32 Thoughts: The Podcast - They Didn’t Change the Narrative

Episode Date: May 19, 2025

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman dive into another short playoff run for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Core Four. The fellas talk about the repercussions the team will face heading into next season - changes are coming (11:34). They focus on Mitch Marner's future (14:48), and Elliotte ponders a player Toronto could take a swing at in the offseason (25:19). Kyle and Elliotte look ahead to Panthers-Hurricanes in the Conference Final (31:12). The fellas put a cap on the Winnipeg Jets’ season after an emotional Game 6 against Dallas, following the passing of Mark Scheifele's father (38:35). They preview the Western Conference Final between the Stars and Oilers (57:38). The Final Thought focuses on the Vegas Golden Knights and Washington Capitals, whose seasons are also done (1:03:21).In the news and notes segment, Kyle and Elliotte talk about Jeff Blashill surfacing as the lead candidate for the Chicago Blackhawks’ head coaching position (1:10:21). They also discuss the NHL Draft Combine and how it could become a main hub for action with the NHL Draft becoming decentralized (1:13:47).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates

When you win a cup and you play in some of the games that this team played in last year like these are not high-pressure Games, you know when you're playing for an actual cup and you give up a three-game lead and then you're in game seven Like that's a high-pressure game, right? So No in game seven second round. Yeah, it's a high-pressure game, but it's not compared to some other games the guys have played so when you actually look at that and then when you see the pressure that Toronto faces and You know, everyone's talking about whatever the 2030 or build up So when you actually look at that and then when you see the pressure that Toronto faces and and you know Everyone's talking about whatever the 2030 or build-up I don't even know what it is but you see the fans and the way they're talked like they just beat the pressure into this team and and

it's it's got to be tough on those guys to walk to the rink every day and Not feel that because it's I mean you see the way the fans treat them at the end like how do you not? Feel that every single day you know and when you go through big games like you realize which are actually big games and which are just you know big moments. Welcome to 32 Thoughts the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra 84X. Tom Shimati our producer in Vancouver, Elliot, you and I are in the depths of Scotiabank Arena, moments removed from watching the Panthers eliminate the Maple Leafs to advance to a third consecutive conference final and on Sunday night, Elliot, I was thinking back to that old Glenn Sather line, if you

don't think it can't get any worse, you are dead wrong. Leaving the building after game five of this series, it would have been normal to think surely it can't get any worse than that 6-1 defeat if you're a supporter of the Toronto Maple Leafs or a member of the organization. I present to you Game 7, another 6-1 storyline, an uglier scene on the ice and in the crowd as the moments ticked away. Once again, a Game 7 going the wrong way for Toronto and a lot of questions about is this the end of an era for this Maple Leafs group. You know what was the the most surprising thing for me Kyle? What's that? It wasn't the reaction of the fans it was

Barube and Marner in the second period because You never see Barube get unglued and He did. After game five he was speechless but he picked it back up for game for the off day before game six. To see Borubey react like that in the moment, to see Marner who talked after the Four Nations about Crosby's positivity react like

that in the moment they didn't just lose they became unglued they completely lost their composure and what they were trying to build up this year as their identity. That's what shocked me the most is that everything that they had built towards all year at like forget game seven for a second I know it's hard but just forget game seven for a second. They never win the division. They won the division. Ottawa pushes back. They held. What does Matthews do after game five? As you heard, Perubes going to the room.

We got this. You don't need to come in here. They win. Game five. They have that nightmare game They come back and they win game six We never saw them absolutely unglued until tonight and it's because it hit them about

What's coming in years past? I? Remember once I said that for Kyle Dubas, it was the summer of Kauai and people like he had to find the Kauai and people kept on saying these guys all have term. They don't have to do it. They can build around them. They don't have to trade one of these guys. Now, two of them could be gone. And it's not just the Leafs decision, it's also the players decision. And in that moment, Marner realized it might be the end end and Barube realized that everything he tried to teach them it fell apart when it really mattered. What did Barube say in the post game? It's all mentality.

I really believe that. It's all mentality. Between the ears. Between the ears between the ears He thought He could will them at Least into a competitive game He didn't think if they were gonna lose they were gonna lose like this and now Here we are. I'll tell you what else I thought

Watching Brad Marshand fence, doing his fencing with the media at the end of the game. I wonder if they're going to take a run at him this summer. Holy smokes. I wonder. That's what you're thinking? That's exactly what I thought. I sat there as I heard him talk about, well first of all, you're the bigger conspiracy theorist than I am because as Marshan is praising the Leafs and Maurice is praising the Leafs, what are you thinking?

They're the ones going to bat to say hold on keep this group together They're not that far off as everyone else was jumping off the ship They were the ones saying but it's interesting here the theory about Marchand if there is ever a night I mean he put on a master class in the postgame. Yes, she did and was incredibly complimentary I mean he said to us right after the game that this was the of all the game sevens Five of them now He's had against Toronto. This was the one he was most nervous for because of how far that team had come over all the years He's had playing against them

And then he goes to the podium and says that he was a Leaf fan growing up that he enjoys the interaction with the fans here Whenever he comes into this city, but the one thing he also added to all of that Elliot was just couldn't believe the amount of pressure that is applied to this organization these players on a consistent basis I think he had an unbelievable answer talking about the Panthers last year when you blow a three nothing series lead in the Cup final and suddenly you're facing in game seven that's a high stakes game. Game seven in the second round, yeah, yeah, it's a big game sure, but doesn't compare.

And his thoughts about how it always feels around here, like it's a massive game, I don't know, is he looking at that going, I don't want any part of that. I'm okay watching from the outside. You are not doing anything here to change my mind That I'm not here to change your mind, but everything you just said there Wouldn't you want to hear that in your dresser on a daily basis? Yeah, of course if you're the maple I'm just saying the player needs to agree to it, too

I stood there next to you outside the media room Listening to him talk and I just it popped into my head What are you all saying if you can't beat him join him That's literally what this would be Five seven game series against Toronto in his career. He's won. That's the thing, you know That was the one thing that Toronto still had to change. They had to beat their game seven curse You know Kyle was it was unbelievable. They give up the first 25 shot attempts of the game They were super nervous. They steadied themselves They got out of the first 25 shot attempts of the game. They were super nervous.

They steadied themselves. They got out of the first period okay. And then the second period was just a total disaster. I was astonished by what Matthew said post-game about too many passengers. I would love to know. That's one of those questions where you wish you could pump a guy through full of truth serum and say, who are we talking about here? Right.

Like, I'll say this, I know there will be players and people in that organization who will be angry. I will never argue with anybody saying what they think is the truth. We say hockey players are boring and then we rip them when they tell us what they think. But I know there will be people who will be mad in that organization that the captain after a loss like that said that that one will leave scar tissue, scar tissue, particularly since, you know, he's the guy who's expected to do the most.

Yeah. And he didn't game six, but there was I was just unbelievable to watch. I really felt Elliot like, so all day Sunday, anytime you ran into anybody in the building on the street, more than any other game day naturally because of where we were at, it's, so what do you think's happening tonight? What do you think's happening tonight? And as I've said before, I'm not big into predictions, but the one thing I did say is they cannot give up the first goal if they want a chance because of how quickly this

building can get nervous. You know what? I won't go there tonight because we're in the crowd like you are, Dave and I. And in the first period when they were getting caved in, those fans did not bail. No. They did not bail. But also they were, even in the middle of middle of it Kyle they were trying to encourage them The building was still frenzied. They were still cheering them

they like even though it looked really bad, they were trying to encourage the team and Then it got ugly later. Like I don't like the throwing of the jerseys during play. I don't like throwing anything during play I don't think that should happen. I was actually shocked the players stayed on the ice to salute the fans at the end of the game. Some fans did cheer them for that. That could have gone really badly. I was actually surprised they did it. You know, it was an angry, angry building here. It was angry in game five, but they were, they saw what happened in game six.

It was like, forgive and forget. I have a rule. If I go to sleep angry, the next day I wake up not angry. Those fans were like that too. They came back, they were like, all right, we're back. It's like Al Pacino and Godfather 3. Just when I think about they pull me back in. It was, there will be repercussions for this one. I mean, you know, Keith Pelly, who's running this show now. You know, there's been some talk ever since Rogers took over 75% of the team, that they already had some company-wide layoffs, which I always hate to see.

There was some talk about streamlining the front office. That's been going on. You know, Pelley has some decisions to make. And I think Barube is going to have a big voice about the players. And you know, right at the top, you know, Matthew Nyes, they could have traded Matthew Nyes for Rantin this year. They didn't. So they obviously think he's going to be a big part of their future and we'll see where those contract talks go. You know how I feel if someone's a core player and you heard Wendell Clark talk about Knives in the pregame. And if you think someone's a core piece, you sign them for as long as you can because the price will never go down.

And I think they will do that with Nies. The two big ones are obviously Marner and Tavares. Tavares wants to stay but the Mapleese and him have to agree. I think there are some teams out there who are maybe younger or lower in the standings who look at Tavares and say we think he'd be a good example for our young players. I don't think he wants to leave, but I think the Maple Leafs will have a place they won't go past. So we'll see where that goes. The Marner situation, I'm really curious to see what the Maple Leafs line is going to be here.

You know, I've heard some people say, oh, Marner's hurt his value, Marner's value won't be the same. I'll say this, I think there's a lot of teams out there who really believe that he'll be a better player outside of Toronto. That he'll go away, he'll be, it'll be quieter, and he will thrive. That doesn't mean that

all those teams are going to offer him what he might want at the top, but I think there's going to be a lot of interest in him. I have said this many times, Marner should go down as the greatest Toronto-born Maple Leaf ever. And if it doesn't happen, everybody involved is gonna regret it. But as we sit here right now on Sunday night with the Leafs losing game seven, there's a lot of pain, there's a lot of anger, there's a lot of heartbreak, there's a lot of emotion.

And I could see how it's going to be very hard for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Mitch Marner to see eye to eye on a deal unless one side really changes their bargaining position. So that's where we are. It's interesting listening to him post-game. Emotional obviously, crushed obviously, but some of the questions about his future in Toronto, Luke Fox asked him about thinking you know do you believe that this core can get this over the hump eventually? Didn't exactly say yes to those questions. Now, understand, I'm sure part of that is you don't want to give up

where you stand in the negotiation if that continues. But you seem to think the odds are getting longer as it stands right now and just listening to him postgame it would very much back up your feeling on this. The one thing though is that so he got shocked a bit this year when they asked him to consider waiving to go to Carolina. Of course. But this really could be the end. For sure. People could say what they want to say and everybody out there is entitled to their opinion.

I don't believe deep down that he ever thought it would come to this. I don't believe it. I don't believe he thought that if it ends, it would end like this. It's like I remember when we when I was working at CBC and we lost hockey day in Canada. I remember at the end of that year, like I knew that whole year it was over. The deal got signed in November and we had a whole season to do. I remember when the Kings won the Stanley Cup that year and beat the Rangers. I remember when we signed off after the last game. I was like, I can't believe it's over.

I can't believe it. And I also, I'm pretty sure I'd have to go back and look. I'm pretty sure I hadn't signed at Sportsnet yet. I knew I was Marner, but I have a kind of understanding. And I just remember signing off that night. I was like, wow, it's suddenly here. It's suddenly here. It's suddenly here. You know, here's the other thing. So we're talking about Washington for a couple of minutes in a little bit.

Twenty years. They've been past the second round once. The whole Ovi era. And what did they do that year? They had a hell of a night in Vegas. And a lot of fountains swimming. Yes. If you told me that was my choice, I would take it a hundred times out of a hundred.

I think every hockey fan would Elliot. Yeah. Like I don't think you're in the minority anywhere close. You know, I hear yet. It hasn't happened here and I don't know that it ever would like you go back to that 2016-17 playoff series against the Capitals what a fun series that was. Capitals deserved it they were the better team but it was such a fun series. Yeah it was a glimpse at what everyone around here hoped was coming. I have to say that if you would have told me that eight years later this is where we'd be sitting, I wouldn't have believed it.

Yeah, I don't think many would. I mean, because naturally as this is all unraveled here for Toronto again in 2025, like there's the hockey news cover, right, that was brought up of Plan the Parade and all the young stars on the cover of it, led by Auston Matthews, like, and that was the feeling of, after all the hardship, that heartache and miserable years where they weren't ever anywhere close to the playoffs, this was going to be the payoff. And though I'm sure to your point, a lot of other franchises around the league

would love to be able to say their teams made the playoffs every year since 2017. Boy, it gets tougher to find joy when... Yeah....the stories end so similarly. You know, I'm 55 years old almost. I've spent almost all my life in Toronto. I've seen years, there's phases where, like, if you would have told people they could make the playoffs for nine straight years, like, we'll take it.

Like the Ballard years, the post 2004, you know, there would be plenty of years where people would say, wow, we're in the playoffs nine years in a row, that's great. And this feels really empty. You know, the Florida thing, they're a great team. I told the story about Nate Schmidt. Nate Schmidt told me at the beginning of the series, he wouldn't tell me which player

it was. He said it was one of Barkov, Bennett, or Reinhardt. And he said at his first exhibition game, he took the puck and he did something, and he comes back to the bench, and the coaches didn't even say anything. He said it was one of those three players, yelled him and said we don't do that here and he says in the offensive zone you get some freedom but other than that when you we play defense we do this when you're breaking out or you're in the neutral zone we do this they win they dump the puck in more than anybody else and they win battles better than anybody else and

there's that peer pressure of you're gonna do that or you're not gonna fit in and You know Paul Maurice, he's ultimately the boss and we've seen him freak out on the bench at them before But that's a team where the players really run a lot of it They do the same things they practice the same things. They're good at the same things and they're consistent Your only way of beating them as you said really is he got a score first because if they score first they lock you down Like look at Seth Jones Seth Jones came here Like look at Seth Jones. Seth Jones came here, people were ripping Seth Jones.

Why would they trade for him? You know, he's not good anymore. He played maybe the best game of his career in game seven. Forget the goals, he just controlled the game. He controlled the game. He controlled the game you can bring people in here and They elevate You know one thing I'm wondering about and someone actually did tell me about this today I was gonna put in the news section, but now we'll do it here. I

Think teams are starting to ask who are looking for managers You know we said we said the other day that Ken Holland might look for someone young to bring in and he talked about it in their press conference. And we mentioned Ryan Martin from the Rangers, Mark Janko from Dallas and Stacey Ruse from Tampa. Somebody called me and said, I think there are people starting to ask, who should we be talking to in Florida? Yeah, that would make sense. You know, they got a few people there.

You know, Bill Zito is a bit all encompassing, but he has a staff there. I think people are starting to ask, like, who are some of the guys we should be talking to? And they might be the first team that's asking. I think people are starting to ask like who are some of the guys we should be talking to and They they might be the first team that's asking I don't know but I don't think they're gonna be the only team that asks as Paul Marie said like a Lot of the wheels were in motion before he got to South Florida for what this organization has become I love the whole idea of that right from the opening day of training camps, so much of their messaging and mentality is, okay, how are you building your game

for when a game seven rolls around? That's all year, all year. That's what keeps coming up for them. That was an absolute clinic here on Sunday that they put forth here. And for a team that has guys, a lot of returnees that clearly are not full yet that want to take another run at this, and you mentioned Seth Jones, Marsha and of course who we talked about

earlier, the way they've incorporated the new bodies that they've added. They are very much a team Elliot in the truest sense of the word because of their ability to bring in new people and the machine still goes on the way that they intended to. That was just another obviously game five and just the way they managed to write themselves after going down two to nothing early. This series again, a reminder of how serious of a threat the Panthers are to repeat.

A knockoff Tampa in five games, which was alarming because I think everyone looked at Tampa. That's a very good team there. And the way they finished this series off here on Sunday night, boy. I think the Carolina Hurricanes have their work cut out from. Anything else you want to add here on game seven and Toronto Florida second round series before we move ahead to look at the Eastern Conference final? Let me ask you a question. Okay. What do you think if you were gonna be bold? What would be the move you would make if you could go out and you could like a reasonable player? That you could go out and get

Who's that player? Try not to take Recency bias out of my brain because I've just done seven games of this series But are you convinced Sam Bennett is resigning in Florida? I think so but we talked about this a couple of podcasts ago after what happened earlier in this series if Sam Bennett plays for the Maple Leafs he gets suspended 60 times a season. You're just talking about Brad Marchand playing for the Maple Leafs. Now I know his he's not the same player.

He's mellowed with age. Yeah. Not as nice. He's not licking anybody anymore. Yes. I can't see Sam Bennett coming up here and putting up with all this noise, especially after what happened earlier in the playoffs.

Right. especially after what happened earlier in the playoffs. Right, but then he becomes part of this. He's not on the opposite side of this. Yeah, but still, you know how, like, we pick apart the way people play and stuff like that, right? Right, but I think it's been, like, just watched how he's played the last three years in the playoffs. I think everyone understands he may not be a guy that puts up 40 goals and 100 points during the regular season, but when it comes down to a night like we just witnessed here on Sunday, boy, it sure does help having him on your side. Oh, look, you're preaching the converted on this one.

So they don't have a lot of Sam Bennett's here in Toronto and haven't for a long time so that's why his name came to my mind. Can I can I throw another name out there outside of for our shant? Yeah I would never say that. Okay well you better not or else you're out of here. Okay I want to say I'm throwing this purely at the wall, okay? I'm doing this with no knowledge. I don't even know that the player would wanna do this.

Okay. Jonathan Marciusot. That's the sound of you throw the name on the wall So Again, it's just me throwing stuff. I freely admit it's purely out of the top of my head Tough year in Nashville They need to make some changes, you know, he's 34 years old four more years.

Fierce competitor. I don't know. Depending how it all shakes out, that was another name that jumped into my head. Hmm. Before or after Marshann? Oh, no, no, no. Like, the Marchand thing is right at the top of my head. Okay, okay. But I'm just, I'm just looking at things here.

I mean, there's no question as they filled out the roster and added to it this year, whether summer or mid season, to bring in bodies that, I mean, not only had just, oh, they played in the playoffs before, they played in some big games, but it played critical roles and still have a lot to give. Like, I know it didn't help them much here in game seven, but it did, along with Barubey's approach from the top, change the dynamic for this group this year considerably. One thing that the Leafs have been lacking over the years of this era is enough, I would say, characters in the room to bring that dynamic to a level it needs to be, and Marchesot

would be one of them. I'll give you that.ot would be one of them. I'll give you that. He would be one of them. Like he's a fiery guy. He's not always easy to handle. That's another name that popped in my head. Four more years as you say. It's going to be different. Can't come back after this one. Now do you really like how many years has that been the feeling after a leaf season?

Now because there's contracts up? Almost. Like, not at the beginning. Just last few years. Yeah, I understand. Not at the beginning. But certainly from the 3-1 series squandering against Montreal, there's been that sense. But you believe, and in a lot lot of cases not a ton has changed but you think this year because of now you got contracts

aspiring now the contract and it's not just on it's not just the team's decision now it's the players decision yeah like what does Tavares think is an acceptable number what does Marner think is an acceptable number I do the Maple Leafs even want to go anywhere near what those players consider an acceptable number? You know, I think the other thing too is that, you know, obviously Nick knows Marner well and one of the things that Nick talked about when all the craziness happened during the season was that how would Marner feel if they lose and he takes a lot of blame. So when a guy like Nick says that,

I think that's pretty real to how Marner or the people around him feel too. Well, here we are. It's been said a lot, but yeah, it does feel a little different. This is going to be an interesting off season in Toronto. Really interesting for more reasons than usual. All right, Elliot, so we've got our two conference finals set.

We'll get to Dallas-Edmonton in a little bit. But seeing as we just finished talking about Florida Panthers knocking off Toronto. But seeing as we just finished talking about Florida Panthers knocking off Toronto. Second time in three years, Panthers, Hurricanes in the conference final. It was a sweep two years ago for Florida. Two of the games going to overtime, one of them going to four over times. Matthew Kachuck had his fingerprints all over that series two years ago. He still looks like a guy that's finding his way missing a lot of time with injury coming off of Four Nations but what has you

feeling that this series this time around between these teams will be different than what we saw two years ago so that's a good point that you make about Kachak could you imagine that the Panthers would have beaten Toronto over seven games with him really making no impact? Aside from stabbing at people in late in two losses. Well, I mean even when they played Toronto two years ago, he didn't have a goal on that series either. I don't think he had a goal against Toronto in the playoffs in his career. But this one, you really didn't notice him for long stretches too.

Yeah. And he's legitimately hurt. Like, watching him this week, there were a lot of people that were not convinced he was gonna be able to play again this year. So I really respect the fact that he's gutting it out. But it says to me that those people were more right about what he's dealing with than anyone's going to admit it this time.

As I told you, he went to, I heard he went to Germany to deal with the same doctor that Matthews did there. I think he's been getting a lot of treatment for it. It goes right back to the four nations probably during the fight with Hagel where it all happened, people believe. So I really respect him gutting it out. Can they keep going like this without Kachak having an offensive impact? We'll find out. But this is style versus style. You've got Carolina, they play the way Carolina plays and they are not

changing it for anyone. You've got Florida, they play the way Florida plays and they are not changing it for anyone. Who will impose their will on the other? You know two years ago Florida swept Carolina in the playoffs, but those were close games. Not much happened. What three of them went to overtime and one of them was one of the longest games in the history of the NHL. So like there wasn't a lot of difference. All I remember is Chuck scoring and

Asking for the Zamboni door to be open so they could get right off the ice did that twice. Oh, that's right Did he score the winner both games and rally and then I mean I know you said you know that three of them went to overtime game four felt like it went to overtime because He scored the go-ahead goal with just a couple of seconds on the board. Close enough. That's what I'm saying. So that's the thing, who imposes their will over the others? That's what this series is about for me. You know, Bobrovsky versus Anderson, Anderson statistically has been better than anyone else in these playoffs. He's gonna have to keep that up

He's going against the Hall of Famer as I said the guy right now if I had to pick anybody if I had to pick a goalie to win one game To save Kyle's marriage. I would put Bobrovsky in the net. Okay That is the guy I picked. He is the guy. He's the stopper. And, you know, Anderson's gonna have to match that Bobrovsky proved it again, the series he bends, but he doesn't break. I don't know, like, I don't see a lot of

difference between these two teams at all No stylistically you're right very similar. Well Stylistically, you know They're very straight-line II Carolina But They stick to what they do. You're right. Yes So I guess more so the point their ability to stick to how they play. Yes There's very similar in that regard and I mean we talked about it earlier in the playoffs

Like my thing for me for Carolina all the time is you know it and it happens here again against Florida They don't have the same Gamebreakers the amount as as a team like the Panthers do but I've ever talked about Andrei Svechnikov Four goals round one four goals round two has to keep going because that's the thing like as that team has gone on their journey of now they're back at a conference final again for this group it's the third time swept by Boston just weren't quite ready for that level then and against Florida two years ago how close that was but yet four straight they go down looking back Looking back I don't think a guy

like Svechnikov was very effective that series. Sebastian Aho I think had a bit of a tougher go because of how heavy of a game that Florida plays with and still does a couple years later. That's gonna be the true test. Can Sebastian Aho, can Andrei Svechnikov, Seth Jarvis, can they have moments in this series where they're the ones looking at the rink attendant saying all right let us off here we just won the game time to go home. That's gonna be the thing for me. You know that all of Florida's game plan is going to be let's make Svechnikov uncomfortable. For sure.

Because he's such the linchpin to their offense. You know, and it was like that in the first round when they played New Jersey. It was like that in the second round when they played Washington. And to that kid's credit, he pushed through. He handled it it this is a different animal right this is a more dangerous dangerous high IQ team and I really like the Carolina Blue Line Elliot yes but we saw how much of a punishment the Toronto Blue Line took at the hands of Florida.

Again, with the idea of when game seven rolls around, you're not going to have anything left. That's going to be one for the Hurricanes as well, is how does that defense score hold up with how Florida is going to come at you? And at a certain level, you're just going to have to find a way to play through it because they do not go away. History is shown with this group. When are you flying down there? Monday afternoon Elliot. I'll be with John Bartlett and Gary Galley for that series. Look forward to it. Tuesday night, 8 Eastern. You're not going to get a word in edgewise with those two. No, that's right. I'll just be sitting in the corner every game until the post-game interview rolls around.

I can't wait until I see Gary and he punches me in the face. That's good. Yeah, you don't want to be on the receiving end of that. Okay, Elliot, the Winnipeg Jets. I mean, we'll get to the team as a whole here in a little bit, but we cannot begin this conversation without starting with Mark Shifely, of course, with the news over the weekend before game six in Dallas that his father Brad had passed away back in Ontario and you know one of the beautiful things of this sport often is the handshake line at the end of a playoff series through all the physicality all the nastiness there's respect between two opponents there I'm not sure I can recall a more heartbreaking and heartwarming all at once handshake between two teams like we saw Saturday in Dallas.

But that was something that's going to stick with me for a long, long time. And I'm sure everybody down there and everybody watching after just a real difficult set of circumstances for the player and the team and how everything was handled in the aftermath. Heartwarming and heartbreaking, Kyle, is a perfect way to describe that entire game. On some level, if you weren't rooting for Winnipeg in this game, you have no soul. I can understand the Dallas fans wanting the stars and Shifely doing well, but I think other than that you have no soul if on some level you weren't rooting for the Jets and Shifely in this game.

Props to Dallas, it showed their resilience, pushed to overtime, the Jets team channeled their emotion in a positive way it would have been very easy for the Jets players to be overflowing with a negative energy they didn't have that Dallas held strong found a way we'll talk more about them shortly and they reversed the Neuendijk curse 30 years ago Joe Neuendijk was stopped by Curtis Joseph and Todd Marchand scored a series winning goal for the Oilers, almost exactly the same save that Jake Ottinger made on Mason Appleton in that game, which eventually led to Thomas Harley's winning goal.

About the whole night, I'd like to shout out the Dallas fans. There's a lot of greatness and a lot of tremendous people in and around hockey. The Dallas fans donating tens of thousands of dollars to various Manitoba charities in $55 increments, Mark Shifely's number in honor of his father Brad that was brilliantly done. Great on the Dallas fans. Tyler Sagan who in the past has jokingly tried to throw off Mark Shifely's routine by not getting off the

ice and allowing Shifely to be last, not on this night. He made sure that he got off the ice so Shifely could be the last one. The Jets players rallying around him. Adam Lowry to the penalty box at the end of the game. Pictures worth a thousand words. That picture told about 50,000 words. Kevin Shevelday off in the morning, Scott Arneal during the day. You know, Scott Arneal was the associate coach for the New

York Rangers in 2014 when they went through something similar with Martin Saint-Louis. So Arneal would know, I don't, there's no guidebook on how to handle all this, everybody's different, but at least Arneal would have been through it, he would have understood the emotions and the needs of the player. You know what you need to do in that situation to make the player feel as comfortable as possible. And as you mentioned, Kyle, the respect of the handshake line particularly Mason Marchment

Mason Marchman a few years ago lost his father Brian in shocking and unexpected fashion He would understand you know that was at the draft so it wasn't as if Marchman Was playing the next day, but he understands the pain and the shock I thought especially the way Marchman battled in this series, I thought that was a particularly poignant moment. Everything about the night, except the ending, if you were cheering for the Jets, shows how special sports and hockey can be. It was really, you know, obviously I wasn't in the building, I was in the studio, but you really felt it in the studio, all of us did.

The emotion of the moment and the emotion of the night. And you know, Gary Galley, it was pointed out to me, he broadcast that Pittsburgh Rangers series 11 years ago when that happened with Martin St. Louis. So it's interesting, you know, Galley's been around that now a couple of times and you really feel the passion and the support in that moment. And it was one of the best hockey games of the year, Kyle. It really was.

What was on the line, the emotion around it, how hard the two teams played. Everything about it was really something. I don't even know if I have the proper words for it. Even though I wasn't in the building, you really felt the emotion of the night. Well, especially to LA, like just going to the morning skates here in Toronto before the Leafs and the Panthers played game seven, whether it was Craig Borubey or Brad Marshand or Paul Maurice, who of course coached the Jets and Schaefli for a lot of years, them conveying their love, their admiration for how all of that was handled on Saturday night. It was striking to me because you've got a group of people that are all in the game but had nothing to do with that game in particular in Dallas. So the way they reacted to all of that was was really something. And I can remember story too of the draft in 2011

in Minnesota. So that was the first one for Winnipeg when you know they'd come back to the NHL and the relocation from Atlanta and it was Kevin Cheveldeoff and Mark Shipman and all the important people with the Winnipeg brain trust and huddled in their meeting room to decide how they wanted to approach their first pick and the conversation was okay well what do we want the Winnipeg jets to be like who do we want representing our organization so they come up with a list of all the attributes and personality traits and once they finally came up with what they wanted that person to look like, somebody stepped up and said okay if that's what we want

our Winnipeg Jets to be then our first pick needs to be Mark Shifely and of course he was there for them available in the first round when they had their chance to pick him, they grabbed him and he's been the the longest serving member of the organization ever since. So that popped my mind too, and just seeing how all of it was handled on Saturday night. Yeah, I mean, the thing too, and we use this line a lot, Kyle, and I find I've really been using it a lot this year, is Anthony Stewart's dad's line. Are you a team or are you a club?

And if you're a club, that's not good. If you're a team, that's great. And what did the Jets prove on Saturday night, if there was any doubt, Kyle? They're a team. They're a team. I know some people out there were talking about the president's trophy curse, the Jets the latest team that couldn't capitalize after winning it. But if I were the Jets fans, I would feel very good about my group right now. They won a round unlike last year. Yes,

they were pushed the limit by St. Louis, but they won that series despite being down by two goals with two minutes to go in game seven and their MVP goaltender struggling, they got it done. In the playoffs, I don't care how you get your Ws. I only care that you get them and they got that done. Is it disappointing they lost in six games in the second round? Yes, of course it's disappointing, but the key is when I look at the Jets, I see a group of players that really care about each other, are really happy to play together and a number of them have committed their. Shifely, Morrissey, I didn't like the

way Arneal talked about Morrissey's injury postgame But hopefully this is not an issue for the start of next year, and I hope he's okay schieffley Morrissey Lowry Connor they've got to sign him again, but they've already signed him once Pionk will talk about hellebock in a few minutes, but he's done. I assume Sandberg will get done. You just saw three more guys, Nita Ryder, Nemesnikov, and Iofalo commit to stay. Elers is a big one. This is going to be interesting. It's a really big

one. We'll see how this one develops. I thought Ehlers played really hard. I thought he was competitive. You know, I know the numbers haven't always been there. But in this this series again, these playoffs, I saw a guy who is very, very competitive. They're all in their primes in what is a tough that's T-o-u-g-h all in capital letters conference Kyle but they're in this race they are there with Vegas they are there with Colorado they are there with Dallas they are there with Edmonton and with all the limitations the Jets may have in terms of you know getting players there. They've got a bunch of guys who've committed good players, the good nucleus, and it's very clear,

if there was ever any doubt, it's very clear from the way they carried themselves on Saturday night that they are all in this together. The thing about Hellebuck, it kinda got lost in everything else on Saturday night. Still has that bad road record, but I thought he played great. If there was ever a road game he deserved to win, it was that one. Autinger played a little bit better, made one more save, but I thought Hellebuck played

great in a big road game. I think with Hellebuck it is all between the ears. And I will bet on that. I will absolutely bet on that. I think he has the physical talent and as someone, and I've talked about this on the pod before, who had a horrendous attitude the first 18 years of their life, and I know Hellebuck's a little bit older than that. I believe Attitudes can be changed. I believe your brain can be wired

I believe you can be taught to think more positively and I think he took steps this year He signed he signed a long time and it's still hard to get in the playoffs. He gets you there I will bet on him eventually being able to get in the playoffs. He gets you there, I will bet on him eventually being able to get the Jets through. I know it really stinks and stings the way this all went down and the fact they lost in the second round, but I think if I was to look at Winnipeg big picture,

I would feel very good about the place I'm in if I were the Jets and their fans. You? Yes, I agree because you've got the commitment from so many important pieces. Because you've got I guess enough of a runway here the last number of years of success in the regular season I know it hasn't translated to the playoffs totally. But if you're looking on a group to continue to bet on, to eventually push through, I mean, you know, in terms of some of the biggest names and the biggest, alright, in terms of some of the biggest names and just

the biggest pieces, they're all going to be there and I'm totally with you on Hellebuck. Continue to run it back with with him and bank on the breakthrough all coming together at one point here before things are all said and done. So when it comes to where they go from here, Elliot, I mean Nikolai Ehlers of course is the biggest one as they head into the summer. What else do you think Kevin Sheveldeoff is looking at as they go back to the drawing board after a president's trophy season? I think still the 2C. Like how many teams this offseason are going to be looking at 2C? Like a ton of people. That's probably where I'm looking at. And you know I think Hayden Flurry, there's a guy who suddenly made a bigger impact than

anybody was probably expecting. And if you're Winnipeg, you're trying to do what you can to keep him. Flurry played himself into a full-time NHL job. And so that's the other guy I'm looking at. So here's a question I have for you. Okay. End of that game. First of all, do you think that should have been

a penalty shot? All day. I'm with you. All day. I'm with you. I want more penalty shots. Yes. Yeah. I think. I want more penalty shots. Look for reasons not to give a penalty shot

than as opposed to looking for reasons to give one 100% I'm with you on this 100% you know those referees had stayed out of the game and You can almost tell they didn't want to make that call But they called the penalty So here's the second question Kyle we were talking about this also So, here's the second question Kyle, we were talking about this also. Would you ever want the option, like if you're the team that gets fouled, you're Dallas in this case, would you ever want the option to say, we get the choice, penalty or penalties shot?

Totally. Wouldn't that be great drama? I mean like in football, you've got certain moments for the decision. Okay, are we going for it on fourth down? Are we kicking a field goal? Are we punting? I love that the opportunity to make a decision as a team going, okay, who's taking the penalty shot if we say yes? All right, we'll take our chances with one shot or, yeah,

we'll go with two minutes, one man up and see if we can get our goal that way I love the opportunity for a team to make a decision there. I would be all for it What was everyone feeling in the studio and did you have anything left after beating yourselves up over what a scoring chance was? What a big you know BXA had 10 espresso shots between all the coffee he drank before the game. He was so wired. He also, the funny thing was, so I don't know what's been going on with our dress shirts lately, but they're coming back really small. Like I tore one last week. Like it was just way too tight on me.

Oh my gosh. And yeah, full hulks. Kevin came back, he had one, we looked at him, we were laughing our heads off. Like he actually looked like the Hulk. He looked like Bruce Banneranner and he was Bruce Banner After all of those espresso shots. He was taking last night. By the way, how do you feel on the scoring chance? I For those of you who are not familiar with this hold on for those of you are not familiar this we were having an argument

Kevin thinks if it's not a shot on goal It's not a scoring chance and there are some people in hockey who agree with him. I think that's insane. If a guy gets a great opportunity and misses the net, it's still a chance. It's not like he missed the net purely because of good defense. He missed the net. What do you think? Yeah, I'm with you. I think it doesn't have to be a shot on goal.

And I heard Kevin's point of being like, well, shouldn't the defenseman or whoever on the other side of the puck have the opportunity to recover and get a stick in the lane? Well, I think in that case, like both things can be true, right? Where, yes, it's a scoring chance, but also it's a shot block because of good defensive positioning or sound reading of the play. I think both things can be true. So I mean like the big one was who was it? Sagan that had looked like the whole net there and I know Kevin's going well it's because there's traffic there's pressure and all of that for sure that's still a scoring chance to me. I don't know how you can say otherwise. What this just proves to me is Kevin made a lot of giveaways

in his career that he tried to cover up for. That's right. That's right. He's still mad about his own advanced stats as a player. Seriously, it's still like an arbitration case gone wrong. Okay, so the penalty shot thing, just for everyone out there, a couple of years ago at a GM meeting, a bunch of the media asked some of the GMs, like, would you want the preference? And I could tell that the biggest reason against it was if you had a guy who wasn't very good,

you didn't want to be the team that said, hey, like, we're not giving you a penalty shot. We'd rather have the power play. That's what I think Chuck Fletcher was one of the GMs who said that, like, how do you tell your guy, hey, you stink, we're not letting you take a penalty shot? That was the biggest argument against. But I just thought in that moment, I'm all penalty shot all That was the biggest argument against. But I just thought in that moment, I'm all penalty shot all the time. I thought, I want to see it. I could see why a referee

would be very nervous about calling it, but I think in that time, all penalties shot everywhere. But I mean, you see it in like soccer too, right? Where it's like you're awarded a penalty kick and okay, who's going to be the guy to take the kick and oh how could you pick that guy over that guy? So it happens in sports. It does happen. I I think you know players will understand And don't you think a few of them will be like, oh, thank god they didn't pick me. I'm okay. Just sitting on the bench Craig hartsburg who was the coach of the Uh world junior team for the big shootout with Jonathan Taves and Carey Price, he once did an interview where he talked about, you could tell in that moment some guys wanted to keep going, like Taze was staring at him. He wanted to go and some other guys

You could tell they They were they were not upset about not being selected. So that's true. That's a real thing Okay, so with Thomas Harley the hero in overtime in game number six, we have Stars versus Oilers part two, second straight year. They meet in the Western Conference final. By the way, did I hear you on television the other night say that you think the Oilers are a deeper team now than they were a year ago? Yes, I did say that. Why, do you disagree? No, I don't disagree. But as I thought about it, I wondered at what point this year could you comfortably believe that? Like was it game four against LA in the first round? Like it's taken all year for them to look like a team that is deeper than the one that went to game seven of the final last year.

Oh, it's playoffs. No question. You're right. That's not something I would have said even at game 82 as we started the playoffs. It's playoffs, Kyle, and results speak because they're outscoring opponents without those two guys on the ice, which, as we've talked about several times, never happens. I think you could make an argument that both of these teams are better than they were a year ago when they met in the Western Conference Final. For sure and because of that I think we've got another banger of a

series between these two teams. Like you talked about the depth for Edmonton, like their offensive contributions have got they've got them from a few more places than maybe the Dallas Stars have to this point a little more top heavy for them So far through two rounds of the playoffs So where are you kind of looking as the difference makers where the series in theory? Could be one over one that we anticipate going right to the bitter end For me it's the Oilers being deeper and not only up front but also on the blue line. How many people thought that the Oilers

were going to beat the Kings and Vegas? Vegas in five games without Ekholm and all of you guys who have your hands up you're liars nobody thought that nobody did and it just shows their depth is not only better up front their depth is on the blue line to me the biggest questions in goal Ottinger's on a heater Skinner is in a really good place right now as his results and his interview with Gene said. It's got to stay that way. Pickard, 6-0 with him.

Sounds like he's going to play at some point. So at least you know once he's ready, you have a goal you can win with, but you're coming in feeling the stars have the advantage in goal and they also have two number ones on the blue line. Hayskiden who played his best game of the playoffs in game six and Harley who's been phenomenal. You know Ekholm skated on Sunday that was a really good sign it sounds like at some point in time we're gonna hear him. You know I tell you, when Ekholm got hurt that last week of the regular season, when everyone was reporting and I was one of them, that he could be out for the year, the word

on him was like 15 weeks. And now he's skating. And basically, it's been eight. Like that's a huge, huge good outcome for Edmonton. I think you hit it Kyle. The biggest question between these two teams as I really see aside from can Skinner keep going the way he's going is can Dallas score enough to beat Edmonton? Everyone knows how I feel.

You have to be able to win one or two 6-5 games, probably two, to beat the Oilers. The Stars have transformed from a grinding team to a scoring team. And they're having trouble getting the secondary scoring right now. They're more of a skilled team now than the grinding team that they used to be. But those scores Duchenne, Johnston, Robertson, I don't know if you saw Jason Robertson's pregame with Scott Oak before game six but you can tell he's feeling it.

Those guys have to get going. If you're planning on playing seven two-to-one games with Edmonton, I don't think you can do that. I think you have to be able to win one or two six-to-five. The Stars have the players to do that, but they have to score. That to me is the question. The two biggest questions. Does Skinner hold and can the stars score? And in a lot of ways, they're kind of intertwined. Right. And you remember, like, we both were there for that series last year, Elliot. And if I recall correctly, the Oilers penalty kill was like damn near perfect the entire six games like yes, excellence, excellent. And you talk about the stars being good enough to score. They do have, well, I

guess the best power play of the teams remaining in the playoffs at just over 30%. So that's got to be an area where it comes through for Dallas, if you say, if they're able to score enough against Edmonton, because it really let them down full credit to the Oilers a year ago when these two teams met. Yep. That's a big one too, the penalty kill. Good memory. Very good memory. All right. That'll bring us to the final thought, which is brought to you by GMC in the Vegas Golden Knights and Washington Capitals the two other teams eliminated from the second round of the playoffs had their Locker cleanouts over the weekend Elliott. I guess we'll start in Washington where the big question is the future of Alex Ovechkin He is under contract for one more year He was talking like he was going to be back Spencer Carberry said he was confident that his captain would be back is there any reason to think that will

not be the case for Ovechkin and the Caps next season? I was surprised at the amount of questions about this Kyle it made me think like what were the reporters they're hearing behind the scenes that we weren't was there actually some question about whether or not Ovechkin was going to play next year? I was kind of surprised. He threw cold water on it. He said that before. He plans on finishing his contract, which has one more year in it, in the NHL. That's what he said. I did get a good laugh that he said, I'm packing my bag for Hershey. I'm going to be joining them for the playoffs.

They're in the Atlantic Division final in the American Hockey League right now against Charlotte. And I have to say, I wanted to shout out the Charlotte Checkers social media team for finding that quote and retweeting it with, ha ha, good one, he's not really allowed to do that, right? I thought that was really, really well done. Like shout out to the Checkers social media

and also shout out to one of the Checkers players, Rasmus Asplund. He scored an overtime to give Charlotte a two nothing lead in that series against Hershey on Saturday night. It was the 2-1 winning goal just at the time that he and wife Sandra welcomed a baby boy. So a big 24-hour span for Asplund who grew his family and scored a massive goal. So anyway, Ovechkin put a lot of that to bed. He's coming back next year.

You know, a couple of things I thought were really interesting about the Capitals, I thought it was interesting hearing Carberry say that he felt that some of their players got overwhelmed as the playoffs continued and certainly against Carolina, which has a lot of experience in playing more playoff games and deeper into playoffs. I do think the experience will be a good thing for Washington. And you know, the other thing I thought was interesting was listening to Connor McMichael. He said, look, I think I'm a center and I want to play center. But if I recall correctly correctly I think he played less

than five games at center this year but he did play the final game game five at center when they scratched Lars Eller and you know the easiest way to solve your problem is to fix it internally I wonder if McMichael gets a good long look at center next year he took big steps steps this season. He had 25 goals, he had 55 points, he had career highs, he's clearly an NHL player. But I just thought it was really interesting that he played his last game at center and he said, that's where I want to be. And so I'm looking forward to seeing if the Capitals do acquiesce to that and say, you know what Connor? You're a centre now He had great great playoff success with Hershey over his development before becoming a regular

NHL er with the Capitals and for all the talk about that being an older group with the guys that have remained From at least you know even going back to the 2018 team when they won it all there's still a lot of youth that came in to that lineup over the last few years and experience to be had there of going through your first series win and then the the the bitter taste of falling out in the the second round there as well for for Washington so when it comes to Vegas Elliott I mean this is a team that has no interest in taking a step backwards. They have been win now right from their expansion year. What do you see as their priorities as they enter the off season?

As Kelly McCrimmon said, you know, they got beat, it happens. And and that is the the truest way to you know, they got beat. It happens. And that is the truest way to say it. They got beat. But it doesn't mean they're resetting. It doesn't mean they're giving up. It's pretty obvious to me that they're sitting there and they're saying, we're going to reload. We're going to reload. We're coming back." And nothing that he said in his final media event of the season surprised me.

They'll be back. And he doesn't say a lot publicly. He prefers it that way. But every summer when they think they can win and they think they can win, you better be prepared for them to take a big swing at something. And it's pretty obvious, you know, Eichel is a non-restricted free agent in a year. He's eligible for an extension. They will do whatever they need to do around making sure that gets taken care of.

They're happy with him. He's happy with them. These negotiations, they're always a grind. That's what negotiators do. They grind. But I can't see... I would be shocked if he is anywhere but Vegas in a year from now. Shocked. Me too.

And you know similar to Winnipeg they've got a lot of guys committed long-term. I mean Nick Haig is an RFA this summer that's another thing they've gotta worry about and then just some decisions lower in the lineup on some expiring deals and how they want to use that money but that is a team that with the salary cap going up they will continue to be right at the ceiling or even a bit above it if they can maneuver Their cap set up the way they have expertly done

At times over their brief existence in the NHL fridge Yeah, Higgs Higgs a good player. He's a really good player and yeah, he's definitely the kind of guy people will be watching How does Vegas handle this? I definitely agree with you on that one. Yeah and hey coming to the end of a three-year deal paying him just under 2.3 million per year he is due for a raise. That was the final thought brought to you by GMC. We'll take our first break. No thought line today but we promise it will be back come Wednesday. Some other news and notes around the league to wrap up 32 Thoughts, the podcast on the other side of the break. Okay, welcome back.

A few other things to touch on before we wrap up here. Elliot Jeff Blaschel, seven years he was the head coach in Detroit, spent the last three on John Cooper's staff in Tampa. As the coaching carousel continues for some of the openings around the league, his name has surfaced. What's the latest with Blaschel? Okay, so I heard on Friday morning that he was in as the head coach of Chicago. He was going to be the guy. I got a tip. So I started asking around and I had a couple people tell me it's too soon.

That would be premature. And these are people I really trust. I think they're very smart. They said premature. And I will say this, I think one of the reasons it began to spread like wildfire, I don't know where he had a job interview somewhere else, but it got canceled. There was a job interview he had somewhere else that got canceled. And I think that's why

it began to spread like wildfire. He was going to Chicago. Then John Buchigros tweeted his Blashill and Blackhawks tweet. And right now Bucigros is on a hot streak. It is like the Vatican seal of approval when Baschil is a very serious contender in Chicago. And it's possible that one of the reasons there's been a bit of a delay is somebody who is central to the process with the Blackhawks was not available at the end of last week. So it had to be pushed into this week, whatever they still need to do.

But like I said, I heard he had another job interview somewhere else that was canceled. It led to the speculation. It's got the Butchagross tweet. He is a very serious contender there. I just think someone who wasn't in town needed to be in town to do whatever they need to do whether it was give the seal of approval or be part of the process. So all I'll just say at this point in time is I

think he's a very very serious contender there. I just can't tell you a hundred percent it's his job. Worked with a lot of players early in their careers when you look at how the Corps is formed in Detroit now. Is there trying to take the next step and young group there in Chicago so something to watch between Blaschel and the Blackhawks. I also think last year he interviewed in San Jose I believe he's also been interviewed in Boston this year and it sounds like there was at least one more that that may be in the one that was postponed I don't know exactly but I really do think that he's

the kind of guy second chance deserves it for sure yeah and I'm sure yeah just a different perspective obviously going through that in Detroit and then working in Tampa around that group. Another opportunity to learn. All right, one other thing here, Elliot. So we've got the draft combine taking place early next month down in Buffalo. As we know, the NHL draft this year is decentralized for the first time. All teams will be working remotely.

So how do you think that dynamic will impact what we will see at the Combine in a few weeks? I've started to hear that that is going to be a big time in the NHL. As you mentioned, decentralized draft, so teams can't go to the draft this year and say we want to meet with prospects a day or two before head. We want to have another interview with a player or a first interview with a player. So the combine is going to take on added importance this year, Kyle, because that will be teams best opportunity to interview guys.

I'm not so sure players are going to be interested in flying all the way around to interview with teams. So that has given an added level of importance and I think you're gonna see a lot of business done there. A lot of talking. Table setting kinda. Yes. Who has permission to talk to who, teams talking about with their own players

or their agents trade talk that's gonna be a big one this year the combine because Everyone's gonna be there. They're not gonna be together at the draft So it's really your best chance to sit down face to face and do things with people I've heard that you know some of the things I started here around the, you know, who could be available or teams who want to do things. I think the conversations might really happen at the combine. Oh boy. I mean, that makes a lot of sense too, because it'll be the one event before free agency

where everybody's together. Yep. Yep. No draft. That's right. Yep. Yep. No draft. Thumb. That's right. Hopefully only this year, right? Yeah. A one and done.

Thumb. A one and done. All right, Elliot, well. Thanks for leaving this popcorn box in front of me. Your popcorn's been really tasty. So this is what happened. We sat down. I had the popcorn.

I said, Elliot, would you like any popcorn? I'm good, thanks. Next thing you know, he's sitting next to it and he can't help himself. The moment you sat down. Once you put it here, I was doomed. Yeah. I'm guilty of that too. All right, well, could be a couple of popcorn conference finals here,

between Carolina, Florida and then Dallas, Edmonton. Game one of the East Final, Tuesday night, eight Eastern, five Pacific, Hockey Central on the air at 730, pretty much every game of the conference final, both East and West at eight Eastern, it gets underway except for the one matinee in the Edmonton Dallas series. So that'll kick things off. We will speak to you again in the aftermath of game one down in Raleigh and get you set for game one in Dallas. Until then have a great start to your week. Elliot, keep eating that popcorn.

I will.