32 Thoughts: The Podcast - The Rat Pack Bounces Back

Episode Date: May 29, 2024

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman break down Florida's Game 4 win over the New York Rangers to tie the Eastern Conference Final 2-2. Afterwards, the guys talk about what's next for the Columbus Blue Jackets now that Don Waddell is officially hired by the team (13:45). They get into Dan Bylsma's promotion to the head coaching position with the Seattle Kraken (16:15). Then, the fellas talk about Sheldon Keefe's introductory press conference as head coach of the New Jersey Devils. In particular, they react to an interesting quote from Keefe in a recent interview (22:51). Jeff and Elliotte also talk about Mike Yeo parting ways with the Vancouver Canucks and optimism that management will figure out an extension with Tyler Myers (35:04). Then, the guys take time to discuss Jonathan Marchessault's impatience with Vegas' management (37:39). Jeff and Elliotte also talk about Will Smith turning pro to join the San Jose Sharks, and what Mike Grier's next moves might be (43:41). Finally, they talk about Sam Gagner's desire to play one more season in the NHL (45:37), and they delve into a thrilling PWHL Final series (49:00). The guys answer your questions in the Montana’s Thought Line (53:13).Jeff and Elliotte wrap the podcast by previewing Game 4 between the Edmonton Oilers and the Dallas Stars (1:05:54).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailThis podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.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.

It's tied it up for Reinhardt, back for Verhege, over to Montour, good shot on it, back to Montour, down low, back up, it does it! Reinhardt, overtime winner! The Rats hit the ice and the Rat Pack is going back to New York with a series-time 2-2! Florida, New York, Game 4 in the books, we're all tied up at twos. It is now a best two out of three. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, a podcast presented by the GMC Sierra Elevation. Elliot, did the right team win this game? Let me answer it this way, because I cannot answer any of your questions without morphing it into another question.

This is like some people treat the menu like a suggestion i can ask you something it's kind of a menu suggestion i'm going to go off the menu man i subject to the quarters and answer the question that i really want to answer regardless of i look at it this way spit out it's fair that this series is two two isn't it yeah i'm fine with it. Listen, to be honest with you, whatever gets us to seven games of this, I'm good with. Because I really don't care who wins.

I just want to see seven games of it. So if this is the route we're going to take, so be it. Both these series are very similar in the sense that there are moments during the game where you feel that one team is going to win 80-0. And then there's moments during the game where you feel that one team is going to win 80 to nothing. And then there's moments during the game where you feel that same team is going to lose 100 to nothing. And once again, that happened in this one. There were moments where Shostakhin

absolutely bailed out the Rangers. And there were moments where Shisterkin absolutely bailed out the Rangers. And there were moments. Yes. And there were moments where Bobrovsky just bailed out the Panthers. And by the way, one thing, I know it's a hilarious story. Unfortunately, it isn't true. Kreider did not throw Kachuk's mouth guard into the crowd. It went straight up and it landed on the ground.

Now, he may have been trying to do it yeah but he failed in his attempt good effort no achievement if he was trying to do it he's lucky that he didn't do it you know why you know what the penalty is for that yeah it's a suspension it's game misconduct yeah well you're right it's a game misconduct that's right it's uh rule 53.5 so he may have tried to throw it the fact that he couldn't actually saved him a game misconduct would have been a great story would have been a great story but sorry he saved himself a game misconduct on that one anyhow continue so, that didn't happen, even though we were all kind of laughing at the attempt. Look, I look at it this way, Jeff. It's fair karma that this series is 2-2.

It should be 2-2. The teams are evenly matched. There are players on both teams that people are looking at and saying, get going here. Let's get going here. We need more from these particular players. Both teams that people are looking at and saying, get going here. Let's get going here. We need more from these particular players. And I just have to feel that the way the ice was tilted against Adam Fox tonight, that he's really battling something. And we all know he's playing hurt to some degree, but it's probably more than we realize.

But you know what they have to do? They have to put them on the same program that they put on Philip Hedl and Blake Wheeler because both these guys were supposed to be out for the season and Hedl, although he didn't play on Tuesday, is back and now Wheeler is back. Maybe they're like Kramer and they swim in the East River. Maybe that's what they have to do with Fox is have them go swim in the East river.

Yeah. Not just Adam Fox, but also Ryan Lindgren. Like I know he came back after that Reinhardt hit, but you can't tell me that when he wakes up tomorrow, he's not going to really feel that hit. I just assume that's him every day. When is that guy healthy?

He's always injured and he always plays through it um okay so a few things to pull out of this one um one congratulations to the florida panthers you could you kind of got the sense that there was a time there where the panthers were probably feeling to themselves and i'm sure the fans were right there with them uh oh we're gonna get shisterkened again i can't believe it this is happening like when uh when lafreniere tied it up and by the way what a great game again for alexi lafreniere and that zone entry where he fired it off the crossbar holy smokes but when lafreniere made it two to two i'm sure that in more than a couple of those florida panthers players heads and certainly

the fans they were thinking it's gonna happen again isn't it did you feel did you feel that way rangers again they just tied it up they're gonna get one more and we're gonna get shisterkin i felt that way did you feel that way 100 how could you not how could you absolutely not and the thing I didn't like is I felt bad for Wheeler I know that wasn't his bad play that led to the penalty it's a band of all the guys I at least wanted to see in the penalty box at the end of that game it was Blake Wheeler just an unbelievable effort by him but should have been a penalty shot. I was going to say, it was either sit down in the penalty box

or stand off to the side and watch Barkov go to the dot. I'd rather bet on Shister. In that situation, if I was the Rangers and I could pick, I would have taken the penalty shot. You would have taken Florida, taken the penalty shot.

I would have taken florida taking the play i would have taken do you know i would have taken shisterkin but against any panther skater do you know how great barkoff is at the penalty shot i would have taken shisterkin against any panther that to me would have whoa that to me would have been on pebble bury was a florida panther you know that to me would have been an insane moment yeah that's like that what you got barkoff and you have shisterkin it's overtime at the dot barkoff who has about a bajillion shootout moves like how many times have you talked to various coaches and listen Barkoff's had more than a few with the Florida Panthers and talked about what he does and how he practices shootouts in practice and all the moves that just like all

the guys heads are spinning this is all real he's got a he's got a million moves I don't care I'm taking Shusterkin against any Panther today, during the past, in their prime, or in the future. Like any future Panther we don't even know about, I was taking Shisterkin in that moment against them. He was the guy. And if the Rangers were allowed a choice and I was in charge, I would be like, we'll take the penalty shot

wow um that would have been something nonetheless and barkov your international man of skill he set up the game-winning goal he really did it was this and that was a gorgeous play and a great by sam reinhardt as well when they started whistling it around like there was like there was i think it was the second power play for the rangers when they really started whistling the puck around and chance after chance after chance after chance like that thing looked like globetrotters but then in overtime like that florida power play looked like globetrotters too well the rangers had a couple of in the early in the earlier in the game where their power play which had been non-existent asleep finally woke up and they moved the puck around like they did draughters too they did they had some great power plays in this game

but that last one was just touch touch touch touch goal touch touch touch touch goal it was a beautiful thing um anything else you want to say about this game before we move on and again by the way another another great one in this in this hopefully seven game series between these two i did laugh at the end of regulation when truba tried to get a call for getting punched in the head yeah i was like there is no way no young jacob that you were getting that call no way i i think we all had a laugh at that. Yeah. Great series. Great hockey. Wrong guy to try to lobby for that. It was awesome. Again, another great game between these two teams.

I don't even want best of seven. I want best of 11. Give me best of 11 in this series. Do you remember when the WHL used to do best of nine? It was the best, right? Just think about how crazy that was. The Ontario Hockey League used to have eight-point series, so you could tie.

Yeah. You'd be tied at two games apiece and then there'd be a tie so one team so both teams would have five points it was um it was that was crazy stuff it was in an era where and we look back on it now we say holy smokes what were they thinking i guess this kind of sounds cool it was in the era where you could have a series like that elliot and and they also had 15-round prize fights. Oh, yeah. I remember watching 15-rounders, Elliot, when we were kids. Look back on it now, like,

you let these guys pound each other in the head for 15 rounds? Holy smokes, who are you people thinking? Anyhow. By the way, did you have any doubt that was a penalty shot? Did you think it was? I thought penalty shot right away, and I thought, I was like, okay, let's see if he has the guts to, no he's not gonna do it i was waiting for the point oh by the way do you remember the last penalty shot you saw in overtime of a playoff game oh not off the top

of my head you know what the last i remember joey judo on ken raggett holy smokes so that would it was that boston pittsburgh no it was washington pittsburgh washington washington pittsburgh um just an opinion question and reggett stopped him it was incredible reggett who made for my money maybe the best save i've ever seen on gino cavallini in that st louis toronto maple leaf series so you know what i love ken reggett that save was a little bit over no no no, no, no, no, no, no. I will not hear this. I will not hear this about Ken Reggett at all.

That is one of maybe the best save of all time. Thank you very much. Let me ask an opinion question. And I'm curious, people listening to this podcast to weigh in too. I may be a bit biased against that Reggett save because when I was in university, I had

a crush on the Cavalini's niece who was in school with me at the time. Did she give you the time of day? Did she even look your direction? Very nice girl. A very nice girl. She was dating another NHL player at the time. So I knew I had no chance, but she was a great person like good looking and nice so i may be biased in favor of that too you know you didn't like slide up to her and say you know

i'm a uh western mustangs sideline reporter for football i i gotta tell you i don't think that was gonna work um opinion time let me close on this one I'm in favor I always like the look of the X over the head for the penalty shot now in the NHL it's of course it's been this way for a long time the point to center ice yeah which one do you like better I've always liked the X over the head what do you like that they still do that i like the point oh yeah i love it maybe just because i'm used to it i just love the x i don't know okay just opinion time anyhow by the way what did you what did you hear happened at the memorial cup the other day oh geez okay by the way everybody that i've texted about this one everybody in saginaw

has swollen fingers I hope that you know what that means swollen fingers that everybody has well that's what I'm thinking because they don't want to be the one to confirm it to you exactly everybody that I texted about this all of a sudden like oh my fingers are too swollen I can't use my iPhone oh I don't know what it is well when the swelling goes down in your fingers, everybody that I texted. Please get back to me. But it sounds, again, it sounds like, and nobody would confirm this with me, that the London Nights bus was parked in front of the Saginaw Spirit entrance and may or may not have been blocking it. So I think a number of the Saginaw people parked their cars all around the bus to trap it. And then there was various parking lot insults that were hurled back and forth between London and Saginaw. Again, that is the rumor. That's what I was told. And I think the fact

that all of a sudden everyone has really, really chubby digits and can't use their phones to confirm a story probably means that it's true elliot even if it's not true i am wishing it into existence i want a story that good has to be true i i really really want it to be true but we'll see we'll see let's move on game five thursday yep that's right game five is on thursday all the action gets underway puck drops just after eight o'clock eastern the venue shifts back to msg sorry about the ice palmer race okay elliot uh new segment now news on the march uh don waddell now officially president of hockey operations and general manager of the columbus blue jackets later on today he will speak so we'll get more of a thorough understanding of everything involving these various positions that he has and what he has

planned etc so we'll stay tuned for that and we'll talk more on the next podcast about it but do you have a quick thought on this one now that it's official? I think Caroline has already begun interviews to replace him. Okay. And I think there's been a lot of questions asked about what comes next in Columbus. Who's he going to hire? What's the full structure going to look like? I assume we're going to get some answers on Wednesday afternoon when he meets with the media and outlines things. But I think this is going to be a very interesting month with the Blue Jackets,

just in terms of, you know, how many people are staying, what the structure is going to be, what are his plans for the team. You know, one of the things I think that was discussed here is that you know Columbus is very loyal fans they showed that this year and I think the organization really wants to reward them but one of the things I believe he will try to sell them on is there still doesn't mean you can make quick fixes they've got good young players there they really believe they have some foundational pieces that can help them get to where they want to go but I don't think he really believes that you can accelerate this through free agency too much or make shortcut moves that are supposed to help you win in the short term.

And the one thing that the Blue Jackets are really lucky about is that their fans are good enough and loyal enough that they probably will accept it. But it's hard to hear still when you've been waiting so long to be successful. Like, I don't think Waddell's walking in here saying, we're going to win next year. I think he's going to walk in and say, we've got pieces, but I know what it's like to have a really good team and how hard it is to win.

And we're not anywhere near there yet. All right. Again, a little bit later on today, we'll hear Waddell speak and we'll be talking plenty about the future of the Columbus Blue Jackets as they have a new boss and maybe more on the horizon. Meantime, a new bench boss official in Seattle. Tuesday afternoon, the Seattle Kraken announcing Dan Bilesma is the next head coach of the Seattle Kraken. He still has business with Coachella Valley. They're in a playoff series right now with Milwaukee in the Western Conference Final of the American Hockey League. There's the Jessica Campbell question that's out there as well.

I want to ask you about that. But a thought on Dan Bilesma, now made official by Seattle. I would think that there are a certain amount of people who thought that this was not a name we'd hear in NHL head coaching circles again. You know, aside from Seattle, in the last seven years since he left for Buffalo, I don't think Bilesma had a ton of bites, like maybe only one or two interviews. And I would wonder if he too would look at it and say, I don't know if I ever would have got another shot.

And we talked about this briefly on your show, Jeff, about how I had a debate once with a coach. Is it better to be an NHL assistant or an AHL head coach? Well, Bilesma was an NHL assistant after his last coaching job in Buffalo. Bilesma was an NHL assistant after his last coaching job in Buffalo, but the AHL coach getting into an organization, doing a good job with their prospects, especially the prospect when it comes to the Seattle Kraken Shane Wright, I would have to say he wrote a definitive argument as to why AHL coach is better.

he wrote a definitive argument as to why AHL coach is better. You know, I don't think this was an easy process for the Kraken. You know, I think there were people there who didn't want to make a coaching change in the first place. I think there were some legitimate disagreements. And when I say legitimate disagreements, it's because I think it's fair for people to have different opinions but I think there were some literal legitimate disagreements on where the Kraken should go I think there were some people who really favored Bilesma I think there were some people who liked Todd McClellan I think there were some people who

really liked Jay Leach the assistant coach there who got two interviews. And I heard that Dean Avison interviewed very well, although I don't know if he was going to beat out one of the other three. But I heard it was not, again, I don't want to say it wasn't unanimous because at the end it might have been. I really have no idea. end it might have been I really have no idea but I think that there were people who were like no I feel strongly about this person and others who were like no I feel strongly about this person and the people who really like Bilesma because of the job he did in the American Hockey League team they won out and I've said this with you before that to me this whole situation shows how strongly the kraken organization feels that it must start to contend and that two years ago they have a great first round upset of the

defending stanley cup champions and this year they didn't make the playoffs and the word is out both internally and externally that that's not good enough anymore that the expectation is the kraken are expected to contend or be a playoff team now the coach alone isn't going to fix that they need some scoring and i have no doubt they are going to go out and look for some scoring i've mentioned jake DeBrusque on this pod, and I know there's going to be others. But when I think of Bilesma here, I think of Jeff, and it's not a hockey coach. Who do you think of?

It's Ron Lancaster. Wow, CFL poll. Okay, I'm listening. I'm listening. The CFL Hall of Famer, a great quarterback, one of the best players in CFL history. So he retires as a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and he goes into coaching.

And I think in his first two years, he went 4-28. And it was like, okay, good player, terrible coach, never going to come back. And he went to the broadcast booth for I think close to a decade and then he came back and he was a great coach and so you know I always think that it just because it didn't work for you before and maybe your name wasn't on the front burner of a lot of lists it doesn't mean you can't figure it out and be successful later.

I call that my Lancaster rule. But it was definitely a situation where Seattle knew Biles more better than anybody else did. And the job he did in Coachella Valley and continues to do in Coachella Valley because they're in an AHL conference final, it convinced them to give him another shot.

And that's why coaching in the AHL can be a very good thing. Familiarity with Shane Wright, as you already mentioned, Ryan Winterton, Riker Evans, these are the ones. I'm with you. I think they go out. I think Ron Francis does. And I think he's frisky in a free agency

and we start to see some new faces with the Seattle Kraken, but make no mistake about it. A lot of this is because of the work that he's done with a lot of these young players that are looking to transition into the big club. Now, the other name that's out there is an assistant with Coachella Valley. And Dan Biles has said that she would be considered

for an assistant position with the Seattle Kraken. I would imagine she would be considered as well as the head coach position with Coachella Valley Firebirds. And that is Jessica Campbell. Do you have a sense of how this one plays itself out? From what I understand, the comments at the media conference were not simple lip service

i heard that when bilesmo was interviewed and i assume he was interviewed more than once he mentioned that he would be interested in bringing her to the nhl team so i think this is real so to me the question is a what do they think is right for her and what does she think is right for her so between those things like to me it's obvious she has a future in the organization um i just wonder what everybody thinks including herself the best path is like we just had a conversation about how is it better to be an nhl assistant or an ahl head coach and for bilesman seattle the answer was ahl head coach what does she think i i think that's going to be a question i've also heard that biles was interested in todd reardon and they have a

history together so i'm not surprised to hear that but i like i said i don't believe this is lip service i heard it came up as part of the interview process that he would be interested in bringing her to seattle with him uh sticking with coaching um tuesday we were introduced to sheldon keith officially with the new jersey devils i had him on the radio show a couple of hours after he finished his press conference yeah what did he say did he say he missed you already? Yeah, he missed both of us. He really misses being that close to 32 thoughts.

You know, the one thing that struck me from my conversation with him is how much more relaxed and invigorated he already sounds. We all know that Toronto's a meat grinder. We know what Torontoonto is we know what toronto is like elliot how many either players or coaches have gone through toronto and they start by saying don't worry i know what it's going to be like and then by the end they say

i had no idea it was going to be like that um and keith has come out of it essentially sounding like he has new energy. And it's pretty impressive, too, because it's only like five minutes ago that he got fired from the Toronto Maple Leafs. So I thought that was pretty interesting. One of the things that I tried to get him to bite on and he wouldn't. Which clearly failed, judging from the way you're talking about this. It totally failed. I said, listen, were there ever any moments when you were with Toronto and you said to either Dubas or Tree Living,

I'd really like it if we could get player X or player Y from the New Jersey Devils, and who would those players be? And he didn't even. Jack Hughes. Didn't even. Yeah, exactly. Dougie Hamilton. Nicolese Scher.

Jesper Bratt. one of them all. Did not even come close to answering that one. Was keeping that one very much at arm's length. My main takeaway was just how he sounded more than anything else for each. I'm sure that one of the reasons you're relaxed is because the first time you get fired at the NHL level, you think that, oh, my God, I'm done. It's never going to happen again.

And, you know, he told the story in the media conference about how he got let go and he's out for lunch with his wife and Tree Living calls him to say the devils have received permission to talk to you. Devils have received permission to talk to you. That is uplifting because you go from feeling like the lowest of the low, the biggest piece of crap in the world. Sure. Like, oh, yeah, you know, people still love me. It's like when you get dumped for the first time and then the next person calls and asks you out. You're like, oh, I thought that I'd be single for the rest of my existence. I was I was going to live like a hermit with a bunch of cats.

No, there's other people out there who find you attractive. So I have no doubt that that really helps. And, you know, the thing about it all is, and one of the things I'm really curious about for the devils is I understand that a lot of the people that interviewed there, and I mean the ones who interviewed seriously, I think they did a couple of really cursory interviews. But some of the people interviewed seriously, I think there was a lot of talk about, okay, what are you looking at your blue line and how are we going to deal with our issues and goal? And how are we going to deal with our issues and goal? And, you know, very clearly, I don't think Sheldon Keefe or anybody else takes this job unless they are convinced the devils have a plan for to fix those issues. So, you know, Keefe, your question should have been, which goalie is Tom Fitzgerald going to get? Like, you are a terrible interviewer for not asking this question.

Hold on. So part of the conversation was we started talking about roster composition, and he mentioned Jake Allen and mentioned that it was a great acquisition by Tom Fitzgerald to shore up the goaltending position, and he said something along the lines of, and the pursuit of a goaltender continues for us yes yes that will continue that is still the target but you didn't get a name no elliot i did not get a name c minus no i think i think strong b no strong but don't worry that still makes you an honor

student you had to take a shot at goo out of that one okay fine elliot something else here about um about sheldon keith and this is from kevin mcgrann's piece in the toronto star this is what sheldon keith had to say quote it was a tremendous honor to coach the maple leafs there's a lot that goes into that i've had a number of well-established coaches in the league reach out to say quote it was a tremendous honor to coach the Maple Leafs there's a lot that goes into that I've had a number of well-established coaches in the league reach out to say that I should be happy now that I get to coach in the real NHL Toronto is quite unique it's not like the rest of the league let me say that again I had a number of well-established coaches in the league reach out to say I should be happy now that I get to coach in the real NHL Toronto is quite unique it's not like the rest of the league

your thoughts on that one well I have no problem with the second of that quote Toronto is unique I think you could argue that Montreal is pretty crazy and Vancouver is pretty crazy there are other pretty crazy markets in in the league but I'm not crazy about that part about welcome to the real NHL and the reason is I I wouldn't want someone coaching my team who really thought that. And the reason is, yes, I know that Toronto can be crazy and it's not easy. Same with Montreal, same with Vancouver, same with most of Canada. You name your place. But I look at it as the risks are high, yes, but the rewards are high. And I have always thought that that is the way you should think.

Now, look, I understand it that sometimes people go through that meat grinder and then they say, I need something quieter. I also understand that people want their families to go through something quieter but to me it would be like give me that again like the day i get fired from sports net and we all know that could happen on a moment's notice what time is i i would want the next craziest thing like i remember when i got hired at hockey night in canada i was not used to some of the attention and it really wasn't social media then it was 0304

but i got criticized a lot more like there were a lot of there were tv columns at the time and i got criticized for some things i did like it was fair criticism i remember one was particularly harsh but it was generally very fair criticism but it was a lot more than what i was used to than when i worked at the score and i remember i was bothered by something once and it was john shan i was talking about with john and he said to me, look, you're on the number one show now. This is life. This is life.

This is the way it is. What you say gets picked apart more. What you do gets picked apart more. But you know, there's a lot of good things that come with that too. And I always tell that to people and now in the social media era it's even crazier but i don't know i just something about that quote bothered me that if i was hiring someone who thought that like it didn't it wouldn't matter to me if you were in the biggest market in the nhl or you were in the number 32 size market in the nhl yeah i don't think i'd want that i wouldn't want that person

working for me i want someone who wants to who's like did you ever watch gladiator yeah i love gladiator right i love gladiator i watch gladiator at least once a year it's on my list of movies i have to watch at least once a year with Godfather 1 and 2, with The Deer Hunter, and with another classic in that genre of movie, Roadhouse. Have to watch that at least once a year. But that scene when Russell Crowe is in the arena for the first time once he returns to Rome and he pulls everybody around him and says this is how we're going to survive basically like that's the guy I want coaching my team whether we were in the biggest Market of the league or the number 32 Market in the league someone is going to say the risks are high but the rewards are even greater if we pull this off together me and the

team I'm with it's like what did Fred shiro say to the Flyers we will walk together forever and let me add in Glory so I you know I I just didn't like that I I didn't like that I was like that's not what I'd want that's not what I want. The thing about it, whenever I hear things like this, part of me always says, if I'm the NHL, I want 32 markets that are as crazy about their hockey team as Toronto is. You know what? That's a great point, too. Fantastic. Like, that is what the goal is here, everybody.

We want everything to be as financially healthy as Toronto is. And we want the same 24-7 obsession about a hockey team that Toronto has. I mean, fill your boots with all the 67 jokes and all that. And that's all cool. I'm just talking about the business of the game. If you're the nhl and you read something like this you say to yourself you do understand that we want 32 markets like this yeah we don't want one and everybody else

we want everybody to be like this and that obsession comes along with that tightrope act where everything to your point about hey i can say something on the score i'll say the same thing on hockey night in canada and it's gonna be picked up and picked up and picked apart but that's what you want that's part of that high wire act you're up there and they want all their markets to be like that like that's the goal that's the goal ask any organization like we're talking a lot about Columbus these days and what they're doing you don't think they want that like pick a market pick a market every market wants that that's the only part of that that I looked at and kind of went eh

you're not getting it because the goal is to get 32 markets like that anyhow that's a good way of looking at it too a really good way of looking at it too. A really good way of looking at it too. By the way, I was talking about this with someone today. Then they said, when it comes to your work, do you have any rules for your wife? And my answer was, number one, if you looked at her and you looked at me, you would know that she's the one who's got rules and I don't bother her with anything. But the one thing I did say is that the only thing I ever say to her is if you can't handle people ripping me, then don't go on social media.

Like I said, I don't want you comment. As you know, I appear in some of her videos uh for her serve it up staff stuff yeah but i other than that i'm like no commenting on anything anyone says about me no wading into any fights about me or anything like that no pouring gasoline no pouring gasoline on the fire and i know it's hard for some of the partners out there like i i get it they they read things and they hear things and they take it more personally than we do but that's the only thing i say says you are you are not to go out there and be an arsonist um i think that's fair okay a couple Yeah. A couple of more things.

Vancouver Canucks. This one kind of a surprise. Mike Yeo, parting ways with the Vancouver Canucks, assistant coach with Rick Tockett. This one caught me. Did it catch you? A little bit,

because I think that I was under the impression he did a really good job for them last year. Like, you know, he was in charge of the penalty kill, and their penalty kill was pretty good now there were some reports I think Sat Shaw had one of the reports that he turned down a contract offer so I sit back and I wait because usually when that happens usually it's because there's something else he's looking at so I want to see how it all plays out I wonder if there's another coach out there that has a connection with Mike Yeo and wants him or Yeo sees another situation out there he wants to take a look at but i don't know that for sure i would just say in my experience

that's the case uh some other assistant coaching stuff out there i heard there were a bunch of teams that looked at newell brown who was let go by anaheim and next year would be his 28th consecutive year in the league and there seems to be some talk that he may end up in los angeles so it'll be a short drive from where he was last year uh some of the names i've heard that have been kind of connected a bit to toronto have been brad lauer who was uh let go or I guess they said mutually left Winnipeg. And I heard Lane Lambert's name out there too. We'll see what they decide to do. Toronto, knowing them, they're casting a wide net.

And the other thing I wanted to mention about Vancouver was there sure does seem to be in the middle of everything that they're trying to do and i think they've got a lot of balls in the hopper and i think they're trying to really figure out exactly what's going to happen here and what they're going to be able to do and what they're going to have to do to be able to do it but there seems to be uh some real optimism that they're going to be able to work out something with uh ty. I think he likes it there, and I think they want to keep him. And that usually means there is a way to get it done.

We will see. One other thing, Elliot, and this is a Vegas story. Jonathan Marcheseau. This is from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, David Shane's piece, about how essentially Jonathan Marcheseau is kind of Maytag repairman here, just waiting for a call from the Vegas Golden Knights. His quotes are, and this was from the opening of the World Series of Poker, I did not have a call yet or anything.

They said they were interested to definitely resign me and we'll see. Technically, they have time until June 30th, and we'll see technically they have time until june 30th so we'll see how it goes that from jonathan marcheseau their leading score so here's my reaction to this uh story and um i as somebody who has gone through uh challenging negotiations myself, I understand what happens here. The player wants it to be fast. The team says, we've got time. I bet you there's a lot of people listening to this who negotiate contracts, who understand this dynamic.

You have someone who says, oh, lots of time before we have to make our decision, the Lamorello rule, if you have time, use it. And someone who says, you know what? I really want this to be over with. I want it to be done. And while they might want that, the other side either can't or doesn't. So I think the Vegas Golden Knights look at this and say, hey, it's May 28th.

Free agency isn't until July 1st. We have time. We're going to sort it out or at least figure out exactly what we can offer you and go from there. But we still have a month. But the player who's been waiting all year and it's his future, like the Golden Knights aren't moving out of this.

They're still going to be there. He's a bit more on edge. He wants to know. His family probably wants to know. He wants to know. And it also does become, even though the organizations don't like hearing it being painted this way, in the player's eyes, it becomes something about respect. Like, come deal with me. And I know I've said this before in this pod, and I've had GMs call me and

say, it's not disrespect. It's not disrespect. And I say, well, in the player's eyes, it is. Because the team looks at it like we still have time. And that's exactly what this is. It's, you know, Kelly McCrimmon came out and said, we want to keep this player. Kelly McCrimmon is looking at the calendar and saying, I have time. Jonathan Marcheseau is sitting there and he's like, I want this to be over. I want to know that I'm going to be a golden knight or not.

I don't like the uncertainty and I don't want it for another month. And like, to me, it doesn't mean based on the article today, which is all fair, like a really good article. It doesn't mean there's any more or less of a chance to me that the golden knights will sign Marsha.

So it's the golden Knights saying, we have to work through a process and figure out exactly what we've got. And the player saying, I just want this freaking over with. That's what this is. The only real leverage you have in any negotiation, Elliot is the ability to walk away. And if you have the ability to walk away, you have leverage. If you don't, then you don't have leverage. If I was Jonathan Marcheseau in this situation, and I'm sure that through his agent, Pat Breeson, they're discussing contingencies here

and what the marketplace could look like for Jonathan Marcia. So I just wonder like, if this is the level of frustration now with, with Marcia, so how long does he let it go before he makes his mind up and says, you know what? That was,

that was your timeline, not mine. Well, the only thing, the, the only thing I would say is i think he really wants to stay and be part of the team i believe that too but then to your point about respect there comes a point where it's like okay you know that i want to stay here i've been here from day one

i don't think i should be treated like this yeah he might feel that way i don't want to speak for him i don't know i'm just putting myself in the position yeah yeah there would be part like it's I think it would only be natural like look I've been here from day one I helped you win a Stanley Cup like all of it if you're the Golden Knights you have to be aware of that you have to think of that and I wonder if they reach out and just say hey like we've got some things we've got to do here yeah um but I from what I understand about him and how much he wants to be there I don't see that happening yet now hey if we get to June 20th or June 25th then you just have to get that in your head a month away I don know. You'd have to be really mad. I'm not him.

I'm not him. Yeah. I don't know. I'm just wondering what it must be like to be him right now. I've been in this situation before. Like I said, you're thinking, let's get this over with. Takes two to tango. Okay, Elliot.

Definitely. We'll keep our eyes on this one it's vegas it's marcia so it's one of the originals the ogs the misfits we'll see where this one heads all right elliot san jose sharks will smith comes out no he's not going back to bc really good video uh signs his entry-level contract there uh not going back to play with his buddies he has turned pro macklin celebrini will smith and i think we're all starting to wonder here now what else does mike greer do and now that he's going to have celebrini now that he's going to have will smith as well you wonder what the San Jose Sharks will be doing in the offseason. I'm sure he'll be looking for some good pros

to play with those guys, some players to protect them. And obviously the biggest one is going to be the coach. You know, who does he hire to start molding these players into legit NHLers? I said in the last pod, I believed it was some combination of Blashill, Worsofsky, and Marco Sturm were in the running for this job.

And we'll see what the Sharks' timeline is going to be. But I also think you've got to be looking at what players are you putting around them. looking at what players are you putting around them. It's exciting for the Sharks to be able to start anew with two players who they hope are going to be franchise cornerstones. So are you saying that Celebrini and Smith here are Thornton and Marleau? I'm not saying that.

I just think it's very bad for both of them to say that. I think the Sharks would be very, very happy if those guys turned out like Thornton and Marlowe, but it's almost like dooming them at the beginning to put that on top of them. That's very good, though, Merrick. That'll excite the Shark fans. Thank you.

That's right. You're getting Thornton and Marlowe, folks. Take it to the bank. Long-term deposit result guaranteed. Let me throw a name at you here. As you're talking about providing a security blanket for these young players, Tanner Genoa fit there? You're going to have him traded to every team.

Any team that needs toughness, Tanner Genoa. Yeah. I mean, I think that guy could play just about everywhere. He really did excel in the Western Conference, Elliot. Yes, he did. He really did excel in the Western Conference, Elliot. Yes, he did. He really liked playing in the Western Conference. That's not exactly a secret. Okay, someone else who's always been great to deal with, and you're in Edmondson, Sam Gagne.

What's up there? Yeah, so I saw him today in the room and just asked him how he was doing. He came off the ice. He had a big smile. He was working up a sweat. And, you know, he told me he wants to play again next year. Oh, yeah?

Yep. He does not want to retire. He wants to play, and he is determined to play. And, you know, Gagne will be 35 in August. And if you take a look at his game total, he's up over 1,000. Like some guys, when they get to 1,000, they're like, okay, I hit that number and I'm good. You know, he's not like that. He wants to play.

He says, look, I still love it. You know, he played 28 games this year with the Oilers. He played 15 in Bakersfield. And he said, look, I still love hockey. He said his wife is still understanding. If you want to keep going, then you can keep going. He's got three kids, eight, six, and four. I believe it's two boys and a girl.

And they're starting to get old enough a little bit to, A, play, and, B, have a better understanding of what their dad does. But, you know, the thing that really hit me, Jeff, is he comes off the ice, he's got a big smile. I mean, chances are he's not getting in the lineup, but he's still going out there every day, and you can tell he really enjoys it. But, you know, I said I would mention it,

and he said he'd appreciate it. And so I'm just happy to mention that if there's a team out there looking for a vet, Sam Gagne wants to play next year. He bypassed his father for games played in the NHL. Right now, Sam Gagne is at 1,043 regular season games. And Father Dave, man, could Dave ever shoot. Holy smokes. He was also kind of dirty dave was kind of a dirty player he kind of did play in the 90s ellie he kind of had to if you're going to get through the neutral zone uh he played 946 games it is a much different league

now a much different league i'll tell you can i tell you a quick story about Dave Gagne? Of course. I'll always hear that. So he was represented by Don Baisley and so was Saku Koivu. And before Koivu came over to North America, they faced each other at a world championships, Koivu for Finland and Gagne for Canada. And, you know, Gagne had heard about this guy and he's like, ah, let's, let's, they line up for a face-off, and he goes, ah, you know, let's see what this guy's made of. And he said he jammed him with his stick, and Koivu jammed him right back.

And Don Baisley told me that, and when I was doing a piece on Koivu once, Don Baisley told me that he remembered after that tournament was over, Dave Gagne called him and said, okay, I decided to test your guy Koivu a little bit with some chicanery during face-offs and stuff. And he said that Koivu did not back down.

And Baisley kind of smiled and said, when Dave says he did something to saku i i just assume it wasn't clean because dave was very good at that so i was like that story about dave dave uh certainly could be nasty um okay you're listening to this podcast i'm guessing it's wednesday so tonight game five pwhl uh Songha Center in Lowell, Massachusetts. After a thrilling double overtime on Sunday, Minnesota versus Boston. The winner becomes the first PWHL champion and captures the Walter Cup. This after the controversy on Sunday where Taylor Heisey slammed into Aaron Frankel.

Sophie Jiggs scored. It was overturned after the big celebration on the ice. Goaltender interference. Alina Mueller for Boston comes down a couple of minutes later and fires one high on Nicole Hensley to give Boston the 1-0 victory and force a game five. So Minnesota goes from jubilation and helmets and sticks and gloves all over the ice.

So pick yourselves up and try to win this thing, comma, again. We've got a game five in the PWHL tonight, Elliot. So I think a lot of people would consider that kind of a nightmare situation. No way. No way. I actually think it's the right thing that's why you have replay if your championship is decided like am i wrong with that that was clear goaltender interference right completely goal interference like high it was an accident it was she lost an edge and she slipped right into a Frankel. Aaron Frankel couldn't make the save. Sophie Jakes comes in to score, but Aaron Frankel was frozen. She could not make a save. She could not get in position to make that save. It was 100% the right call.

debate about replay and the unintended consequences and there have been a few of them in the nhl but that is why you have it if the championship had been awarded on that goal people would be screaming bloody murder so it sucks for minnesota it sucks for minnesota's fans but if it happened to them they would have felt totally cheated and been screaming for replay so I know some people who thought that was a nightmare scenario I'm with you I disagree the nightmare scenario was if it would have been allowed to count uh I mean listen I think most if not everybody understood that Ken Clee the head coach of Minnesota I mean how many games has he been involved in? He knows goal interference when he sees it. It's the right call.

But the thing that I liked about it for this league is it now becomes a part of the story. It now becomes part of the drama that has been this season, and it leads into a game five. Like, it's part of the, like, that finish to that game goes into the hype machine for game five here. Like, you know me, Elliot, I look at everything like it's one big story. Like every hockey season is one big story. And this one just took another twist and had another turn in the first season for the PWHL. Like it's something that everybody is always going to talk about what happened in that first playoff. Well, Minnesota thought they won. Everybody was saying, wow, a championship at XL Energy Center, finally here, and it's PWHL Minnesota.

Not so fast. Not so fast. I thought it was, A, the right call, and B, although not great for the athletes or the fans there, the Minnesota fans, a nice bit of marketing for the league itself because that shit went viral it got everybody saw it everybody talking it got every and the pwhl have done a great job creating viral moments all season long whether it's jail break or whatever they've done a great job of that and this is another chapter in that story

so we'll see what happens tonight, but it will either be Minnesota or Boston who captures the inaugural Walter Cup. Montana's Thought Line, coming up in moments. Listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. We have a thought line for your thoughts. It is the Montana's Thought Line, Montana's barbecue and bar, Canada's home for barbecue. Try the ribs.

Try the ribs. You got to try the ribs. Thank you, Rick Turner. 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca. 1-833-311-3232. Griffin Porter, thank you again for curating these thoughts lovingly. This, Elliot from Chase. Hey, fellas, Chase here here, lifelong Las Vegas hockey fan

here. First with the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL, then to the obvious one, go Knights go. With Ryan McDonough waving his no move clause, I was curious, when a player waves, is it in a contract of some sort that they're waving it for a specific team? Or is it in a contract of some sort that they're waiving it for a specific team? Or is it just a mutual understanding that they are waiving to go to said team? Curious if the deal would ever fall through, they could be traded to a different team since the no movement clause was waived. Love the pod. If ever in Vegas, Big B's barbecue is a must try. Elliot appreciates the recommendations i always do so the way it works is a player when they get traded they have to sign a

piece of paper to file with central registry that they are waving their no trade clause so basically in advance you don't put anything on paper At least in most cases, but you say if you trade me to this place or that place I will agree to go So a team will say I can you give us three teams can give us five teams like where would you be willing to go? You know when Ryan Kessler was traded from Vancouver to Anaheim he was only willing to give one team. Some players also refuse it. They say, no, I'm sorry. I have this right. I'm not doing it. Some players will be in such a bad place. They'll say, you told me that or you didn't tell me this, what happens is when you go to a player and say, look, we have a deal, you can go here, then the player signs a piece of paper that says, I have agreed to waive my no trade clause or my no move clause so this can happen.

And that's what occurs. that's how it works now one of the things that's different about the new cba as opposed to previous ones was that in previous cases if you agreed to waive your no move or no trade clause you couldn't get it back now no teams could you could ask for it and some you could you're right you that happened to pk suban and pk suban was one of the big ones yes that was one of the big ones you could ask uh but you weren't guaranteed it and now it's changed so if if jeff is traded in year two of an eight-year deal and he agrees to waive his no trade or no move after he agrees to this particular trade it's back on and they have to get him to agree to waive it if they ever want to do

it again so that is a change excellent um chase thanks for that one and thanks for the recommendation tim in new york i'm watching the dallas stars the other night and got to thinking about Logan Stankhoven. He could potentially... Stank, great nickname. You know what I heard? I heard that Peter DeBoer would not call him Stank. The other players call him Stank, but DeBoer was not. A couple of the players told me that DeBoer was not comfortable calling him Stank.

Calling him Stank? But will he call other guys by their nicknames well it's a disgusting nickname well yeah of course it is i know but like hockey dude i mean i'm glad the kid likes it yeah i wouldn't be crazy about it if my nickname was stink man i don't know i'm playing in the nhl call me whatever you want um he could potentially get his name engraved on the stanley cup this year he could also be eligible to win the calder trophy next year yeah which brings me to the most merrick s question to hit the thought line which i don't think is the most

merrick-esque there's been plenty of other ones more but has a player ever won the stanley cup before they won the calder trophy i would one yep i would root for the Stars just for the possibility of that happening. And I say that as a Rangers fan. Special shout out to Mustang Harry's in New York City, the best bar for playoff Ranger games on 30th and 7th right near MSG. Okay, Elliot, who is this mystery man

who won the Stanley Cup and then the Calder? The mystery man is Ken Dryden. Ken Dryden played six games for the Montreal Canadiens in 1970-71. And in the first round, the Canadiens were not very good that year. He was named the starter as the Canadiens faced the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins. And the Canadiens beat the Bruins and the defending Stanley cup champion, Boston Bruins, and the Canadians beat the Bruins and won the Stanley cup that year. And actually the Bruins won again the next year.

So he stopped them from winning three in a row. And then in 1972, now the full-time starting goaltender of the Canadians in a year where he had eight shutouts, uh, dryden won the calder trophy so i don't know if it's ever happened with anyone else jeff but that's definitely the most famous one and there's one other thing that i want to throw in there for a little bit of spice too and uh good luck getting this one logan stankhoven or stank as everyone except for peter deborah calls him um ken dryden also also won the consmith trophy that playoff year in 1971. Oh, yes.

That's right. You're right. I should have mentioned that. The Cup and the Conn Smythe before winning the Calder Trophy. And then won five Veznas. Yeah. Talk about having yourself a season. I would just quit.

I can't beat that. I quit. I know. I really like it. And you know what? Of all people, Ken Dryden would have been the guy to do that. Yeah. And just drop my piece out.

I'm going to go write books and then call the miracle on ice in 1980. Okay. There you go. That's a good one. And we'll finish up with Lori from Plymouth, Michigan. Hey, guys. As a Red Wings fan, I've got plenty of free time. Ouch.

Oh, Lori. And I've been thinking about the upcoming free agent market. I was wondering if players and agents put together highlight reels to market the player and show off their strengths to potential suitors. I know there are all kinds of stats, but some things are best demonstrated on video, subtle stick positioning, or perhaps specific plays or unique skills. I know teams have servers full of video and use it for scouting, teaching, et cetera,

but two players also have the rights to this video. If they were to make their own marketing reel, would they have access to team video or broadcast video, or would they just have to procure it some other way? Just curious and know you will have the answer. Hashtag from Lori in Plymouth, Michigan pay Lucas Raymond. Don't worry. Lucas, curious and know you will have the answer hashtag from lori in plymouth michigan pay lucas raymond uh don't worry lucas lucas raymond is getting paid he'll get paid free agents making their own

sizzle reels boy that's a great question well one of the things uh i can tell you is last year patrick kane he sent out some video and his agent pat person sent out some video of him working out just so teams could see it now that wasn't nhl video that was him working out in ontario at the time so there's no problem with that but it's an example of a sizzle reel that was sent out so teams could see this is what Patrick Kane looks like. And, you know, obviously when it's put out by the agent, it's going to make the player look good, but it was still something that's the first thing I actually thought of while Jeff was asking the question. This happens at lower levels.

Like there'll be players like minor hockey players, youth hockey players who send it out to various teams, whether's um junior teams ohhl western league quebec league or um ushl just to sort of get on managers radars a lot of scouts will do that um not so much at the at the pro level because the league is so well scouted and everyone has a handle on who the players are and what they're all about but that it happens more lori at a lot lower levels at the, the minor slash youth hockey level for, you know, for upcoming drafts and, you know,

not the top players because those will all be certainly known, but for, you know, eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th round, a lot of agents will do those sizzle video reels to submit the teams for their perusal and their understanding of all of these players. Anyway. Now, when it comes to NHL sizzle reels, it's a really interesting question. You don't see a lot of players send out highlights of themselves. I know they do watch them. They'll watch them in a group or they'll watch each other's highlights in a group

but i don't do you know many players who do no i don't sizzle reels no only in only in like the the minor slash youth hockey levels like you know 13 14 15 years old just to get on the radar of certain teams you know i gotta send a i gotta send a video out you know i got a kid he's not going to be in the first couple of rounds but i want to make sure that this team in the USHL is aware of him, or this team in the Ontario League is aware of him, and they'll send those reels to get on the team's radar. We see players do training, especially in summer. They'll put out videos of things they're working on, but I don't know too many players who send out sizzle reels of themselves. don't know too many players who send out sizzle reels of themselves you know one thing i can tell you one one player did ask me this year through his agent for a playoff tease because the player was prominently featured and i think someone in their family told them about it yep oh like hockey

day in canada's tease featured you tonight and the agent reached out and said can i get a copy of that which i i sent to them so i bet they do i bet you there's a lot of pride about this stuff privately but i don't know how many of them mention it publicly but one thing we should like lori's really hit on something here there is one thing we should mention as well you know who does it but not necessarily of the players the teams for their cities as a way to lure free agents they'll put together reels about here's what you know if you want to live in minnesota philadelphia los angeles vegas wherever they'll put together reels to send to players as a way to say imagine yourself living here send it out that's more about the city and stuff no no that's what i'm saying like it isn't about

the players this like they will send out videos like this isn't addressing laurie's question but as we're talking about you know video and using it to recruit teams will use videos of their cities i mean how many how many i mean the Leafs did that for Stephen Stamkos. Yeah, they did it for Tavares too. They've done it for, every team has done it, I think, for a lot of players. Here's what it would be like. You know who the key player was who was featured in that Tavares video for him to play with? No, who was?

Mitch Marner. Oh, interesting. Hey. Yeah. It's kind of interesting how thatarner. Oh, interesting. Hey. Yeah. It's kind of interesting how that's all come full circle. Yeah. No kidding. So it does happen at that level, teams using the city video to recruit.

But great question and got some interesting answers out of it. Lori, thank you so much for that one. Thanks to everyone who submitted. 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca, 1-833-311-3232. The Montana's Thought Line, Montana's barbecue and bar, Canada's home for barbecue. We're talking Edmonton, Dallas, Game 4. Next. Jeff Alliantom of 32 Thoughts.

Try theips today. Whoa, yeah. Welcome back to 32 Thoughts to Podcast, presented as always by the GMC Sierra Elevation. Elliot, you are in Edmonton. You will see and cover game four tonight. The Dallas Stars lead the series 2-1 after a pretty interesting game on Monday

that saw the Edmonton Oilers storm out to a 2-0 lead and they were on fire to start that game. Well, first of all, the crowd was on fire. What a great crowd that was on Monday in Edmonton. Yes, it was. Only to see three minutes and 30 seconds in the second period just completely take the wind out of the sails. A pair of goals by Jason Robertson, a one by Wyatt Johnson, and all of a sudden it's 3-2 Dallas. Robertson and one by Wyatt Johnson and all of a sudden it's 3-2 Dallas.

The game winner eventually scored by Jason Robertson, the hat trick and a gorgeous goal where he banked it off Stuart Skinner who by the way does get the start tonight for the Edmonton Oilers. Your thoughts on how we got to game four with the Dallas Stars leading the series 2-1? It's as if they stopped the game after the first period and said okay, we're starting over. Like on road hockey when you were a kid and one team had an 8-0 lead and then they held a new game. New game.

New game. Wyatt Johnston said it publicly on Tuesday at the media availability, but I'd heard after the game on Monday night, I asked a couple of the stars, what was the most important thing that was said in the first intermission in your room? And the answer was win battles. They just felt they got completely overpowered in the first period of game three. And everything started with winning battles. And it was the veterans who said it and then Peter DeBoer said it.

We're not going to do anything if we don't start winning battles. And they did and the Oilers fell apart. Now, as I said on Monday night in the aftermath, if Edmonton loses that series, they're going to regret game three. They're going to look back at the one that cost them the series. But when you're in the middle of it, and we've said it before, Jeff,

there were times against Vancouver that the Oilers fans thought they were doomed, particularly after game five, and Edmonton found a way. Now, Dallas, I think, as I've said many times, is a different animal. But that's one of the things that the Oilers were talking about on Tuesday, the day off, is that, yeah, we lost, but today's a new day. Tomorrow's a new game, and we have to have a short memory, learn our lessons, and move on. And I really believe in the battles win stat, and Amber showed it to me. We get it as part of our statistical printout. And in the game, Dallas has won the battles one cup all three games.

All three games. And they certainly did it after the first period of game three. Now, one of the things I think is really interesting is the stars have tried a tactic here that the Oilers players admit is working against them. And Kevin Bieksa did a great breakdown of it in the second intermission, and it's the 2-2 goal. And basically what they're doing is

the moment a defenseman gets the puck deep in their zone, the weak side forward is blowing the zone. And on the 2-2 goal, it was Tyler Sagan and Ekholm, knowing it was going to happen, went back to his own blue line. And basically it created a 50-50 puck battle that Sagan won. And it eventually led to the 2-2 goal. And a couple of Oilers players admitted to me that it was an effective tactic. It's working against them.

So I asked a couple of them, what do you do? And they said that we have to start winning our own battles against them so that their defensemen don't get free to make that pass, flip it out, or the forward doesn't leave, or maybe they're going to have to change the way they attack and dump it in less. We'll see how the Oilers adjust to that, but that is definitely a play that is working against the Oilers. The other thing I wanted to talk about, Jeff, and you discussed this on your radio show a bit on Tuesday, and I got some more information, was the game-winning goal against Stuart Skinner by Jason Robertson,

his hat-trick goal. Beautiful goal. And in his post-game interview with Kyle, Robertson said that Jeff Reese, who's the goalie coach there, had helped him figure out what to do. And Peter DeBoer, in his comments on tuesday mentioned that robertson and matt duchesne are probably the two on the team who pay most attention to information given to them by jeff reese and i had a chance to talk to the goalie coach a real great guy after the stars skated on tuesday and he said it wasn't

so much what skinner did it's how robertson practices and i thought this was really interesting and i think this is a good lesson for young players he said said that Robertson is an excellent practice player, excellent. And they'll do drills with their goalies, Ottinger and Scott Wedgwood. And the idea is Robertson goes somewhere and Ottinger and Wedgwood work on how they're going to stop Robertson from that place on the ice. It's a goalie training drill. And Reese joked that Robertson ruins these drills all the time and they hate him for it. Because what'll happen is they'll say, okay, this is how you stop Robertson on this play or a scorer on this play. And they'll do it, and then Robertson will start to figure out,

okay, this is how I'm going to beat it. And he's good enough to do it. Sure. So he basically said to me that what happened was Robertson saw the way Skinner played it, skate against the post, and figured out how to beat it. And one of the issues there is that he had too much time there's no way robertson should have had that much time yeah and because if he doesn't then he doesn't score but he said robertson deserves the credit because he's a great practice

player and two because he spends a lot of practices figuring out how to ruin Ottinger, Wedgwood, and Reese's drills. Normally, yeah. Well, no one likes a drill buster, whether you do it for your own benefit or you just don't know what to do. How much of this was just, I'll just be blunt, how much of game three was flat out the return of Rupe Hins and the excellence of Rupe Hins? Oh, I think it's a lot um and and apparently i you know amber looked at some of the numbers um you know amber's the nerd of our group so he looked at the numbers nerd nerd nerd and and he said that the numbers were obvious that they were clear and

hints is not just like there's some guys in the league who are number one centers because they have to be hints is a legitimate number one center and oh yeah they they're just a very different team with him on the ice not only offensively but defensively and i thought they were really good and you know skinner had kind of a weird night that goal wasn't good but he made a lot of big saves you know dry subtle was really quiet so i'm assuming he's going to have a massive game four that's about as quiet a game from dry sidle as we've seen so like i said i expect him to be fantastic i'm curious to see what edmonton does lineup wise you know i one of the players told me about ryan mcleod they said it was really interesting he was he he kind of kept himself away from the group for game three he knew he wasn't playing so he

kind of stayed away from everyone but he showed up on the off day like just fresh new attitude um but this thing on defense so stetcher is is having surgery he's out yeah you know it kind of surprised me it took so long for it to get out there in the sense that he hasn't been skating with them for a long time so when you know i i came here and i said and like because basically what happened was on in dallas they brought broberg and ph and Philip Kemp like Stetcher wasn't even there and I was kind of like what what's going on here because he's better than their ninth defenseman and they were hemming and hawing and I was like okay and it basically took a couple of days for it to be figured out that he's not healthy enough to play but it's it's clear at the very least they're

thinking about Broberg but Chris Knobloch laid it out pretty honestly he said look you know we're thinking about another defenseman and we all know who he's talking about but we've had the same six guys all year and and you know that says to me's weighing it, but he's not sure it's really the right idea. You know, it's, it's interesting. Like all, a lot of the others were available on Tuesday. Darnell nurse wasn't. And that says to me that, you know, nurse is obviously well aware of, you know, what's

going on around there. And, you know, you're the highest And you're one of the highest paid guys and that's life in the big city. It's not always fair, but that's the way it is. And I suspect that Nurse understands some of the narrative around him right now. And you've got to come out and you've got to have a big performance in game four.

It will be expected and needed of him tricidal nurse and the oilers big one tonight game four dallas leads the series two to one all the action gets underway on sports net it's a hockey night in canada presentation at 8 30 let me finish with this one how's edmonton been for you in the last couple of days? Set the scene for us. It's been fun. I've really enjoyed it. It's not as hot as Dallas. I'll tell you that much right now.

It sounds like we're going back into a monsoon there for game five. Not dripping when you get to the rink from your walk? No, it's not quite like that. But there's a buzz here and uh you could you could really feel it like the fans are excited um there was a huge energy around the city uh monday night you know they really sagged after the game you could you could really feel it but it

was picking back up today and there are a lot of fans. Are we going to win game four? Are we going to win game four? And of course, I told them all they were because I don't want to get the crap kicked out of me on the streets of northern Alberta. But it'll be wired. It'll be wired on Wednesday night. And I loved Kyle's interview with

the anthem singer before the game. That was a great touch. And the crowd was great. We suspect there'll be great again tonight. It's a game for the Oilers facing off against the Dallas stars. Watch this one on sports net starting at eight 30 Eastern. All right. That's it for us.

Enjoy the game tonight. Uh, enjoy the game on Thursday. We're back with you Friday morning.