32 Thoughts: The Podcast - The NHL Draft: What’s Best For The Game

Episode Date: February 26, 2021

The Canadiens have parted way with head coach Claude Julien and assistant Kirk Muller. Jeff and Elliotte discuss the changes in Montreal (00:00) and what we know about interim head coach Dominique Ducharme. The guys also chat about the 2021 NHL Draft (19:30) and if the date should be moved, an interesting moment from the Kings-Blues game (26:00), the situation […]

Hi Mark, I was wondering with a shortened season like this year, was there more of an urgency to act early on making a coaching change? Yes, it did come into play. We have a short season. It's almost a quarter away already. We raised the bar early on and I addressed the team this morning and I felt there was a change that needed to be made and that's when I made my final decision. And yes, to answer your question is yes. Elliot, anytime a coach gets fired, the first question is always, why? Claude Julien was the headline story on Wednesday, as was Dom Ducharme, as was Kirk Muller,

as was Alex Burrows. And in the middle of it was the gentleman you just heard from, and that's Habs general manager Marc Bergevin. But to the original question, why fire Claude Julien well I think there's a couple things at play here and we showed a board on our Wednesday night uh show Jeff where how much money the top spending team spent last year and number one was the Montreal Canadiens, 102 and a half million, two and a half ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights. And what I should have pointed out that night,

I just forgot, is that that's US dollars. So it's not just that you're spending 100 million plus, you're spending it in US dollars with no ticket revenue coming in. You go through sports, and I always take out the NFL because it's such a financial juggernaut.

I don't think you can compare the other leagues to it. But go through Major League Baseball. How many of those owners are spending? There's San Diego, and how many more? You go through the NHL. It was Montreal 1, Vegas 2. Third was Ottawa, and they were $35 million back. You go through basketball.

There's Giannis. The Milwaukee Bucks committed wisely to Giannis. After that, it was still not a time. I think that's it. Like when your owner does that in a year like this, a pandemic year, and you know, one of the questions about the NHL is how many teams are really in it to win it this year? Because they know the financial crunch. If you don't realistically have a chance. If you do that, the expectations are high.

You know, Montreal, they're struggling, yes. Some of that is that Carey Price is not himself. Some of that is the penalty kill, the power play. But five on five, which is usually a good omen, they've been the best team in the league goals for and goals against 63 but that's not good enough this year and mark bergevin knows that the pressure just wasn't on the head coach it was on him and if this doesn't write itself it could be bergevin too and i think that's exactly why this change was made at this time.

You're bang on about the point about adding salaries. This is a season for all sports organizations where the theme is endure, not add. We're not adding here. We just want to get through this as best we can. I want to get to Dom Ducharme here in a couple of moments, but wasn't it about five minutes ago that we were all talking about how the Montreal Canadians are, you know, not only the class of the North division, but also perhaps the class of the entire NHL.

How did that all fall apart, Elliot? The story was, look at the Habs, the bubble wasn't a fluke. I didn't think so either. Like I liked their team. They're deep, Jeff. Look like NHL players are getting scratched. Paul Byron could play anywhere in the league and he's getting scratched. Corey Perry could play anywhere in the league he wanted to, and he's getting scratched.

Victor Mete, Brett Kulak. Those are guys who can play on teams and they're getting scratched. Victor Mete, Brett Kulak, those are guys who can play on teams, and they're getting scratched every night because they've got so many players. They should have arguably the best goaltending tandem in the league. I look at that roster, I like it. But you know who I feel bad for?

Who's that? One of our teammates. Who's that? Chris Johnston. For the tweet yes because every time the canadian i'm saying it's a joke he called them a juggernaut and every time they lose comic book fans are posting pictures of the juggernaut being defeated in x-men comics but they look like that though i know you're dining out on the high shooting percentage and five on five.

They're dynamic. I understand all those things, but they look like that. Poor CJ is getting dragged across the internet every time the Canadians lose. But you know, I will say this too. I just think it should be mentioned. I was shocked at Mueller and some people said maybe I shouldn't have been,

but I just assume that Mueller was going to take over because, you know, he coached them in the bubble. But I would like to hear more about that dynamic. I really would. I was surprised. You know, kind of one of the things I wonder about is if this is Bergevin's last chance, he was picking Ducharme. He waxed poetic about Ducharme in the interview yesterday. And I will tell you this, I've had a lot of people think that that guy's a really good coach. I wonder if he looked at it

saying, you know, the easy way to look at it is Mueller was in charge of the power play. The power play wasn't good. But I also wonder if Bergevin's looking there and saying, okay, if I fire Claude and I don't make it Muellerer it's not going to be a good situation not that anyone's going to sabotage anything but you know muller wants to be a head coach again and he was the head coach last summer in the bubble and if you promote someone else over him is it just going to be a problem because of the way human nature is and I do wonder if that's a factor here. Like I got to think that that's at play in all of this too. Or do we just look at maybe an even simpler explanation?

And that is they want a bilingual coach. You know what? We brought this up yesterday on, on hockey central. We talked about it on your show and someone called me later in the day and just said, in this situation, I don't think it's that, I mean, it's always lurking, right? It's always in the day and just said, in this situation, I don't think it's that. I mean,

it's always lurking, right? It's always in the background. But in this particular situation, I was told Bergevin, as he said publicly, he was picking Ducharme. If you listen to Bergevin in this media conference yesterday, he says, quarantine, no quarantine quarantine uh dumb was my guy from the from the time i made my decision and uh the reason why he's a new model of coach the young coach with came a long way at success at the junior level at success at the uh world junior. I feel that the new voice, that's what this team needs. And also, he's a good communicator. And lots of times, that's what the players, I feel, based on what I saw, that's what they're looking for.

You said quarantine or no quarantine, Dom is your guy. To be clear, he is the interim head coach, correct? Yeah, till the end of the year, yes. During the remaining part of the year, will you be doing any interviews with other coaches? No. Or will you just allow Dom to do the job, and if he does a good job, it's his to lose?

That's correct. So the question to me is obvious. Why didn't you just say Ducharme's the coach then? And I think it is because if this doesn't right itself and Bergevin's in trouble, then you don't want a new GM to have a coach already. That's what I think it is. I don't think this is a lack of faith in Ducharme's ability.

I think it's just the realism of the situation. Let me give you a scenario here. Now, Tuesday night, the Brendan Gallagher disallowed goal against the Ottawa senators. Let's say that it counts. And the Montreal Canadians beat the Ottawa senators instead of losing in a shootout.

Is there still a press conference on Wednesday with the announcement of a new interim head coach yes i do think it was coming like maybe that was the last straw i got a text on sunday night saying look out you know after they lost to ottawa in overtime and sometimes these texts are like they've got to make a change there's no speculation like it's just more an opinion as opposed to information this was someone who had some information that things were turning and there was trouble the thing that's tough about it in that situation is if you send someone a note and say, hey, are you firing your coach? You're probably not getting a straight answer, right? Of course.

And, you know, Bergevin, to his credit, he keeps information there pretty tight. Like, you know, Montreal is a tough team to crack, particularly on, you know, some things like this. And I think that at the end of the day, things were kind of in motion on Sunday and it was just a matter of when as opposed to if at that point. In a situation like this, whenever there's a coaching change, you always wonder what this is going to mean for certain players.

Some it will benefit, some it won't. Are there any players on that team that you are most curious about now as we begin a new era of the Montreal Canadiens well to me this is it's got a lot to be about Philip Deneau no goals in 18 games and I think he's an incredibly important part about what they need to do you know Suzuki is really coming on I think Kotkaniemi's got a lot of room to grow still. But Deneau is their most experienced two-way center and a really good player. And his confidence looks shot. Like, I only try to judge other people the way I judge myself.

So he's an unrestricted free agent. It's been reported that the Canadians offered him a six-year deal worth $30 million, and he turned it down. I have not seen that report disputed. I have heard that they were about $750,000 apart in a season. That's what I've heard, that that was the difference. And I know what it's like because I've been there. When you're not sure about your contract and it weighs on you,

I think anybody who were is a contract employee who is listening to this you know what that's like and i just find it incredibly hard to believe that you're watching to know that that is not weighing on him and who can blame him i mean it's human so i gotta think that part of Ducharme's job here is going to be tasked to, how do we get this guy going? How can we put him in situations where he feels comfortable and something good can go his way? And I don't know if the contracting can still be worked out. The thing about what we're seeing now, Jeff, is that the teams still aren't sure what next year is going to look like, particularly in Canada. You know, we're behind on the vaccine. We don't know about

what fans are going to look like next year, how many of them, what. So all of a sudden, like this summer is being thrown into question. So I don't know if you can solve that problem, but I'm sure they're all saying there how can we get to know to feel good about himself so that's to me probably the the number one player that they're looking at and saying we got to make this work do you think compounding that issue is the fact that out of the gate this season a lot of the talk around the mont Canadiens has been about Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Nick Suzuki. The Montreal Canadiens have their one-two down the middle. And if you're Philip Deneau, you're sitting here thinking to yourself,

hold on a second here. I'm getting selkie votes. And everyone's talking about Kotkaniemi and Suzuki. And that's where the organization seems to be the warmest right now. What about me over here? You're not wrong. You know, that's what the cap does, right? One person gets the money, the other person doesn't.

Thoughts on Dom Ducharme as a head coach. I know him mainly from his background in junior hockey, covering that Halifax team. What do you think? In junior hockey, he was a legendary coach and did a great job with the Halifax Mooseheads team that not only won the Quebec Championship, but also won the Memorial Cup.

Now, that was a team with Nathan McKinnon and Jonathan Drouin. It was a real high-end, high-octane team. But everywhere this guy has gone, and even when he spent his couple years in Drummondville as well, he was always thought of as one of those junior coaches that is going to transition into the NHL quickly. Like everyone in Hockey Canada recognizes this as well. Like he was on that trajectory.

He was getting to the NHL. This guy was going to be a coach in the National Hockey League. Joël Bouchard, by the way, we should point out as well, is someone else who the Montreal Canadiens have in their organization that people talked about when he was coaching in the Quebec League. I always find it impressive, and it may seem counterintuitive, how coaches handle star-laden teams specifically in that age group. Junior hockey, we're looking at 16 to 20-year-old kids here.

So you're transitioning from, you know, you enter the league as a boy and you leave, you know, the beginnings of, of, of being a grown male. And I was really impressed at how he handled really challenging situations with the Halifax Mooseheads.

Kids getting drafted, going to camp, coming back sour because they thought they should be playing in the NHL. That becomes a handful. And that happened with that Halifax Mooseheads team. I was always impressed at how he handled. And listen, Nathan McKinnon's a pretty low maintenance person, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

But he had a real star-laden team with the Halifax Mooseheads, and he conducted it brilliantly. I've heard very good things about him. Resonating experiences for me with Dom Ducharme. Yeah. How does that translate to the NHL level? I don't know. But his reputation all the way up has been,

this guy's going to do big things in the NHL. So not surprised that he's there now. I've heard good things about his coaching, and I'm looking forward to seeing it. You know, the thing I think about Bergevin is really interesting is that you look at his staff as a general manager. Scott Mellenby is a guy who's been around

some of these GM jobs. Martin Lapointe has worked his way up the front office and the day could come where potentially Martin Lapointe is the general manager of the Canadians. And Bergevin, to his credit, isn't afraid of putting people around him that could possibly replace him. And that's actually one of the things I like about him the most is that he's secure enough in himself to do that. And not everybody is.

One of the things that I'm sort of always secretly hoping for, maybe not so secretly hoping for, is to see Patrick Waugh make a return to the Montreal Canadiens behind the bench. Yes, I know you are. To lead the team. Now, you might just say, okay, yeah, yeah, I get the pom-poms out for chaos even more here. But I've always been waiting for that general

manager that's going to roll out the red carpet for the return of Patrick Waugh. Is that one of the names at all? I know it's Dom Ducharme's gig and they're going to give him every opportunity to keep it. But even just in the past few years, or even more

so right now, things have heated up around Montreal. Has the name patrick waugh popped up on your radar much well don't forget he interviewed in ottawa for the sanders job that dj smith got right yep i just think it's the romance of it for a lot of people who are canadians fans it will never not happen the thing that hurt wall was the way he left Colorado. He announced it in the middle of the summer and, you know, they were caught by surprise. But I think there's always a statute of limitations. Like he definitely got hurt by that. And I don't know if punished is the right word, but punished for that. And then you reach a point where someone says, okay, this is over,

you know, will it be different? I just think if it ever becomes open again, you're always going to hear his name connected to it. Always, always, always. And Wa has a lot of friends in the French media who would promote him on that. So I don't think it ever goes away, really. And quite simply, we'll end on this

and we'll get to the rest of the podcast. Do we look at this situation and quite simply say, Marc Ber this and we'll get to the the rest of the podcast do we look at this situation and quite simply say mark bergevin's looking at the landscape and sees no tampa in his division sees no boston in his division and says this is the best shot we're gonna have to do this in a while you know you've said that a couple of times, and I think it's very good. Like, you don't think Toronto's thinking the exact same thing? Same thing, absolutely. I agree with you on this. Now, there is somebody else I want to mention

at the top of this podcast, the true victim of Montreal's defeat on Tuesday night. So when the score was 2-1 Ottawa, Eric Engels texted me and said, Montreal's going to win this game. And I just said, you want to bet? Because you know I like to bet. Yeah.

I really had no rooting interest, but I was like, let's make a bet on this. So he said, sure. And he says, if I win and Montreal comes back, you have to have me on the podcast. He said, sure. And he says, if I win and Montreal comes back, you have to have me on the podcast. So Montreal ties the game. They go ahead, Ottawa ties it. Initially, it looks like they win with five seconds left in regulation.

The goal gets overturned, and then they lose in the shootout. So here are the list of people who did not want to listen to Eric Engels on the podcast. Matt Murray. Yeah. Tim Stutzla. Josh Norris.

Shootout goal. Yeah. Carey Price in an act of sabotage because he didn't want to hear Engels on the podcast. Everybody involved on and off the ice in video review and god you left one thing out there what's that and rule 69.3 for contact inside the goal crease well i just said everybody involved in video review but if you want to put that in there too rule 69.3 did not want Eric Engels on the podcast. It is a huge

conspiracy against having Engels on. I think this is, I think Engels should do an investigative series into all the things conspiring against getting him on this podcast as we welcome you into another edition of 31 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC

Sierra AT4. And here we go. Welcome once again to another edition of 31 Thoughts, the podcast, Merrick alongside Friedman. Coming up, you will find out who the most positive person in the entire NHL is. Hint, his name rhymes with Mario Ferraro, defenseman of the San Jose Sharks. Holy smokes. Was this a fun conversation with such an over-the-top,

wonderful young man to say nothing of how outstanding a defenseman he is for the San Jose Sharks in a very challenging season. So we're going to get there in a little bit for each. But up first, I want to share with you part of a conversation that I had with a scout the other day. And we were talking about the draft, and we were talking about when leagues are coming back and when he's able to go and see kids

and how much video he's doing right now. And he was sort of bemoaning the fact that it's really challenging right now to be a scout. And he just flat out said to me after talking for 10 or 15 minutes, he said, look, I have no idea how to do my job effectively right now. Like, I feel like I can't do my job right now. Hard time getting a chance to have a look at anybody, let alone have context for any of these players, let alone trying to put a list together. You've written about this on the 31 blog.

And I'll tell you, man, scouts are feeling it. They're really having a hard time with this season, like more so than you'd even think. So I did write about it on the lead on 31 Thoughts on Tuesday, and I got a couple of calls, and I thought they were really interesting. And they said, you know, Elliot, you laid out all of the legal reasons why this may not happen, but what about what's the right thing to do?

The right thing for the league and the right thing by the kids. And I said, okay, tell me what you're thinking. This person's not alone. I reached out to a couple of others and had some other people reach out to me. And this is a person who's a pretty high position, and he agreed with what I wrote. He said the odds are against it because there are 12 or 13 issues that have to get solved. And when you get lawyers involved,

it's not easy to solve these issues, which again goes back to the joke, what do you call 20,000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? A good start. So he said, everything you wrote is right. Like, I don't have any issue with your accuracy, but where is the good of the game here?

And he thinks it's incumbent on the league and the players of the associations to find a way to move the draft. I did hear there are teams that do not like the whole two drafts in seven days situation or whatever it would be in June 2022. They think it's too much. They say, let us worry about one set of prospects

for a few months and then the other set of prospects for the next few months. But I think we're in a situation here where these teams feel the right thing to do for the teams and the players is to move it and that they're bothered that the legalese behind it and the dancing that you have to do to get there is being seen as too important and what's best for the game is not getting the proper service here. So this would be something that would have to be collectively bargained between the NHL and the Players Association.

Yes. This is going to have to be another conversation, and the CBA would need to be altered due to this unfortunate circumstance where everyone's having a hard time figuring out how to scout how to do this how to have the draft how to put together anything that resembles a comprehensive list for teams to select from so this is going to have to be done between the league and the players yes i agree like honestly july good luck honestly i i don't know whether it's a situation where listen if you're married to this idea of doing it in july maybe you just do the first round and you do two through seven

at a later date we can see some of the other prospects i'm not a huge fan of that but i would understand it i don't know how during this season where there are some players that are just flat out not playing competitive games at all and are just skating. And they're just practicing. Gym time. That's it. How you can have a draft. How it's fair to anybody.

But this would have to be put together with the NHL and the Players Association under the umbrella of this is an exceptional circumstance. Let's do what's right here. I agree with you. I mean, like this whole thing with the OHL, you know, 24 games, April, May rushing it in, you know, for one thing, it would be great to play, but you know, does that really solve anything draft wise? I don't think so. Like, what do you think? 24 games, two out of three playoffs after a bizarre 24 games, two out of three playoffs after a bizarre season where nobody's in a rhythm. I know that there's already scouting that's been done on these players leading up to their draft year.

And you're not just drafting based on the one season. How many times have we seen players, Connelly, Riley, injured in their draft season and they still end up going in the first round? That's all based on the scouting that's been done previous. But in a season like this, it's got to be challenging. And I don't know how much you're going to learn about a prospect in 20 games when you're cobbling it together and sort of rushing it at the end here.

Or even look at a league like the QMJHL, and that's been stops and starts all season long the Western Hockey League is is finally getting rolling I don't know I'm not so sure you can really tell much about a player based on any type of performance this season certainly not at that age for that draft class no way I'm with you Jeff I I hope they find a way you know I think I'm going to do some more work on it because I think that that should be a response. What's the best thing for the sport? And, you know, maybe it's probably a little embarrassing for me that that wasn't my initial reaction because that's the way I try to think.

In what sense? Well, that I did the article on it and just looked at the legalese and didn't think about what's the big picture. I tried to, but, you know, someone said to me, I thought you really missed the boat on this one by not looking's the big picture. I tried to, but you know, someone said to me, I thought you really, you really missed the boat on this one by not looking at the bigger picture. So equal time. I like giving equal time. Okay.

A couple of things then from around the NHL. I don't know that there's really a conversation here other than I just want to note, you know, when goofy stuff happens in hockey or different things happen in hockey, did you see the three minute and 36 second delayed penalty against the Los Angeles Kings?

That's the Blues. As the Blues had three and a half minutes. I was watching the Arizona-Anaheim game because I was saying, you know, this can't be happening again. Can't happen again. But then I re-watched that. And then Dunn. dunn gets it back

he comes in snaps a pass low for kairu off a stick of dowdy back to center this might be the longest delayed penalty in nhl history darren pang just kidding of course as now kai who gets it in there shan turned away by kempe well tory crew just had a two minute and 53 second shift have you ever seen that before i was trying to think that's what i was gonna ask you have you ever seen it that long we've seen delayed i've seen like okay they're gonna fire shots for a minute wow this is a long time bonus i can't remember but i can't remember three and a half minutes like that's got to be a record doesn't it you know the only thing i can think of even close and it involved the kings gary galley told me a great story once when he was playing for the kings because this was his second tour of duty with the kings when he was older so gary galley said they

got caught on the ice for a really long shift him and his defense partner and gary was at the end of his career and after a while like any player like you're just sucking wind right like you're just dying out there and he said rob blake jumped on the ice and took a too many men penalty wow and he said rob why'd you do that and he and rob blake said i felt bad for you so it's the only thing i could think of that's even close but no i've never seen anything like that that's hilarious um you ever thought on what's happening with the Buffalo Sabres right now? And specifically Jeff Skinner?

So as we record this part of the podcast right now, Thursday evening, Jeff Skinner is a scratch once again. A healthy scratch. Jack Eichel also not playing. That's a lower body injury. That is separate. But Jeff Skinner is a scratch for the third time

this week for the Buffalo Sabres. And as one person told me today, generally here's what he believes about scratches like this for players like Jeff Skinner. The first scratch is a message. The second scratch is punishment. And the third scratch is personal. And no one really knows where this thing is heading. No one really knows where this thing is heading no one really knows

where this is going to end there is a feeling that there are lines in the sand that are being drawn over this how do you read the jeff skinner situation i wouldn't disagree too much with what you just said there jeff it says to me he's got a no move clause and just to remind everybody what that means you can't trade him you can't waive him you can't expose him for the expansion draft unless Skinner approves now he can be bought out but it's a big ticket he's still owed after this season about 52 million dollars and I think they'll save you 15 i think it'll still cost you 37 million of the 52 to buy him out and that means he'd be on your cap for 12 years it's a big deal trading him is another question altogether but i do wonder if they're trying to say to him

give us some options where would you be willing to go? I mean, who knows? If Hall doesn't stay, Skinner might have a bigger role again next season, but you've got to get from here to there, right? And the thing that's surprising me the most about it is Ralph Kruger is the ultimate positive guy. Remember when we did the interview with Eichel last year, the media tour, Eichel was just raving about how positive he was. And Eichel did have a good year last year. And a lot of the players on that team talked about how they felt even when things went badly. Kruger was trying to be relentlessly positive.

even when things went badly Kruger was trying to be relentlessly positive so for him to be the one who's taking this act it really stands out you can't look at this and not sit there and say this is weird and odd and strange and you look at this season Adam Henrik's been on waivers. Paul Byron's been on waivers. James Neal's been on waivers. Franz Nielsen's been on waivers. Danny DeKaiser has been on waivers. The expansion draft's coming. I think the offseason's going to be really tight on free agency. I mean, these teams are saying that the old rules when it comes to dealing with players

they're over and they're going to make life uncomfortable on people if they feel that they're not living up to their contracts you know it'll be interesting to see what skinner does like i said i i think it's going to be really hard to trade that deal, but is he going to go to them and say, all right, I'm willing to give you a couple of options. You see, cause I think through this and I just wonder, because at a certain point this will end, like he's not going to, Ralph Kruger is not going to continue to healthy scratch Jeff Skinner. Who knows this might end this weekend against Philadelphia. Who knows?

But I don't know that there are actually, there probably be some people in that organization Jeff Skinner, who knows, this might end this weekend against Philadelphia. Who knows? But I don't know that there are actually, there'll probably be some people in that organization that wouldn't be surprised if Ralph Kruger does that. But when it's over, like the player can go back and the player will play again. But when you scratch someone like Jeff Skinner for a third time, it changes everything, doesn't it? And now there's been a meeting between the general manager, Kevin Adams,

and Jeff Skinner's agent, Don Meehan of Newport. Who is no shrinking violet. At all. And when you have Newport sports involved in all of this, now that adds an entire different dynamic to this. All I'm sort of getting at here is the one scratch. Okay. Two,

it's getting uncomfortable. Three is I think you're really doing significant damage to the relationship and the player might come back, go through the motions, but does it not feel to you like it'll always be different like if you're the player if you're the representation it's changed now hasn't it oh i think it has but i'm guessing in this particular situation jeff the team is almost like we don't care oh listen that's a really good point.

The one thing we should have pointed out through all of this, it really seems like, and maybe this goes back to last November when Kevin Adams traveled with the team and formed a bond with Rolf Kruger, it very much does seem like Kevin Adams and Ralph Kruger are in complete sync about all these decisions, whether it's the offseason decisions, you mentioned Taylor Hall, throw Cody Eakin in there, the re-signings, Gergensons, whomever. It does really appear as if this isn't the coach doing one thing that the general manager disagrees with. This isn't the coach doing one thing that the general manager disagrees with.

It does very much feel like Kevin Adams and Rolf Kruger are in syncopation here and very much in sync. And I'll tell you something else. I think in a decision like this, ownership would have to be aware of it. Look at the dollars that ownership is committed to this player. Yeah. $72 million.

And you're going to scratch him for three consecutive games? You're not doing that in a vacuum. How does the dynamic of Don Meehan, I mean, you mentioned, no shrinking violet and a heavyweight in the industry. Yep.

And Newport Sports. How does this complicate all of this situation for the Buffalo Sabres? Well, those guys are tough agents, right? Yeah. They're not afraid to flex their muscles. They fight hard on behalf of their clients. Now, in this case, I think ownership and the team could look to them and say,

look, this is a $72 million player who's not giving us anywhere near that value. And they're going to come back and say, fine, but the way he's being treated, people aren't getting treated like that. And maybe it's an attempt to say, this is the way it's going to be if you don't play better and they'll see how Skinner responds. Like I can't imagine that's the first time that they've talked since he signed that deal about how he's played. You just don't go a year and a half without talking, but I'm sure it was a pointed conversation. And I'm sure the Sabres are saying,

if he doesn't play better, you're not giving us very many options and i'm sure skinner is saying tough to play better when i'm on the fourth line well and that's just it too is there not an element of this that feels very much like the buffalo sabers and most specifically the head coach ralph kruger is asking skinner to maybe audition is too strong a word but rather prove that he can play a certain way to get up the lineup where he can play with players like Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhardt I think we're almost breaking this down too much I think it's pretty simple they've made this investment they don't feel they're getting their money's worth.

They're trying to squeeze them a bit, A, to send a message, and B, to say, okay, will you be willing to help us out a bit here with some teams you might want to go to? And I think the agent's coming in and saying, look, enough's enough. We don't think this is right, and we can flex our muscle too.

Do you have a thought on this year's season for the Buffalo Sabres? And let's be upfront about this as well. And let's not try to diminish the fact that COVID really hit this team hard. Yes. And even before that, at the beginning of the season, when we looked at realignment and said,

okay, who are the winners and who are the losers here? One of the teams we thought would be challenged right out of the gate in a really tough division were the buffalo sabers rebuilding team in a really tough division and now we've all known what's happened with skinner etc what's your sense of this year's season for the buffalo sabers and and and what's next for the buffalo sabers i know there's no you know undoing this knot and getting out of it right away but what's your take on buffalo right now well you mentioned the key thing there and that

was covid i don't know the exact details but it sounds jeff like the strain of covid that hit on the east coast was much rougher than the one that hit on the West Coast. And I'm saying on average. I'm sure there's specific cases where everything was different, but it sounds like the Sabres in particular were hit really hard. I mean, it was great to see on Thursday, Ristolainen was back at practice. I was very happy to see that. Yes.

But in general, from what I've heard, the Sabres got hit really hard. And this is a really tough season. It's not the bubble, but you're basically being asked, since the new enhanced protocols came out, you and your family not to really do anything. And when you're on the road, basically you're asked, if you're not in the team lounge or you're not at the game,

sit in the room. I think it's a big challenge. Because it's not in the bubble, I don't think we're thinking about it as much, especially if you're not playing well. It's a real hard challenge. So I think Buffalo's going through that. Eichel, you know, the other day,

Ralph Kruger was asked if Eichel was hurt, and he said no, and Thursday, he didn't play with a lower body injury. Jack's lower body complications showed up in the warm-up related to him not skating this morning so it definitely caught us all by surprise and there was a risk of putting him into the game situation so. Ralph I know we'll get to the game follow-up on Jack, just so everyone's clear. Did he injure something in warm-ups, or did he act? Yeah, I mean, clearly every player, right, in the pace that we're on is dealing with something, right?

So we've got things going on. Now, this was a completely development. None of us had seen or heard of something that occurred in the warm-up. It's just been a really really hard year for them and now you've got this situation you know the whole eichel thing is looming over them what's his future gonna be it's a huge challenge for them i you know kruger too i mean he really got hammered by kovid so yeah i think it's just a really hard, hard time for that franchise. The Buffalo story continues.

Before we get to our featured guest, Mario Ferraro, the most positive person in the entire NHL, who, by the way, this season, in what has been a challenging one for the San Jose Sharks on and off the ice, the combination of him and Burns have been really for the San Jose Sharks on and off the ice. The combination of him and Burns have been really good for San Jose. There haven't been a ton of bright spots for the Sharks. Logan Couture is one of those.

Burns and Ferraro very much two of those bright spots. What's your read with San Jose right now before we hit the break and come back with Mario Ferraro? First of all, I'm really happy for them that this most recent COVID scare, as we taped this on Thursday night, doesn't look to be that bad. They've been through so much

with having to start the year in Arizona. And the other night, when their game against Vegas got canceled, there were all these crazy rumors coming out. They're getting shut down for two weeks or they're going to have to go back to Arizona. It doesn't look like that's going to i'd by the way i texted one player that idea and he was horrified about it i'm glad it's not true like when by the way when you told me you texted that yeah

wednesday player i was like oh my god jeff i don't know that it's true. I just heard it. Don't start a mass panic in there. What are you doing? I was bored and we were sitting around. I didn't want like anyone to hear that until I knew if it was actual, actually going to happen. I think we knew that the chances were this was going to be a really tough year there. I do end up watching quite a bit of their games because they seem to start later than everybody else's. I actually really like their broadcast team too. I think those guys call a good game.

And I like to see what Curtis Brown's beard looks like any particular week. That's what I love about the San Jose package. And it's been this way for a long time. It sounds and looks different than everybody else. I'm with you on the broadcast. I love Sharks broadcasts. I don't love the camera positions. No, it's a long way out of there.

The tie for the worst in the NHL is Anaheim and San Jose, but the actual broadcast itself, I absolutely love. And I'm happy to see that Drew Amanda's back doing stuff with them too. Amen, brother. That's fantastic. This is going to be a tough year for them, and they're going to have to make some really hard decisions. But I'll tell you this.

I knew we were going to get Ferraro on. I really like him. And Neshov, the other young defenseman, Nikolai Neshov, he looks like a player too. San Jose was always good at finding guys kind of without having a high draft position they always seem to do a really good job of finding players but they're gonna have some tough choices to make and i wonder if they're gonna reach a point where they're gonna start to say if we want to turn this around we might have to do some things that

we don't really we didn't really envision that we were gonna do in terms of who we might have to do some things that we didn't really envision that we were going to do in terms of who we might have to consider moving to get assets. On that, we pause. We come back after a quick break with Mario Ferraro, the most positive, upbeat, man of brick here on this podcast, you'd say annoying person in the NHL. Stick around. Okay, welcome back to the podcast. Coming up, Elliot,

this was such a fun conversation. Mario Ferraro, San Jose Sharks defenseman. When I say say that name before we get to the interview what comes to your mind well what comes to our mind is the person I want to give credit to for this interview and that is our producer Amal Delich Amal was the one who put this in my ear he said he's been watching Mario's YouTube pages and he said, we should have this guy on the podcast. So I did some research and I really enjoyed getting to know him, at least in this format. And I wanted to credit Amal for putting the bug in our ear about this would be a good guest for the podcast. And he was right. From King City, Ontario to San Jose, California. Here's Mario Ferraro on 31 Thoughts to the podcast. And he was right. From King City, Ontario to San Jose, California,

here's Mario Ferraro on 31 Thoughts to the Podcast. Elliot, I'm going to read a couple of quotes here from two coaches who have coached Mario Ferraro. One. Bob Bugner. Hold on. No, no, you're not. We're not going to go do the guessing game either you're

not gonna you're not gonna get me on that one sorry I'm not giving up the sources here I asked about Mario to a couple of coaches who've had him here's coach number one happy gung-ho to help the team lots of positive energy will not be outworked okay that's one coach number two he's awesome full of positive energy there's an overlap works. Works so hard every practice, every shift, really coachable. Teammates love him. Walks into the room and the energy goes up. Can't say enough good things about his character. Mario Ferraro, have you ever had an introduction to an interview quite like that? introduction to an interview quite like that. You know what? I think that's the first time, I think, but it keeps it interesting. I love it. I'm kind of guessing too. Well, I mean, that's already the reputation you've carved out for yourself. We had a lot of things to get into in this interview. You're a really neat guy. You're a fascinating dude. But the one consistency, whether you talk to teammates, coaches, anybody is,

whether you talk to teammates, coaches, anybody is, this guy is always on infectious personality, positive energy, et cetera. How would you describe yourself? Well, first off, I appreciate the kind comments. I would describe myself as energetic and positive. You know, I like to have a smile on my face and come to rank with lots of energy. I like to have a good time.

You know, it's hockey. We're all playing the game, and it's what I love to have a smile on my face and come to the rink with lots of energy. I like to have a good time. It's hockey. We're all playing the game, and it's what I love to do. I just hope that it rubs off on the people around me. But yeah, I just say happy-go-lucky guy. Thankful for the opportunities I have, come to the rink, and just share that excitement. I got a lot of Energizer Bunny. I will say that.

I guess that's a nickname that you've been called before. But I tried to find a nickname that you've been called before, but I tried to find something different about you. And here is something that I was told true or false. I am probably speaking to the first person I've ever met who's been bitten by a centipede. Is that true? by a centipede. Is that true? That is correct. I can guess who you heard that from, but that is, that is absolutely correct. In Barbados, you know, I dropped something as a result of it. And, uh, I broke a mug because of it, but I was bit by a centipede. It was like a relative's favorite mug or something like that.

Yeah. It was my cousin, Anthony. It's his favorite mug that he said he had since 2002. He actually messaged me the other day about it. Weird enough, but it was like four years ago, but he still remembers. And, you know, he asked me to grab something for him or like a towel. So I grabbed him the towel, centipede bit my foot and I freaked out and dropped this mug, cracked it.

Okay. I have to know this. Does a centipede bite hurt? It actually does. It actually feels like almost like a bee sting, but it was a small one, but it's still really, really hurt. I don't know. It hurt me.

If you ever been stung by a bee, it stings, you know? Yeah, I understand. By the way, that information may or may not have come from your cousin robbie i can't confirm or deny elliot's got deep sources here yeah i got deep sources good story i laughed my head off when i heard it i have to tell you i never even like until that i'm 50 years old it took me this long to realize that centipedes bite people. Oh yeah. They're scary. I have to say, Mario, like there's a lot of places we could go with this interview and,

um, you know, your, your YouTube videos, I really recommend them to people. Uh, your YouTube page is. It's called youngest of plugs. The youngest of plugs. And I would recommend it. But what people told me that I thought was very interesting was that I watch those videos. And for example, I see you with your very young nephew asking him to guess his body parts and stuff like that. Like, where's your hair? And you have a really bubbly, infectious, energizing personality.

And you have a really bubbly, infectious, energizing personality. But I had a couple people tell me that there's camera Mario Ferraro and there's real person Mario Ferraro. And when you're acting, you're really acting and you're actually a lot, maybe a bit more quieter and shyer than that. But you also do this to kind of get yourself out there. Is that true? Yeah, I guess. Um, so when I'm behind the camera, I'm making my vids, I want them to come out as energy

and positivity because nobody likes to watch like a, a boring, sad, upset video. Um, but off of the camera, sometimes, you know, there's some things that, you know, obviously it's not always happy things, not always excitement. You know excitement you know obviously you guys some some situations you're a little bit more dialed in a little upset you know you know my family sister i got three older sisters at home if they start to you know tick me off over there you know we get into some heated arguments here and there uh even with my cousin rob you know i don't know i'm sure he's maybe told you a couple but uh i can get upset at him here and there too but no sometimes the anger comes out but i like to keep it positive for the most part we're all talking about now about how the next generation of players is going to be able to show their personalities more what's been the

reaction to these videos as you put them out there a lot of like friends and stuff always reach out to me surprised at some point because like they didn't think i ever made these videos and then they see them and they're they just start laughing because they know how i am outside of the videos and stuff but um i get a lot of like funny feedback some people like them some people are like what kind of vid did you just put out there like they're a little weird and i'll buy them um like yeah because i started doing like tech videos and stuff like that they're like oh i didn't know you were a tech guy like i don't know you like technology and i was like yeah well that's a little hidden uh passion that i have

in tech this is a dji mavic mini i bought it and i love it here's why then i'll post like a workout video and then I got people reaching out to me like, oh, that's a cool workout. Any advice on here, like doing core, upper body and stuff like that? First set done. Moving on to the second set, which is its strength. This is a full workout. Pause the video if you want to see it.

All right. Started off with our warm-up squat ISOs alright pause video if you want to see it so it's like a mixture of reactions from different people for sure you know the one that I really liked was your the BMX video we talked about you know making the choice for the thing that you love greater and all that there comes a point in time where you realize what's most important to you i had a lot of passions and hobbies growing up but the ones that were most important to me outweighed those other hobbies and passions and one of them being hockey hockey was a bmxing was b

it's not that i couldn't bmx at all i could but bmxing was taking away from my ability to work on my hockey skills and get better at hockey because I was getting injured for one thing doing tailwhips and barspins which absolutely sucked but also I need to spend full amount of focus on hockey if I wanted to reach my goal playing in the NHL so that's why I had to give up BMXing did you shoot that in King City which is a little bit north of Toronto where you grew up is that where you shot that yeah so I shot that uh because King City, which is a little bit north of Toronto where you grew up? Is that where you shot that? Yeah. So I shot that because King City had, they have an escape park in town, obviously seeing the video. But yeah, that was nearby.

I had a ton of like kids that were there like watching me shoot those videos. They always see me at the hockey rink right next door because there's an outdoor rink. They're like, whoa, you BMX too? And I was like, yeah. And then I got the camera out there like, oh, you're filming a video too now And I was like, yeah. And then I got the camera out there like, oh, you're filming a video too now. I was like, yeah, I'm filming a video on it. So that was a pretty fun experience. But yeah, that was in the hometown.

So you were always a BMX kid growing up then? Well, not always. I actually started in ninth grade. Met a couple of friends in high school and they were talking to me about it. And then I was like, I got to get myself a bike. I was going up to my dad and asking him if I can get a bike so i got one it was like one of the cheaper bmx bikes and uh flat tire first day i used it because i was trying to do trying to do tricks and my dad's like

he tried to tell me wait so you can get a better one i just wanted to get one right away so then i waited longer got a better one i started uh riding quite a bit and uh it was at that skate park yeah but i did it all did you ever go to joyride in markham yeah that place is unreal i went there like about three or four times there's a guy i don't know if he still rides or a guy named drew bazanson who's a a legend and he's in the area i think he lives in richmond hill i'm not exactly sure but he's always there just because my kids love it. And so I've picked up going, I just go on my mountain bike. And because when I was a kid like you, I was a BMX kid. This is the days like, you know, Redline was the big one, Diamondback, Hutch, all these.

You know, watching that video, it sort of, you know, brought me back to the days of BMXing again. You were just like skate park junkie going from one skate park to the next. Honestly, like when it comes to skate parks, not really. The only other skate park that I really went to was Joyride. And that was like, I wanted to go there. I wanted to be there every day. It was so cool. There's just so many sweet BMXers, like guys doing like backflips and tail whips and all this kind of stuff.

And I kind of, I don't know if my dad liked it too much because I wiped out a few times and he like didn't really, neither did I. When I would get hurt, it would suck because then I come home and like, oh, geez, like I got practice the next day and I'm kind of bruised up. But no, it was fun for the most part. I enjoyed it a lot. You know, it kind of sticks with you. So Mario, you spent some time with Joe Thornton during the summer. As a matter of fact, one of your videos is entitled Hanging time with Joe Thornton during the summer. As a matter of fact, one of your videos is entitled hanging out with Joe Thornton. Number one, tell me what the best advice is he gave you about being in the NHL or making

the NHL. And number two, what is the funniest thing you saw Joe Thornton do? Okay. So yeah, so I went up there for a week spent some time with him actually had my buddy come up halfway through let's just go show you how how cool joe thornton is my random friend from king city came came to hang out with us it was actually hilarious like he had such a good time but you know hanging out with joe thornton like he's going crazy but anyways um the best advice that he gave me every morning we went to uh to the gym obviously to train and he called it a tweak session uh you gotta work that's he says

it every day uh you gotta work you want to play in this league for 10 plus years you gotta work so every morning we went we grinded you see a guy that's 41 years old and I start doing reps on squats. And I said, you know, I'm going to get an extra set here because I screwed up on the first set. Next thing you know, I got Jumbo Joe Thornton coming over and doing an extra set with me. So he doesn't like to be topped. He won't let you get that extra rep in. He was bugging him one time because we were doing like treadmill sprints and we had to go but like i had to get like usually i do like extra sprints on the treadmill when i'm at home and just uh

whatever get some cardio in and he's like man we gotta go we can't be here all day i gotta go i gotta go get my kids from the the park whatever his parents would take care of him like let's go let's go here let's go. He'd hop on the treadmill, he'd bug them because he'd want to do it all the same. He wouldn't let you get more reps or anything like that, which goes to show you how hard he works and the kind of attitude that he has. So it's just about working, he said, and just putting in the work to get better. And then the craziest thing I saw him do.

Or the funniest thing. Or the funniest thing? Yes. craziest thing i saw him do or the funniest thing or the funniest thing yes i think the funniest thing just would have been the fact that for some like he loves to cut grass like i don't i don't i don't know i don't know why but he loves to cut grass and the whole week that i was there he was just talking about cutting his lawn he's like i gotta cut the grass because he was leaving to go to uh switzerland after that and the whole week he's just talking about it then it rains it rains on like the the wednesday or whatever and then thursday he's like

he's going to town he's got his he's sitting on his his lawnmower and he's just mowing grass for at least a couple hours this is a big lot that he has over there so he's mowing grass for a while that's awesome chilling i look over at him and he's mowing grass for a while. That's awesome. Chilling. I look over at him and he's just smiling. He gives the boys a way me and my buddy. We're playing mini sticks with the sun. It's hilarious.

There's a lot of good videos and a lot of interesting things you've done. What's your dream video? Oh, dream video. I think right now a Stanleyley cup video would be unreal that's a great answer good answer if doug wilson and bob bugner are listening to this that's an excellent answer yeah i know but i saw um ever since alex petrangelo who happens to be uh my neighbor in king city ever since i saw him eating pasta out of the Stanley Cup,

I figured that would be an unreal video to put on YouTube. Just cooking some food and putting it in the Stanley Cup. Were you at his Stanley Cup party? Were you there? No, I wasn't. No. So did you like peek over your fence or something like that? I don't think that was allowed.

I don't think that was allowed but uh i should have tried to fly my drone so i could take a quick peek at what they're doing i've noticed that you haven't posted a video in several months is there a clear delineation between fun time and now it's hockey time when it comes to this interest of yours yeah that's kind of like what i try to do is separate the two last year i was making some during the year but i figured you know it's a tight schedule we got a lot of games um in three months and it's just like i had a lot of time to make videos so now we're putting that aside and and focusing on being the best i could be on the ice so i try to divide it just because I want to stay focused.

And, you know, the better that we do, the more entertaining, I guess, the videos will be when the season is over or close to over, you know. So try to separate the two. Let's do some hockey questions. Yep. Nice. So one of my favorite things about watching the San Jose Sharks

is watching you skate. Can you describe that thing you do with your head? It's almost like a button you push to try to make yourself go faster. It's one of the most unique things in the NHL, Mario. People say it's like a little bobble. Like I bobble my head and just get going. It's honestly, I don't want to insult you but like i watch it and it's hilarious and it's like boom all of a sudden it's like a next gear that you hit

yeah no i don't know i think growing up when i was like always at practices and stuff i tried to like start drills really hard and obviously finish them hard as well but i think that like one of my assets is like the first few steps so i try and like put a lot of juice into those first few steps. That's why you see the head bobble, you know, I'm just trying to kick in, get the gas going real quick. But yeah, that's like an asset is being quick on pucks in the corner and stuff. So, um, I've had a lot of work done with that, like in the past, like with personal trainers and stuff throughout the summer.

And it just kind of stuck with me at a, since I was young, I keep doing it. That's just, uh, that's my stride, I guess. Who do you work with in the summers? Uh, I work with a few different people. Steve Cathcart is a guy I work with. I work with, uh, Joe Venuto all out of Toronto area. Yep. Uh, my trainer's name is Joe Costa.

He's out of Toronto as well. But yeah, I kind of try to use a variety one of the other unique things and this is so rare like you always almost forget that this is you know your second year playing with the san jose sharks because you you kind of play like someone's played in the nhl for a lot longer you know the old saying about you know about defensemen and don't defend you know stop the rush before it gets in your zone and you have to start defending. I'm always impressed at how you end plays. Like you're a second year NHL-er and you end plays. Like we're not used to seeing defensemen this young stop plays as much as you do.

Do you have a thought on that? Yeah, I think a lot of the credit goes to like San Joseose the coaching staff and all the scouts here the first year i came into san jose they said one of the most important things that i need to work on is is having a good stick and defend the rush skating forward and i think that really helped me when in college on working at closing plays and having a good gap um obviously i'm aware that you know just being in this league over a year, like there's a lot of talent up there. So stopping the rush before they get into the blue line is crucial. So I just work on defending skating forwards

and trying to skate lateral to maintain gap rather than just north-south all the time. And I guess it's helped out so far. Obviously, there's areas to improve, but just help a great coaching staff here and scouting to kind of instill that mindset to make sure that I'm working on that, being aware of it on the ice. You know, the story I heard about you, Mario is, you know, you were a later round draft pick in the OHL by the Barry Colts. You chose the, um,

USHL and then UMass route in hockey East NCAA. And what I heard about you from people who saw you as a younger player was you're one of those guys with a later growth spurt. And the moment you did all of the work you put in on the gym and I, and you know, I hear you work hard paid off. Like all of a sudden you went from a guy people weren't sure about to a guy people were very sure about. What was that transformation like in your life?

I didn't even think about it like that in terms of growth spur. Like it was always on. It was definitely always on my mind. Like always, I was always an undersized defenseman when I was playing for the Toronto Marlies at a younger age and Don Mills Flyers just before I was drafted to Barry but I kind of just try to work as hard as I can and not think about like where I'm going in terms of the path kind of understood that like everybody has a different path and so when I was drafted by Barry I really wanted to you know take that route and get to to the OHL you see i see all my teammates and on the marlies

on don mills guys going straight to the ohl but i wasn't ready i was smaller and so i just i played a year in the ojhl which i was fortunate to make the team that year and just that that transition i started to see a little bit of development or confidence i guess uh moving forward in juniors and it kind of went through seamlessly like i feel like it was more of a mental change rather than a physical one. But I guess certain people can argue otherwise. I just felt more mentally confident out there in terms of using the strengths in my game to kind of progress. But I try not to let the size thing and being undersized, I try not to let that bother me.

And it was just all about compete and trying to work hard to get to that next level year by year. So you go to the USHL for Des Moines and then you're eligible for the draft. And the story I was told is you went to the 2017 draft, but you were expecting and your family was expecting you were going to be there for a while. You were going to get taken, but it wouldn't be quick. And so you come for the second day and you get taken 49th overall by San Jose. Now, you can tell me if my information is good or bad.

Number one, you weren't expecting to be taken that quickly and it was a positive surprise. And number two, you didn't know it was going to be taken that quickly and it was a positive surprise and number two you didn't know it was going to be san jose yeah you're you're you're accurate on on both ends there actually 100 you pinpointed it because uh i definitely didn't think i was going to go in the second round um you see the projections and stuff and i was thinking a lot later so i was sitting pretty comfortably there in the in the second and honestly san jose i think the bigger shock was that it was san jose because we had the nhl combine and my meeting did not seem like i think it probably went the worst out of all the teams that it went with

and it was it was in my head like when i was was there, like I was saying, wow, that was just, that wasn't good. Like that wasn't a good meeting at that time. I was nervous for those interviews. So like you really speculate on, like you look, you think back to how each one went. And instantly I was like, yeah, San Jose is not taking me. I'm done. No way. No chance.

What was so bad about it? What happened? No, I just, I forget like the tests that they were doing, like stuff you write on paper, like, and I don't remember exactly what it was, but Tim Berkey here is the, uh, one of the, he was the head scout at the time. I was assistant GM. Now he was pretty, uh, he was pretty hard on, on me, not in a bad way. It was like a good way.

Nothing bad was said, but, um, it was just like one of those interviews that, you know, you're nervous for. You got a bunch of people in the room and I just felt like it just didn't go well. I felt like I was speaking with stutters and just nervous to be there. And I guess it was because I did better or much better on the other ones in terms of communication and stuff like that. And I just felt like it didn't go that well. So it was just weird. It was just weird.

But then it was a pleasant surprise. It was like, what California that's unreal. Yeah. It just went, it was just excitement from there. Uh, what did the physical, like what, what did all the, like the, the rest of the combine, like all the, the workouts, how did that go for you? Uh, the physicals went really well. Um, yeah, that was, uh, I think that's the part I was least nervous about.

And it was at towards the end of the week there at the Combine. And it went pretty good. It was definitely something you were nervous for, too, because you had a lot of scouts, like, watching you. They're just all standing there. And I had one guy, I don't remember who he was. He just kind of said in my ear, do you drink coffee? And I was like, well, no, but now I get here and I see a bunch of guys drinking coffee

and I'm like, should I drink the coffee? It was just before we were about to do like a long jump or whatever and vertical jump and then everything went really well. That was something I was preparing for for a while. When you were on the bike for VO2 did you have that guy with the braids screaming at you I don't think I had the guy with the braids screaming at me but it was somebody else and

yeah they were they were in my ear what kind of question is that Merrick what kind of guy what kind of question is that the guy with the braids he became legend of the combine he's like the most intense like guy after guy and some of the guys i mean you know those big black curtains that right they have

there mario for the guys are like okay i'm done i'm cooked i'm gonna lose it i'm losing my breakfast here and i don't know that i've ever seen a guy because i've seen plenty like even at our gym because there's a lot of a lot of kids that play in the ohl at our gym they're you know a lot of them end up getting drafted they They'll prepare for the VO2 max, and our trainer will scream at them a little bit, but nothing like this. Honestly, I had never seen anything like it, Mario. The way this guy would get on you guys

for the VO2 max was intense. I know who you're talking about because I've seen videos like that because I was watching a bunch before the combine actually happened, and I saw him getting in guys' ears Cause I've seen videos like that. Cause I was watching a bunch before, before the combine actually happened. And I saw him getting, getting in guys ears. I don't know if it helps,

but it definitely, I guess it passes. It's, it passes a time and the 30 seconds goes by a lot quicker. Yeah. You never thought you'd have to go behind the curtains. You're okay. Um,

yeah, it was fine. Um, but it's something that hits you. Like you're sitting there. It's like, Oh, I wasn't that bad. And then like 30 seconds something that hits you. You're sitting there. It's like, oh, I wasn't that bad. And then 30 seconds goes by and you're just in a spin cycle.

You go to UMass, and there's two people I want to ask you about who you played with at UMass. One is Kael McCarr, and the other is become a guy who you are synonymous with, not only because you're good friends, but the other night he scored his first NHL goal and fittingly, you got an assist. And that is John Leonard. Tell us about Cale McCarr and your close friendship with John Leonard.

Well, obviously everybody knows who Cale McCarr is, given how unreal he is at hockey. So yeah, at UMass, it was like the first year we got there. We had like a 13-man freshman class, and those two were obviously a part of it, and Cale was definitely a huge part of that group. And it was just super unreal to see him, like, explode in the second year and then just, you know,

win the Hobie, and then the next thing you know, he's with Colorado in the playoffs, gets his first goal. And he was a great teammate. And we chat here and there. And then John Leonard, that was just an unbelievable bonus. I was roomies with him in college. So we were real tight. We were real close with each other.

And then when I saw him get drafted after his second year, that was really special. It was all up from there for him. He obviously had a great third season last year with uh with UMass huge production wise and then he came over here and I had no doubt that oh you would crack the lineup and it's and it's really fun to you know experience that I told him after he scored his first goal like that couldn't have worked out better because we were talking about it before the game that on my first goal puck, I have Barkley Goodrell and then Timo who were assistant on the goal. And then now his puck is going to say Ferraro, which isn't as special as some other guys can see. But I was like, well, you got a four-way teammate on there.

I know he's probably hoping for like a couture, like a bird team. He's got Ferraro on there. or like a couture, like a birdseed. He's got Ferraro on there. It's not too bad. That's awesome. You this year, the two defensive partners you've played with the most are Brent Burns and Eric Carlson. There would be a lot of young defensemen

who would walk into the NHL at your age and they would be told, okay, you're going to play with these two guys and they would be intimidated. When you found out that it was going to be Burns and Carlson, what was your reaction? It was more excitement. Like, let's go. You know, I got really close with all my teammates, but especially Burnsy in my first year. So this year, I was pretty excited to play with the both of them. But to start off with Burnsy, you know, he's always like,

you get that puck to me, eh? You get that puck to me. You get that puck over. You know, you get that puck over. Whether it's on the blue line, like, he just wants the puck on the six I'm like all right I'm throwing passes and whether they're flat or they're three feet in the air he's I love that love that just get it to me just get it to me and he'll deal with it from there so I was excited because he's a fun player to play with and he he works so hard and then Eric is just you know he's a crazy talent he's just

unbelievable you know and and you put the puck on his stick and he can do the rest of the work for you as well so both those guys are so fun to play with but i i understand what you're saying when that like that those nerves uh they definitely creep in uh because you want to be the the best that you can be playing alongside those players like they've had such unreal years in the past and you kind of want to be a part of a, another special year that they can have. So there are those nerves that creep in, but I think friendship and just being close with them as teammates kind of

overtakes that limits those nerves a little bit. Has Burns taken you antelope hunting or anything like that? He's asked me to go to his uh to his ranch uh this summer it just didn't really quite work out with covid and everything but uh maybe that's for the better i don't know if i belong there from king city playing with brent burns that means you get hard matchups who's been the toughest either player or line to defend? I mean, you play with Burns, that's great, but that means you're going out there against top lines.

Yeah, that's definitely not easy, playing the whole game against top lines, especially when you're on the road too. You're getting put out there. Sometimes you're with the third, sometimes with your first or second, but I'd say the hardest line that we've had to go against so far this year was Colorado's top line.

They're pretty good. It's definitely a challenge, but I love it. You know, you're engaged the whole game, and it's a good feeling, you know, when you have a strong offensive shift too. You're in the O zone against a top line. You can see that, you know, if you're out playing them, it feels good. And every line is definitely a challenge, but I feel like it's a good thing.

You know, it's nice to be held to that challenge that it's more of an opportunity than anything. So it's great. I love it. Have you had McKinnon barreling down you at full speed yet? I have had that freight train just coming right at me. Um, and,

it's a lot of speed. It's a lot to deal with. That's for sure. He got a shot off and I was lucky, a great goaltending, um, on us to, to make the save the one time and others,

uh, it happened a couple of times. I think the best way to deal with it is to, to force them to pull up. But then when he pulls up, it's risky too. Cause you've got Kale McCarr coming down as a fourth man and you're like, oh boy, like that guy can wheel. And if you did that, the puck ends up on his tape and you got something else to worry about.

Um, so it's, it's like, once he pulls up, you gotta make sure you're hard on him quick and get a stick in there. So you can't really make that second play or that delayed play. Um, but he's a challenge. I've only got one more for you and it it's kind of a frivolous one, and I may know the answer to it, but let's just see what happens. Mario Ferraro, who is the most ridiculous person in the San Jose Sharks player group chat?

Player group chat? Yeah. The most ridiculous, do you mean just just goofy over the top i can't believe he said or did that ah this is a tough one because our group chat is not as active as the ones i've been in in the past so it's kind of a tight race but I I'd probably go with Burnsy really yeah he'll chirp guys here and there or honestly it's either him or Tommy Hurdle likes to to yap it up in the group chat he's one of the funniest NHLers we know Thomas Hurdle he is so like undercover funny like such a great guy but he loves he loves to be a little bully sometimes I love it like He's so funny. My last two questions.

Number one, the Sharks had to begin this year with a long, long road trip. That's a big challenge, especially for the guys who have families. How did you guys get through that? What were the toughest things about getting through that? Oh, yeah. That definitely wasn't ideal. It wasn't easy, but I think the hardest thing with all that is just that we couldn't, couldn't go anywhere. Um, we couldn't go out to eat or we couldn't go at a little events or anything like that. Um, I know all teams are

kind of struggling with that, but the fact that, you know, we weren't even at home getting to sleep in our own beds was just a grind. Uh, you go to hotel, not to mention you don't have a kitchen, so you can't cook food. So we're having door dashed steaks or, you know, sometimes I go with the simple sapole here and there. I won't lie about that. So stomachs kind of took a beating here and there if you weren't careful. But yeah, I think that's probably the hardest thing. It just gets boring sometimes because we're not supposed to be hanging out with each other either. We have to be isolated in our rooms, masks on all the time.

And, you know, it would be a little easier if we were, you know, able to hang out with each other a little more, get the fellas together for some dinners and stuff. But we got to limit that as best we can in order to stay safe. So that was probably the biggest grind is just not having much to do and the food. All right. I got one last one and we'll let you go. What is four times four times 48? Oh, that's just definition of a grind. It's a challenge that David Goggins, I don't know if you know who David Goggins is, but

yeah, he's a former US Navy SEAL. And he came up with this little challenge. I don't know if it was him that came up with it, but that's where I saw it. That's where I got it from. You run four miles every four hours for 48 hours. Insanity. Insanity. Yeah.

It's absolutely insane. It's, it's one of those things where it's more like the mental grind of getting through it. Cause you got to run every four hours and like, you can't sleep. Can't really, like if you eat too much too, like your stomach gets upset. Cause you got to run so much. So it's just like, he likes to call it to put something in that cookie jar. Like the cookie jar is like, you know, a bunch of these experiences that you have are like,

that are that grind that you got to push through. That was one of them. 12 a.m. All set and ready to go for my eighth run. Not even going to think, just going to do it. Let's get it. 12.30 a.m. we're out here on the street run number eight fell down the stairs minus eight degrees out here just being hit with some more adversity ready to take this one down

but on the bright side the moon looks fantastic beautiful it's tough to finish but it i feel like it helped me mentally like it's mentally strong you know like i already put it in my head that i was gonna do it and i told social media and stuff so it's like oh gotta do it i can't quit on it now yeah gotta do it you can't can't quit on it oh my god i i'm exhausted and sore just thinking about it when you're done something like that like is it like okay right to bed or have something to eat like what do you do because you must be like just so physically exhausted what do you do at the end of that oh it was so it felt so good though like the beginning of the like the runs that i was doing because you have to do it 12 times that's what it comes out to

it's basically two marathons but you have to run 12 times so at the first time like the first few like i would finish at my house because i would have a specific route that comes to four miles but the other ones i was just so gassed that later in the runs, I would just run until my Apple watch said it was at four miles. So sometimes I would be like a kilometer or a mile away from my house. So I'd have to walk back. But the walk actually wasn't that bad. Like I loved it. Like just walking back was nice.

Feels good. You get it done. Whatever mentally you feel good. So when I was done, I finished like not that close to my house. And I kind of just like laid in the middle of the road. Like I was so fired up. Uh, it was just felt so good to be done. And then I got back and my mom was going nuts cause she would stay up for me.

So kudos to my mom. Like she set up for 48 hours. Love you, mom. Oh my goodness. She knows she would stay up when I had to run. Cause I was running at like three in the morning. So she didn't want, like, she didn't want to go to bed. So she would stay up when I had to run Because I was running at like 3 in the morning So she didn't want to go to bed So she would stay up until I got back

And then she'd hit the sack Yeah Oh wow Give a shout out to your mom, what's your mom's name? Diana, Diana Ferraro Diana Ferraro, you are mother of the year That is outstanding First star

Yeah she really is So when i got back when i was done the run her and my sisters were waiting with signs it wasn't supposed to be something where it's like oh like congrats like whatever but they were waiting with signs that said congratulations on completing it whatever and i had a big plate of spaghetti with meatballs right after that like i ate like i ate a lot because I, I hadn't eaten like a good meal in two days and I was running and I lost, like, I think I lost 12 pounds or something and I was just eating.

Oh my God. I was just eating. Yeah. So that was great. So for your legs, like, is it like Theragun time right away as soon as you're done or what do you do? Oh, I, I just, I was stretching a lot during it.

Um, and then once it's like, my legs were actually surprisingly enough, my knees and my legs, my feet were fine. It was just more exhaustion. Like I felt like my head, like I just felt out of it because I was so tired. It was just a sleep deprivation. So I just had to sleep it off quite a bit to recover. But surprised you didn't. Yeah, it was crazy. Fall asleep face first into your spaghetti, dude. Seriously.

You just do the face plant right into your pasta. I was too hungry. That's awesome. Mara, you're a wonderful guy and you gave us way more time than you probably expected. And we appreciate it. Listen, best of luck the rest of the way. You're a, you're a fun player to watch and man, your videos a lot of fun you're just a top dude the game is better with you in it so continued success thanks very much I appreciate it guys it was awesome being on here thanks very much Mario I really appreciate it thank you that was just flat out a lot of fun we hope you enjoyed listening to it as much as we enjoyed having that conversation with Mario Ferraro.

And by the way, links to his YouTube page are available in the show description. Also available in the show description, links to Christine Simpson's piece with Mike Babcock in this week's edition of The Big Picture. I want to remind you as well, the PWHPA Dream Gap game on Sunday, 7 o'clock Eastern for Pacific.

You can watch that on Sportsnet 360. Also on Sportsnet Now. And Juana Elliott, and maybe you can weigh in on this one as well. I want to congratulate Tim McAuliffe and Sid Cicero for just an outstanding run, an amazing

run, changed the Canadian sports media landscape on a number of different platforms as well. Wish Tim the best. Wish Sid the best on Breakfast Television. You made your last appearance on Wednesday on Tim and Sid. Give us your final thought on these two. I'm happy I never have to go on their show again. Congratulations, boys.

Well done. All right. We're heading out east for our outro this week. The 2018 CBC Searchlight winner, Aquaculture, have been making a name for themselves in the Halifax music scene for the last five years, releasing a number of uplifting singles. From the 2020 debut album, Legacy, here's Aquaculture with I Doubt It

on 31 Thoughts, the podcast. Have a great weekend. Wait a minute. Capitalism in prison systems. I can't tell the difference. Meanwhile, I'm too busy picking up my people, encouraging them to speak loud.

We're the leaders of the leaders. Marsha Ambrosia The flow of tree chills sky so golden And I'm happy you're here now You can tell your grandchild You made love to this high to end now Cause I'm proud Just control the crowd and we got it

I'm sharing with you the things that I've found You claim and know you understand But I doubt it but I doubt it I doubt it I doubt it Alright, let me check that Jesus Christ, they're so high, no pressure, they got us grieving for life I can still hear them reading my rights, calling me cause my skin ain't white This is that Beverly Glenn Copeland, how'd I get this far?

Patience, the backbone to our family Fighting for whoever needed a head cause a plan is the short of my power Just control the crowd and we got it I'm sharing with you the things that I've found You claim and know you don't understand But I doubt it, I doubt it I doubt it