. They know what he wants. And actually, last year, a couple of leaves told me that they really knows that about Baroube. like he's he's demanding and he you know what he wants from you and he gets upset about certain things but like around the office he's like hey how you doing and he makes a point to talk to you so that you recognize he cares about you as a human as opposed to just a hockey player and it was very

interesting to hear Lambert talk about that he says give the assistant coaches work to do and trust them to do the work so you can focus on your relationship relationships with the players. But when I see the Cracken right now, I see a group of players who are greater than the sum of their parts, and they are capable of everybody understands their role, and they stick to their role, and they decode is their backbone, which is very important. You always need to know the goalie can bail you out. The other thing you notice about the Cracken, Kyle, is they're a teen?

You know, their support for Montour, there was some social media posts sent out about some shirts they were wearing for Montour's late brother as they arrived the other night. That's a team. That's a true team. But I look at them and I see early in the season the same mix that won them a playoff round. And, you know, I'll tell you something about Seattle, too. and this is going to be interesting depending on what they want to do. But they made a trade last year with Tampa where they traded Bjork Strand and Gord there. And they got a couple of conditional first rounders.

So they have their own picks. They have Tampa's first round picks, which come with some conditions. attached, but these are assets. They have their own prospects. As an expansion team, you have to build up your prospect base. They've started to really do that. All of a sudden, if they want to do some things here, they have some assets to do it. So, you know, that was an excellent trade they made last year with Tampa and all of a sudden if the crack and feel we can go for it and I guarantee you that there are teams out there looking at all those draft picks the Cracken have and they're saying this is a team that has what we'd want if we want to sell a good player Seattle's going to have

some opportunities to do some things here so I think they could be a really interesting team to watch as this season goes and not only because they're ahead of what we were expecting. So first of all, I mentioned the crack in one of the first teams I brought up at the start of this whole thing

here and you're ripping me for not being prepared for not saying them. So another example of when I... Well, it's just because I asked you, who are you talking about? And you're like, you're like fumbling like a running back at the goal line who can't hold on on the football. Well, because I'd already said them.

Kyle, I know what's happening here. People can't see this because we don't do this pod with video, but Dom is working in a room with red lighting, and when I first came on, I was mesmerized by it. Like, Dom's seduction room, like, kind of threw me off there a bit. I can tell you're still, you're still mesmerized by it. I'm in a daze, the Shammati Lounge. I didn't realize that Dom lived in a late-night speakeasy.

That's right. That's right. What was the password this weekend, Dom? I heard it was a great night. The password is egg. And you have to be holding it. Hold on. I just want to say of Seattle quickly,

watching them when they came through Toronto two weekends ago, one of the things I thought, great young talent, of course, Shane Wright seems to be in a really good spot. Jaden Schwartz still's got game to him. Like he's still a player. I mean, like, you know, only 33. It's not ancient by any stretch of the imagination, but.

But his body's been through a lot. Yeah, for sure. He's put a lot of hockey. He was a treat to watch. And just going back to the Barubei conversation. So when they were in Detroit at the beginning of the year, talk about the relationship with the players. The Barube-Nielander dynamic has been a fun one to discuss.

at various points as he's come leaving the rink after the morning skate Baroube's got like a pair of Jordans on shoelaces are

undone and as he's walking out of there and I'm watching that I'm going this is so Nylander like it was a Willie Stiles

like look like just too casual don't need to worry about tying the shoes up they're stylish it looks great anyways I can't imagine he was doing that

too often leaving the rink in St. Louis or any of his other stops earlier in his career You know, and you'll really find out that that's happened, Kyle, is when, so Baroube has a look he does his pregame interviews with, right? But dress shirt, no tie, undone button. Whenever I see him with you or McKenzie pregame, I know I'm getting that. If he comes out with his shirt off, then I know he's truly become Willie.

Oh, man. So we've got Topless Barovey, we've got the Sharmati Lounge with passwords and red lights. We're off to an incredible start here. Incredible start. Where else would you want to begin your week? Okay. Also, too, like just about Devils, you know, Jack Hughes, that's, it was not an easy four nations for Jack Hughes, okay? I think everybody knows that.

that guy's on a mission. That guy is on a mission. And the final thought of this segment, we're going to talk about another guy who I want to see at the Olympics. Jack Hughes is on a mission. And another thing about the devils, you know, Markstrom, they were in town last week,

and Tom Fitzgerald was quoted saying they're working at it with Markstrom, and it seems like they're pretty hopeful. But the last I heard Markstrom, they were looking maybe a couple years. Like with Allen, they did five years at 1.8. So there was obviously a number there, which is around 9, 10 million, and they found a way to get to the number.

With Markstrom, I heard it's the other way around. It was shorter term, bigger number. I think the overall number was higher than the nine that Alan got, but they were trying that. Obviously, it hasn't got it done, but I still think they're going at it here, trying to close something with Markstrom. Now, I want to talk about Buffalo for a quick sec, but first, I loved, I loved the end of your bench interview with Alex Tuck. Lastly, how much time goes into getting your hair this slick back before coming out here? Ah, about 10 seconds.

Like you, you know how to deal. Let's put some water in it. I wish I was that efficient. Good luck tonight, Alex. Thank you. So, Tuck had the slick back here, and to your credit, that was a great question. And to his credit, he really played along with it. He had a big smile, and, you know, he gave it back to you.

By the way, Kyle, it has been weird to see the less product Bukascus the last few weeks. I'm really having a hard time adjusting to it. I have to tell you, Kyle, first of all, you are free to do as you wish. I don't like it. I do not like it. It's not less product. It's just longer hair.

It's a different style. Oh, it looks like you're not wearing any product. Oh, yeah, no, I am. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, okay. I wish I could just wake up. I'm going to tell you, Kyle, I like more buttoned down Bacoskas, but you do as you wish. I would never tell anybody what to do.

Really, eh? Well, I'm still figuring it out. So the beauty is one trip to. the barber and we're right back to where we were. If it comes to. Um, okay. Well, you do as you see fit. I would say this. Tom, I'll come to the lounge. I'll give you a haircut. Oh, God.

Could you imagine letting Dom cut your hair? Like, talk about a fate worse than death. Uh, in that lighting, no chance. But I'll tell you this, you'd be really relaxed as you got butchered. Um, Buffalo. two things I've seen this year of Sabres and it also coincides with their turnaround. Marchand Ruff's Updalen

Tage Thompson right in there. Saturday night Byram gets hit by McCabe. Tuck is right in there. Now Tuck gets knocked down. He walks into a right hand

but last year what was one of the big criticisms about the Sabres? They didn't stand up for each other. and who stands up for themselves here, two of their leadership players, two of their pillars, Tuck and Thompson. That says a lot to me,

and I don't think it's any coincidence that the Sabres have been playing better since these things happened. And I don't care that Tuck gets knocked down. To me, it's all about showing up and doing the job. And, you know, hey, McCabe is tough. He's as tough as they come. Sometimes you're going to get into a,

fight and you're going to lose it we've all been there it just to me it's all about showing up now did you have a problem with the instigator there a little bit like the conversation in the intermission that you had there back in studio was was interesting i guess by letter of the law yes but understanding and mccabe even said after the fact he knows when he lays a hit like that that something's going to likely happen by way of a response. So he's ready. He's ready for it. And the rule doesn't say drop the gloves.

And this came up at a GM meeting, like they were saying, do you have to drop the gloves to get the instigator? That's not the way the rules written. The rules were, I was laughing my head off as I was reading it, like menacing approach. Like I have a menacing approach to this podcast. When I sit down and I put the earbuds in and I pick up the microphone, I approach my laptop in a menacing way.

Does that mean my laptop is fair enough to punch me in the face? I get under NHL rules. Yes, it does. And at times it has. So I don't know what McCabe is supposed to do there. Like I understood, like I think he's got to be ready to throw them at that. particular point in time and like i said i i i totally respect what tuck did even if he he takes one so to me i i understand why the sabers don't like it but the way the rule is written

uh it it totally made sense totally made sense by the way speaking of the way things are written did you think kuturav's that goal shouldn't accounted for the lightning the one that for Kuturov that was disallowed on Sunday? On Sunday? Yes. Oh, man. It's too bad because the play that point makes just before setting them up was like that was incredible. That would have been all over the highlight reels Sunday night into Monday.

But I don't like it. I think I understand why it was called. But I understand you feel very strongly about this one. Well, to me, it's like, so when they, when the challenge happens Kucharov is sitting on the bench and he's rolling his eyes and he's shaking his head I think he's sitting there and saying

this is BS it's not going to count right they're not going to count it he knows he knows here's the question I want to ask look at that goal look at that play and tell me should there be a Kucharov role, as in he might actually be doing this on purpose.

Now, I can understand why people would look at that and say he lost control of it and he's trying to get it back. But this is the guy who has scored goals in the All-Star game and the regular season with that slow move, right? Yes. Should there not be a benefit of the doubt for a guy like Kuturov that he can actually actually do this? I

for sure, but again, like, that's the problem where I'm going. I understand why they called it back because looking at the replay, whether he tried to make an extra stick handle or actually dump the puck in or make a pass, he fanned on a little bit. He fanned on it.

And that's why I think ultimately it was overturned to off size because that little, okay trying to recover again just happen to happen as he was preceding the blue line prior to the puck you know i i'm pro goals here kyle i want goals to count i want goals to count i i don't know i you're right you know what hey you're right you're right 100% you're right you could look at that and say he lost control of the puck and it's no goal i don't know i look at that guy and and i want goals to count here and I'm saying he's not like everybody else now the one thing that puts a big hole in my argument like I said is you watch the shot that the Tampa crew got of him on the bench

he knows he's sitting there he's mad he's rolling his eyes he's swearing to himself he's like this isn't going to count he knew it he knew it I don't know I'm just sitting there saying this is Kuturov he can do this stuff you're right because as you say he's not incapable he's the one guy not the one guy there's a bunch of them but he is a guy who could fan on it and still be like i can make a play with this and i guess i guess it's because it's the blue line but anywhere else on the ice you don't even bat an eye at this and you know i will say this too i will say this too and we talk about a little bit in the thought line is it's been a weird start to the year for instant replay I feel this is purely anecdotal, purely anecdotal, okay? And there's one guy out there who's going to listen to this on the paw, and he's going to laugh his head off because he fights with me about replay. So I spent a night last year at the end of the season in the newly renovated replay room.

And it was the night that they had the shootout between Montreal and Chicago and the officials didn't see that Nazar had scored. And there was a guy in the replay room, the video room, who nailed that right away. One of their young guys who was responsible for tracking a game, the moment that everybody loses sight of the puck, he says, that's in. And the other thing I'll say about the video room is they've got so much technology and so much equipment in there. they know like 10 minutes before it happens, not 10 minutes, but a couple minutes before it happens, if there's an offside or a play is clean.

And so I remember I wrote and said at the time, Kyle, they should handle all video review because they've got so much technology and they're so fast in there. Well, there's one person out there and he knows who he is who's in the game who strongly disagrees with me about this and whenever something happens he sends me a note and he says oh yeah what about that one and i'll just say that early in the year i sense not only from this person who's a bit biased great guy but a bit biased um there's been some ones at the beginning of the year

like the Chicago fans didn't like the Tyler Bertuzi one a couple weeks ago which was the stab at the puck and I will tell you this I find the stab at the puck very confusing I thought I had it figured out last year I'm confused again

and you know I'll say this too I had a lot of people who really disagreed with the Shane Pinto goal on Saturday night in Washington like there were a number of people who agreed with Carberry that one, they didn't like that one

because they felt Pinto goals into the goalie himself. Like they didn't think it was a defenseman push and they're like, if that one happens in the playoffs, it's carnage. So it's one of those things right now

where I think we're getting some pushback on the video review and the rulings. But I really thought that one with Kucharov It should have counted because it's Kucharov, although I admit I don't have a lot to stand on on this one. I also wanted to shout out Kuturov because what happened was he had the turnover that got them beat by Chicago the other night, and he had an awesome weekend.

Got his 1,000th point, but more importantly, Tampa got two wins. they needed Ws, they got Ws. They got two in a row. And as tough as it was that that goal was called back, it only really set the stage for Kutrov in overtime, not only for the goal to beat Vegas, but the celebration afterwards, looking at Hagel with the mimicking the phone.

Yeah, going, yeah, just had a call. It's a good goal. That one, that was pretty good. That was really well done. Kuturov, man, I wish, I've told this story before about how I went out to him at the Toronto All-Star game and said, I'd love to have you on the podcast, and he looked at me with those eyes and just deadpanned, I don't like podcasts. I would love to sit down with that guy for like half an hour, just half an hour and just talk to him. I don't even know if half an hour would

be enough, to be honest. Like, I would love to talk to that guy about hockey for an hour. And you know where I'd like to do it? I'd like to do it in his workout area. Because, you know, it like in his, yeah, the Kucharov lab. I mean, it would just be, it would be incredible, just absolutely, uh, incredible. He's the, uh, the best player's favorite player to watch. Yes, as McKinnon said. And that is like, and that is like, yes, that is the ultimate, ultimate, ultimate, ultimate compliment. Uh, a couple other things here um Vancouver

have to shout them out bad loss Saturday bad loss Saturday and Sunday no Quinn Hughes and they got one out they got one out Kiefer Sherwood to me is an

interesting one and you know he's a UFA after this year and the Canucks are weighing what to do here it's it's interesting i think teams they tend to look at things that don't go right as opposed to the things that do go right um you know one of the things they've been weighing was

the cadocs extended dakota joshua it didn't go well although you know let's be honest here there were some health issues there that absolutely 100% deserved to be mentioned as part of the equation. But I think they were a bit scared off by that. But of course, one of their best players all year long consistently has been another guy they extended, Connor Garland. He has shown that he has not lost any edge or energy since the Canucks extended him. But, you know, Sherwood on Sunday night, he was fantastic in a game the Canucks needed to have.

You thought he was the hot mic guy with Demadov, eh? I was just, I didn't see the game, of course, on Saturday, busy working in Toronto, but I saw the clip go on making this away online. Oh, yeah. And it seemed like everybody had it pegged of who it was. I just, like, talk about one of the... You can see Sherwood saying something like that. Like, that's the thing.

Like, he's the kind of guy, like, what do you say? I'll put you out until the Olympics? Well, it was either that or I'll do. have you basically leaving here limping. It was limping or Olympics. I think that's the debate. Oh, really, eh? So limping or Olympics and whatever,

you could see Sherwood being the kind of guy who in the heat of the moment would threaten something like that. And I say that in a positive way. But, you know, he's, you know, Vancouver. What did Quinn Hughes say at the beginning of the year? We have to have a good start, right? Five and five, not as good as you'd probably want.

But I bet there were a bunch of Canucks fans that thought it would be four and six when they were playing that back to back. And they knew that Quinn Hughes wasn't playing. So that was a big win. And Sherwood will be an interesting one because he's clearly a huge heartbeat of that team. And the Cadogs can look at it and say, okay, we had one that didn't work, but we had one that did. And what's your confidence level and a guy like Sherwood here? this west man it is going to be it is going to be something else you know the oilers haven't had a great start i don't worry about them too much i the team i really haven't liked there's two of them

i have not liked the wild and i have not liked the blues like what was that on saturday night with the blues that was inexcusable to go up for nothing and blow that game you know the flames I thought it was an interesting one on Saturday on Sunday night, I could not believe that they didn't start Coronado. I was really shocked at that, that they healthy

scratched them. Now, they did it with Sharon Govich and there was a lot of talk about Kevin's comments about him and some people didn't think they were fair. I think the fact that they healthy

scratch Sharon Govich the next game says to me that the organization didn't disagree. And, you know, the one thing I would think if I was a veteran player there, you see Sharon Govich get scratched, you see Cornell get scratched, and you're probably sitting there and saying, okay, coach is giving the veterans the benefit of the doubt, but if this doesn't change, eventually one of us is going to get it. Like, you can't keep sitting out the kids because eventually you've, you've, you've lose them, right? And they're probably mad and they're probably not happy. Like, if I was

Coronado, I would have been pissed off at the world. And you should be. Like, that's the way you should react. But it was interesting to me that Calgary won big with that benching. Because that one, like Sharon Govich, I think all the players would have understood. I think that in his particular case, it's he had the, he had the great year he got the contract. As far as I'm concerned, he earned the contract and he hasn't been the same player. I think you can sell that one. Coronado would have got everybody's attention because he's your best goal score and this is a team that struggles to score goals. And whether you agree with it or not, it would have gotten their attention. And for Calgary to come out and win

that game like that, that says to me that there's like when I look at Calgary, I don't have an issue with their fight. I think everybody looks at them and says their finish isn't as good as a lot of other teams, but they compete really hard. And for them to come out and win a game like that with that kind of a scratch, it tells me that there's still a lot of life there. Like, that's not a team. Their record may not be great. They're now two, seven and one, but they haven't given up on anything. That's, that's, Wynn says a lot about you. The Ranger thing that really stood out to me is, the, it's just jerkin on the one goal, on the ball goal

when he when he waves his arms. And so I always remember there was a leave game years and years and years ago. I think it was in Pittsburgh and J.S. O'Bann

was the goalie. And he got screened by McCabe on a goal and he did that. And the veteran Leafs, They, like, ran him out of town after that. They were like, we are not tolerating this. And McCabe, no matter, McCabe became that guy in Toronto.

Like, he became, like, I always used to joke whenever the lease gave up a goal. Like, McCabe could be in the underground parking lot, like driving his car out of the building, and it would cut to a shot of McCabe. Like, it was just, like, he was just the unfortunate victim of how the Leafs were playing at the time. but he was a hugely popular teammate and he always competed and he never ran away from accountability. I always loved dealing with McCabe and I think very highly with him.

And I just, whenever that happens, I always think of that. Now, Schisturkin is their franchise player. He's a great goalie. He's one of the best in the league. And there's always a little bit more room for that. But whenever I see that, I always wonder how does it? play in the room that was a bad loss like you know all of a sudden you know the rangers right now as we wake up this morning they're in last place in the eastern conference and stuff like

that will happen somebody has to be there at the start of the year but whenever i see that i'm like okay what's that telling me uh about this group so you know there's a lot of great stories uh there's a lot of tough stories. I think you should also mention, like, the teams that have picked themselves off the mat. Red Wings picked themselves, look bad, first game, picked themselves off the mat. Penguins, six, two, and one, nobody saw that coming. Islanders started badly, look at them. And the other thing, too, is they stand up for themselves.

Schaefer, he gets run. They're coming at you. And it's not one guy. Man, like all those guys came after when Schaefer was pushed around. All those guys came to his aid. Like really, really good sign. Even the Flyers, Sabers, they started a bit poorly, you know, very strong. Kings, you know, what did Bedard call them?

A little bit boring. A little bit boring. Jim Hiller will love that. He'll be like, I'm happy with being boring as long as we're winning. Remember how they started? we're like, oh, no, and they're back in there, back in there. They're in the race. Dallas didn't start great.

Haskinen, very, very finally got going. This is going to be, if there's anything that these couple of weeks are showing us here, this is going to be, this whole season this year is going to be a race to the end. and teams are going to get hot, same teams are going to struggle, but this is going to be a fight to the finish this year. That's what the first couple weeks are telling us. It's going to be another battle, and it's going to be all about who can play.

Everybody has five stinkers a year, right? So I immediately knock it down to 77. Who has the best 77 games this year? That's what this year is going to. going to be all about who has the best 77 games. And you talk about kind of the topsy-turvy flip-flop look to the standings in some areas. And then you've got, you know, Colorado Avalanche record-wise on the whole, kind of where you thought for the most part, but for all the brilliant game-breaking, game-ending talent they

have, the fact that they are 0 and 4 in games that have gone beyond regulation so far this here lost to an overtime too in the shootout didn't see that coming out of the gate but anyway including the the loss to new jersey on on sunday and brilliant finish by hughes to end that against colorado also just one thing on calgary so we talked in the last week nassan cadry the trade protection changed a bit this year yeah just a 13 team no trade i don't is it a coincidence now that friday and winnipeg scores his first of the year i thought sunday it was like vintage cadre. I'm like, it's

cadre in his early 20s playing for the Leafs, the hands, the way he was getting up and down the sheet. Another goal, like, he looked phenomenal for the flames there on Sunday. Well, first of all, that's 9.95, right? And, you know,

the one, like, a couple things I was told. Like, number one, the flames, I don't, I heard this from someone on another team. Okay.

They told me that some of those veteran guys do not like the way they're being talked about. In what sense? Like they're being written off already. Remember last year when Rasmus Anderson talked about how the, you know, people who want us to tank have no idea what they're talking about? Yeah. And he had, I've heard it. He had thoughts after the whole

Sharon Govich thing. He had thoughts, right? And like, I think it's that. And look, first of all, I just want to say this. Like, if I was a player and you were writing me off seven games into the season and say, tank, I would be like up yours too. I totally understand this. Like, I want to say to anybody who might be annoyed about this,

that I understand why a player would. think like that. I get it. And if I was a player, I would think like that too. And I'll say this to Anderson, he's one of the best interviews in the league for a reason. If you ask him a question, he will tell you what he thinks. And I have all the time in the world for that. If I ask a question to somebody, I better be prepared for the answer, right? And you know, the flames are coming to Toronto. They're here on Tuesday. So they'll have time to say whatever they want if they want to say anything but so like so i get this like i have no issue with any of this um but i've heard they're not happy about the way they're being talked about and like i said i heard there

were some of them that were unhappy they felt and this is not only kevin uh they felt that some of us really piled on to sharon govich fine every we're all adults here everyone's entitled to think the way that they that they want to think i'm totally good with that The flames have made it very clear. Cadreys March to 1,000 is going unabated. And that's the right thing to do. 1,000 games, it matters. And everybody knows it matters.

And I'll give you an example. Brian Burke traded for Brad May in the 2008 and 9 season. And when he traded for him, I think May was, 37 games away from a thousand and the one thing that he promised was that he wouldn't trade for him unless May would get there and he got him there he ended up playing 38 games that year he played his thousands actually against the sabers which was perfectly fitting and the next year May went to Detroit and he played and he split the year between the red wings and the American hockey league but that was one I always remember that Berkey said he wasn't making that trade to get May unless he knew he could guarantee him that he was going to get to a thousand and that's one of the reasons he made that deal because he knew he would make sure it happened so people know that this matters and people take care of it and I think the other thing too is this is huge

for Cadri and his family and I've heard that they've got like big celebration plant you don't let that get touched okay and i i think great on them bring on everybody involved here for recognizing that's important the thing that got out last week that nobody including myself at the time realized i didn't realize it until someone told me that day um is that he's got a 13 team no trade now his clause has changed i heard that teams are all over it okay am I on that list? Am I not on that list? I'm on that list.

How did I end up on that list? And how do I change that? Like, I think that's what's going on here. Like, people want to know. Like, if it's a no trade, everybody sits there and says, all right, we'll figure this out. We'll make a deal with Calgary.

And if we have to convince him, we'll convince them. That's the way everybody kind of looks at it. We're all on the same page here. But when you find out it's a partial and you're trying to find out if you're on that list, all of a sudden, if you realize you're there, you're like, what?

We're there? We like this guy. How do we get off of there? So I think, and I'm sure Cadry, because he's got a lot of personal pride and stuff, he's out there saying, you know what, if people want me, A, I'm not giving up on my current team.

That's just not the way I'm wired. I'm going to compete for them, but also I'm going to show anybody out there that if it comes, you're getting prime gnazzam. It's amazing. You think about how long he's been around, as you said, so close to a thousand games, he's won a cup. He's got a great resume built up as an NHL player. And yet still, you can see there's something just about how he plays when he's at his best. there's like always something in his mind of like those people over there don't think I

can do this those people over there like there's yeah it's like he's fueled still by some sort of outside doubt which is great like it's it's it's it brings out the best in him but uh it's it it is impressive at this far into it you still see signs of that uh when he's really going if you're wired that way it's it's it's hard to lose it that way. Yeah. And he looked great, as I say, on Sunday against the Rangers and

body language for New York, whether it was Shasturkin, as you say, a couple times showing Sullivan after the goals and the look on his face and yeah, stress ramping up with the Rangers here now. And now they had to Vancouver. J.T. Miller's first game back

in Vancouver coming up this week on Tuesday. Oh, that's going to be a big one game that will be able to be viewed nationally on sports net so yeah that that that's going to be a big one that's going to be a big one emotional one no question about it you know mentioned vancouver we should tackle zaka too because we we did talk about this briefly uh on saturday night so uh rick dollowal who uh i have a ton of respect for uh rick's a grinder and i i say that with the ultimate to me that's the ultimate compliment in the job that we do um Um, so I heard that, uh, so he reported last week that the Canucks had called about Zaka. I think that's been going on all summer, all summer. And, um, and they've been trying to go back and forth. And I think there's a couple things at play here.

Number one, I don't think Boston feels that they're in any rush. um they're still competing you know Boston is not a team that's throwing in the towel by any stretch of the imagination um they had a big win against uh Colorado on Saturday and boy watching McKinnon and McAvoy go out at the end of that you know like I love that two hugely important players for their teams like fighting like that at the end of of a game like it matters that says it matters but you know everybody here is looking for centers everybody wants centers um Boston's got a guy here that Vancouver and others have called about and the Bruins are like no we have we don't have to do this and we're not going to do this unless we get what we want and um so obviously at this point nothing's happened uh Zocca's got an eight team no trade I understand that Vancouver is not on it so the Canucks could, in theory, do this.

I will tell you this. This was actually pretty interesting. I don't think I've ever said it anywhere because I wasn't sure, but I've told people I heard that Zocca turned down a trade to Winnipeg last year. And someone said to me, I heard you've been talking about that. That's not true. So I wanted to, I wanted to mention that. All right. very good so with that why don't we take it to the final thought you alluded to it earlier jack hughes

on a mission to start this year another player that looks very similar in terms of mindset macklin celebrini sunday and minnesota three points including the overtime winner he's got 15 points already on the season and i'm watching so caroline and luke gazzdick are doing intermissions for our regional shows on Sunday night. And as they're showing that highlight pack, Luke can't help but say on Celebrini's winner and overtime, Elliot, does that not look Crosby-esque in terms of how he moves, the deception and to slide a five hole the way he did?

And now everyone's looking at here's a guy that already could be on the radar for Canada and the Olympics in February. Even if he's the 14th forward, I want him there. Take him. You know what everybody in this league is saying? Please God, don't let San Jose learn how to defend.

Yes. Because they can score. Because they can score. What do we say earlier in the air? Nobody who goes and see the sharks is leaving disappointed. it. You might not see a W for San Jose, which is okay because if they're on the road, you don't care. But you're going to love what you watch. I think Celebrini, 14th forward,

take them. I always thought Canada made a mistake not taking Crosby in 2006. Even if he never played, take him. Have him there. I'm fine with that I think there needs to be room for Mark Shifley to make this roster but I'm all for Celebrini too I would

I would want Celebrini there as the 14th forward to me he's the future put him on put him on I think he should be there he's top three in the league

in scoring right now and it was pretty cool how him and Will Smith were telling the guys that spit and chicklets that they got they got the invite to the Crosby summer workout like that's pretty that's not nothing no that what that says to you is that Crosby sees it too yes and Nate yes and Marshawn yes they see him as they respect them they they respect them they respect him. They see him as one of the guys. So they can sign him next year on July 1st. Let me put this in your head right now. What's that number going to be? Oh. Well, let's see. Where are we at come April? Okay. Let's see where we're at come April.

too early to throw anything out now all right congratulations michael misa by the way first n h a for san jose as well first of many a lot of talent there friege yes yes he looks like he has a lot of fun playing Hey, Celebrini? Like, that's what jumps out almost as much as just the natural ability. There's so much joy that seems to be attached with what he's able to do on the ice. And I think a big reason why it's coming together the way it is for him in the early going. Those guys, they have a young chemistry. They really do.

All you had to do is look at that TikTok on the street. Like, they really get each other, Judy Jupiter or whatever. the name was um like i said when they learn to stop people what did what did the owners say what did the owner say i don't i'm not interested in Gavin McKenna can i interest you in one keaton verhoff yes yes nicely done oh yeah it could be exactly exactly what they need come next June now they're going to keep being fun to watch like Utah like Montreal for different reasons of course but man there's been some some entertaining hockey out of the shoot here to start and Celebrini is right near the top of that list so great that was the

final thought why don't we take our first break we'll come back with the latest edition of the thought line you're listening to 32 thoughts the podcast All right, buckle up. The latest edition of the thought line is here. So, Elliot, on Friday's pod, you talked a big game about the outlandish analysis you were going to have for leaf sabers on the Friday night, knowing the audience would be diminished slightly going up against Game 1 of the world. series. And while I maybe didn't expect you to go full on Nylander H. Toronto, I got to tell you, as I was watching that pregame show and the best I could get out of you was the most important

stat is W's. I was like, oh my God, Elliot, a little bit of spice at some point. People laughed at my line when Nick or Carolyn asked me, are you worried about the defense because Riley and Tanna weren't playing? And I said, no, I'm more worried about the bullpen. They like that one. They like that one. It's kind of funny. Nick was talking about how he had tickets to the Jay's game when he passed them up. And Justin mentioned that I had some two. And I said, got to be professional.

And Nick's line was, I wish tonight I was an amateur. I think that was the one that most people kind of laughed at. Yeah, that's good. That's good. All right, what do you got before we get into this? Okay. I've got a couple of things. First of all, speaking of baseball,

I just wanted to mention to my brother and law's parents. My brother-in-law, John Branzel, his parents are Sandy and Sherry. If by the off chance, you are listening to this, there is a rule for the two of you now. If the World Series returns to

Toronto, you are not allowed to go to any games. They went to game two on Saturday night and John told me that whenever they go, the Blue Jays lose. So they are banned. Since this rule held into the World Series, they are banned from going to any further games.

That's number one. Number two, I wanted to shout out two fans, big listeners of the pod that we met on Saturday night in our post game. Their names were Dawson and Jay. They came over to say hello, and Dawson showed us pictures. Kyle, he said he's lost 500 pounds. and I saw the before and the after, and he was a big guy, and he is smaller now. I mean, 500 pounds just to me seems like a lot, but he definitely has lost a lot of weight.

So I wanted to say to Dawson, congratulations on your journey. It takes discipline, and it's hard, but it's not impossible. So I just wanted to wish him congratulations on trying to get himself into better shape. And finally, I wanted to shout out one of our coworkers, Ron McLean, who on Saturday night presented me, remember a couple weeks ago on the pod, I mentioned that when you were collecting hockey cards when I was a kid,

one of the cards you always wanted to get was the team hockey card, the Los Angeles Kings. And he handed me a 1978, 79, L.A. King's O.P.C. Hockey card. And it is a thing of beauty. Beauty. And on the back is the checklist where you, because on the front was the team photo in the fantastic gold jerseys. And on the back is the checklist where they give you a list of every

player on the Kings whose hockey cards are available in the entire series set that year and you check them off as you get them. Everybody from card number 45 Steve Jensen to card number 393, Hartland Monaghan. And Ron is an avid collector. he's like a lot of us he doesn't throw anything out and he had every player checked off very impressive Ron I appreciate it and I will treat it with the respect that such a gift deserves yeah not firing that on the bike spokes no God no no no that's awesome that was great well done Ron very good all right well worth getting through those before we get into this here all right well since we were talking in baseball a bit earlier. Why don't we start with this? Voice mail, this is Nathan from Thompson, Manitoba. With the World Series go on,

I was just kind of curious. Has there ever been an NHL player that went, played in the MLB or vice versa, MLB to NHL? We hear about all these athletes that are just insane and seem to just

be able to hop into a sport and be good at it. So I was just curious if that ever happened. Go J's go and Go Jets go. Thank you. Hmm. Oh, I don't know of, like, Tom Glaven was drafted in Major League Baseball. I did a, do you know of anybody who actually did both?

There was one guy. It was a long time ago. Okay, that's good. Well, Tom Glavin was drafted by the Kings, and it's not like he was a low pick. He was a fourth rounder. And, you know, obviously, Glaven made the right choice. He won a Cy Young. He's in the Hall of Fame.

He won a World Series. Actually, I did a piece on Tom Glavin once, and we talked about it. There was another Major League Baseball player, Kirk McCaskill, who was a pitcher for the California Angels, who was also a reasonably high pick of the Jets. I think he was a fourth round pick as well. So, you know, those are a couple of guys who I remember off the top of my head, who were drafted by Major League Baseball and also were drafted reasonably high by the NHL. I'm trying to think of anybody, like, what year are we talking about here? long, long time ago, but before we get to that, because you mentioned Tom Glavin,

that's a great example of great baseball player, good hockey player, Niger Morgan, remember him? He played seven games for the Regina Pats in the W.HL. Oh, I totally forgot about that. That's right. Niger Morgan was a really good player. That's right. Justin Mornow, I think he played, he played a exhibition game with the Portland Winter Hawks in the late 90s. I interviewed him at a Stanley Cup final between Anaheim and Ottawa. He played baseball earlier that day for the twins. They were on the road in Minnesota, in Anaheim, and he came to the game that night, and we interviewed him. It was pretty cool.

So you interviewed Justin Marno. Scott Oak interviewed Snoop Dogg that series. Talk about the who's who of guest during that Stanley Cup final. Scott got, Scott's interview got a lot more play than mine did. That's for sure. that was a that was a great interview very good yeah and the late bob cole his reaction afterwards was just as fantastic yeah and then the other way chris drury of course was like child prodigy little league pitcher little league world series absolutely little league world series yep and then of course

goes on to have a really great playing career larry walker larry walker by the way is another one that we should, we'd be totally remiss if we didn't mention him. And Matt Stairs, I remember him doing a piece for Hockey Day in Canada once where he talked about sometimes he missed playing hockey, even though he had an incredible Major League Baseball career. The one guy that's done both appeared in Major League Baseball in the NHL, a fellow by the name of Jim Riley. So Jim Riley, this is back now in the...

20s. But in 1917, as a member of the Seattle Metropolitan's, before he reached the NHL, he won the Stanley Cup. Yes. As the Metropolitan's defeated the

Canadians, he played 17 games total in the NHL. This came a decade later. Two with the Detroit Cougars, 15 with the Chicago Blackhawks. Then he went through the minors in baseball almost simultaneously as his hockey career in 1921 and in 1923

he appeared in a total of six Major League Baseball games as a pitcher with the St. Louis Browns and the Washington Nationals. Wow. I never would have gotten that. Neither would I have without a little help from our friends. prior to coming on air here, but... Wow, I, that's a great one.

I, I had no idea. Because when I first saw that, I thought, no, there's not going to be anybody. That was my knee-jerk reaction and then was fascinated to learn, one guy has done it. So Nathan, thanks for asking that one. I just found another name, actually, that was close. Jack Caffery of Kingston, Ontario, he played in the NHL for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins from 1955 to 58. He played 57 games and then he switched to baseball and he was a pitcher and he reached as high as Triple A before his career ended in 1963. three, but he never made the majors.

He just missed it. So. So impressive. Yes. That was close. So there was one. There was almost two. Jim Riley, by the way, a native of Bayfield, New Brunswick.

So Canadian, the only one to pull off the feet. All right. Matthew writes in from Germany. Hey, Kyle, Elliot, and Dom. Guten tog from Germany. I was just watching the highlights of the Avalanche Hurricanes game last week. Tough to stay up as an NHL fan across the pond. Could you help me explain why Colorado's second goal scored by Parker Kelly

withstood the coach's challenge? It looked like Kelly tried to catch the puck with his glove and then it deflected into the net. So I thought it cannot count as a, quote, good goal. Also really love those sweaters worn by both teams. should do that more often or just bring back the whalers and the Nordiques franchises. Anyways, thanks for your insights and the episodes. Love listening to them on the Autobahn. Keep up the great work.

I love the Autobahn. We drove it a couple years ago. Oh, there is nothing better. Can I just talk about the Autobahn for a second? This is your show. Go ahead. Okay. It's our show.

It's not my show. It's our show. you know what the best thing is about the auto bond what's that you're going to say the speed it's not the speed the speed is great is it the quality of the pavement uh that's good too but it wasn't what number one was going to be like there is something wild about driving you know 140 or 150 and people just blowing by you on your left and they're extremely comfortable doing it It's really unique. The best thing about the auto bond is this.

If someone's in the passing lane and you come up behind them and you're going faster, they actually move and get out of the way. And you are expected to do so too. If I'm in the passing lane in the auto bond and someone comes up behind me, I am getting out of the way. This is a society. If you're in the passing lane, you know, like, for example, this morning, I was coming home from somewhere and somebody was in the passing lane on the 401, and you know what they were driving, Kyle? Like what kind of car?

No, what, no, no, I'm talking about it was speed. I don't care what kind of car anybody drives. I don't know. You may be one of those guys. 74. Oh, geez. Get out of the way, okay? we live in a society

Anyway, that's what I like the most about the Audubon. I digress. So Matthew, Kyle had warned me about, normally I don't like to know about the questions, but Kyle had warned me that there had been several people who had sent notes to the thought line about the Parker Kelly goal. Yes, Matthew wasn't the only one.

Yeah, so there were several of you who wanted to know. So basically the way the rule reads is that a goal can be scored if the first, deflected in off the glove. It is disallowed if the player intentionally bats or throws the puck into the net with their glove. You can't carry it with you. You can't close your hand on it.

Obviously, that's a penalty. But if it hits your glove and goes in, no problem. But if you make a punching motion or you swing at it or you throw it, that's no goal. Now, I will say this, Matthew, you were not alone. There were a number of people just even before this came in who watching that game on Thursday night who said they thought that Kelly took a pretty good wave at it and some of them were actually surprised it stood.

So I think by letter of the law, I could see how it counted. But you weren't the only one who looked at that and said it doesn't pass the smell test. I will say this, Kyle, as a general aside, early in the year, I'm hearing a lot of complaints with some of these rulings. Seems like, yeah, it takes a while for the radar to kind of hone in on a standard.

If it's unusual, I don't, you know, keep notes. Like, for example, I had a lot of people who really disagreed with the Pinto goal accounting on Saturday night in Washington. they felt that he went in to Lindberg or Lindgren pretty good right right so there's there's some grumbling there's some hard to tell if it's more than normal but there's definitely some grumbling the Kulik non-gole in Toronto because of Benson going by or through the crease and bumping in a Caden Primo the officials didn't even let that get to a coach's challenge situation.

They initially caught the goal, then huddled and determined we can't allow this to stand. Our guys watching that game. I was on the phone when that happened, but Ron, Jen, Kelly, and Kevin were all in agreement that that was no goal. I was too. Like, I think, again, I think it just almost took out a necessary step. Like, the officials must have had tickets to game two.

They were like, let's not even add five more minutes to this. It's not going to be a goal. There were a few times where the officials in a lot of other cases would blow the whistle dead with the goalie having the puck frozen, but they just allowed play to continue. I don't know. Maybe it's a coincidence. But everyone knows what was going on less than a kilometer away. So the officials in this game were the quartet of.

Chris Schlenker, Jake Brank, Steve Barton, and Julian Fournier. Gentlemen, the next time you see Kyle, you owe it to him to say, Kyle, you're wrong, and I object to you calling our professionalism into question, or Kyle, I'm just going to wink at you, and you take that as, yes, we wanted to see first pitch.

I'll just say this. Nobody in that building Saturday night had any problem with it. No, I just want to know what the truth is. Oh, gosh. So good. Everybody would understand. Everybody. All right.

Up next. Ethan from Edmonton. Hello, Kyle, Dom, and E. It's just E-I-O-T in all capitals. That's your affiliation. Well, you know what? That's, that's fair. I understand.

I like that you're playing the game, Ethan. And you are E-Anne, E-A-N, E-A-N, E-A-N, E-A-N, writes. As a former goaltender of 16 years, listening to The Mask Conversation, I pulled my car over immediately to write this email. Good man, you followed the rules of the road. Yes. Very anti-E-YOT of you. Yes. But always the safe play.

When a goalie gets a puck in the mask. hard enough or in the right spot to pop the strap myself and the entire goaltending union is of the opinion that it should be an immediate whistle. Your ears will start ringing instantly and it does stun a person temporarily. I've been hit directly in the middle of the cage so hard that my contact lenses flew out of my eyes and I had to play half the game blind. The other issue with a loose strap on a goalie mask is that the two side straps are essentially the only straps that keep the helmet secure.

And if one of those pops, a goalie can turn their head and suddenly you're trying to see out of the earhole of your mask, leaving your neck exposed. Our brains are just as important as the players. And when the strap pops, wouldn't that be the benchmark of stopping play that makes the most sense? This way, goalies are not trying to shake their mask off, exposing our beautiful faces, and risking the worst-case scenario.

Thank you for your attention to this matter and for putting on a good show. Sincerely, Ethan, or Ian, from Edmonton, on behalf of the bravest and best-looking people in hockey, the goalies. The best-looking people in hockey. That's good. First of all, Ethan, allow me to say this. I bet, as someone who pulled over to the side to type out this note, that you are someone who gets out of the way when an individual.

individual dries up faster than you in the passing lane. So I give you credit right off the hop. Okay. So, Kyle, we talked about this on Saturday night in the headlines portion of the show. And I showed some examples that someone sent me. Basically, the issue is the buckles, right? The shot hits you in the head and the buckles pop and the mask pops pop. off. And I think everybody agrees safety first. Safety first. I'm old enough to remember

basically the play that ended King Richard Broder's career. It was in Toronto. The Canucks were playing in Toronto and a shot hit him in the side of the mask and basically ripped his ear off. And actually the puck went right to a leaf who scored and they disallowed the goal. Like in this day and age, that would be a goal because it went right to a player who scored. I just think, as I said on Saturday night, the problem is, like, of course, safety is the most important thing. I think that one of the things that kinds of has happened is that goalies became so good at bending the rules to their advantage.

They dialed the equipment back and things like that. And so they do feel that some of the goalies would take advantage and flipped their mass off to knock down a scoring chance. And that's why we've kind of gone this way. I just didn't like what I saw last week. I mean, all those guys could have been really hurt. Aiton Hill was hurt. He got hit in a place no man wants to be hit.

And he had to leave the game. And I'll tell you this, I did have some people say to me that they thought the Stollers one could have been blown dead because the puck was passed out front. Like you could have said, hey, that one could be blown dead. All I'm saying is that in the game seven, if someone had a chance to win the Stanley Cop on a play like that, it would just, it would not be good for anybody. so what we talked about was someone sent me a couple of prototypes of masks where the strap where the buckle isn't on the outside it's they're either bolted down or screwed down or they're feathered through a hole in the mask and tied down on the inside and I asked and obviously the players association would have to have a vote and the goalies would have to have a

vote and the mask would have to be safe enough but I did talk to some people in the goal union and I showed them some of the pictures I had and they said this might be a solution because if you can if you can solve this this way then you don't have to worry about changing the rule you don't have to worry about um you know you don't have to worry about the referee's decision maybe the masks are just a bit more stable because it's this and I could see them at least looking at this and saying is this a solution? Like one of the problems here, Kyle, is that you know, we see now players like Jack Hughes has done it, they've banked goals in off the goalie's mask. And if the, and the NHL's position is if the mask is in the net, like in the

outline of the net, not necessarily in the net, but like the mask is between the crossbars and the posts. Like if the puck doesn't hit the mask, it's going in, then they're they're they're there's kind of like what are you supposed to do like those guys are shooting the score and if the mask is in a scoring position we can't fault them for doing that especially with the reverse VH now they're banking it off the mask so I think maybe that's going to end up being the idea it's going to take some time the bottom line is that safety is the right answer but if it happens in a game seven the team that loses the a great scoring chance because this occurs is going to be screaming bloody murder.

Yeah, and it's interesting the idea about Puck goes off the mask, immediate whistle. I don't know if they do this like at the NLL level, but growing up playing box lacrosse as a kid, if you took a shot that went off the goalie's mask, play was whistle down right away. And, you know, if you didn't like it, then aim better, right? but you wouldn't see situations really in lacrosse where goalies are crouched down underneath the crossbar in between the posts like you now see in hockey. So I can understand why that theory may be a harder one to sell when you look at how the game is played now. But as I said on Friday, and we both are in agreement on safety first is I'm a okay with that.

Okay, Carly from Cincinnati, Ohio. Hello to all the hockey reporting boys. I'm Carly from Cincinnati, Ohio. Growing up, I was a Cyclones fan here. Yes. And as I got older, became a Blue Jackets fan. I met my boyfriend and I'm now also a Rangers fan. So my question happens to relate to one of these teams.

In the Rangers game against the sharks last week, there were two hat tricks. How many times have multiple hat tricks been? scored in a game, and has there been a game with more than two hat-tricks? The last pod mentioned hat-tricks, and this made me curious. Yes, the hat-tricks theme continuing for another thought line. Well, first of all, Carly, glad that hockey has brought you so much joy, number one, a fandom, and number two, a boyfriend. That's better than I've ever done at a hockey game, that's for sure.

So congratulations to you, Carly. Two had tricks in a game. I'm sure Kyle knows the number here. It's happened several times before. I remember one of the games I covered that had two, and it was one of the best hockey games I've ever seen, was a playoff game in 2009 between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals

where both Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin had hat tricks. It was awesome. That game was in Washington, and the arena was bonkers. Like the fans realized what a show that they were there to see. More than two, I got to think, Kyle, it's happened before. It has. First of all, how many times does it happen twice?

Twice? Well, let's do this. Multiple, 148 times in the regular season, nine times in the playoffs. I believe that. I believe that. Oh, wait a second. You know what? I remember, wasn't there a game a couple years ago with the Canucks?

Because I think Quinn Hughes talked about that game about how they were sitting on the bench going, wait a second, we just got scored on again. Wasn't there like a Cadogs game a couple years ago where there were three hat tricks? No, not according to my info. It's been a while since we've seen three in a game. Okay, I'm going to look this up. What do you got? What are your stats tell you? Okay.

Last time it happened, three hat tricks? Yeah. November of 1992. When the Kings beat up on the then expansion San Jose Sharks 11 to 4. Mike Donnelly, Yari Curry, and Luke Robotoi all had hat tricks. The record for most hat tricks in one game, four. This also was a long time ago. 1920

Game between the Montreal Canadians and the Quebec Bulldogs Joe Malone? No, not Joe. Newsy Lalonde four goals. Harry Cameron, four goals. Odie Kleghorn, three.

DGA Petra three. Wow, good research. Okay, hold on a second here. Hold on a second. Okay Well, I hate to tell you This is a very sad day At Sportsnet

Kyle and Dom And Carly Because today we have learned That the mighty Sportsnet stats Is occasionally Human Oh my gosh That they are not

infallible I will be wearing black all week. Dom, do you remember this game? No. 10-7, Minnesota over Vancouver, February 19th, 2024. I remember it because we interviewed Quinn Hughes and he was talking about the game and he's like on the bench and he said, we just got scored on again.

and he was laughing about Hughes was minus he had two assists that game he was minus three Tyler Myers and Ian Cole were plus two anyway J.T. Miller had three goals

for the Canucks three goals and one assist Joel Erick had three goals and three assists for Minnesota as did Kirill Caprizov so there were three hat tricks that game.

carly you have become a hockey fan through your love of the cyclones you have met a romantic partner now with love of the rangers you have gotten a question through on the thought line and you have destroyed the shield of invulnerability around sports net stats that is quite a day for you have engulfed love from my co-host here because it has allowed him to have his moment now in the spotlight remembering incredibly this Minnesota Vancouver contest from a couple years ago you were bang on and this is like win Benstein's money what a reference Bueller Bueller anyone anyone the great depression oh gosh cap tip to you Fridge full value

I only remember because of that interview with Hughes or he was talking about how ridiculous that game was we're never going to get an answer again

from the SportsNet stats crew now oh I know we're just shocked that they got one that they missed one just shocked gosh we'll give

him a pass Yes. All right. So we got one final one here. I thought it was fitting to end with this. So last week, you took a Cronwallian-like run at Kyle Shohara, PR extraordinaire with the Seattle Cracken after all of his boistering. I had some people who said to me, how can we never say anything after the J's one? I was like, I think the first one was enough. Yes. Yes, it was enough. Until it turns out, Elliot, there is more to this story. Oh, my. Is this going into like the Shane Wright investigation that he wasn't actually wearing a Mariners jersey? I saw that Scott addressed on after hours on Saturday night.

Yes, this has nothing to do with Shane Wright. Okay. All right. We are going deeper into Kyle Shohara's past. Oh, my goodness. This is Matt in L.A. with a voicemail. Kyle, Dom, Elliot, this is Matt in Los Angeles. As a close friend of a certain cracking PR guy, I very much enjoyed last episode's intro.

However, there is one small detail that was overlooked. Kyle grew up in Los Angeles and was as dedicated to Dodger fan as anyone I know. Some of the group chat have been shocked and appalled at how quickly Kyle sold out his boys in blue. And I can't help but picture the ghost of Tommy Lasota, levying a prolific curse of, upon him for his betrayal. Congrats to the Blue Jays. Dodgers and five. Thanks, guys.

The ghost of Tommy LaSorda. Oh, my. And you know what? Nobody could string together an insult like Tommy LaSorda. No, not at all. Have you ever seen that tape of what did I think of Kingman's performance today? Have you ever seen that? Oh, man.

it's vaguely familiar but it's not on the top of my head oh my god like okay like first of all let me just say this thereby the grace of god go i anybody who's followed my career knows i have asked my share of terrible questions okay you can find this online anybody who wants to just make sure you know with the audio that you're listening somewhere private or you've got your headphones in or something like that dave kingman plays against the dodgers and he hits three homers and the Dodgers lose and the sword is mad and so one of the reporters goes what did you think of Kingman's performance today

and he just tears into the reporter what did I think of Kingman's performance he had three homers but I'm leaving a few words out he had three homers and he just launches into a diatribe it is you know like I said

there by the grace of God go I I've asked terrible questions before, too. But, oh, my goodness, it is, if you need a good laugh, just Google it and find it. That is so great, Matt. First of all, let me just say, I'm really glad that you came out of the woodwork here from Kyle's past to let us know this key fact. Yes, yeah. Key, key fact. Making a lot of sense here.

We learn more and more about our guy. I heard some of the media relations guys around the league were really laughing pretty hard at that too. Yes, because he is one of the great guys to deal with the work with. Yes, he's a great guy to deal with. We tease because we love. That's awesome. Yes, and also because, like, Kyle, he took it in stride.

He laughed his head off. Yes, yes, absolutely. All right, that wraps up another beefy edition of the thought line. 1833, 311, 3232.32, if you would like to leave a voicemail, or you can email us, as you know, 32 Thoughts at Sportsnet.ca. We'll take one final break and wrap up this edition of 32 Thoughts, the podcast, on the other side. Okay, before we go, news on Sunday, Mitch Love, who was an assistant coach with the Washington

Capitals, the Capitals announcing that Love has been relieved of his duties, effective immediately, the decision following findings of an NHL-led investigation into past allegations. Now, Love himself put out a statement through Bailey Johnson and the Washington Post, denying those allegations. Elliot, about a month ago we had talked about when it had come out that love had been placed on leave from the team. Anything further you can add to the story at this time?

Well, you want to be sensitive to everybody because it's an awful story. One of the things I understood was when the commissioner made his ruling, he indicated that his ruling was final and there was no place for appeal. So at least in NHL circles, love does not have grounds for an appeal here.

So I just don't know if this is the last we've heard of this or if he goes outside and tries something legal to defend himself. I just don't know if that's going to happen here. But I was told that in the NHL circles, the NHL world, there is no appeal. You know, this story kind of came out of nowhere. From what I've been told now, love was in negotiations for one of the open jobs this past summer when a note was sent, either or contact was made with both. both the league and one of the teams involved.

So I think it's taken some time for everybody to figure out the facts of this case and what exactly occurred. You know, as I've said before, Kyle, we looked into this last summer at Sportsnet, myself and a couple of other people. And we were just never comfortable with the information to write about it or report on it. So all I can say is I just hope everybody involved is okay And it's a really, really tough story

And it's a really, really sad story And you just wish the best for everybody who's involved. Okay, Elliot, thank you for that. All right, couple things to keep an eye on the network The early part of this week, Tuesday night, A couple games that can be seen nationally. Utah Mammoth are in Edmonton, that's at 9.30 Eastern 7.30 Mountain Time on SportsNet 1.

On SportsNet 360, the Rangers are in Vancouver to face the Canucks 10 Eastern 7 Pacific time. Scotia Bank Wednesday night hockey this week. The Toronto Maple Leafs are in Columbus on the air at 7 Eastern with Hockey Central and puck drop a little after 730 ET. That one on Sportsnet 1, of course, with Game 5 of the World Series between the Jays and Dodgers going that night as well. All right. Taking us out today is a track from Thunder Bay's and themic rock outfit, The Honest Heart Collective, known for their grit, sincerity, and sing-along anthems. The Honest Heart Collective channels the spirit of Northern Ontario with a sound that fuses the urgency of punk, heartland rock, and folk-rooted storytelling.

Since their 2015 debut Liars Club, the band has carved a reputation for electrifying live shows an unflinching songwriting, having shared stages with the glorious sons, Finger 11, and Pop Evil, as well as appearances at Canadian Music Week at Vans Warp Tour,

the Honest Heart Collective continue to rise as one of Canada's most compelling indie rock outfits. They have some live shows coming up into late November and early December from Winnipeg, into Calgary and Edmonton, on to Vancouver Island,

Nanaimo, Victoria, Courtney BC, Vancouver as well. Lots of opportunities to check them out later on November and into December as well. This track can be heard on the new 32 Thoughts playlist on Spotify called 32 Thoughts to music. Thanks to producer Dom Shemani for putting that together. All the tracks we have featured on the podcast so far this season can be found there, including this one. This is the Honest Art Collective without run on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Could you remember me? I'm so inclined to fall behind to get your sympathy.

I can't outrun, I can't outrun, I can't outrun. This forever moving finish line will be the death of me and sailor and stay past on by and taught me in the street. and the street I can't outrun I can't outrun the days are counting down no matter way throw it to the wind blow it up flow it up look me in the eye when you talk so tough same day lay lay we're all down here baby over and again yeah nothing is enough Pitching myself, but I can't wake up.

Same day, lately, we're out down here, baby, yeah. Years from now you settled down, and you've forgotten me. Well, it is, what it is. Now we can't go back, you're next time on repeat. I can't outrun. I can't outrun. In the days you're counting on, no matter what, no matter what. Throw it to the wind, blow it up, blow it up.

Look me in the eye when you talk so on top. Same day, lay, we're all down here, baby. Over and again, yeah, nothing is enough. Pinching myself, but I can't wake up. Same day, play lane, we're all down here, baby, yeah. Throw it to the wind Can't go back again I can't, I can't, I can't I run

It's the same day, maybe, down here, maybe, Same day Layley Down here Throw it to the wind Blow it up, blow it up Look me in the eye When you talk so tough

Same day Lay Lay, we're all down here, baby Over in again, yeah, enough is enough Pinching myself But I can't wake the fuck up Same day, Laylaid, we're out down here, baby, yeah You know,