32 Thoughts: The Podcast - The Nine Game Convo

Episode Date: November 3, 2025

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman begin the podcast by honing in on the players entering the nine and ten game marks of the first year of their ELC's. That's followed by a conversation about the November 1st milestone and teams that make the playoffs (15:00). They talk about David Kampf in Toronto (19:30). The fellas check-in with the Anaheim Ducks and their upward trajectory (31:30). Elliotte weighs in the Jacob Markstrom two year deal (35:41). Kyle asks Elliotte about the hot New York Islanders (38:15). They touch on Chris Tanev's health scare (42:00). The guys talk about the Sens-Habs rivalry and how its really heating up (43:30). The Final Thought focuses on the Toronto Blue Jays World Series run and the boys recent trip to watch the Lions play the Vikings (46:17). Kyle and Elliotte answer your emails and voicemails in the Thoughtline (1:04:30).Today we highlight Toronto (via Winnipeg) MC Anthony OKS and his track Handz Out. Check him out here.Listen to all the 32 Thoughts music 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

I'm like, you know, wear that? He goes, no, no, I'm not going to wear that. I go, why not? He goes, it's Detroit. I might get killed for this. Again, this is a guy. Really? Who fancies himself as a tough guy.

And his name rhymes with Schmevin Shmi-Xa. But I'm not giving it away. Welcome to it. Another edition of 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Elliot Friedman, the captain of our ship, Dom Shammati, working in the engine room. And I'm just taking up space somewhere in the third-class headquarters. Do you know who Edward Smith was? Edward John Smith.

Hmm. Was he the captain of the Titanic? He was. That's a great guest, Kyle. And when you introduce me as the captain of the ship, all I feel like saying is iceberg right ahead, because that's the only ship that I could captain. That's right. As in the same thing. Keep going. We need to get there faster. Turn left as fast as you can. Yeah. So we had a busy Sunday, you and I. I'm still in Detroit.

You did the drive down from Toronto and back, because we all with David Amber and Kevin B.X enjoyed a little afternoon football, Vikings lines. We'll get into that a little bit later as well as kind of the big picture sports weekend from football to hockey to baseball, of course, as well. But a pretty busy weekend around the NHL. to Elliot. And, I mean, we come off Friday's episode where a lot of conversation was about the business getting done, some big contracts getting signed around the league. And now at kind of a different pinpoint when you look at the career trajectories of certain guys, those entering the nine and ten game marks in the first year of their entry level deals. Zane Perak being one of them in Calgary. He was a player that you had mentioned on headlines. on Saturday, had sat for a couple of games, got back in. Sunday in Philadelphia played his

10th game just under 13 minutes, a plus one. The Flame salvaged the road trip there. Sam Dickinson, another example, played his 10th game for the Sharks on Sunday, scored his first NHL goal. Ben Kindle in Pittsburgh, he's at 11 games. Ben at Seneca, 11 games for Anaheim. He was great. As were the Ducks on Sunday. He's up to four goals now on the year. And there's some other names that are creeping up towards that around the NHL as well. The nine game conversation, Elliot. It's always a talking point

when players in their first year get there. As time has gone on, do you think that is as big of a threshold for the teams themselves as maybe it was in years past? I don't. I don't think the nine games

or the 10th game matters as much as it used to. Now, a guy like Brady Martin, who wasn't really playing at all, I can understand why Nashville and Barry Trott said, look, if the guy's not going to play, we're not going to waste his time up here. He needs to play. So that one I get. But for some of these other guys like Dickinson and Perak, like the one thing about Perak is, I don't think there was any chance he was going back to Junior. I think that decision was made a long time ago.

Now, Perak this year received what is called his housing letter, which means that's basically the letter. get when you're told you're staying with your NHL team for the rest of your year. You're no longer being bounced up and down and you get the commitment to get a place and if you do get sent down after that, then the

team has to cover it. Perrette got that. He got his letter, but the bigger thing I really believe is that the flames didn't see any benefit of him going back to junior this year. They know he can dominate junior and they just felt that he had to go somewhere else

where he could learn different lessons and face different challenges. And with Perak, you also see the ability, but what you also see is you see the rawness. You know, like physically, he's getting dominated a bit out there. And even though, like I said, he's going to be a great player in the NHL for a long time, he's got a lot to learn.

and um but i never thought that the flames are going to send them down uh i all i just generally believe that they don't care about the 10th game what i think teams care more about is the 40th day game on the roster now this is a little different for your 10th game you can be on the roster say your team plays 28 games, but you've only played nine, you've got to wait until your 10th one. But the 40 means you're on the roster for 40 games, whether you play or not. And that 40th game gives you a year towards both arbitration and unrestrictive free agency. So I think it's a situation where most of these teams that care more about the 40th overall game than they do about the player's 10th game. Some of these teams will say, okay, we'll burn that first year because two or three years

down the road, we don't think it's really going to matter in terms of your contract. But you burn that year towards arbitration or UFA, that one absolutely matters. So I'm not surprised that, especially in Calgary's case with Perak and in some of these other cases we've seen, that some of these teams are saying, you know what, I don't care about 10 will really make our decision around 40. The interesting thing with Parek is I don't think that the flames want them sitting around a lot. Like there's a big debate going on right now about who's in the lineup and who's out of

the lineup and, you know, ultimately the flames may make other roster decisions which forces their hand here. We'll see as the how this unfolds. But the bottom line is with Porek, they don't want them. sitting around and doing nothing. Either he won't play and we'll go on a conditioning stint and eventually we'll go to the world juniors or he'll play a little bit and he'll go to the world juniors. But I don't think this is one of the big challenges.

You've got the GM controls the roster, but the coach controls who's playing. Sometimes there are disagreements when it comes to this stuff. I just don't think that the flames are going to want Perrette sitting around for a ton of time. Right, because the challenge becomes, and Porek wouldn't be unique to this situation. I'm sure organizations have these conversations and decisions to have to make often when they've got a young player in a similar situation where, I mean, you go back to the opening night in Edmonton for Calgary, right? Perrette didn't dress that night. And that, I think, was by design, understanding it's a big night, first game, national audience. it's Connor McDavid, it's Leon Dry Seidel,

a little bit of let's protect the kid a bit here. We'll get him in later on in the week, certainly at their home opener a few days later, right? Things like that. I think that's been a big part. And Eric Francis wrote about it too. I mean, he's been all over it and understanding. This is not about, as he said at the end of his column.

It's not about the first 10 games. It's about the next 10 years with this guy and trying to set him up best for success. And, well, a lot of times I kind of come back to, well, really, would another year in junior really hurt here? Perrek, I think is a great, great example of why you're seeing the change in the CBA coming in next year where teams can designate one 19-year-old, even if they're coming out of the Canadian Hockey League, to be able to play in the A.HL at that time. Their problem is it can't come soon enough for the flames. They wish that was the case this year That they could do that

So, you know, we'll see with some of these guys I think it'll be situations where You're going to see more and more teams And more and more players say We don't mind keeping you until four Let's see how many of these guys last 40 games Let's see who gets to burn the year I wouldn't be surprised if some of the guys

Who are there now don't make 40 And again, it's your team's 40th. It's not your 40th. Also, when you mentioned the conditioning stint, you remind everybody how that would have to work in a case for whether it's Perak or anybody that's in that whole can play in the NHL, can play in the CHL, but not in the American League? When it comes to a conditioning stint, what happens is you've got to be healthy scratched for a while, five games, I think it is. And if that happens, you can be sent to the American Hockey League for a conditioning stint, and it's basically

five games or 14 days. And you can do that once, if I remember correctly. So they could do that, but, you know, Calgary started the clock again on Saturday night and Sunday night in Philadelphia. He played. So, you know, it would have to be scratches again. Calgary started the clock again on Sunday night in Philadelphia since as you mentioned he played they'd have to have him out you know five more games teams don't generally like to change a winning lineup and they won so maybe he stays in we'll see I also just wanted to shout out Devin Cooley because at the beginning of the year his position in Calgary was very tenuous he did not have a good preseason and the flames were really worried about the backup net money

position and they were looking around, well, he's been one of their best players. And again, he came in on Saturday after they got down three nothing after one against Nashville and he gave them a chance to get back into that game. So since he was someone I was talking about early in the year, I just wanted to recognize him because I think they had a conversation with Cooley where he was kind of wanted to know what his future was. And they said, look, you have to be better and to his credit he didn't back down and he's been better sure has he was dynamite the first half of last year down in the america league and then got hurt and it just seemed like he had been on a journey ever since to try to find that level again but making some strides uh there is

devon coolly so yeah so by the way we should shut out we should shut out dickinson scored his first NHL goal on Sunday night, although they did lose in the shootout to Detroit, suddenly that Detroit Vegas game later this week or on Tuesday night is something really interesting. The Red Wings have pulled back into a tie with Montreal, points-wise, atop the Atlantic Division. And the Golden Knights, to me, are a measuring stick team. I like to see how teams play against them. Like when you're new and you're coming up, I like to see.

how you look when you play Vegas. They're a measuring stick team. I watched that game on Friday afternoon between Colorado and Vegas, and again, it's Vegas and it's Colorado, and Colorado look really good. I was very impressed with Colorado in that game against Vegas, but you expect that. You know, Detroit, they lost to Anaheim, but they have won twice in a row in shootouts. They beat L.A. and they beat San Jose in a typically entertaining Sharks game the other night. So I'm really curious to see Detroit against this one.

I mean, the one thing people really say about the Red Wings is they're much better five-on-five than they have been for some time. And that's one very noticeable thing about them. But I'm curious to see them in Vegas at the end of a road trip. that's a game that's got kind of trap written all over it. So that'll be an interesting one for Detroit. I'm looking forward to watching. Can I just say quickly about the Detroit Santa Jose game on Sunday night?

So as you say, entertaining, overtime was great. Chances back and forth. The young skill talent on both sides is Celebrini and Will Smith going up and down the sheet. and there's Lucas Raymond and Emmett Finney's out there and there's Dylan Larkin doing his thing, though he's a little bit older, but still one of the more entertaining guys to watch. And then you get to the shootout,

nothing going on in the first couple of rounds, until James Van Riemsdyke closing in on 1,100 career games played. He scores the winner in the shootout for Detroit. The vet still got hands. This is why I think guys like Van Riemsdyke really help you, Because if you neglect the shootout, after Pat Quinn left Toronto, I once had this conversation with him. There was one year, Toronto, I wasn't say there was one year, there were a couple years that Toronto really struggled in the shootout that Quinn believed cost them playoff berths. And at one time, he said if he could do things over, he would have found maybe a specialist or two.

It was because he was more of a hockey purist And he liked hockey a certain way He kind of admitted that he wasn't crazy about the shootout And didn't think about Oh hey do I need someone specifically good in this That's a point at the end of the year Because James Van Rimsdeg scores in that game Where you

It might be a point that matters somewhere down the road So when he scored that goal Kyle That's the first thing I thought of Is that signing going to get you either a playoff berth or home ice advantage because he gets you that point in that game? Very good, very good. Yeah, he still provides use in a number of different fronts

and shoot-up being one of them. So a couple more points to collect for Detroit, leaving them, as you say, up at the top with Montreal and the Atlantic Division as we wake up here on November the 3rd, meaning we are a couple days past the November 1st, which is a big day on the Elliott Friedman calendar. You want to remind the listeners why? I have a stat, and basically in the cap era, full 82 game seasons, if you take a look at after

games played on November 1st, four points or more out of the playoffs, there have been 72 teams. Kyle, how many do you think have made the playoffs? Hmm. It was more than 10, I'd be surprised. It's 10. It's exactly 10. So it's just under 14%. So 82 game seasons, Capp era, 72 teams have been four points or more out

on November 1st. 10 have made the playoffs. Now, some people have asked me if Montreal was one of those teams last year because remember they were in last place in the Eastern Conference in what December the answer is no they were not one of those teams they were closer then they fell apart and they caught back up so there's always exceptions last year there were two teams neither made it this year there's three contenders um none of them are in the Eastern

conference there was nobody four points out but in the West it is San Jose it is Calgary and it is a team I never would have expected, St. Louis. Yes. That was the eyebrow razor, the blues. The blues. It's been a tough go for them. And I think, yes, and I think the Blues and the Wild, who got a huge home win against Vancouver on Saturday night,

I think those two teams have been looking around. Not necessarily on the precipice of doing anything. But just kind of, I heard both those teams were making calls last week. What's out there? Is there anything we're missing? Just want to know, just in case, just there's certain points where teams start asking around.

Maybe it's your job as a GM to know what's out there, but there are certain times it takes on a bit more urgency or you reignite conversations. And I think for both those teams, Doug Armstrong, Bill Guerin, last week was about that. Let's make some calls. Let's see what's out there.

Don't know if anything's necessarily going to happen so quick. You know, the Blues called up Dvorsky from the American Hockey League. I thought that was interesting. But I think they were at least, let's find out what's out here do you think that would have turned up much though at this stage because I mean I would say there's more teams than

certainly I would have thought this far into the year that are still looking at things going no we're okay with where we're at right now records pretty good we're in the mix still want to see this through for a little bit longer like I wonder if it's a whole the equivalent of going out and combing the desert type exercise didn't find Is there any change on this beach?

Yes, it's kind of like that. You probably don't think that anything is going to happen, but that doesn't mean you don't go out there and do it. It just shows like, I better make sure there's nothing out here I'm missing because all of a sudden I'm thinking about things. And you never know.

It's like asking somebody out on a date cut. well everything can come back to dating yes everything in life does come back to dating you never know unless you ask how many times did you ever ask someone out and they would say to you Kyle I thought you would never ask well that didn't happen very often it was more I hope but it did happen at least once yes yeah exactly I was like I can't let this go there you go Maybe the answer is, I thought you would never ask. Exactly. Usually it was, I was hoping you wouldn't ask.

I got a lot of those too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. Well, in that vein then, I suppose, the David Camp conversation in Toronto. He was a name, again, you mentioned on Saturday. Didn't make the leaf roster out of training camp, was set down to the Marley's. played a handful of games there, but was not in their lineup, four to be exact, not in their lineup, but on Saturday as he's kind of contemplating his future in hockey,

what's going on? What's the latest? And it should notice, because I didn't want to check on this, he also did not play on Sunday. The Maple Leafs were in Chicago playing the Wolves Saturday and Sunday. I heard he'd taken an absence from the team on Friday and was. not going to play both games which were on the road and then someone said to me well he could play on sunday and even though it was extremely unlikely you've always got to qualify it right but he didn't play on sunday and um you know i'll i'll say this um i don't know exactly i don't know exactly

what was said or exactly what was told but camp did leave uh players with the marleys with the impression that he was going to terminate his contract. Now, that has happened before in the NHL. Philip Zadena did it. He was one guy who did it. Connor Sherry did it a couple years ago. Brandon Sodd did it. He didn't want to go to the American Hockey League and play in Springfield, and he ended up in Vegas because he was willing to do that. So, Camp is obviously aware of the possibility. Now, I want to say this. I had some people say to me, don't definitively say that that is going to happen because there is a process. You know, Brandon Saad had made like a ton of money in his NHL career. And, you know, even though I respect the decision to walk away from a good

chunk of change to do what he did, he'd made significantly more in his career than Camp has. like for camp it's it's four million dollars basically he'd be walking away from if he did that and i think some people were going to say to him like are you sure like philip sedena to me um you know that's a guy who hadn't made a ton of money and i think you walked away from about six million dollars right so like that was a really really bold decision that some people tried to talk them out of but if the player's adamant the player's adamant i think some people wanted to talk to camp you know just make sure you know take the weekend think about it it is a lot of money he'd be walking away from but the bottom line is he wants to play and everybody understands

that um he's out of the toronto lineup not because he's not good enough to play um it's because they can't fit his salary and roster spot in there so um you know we'll see how this plays out over the next few days. I certainly understand his frustration. I certainly recognize what he wants to do. You know, we'll see if the Maple Leafs trade him or they trade someone else to make room for him. But obviously it got to a point where Camp said, you know what, the status quo, it's just not good enough for me. And, you know, I think it would be interesting. You know, if he was a UFA, I think he would find another job out there. no problem. You know, what another agent said to me, someone who doesn't represent him is,

you know, one of the things that by getting out you can do, by getting, by the information getting out there as it did on Saturday night, it can do is maybe Camp will have an idea of if he does terminate his deal, what is out there for him so he'll know how much money would be affected here. Like, would he be able to get, you know, a two-year deal at a, a like I don't know a million a half two million which mitigates the financial loss i don't know the answer but that's what another agent called me and told me he said that it's not the worst thing for camp that it got out there um you know a couple of the things i wanted to mention out of that kyle number one i think it illustrates the delicate dance the maple lees are doing here with their

roster they have a lot of players and guys going in and out who are angel players Like Nick Robertson, he's an NHL player. Kelly Yarncroke, he's an NHL player. Now, maybe their roles aren't set where they like them, or maybe there's just not enough room for all of them, but there's a lot of guys here that they have that can play in the NHL who are not playing or are in and out of the lineup. And it's a delicate dance.

They have a lot of veterans in the American Hockey League. There's a limit to how many veterans you can dress, game. Um, so like, I think what camp shows here is that it's a challenge for the Maple Leafs. Um, if they're not going to move guys and sometimes you want depth or sometimes you don't like what's out there, what offers are out there for you, you have players who are going to be unhappy. And some teams don't like that. They don't like having that kind of situation around like what was robertson saying the other night after he scored again against philadelphia yeah it was noteworthy for sure because i think it was luke fox that asked him like

you know because it's been a little bit of a stretcher now where the productions ticked up for him and just asked like you're feeling you're playing different is it just a different level of confidence for him and he you know paraphrasing but effectively said like no like i think i'm playing the way i kind of always have the last couple years but now i'm in a spot where you're on a line with Austin Matthews, you're playing more minutes, you're starting in the offensive zone more, it's more so the opportunity, and that's a byproduct of him now being in positions to put up better numbers offensively compared to where he traditionally has been slotted in the leaf lineup and being in and out of the lineup as a healthy scratch here and there

as well, kind of hinting at that going, that's been the big difference. It's not that he's now suddenly become a different player over the last month. That's pretty interesting. And now Willie Nealander, when he gets back and healthy, what's that going to mean for Robertson? Right. Exactly. So that's the kind of thing we're talking about here. It's, it's, you know, I remember when, I think I've told the story before,

Brendan Malone was the first coach of the Raptors. He talked about how on an NBA team, you had to have the first four, your best four players or your most used four players had to be on your side. And your four players, and he didn't like to call them their worst four players, but the four players that played the least, they had to be on your side. Because if your top guys on your roster and your bottom guys on your roster are aligned, then everybody in the middle follows. You're going to get the total buy-in. But what he would say is, is if your top guys are unhappy or your bottom guys are really unhappy,

then you're worried about how it affects the guys in the middle. Now, Craig Baroube, I don't think he is going to be bothered by any of this stuff. Like, he'll just, anyone who's unhappy, he'll just beat them up. So it's easy problem for him. But like, organizationally, I can see that being like a bit of a headache for Toronto. Like just saying, okay, we got a lot of guys here. And this is one guy who said, you know what? I'm out.

So it's going to be interesting to see how you handle all this stuff because you kind of want to stop it there and not spread anywhere else if you can avoid it. Okay. The second thing I wanted to tell you is we're just talking about people reaching out on the podcast about things we were discussing. I had an executive bet me two steak dinners on something I said in the last week. pod last friend's pod two steak dinners one for each guy okay he said to me i heard you talk about natius and he said i think you're right that the numbers are going up i think it is proven that the teams have seen the light they understand where it's going and the numbers are going up but he bet me

that natius won't be taught or even he said really come close to by Kempi and Tuck. I said, okay, what's close? He said he thinks Kempi comes in. He agrees with me. It gets done in L.A., but he thinks it's between 10 and a half and 11. I said, really, you think it'll be that low? Like, it's not that low, and we both laughed. We kind of laughed about it.

And he said, between 10 and 1,000, because Kempi wants to stay there, and the Kings don't want to go into the 11s. That was his position. He says, so my bet is Kempi gets done between 10, half and 11, and he says, for sure, he doesn't get to Natius's number. And he also says age. He says he's three years older, even though, as you guys pointed out, he's a number. a better score, they said that one stops between 10.5 and 11. And he says, he also doesn't believe

Tuck will get to NACIS. He says he understands supply and demand. And he says, you're right. Tuck has a lot of leverage. But he just says, as good as I think Alex Tuck is, he doesn't get close to NACIS. I was like, okay. And he said, you win. You get to pick the restaurant. I win. I win. I get to pick the restaurant. Boy. Oh, boy. You know which one I'm going to pick? Which Toronto Steakhouse do you think I'm going to pick?

Hmm. I already told them which one I'm picking if I win. Jacobs? No, not Jacobs. Good call. Good steakhouse. My favorite steakhouse in Toronto. You ready?

Yep. Barbarians. Ah, that's Berkey's spot, right? That's not the reason, but he's got good taste on this one. Yeah. Okay. That was the other one. So you've already, now are you setting like some escrow aside just in case you lose this thing?

Yes. Yes, yes, I am. Just to prepare his throw it in a high-in-savis account. Adrian Campi, don't you dare, signed for a penny less than 11.5 million. That's my escrow. All right. So if he's not signing for anything less than 11.5 in your mind, in your hopes and dreams, I couldn't help but wonder, Elliot, watching the ducks on Sunday night. And very young guys, I mean, they've been a lot of fun to watch. They're starting to roll.

That McTavish line was a real handful against New Jersey. Leo Carlson is leading the way. He had four points Friday night against Detroit and the win there. He's one of a handful of RFAs still to be taken care of with the Ducks. They got some big business done with Lecombe and McTavish before the year. Just I'd check in there, Elliot, and see, like, could you envision Pat Verbeek trying to take another run to get some guys done quicker rather than later? Or is it wait and C mode there for a little bit? well i i think what is what verbeek says to me is that he's looked at like the the surest predictor of

future behavior is past behavior right and he went in and he got jackson lecombe done early and he waited on mctavish but he went early on lecombe and what it said to me is that he will go after players and get done early when he thinks it is beneficial to him to do it. And you look at the numbers that Carlson is starting to put up, and you look at Goce's ability to score, and it would just be hard for me not to believe that he wouldn't at least try. Like I heard he was really aggressive with Lacombe. He got in on that one and got that done pretty quick.

and you look at where a lot of these contracts are here. Like you look at that that Cooley deal, Logan Cooley, that sets the tone for a lot of these deals. Now, I could see Carlson and Gochay's reps waiting. Like their numbers are only going to get better and better and better. But, you know,

as we've talked for Beak kinds of set ceilings here. You know, the other thing I was wondering too about the docks is... You know, we'll see what happens with him, but I was kind of wondering if this was, like, you talk about Verbeek going out and doing things, and he's kind of taking some big swings that haven't landed. They've been, it's like he's, he's facing like Yamamoto a bit here. He's, he's doing some swinging strikes. Um, but like I wondered if, if a guy like, a guy like Panarin might make some sense there. Like, you know, right now they've got Crider with Carlson and Terry. They've got McTavish with Goethe and Seneca. And, you know, they have a ton of young talent. Ryan Strom still got to come back.

Strom's still got to come back. I just wondered, you know, short-term, see what the number could be. Someone said that to me last week. Like, could you see the ducks? looking at a guy like Panarin and first of all obviously like I think Panarin wants to be in New York and we'll see if this works out as we have indicated the Rangers have talked to him about you know shorter term lesser money deal which so far hasn't worked but and this was a guy he's is I'm not I don't care about the salaries I don't care about anything else I just look at

the fit and I was watching the ducks and I was thinking about that. And the key thing is, for a guy like Verbeek, I wonder if he'd worry about, okay, would that affect any of my good young players? Not necessarily, but Verbeek could decide that with Joel Quenville. You know, who did Panarin break into the NHL with? Quenville in Chicago. Just a thought, Kyle. That's a good one. You want to touch on. Sometimes I just like to think I know. A lot of times that's a dangerous space for you to be in. Yes. It wasn't a total disaster this time, which is always cause for celebration.

You want to weigh in just on the Markstrom two-year deal and how they got to there at six per? I think it's interesting how they have two completely different deals and goal. Yeah. Five times one point eight for Alan, two times six for Markstrom. The devils are trying to win. They've got some young goaltending in their system, but it's not close. I don't think two years hurts you. If you look at their goaltending right now for the next two years,

they've got Markstrom and Alan locked up at under $8 million per. There's nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that at all. And I'll tell you something else about Markstrom, and we'll see if this holds out, historically, the more comfortable Markstrom feels in his environment, whether it's contract or the way the team's playing,

the better he is. And I'm sure the devils are aware of it. that he's some players are better when they're not comfortable some players don't like that markstrom hasn't always liked that now i heard earlier in the week there about two times five and a quarter or two times five and a half and obviously the devil's moved a bit but again it's 7.8 million for the two goalies that's really good for a good NHL team. And term doesn't hurt you in this particular case. And we've also discussed about how a lot of goalies are coming off the board. I understand why New Jersey did this. They're in

win now mode. It gives them a really good combination. And we'll see if I'm right about this. But Markstrom's history is to play better when he's settled. hmm all right and two more years to be settled in new jersey for for him there so that's a good one there's a couple of the things from over the weekend elliott in terms of what we saw over the last couple of nights so on sunday the furious comeback by the islanders two goals late to win in regulation against columbus did you see the shot of the Islander bench when Holmström scored to go ahead? Patrick Waugh almost landed on the 100-level concourse, he jumped so high. So, like, for an early November game, that was pretty cool.

Matthew Schaefer with two more goals. Youngest defensemen in NHL history with a multi-goal game, all just incredible, but they're starting to roll a bit here. That was cool to watch. I will say this, whether they win or lose, oftentimes they're really entertaining. Yeah. That shot of Merzleekins post game.

Oh. He's an emotional guy. You rarely see, like, normally if a player's that upset, they go somewhere where no one can see them. Right. It's extremely unusual for a player who's that crush to go out where everybody can see it. Yes, yeah. Stuck out big time in the aftermath of all that.

Again, especially November 2nd we're recording this and just some images that you're not used to seeing this early on in the year. But man, these games feel like they matter big time already here. Well, especially because the Alters are a team that, and I don't think any of this is happening right now. But the islands are a team that I think people are watching because let's just say for argument's sake

they wanted to make changes. They've got or they said, you know what, we've got a sell a bit here. They've got a couple guys, Lee Pajot, who, as rentals, I think would be pretty intriguing players. I mean, Pajot has been one nonstop trade rumor for years. But Lee, too.

So I think, and again, I don't think the founders are doing anything like this right now. But I think other teams look at them and say, if they don't stay in it, we have to watch them. Hmm It's almost a little bit like Montreal last year Where had a number of guys on expiring deals That they could have flipped elsewhere for something But it was either that or okay Give us a reason to hang on to these guys

If you're going to keep pushing Maybe a bit of that with the Islanders here Though I know it's early There's a lot of racetrack here left But the fact that they're in the fight here the way they are and you're seeing the emotion like we saw on the bench there

after a big dramatic late game turnaround you can't tell me they're not thinking about something at least similar to that already just good it makes it all the more interesting here in the early going so that was good I should touch on two just with Toronto Kristanev so he stayed in Philadelphia

on Saturday night to ended up traveling back to Toronto was discharged from hospital on Sunday. That was, yeah, it's always frightening and uncomfortable and just scary. Flat out scary when you're in the building

or watching on TV and something like that happens, particularly because it was just over a week and a half ago when TANF suffered another head injury in a game against the Devils had just come back from that. The day before he was, was doing media. He was asked if he had had dealt with concussions even before that one. He said yes. And then, you know, I understand for those that were watching it through a Toronto

lens, we're mad at Mischkov, but I couldn't look at that as anything other than just an unlucky, unfortunate collision there at the blue line with almost the worst possible outcome. It was jarring to see Tanev of all people, Elliot. this is a guy that's literally taken shots, pucks directly to the face and continue to play. Yes. Him lay there and really not move for a while. That was the most frightening.

So to see him give the little thumbs up when he was stretched off there and the fact that he's now back in Toronto, hopefully that's a path towards Better Days again. But the consecutive hits to the head as, innocuous and kind of unlikely as they came to be in the moment would have to be the biggest cause of concern here take your time chris take your time don't rush for sure for sure also before we get to the final thought montreal ottawa elliot right now right now in the NHL, when you look at some of the most entertaining

Florida, Tampa, rivalry-type games. They're second. But they're getting up there. If you'll remember in the preseason, they had a really mean game, too. Last two years in the preseason. Yes, but. It was broken loose. They had a rematch right before that Florida, Tampa game that went over the line.

when Tampa decided that they were going to try to get their revenge that night or that day the league was preparing and they thought Montreal, Ottawa was going to be worse than Tampa, Florida. They were actually surprised.

They thought there would be more fireworks between the Canadians and the senators. And I mean, nobody expected what We saw that night between the Panthers and the lightning, but the league thought the Canadian Senators game was going to be worse. And obviously it wasn't, it was calm, but you can tell,

like that rivalry was at its hottest in that playoff series where Gryba hit Eller. Like those two teams hated each other then. This is getting close. It's been building for a. number of years here. Yes. There's been a little flare-ups along the way. But now they're both getting there, right?

They're both getting there. And that's always the difference, right? Now the games matter even more. When you're in the basement. But now you both think your playoff teams. You were just there last spring. It was a different, different edge to it. And yeah, some scores were settled there on Saturday.

You know, Jaden Struble got his hands on Nick Cousins and eventually said, We're going to settle this here now after the wacky gave Demadov in the preseason. Big hits back and forth. And then, I mean, aside from all that stuff, just tremendous hockey game. The Stootsler shift where he runs over Gallagher goes down, brilliant move to score, the Demadov goal to tie it, new hook going bar down in overtime and the crowd reaction, all of that. That was a tremendous, tremendous Saturday night in Montreal.

all most of them are and that was right up there early on in the season so wanted to mention that game too that was a banger and with that let's get to the final thought elliott okay so i was a little bit worried this was potentially shaping up to be what could have been the ultimate sports heartbreaking trifecta weekend for you Got away with a big win for your Vikings on Sunday. The return of J.J. McCarthy wasn't perfect, but he made some brilliant plays at times, did enough to beat Detroit. So you got some joy from that after so many of us, the entire country had felt like, lived through the heartbreak of game six and seven of the World Series. You, of course, were at the dome for game six, and then you and I were both working on Saturday.

So do you have a thought on what we witnessed over the weekend and just any feelings left after that roller coaster that was incredible in so many ways? But, God, crushing all the same. I can finally fully focus on hockey. Yes, that's true. I don't think I've ever watched, no offense to anybody involved, but on Saturday night, I don't think I've ever watched a broadcast that I was working. working on less than I was watching on Saturday. No offense to you and anyone else who worked on it. I was glued to game seven of Blue Jays and Dodgers.

And as you said I was there at Game 6, I have to say I still cannot believe the Blue Jays didn't win the World Series. You take a look at all of the things that happened in those last two games the barger double getting wedged underneath the wall the great Will Smith

play at the plate where he took his foot off the plate and then got it back on for the force out at home when initially the first time we saw the replay we thought a replay review was going to give Toronto the World Series

but Smith made an incredible play and then the catch by Pahas in center field where I still don't know what Kiki Hernandez was doing there exactly but Pahas I give him credit he was like I don't care if I'm going to kill my teammate I am catching this baseball like all of the stuff that happened I it's unbelievable to me that Toronto didn't win the World Series. I was happy Yamamoto got the MVP. He deserved it. I thought some people might just say no, Otani, but Yamamoto deserved it.

Game six, the most incredible thing for me was, okay, so when Barger hit that double, I knew it was a ground rule double in the stands. There weren't a lot of people who knew because everybody was excited. And, you know, I just have to say it was Hernandez there. he made the incredible play of like putting his arms up and the center fielder put his arms up then so the umpires knew it was wedged and dead because I totally understood by most of the people in that building

thought that was a game tying inside the park homer what the stunner was for me though was Kyle how quickly the game ended after that like Clement pops out yeah Clement pops out in the first pitch and Jimenez makes a great hit and Hernandez I guess he admitted later he wasn't playing where he was supposed to be playing he actually moved and it turned out to be brilliant because it was hit almost right at him and he doubled off barger I think that's why barger got doubled off it's because you know we know that baseball is very much a game of this is what the percentages say and we're going to do it that's kind of the way it works now although thankfully did get thrown out a little bit in the World Series. I guaranteed you barger things he's going to be there because the percentages say he's there

and then he gets doubled off. But the point was like I'm sitting in there and the building went from Berserk to complete shock as fast as anything I've ever seen. Like people were walking out of the stadiums thing. I can't believe it ended so quick. like it was just a total you know what it was like it was like

that Simpson's episode Ralph Wiggum gives Lisa the Valentine's Day card and he thinks they're going to be the Valentine and she's like screams at him on Krusty the Clown show and Bart says this is the exact moment where you ripped

out his heart or whatever he says to her like that's what it was like it went from berserk building to everybody leaving in shock silence. You know, the thing is the Blue Jays had been doing it over and over and over again.

There's not a single Blue Jays fan. I know, including my wife, who thought that even when they were losing game six going to the bottom of the night, that they weren't going to find a way to win the World Series. And they had so many chances. And Kyle, you know, I was talking about this.

We're driving down to Troy on Sunday with Amber. and Kevin and Kevin's from Grimsby just outside of Toronto and Amber's from Toronto and I was talking about it with my buddies and there's always recency bias. You have to deal with recency bias. Is this the worst loss in Toronto sports history? For me, yes.

We're from here. I know. But you just ask the question. So I'm trying to answer. it. That's true. I did. Hockey stuff, the, the fans, that's not there for me.

Like, would love to see a Canadian team win a Stanley Cup one day for sure. Same I am. Same as I am. Raptors was great to cheer them on. Like, the Js are the one for me where I just go slip into full-on fan mode because, you know, obviously Rogers owns them. I know they're on our network. We don't cover them per se.

We can just enjoy as. fans. Yeah, it was, but even, I mean, I've, I've witnessed a lot of, you know, Maple Leaf playoff moments over the last decade, being in the building for them. And there's been some tough ones for their fan base, no question. But having game six and seven in your ballpark of the World Series, having a lead in game seven and to get nothing out of it at the end i i i i have trouble thinking what matches that like like the jays have had some crushing losses over their franchise history yes i don't

know how you 5 87 but and if you were around then that was before they won 85 they're up 3 1 in the al c s that was the first year the alcs was seven games So if it was best of five, it would have been over. That was a crushing loss. 87, when they lost the last seven games of the regular season and blew the lead, that was a crushing loss. But that wasn't this. You know, Amber in the drive says, you know, TFC lost a league championship a couple of years ago

without giving up a shot. They lost in the shootout. I was like, Dave, no offense to TFC, but get out of here with that. Like, that's not even in the top 70. And, you know, there are people of a certain vintage who will remember the Argos in 1971. They fumbled and lost the Grey Cup. Crushing loss for that generation, not like this. You know, the leaves have the It Was 4 to 1 game against Boston.

Game 7 last year against Florida. Game 7, 93 against Gretz. and the Kings, that was... I'd say game seven against Tampa. Yeah, game seven against Tampa. I don't know if that one I would put on this level. I mean, Lee fans can decide. But recency bias aside, hockey's tribal, right?

In Canada, you'll root for the Raptors. The Raptors had some bad losses where they got their asses kicked, like in league championship series or playoffs or stuff like that. like they had a really like their first year they ever won a playoff series they beat the knicks and they lost to philly in seven games in the second round when carter missed the shot but that that was their first run and people were really enjoying it like i don't think they were crushed by that one this one i i don't know i think you could make an argument it's the worst one and people in canada they get behind the raptors when they're good they get behind the blue jays when they're good they really love the Blue Jays in Canada. In hockey, like, there are people who will not cheer for other teams. Like, there were people who didn't cheer for Vancouver in 2011. For sure, there were, if the Leafs ever make the final, there's people in Canada who are not going to cheer for them. So, like, this one was crushing on a biblical scale. I think the biggest thing is, like,

you think of everything that went so well for them. They always came back. Ernie Clement setting the record for hits. How many big moments did Vlad have? Bichette, Springer on one knee and a bad oblique. You savage, that story. And for the most part, like when you look back at the stats, like they in a lot of moments held the Dodgers in check offensively,

the almighty Dodgers, the bought and paid for all-star team, held them in check. They got to Otani when he was on the mound enough to get him out of the games. And you're sitting there and you're like, that still, all of that wasn't enough to result in a World Series ring. That might be the most incredible part of it all. The thing that was really amazing to me was I really thought they were going to win. So the first time around, Bichette, he can't score because he can't. can't move. And how many tweets did you see out there of people saying Bo Bichette is going to cost

the Blue Jays the World Series or playing Bo Bichette is going to cost the Blue Jays the World series because he can't move out there. And the next time up, he hits a three-run homer. That's the first pitch. And all those, and my 4U tab on X is all people retweeting others who said, Bo Bichette's going to cause them the world series. It's lining up perfectly. And Vladi Guerrero, he wins a deciding game wearing a Maple Leafs jersey and loses

a deciding game wearing the ultimate clutch hero Marie-Philippe Poulan's jersey. Like, that's not supposed to happen. It's not it's supposed to be the other way around. Yeah. It's bizarre a world. Yeah, I just I listened to you on with Futa Marquesia on Friday

and Mike going, you know what, I think like this has been such a great ride like whatever happens now it doesn't matter like this has been so so great whatever and I just thought Mike, please don't tempt the baseball gods with that one. Yeah, Mike shut up next time.

You never know. You just never know. Easy to say in principle. But anyway, that was it was a treat of a summer and then into the fall to follow all that It was such a likable group. And I think that was felt beyond even can't. Like down in Philadelphia this weekend, Elliot, I had my Blue Jays hat on the amount of people on Friday.

And then on Saturday they were like, you got this. We believe in you. Like we're pulling for you. I hope you pull it up. I think Dom is the only Phillies fan that was actively rooting against the Blue Jays. False. False.

I don't know. I think it's true. I got a lot. I think it's true. How hard of a sports town Philadelphia is, and I got a lot of respect for how they go about things. I was blown away of how much support they were given me for walking around with a Jay's cap on. I will never cheer for the Dodgers. Anyway, so after that soul-crushing defeat, we get up the next morning.

Bail into the station wagon. And we're more consistent than the TTC, which was shut down overnight, genius decision. decision. Anyway, we pour into, you fly from Philadelphia to Detroit, and Kevin and Dave and I drive down. And first of all, I wanted to thank Mike Russo, a true hero. So when I got the tickets to this game, I needed a new Vikings jersey. And Mike Russo went to one of the, and I, my favorite player in Vikings history is Chuck Foreman, the running back. And Mike went to a store in Minnesota, got me a foreman jersey and he sent it to me uh and it got i needed it to make sure it got to me in time and mike took care of that he got it done and you know i'm not going to say which member

of our crew this is but i had this beautiful foreman jersey thanks to mike russo i could wear it the game i'm we're getting out of our car and there's a member of our traveling part Now, I'm not going to say who it is, okay, but he played almost 900 games, you know, he played almost 900 games in the NHL, and he fancies himself as a pretty tough guy. He brought an Adam Thielen jersey, okay? He had one with him. I saw it. I'm like, you know, wear that?

He goes, no, no, I'm not going to wear that. I go, why not? He goes, it's Detroit. I might get killed for this. Again, this is a guy. Really? who fancies himself as a tough guy, and his name rhymes with Schmeven Smeyxa.

But I'm not giving it away, okay? I was like, you're kidding. You always take care of your sources. This is no different here. I never give away my sources. I'm like, you're kidding me. I'm going to walk with this on. And he's like, no, it's, first of all,

the people there were great. Nobody cared. Like, when we had it, remember when we, we walked in and we scanned our text, It's one guy looked at me and he goes, you know you guys are going to lose today, right? And I was laughing. Like, that's the worst thing anyone said to me.

And, like, everybody was great. Awesome time. Glad you guys could make it. I, like, the one thing about being a Vikings fan is, they will break your heart. That was about as fun a Vikings win. And I realize it's a regular season game. It was an awesome time.

That was about as fun of Vikings. Vikings game as I've ever attended because they had every excuse to fall apart and they found a way to win it. McCarthy, by the way, big hockey fan. That's right, yes. And it just so happened, our seats. You were seated next to two other Vikings fans. So you guys, you hit it off right away. You were celebrating together.

You were embracing in the tough times. From South Carolina. And they go to a lot of games. Big Vikings fans. and he was decked out in total Viking gear. Yeah, that was a lot of fun. I appreciate the invite. As I say, knowing where my allegiance lies,

I was hoping both teams would just spontaneously combust at the end and it would be a no contest. But I was happy for you. I was, I honestly was. I was happy to shake your hand at the end and say, glad you got to enjoy that in person. So let me just ask you a question. Yeah.

If, if, if you, like, if God said to you, the only way you could get into heaven is if you, a Packers fan, wore either a Vikings jersey or a lion's jersey, which one would you pick? A Detroit. Detroit. I don't have as much emotional indigestion with Detroit as I do with Minnesota for whatever reason. Thanks for Aaron Jones, by the way. He looked great. Hey, it's not the first time you've taken an ex-packer and tried to make him into something.

And it's true. That's true. Just wait till the playoffs. Anyway, sorry for this. We had to get it out of our system. Yeah. And now we can focus on hockey again. Again.

Yeah, what a ride. What a ride. October is so fun with everything going on at once. All right, that was the final thought. Why don't we take our first break? We'll come back with the thought line, as we always do. 32 Thoughts, the podcast continues after this. All right, welcome back.

Brace yourself. It's another edition of the thought line. where anything and everything is possible. Elliot, anything you'd like to get off your chest before we get started here? Not at this point in time, Kyle. My mind was on the Vikings and Lions today, so I wasn't thought line mining as much.

Oh, boy, yeah, wasn't that a treat. Okay, let's begin then with Iode, and I apologize if I mispronounced that, but they write in, hey guys. How's that spelled? Just out of curiosity. A-J-O-D-H. That's a cool name.

Very different. Hadn't heard that before. Very cool. Welcome aboard. Yes. Anyway, again, apologies if I blew the pronunciation there, but I tried to look it up the best I could. So they write, hey guys, had a thought come to me while watching the Canucks Oilers game last week when Kiefer Sherwood's goal in the middle of the second period was disallowed due to Tyler Myers being offside.

If you watch the play, Myers doesn't touch the puck when entering the offensive zone, blue line, or when they get into the offensive zone. This got me thinking about having these sort of offside goals count where the player that was offside didn't play a factor into the goal scored, i.e. assist it or scored himself when they are reviewed. Kind of like soccer, where even if a player is in an offside position and their teammate scores, if that player doesn't touch the ball or interfere with the play, the goal counts. What do you guys think? P.S. Eliot, you're my second favorite broadcaster behind Kevin BXA, sorry,

simply because it brings me joy hearing one of your favorite Stanley Cup playoffs or finals you covered was Vancouver in 2011. Still hurts they lost, though. This question is disqualified because I owed likes Kevin more than me. Just rip it up and throw it out. You're not even entertaining it. I had a good answer for you. But now I'm just, okay, I'm just going to pout until you start reading the next one.

Yes. The soccer comparison is actually a really good one. I'd never thought of it before. And while you were going through your scenario, I was like, oh, like soccer. The only reason I would see that that wouldn't happen was they just wouldn't want to add another judgment call to the book. And, you know, it's, I guess it's easy to say they didn't touch it. they didn't make a play, but what if they sort of get in the middle of the play? What if a player has to try to avoid them or barrels into them to get the call?

The only reason I would say your idea, which is a good one, wouldn't work, is because they just would never want another situation where an official has to make a judgment call. So that's the only reason I would see your idea not gaining traction. But I like the thinking, even if you have poor choices in favor broadcasters. The start of this question, you're like, oh, great, great to have you. And now you're like, I don't even want to answer your question because the pure mention of Kevin. That's where my mind went too, Ellie, because initially I was like, oh, yeah, why don't they consider that? But then, okay, wait, what about there's times where player, okay, maybe didn't touch the puck.

drives the net, takes a defender with them, how can you say they're not impact, you know, and opens up space for the puck carrier? How does that not impact the play? Like the specific example he had was an easy one to make this case because it was kind of a play right off the rush, right? And you're like, yeah, Tyler Myers really had nothing to do with the actual goal being scored itself.

But unfortunately, not every scenario that goes to offside review is that easy to decipher. Right. Could just have the Myers rule. We've already got the Kutcher. rule that's right processing that's right the Myers rule you could have the kutrov rule which is the high-end skill guys let them do what they do because they're elite at what they do and you could have the Myers rule which is guys who don't get a lot of points

shouldn't figure unless they actually get a point yeah exactly they're exempt what's considered a lot of points. Doesn't matter. And in an unrelated story, I get speared the next time I attend a Canox practice. Okay, keeping with the Vancouver theme, we've got a voicemail. Jonah in Vancouver.

Hello, Elliot, Kyle, and Dom. This is Jonah for Vancouver calling. I was listening to the latest episode talking about the NBA and the recent gambling scandal, as well as Shane Pinto a few years ago. I was wondering if any of these scandals make leagues rethink all their advertisements and partnerships with gambling and sports betting sites

because it seems like maybe not just the NHL, even a lot of other leagues are pushing these gambling sites and gambling apps, but then punishing anyone around the league who uses them or is involved with them. It seems like an interesting topic for discussion. A big fan of the pod and keep up the great work. Thanks. Bye. Jonah, it's a great question.

I think a lot of people are making similar points. You know, Kyle and I talked about it a little bit, as you mentioned, on a previous pod, and it was kind of weird about how when ESPN was talking about it and the story they broke on the show, I think it's get up, the show that Mike Greenberg hosts, and they had a betting ad on the ticker while they were talking about it that they then had to remove. The short answer is no. I don't think anything is going to change. This is revenue. People want to make money. Gambling money is everywhere, no matter how you feel about it. You know, things like this affect salary caps too in all sports that have them.

You know, they, so I don't think you're going to see anywhere go backwards. You know, in the NHL, and I wrote about this a little bit in the written blog that came out this week, you know, the NHL really cares about two things. You know, I spoke to some people who've been through some of this stuff before and the NHL basically cares. Do you bet on hockey? If no, you're probably okay.

If yes, you're doomed. And second, have you used an illegal bookmaker? And if yes, that's another big, big no-no. Because, you know, one of the things we're learning more and more about this Terry Ruggier situation and the, the Chauncey Billup situation is you lose money to people who can take advantage of you and force you to do things that actually do interfere with the integrity of the game. So those are, like, since we're talking a lot about hockey,

those are the two things the NHL really cares about. You know, I know some people out there don't like gambling ads. I get it. It's fair. It doesn't bother me in the least. You know, it's kind of interesting. You know, North America is the last. place in the world that really accepted gambling.

Like, you go anywhere else in the world, gambling is everywhere. Like, I remember visiting Europe years ago, and I was talking to them about how when the NBA first came to Canada, the NBA picked a fight with the Ontario and BC governments over the fact that you could bet on NBA games in their provinces. And someone was like, they care about that. Like people care about that here. It's just interesting how we're the last place in the world where basically it happened. And you know what?

Like I'll be honest, too, there were gambling scandals before gambling was legal. You know, college basketball had a couple big ones. I think it was Boston College had one in the 80s. Seton Hall had one in the 60s. Arizona State had one. a few years ago and one of the things that absolutely happens is that

sometimes it's these gambling companies that actually are the reason that irregularities get caught. I remember Diana Swain when she worked at CBC she did a story years ago about how European gangsters were fixing

games like in a small Quebec soccer league and it was the gambling companies that figured it out. And I was like, why would they do this? And she was like, because they could make money off it. And they were paying the players because the players weren't making that much money and they were vulnerable. So I understand why people may not like all of this. But number one, it's here to stay unless somebody bans it.

And number two, it's, to me, it's kind of interesting about how, like, we're the last place in the world that it happens in the sense that everybody else gambled long before we do. I just find the whole thing very fascinating. And I would say this, never bet what you can't afford to lose. I know that's a hard thing to say, but I always tell people this, never bet what you can't afford to lose. Yeah, very good.

I should just say, and Jonah made the point in his voicemail where he suggests, you know, anyone who uses gambling as is punished. I mean, if you're betting on your own sport, yes, that's a problem. But, I mean, a hockey player, if they wanted to place a wager on this week's Monday night football matchup through a legal outlet, like there's no issue with those sorts of things. So obviously it's sport athletes like to gamble. They have fantasy football pools like we do. They have master's pools like we do. Shea Weber was the fantasy sports king. It was actually a story that I was really disappointed.

I never got to do. I wanted to do fantasy football prep with Shea Weber or fantasy baseball prep with Shea Weber. And he agreed to do it. And then kind of COVID hit and obviously he retired. But he finally, I wore him down. He was going to agree to do it. take us through his fantasy football or we were going to do one or the other fantasy football

or fantasy baseball because he like other players would say there was nobody like him nobody did the prep work that shay weber did so i was always disappointed we never got that piece done god i would have been something yeah i'll just go visit him in uh calona i'm knocking his door sure he'd love to see me yeah hey i retire i retire get lost. Exactly. Oh, man. If you're lucky, that's all that would happen.

He's a man of few words. That's all he'd need to say. Yes. Yeah. It's that in a look and you're like, gotcha. Take care. Okay. Sean from South Korea.

Wow. Greetings from South Korea. Love it. In keeping with the NFL podcast disguises an NHL podcast theme, I was wondering if NHL clubs are allowed to dress additional players for practice whose sole purpose is to run

other team systems. One area that comes to mind is if a team is preparing to play a team with a left-handed goalie, could they dress their own Southpaw in practice to get shooters used to the different look? Thanks for all you do. And Skull Bruins. Bruins, okay.

South Korea represents the Bruins. You learn something new every day. You know, the thing about that I remember most interesting was one of the great clips of Bill Belichick before he went completely insane was one week, the Patriots were facing a left-footed punter and someone asked him a question about it. Like you have a left-footed punter, is it weird? And he talks for about two minutes about it. And that was when I, you know, obviously someone like that, they're a true. football geek. But listening to that answer, I realized just how much Bill Belichick loves football.

And I think if I remember correctly, they brought in a left-footed punter that week to just so the players could practice with it. I've seen some stuff like that before. Like I remember when the devils were winning all their Stanley Cups and they were great with the trap. I remember the leaves would practice, and you didn't have to call up anybody in particular. Like if you were the defending,

if you happened to be defending your ice at that time, I remember practices where they wouldn't forecheck, they'd stop at the blue line and set up the trap, and the defensemen would have to figure out how they were going to come up against it. And they would adjust the trap to, you know, which side the defenseman came out.

Did they try the flip, play, like, all that kind of thing. So off the top of my head, that's the closest I can remember is whether, I can't remember if it was some of their playoff series or just they had a game coming up against them, but Quinn would run the practice where they'd face the devil's trap. So they were reminded of what it was like because they were so good. I can't remember how many games I'd see, like, they dumped the puck in. and I would watch that from that Zamboni position at Scotia Bank Arena, Kyle,

and you would see, like, Patrick Elias, who'd be the first forward, he'd stop and he'd wait at the blue line. You'd hear one of the great sounds of hockey, like the skate stop and the spray of ice, and he would stop, and he'd set up the pass, and then Brian McCabe would come out from behind the net, and he would, okay, where am I going here? And that's why the Maple Leafs love Dead Bell for it because he was such a good puck handler that they hoped that he would help them break the trap or prevent the devils from setting it up. But that's the closest I can remember, Sean.

It's good question. Really good question. One other example, I recall, 2019 Stanley Cup final. Remember, Jake Allen was backing up Jordan Bennington. He would do his best to imitate Tukarask's movements, how he would stand in the net. during practice to give blues players a better sense of what they were going to be looking at come game time. And I'm sure he's not the only backup goalie to do that, particularly in a playoff series, to try to mimic who they're going to be facing on the other side for potentially seven games.

But that's what I thought of initially with this question. So it's, yeah, they're definitely, it winks at the football model. But there's definitely nowhere near as much of that in hockey. as you would find in football when I did CFL I used to love the practice stuff that we got to watch

I used to love watching I used to love watching football practice there was so much to watch and so much to see that it was like really good football reporters who really understand the game their practice

the way they watch practice is incredible for sure for sure okay Brett from New York Hello Dom and the Funky bunch. I'm a lifelong, I'm a lifelong Rangers fan, and particularly in recent years, I find myself constantly coming to the conclusion that they are the worst team in the NHL when their goalie is pulled. I realize far brighter analytics folks have data supporting the keeper getting

pulled earlier and earlier. However, it always seems the Rangers give up an empty netter almost immediately after doing so. Is there any sports net stats that can refute or can confirm this claim for recent years. Thank you for taking the time and thank you for producing this podcast. Well, Brett, I'm here to tell you that over time, at least the last number of years, your fears are, I would say they're slightly inflated. It's not as bad as you think. Really?

as bad as you think. Brett, the latest victim of confirmation bias. So since 23-24, so the last two-plus seasons, they're 10th. So not outstanding. But not horrid. But not terrible. So they've given up 35 empty-net goals since 23-24.

Islander has given up the most with 45. But if you go back to the start of the 21-22, season, they slide all the way down to 27th, so they're even better in that category if you expand the search criteria just a couple years further. So I'm sure every time it happens, it feels like it happens five times, but Brett, I'm here to tell you, it's not as bad as you think. Did you ever see the original Star Wars? A long time ago.

Your eyes can deceive you, Brett. Yes. Good. Okay, one final one. Okay. From Zach. Hello, Elliot, Kyle, and Dom. Over the years, you've worked with many former players turned analysts. Some retired, like Pronger, who you praised on a recent pod,

and some are still playing like Jake Allen. I've always liked B.XA. Sorry, Elliot. That's two. Jeez, two Biazza mentions here. But as veterans in the broadcasting business, well, you are, Elliot. I'm not sure.

I'm not there yet. What do you think are the qualities? Oh, yeah. Well, you're the phenom as we heard on, as we heard on Wednesday night. You're the feet on. Yes. What do you think are the qualities

that make a player well suited for the analyst's role? What do these successful ones bring to the table? Always appreciate when you provide a look behind the scenes and go, avs go. Mm. Okay. So, Zach, this is a great question.

And actually, I wanted to give a big shout out. Like, I think Kevin is great. I will say this. I think he was exactly what we needed at exactly the right time. And as much as it pains me to admit it, I think he's the best. I really do. I have a bias, but I think he's the best. I think a lot of our people are great.

But I have a bias for BXA. A guy I want to give a lot of credit to is Paul Bissonette because I think the way that Paul has carried himself since he really got into it at the TNT national level and seeing the success he's had is it's and the fact that TNT really backs him throughout all of his craziness is that it has allowed players to say that you know what we can be a little bit out there and there aren't consequences for it. I really think that Paul has moved the line. One thing that's definitely true, Kyle, is there are more players who want to get into broadcasting than ever before. Like, I've seen it, and I've heard it at our place. We get more calls from players saying, I'd like to do this.

And I think a lot of it's because of Paul and Kevin, and I would give Paul the most credit, because you can be out there now and it doesn't get you canceled. And I think that's very important. Like to me, the most important thing is, like, I really believe that in television, we have two jobs to inform and entertain.

The people who are willing to inform and entertain. And, you know, if a player, ex-player, a coach, or whatever asks me, how do I make this work? I say tell people why things happen. And, you know, like this happened to me or I saw this or this is why this happened and tell stories and make people or make people smile or be yourself. And I really think that those are the best at them.

Like Kevin, when he's on TV, he's himself. And that's why there's no difference between him off the air and on. And that's why he's really good. Like, one guy I know who's just starting out is Eric Johnson. And he's done some stuff in the studio for the Colorado broadcast. And I guess he did a game recently. And he wants to be a game analyst. And, you know, I was working that night so I couldn't see it.

It was Toronto Buffalo. But I heard he was really good. And I think Eric Johnson is another kind of guy who it comes easy for him. And I just think there's more and more players now who see that. You can be yourself out there. Like there's obviously some lines that you don't cross. But if you're willing to tell stories and you're willing to laugh or smile and you're willing to explain why things happen, people really like you for that.

You can be a very, there's popularity in it and success in it for you. So I do think that this generation coming out now, there's going to be more of them that are going to be more comfortable with it. Yeah, all very good. I mean, I haven't spent nowhere near the amount of time in studio like you have compared to working sidelines where you've got the analysts in the booth next to the play-by-play person. And the brilliance of that, like those that are the greatest at it, as you know, Elliot, as much as you think at times the time in between a stoppage and the next whistle when replays are going on, you're like, oh, look at all the time they have to discuss what's happening. But it's really not in the grand scheme of things. So to be able to not only summarize what just happened,

but as you say, Elliot, explain why something happened in that amount of time is a real skill in itself. And getting to work with Craig Simpson, for example, for a number of years, he, one of his pieces of brilliance is the ability to in real time see what happened, why it happened, what caused it, as opposed to needing two or three additional looks at it,

like someone like myself would need to even have chance at trying to break it all down. He sees it all real time and has the ability to, at times, when it makes sense, channel the mind of a player and also channel the mind of a coach because he's lived both lives. And that's when you really start to get a sense of what's going on in certain moments of a game. Like when you say, explain why something happened, that can be a real great strength of him and those that are the best at calling games, whether it's in the booth or down between the benches. Simmer also knows the rule book really well,

and it seems crazy, but that is not a small thing. There's a lot of rules in hockey that can really trip you up. And I am impressed with how quickly he'll say the rule is this. And he gets annoyed when it's contradicted because he knows it so well. I think that is a real skill to be as on top of the rule. rulebook as he is. Because oftentimes when something's happened, the first thing I'm doing is going to the rulebook to make sure I understand,

and he's got it in real time. Yeah, very good. Zach, thank you for that question. Good one. Good place to end there. All right. 1833, 31132 is the phone number to call if you'd like to leave a voicemail on the thought line. 32 Thoughts at sportsnet.ca is the email address if you would like to reach out to us there.

One final break, and we'll put this edition of 32 Thoughts, the podcast, to bed after this. All right, before we go, wanted to give you a heads up of just some games to keep an eye on across the network this week. Tuesday night, the Edmonton Oilers can be seen nationally on Sportsnet. They'll be in Dallas, rematch with the Western Conference Final, on the air from Big D at 10 Eastern, 8 Mountain Time. Scotia Bank Wednesday night hockey this week, the Utah Mammoth, make their lone trip of the season to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs. Pre-game show at 630 Eastern from Toronto, David Amber and Company, puck drop a little after 7 ET 4 Pacific on Sportsnet. later on Wednesday night, Calgary, hosting Columbus. That can be seen on SportsNet West, of course, for those in the Flames region,

but also nationally on Sportsnet 1, 930 Eastern, 730 Mountain Time for the Flames and the jackets. I want to remind you again that Dom Schramatti, a producer, was kind enough to start a Spotify playlist featuring all the different music tracks we have featured here so far this season on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. can be found. It's a public playlist. I will also include the link in the show notes, but can be found by searching 32 thoughts, the music, which will also feature this track this week, courtesy of the Toronto via Winnipeg MC Anthony Oks, aka Anthony Sannie, who celebrates the release of his debut full-length solo album, Make Way, a document of self and accounting of life right now

and a portrait of blackness in Canada in 2025. Make way as a journey through the artist's uncertainties, hopes, and personal traumas, a process that has resulted in 12 hip-hop songs bolstered by hip-hop storytelling and jazz flair. Here's Anthony O.KS with hands out on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Have a great week. Waiting for the man to devise a master plan.

Waiting for a grand in my head. Waiting for my tune. Waiting for my pan, waiting on the tech y'all, waiting on my mic stand. Waiting for the bread, take your slice with the cheese. Waiting for the honey song, waiting on the bees. Waiting on my plate, the waiter waiting, waiting on my knees. Dinner service lace on waiting, ask you. How you going to feel if your check don't come?

How you going to move if you can't find some? What you're going to do when your cash dried up? How you going to plot when these times get tough? How you going to feel if your check don't come? How you gonna move if you can't find some? What you gonna do when your cash dried up? How you gonna plot when these times get tough? Pawsing on to play a chance that I chose to take.

Money ain't all green. It's what you decide to break. Gaining my control, because life is what you make. Understand what to chase, what I decide to hold. And yes, what I do with my mind is bold. I want to see some paper, not in exchange for my soul. But you're paying for the man, or we go minus some coal. A suit and top eat the fan, but that don't lead us the growth.

Now my black ass would rather be broke, not controlled by the structure or the system of the codes. Standing on my truth is the only thing I know, yeah, I told you. So, how you going to feel if your check don't come? How you going to move if you can't find some? What you going to do when your cash dried up? How you going to plot when these signs get tough? How you going to feel if your check don't come? How you going to move if you can't find something?

What you going to do when your cash dried up? gonna plot when these times get tough i need my money bro you're what they gonna pay my eyes i did 10 shows in a row and still waiting on my bag yeah so how you gonna feel if your check don't come how you gonna move if you can't find some what you gonna do when your cash ride up how you gonna plot when these times get tough how you gonna feel if your check don't come how you gonna move if you can find some what you going to do do when your cash ride up how you gonna plot when these times get tough