32 Thoughts: The Podcast - They Did Everything but Win It All

Episode Date: October 10, 2025

In today's episode of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman begin by reacting to the crazy ending to the Sharks-Golden Knights game on Thursday night. They react to the reserved San Jose Sharks owner Hasso Plattner's comments (9:17). The guys talk about Jonathan Toews' welcome in WInnipeg and how it outdid the McDavid ovation in Edmonton (22:05). They comment on the Bruins' 2-0 start (33:07). Elliotte praises the Predators (34:58). Kyle and Elliotte discuss Jack Eichel's contract extension with the Vegas Golden Knights (37:12) and Kyle Connor's as well (42:10). The boys talk Oilers and Jack Roslovic signing with them (46:57). The Final Thought focuses on the 3rd jersey reveals for the LA Kings and the Pittsburgh Penguins (52:12). Kyle and Elliotte answer your emails and voicemails in the Thoughtline (57:46).Today we spotlight Toronto based MC Andrew O and his new song Solo Dolo. Check out his music hereEmail 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

That's pretty funny, Kyle. Yes, I tend to ignore awards, which is why I've never won any. How come you've never won anything? Oh, because I just ignore it. I may have won't. Just never return their calls. That's right. The academies, they've been, they'd throw themselves at me if I would let them.

Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast, Kyle Bacoskis, Elliot Friedman, Dom Shramatti, back with you again. deep enough into the season where all 32 teams have played at least once. 14 games on the calendar Thursday night, Elliot. It was a wild night of hockey to say the least. A lot of hockey. A lot of hockey. A lot of puck. And perhaps the most unthinkable came in the game that I believe finished last on Thursday night in San Jose, Sharks, Golden Knights.

You want to just give Alex Dadelcovic a big hug after that because, man, oh man, so close San Jose was to having what was on the trajectory of being a great home opener against the heavyweight golden nights. And then Eklin doesn't get the empty netter. Now, I mean, hey, great job by shape. They don't remember keeping the pressure on them there. But the bouncer from Michael finds its way through him, ties the game and then you understand his feeling of I need to get out

and play the puck in overtime because otherwise it looked like it was a two on oh that goes awry and Riley Smith has the easiest overtime goal he scored in his career and suddenly will look to be a potential victory at home for San Jose a tough heartbreaking loss in their home opener I watched the end of that Dodgers fillies series and I said oof, nobody is going to feel worse than that Philadelphia pitcher.

And lo and behold, somebody could. Dropped away, and Adelkevich out of the goal, at the goal line from the poor line lost it, empty net for Riley Smith. He's stars. What a weird finish, and Smith wins

for the Golden Knights. You know, Nadelcovich played really well. Vegas was all over them at times, and he played a great game. I actually felt, if someone said to me, you shared the 3-3 goal, but you didn't share the overtime winner. It was just as crazy and just as strange,

and I said to them, I couldn't. I've been that guy on the internet before. I know what that's like. There's a limit to the pain I will inflict on anybody else. It was bananas. And, you know, you talked about it. Acklin, a great defensive play by Theodore, and Nadelcovic just get beat by a crazy bounce,

and then the overtime winner. You know, it's one of the things that's really weird to me, if I owned a team, Kyle, I would have a rule You can't have a no-show At your home opener You can lose That happens

You can lose But you can't have a no-show Like look at all the teams That had really ugly Home Openers Yeah, a bit of a trend this week, eh? Yep The Kings had it

The Rangers had it Buffalo had it, Detroit got boot off the ice, St. Louis got boot off the ice. I thought that was a little bit unfair because I think at one point in that second period, they outshot the wild 16 did nothing, and Gustafin was just stoning them. But it was still, the score was ugly and the fans weren't happy. I don't think, you know, it was interesting. We're going to talk about Haso Plotner's interview, the owner, did an interview with,

some of the local media there that really raised eyebrows. But one of the things he talked about was getting the crowd better at home. And he said, we just got to start winning games. But he also talked about Tuesdays and Thursdays are a bit tough for them. I would think about this game. It's disappointing. You hate to lose like that. I'm sure there were members of the San Jose organization

who were throwing chairs around their offices because of how they lost that game. I don't think that game hurts them in the sense that your fans are going home. They're like, what on earth just happened? But I don't think that's the kind of game where your fans are leaving saying, I'm not coming back.

we lost that was pretty entertaining we lost we were in the game i'll see that again i was shocked at how many teams had opening games where you would be like yeah i'm not i'm not coming back to see that anymore so strange so strange i just said some quiet buildings after what should be a real raucous occasion. Finally, we're here at the regular season again. And it was a good barn

in San Jose on Thursday night too. Like, it looked like it was, it was pretty full, which I think was meaningful for that market, given the way things have gone the last few years.

And actually, Wednesday night, I don't know if you caught this, Elliot, in the Western League, Prince George and Colonna were playing, and kind of a similar

wacky ending where an empty netter to seal it was right there. a puck flips over the stick. Colonna goes back, scores, ties the game, and then they go ahead with seven seconds left,

and they win the game in regulation out of nowhere. Yeah. I didn't see that. Just a great reminder that even when you've got the collection of the best players in the world, like every now and then, something out of Wednesday night beer league is still capable of happening.

I don't even know if that would happen in Wednesday night beer league. Has that ever happened to your Beer League team before? No, we've usually, we've lost the game by late in the first period. You guys are well behind by then. And not coming back. But I know it could happen. It certainly could happen.

If I owned a team, I would have very few rules. I do not believe in rules aside from prepare yourself to play and be professional. But one of the rules would be you cannot bleep the bed in the home opener. You can lose, but you cannot be embarrassed. You cannot fail to show up to play. Promise me a million times you'll never do another rule. Okay, if you were, if you were in over. By the way, someone was sending me clips.

Mm-hmm. Mike Sullivan and the Rangers, they were basically tackling Sidney Crosby away from the play in that game on Monday. They said it was the most ingenious strategy because they never call it. Like interference gets called when you have the puck,

but interference away from the puck, it never gets called. and he said, okay, you watch these clips. I got sent two clips. And they are mugging Crosby all over the ice. The puck is not even close. And it's like he's being escorted to jail. It's like Crosby is a wanted felon being escorted to jail.

It's a good strategy. I don't like that strategy. But if they're not going to call it, it's a good strategy. Yeah, Mike Sullivan, missing no time, eh, against his old captain. When you see the clips, it's actually so funny, you start laughing. And his goal Thursday night, geez, his stick was like a crowbar there in the crease. Like, poor Ryan Poolock, who's not a small guy either, who was like, weren't moving them. No, no chance.

No chance. Okay. So let's go. back to the idea of if you were an owner because you mentioned Hassel Platner's name earlier, the owner of the San Jose Sharks. I haven't heard from him publicly in a while now. And as he explained, there just wasn't a reason to talk for a while given where the team was at. But as you said, took some time to speak

to the local media and he had some things to say. Of all the things he had to say, what jumped out the most at you? well so years ago there was some criticism of Joe Thornton and he said that he spoke to the team this is probably about 10 years ago and I sent him an email I said you know what did you say to the team because it was a big story and he wrote me back and he said I said, anything that's wrong with the sharks stays with the sharks. Basically saying you want to deal with it internally, fine, but it's not going outside the building. And so I reported it that night, and someone in the organization actually called me and said, he responded to your email, and I go, yeah.

And they said, that is incredible. He says, do you know how hard it is to get him to say anything, never mind to a reporter? And I said, no, not really. And it was the last time I really had any reason to contact him. And I read the quotes on Thursday night, they were jaw dropping, just talking about how all the bad decisions they made, how he was upset, they lost the draft pick that turned into. to Tim Stutzley and you know Plotner's German

Stutzley German so that's an added It's not just that he's a great player Stutzley it says that he would want I think the German player about losing Josh Norris

about what a bad fit Eric Carlson was about their drafting record just decisions they'd made in the past and it was just just as if everything that he's been bottling up inside he decided was coming out of him and you know

here's the thing for me i always say in hockey we complain that people don't tell us the truth or they're boring or they use cliches when they come out and say what they really think you can't rip them you can't have it both ways you can't get upset at people for being boring or not telling us what they really feel and then rip them when they decide, I'm not going to be boring, and I'm going to tell you what we really feel. Like some of the stuff he said was very interesting, like about Tuesdays and Thursdays. That's not a good night for them. He talked about how we're coming out of the rebuild.

He's like, God, I hope we're not picking Gavin McKenna next year. I want to move on. Like, that was a great quote. And he says, you know, he basically says, I think we're trying to turn the corner and move forward. Yeah, wanted to see Sam Dickinson in the lineup. Yeah, he was upset that Sam Dickinson wasn't in the lineup. And we'll see Michael Misa when he makes his debut, too.

You know, the one thing that is really interesting about the decision, he talked about, he talked about losing Joe Pavelski and how he felt in hindsight. That was really bad. but the one thing that was really interesting was to me was he said that we talked about never signing bad long-term contracts and then he said we signed a couple and I remember Doug Wilson was the GM at the time and I remember talking to Doug Wilson about that and one of the things he we discussed was they had a really good team they were always in the mix they went to the stanley cup final in 2016 they lost in six games to pittsburg but for basically a decade

give or take they were always right there they were a great regular season team they didn't win but they always were there and one of the things they talked about was You know, by trading for Carlson, by signing a van der Kaine, by extending certain guys, they thought they were extending their window. They'd been so close for so long, they believe that that was the right thing to do. And obviously, it didn't work out. Carlson and Burns, they couldn't have both of them. As Plattner says in the piece, Burns wanted to go.

it didn't work but I understood the reason for it and I think and I thought that the whole organization was on board with it and maybe they feel they gave the long-term deals to the wrong people but the idea of extending the window for Thornton for Marlowe for Pavelski for Burns was very much something that the sharks believed as a group that they wanted to do and I guess the players now the players they went out and got they didn't fit and it's interesting to hear Plattner finally come out and say yeah we basically got the wrong guys the other thing there that stood out to me was his conversation about hurdle about hurdle saying if I get one more knee injury I'll never have a chance to win it's time for me

to move on. And nobody's ever really said that before. You know, we knew that Vegas traded for him out of nowhere, and we knew that, you know, Hurtle needed a new lease on life, but it was interesting for me to hear Plattner say that Hurtle went to them and told them, I have to go, because I may only have one injury left and I want a shot at a championship. It was quite an interview. It was really fascinating. It is rare that you hear an owner talk with that much candor. And you know what we're going to have, Kyle?

We're going to get the reverb. Because as always happens in a situation like this, someone's going to say, well, that's not the way I saw it, or you know what, I don't like that. So we'll see where it goes, but it was, those quotes were really something. Right. And seemingly out of nowhere,

like he just didn't anticipate something like that emerging first couple of days of a brand new season, but here we are. And now, like I said, when I got, when he returned that email, like it surprised people there but the one thing they said to me was if he decides he's going to talk you better be ready for the answers because you ask him a question he's going to answer it and this is proof of that you know it's it's that san Jose team had an incredible run

they did everything but win it all how many years Kyle were they everybody or a good chunk of people's pick to finally break through and win the Stanley Cup. They were always there. They would win President's trophies. They would bear near the top of the league standings. They would make Western Conference finals. As we said, they made the Stanley Cup final once.

They just never knocked down the wall. And the only thing that someone said to me that they didn't like about it was that he said, look, like, that was a really good time. in San Jose and they were trying to extend their window as long as they could and he also said you know Doug Wilson's been gone a long time um he's not the GM there anymore if there was one thing people said to me they didn't like about it was like why you're taking shots at that guy he's gone and he had a great run there um but it was really it was really

blunt, unusually blunt for hockey. Because, yeah, it was, what, seven, eight years where you could look at they legitimately had a shot. I mean, they were such a perennial contender that, I mean, what, a month ago, they were putting up President's trophy banners for years. They didn't even win the President's trophy because they were like, oh, we won that year, right? We were the top team in the regular season. It just had all started to blend together because they were so good for so many years. Well, I remember that my first year at hockey night was 0304, and they went to the Western Conference Final, and then they went to a bunch of other Western Conference Finals or deep in the playoffs, and then they went to, like I said, the Cup Final in 16.

So I would say there was about a decade there where they were a force every year up, is this San Jose. It almost seemed like there was always these articles or articles. debates on sports media is this the sharks here they did everything but win yeah one of the great teams of the cap era that didn't quite get across the finish line right so many so many good years there and now and you can tell like he's he's lamenting those years and going man would love to see it happen there again soon and trying to build some sort of program that eventually gets there again. There's glimpses of it. There's good players there. They have good young players. For sure. It's just that you got to take your lumps, right? The way Thursday night ended,

that was a lump. That was a lump. That was a lump. So I'm in, I'm in Winnipeg here. Yeah, I was going to ask you. So before we get to the whole situation here, and this tremendously entertaining game between Winnipeg and Dallas that opened Winnipeg season. So, you know, I was out talking to people a day, and there was this guy, Chad, he comes up to me and he says, I really love the pod. I've been watching you for a long time. And, you know, I remember when you used to cover basketball before you came to the pod. Just buttering you up, eh?

Oh, it gets better. This was, I love this guy. I couldn't stop listening to it. him and then he says then he says you know I'm from Ottawa I'm a big Sanders fan just like Kyle I'm a big Sanders fan I'm like this is great you're making this up now no I swear to God this is what the guy said it gets better I was I was like I can't wait to hear where this is going and he goes he goes yeah like he talks about I saw you grow up before my eyes and he goes I I remember Kyle when he first started, he could barely speak into the camera, and now he's so good.

Like, this is fantastic. Keep going. Apparently, Kyle, when you started, you could barely speak into the camera. Wow. Oh, so good. So good. There's times even now I struggle. I have to tell you, I never have seen that from you.

For all the complaints I have a view of a broadcaster, and there are many. Yes, it's a long list. I have never seen you do that. Oh, man. Anyway, Chad, thanks. It was entertaining. So one of the things that was the big newsworthy story tonight in Winnipeg was Taves. And he got the big rousing welcome.

And I must say, I am disappointed. No, I didn't time it. But I have to say, I thought the Tave's welcome was far more warm and lengthy than the McDavid Ovation in Edmonton the other night. Now, let me just say this before we eliminate any controversy. I timed the McDavid Ovation from the moment they started saying his name. And I got 33 seconds. Very disappointing.

Well, now hold on a second. Don't go ripping the fans out in Western Canada. Don't be the Toronto guy taking shots at the guys out west. I'm just saying I was disappointed. Am I not allowed to say I was disappointed? No, I know, because you talk about creating your own mess. You have done this completely on your own here. And now you're just reaching.

for napkins and paper towel to try to clean it all up. You sound like one of my buddies who's like, I always hear you say, don't create your own mess, and yet you do constantly time after time. Do as I say, not as I do. Although I got a note from producer Paul Gris, who said that the GameOps guy was driving a new car. And I kind of wondered if you had absolutely bribed the guy. with a new automobile.

No, sadly, pockets are not that deep. The dollar was only going to go so far to try to convince them to cut it a little bit short. Here was my theory, okay? It's actually Don made a very good point because you mentioned how

the Phillies season ended on Thursday. Dom is a Phillies fan and he goes, it's such a strange existence where you know the regular season doesn't matter. There's other fan base. out there that would kill to have the kind of regular season that your team does, but you

know it doesn't matter. And that's kind of where Edmonton is at, of course. Also, look, it was quarter after eight local time. It's a Wednesday night. No one's questioning that markets love and appreciation for their captain, but I think they were like, let's get on

with the game already. We don't need to hold things up any longer. That's a lame excuse. I don't know. And hey, I also thought it was going to be over 35 seconds. So I'm not going to sit here and act like the winner. No, because I was, we had, we came on camera right afterwards. I was trying to, uh, to be in a, a mental zone. So I wasn't struggling to speak to the camera. You see that. You know what? That's good, Kyle. You know what? It's

really hard to hit stopwatch on your iPhone or something like that and figure out what it is. Anyway, I knew, I knew the truck was taking care of it. I knew you were taking care of it. I knew the listeners were taking care of it. I suddenly that became, I was, that was the most nervous I was all night, was how long that ovation was going to go. And what I was going to hear was going to go afterwards. No, it was the under.

You won. You win. So I think I realized that it's, I, my best move is to leave this show and go work for an odds maker. Like it was right in that wheelhouse there. Have a good time with that. But anyway, Taves here, as you know, as I mentioned on one of the previous pods, I'm trying to set my expectations a bit lower because I don't know what to expect here. And it had been, you know, over two years since you played a game.

I saw more jump there than, you know, when we interviewed him here, and it's going to run, I think, on the 18th. But when we interviewed him here, he looks great. like he looks physical, he looks strong. He looks like still intense as ever. His eyes can bore right through you. He's in great shape. I just didn't know how he would look to the pace of the game. And there were times, Kyle, in this one against Dallas,

where I thought, okay, he's going to have a little bit of trouble with the pace here. And he did. And I assume 10, 15, 20 games, this will all go away. I don't know if I expect them to be the Jonathan Taves that we saw when they were winning three Stanley Cups, but I think there's a very good player there who just needs to catch up to NHL speed once again, which is even faster than, you know, when he was in his prime. But there's, like I said, there's definitely a player there. What a game here, though.

Just what a great game. First of all, Winnipeg crowd is always fantastic. They ran into big-time penalty trouble. Dallas clobbered them on it. They fought back. Kyle Connor got the hat trick in his first game since signing the big extension. They scored two shorthanded goals. Morgan Barron had one of them.

I think Winnipeg, they've got so many injuries right now. No Samberg, no Perfetti, no Adam Lowry, their captain and emotional leader. They're going to need to compete. And the thing that I really liked about them the most was when it was 5-1, they could have just gotten buried or walked away and said, this is not our night. And they had a chance.

Like, I really did think they were going to score late. There was something that happened weird late in this game that I got to get clarification on. And that is that Thomas, when it was 5-4, Thomas Harley shot the puck in on the crowd, and they wanted to challenge it. And apparently the stars were told they couldn't challenge it. And they were like, wait a second, we can. We can challenge a puck over glass as long as it's to take down the penalty

and not give the other team a penalty. But they claim they were told they couldn't challenge it. So I'm trying to figure out what happened there, but they gave it a real fight. I was really impressed with Calgary opening night in Edmonton or opening Canada night in Edmonton. They could have gotten buried in that game. they came back to tie it and then win it.

They got pummeled in Vancouver on Thursday night. The one thing, I don't want to beat a dead horse here. If you follow me anywhere, you've been hearing me say this for a few days now. I got to think Dustin Wolf is going to play their home opener on Saturday afternoon. So that'll be three games in less than 72 hours for him. I think they're looking at something in goal. I think they're they're looking at something in goal as a backup and you know I have said that I was surprised they didn't pick anybody off waivers of all those goalies that were out there Kyle I think the reason they didn't do it is it would have given them four goalies potentially on one way deals and that's of course their starter wolf Cooley Prosvetov and whoever they could have picked up I wouldn't be surprised if they're working on something where one of the those goalies goes out another goalie comes in and we'll see what the rest of the deal is to get it

done but it just says to me that they've got something they're looking at and I've kind of heard it a little bit too yeah I'll just add quickly on that I think they did look hard when as you say all the goalies hit the waiver wire at the first part of the week also somebody told me too Elliot like with coolly wasn't a great camp of course but they just thought that once okay the decision they put Prosvetov on waivers. Cooley, you're the backup for now. They thought kind of those practice days after the fact saw a much different guy, maybe just mentally.

There's a bit of a, okay, settle in a little here now after that decision was made. But I don't anticipate it being a very long leash, as you say. It would make perfect sense that they're continuing to look. Yeah, I'm curious to see if we get any clarity on this by the weekend. Other than that, Kyle, there were a lot of guys

who looked really good. That Vegas power play looks great, Dorofiev. One of my buddies texts me after he gets like the hat trick and he goes, do you think I'll still be able to pluck Dorofiav off the waiver wire

in my fantasy pool? And like, what kind of pool? Who are you in a pool with that that guy wouldn't have gotten claimed? There's only two teams in the league? And one of those things they're drafting baseball players. But, you know, I mean, that guy could score 50 goals this year just on the weak side of the power play.

But, you know, Frank Nizarre opening night, you know, Connor Bedard looks good. But that, you know, he looks really good. I felt terrible for Josh Norris. that when I saw the highlights when someone sent me the highlight of Norris leaving the game I mean I feel terribly for him can't stay healthy

and you know how much it's killing him not to stay healthy the Buffalo injuries are just piling up it's amazing how many storylines are already developing so quickly early in the year. Just Philip Heedle, like what a huge night that was for him.

Two goals for the Vancouver Canucks. Just massive. Pittsburgh, two victories early. When we're talking about them being the dregs of the one team that doesn't care to get better. And they come out and they win their first two. Matthew Schaefer gets his first point. There's a lot of storylines out there fast.

But like I said, the one thing that really got to me was I was really surprised at how many teams had bad opening nights at home. Like that's, you know, like I said, if I ran a team that would drive me insane, there is no excuse for that. I don't think. penguins are two and oh um the Bruins which has kind of been your team Ellie you think they're they're going to take a huge leap forward again their two and oh that was that that that was great but that that first night against Washington Posternak so the Bruins fans there were Bruins fans last year who felt that Posternak should have gotten more hard votes and I'm like he played great but he

They missed the playoffs, man. Like, you're not winning the heart trophy with the list of guys who could win the heart trophy in a year where you missed the playoffs. I'm two games in, Kyle, if they make the playoffs, that guy is going to be, I could see him getting like a heart trophy run. Like that first game against Washington, and I met I was working Toronto, Montreal, all. So if I'm nuts about, if I'm nuts wrong on this, people will tell me. But every time I looked up, he looked dangerous. And that was a game that was like 1940s football, three yards

in a cloud of dots. Nothing was happening. He looked really good. Yeah, Boston 2 and O. And they got good news when Marco Stern said that Lynn Holm didn't get hurt. When I saw that he left the game, I was like, really already? And they said it wasn't a big deal. Heck of a finish by Fraser Minton in overtime there against Chicago. Yeah, there's just been a handful of firsts here. Like you mentioned, Schaefer, Pittsburgh, Harrison Brunick, first NHL goal. Bennett Seneca gets his first with Anaheim Thursday. Brady Martin's debut with Nashville's second youngest player in history to make his

NHL debut, Motfei Gridden with Calgary. I have to say, just on Nashville for a second, And how big was that for Soros? Because they got caved in at points in that game. Yes. Caved in. And for Sorrows to come out and have that start after the way last season went for him, that was massive, massive for the predators.

You know, it's really interesting, that whole Brady Martin thing. So he's listed his center and O'Reilly's listed, listed his winger on the first line. And obviously, when O'Reilly's on a strong side, he'll take those face-offs. but it's, you know, they're basically saying that O'Reilly doesn't have to play down low. He can conserve some energy. That's huge responsibility for Brady Martin. Like, I think it's a tremendous compliment to that kid that they're trying this. But holy smokes, is that a lot to ask him?

18 years old to be the guy who comes down low, handles all of that, and takes on all, like, when you're playing with Philip Forsberg, and Ryan O'Reilly, you're on the number one line, right? So you're getting everybody's number one center. I've told this story before. I remember Mike Richards with the Flyers, that first year they weren't very good, and he was the number one center.

And he's like, first night I'm getting my ass kicked by Matt Sundin, second night I'm getting my ass kicked by Saku Kovu. And he talked about what a great player it made him. But while it was happening, he was. so miserable. Like, I think this is a lot to ask for this kid, but I'm really impressed he's even in this position to do it. Absolutely.

And especially in an Olympic year where an already busy schedule is even a little more condensed, right? The opponents are coming even faster and more furious. Yeah. Should also shout out Oliver Capitan, like goals in both Montreal games. They look much, much better against Detroit, the first two of his career. And just to go back to Nashville, shout out a friend of the pod, Spencer Stassany making the opening night roster. He looked good against Columbus there on Thursday night as well.

Okay, talked about Vegas a little bit early on. Jack Eichol, the eight-year deal, 13 and a half per. Sounded like you had been on it for a little while here for age that they were working at getting it done. The hope was, as you said, to have the Eichel and Marner combo to total 25, a little bit over that to 25 and a half. So how do they ultimately get this one over the finish line? I just thought it was going to happen at some point that I didn't see any chance that Eichl was going to go anywhere else. But, you know, a couple people said to me, Ikel saw a value. This is my value.

And I don't think it moved a lot when, like some people were wondering, hey, Caprizo signed for 17, what does Ikel move his ask up to? I'm not really sure it was even a factor. Or McDavid signed for 12 and a half, what did, how did that affect Ikel's ask? I don't think it did. I think, if anything, it validated in his mind what he was asking for. And I always knew the number was going to be a little bit less than everywhere else because of Vegas's tax situation.

You know, Minnesota has one of the highest tax rates in all of the United States. So you knew that that was going to be an issue that Eichael wasn't going to have to deal with. So is it a little bit higher than Vegas wanted to go? Yeah, I think it is. But number one, they know the player, number two, how good he is.

You know, number two, even after they signed Marner, I think they'd made it very clear to both Ikel and internally that he was going to be their number one guy. Even with Marner coming in, Ikel was going to be number one. And, you know, ultimately, with where we're going, Ikel's not going to be at 15% of the cap. It's going to be closer to 11 or 12. So this contract isn't going to hurt them. Like, to me, is it a little bit of a concession from Vegas? Yes, it is. But is a concession that I would make if I was in their shoes?

100%. Now, I do think one of the things that Vegas wanted to do was defer money. That ended on Monday, so they couldn't do it anymore. Remember, they asked Jonathan Marcia so to do it. He talked about it quite a bit. I don't think it really interested Ikel and like I said it ended on Monday and once Vegas kind of wrapped their heads around that I don't think there was any question this was going to get done and to Ikel's credit he came out in the first two games and he he played great

he looked fantastic not that you would expect anything different and you know he also made a great play against San Jose at a time where you know they needed to save that game you know what's interesting so if you look at the total earnings ikel has made to this point in his career and what he is now in line to make with the new contract that's coming the total of that is just like a sliver under two hundred million dollars and in the cap era like nobody else is there in terms of what they have earned combined with what's coming. He's at the top right now.

I'm sure it's going to change as I didn't realize that's going on up. I just thought about like I'm looking at it going like that's obviously a nice little pile of money there and ask the good people at SportsNet stats and when looking at. Well, what's Ovechkin at? He's like, it would be like the 180s. Oh, okay.

A bit higher. I went and I checked him. Like he would be close. You know, obviously, Matthews isn't too far below that. Yeah, but he's never really signed a long, long, long term deal. This is eight and another eight years. And so that's why I just was curious.

And Steve Fellon got back to me and said that's the highest in terms of total of what a player has earned versus what they're in line to make. He's at the top right now. That's a good one. That's a really good one. Really good one. heck of a player and and and when you look at it it goes to what we talked about the other day after mac david signed that's his situation that's not my situation so Kyle Connor was another big one this week eight times 12 and the story was not only that they signed him I think he

wanted to stay and they wanted him to stay but what they did no move throughout the entire deal first time they've ever done it big bonus structure first time they've ever done it and if if Winnipeg wasn't in position to win I don't know if they would have done it but this is still a team that could win. And there's a couple things here. I think the organization deserves a lot of credit. I would bet, Kyle, that their initial reaction is we're not doing this. This is not us.

Well, sometimes you have to recognize when you have to change your philosophy. And if that philosophy was going to cost them this player, it was not worth it. and I'll say one thing about the Jets I think this group of players really likes playing with each other especially the core guys I think they knew that I think they

recognized that it was important to keep this group together especially while it's still growing and I think they pulled some of their players like some of their top guys like if we do this

is it going to blow up our dressing room. And I think they were calm and comfortable with the answers they got. Like, I think they're top guys. And I mean, we can all guess who they are. I'm not going to say any names. They don't know specifics. But I think they're top guys.

They said, we need this guy. We'll deal with it. It's not going to be a problem. Well, it's because one of the things you put in your blog this week that I thought was really interesting was just that exact idea, right? Like the players that signed during the COVID years when the cap was flat and the market was a little different, a lot different from where it's headed. And now these bigger numbers of players coming in and signing, how that's going to affect the whole dynamic. And I know you've brought up the example of what you learned

in Buffalo when Aarhoff and Vili Lano came in with big deals and the ripple effects that sent. So it feels like a very prudent thing for the Jets to do

to just go, okay, let's see, let's test the waters on how this would go over with some of our core guys before we really make sure

this is what we want to do. And they did, and it was smart. And, And again, it always helps when you're winning. When you're losing, it's bad. I've always felt kind of bad for Terry Pagula about that. Because remember, when he took over, the fans didn't think they spent any money on the team,

the Sabres, right? And he came in and he wanted to show, no, I'm different. I'm going to spend. And he threw those two contracts out. And the fans were ecstatic. The Sabers fans were ecstatic. and it just turned out to be a disaster. Those players didn't turn out as good as they hoped,

and it fractured their room. And I can imagine if you're the owner, you're sitting there and you're saying, wait a second. People say we don't spend any money. They want them to spend money. I spend money, and this is what happens. So you're damned if you do, but damned if you don't.

But I definitely think that Winnipeg went to their guys, their top guys, and said, if we do this, what's going to be the result? And the player said, we need them. We'll make it work. It's not going to be a problem. No, and already looks great with, as you say, the hat trick on opening night for them, though,

it did come in a loss, but Connor looks terrific out of the gate for the Jets. And then in Edmonton, they got some business done on the day of their home opener. So the at home deal, three more years at four million. in Per and Ekholm flat out came out and said it like his plan he wants to retire in Edmonton that's where he wants to finish his career and that deal done to hopefully get the player there and then Jack Roslovick I came out during the game so he had been a guy that has been that was a wild one yeah that was a wild one all right tell us about first of all at home that was that was a slam dunk

that was such an easy slam dunk have you ever slam dunk before only with the assistance of a trampoline I've done it on an eight foot hoop that's the exactly so that was like a slam dunk on an eight foot hoop there was no doubt

Eckholm was signing zero it would he was signing unless someone got so outrageous, but he wanted it to happen, so it was going to happen. And they were like, let us take care of McDavid, let us take care of Walman, we'll take care of you, done. The Roslovick one was wild because, first of all, someone told me that Roslovic had a two-year deal out there from someone, that he had a little bit more, and ultimately he just decided that Edmonton was the best place for him to go.

Like, this guy had 20 goals last year, five on five, or an even strength. And he, so I do want to address one thing. I think I was on Bob Stauffer show this week, and I said that I heard the rumor was that Edmondson offered three times four to Roslovick that he turned down. And I was told that from a pretty good source, but I had people dispute that, say that the older's never offered more than one year. So I just at least wanted to put that out there. in the interest of fairness.

But I think that Roslovick was, I think there were a few teams looking at them. I think they were starting to wonder, okay, like, which one of these are you going to take? And he had to make a decision. And he chose Edmonton because he felt it was the best place to have him succeed. And if you're an offensive player, you could do a heck of a lot worse than being surrounded by that firepower in Edmonton.

but it kind of happened because I think he started indicating the teams I'm not coming here or I'm not coming there and people kind of figured it out. I'm not sure the Oilers were crazy about how quick it got out because we reported in the middle of a game and they've got so many guys, the ones who aren't playing are probably looking at the screen and going, wait a second, we just signed Jack Roslovick.

So, like I'm sure, like the third, Top guys knew about it, but I'm not sure everybody knew about it. So it was kind of wild, but I think that's what happened. He had to kind of make his decision, and Ward started getting out by process of elimination about where he was going. And we are expecting the Oilers. You know, Walman was put on injured reserve, but they're going to have to do something because they got a lot of players all of a sudden.

Well, I think a part of it is I think there was some high hopes for Savoy coming into training camp. But, I mean, we were there for Media Day there just before they hit the ice in early September. And the sense back then was, okay, we've got a guy with some potential here in Isaac Howard. But I don't know if there was a ton of optimism internally that he would be someone that would break camp with the big club right away. But he had himself a pretty good preseason to the point where he earned a job right. right away. So now there's an extra body there. And he certainly didn't look out of place for large parts of the home opener there on

Wednesday. And as you say, an extra body coming in now and signing Roslovick, some juggling to be done as some other guys, whether it's, you know, Yanmark or Walman get healthy again. Kyle,

before we get to the final thought here, I don't like awards. I find they create too much comfort, self-satisfaction. So I tend to stay away from them and don't like them. That's what you tell yourself? That's what I tell myself, yes. I'm staying away from the awards. I'm choosing to keep my distance.

That's why I don't win any of them because I don't want them. Yes, I realize, as I discussed this, how self-serving, utterly self-serving, that sounds. But it is my actual viewpoint on these things. We were nominated by, we were nominated for the Signal Listeners Choice Awards. And I think any time your listeners nominate you for something, you should say thanks. So I just want to say thanks to the listeners. We really appreciate it. Thank you.

Very humbling. All right, that'll get us to the final thought. So, Elliot, we had not one, but two kind of sneaky jersey reveals to the point where both the L.A. Kings on Tuesday and the Penguins on Thursday wore their regular home jerseys during warm up. And then when they come out for the game, they've got something different. and the new thirds. First off, what did you think of the jerseys? I loved it. And the reveal.

I loved it all. I love the jerseys. I love, someone told me they don't like the King's Helmets. I think that's nuts. I think the King's helmets look great. Exactly. Kick rocks. I'm right with you.

I loved it. It was different. It was unique. I loved the execution. I like the design. When I saw the highlights at the beginning, because I was here in Winnipeg, I didn't realize Pittsburgh had done it.

And I was like, what team's that? I didn't realize who it was. I actually figured it out by who they were playing as opposed to who they were. But I think it's a grit. I actually wonder, Kyle, the fact it happened twice, I wondered if this was like the NHL telling teams, this is how we're going to do it this year. Or maybe it's fanatics starting to...

get their ideas into things, too. Whatever. It struck me as coordinated. We're doing this. Everybody's doing this. And I thought it was fantastic. I loved it. I liked the fact that they kept it a secret.

I liked the fact they did it this way. You know, I was thinking, like, you know, is it going to be like this all year that all of a sudden we're going to have a bunch of teams with a third jersey? they just show up not telling us when they were going to do it I was like I kind of like that I mean it's

it's a nice surprise I both of them looked great like I love the Pittsburgh classic homes that they've worn for a number of years I'm certainly not in a hurry to move on from those but for something different understand

always love the the king's colors with the metallic silver and the black, though I would not be opposed if they worked in the purple and gold again at some point. 100%. I actually liked the pure gold. The pure gold? Yes. I like the pure gold.

I would love to see those come back. You don't understand what it was like. For people who are my age, Kyle, old and geysers like me, When you used to get hockey cards, when we were kids, there would be the team card, which would be the team photo as opposed to the individual player card. When you unwrapped the wrapper and you chewed that hard stick of gum and you went through your cards and you saw that Gold King's team picture, that was a major W. that gold king's card was one of the most popular trading cards that existed, at least in my circle. Really?

Why? Because it was just, it was beautiful. Okay. Those, like, the team photo of the kings and those gold jerseys was the best team photo by a mile. Really? Yeah.

I did not know that. That card. Everyone wanted that card. And it wasn't because it was valuable or was like a Gretzky rookie card or, whatever it was just it it whatever it is that card had it you know what these jersey reveals reminded me of actually elliott do you remember how Tampa bay unveiled stephen stamcoast as their captain no what was it remember it was different it was special but off the top of my head i don't remember it so st louis gets traded at the deadline the next night stamcoast

it was his first game back after breakman. We broke his leg that year, missed the Olympics. Yes. And so they come out for warm up. He's got his usual A-on. And then when he comes out for the starting lineup, they introduce him. And new captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning,

Stephen Stamcoast. That's a great one. But still the best was Ray Bork, the night that they retired for Lesbosino's number. when he took off the seven and he had 77. That Stamcoast won is good, but Bork is the best. By the way, I wanted to shout out Kelly Cheesman,

who left the L.A. Kings to join the New York Islanders in a new high executive position. He'll do a great job there. Smart guy. Excellent. Very good. All right, Elliot. That was the final thought.

And with that, we'll take our first. break, come back with the thought line. 32 thoughts, the podcast, continues after this. All right, welcome back. Time once again for the thought line, Elliot, every week. I'm always curious what kind of DMs or messages you get about something we have discussed or booted around on this show. Anything over the last few days you would like to share? I think booted is the key term, Kyle. But I can assure you that my DMs are not as interesting

as the ones you were getting as a freshman at whatever college you were at. Which one were you at? Northern Alberta or Southern Alberta. I was the South. Yeah. Okay. Southern Alberta. I know your DMs were a lot more interesting than mine. That's for sure. Okay. This one I got. Dear Mr. Friedman, my name is Francesco, and I play under 14 for the Toronto Marlboros. Me and my dad listen to you all the time. You are my favorite hockey broadcaster. However, McDavid is a salmon against an army of tuna. Please do better.

Thank you. Well, at least he was polite about it. Yeah, it was. Sorry, Francesco. Yeah, your dad, whatever his name is, he. sure raised you well. You're very polite. I got the message. Message received in a kind way. Salmon and tuna, both in the water, but just they're doing their own things, what we have learned, doing their own things. Elliot, I wish I could say that that was it for criticism towards us over the last few days.

I bet, yeah. That would be a lie because we have a visitor. An old friend checking in. Uh-oh. Elliot. Dom? Let's roll the voicemail. Hello, Dom, Kyle.

Oh, no. And Elliot. This is anonymous. With the new season among us, I thought I'd just check in, say hi, and let you know that I found your playoff predictions on the last episode to be very boring, uninspiring and frankly cowardly you could have thrown in some trophy predictions or not been lazy and done the full breakdowns of each team that's all for now gentlemen so not only is he back he's he's got an attitude now too it's bexa you're certain now i am yeah that's very bxa and i'm

I still think it sounds a lot like Amber, except for one thing. Amber doesn't listen to the pod. He has told me, he hears me enough. He doesn't listen to the pod. So I'm going with BXA now. And to be in studio. And to be honest, I have to tell you this. After listening to the pod, I don't think that's a bad criticism.

I do think we let ourselves off the hook this year. And we should have been, when, like, I am a very critical listener to this podcast. and I did not like our playoff predictions. So whoever the anonymous caller is, and now I'm convinced it's BXA, they're right. We had a cowardly selection there on playoff picks. Tried to mix it up. It just doesn't always work.

Yeah, didn't work. Some things hit, some things miss. That part of last pod missed as bad as the double doink in the NFL. It was a bad miss. Bad miss. And it will not happen again. Okay. Anonymous keeping us honest here.

Out of the gate here to start the year. That's good. And now, yeah, Saturday, I think you got to corner Kevin. I'm not going to corner him. If he wants to say anything, he will say something. All right. Scott, up next. Dom, Kyle, and others.

Listening to the analysis around the Caprizov contract, there is a suggestion that the Players Association had an interest in seeing these players earn as much as possible. This does not make any sense to me in a hard salary cap context. Yes, I'm with you on this. Yes. My question is whether a player like McDavid agreeing to 12 and a half and leaving money on the table can ensure that money will be spent. Can a condition of the contract be the team committing to spend to at least 95% of the cap, for example? That would be of obvious benefit for the union. And with that, maybe it may even be a non-starter when it comes to a negotiation. Thanks for taking the question.

It's a good idea, but it can't happen. You can't put that in as a condition to a contract. I can tell you this. I remember years ago, there was one player in particular who took a hometown discount. and he was told we'll spend the cap and he told me later privately that he felt lied to.

So it does sometimes occur. But you can't do that. I agree with your point to a certain position. Every dollar one player makes means there's another dollar another player can't make. You're totally right about that

and I think about that a lot. I do think that there are as we talked about the other day there are agents and there are some people who believe though that the top line should be pushed further and Caprizov did it but at the end of the day

people have to be happy with their own deals and look like McDavid signed his 12 and a half since then now we've seen Cal Conner signed for 12 we've seen Jack Eichel signed for 13 and a half so people can say what you have to say which is look

that's his situation not my situation, and I'm going to handle it. That's the way he wanted to handle it, and we're going to handle it the way I want to handle it. Very good. Jason from Long Island. Dom, Kyle, Elliot, and whoever's took us, I have to kiss to get on. I was under the impression that players on season opening IR did not count against the cap.

However, Puckpedia lists Seamus Casey and Mark McGlark. Wachlan on season opening injured reserve, costing the devil's 238K and 190K, respectively. So how does season opening injured reserve work and does it count towards the cap? Well, what I'd say is this, the tookus you have to kiss is either Dominic's or Kyle's, because I don't pick the thought line. And I would just say, if you're going to do that, make sure you're wearing a blindfold. That's the only advice I can give. Oh, God.

Season opening injured reserve is basically players who are injured before the regular season season begins and can't be included on the opening roster. Now, the only way your salary doesn't count is if you're on long-term injured reserve. But the easiest way for me to explain this is that at the beginning of the season, when teams have to declare their opening day roster, which was Monday night this week, there's a lot of moving around that happens and paper moves that happen. For example, Jonathan Taze was listed as injured, non-roaster before the regular season.

And people are wondering, oh, will he not be able to play? And I don't think that was ever in question, but it was something the Jets were allowed to do because Taves didn't play last season. And at the beginning of the year, teams will do all sorts of things to either maximize their long-term injured space or avoid putting people on waivers. so you just have to understand at the beginning of the season there are going to be some things that look strange and you just have to wait until your team plays its first game

to figure out what it all really means. There's all sorts of moving around and hiding. It's all legal. It's all got to be approved, but it happens. So basically, season opening injured reserve are guys who are hurt before the regular season, but your cap still hits still continues to count while you're out the only way it doesn't count is if you're on LTIR do I explain that well enough Kyle did that make sense yes it does and I believe tell me if

I'm wrong here Elliot like in terms of Casey and McLaughlin here who Jason has flagged for this question with New Jersey the reason why their cap hits are relatively low as he pointed out 238 and 190 I think because they're on two-way deals and they spent I think less than 50 days on a NHL roster last year, they at least get a bit of a pro-rated cap savings in this case here. So it's not a complete washout where none of it counts again, but it is lower than what their actual AAV would be this year. All right. Thanks for pointing that out. I forgot about the numbers part of the question. Thank you for filling in the blanks, Kyle. No worries. All right. Another voicemail, not from anonymous, but from an unnamed submitter.

Hey, Kyle, Dom, and whoever the other guy is on the pod, love the podcast. I have a question in light of tonight's Battle of Florida game. Due to all the penalty minutes that the Lightning received, their bench was incredibly short with only three extra players. My question is, is could the Lightning dress their backup goalie as a player and send him out on the ice? Thanks. Bye. Wow. What a question.

And the other guy on the pod, whoever that is, will answer the question as follows. No, you can't do that. He's a goalie. He can't be dressed as a skater. Oh, man. I like the way you think, though.

No. Yeah, you can't do the old Goldberg, Russ Tyler switch. Although this is a game where a guy was thrown out of the game, got an assist after he was ejected. So who knows? what could have happened. That's right.

Okay, Jamie from Mississauga. Hello, Mississauga native stuck in Denver now. The behind-the-scenes hockey operations has always intrigued me. How do equipment allowances work? I would imagine that when you're in the show, you get anything you want.

No questions asked, no matter if you're a first or fourth liner. But what about the threshold players, specifically those that are in training camp that really have not much probability of staying with the NHL club, do they get to go back to their teams with a bunch of big league goodies like sticks and equipment

to supply them through the year or perhaps their minor league club may not have the same budget for. Oftentimes, equipment can matter and these bubble players want to leave with the best tools to increase their chance to make themselves look good

to eventually get called up and stay. Love the show and product. Gentlemen, Jamie, I learned this is like a big Pandora's box. this answer and I think a lot of it varies team to team but I believe when players show up for training camp kind of overarching thinking is regardless of you're an NHL guy are you bound for the American League are you headed back to junior doesn't matter you get sticks provided for you when you roll up NHL guys usually we get skates

when they brand new set of wheels when they show up to camp and obviously like if you're part of training camp, you're going to have the gloves that match the team and pants or pant shells, helmets, right? So everything's in unison then. But that's kind of the differentiator. If you're a guy there that's probably heading back to junior, usually team will order maybe six sticks for you when you show up to camp. And if you've got some left over by the time your time there is up, you take those back home with you. The interesting thing though, Elliot. During the year, as Jamie alluded to, when you're in the show, really no questions asked. And by and large, I believe that to be the case. And as we know, some players

want new sticks, new gloves, new skates all the time. Teams will oblige to that. Others are a little more they like to hang out in certain equipment. I didn't realize, like, I think it would be safe. It wouldn't be wrong for someone to assume well it's the NHL like they must just get unreal discounts for all this equipment they go through not the case they get a little bit of savings versus what you would see the prices of the top end equipment retail but it's not a big one so you can imagine the cost of that adds up pretty quickly for a team over the course of the season and even like players that are signed to deals like if they're an ambassador for a CCM or a Bauer or a true i don't believe in those deals do they just get sent free equipment all the time like i think the teams are still

paying for it the players within those deals are paid a monetary amount to be an ambassador to exclusively wear that brand of gear uh but the teams are still on the hook in a lot of cases for paying for the equipment now one way i think uh teams recoup some of that money as i mentioned a lot of guys they won't go through multiple sticks in the game nothing's wrong with the sticks they're just on to the next one. Skates, like to put in new ones every month, every five, six games. Nothing wrong with the skates. They're just, they want new ones.

So what do you do with all that extra gear? Well, I think there are places that do like to buy that stuff up and sell it on their own. Some teams have system set up where, you know, fans can buy, you know, player worn equipment. And there's a system in place to part of the proceeds go to a community foundation or something set up with the team. So there are ways to recoup some of that cost for all the equipment that comes in over the course of a year. But, yeah, I was told there is a fascinating underworld of the equipment that moves through in and around the National Hockey League over the course of a season. I remember years ago, and this is a long time ago, when Glenn Sather, I think he was still the GM of the admin donors at the time, he threatened the players and he said, look, if you want us to pay for the sticks, you can only use this kind of sticks that either we have a deal with or we get a special discount

from. I don't think you can get away with that stuff anymore. Like, it's expensive. And I think there's, it's understood, there's a cost of doing business. But I do know that some of the players at times, some teams have gotten annoyed at players who really like to change over too quickly they feel. Especially, like one GM told me, this was a few years ago. especially if you're losing and it's getting late in the year and guys suddenly decide they need a little bit more stuff that's when the fights kind of start you're winning nobody's complaining about anything right i remember i remember one two i remember there's a basketball player at western he was a great player uh he played there for five years i think he

He was an All-Canadian a couple times. And when he left, he took his uniform with him. And they were like, we need that uniform. It was just, it was funny stuff, man. And I think even in the American League, too, obviously the budgets are a little different. But obviously, from a player's perspective, I think the expectations are obviously switched. Like if you're down there, you know, you're going, I'm not going to be asking for a new set of skates every six games. But I think, you know, when it comes time to, all right, time for a new set of this or whatever.

Most cases, that'll all get taken care of. But it's explained to me, it's tough to fork over millions of dollars just to finalize deals for these players. And then after doing all that, you don't want to go, well, I don't want to pay another $300 for a stick. Yeah. But it's a great question. Like, there are teams who've pushed back at times who said, like, this is getting to be out of control. So it does occur. Yes.

All right, one final one here, Elliot. Timote from Slovakia. Hello there. In your recent episode, Elliot mentioned he never picks the same eight teams to make the playoffs because it never happens. My question is, does it really never happen? Have there never been two years or a series of years

outside of the original six era when the same combination of teams entered the playoffs, or at least in one of the conferences? I suppose it would at least happen in the divisions. Thank you and keep up the good work. Yes, you are right. Divisions are a lot more common. But the same 16 teams, year over year, Elliot, making the playoffs.

Are we talking about in the, which version of the NHL? The 21 team version, the 32 team version, the 28 team version? I asked from when the era started of 16 teams making the playoffs. regardless of what would have been in the league that would have been what like 1979 1980 yes okay I will say yes because in because then like there were only 21 teams so I bet it happened um I shall also point out just quickly we remove the 2020 2020 2021 years from this just because things got jumbled for a bit. Yeah.

I'm going to say it's happened twice. Elliot, 16 teams never happened. Oh, okay. I'm actually surprised in that in that 16 of 21, I figured it could have. There has been instances where in the same conference, it's been the same eight year over year, but that hasn't happened since 94, 95 in the West,

Calgary, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, San Jose, St. Louis, Toronto, Vancouver. It's funny to say some of those teams is the West. Right, Dom? But that was the last time that it's happened. Yeah, 83 to 85 in the Prince of Wales, there was three consecutive years where it was the same teams in. But it's very rare. And it hasn't been a situation where all 16 repeated from one year to the next. So it's good logic from you going, I'm not taking the same 16 because it doesn't happen.

Well, now I'm definitely not going to do it. Next year we're going to be bolder, not wimpy. No more wimpiness beyond this point. This is where it ends. I remember last year you were hedging too and I ripped you and I said, we cannot make a stand, take a stand. and I've violated my own covenant this year, week. Gone soft on us, Fridge.

I've gone soft in my old age, yes. Senior citizen, go soft. Okay, I had one more. Are you done there? I got one more I wanted to read. Okay, so I got another one. Greetings from Portugal, not the most typical place for ice hockey. Hello, Elliot and Kyle.

My name is Raphael, and I'm a big NHL and Pittsburgh Penguins fan. I really love the pod and make sure to listen every week. Thank you, Raphael. I have a question for you guys. Ice hockey and the NHL aren't very popular in Portugal or many other European countries. Does the NHL have any plans to increase brand awareness in places like Portugal where most fans follow other sports? Promoting the game itself would be a major challenge due to infrastructure and public interest, but I believe the NHL brand could still gain more attention in non-traditional hockey countries.

Keep up the great work, good luck this season, and let's go pans. Wow. Wow. First of all, Raphael, me and my family went to Portugal two summers ago. We spent a few days in Lisbon. We spent two days in the night in a beautiful, small, town called Avora, where we stayed in a hotel that used to be a nunnery, or a convent, and it was awesome, just fantastic. And then we went to the Algar for five days. It was a tremendous

trip. The people were extremely friendly, and it was really my wife and son and I had a fantastic time. To answer your question, I don't know if Portugal is on the map, so to speak, for any NHL branding attempts, but it's the one reason I picked your letter to read is that it's important that people know that you're out there, that there at least is somebody in Portugal who wants more NHL content directed at them. So hopefully the league hears and says, okay, maybe there is something we can do. I do know that the board of governor's meeting before the draft, year in Los Angeles, there was a big presentation about how to get that imprint growing, especially in Europe. And I know that probably the number one country on their list

where we have to really start doing more was Germany. And I think that's because of players like Leon Drysidl, and obviously Germany is a huge market, a very important economic market, and I think they want to go to there. So what I would say, Raphael, as you, have to go out there and find, or find, like, a good young Portuguese athlete who maybe likes to rollerblade, get a stick in their hands, and who knows, somewhere down the road, they become the first Portuguese player to make the NHL. But it's a great point. We love our fans.

We love our fans from different places, like Portugal. Thank you for listening to the pod. thank you for reaching out and maybe someday in 10 to 15 years we'll be looking back, hopefully looking back at this note as the start of something. It could be like the movie Hustle with Adam Sandler.

Oh, look at you. Get the guy to the NBA. That's a good reference. Actually, boys, I just want to tell you, one of our producers here at SportsNet 650, Lena Sategian, she was just in Portugal and at one of these sports thrift stores over there

she found an Islanders Barzal jersey Really? Just random? Yeah. Like just out of nowhere? Out of nowhere. Did she buy it? No, no. She's not an Islander's girl, so.

Okay. That is so funny. I found this random Barzell Jersey out of nowhere in Portugal, but screw that. I hate the Islanders. Way to stick to your roots, It's good. Great way to wrap up.

Thanks for including that, Elliot. Yeah, it was a great note. Yeah, it's always a pleasant surprise when you get, like, you think of some of the places we've had notes from, now Portugal, Saudi Arabia, there's, you do, like hockey obviously isn't as big as it can be, but there are people out there in different places who do love it. That's awesome to find. All right.

If you would like to submit something to the thought line from anywhere around the world, you can do so by sending an email to 32 Thoughts at Sportsnet.ca, or if you would like to call and leave a voicemail, 1833, 311, 32332. Thanks again to Griffin Porter for helping curate the list. We'll take one final break. 32 Thoughts, the podcast. We'll wrap up after this. All right, before we go, we wanted to give you a heads up of what will be a jammed

packed opening Saturday of the regular season. It begins a little bit early at 4-Eastern 2 Mountain Time. The Calgary Flames have their home opener. They welcome the St. Louis Blues. That can be seen nationally on Sportsnet, 4-Eastern to Mountain Time from the Scotia Bank Saddle Dome. And then at 6.30 Eastern, Hockey Central Saturday, Ron McLean, Kevin Beexa, Jennifer Botterl, Elliott Friedman. Kelly Rudy is off this week, but Chris Pronger will be in studio filling in on Saturday night. Looking forward to that, and we kick it off with three early games at 7 Eastern on CBC and Sportsnet, Ontario, West and Pacific.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in Detroit. On Sportsnet East and City TV, Montreal is in Chicago. And on Sportsnet 1, the Ottawa Senators are in. in Florida to face the Panthers and the fur always seems to fly when those teams get together over the last few years. The nightcap, 10 Eastern, 8 Mountain Time, 7 Pacific. The Vancouver Canucks are in Edmonton. The Oilers trying to bounce back after a tough home opening loss to the Calgary Flames. Andrew Mangapani expected to be the first guest of the latest installment of After Hours with Scott Oak and Louis DeBresk. Okay, taking us out today, a track from

Andrew O. This summer, Winnipeg-born, Toronto-based MC and founding member of the Littics. Andrew O. celebrated the release of his debut solo effort, May Baby. The 14-track mixtape pulses with spacey synths, jazz grooves, and staggering lyricism as Andrew O turns a near-death diagnosis into cosmic gospel hip-hop, powered by resilience, gratitude, and soul. Here's Solo Dolo by Andrew O on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. I'm on my own now, baby. And this be the anthem, life looking good as a mango. Roman play that piano.

Regular hard snatcher breaking worlds like I'm Thanos. Like who the boss, baby, call Alyssa Milano. Slinger rhymes to the people like I'm stocking abandum. I'm a man of the people. Like Odileananga, I'm a fan of the people. You can play back the sample. I'm living blessing. dropping jams to the in-ho.

I was on a damn double-edged, oh, I was on a down I'm going to all you I was on a down trajectory double-edged, no longer bubbling

out here thinking that I must have fumbled in I'm bugging bad I ain't even plugging in the game passing you snuggled in Trump's talked up like the box is gone again, lost But I'm gonna floss again Check the awesome prospect of a young rap kid Bless with the ox again

Ain't no stopping in I'm talking pushing past the toxic to the box office again like On top, baby. On top, baby, you know that I don't stop. Keep going no slow until the shoe done drop. On top, baby, you know that I don't stop. Keep going no slow until the shoe done drop. On top, baby, you know that I don't stop. Keep going no slow until the shoe done drop.

On top, baby, you know that I don't stop. that I don't stop keep going no slow until the shoot on drop You're going to be.