32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Third Time's the Charm for Atlanta?

Episode Date: March 15, 2024

Could the NHL really be heading back to Atlanta? In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Jeff and Elliotte expand on that question as an ownership group led by former NHLer Anson Carter has filed a request with the league for a third crack at professional hockey in the state of Georgia. Jeff and Elliotte then delve into the suddenly hot playoff races (16:25) and discuss why no team seems to want that second WC spot in the East (23:20). Next, how differently would the Sabres season have gone if they rolled with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen from the start, and the early returns on the Bowen Byram trade are looking terrific (26:17). Later, the Calgary Flames might look to reduce Jacob Markstrom's workload (38:40) and Elliotte provides an update on the futures of Filip Hronek and Tyler Myers with the Vancouver Canucks (41:59). Finally, Jeff and Elliotte talk about the Flames signing Hunter Brzustewicz to a rare ELC for a third-round draft pick (47:53).The guys answer your questions in the Montana’s Thought Line (55:39) and the fellas revisit Jeff's interview with Josh Ho-Sang who is returning to professional hockey in North America.Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailThis podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Jeff thinks that Heinz is a weakling because he didn't pull him in regulation. I just want everyone to know. No, no, no. I want everyone to know what Jeff is really talking about here. He thinks that John Heinz is a wimp because he didn't do it in regulation. Thanks so much for listening once again. It's 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Merrick alongside Friedman and Dom Schrammati.

The podcast is always brought to you by the gmc sierra elevation glad to have you aboard today now elliott normally in this situation let me phrase it this way actually when it comes to analogies your analogies sort of tend to revolve around as we've all noticed dating now i'm going to play the role of elliot friedman to kick off the podcast today how about that so here we go you know does this have an analogy to striking out or anything hold on a second yeah hold on this is i'm going somewhere with this i gotta i gotta all right method my method actor here i gotta get into character you know jeff you know how there's always those people in your life that uh they'll be together and then they'll break up

but they'll get back together again and then they'll break up and you know they're getting back together and you say to yourself well why were you ever apart in the first place you know that neither side couldn't quit the other for any extended period of time you have people like this jeff in your life i'm sure maybe you listening right now maybe you're one of those people you know who that is for the nhl elliot atlanta are they the couple that can't quit each other that was really good i have to say that was that was really good the other analogy you could use which was once used on me and i thought it was total bs and it didn't work because i thought it was total bs was if it's true love you'll let someone go

and they'll come back to you that one i thought was total bs yeah but you know there there is it is interesting um so there was a joke that was in my uh twitter feed a lot on wednesday and thursday about well this is how canada is going to get another team in the nhl quebec city finally because they're going to go to atlanta for a third time and the team will go to Canada just like Calgary and just like Calgary and Winnipeg did I think it's really fascinating that there's two very different bids you know Anson Carter we've talked about his interest in NHL teams before. He's very careful about talking about it publicly, but I think people who know Anson know that this has been a goal of his

almost ever since he retired as a player. He's a broadcaster now. He's one of the faces of the NHL, but he really would like to get into team ownership. And one of the things I really thought when I heard who he had in his group, like those are powerful people, not only in sports, but in business. And, you know, there are connections there in sports. One member of the group is the COO of the Texas Rangers. Another member, the Simon family, Liebman is the first one, I should say. The Simon family owns the Halifax Mooseheads.

And the Ziegler family, they're involved in NASCAR, and they're a big automotive family. So like, there's a lot of connections here. He has legit weight to his group. And as we all know, Anson is not going public with this unless he quietly has the NHL's blessing. Now there's another group coming out of Atlanta too, and their location is actually not far from Anson's. I don't know anything about this other group. I've looked into Anson's group for a while now, and they have worked quite hard behind the scenes, it appears, to make sure they have all of the necessary support behind it locally, and they really believe in their location. I don't know a lot about Atlanta in terms of the way it is now or the demographics now but I do know this.

There are people who believe very strongly that one of the major differences in Atlanta now and in the past is Atlanta used to be one of those cities where a lot of people move to. Now Atlanta seems to have a lot of its own and I've had a few people tell me that and they think it's why it has a chance to be a little different this time. People can tell me if they think I'm full of it or the people who are talking to me are full of it you know there's there's going to be a lot of skepticism just because it's over too but the fact that we've got two groups talking about going there it's just interesting to me that there would be potentially two ownership groups Jeff that think that it's worth trying this again because honestly I thought when they left to Winnipeg I thought we'd never hear from Atlanta again never I'm I'm the same and the and much

like we saw with Ryan Smith and Utah I think we're seeing this obviously now with these with these two groups the Carter group and the Vernon Krause group right now, the fact that they've been given the green light to go public with all of this, to me just says we're marching towards an inevitability. And listen, both groups are saying expansion. No one is saying relocation. I think that's very deliberate for the obvious reason with the Arizona Coyotes. But the fact that there has been the not so subtle nudge or the sort of removal of the veil in this situation tells me that it's just a matter of time that we're going there.

And this is the process of getting the market ready for hockey in Salt Lake City and a return to Atlanta. To me, it's just a matter of when. Or elsewhere. And there's a couple of things here. Number one, Utah is a slam dunk. That's going to happen. The question is when and how, but that's going to happen. And what I see, Jeff, is I just see that because of what's happening around Arizona, the league is preparing for if we're going to do something, we have to do this all around the same time.

Or we have to have a plan for it to unlock it all around the same time. And that's why I think all these conversations have happened. You know, Tillman Fertitta, who owns the Rockets, he admitted recently Bloomberg News is the one he told that he's discussed it with the NHL, but it has to be right for both sides. Now, that raises a red flag to me, and that red flag is that they spoke to him before around the time that Vegas and Seattle

came in he wasn't willing to pay the expansion fee that the NHL wanted and that number obviously was 500 for Vegas and 650 for Seattle I heard he wanted to come in less than both those numbers. And that wasn't going to cut it then. And it's not going to cut it obviously now. These are going to be big numbers. Like someone said to me, if, and I stress if, Arizona ends up moving, you're going to be surprised to hear the number that ends up with that team. Because part of it's going to be a relocation fee and part of it would end up being a fee to buy out the current owner if we go to that route and plus everybody likes

big numbers so this is going to be a big number and then you know I got some criticism from some people which I thought was fair when I wrote about it on Thursday they said well you didn't mention Kansas City you didn't mention Cincinnati you didn't mention Milwaukee you didn't mention Hartford you didn't mention Quebec City except in passing and that's all true but this is what we know right now and I'm sure there's going to be other people who are going to look into it and kick tires but I'm with you Jeff I think it's only a matter of time and we should also remember and I really do believe this if they do leave Arizona they're going back they're going to sort

this out and they're going to go back the other thing too Jeff and and this is another thing I didn't I didn't write about today but to me the whole TNT thing if TNT is going to be in the NHL business for the long haul Atlanta makes too much sense you know like TNT is a powerful powerful arm and you you know the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA they aren't a bellwether franchise anymore they were one of the original franchises but they don't really have that sort of name power to them even though they have one of the real fun young players and Trey Young however I think if you put an NHL team there you would want that tnt promotion and you could basically say to them hey you know anson who's one of your broadcasters would be tied into the team there's a lot of different things that you can do with that and i think that would excite

the nhl and you know i like you i know there's going to be a lot of criticism here. We are like talking about it as if it's already happened, but we know where this thing's marching. You know, there'll be a lot of criticism. Well, hang on a second. How come they're getting three kicks at this thing? The one main thing that is the main difference. And again, when the book on hockey from this era is written, The big success stories obviously are going to be Vegas. Seattle has a huge success story as well.

Both these teams, not just in the NHL, but the American League as well. One of the biggest things that the NHL did, and I wouldn't put it at the same level of, you know, getting the Players Association to acquiesce to a salary cap, which changed everything in this sport, everything, and the marriage of salary to cost. But when they changed the expansion draft rules,

that changed everything. And all of a sudden, teams like Seattle were competitive. Second year, they knock off the Stanley Cup champions. Vegas Golden Knights, that story is well told. They go to the Stanley Cup final in the first year. Now they have a Stanley Cup in their hip pocket. The change in expansion rules, Elliot, I think really helped to drive the price up of expansion teams.

And I don't think that's controversial at all to say. I think it's rather obvious no no no longer do teams exist in squalor teams have a chance to be competitive right away and again it's not as big as the salary cap but financially given what vegas means to the nhl what seattle means to the nhl they mean that to the nhl because they were competitive right out of the gate and i think that's gonna be one of the major differences here with salt lake city and with atlanta atlanta their third time at it they're not going to get scrub players they're going to get nhlers when this happens major yeah i i i think it's true like Like, again, I understand. And I think you're right.

I understand why people make jokes about it. I do. The one thing I'll say is I know Anson's done a lot of work and I hope it works out for him. We'll see. And we also should mention there is a CBA coming up in two years. And while I feel very strongly, I get differing opinions on where this is going to go. And I know everybody hates talking about labor, but I really feel strongly there isn't anything that should create a shutdown here. There really isn't. It would be nonsensical and stupid.

That doesn't mean it can't happen, but it would be nonsensical and stupid and you know i do think betman looks at it like 50 more jobs and i i think players look at it too it really resonates with the rank and file you know it's i had a really interesting conversation uh with someone about coaching a couple weeks ago and I was thinking about this conversation today and I said to him what's the most important job for you as a coach and he said that the only way it works now is if you convince your players that in moments good or bad that you have their best interests in mind so that they will get better with players and they will be able to earn another contract or a big contract. He says that is the way you need to get players to think or they won't be that their best for you.

So, you know, thinking about that, Jeff, and I understand that players are workers like anybody else. They want another contract. They want another big contract. Well, now you're opening the door to potentially 50 more of them. And that resonates. I do. You know, there's lots of great questions there about, hey, is it watering down the league too much?

Do we really have the ability to support all of these teams i think all of these are great questions the canadian hockey fans they want that eighth team they want to see the nordics canadians rivalry back even though i don't know how feasible it really is what you and i are dealing with is where is this going and i think where it's going is precisely what you talked about at the beginning of this segment dating we're going somewhere no not dating oh sorry my strained analogy right now it's a casual relationship eventually we will get into dating you know well because the thing is je, like one of the things that, one of the things I've learned about this league and all of the years I've dealt with it is that there's stop talking about it.

This is stupid. Don't even talk about it. And there's stop talking about it. No, it's not going to happen. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Okay. This is B. This is not stop talking about it. It's not gonna happen nudge nudge wink wink okay it might this is b this is this is not stop talking about it it's not gonna happen this is nudge nudge wink wink we really aren't planning on

expanding but we like the but we're always willing to listen to interest hmm this is this is figuring about, combined with Arizona, where we're going here. You know, going back to your point about the CBA on the horizon as well, I always think about one of my favorite scenes from The Simpsons where Homer Simpson says to Monty Burns, Mr. Burns, you're the richest guy I know.

And Monty responds, you know, Homer, that's's true but I'd trade it all in for just a little bit more I have one agent that whenever I talk about the CBA and say essentially what you're saying right now which is there's not one huge issue that I can see them shutting this all down for I always get this one agent that reminds me i'd trade it all in for just a little bit more that is true like i get that that is 100 true and i know people who are very successful in life who think exactly that way uh all right so that's the atlanta that's the atlanta story we'll see where this one heads we'll stay on top of it obviously um but let's get to hockey on the ice like thursday was a pretty interesting night and pretty interesting we have a race teams we we have races elliot we've got all of a sudden the buffalo sabers in the mix

three points out and you know it's funny going into the game against the islanders one of the things that i had wondered about um was would this be a situation where if the sabers and islanders were tied with say two minutes left in the third period would don granato pull his net minder knowing that a you can't afford to give the islanders any points getting you into overtime doesn't help you a lot you want the regulation win um so you don't wait like john hines did and get into overtime and then pull your goaltender do you pull the goaltender during a tied game well it turns out there was patrick was surprised well first of all before before we get to this what jeff is really saying here is that everybody's talking about what big brass ones that John Hines had for pulling the goalie in overtime.

Jeff thinks that Hines is a weakling because he didn't pull him in regulation. I just want everyone to know. No, no, no. I want everyone to know what Jeff is really talking about here. He thinks that John Hines is a wimp because he didn't do it in regulation all i'm all my only point is can't wait to see how it's crushy with his bare hands oh i know it's it's gonna be like uh that scene in strange brew with the crushing of the head um no my only point was max von cito i just love him how do you not love Max Fonsito? Great actor. My only

point was that, and we all loved it. We talked about it on the podcast. I loved it. It was a great visual and you brought up the point about losing the point if they lose in that scenario. And we all learned something that day. My only point was, if you're really going to try to really go for it, you want to A, deny the other team the chance to get a point. B, you want to get the regulation win. You want to get primary tiebreakers. You want to get those taken care of. All I'm saying is, unlike what we saw on Sunday,

I was wondering if the Buffalo Sabres, and I would imagine this would be done. All I heard there was Hines is a wimp. That's all I heard there, just so so everybody knows i didn't hear anything else i wonder if that what the collective decision between kevin adams and don granada would have been hey if we're tied late in the third period here do we want to just get this into overtime and guarantee ourselves a point or do we really want to go for it now the mitigating I have no doubt we're going to see this be a factor again somewhere down the road. Now that it's happened once, it's going to open up the Pandora's box.

Not that this is a bad thing because Pandora's box is negative, but you know because one guy did it, other guys are going to do it. That's the real world now. it other guys are going to do it that's that's the real world now what what i'm looking at though jeff is i all of a sudden the bottom of the eastern conference first of all massive win for tampa bay the lightning ended the streak of shisterkin's son who if you you'll know about this if you're a ranger fan shisterkin went over to say hi to his son and warm up a couple weeks ago. The son pointed at him to get back in the net, and ever since then, Shosturkin had been on a tear. Well, that's over now.

He got beat by Tampa Bay. Point and Kucherov had big nights. Six points. Yeah, Tampa Bay is right in itself. But, you know, I thought the Islanders were in great shape because of their goaltending, and I still like their goaltending over everyone else's. But look, Detroit, reeling Detroit, reeling Detroit,

is tied with the Islanders. The Islanders have a game in hand. And now the Sabres are three points back, although they've played the most games like their math is not great Pittsburgh is five back New Jersey six back but I have to say in the east the most amazing one for me is Washington their goal differential is minus 31. Nobody, nobody even close to a playoff position is anywhere near that, like the Capitals are. But they're right there. They win in Seattle. I mean, they got bombed in Edmonton the night before. They go into Seattle. They give up the first six shots. They go ahead

on a ridiculously fluke goal by T.J. Oshie, and they find a way to win. Kelly Rudy, he always said there was only one stat that mattered to him, wins. And that's the Capitals this year. Like minus 31, that's crazy, but they're right there, a point back of the Islanders, same number of games played. They don't ask you how, they ask you how many. The carburetor is going to have to get serious coach of the year consideration if he gets this team into the playoffs.

It's unreal because some of the nights you watch them, you look at it and you go, how the heck did that just happen? But they find a way and they're there. I don't know if it's going to continue but i love the races and don't forget minnesota with the vegas loss in calgary minnesota is also lurking they are four points back of vegas although the knights have a game in hand on them all you want is races we got races okay so as we um as we're recording this i am in the process of sending you a picture now i've just sent you a picture is this picture going to be in

violation of roger's human resources uh unless they don't allow us to send pictures of russian netminders but other than that we're good okay i see it's a picture of sorokin so it's a picture of sorokin this is from thursday evening in that game oh are you complaining about being in front of that no no hold on hold on okay i'm not complaining about anything i just don't know whether this is like a great troll job or a coincidence or what. Now, someone with the Islanders can tell me whether Sorokin does this on a consistent basis. No, nobody from the Islanders is allowed to talk to you. Okay, very well.

Well, I'm sure Lou will call to fill me in because I'm sure he listens to every single podcast, Elliot. Sorokin doing his stretches in the same, like right in the slot where Devin Levi used to do his meditation. I don't know if he does that consistently during TV timeouts, but when it happens, someone sent me that picture and I was like, Ooh, I think that's pretty funny on the podcast. There's Ilya Sorokin. It's amazing. Like nobody wants that second wild card in the Eastern conference. Nobody wants that second wild card in the Eastern Conference. Nobody wants it.

The Islanders went six in a row, and then they thud. Detroit's lost seven in a row. The Sabres looked like they were out, and now they're climbing back in. But their math isn't great, and neither is Pittsburgh's or New Jersey's. Nobody wants to grab this spot. I can only imagine, too, what Iserman is thinking watching this. They lost again. Yeah.

Again to Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night. They had a minor fight in practice, the little scrum there with Raymond and Sherrod. You're kind of hoping that galvanizes your team they lose again um I like like to me like Iserman's been really patient really patient but he's as fierce as a competitor as there has ever existed in this game. A couple guys have said to me that two of the most competitive managers in the league, even though the second one is not technically a manager anymore, are Iserman and Sakic.

That even though they're not players anymore, they still, like every game to them that they lose or when the teams go badly, it's like a personal affront to those guys. So, Iserman's got to be watching this and his eyes just have to be bulging out of his head. You know, last year, you know, he pulled the shoot right after those Ottawa games and it was the right call. And this year, he doesn't pull the shoot, but those Ottawa games and it was the right call. And this year he doesn't

pull the shoot, but he doesn't add. And he says, look, I didn't like what the prices were. It didn't make sense to us. So he's trying to be patient, but you know, the way he thinks he's trying to be patient, but he's also saying our guys have to pull this through there's enough experience here and there's enough talent here that our guys have to pull this through and there's no doubt that Larkin is going to be racing to come back that that he's sitting here saying I have to get back and the other thing too is you know Lyon I'm not going to criticize Lyon. He's given them everything they need. And they're sitting there with Huso saying, you know, we need you, too.

They need these guys back. They need a jolt. It's got to be driving Iserman absolutely crazy watching this happen. And I still think the alleners are the best team um and because i think they have the best goaltending but you know who might have the second best goaltending right now is buffalo listen i wrote about it this week um how much i wonder how the saber season would have went if they just decided to go with lukinen and comry in the nhl and have devin levi training in the american hockey league

for an extended period levi looks incredible in rochester he's doing amazing and to your point how great does uka peka lukinen look right now he looks fantastic and and the thing is too is i always wonder when when you're kind of the guy like he was they anointed him as the guy when craig anderson retired basically they were saying the pedestal is yours if you take it like we are grooming you for this you're going to be the guy and then levi shows up and i'm always careful about this because the Sabres are sensitive to it I understand they didn't promise him anything at the NHL level but they did say to him we're not going to block you you're gonna if you beat out the people who are here now this job will be yours but we're not going to go out to get anyone to block you and all of a sudden

if you're lukin and you're sitting there and you're thinking what happened here i was the guy hang on like it's like the it gets even better like remember the beginning of the season when lukin couldn't even get the net right well that's my point like this guy's been false started so many different times and even like it's like It's like the end of succession, Jeff. I am the eldest boy. The net is supposed to be mine. And you'll recall with Craig Anderson. And listen, he's the veteran.

He was in the league a long time. And he was back and forth with Ukapaka Lukanen. And Lukanen, no disrespect to Craig Anderson, got this incredible workload of heavy-duty teams on a consistent basis, where, you know, Craig Anderson worked with a team to figure out the games where he was going to play. He wasn't going to shoulder a starter's workload

at that point in his career. And it was almost as if they put Lukunen in there for the games that they figured, eh, we're probably going to lose this almost as if they put Lukanen in there for the games that they figured, eh, we're probably going to lose this one. Let's put Lukanen in there. Like, honestly, like, I am so thrilled at what's happened to Ukapaka Lukanen because it's so many different turns here.

And let's not forget, he wasn't Kevin Adams' goaltender. Right? Like, that's Jason Botterill's goaltender. At so many different turns, it's almost as if he's kind of the second rung on the ladder, never quite the top dog. I'm thrilled. I am so,

he's one of the people every year, there's a couple of players that you're really, really happy for. One of the guys I'm happiest for is Luka in this year for what he's been able to do with this chance that he's finally received. I think it's fantastic. Well, I'm with you. And you know what it says to me it says to me that he's a competitive like a high character competitive guy in the sense that because it was supposed to be

his and then it wasn't he could assault and then basically like sulked his way out of town and he didn't he grabbed the net. He won the job. So I'm with you on this. I'll tell you something about too, I'm going to do a bit more work on the Byron-Middlestad trade just to do a little bit more about it. But I remember last year, or sorry, two years ago, when Colorado was in the Stanley Cup final

and Byron played as great as he did, I remember some of the Avalanche players, they told me eventually we're going to lose this guy. And the reason we're going to lose this guy is because he's going to want to be the number one defenseman on a team. There's a certain reason. There's a nine-letter name of why he's going to never be number one in denver and that's kale mccarr which is a good reason and the avalanche knew that too

they knew the day would come that they were going to lose him because he wanted a chance to be the number one guy and they always said where i there was it was an organizational philosophy that they were going to trade him once they knew they had the right person and they felt that middlestat was the right person now he may not be the number one guy in buffalo like he went from sides he went to from super stud to growing into a stud in Rasmus Dallin but Byram is that talented like he can do it and I just think that the thing that really works for me here with Kevin Adams is that he brought a player in from a team that were a bunch of winners that had won and had high demands of how to play. Like if you've watched from that first game and that shift went viral on the power play where he's buzzing around, he's pointing at guys to go certain places. And he's like, he's basically saying like, what kind of power play where he's buzzing around he's pointing at guys to go certain places and he's like what he's basically saying like what kind of power play is this like you can see that Byron is enthusiastic

about the opportunity the thing that Adam I don't even know if Adams knew this but the thing that Kevin Adams did here was smart is he took out a guy in middle stat who was really popular with guys like talking and delene but he brought in a guy in byram that krebs knew really well and cousins knew really well so those two guys could sell the other players on this is what we're getting now they've probably watched they probably see themselves but you you don't know the personality and you can see Byram's enthusiasm he has breathed new life into that team you can see that he wants to drag it to his level and you can see that those players recognized that they are with someone who's been on a winner and understands the habits that you need to win

and i just see it with buffalo i don't know if they're gonna make it and we've been fooled by buffalo a bit before but i just think that everything that byram represents and where he's came from in the short term has given them new life and that's really big for them i don't know if they're going to pull this off but i love i love the race i love the race and middle stat looks really good in colorado yes it's i wonder you know what i wonder if that's like they've like i look at that second line center spot and all i can think of is glass slipper and how many skates have they tried to fit that glass slipper on and finally maybe maybe casey mills that's feet fit that glass slipper and how many skates have they tried to fit that glass slipper on and finally maybe maybe casey metal stats feet fit that glass slipper they have been able to fit in that

second line center hole so that's his new nickname cinderella cinderella the glass slipper casey cinderella cinderella casey well he looks good too like it's a right now real good trade and it seems really obvious specifically on the power play um and watching the buffalo. Like it's right now, real good trade. And it seems really obvious, specifically on the power play and watching the Buffalo Sabres. It's almost as if the team is saying out there, let's not overthink this. Just give the puck to Byram. Like just give the puck to Byram.

When in doubt, fire it back to Byram. When in doubt, like it's, like I'm with you. I don't know if they're going to do this. All I know is the Sabres are a lot of fun to watch right now I'll say this also about the Islanders is that these are games that you regret because you could have driven

a stake in of the Sabres you could have been like let's just say even if you win in overtime you're at 74 points and they're at 68 and you've got two games in hand you're six points up with two games in hand if you win in regulations you're seven points up with two games in hand that's a game and again we talk about managers and how competitive they are

like Lou Lamorello was thinking we can end the Sabres and you gave them life like those are the games you regret because it's in your hands. You're the one that controls their destiny. And now you're still in good position, but you've let it slide. You could have really ended them. Can I talk about one other game from the East tonight? Sure. Well, first of all, I love watching both these teams play um florida had that

big win the other night against dallas where they were down three nothing and one four three um they ran it they ran into a bit of a buzzsaw right now like carolina's got that we talked about byram and buffalo carolina's got that glow right now too. They recognize that their organization did some things here that were a little different, including going out and paying for a rental and going out and getting Kuznets off. And they're playing with that glow right now. That's a big win because these two teams could play again in the Eastern Conference.

Florida's obviously missing some key guys, but all you can do is show up with your roster and hope for the best. Teams could play again in the Eastern Conference. Florida's obviously missing some key guys, but all you can do is show up with your roster and hope for the best. Carolina looks great. They're coming into Toronto on Saturday. I'm looking forward to seeing them. Kuznetsov, that's a story right now. Kuznetsov, he scored.

They did the storm surge postgame with him doing the bird, the FIFA bird, and it's great stuff it's it's a it's a great story everybody knew he needed his a new a change of scenery this is his last chance and he's off to a great start and that's all you can hope to see, that he makes the best of it and he's off to a great start in it. Great game. Carolina had a – Carolina Ranger game this week was a great game. Won nothing. Just jerking.

Rangers full for the win. Great game. I love watching the Panthers play. I love watching the Hurricanes play. And, you know, it's funny. I guarantee you that there's some people sitting there watching Carolina right now and saying, oh God, I wish the Hurricanes stuck to their feelings

on rentals and didn't pay for Gensel. Because they look, they don't, there's no real holes there in that lineup. Looks good. There's no real holes there. Stay healthy. And congratulations to There's no real holes there. Stay healthy. And congratulations to Frederick Anderson on the shutouts. All right.

Yes. He's back. Good to see him too. And, and before we wrap up the games, we have a lot of stuff. I just want, also want to say Jake,

Jake Allen. Yeah. He was, he was the guy on social media for about 10 minutes on Thursday night. Goals on the first two shots he faced and then settled down and won. Jake Allen was very smart. He needed convincing to waive that no trade to go to New Jersey. And his agent and the Canadians sold him on, his agents in L.A.

They sold him on, you better think about this long and hard because when all these goalies are available in the summer, you could get squeezed. I think it was a very, very smart decision for Allen. And, you know, he played, you know, like know like again he was that guy on social media after the first few minutes of that game and they won big if there's one thing I'm worried about right now from a contender it's Jake Ottinger he's been I think he's much better than he's shown this year I don't know what's going on but I and it takes a lot for me to get worried about someone

with the talent and ability of Jake Ottinger, but I admit I'm a little worried about it right now because he's got to find his game. I love that Dallas lineup too. I don't think there's any holes, but you don't want to think that you might have one in that. Okay, let's fly through a couple more things here before we get to the montana's

thought line um goaltend i don't spend too much time talking about trade deadline we're far enough away from it but some issues still are sort of hanging in the air uh markstrom saros all mark the big three starting goaltenders that stayed where they are elliot so uh sorrows i get it nashville's hot they keep winning they look great i thought the predators had a great deadline whatever they sent out they replaced they they got jason zucker for a ridiculous price and know, we'll see what happens with Saros in the summer. Markstrom, there's going to be a good documentary on Markstrom, I think, just because of everything that kind of happened.

The Flames have maintained the New Jersey thing was never close and the offer was not good enough. We've heard different things. I don't want to relitigate it, but, you know marstrom's been hurt this is just me talking but i'm wondering how much we're going to see him the rest of the season you can't afford to have him get hurt any more seriously and affect you in the summer um i look like without tana vanannifin they were bleeding goals although they really had

a low event game on thursday night against vegas i think we're going to start seeing some low event hockey in calgary because they know they need it and you know what that's a huge win for them on thursday night at home they got embarrassed in a few games lately, gave up a lot of goals against some good teams, Florida, Carolina, Colorado, and to have that win at home, and that's a big money on the board game. You know Hannafin's got big money on the board for his return to Calgary. I have no doubt some of the Calgary players put big money on the board because you don't want to get embarrassed against one of your former teammates even though he was a popular

teammate. There was probably a lot on the board that night. Fans from Calgary very respectful to Hannafin. Didn't hear a lot of booing but they want to win that badly. The team wants to win that badly. A lot of low event hockey for two periods I think that's probably how Calgary is going to have to play as they get used to life without Hannafin and Tanev but that's a massive massive W at home especially in light of the Hannafin trade and everything else that's happened recently but I just wonder how much we're going to see Markstrom from here on in. You've got to see Wolf. Vladar's been struggling a bit. So I'm really curious to see,

do they put him in the bubble wrap a little bit here and figure out until whatever happens in the summer? And Ulmark, we've talked about that. I don't think we need to belabor it anymore. We'll see what happens in the summer with Linusis okay uh a couple of other things as well um dallas and tannev maybe not just the rental elliot they have a lot of cap room they have a lot of cap room this summer you know we'll see what happens with dushane we'll see what happens with Pavelski. But they do have cap room this summer. And I wouldn't be surprised if they go to him and say,

how do you feel about staying? That would disappoint a lot of people, but I don't think it's impossible. Do you remember, Elliot, about five minutes ago when Vancouver Canucks fans were worried about Elias Pettersson and his contract? I think it was maybe closer to seven minutes ago, actually. So I got a call from Rick Dallowall on Thursday morning. And I don't do a great Dallowall impression. I love the guy.

He's one of my favorites. He's tremendous. It's like, Elliot, why are you ripping us? Why are you ripping us for talking about Roenick? It's a terrible impression. It really is. All the anxiety about Elias Pettersson, when finally the air went out of it,

Vancouver Canucks fans had about two seconds to take a breath, and then right away, Philip Roenick. Oh, no. What's going to happen here? I know one of my buddies from Vancouver texted me. He goes, do you think it's any different in Toronto? I go, I hate it in Toronto too. Like just, you know, this is not anti-Vancouver hatred.

This is anti-everything. Enjoy your victories. Look, I think they're going to sign Roenick. I do, unless it really goes off the rails. Like this one would have to really go off the rails for it not to happen, I think. And besides, Pedersen's the big one now I do think the Canucks are going to try to keep a few of their guys I think they're going to try to keep Bluger I think they're going to try to keep Dakota Joshua and I also think that they are going to try

to keep Tyler Myers at a lower number Zdorov might get someone asked me what I thought about Zdorov I said I think he might get priced out of there. So we'll see what happens with that. But I just think that might be too high a number for them. Myers, to me, is the most interesting one. I think they know where Bluger slots in, in the general area. I think they know where Joshua slots in, in the general area. Myers is an interesting one because I think he'd probably I think he'd have to take less to stay well he'd have to take less than what he's making now

but he might still have to take a little bit less than what he could get on the open market I know internally the Canucks really like Myers and I always too. I think he really cares. I think he really plays hard. He's, from what I've heard, he's an excellent teammate and, you know, he's mean. And I think his teammates like that about him. He is the kind of guy who, if someone takes a run at one of your guys, he'll take a run at one of yours. And I think Talkit really appreciates that. You know, I've talked to people about him before. And, you know, one of the things they do talk about, and Jim Rutherford has talked about this before too, I believe, is that, you know, because he's so big, when it goes wrong, it really looks wrong. But you just have to shake that off. And I've just heard they really like

the whole package there especially what goes on behind the scenes and if he wants to stay the opportunity is going to be there uh for him to stay so that's kind of the way i think it looks um obviously ronan is going to be the biggest number out of all those but i can't imagine it'll be a roller coaster like like like Pedersen was. And plus, you know, you know, Vancouver has a chance to win the Stanley cup this year.

Enjoy it. They do. Like you have a great team, Vancouver. Enjoy it for a couple of minutes. You're good. Enjoy prosperity. You have a good Pedersen just signed for eight years.

Enjoy it. It's a good team for a while. Enjoy it. Dig it. Celebrate. One of the points that you've been banging lately, and listen, I'm down with it, but then I was one of those people, and I think we're all on the same page about this one, who enjoy hearing officials speak.

I enjoyed it when we had the CHL rights and we used to broadcast the conversations from the penalty box to the upstairs video room on some of the calls. That didn't last very long. Some people at the league, I'm sure, were too fond of allowing that audio out. But nonetheless, after controversial plays, although I think I would love it, I know I would love it, if officials could speak after every game after big plays. And the most latest touchstone is of course, John Twitter Ella and Wes McCauley, the idea of officials having the opportunity to speak for themselves and

explain what just happened. Care to expand on that? Yeah. Well, I mean, I talked about it on Monday. I don't think I need to say too much more, except I think erodes confidence when they don't and you know I'll say this that the I heard it from a number of managers who I don't normally hear from who basically feel that everybody else in this game including as a couple of them pointed out the commissioner and the deputy commissioner are accountable. You know, they have to face the music. Not always, but they do.

And the managers don't always have to face the music, but they do. And they just think in a game where we talk about accountability and it's supposed to be a big part of hockey, that, you know, the officials should be accountable too and i would also say based on some of the things i heard this week i don't think all of them would be against it i i shut i hesitate to say what the percentage is i just don't know but i do know after this week that not all of them would be against it um so i i wish it i wish it would happen i wish there was a mechanism

um because i think in the long run the people that really benefits the most are the officials so will it ever happen i don't know but you know i i i do feel that way two more things here before we get to the uh montana's thought line um today there was a how shall we describe it a virile agile young good-looking reporter who broke the hunter bristevich news uh signing uh signing his entry-level contract with the calgary flames ellie yeah i really don't need to hear about your virility Jeff I'll just take your word for it um but I uh it is a big deal that story because he was the key piece of the Lindholm trade that's the player that Calgary wanted and he was supposed to sign immediately like it was basically thought that he knew that that he would have a path to calgary he did some interviews

actually on thursday when he said that he saw more room to the calgary blue line and and everybody thought it was going to happen pretty quick i think you reported that too it was going to happen very quick and it didn't and then there started to be some questions you know what's going on here and part of the reason was that you know we, we'd heard that Vancouver was concerned about his signability. And that, okay, so, and plus also Calgary has the Adam Fox history, so you're always worried about that. So the longer this went on here, the more people started to wonder. Well, it's a big win for Calgary. They get it done.

And, you know, I have to go through the information, but someone said to me that for a third round pick to get that valuable an entry level, it's extremely rare, if not unheard of from the Canadian Hockey League. You know, sometimes some of the Euros who really hit it big, they get bigger packages than that one. But for a CHL player to do it, it's pretty rare. And I don't know the exact numbers, but I do know that is true. So Calgary obviously had to make sure they gave him what he wanted, but the kid earned it.

You know him better than me. He's a really talented young player. He has a chance. But the thing is, he had the leverage here. Even though he's on his entry-level contract, Calgary knew they had to get it done, and they didn't give him the max bonuses, but he's still got a big deal.

And that's a win for the Flames and obviously a win for the player. Just a sublime passer. This guy finds lanes, Elliot. It is spectacular watching him play. The other thing that I should probably point out is his D partner, Matthew Andonofsky, is a draft pick of the Ottawa Senators. Just thought I'd throw that in for a little bit of spice, Elliot.

Okay, one more thing before we wrap up here. Actually, I lied, Elliot. it is two more things now um quickly before we get to jeremy lowe's on the cory perry situation and the resolution with cory perry players association chicago blackhawks what do you hear what do you know when it happened and again let's just remind everybody that we don't know the full details. One of the concerns was not how the Blackhawks handled it because everybody knew the incident itself was should not be enough to get a contract terminated and again we don't know the full incident so i'm not going to pass judgment on that i just don't know and it would be a stupid thing to do but i know what i heard and i know what people were talking about and it was about that they felt very strongly if this was any other team but Chicago, it would not have been grounds for termination.

And even though Perry did not want to file a grievance and did not, the Players Association felt it was very important to protect guaranteed contracts as much as it could. And so they reached a settlement with the league and the Blackhawks. It was very important to protect guaranteed contracts as much as it could. And so they reached a settlement with the league and the Blackhawks. The three of them negotiated with one. And while there is apparently a little bit of money involved, what I think is the key victory for the Players Association and the other players is that whatever happened with Perry cannot be used as a precedent setting case in any future situations and let me just say we all hope there are none we hope we never have to deal with anything like this again but uh what they did get was it cannot be used as a precedent

in the future for any other player and that's really what the players association and the agents wanted here okay uh before we get to the thought line jeremy lozon nashville predators 321 hits so far this season matt martin holds the record with 382 he is elliot as we say on pace he is on pace maybe we should say on track because he's hitting like a train on the track you know the other thing too about this one with lozon is first of all he's become a big player uh for them and you know he's's it's sort of like he's done it in a way that is like Matt Martin in a lot of ways. That energy line in New York with Martin, Sezekis and Clutterbuck became a huge part of the Islanders identity. And Lozon this year has become a big part of the Predators identity in a surprising year for them. He's not going out of his way to pound guys.

He's just kind of doing it naturally and he plays very hard um you know he's he's on pace for the record he averages just under five hits a game if he does it he's going to break uh martin's record by about 10 to 15 hits um so you know what i didn't even really notice it uh sean smith who's one of the people who does a good job covering the predators down in nashville um he's the guy who sent me a note and alerted me to it and i wanted to shout him out but that's a lot that's a lot of body contact a lot of body contact and you know what it's um i have to watch lozanne a bit more because i i want to see some of these hits because you know with matt martin it's a lot of forechecking

right where you're kind of the the the apex predator in that situation you're the one who's initiating the contact it's a lot easier to do that when you're chasing as a four checker so i'm going to watch lozano a bit more and kind of see how he does it because defensemen they're on their they're backing up a lot you do like big defensemen get big hits like we all remember scott stevens hits we all remember charas hits but you're not doing it all the time you're lining up someone so i'm curious about watching this but it's uh it's a it's a really nice record for a guy who's played pretty hard i find it interesting that he is chasing matt martin i'm not surprised that matt martin holds the record for most hits in a season the only thing that i would say is if Jeremy Lauzon played on the New York Islanders, he might already have a record.

How many hits would he have? Oh, probably 450 by now. Yeah, this season. Okay, it was the obvious joke. It's a low-hanging fruit. But as we've said before on this podcast, low-hanging fruit is still nutritious. And now we'll take a break. ThoughtLine, coming up next, brought to you by Montana's Keep It Up.

Listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Elliot, it's your favorite part of the program, the Montana's ThoughtLine, Montana's Barbecue and Bar, Canada's home for barbecue. Try the ribs. 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca, 1-833-311-3232.

Encore un fois, again, 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca, 1-833-311-3232. Let's go long distance, Elliot, to kick off the thought line today. Bronson in Japan. Nice. Salutations. Somewhere I've always wanted to go. Oh, I've always wanted to go to Japan. Salutations, Jeff, Elliot, and Dom. My name is Bronson. I live in Japan, but I'm originally from Vegas and I'm a Golden Knights fan. Obviously, I know that everyone hates my team because we're smarter than everyone else. Oh, nice line. But I've always wondered about the LTIR rules

and why the cap doesn't apply in the playoffs. Wouldn't an easy resolution to the situation be to simply say that the cap still applies in the playoffs and you can't ice a non-cap compliant team? Could you please let me know why they don't seem to do the easy fix by telling teams you still need to ice a cap compliant roster in the playoffs.

Thanks as always for keeping me up to date with my nights while I live in Japan. Elliot. Bronson, it's a great question. Here's the answer. If you go back to the 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs, Toronto reached the semifinals. They lost to Carolina.

During that run, Toronto had about eight to 10 injuries. They really got beaten up. And there were a large number of players who were out of the lineup. And when they were putting together the whole framework for the new cap system during 0405, I've heard it was ken holland who brought that up he said look guys what happens if a team goes into the playoffs and they can't field a roster how are we all going to feel about that if a team can't ice a roster one night because they had legitimate injuries and everybody took a look at that and they thought about it and they said you

know what that's right we don't want that so they came up with this I don't think they ever envisioned it getting to the point we're seeing it now it really started with Chicago in 2015 when Patrick Kane got hurt late in the year against Florida and showed up for game one of the playoffs that's when everybody got the idea the Blackhawks went and they won the Stanley Cup that year and everybody praised them what a great move and teams said I wish we had thought of that so now more and more teams have done it you know Vegas obviously gets a lot of the attention but they're not the only ones and that's the reason Bronson because you didn't want a situation where you couldn't field a full lineup in the playoffs because of legitimate injuries. Nobody wanted that.

Now, one thing I've been consistent about in the last week is I don't know if this is noise or people really want changes. We'll find out in the next CBA. People really want changes. We'll find out in the next CBA. But a couple of ideas that people have presented to me. Number one, if you can't play game 82, you have to miss a certain amount of games in the playoffs, whether it's a round or something like that. Because people say it's crazy you can't play game 82 and you can suddenly play in game one. But the other thing, Jeff, the people. Well, hold on.

PA will love that one. Hold on. Hold on. I'll get there. Okay. All right. Game... The other thing that people suggested to me was that they say in the playoffs, your actual

in-game roster has to be cap compliant. Who cares about the players who are not dressing? cap compliant who cares about the players who are not dressing but the roster you're dressing in the game the 18 plus 2 that should be cap compliant so those are ideas and we'll see if they go anywhere now your point about the PA it's funny somebody brought that up to me today too what happens Jeff well first of all negotiation is all about what are your priorities so on the list of nhlpa priorities i'm not sure that will be that high maybe it will maybe it won't i don't know but secondly somebody said to me do you think the players would want this or not? He said, if you polled the players about the way it stands right now, he said to me, I

think you'd find it very interesting what percentage would say keep it the same and what percentage would say keep it the same and what percentage would say change it he thinks there would be less opposition to changing it than we believe but i don't know that's what he said my gut on it is players would say leave it the way it is this i don't know but we'll see at the next round of negotiations because i don't think either side has the appetite to open up the CBA right now because, again, this isn't something that the NHL can just say, okay, starting tomorrow, this is the way things are going to be. No, there's the controlling document that is a CBA and that's what, you know, but both sides have negotiated about how the game will be conducted. But this is for the next round of negotiations. All right.

Let's go. And thank you for that question. Let's get to the voicemail and let's get to Aiden in Langley. So obviously we saw this this past weekend in the Minnesota-Nashville game. We saw Von Hines' goal in goalie in overtime and not both his scores to win the game. Of course, the rule is

if you pull your goalie in overtime and you lose the game, you forfeit is if you pull your goalie in overtime and you lose the game you forfeit your ot point i really love that rule but i got a question about that same rule but if you were in overtime and the other team takes a penalty and there's a delayed penalty and you have the puck and you pull the goalie and if you accidentally put it in your own net if you miss the pass or we even saw it this year in the pittsburgh arizona game where uh letang and malkin put the puck in their own net if you're pulling your goalie for a delayed penalty does that same rule apply awesome guys thank you so much uh go coyotes the answer great question the

answer is no it does not still apply we've learned a lot more about this rule in the last week. I knew about that rule, but I didn't know about the delayed penalty part. The delayed penalty is the exception. If you pull your goalie on a delayed penalty and you accidentally score into your own net, you still get the point. That is the one exception. The one exception. Aiden and Langley, thanks so much for that one. Still get the point. That is the one exception. The one exception. Yes.

Aidan and Langley, thanks so much for that one. This is Lauren and Kelly in Calgary. Hello, Jeff, Elliot, and Dom. My wife and I love your podcast. In fact, we're about to head to Montana to have some pecan salads. Let's go, Lauren and Kathy. I may try the ribs. I haven't decided yet. We've been riding the roller coaster of trades being made

by Craig Conroy in Calgary and watching the trade deadline coverage unfold. As long as both of us can remember, quote unquote, future considerations have been the trading landscape, but neither of us have known any examples of what those things turn out to be. Is future considerations something you put in the contract so that one side isn't blank? Or are there actual examples of what they are and how they get used? Don't ever stop. We love what you do.

That from our friends, Lauren and Kathy in Calgary, Elliot. Do you want to start with that one? I mean, future considerations can pretty much be anything that you want it to be. I mean, it can be another player at a different time. That can be, in some cases, doing one team a favor, probably something involving preseason action. Maybe it is booking another exhibition game in someone else's market.

I mean, as far as I understand, Elliot, it's pretty wide open. Yes. So there's such thing as conditional draft picks where the conditions are clearly spelled out. One of the trades that falls under this, if I remember correctly, is Mark Stahl from the Rangers to Detroit. He was traded to the Red Wings and the Red Wings never gave anything back. It was future considerations at the time, and nothing was ever returned. It was a cap move for the Rangers, and the favor that the Red Wings did was give Stahl a soft landing in a place that he was happy to go to. So that is a perfect example.

There's a case where a player, and his name was Ken Solheim, you go back to the 1980s, he ended up being traded for himself. It was future considerations. I believe it was Minnesota and Chicago. I could be proven wrong on this, but Ken Solheim was definitely the player. He was traded from one team to the other for future considerations, and he ended up being the future considerations. But one thing that did change, and we saw it at this deadline, is when you're doing retained salary transactions, a player actually had to be included. So you saw

some players who were either unsigned draft picks or players who were on the reserve list that had never signed with a team like the maple leaves and a khl player if you're going to do retained salary transactions now a player actually had to go in the deal but future considerations can be something can be nothing all right good one and great poll of uh ken solheim by the way proud medicine hat tiger kelly rudy will be so proud that you mentioned Ken Solheim. And thanks so much for the question on that one.

Yes, they played together, right. All right, let's get to Ryan in Manitoba. Tyler Toffoli's move to Winnipeg being the fourth team on a four-year contract had me thinking, what player played for the most different teams under the same contract to fully seems like it must be the highest for a deal that short but there may be someone else

I'm thinking of Paul Coffey comes to mind for that stretch of trades near the end of his career but I have no clue what his contract situation was like at that point I love this question so and I wondered about this too and I checked in with Steve Fallon, our good friend at Sportsnet Stats, and here's what came back. The answer might be Derek Broussard. So Derek Broussard in 2014 signed a five-year deal with the New York Rangers, summer of 2014, and went on in that deal, Elliot, to play for the New York Rangers, summer of 2014, and went on in that deal, Elliot, to play for the New York Rangers, the Ottawa Senators, the Pittsburgh Penguins,

the Florida Panthers, and the Colorado Avalanche. So that's five teams in a five-year deal. Now, J.J. Danio, here's an interesting one. J.J. Danio, the Danio, here's an interesting one. JJ Danio, the defenseman, signed a three-year deal with the Anaheim Ducks in 1997 and played for four teams on a three-year deal. There was the Anaheim Ducks, the New York Islanders, the Nashville Predators, and the Phoenix Coyotes. So slice it however way you want. phoenix coyotes so slice it however way you want the five-year deal for broussard with five teams or the three-year deal jj daniel and the ducks in 97 and played for four teams those were the two that we sort of circled back on there may be others but those were the two that we kind of

focus on but i love questions like that like bra, bravo, Ryan in Manitoba. I love the way you think. That is very, very good. I can see why Merrick picked this one. That is right in Merrick's wheelhouse. That's a belt-high fastball for Merrick, and he, not surprisingly, launched it into the fifth deck. All right.

Todd on the West Coast. Hello, gentlemen. With all of the knowledge we now have about concussions and the ongoing focus on player safety, we'll finish up with this one, Elliot. Especially as it relates to head injuries, why does the NHL permit players

to deliberately bounce shots off the goalie's head on bad angle shots? Does the quote unquote goalie's union not have concerns about the increase in this shooting tactic could you see a future where goals are waved off when an undeflected shot is ricocheted off the goalies melon keep up the good work and elliot bring back the loud suits i am with you on this i am with you 100 thank you todd i will take your grievance to the proper authorities because I'd love to. I have to say that I have wondered about this from time to time, when this would become a thing.

The answer I would say is I haven't heard anything, Todd, but I do wonder if it's ever going to become more of a conversation. And more like generally right now, a lot of former goalies don't like the way goalies play the post like this, the reverse VH. And I've actually wondered if it becomes a conversation, not for what Todd is saying, that the shooters shouldn't be aiming off them, but more like, should we say to the goalies, you shouldn't be playing that particular way? I don't know. I've never heard anyone say

that we have to legislate against this, but I admit I have wondered about it seeing it. What do you think? I think, first of all, I'm like you. I've never heard goaltenders complain about it. The one thing that I do wonder about about goalies hit in the head is, you know, one day are we going to see a situation

where a goalie gets caught in the face with someone doing the Michigan, the high wrap, and then what happens? Do we have the discussion about goalies and head contact on the high wraparound plays? I've never heard about it. The one thing that I come back to on this one, Elliot, is even though we kind of know it when we see it,

it's really hard to prove that someone is shooting at someone else, especially in front of the net, because shots are just directed at the net. It's not as if you're going off your trajectory to hit someone. This is all shots that are directed at the net. And I think you really do open up a can of worms if you start talking about intent and you intended to shoot that off the goaltender's head as opposed to and like look we've seen like jack hughes do this before and i think we all get the sense of sure we know what he's doing he's that kind of shooter we've seen him do it he's that type of marksman of course that's what he is doing but again we're making the assumption that he's trying to hit the goaltender in the head to bank it off of him that could lead to

a real i think if we get into that conversation, Elliot, that leads to a really slippery slope. Again, it's the old Colin Camberley, unforeseen circumstances. I think that you open up an enormous can of worms if you go into that direction. That's, those are my thoughts on it. I normally, I like to entertain all these ideas and take a good think about this one i just think that law of unintended consequences rules the day on this one if this then that's and i don't think we want to know what that becomes in this situation how about that for

an explanation i think that's fair like you know it's the kind of thing i i do look at and say is this something worth raising the alarm over? I don't know. Is it something you look at and say, do you worry about a little bit? Yes, but I just, I don't know if it'll ever, if something like this will ever go anywhere. That's, I just don't know.

I really don't know. To me, I just admire the skill of the players who can do it as much as anything. I can see the complaint coming back. What, players aren't allowed to shoot high now? I mean, the goalie wants to put his head like that low, like just tucked underneath the crossbar and leave that little spot to their left or to their right,

depending on which post they're playing on. Well, that's their decision. Because again, you're going into intent. And if this, then that. And I think it's just such a can of worms if you do it. I admire the thinking, but I don't know that I want to play along with what this leads to.

But a great question. And love thinking like that. And love the Montana Stat Line. Montana's barbecue and bar, Canada's home for barbecue. Wrap up the podcast in moments. I'm feeling pretty spicy. I think I can do some damage. For me, I think that it's my mindset that I've shifted a lot. this work rate, like you said, with the album and the app and adding these elements into my life and also becoming a leader.

Elliot, that was Josh Hosang from my radio show on Thursday. He's back. He's playing hockey. He signed a contract with the Florida Everblades of the ECHL as that team is in search of their third consecutive Kelly Cup that is unprecedented of the ECHL, as that team is in search of their third consecutive Kelly Cup that is unprecedented in the ECHL. He's also come out with a new sports app, Pup Sports.

He has a new album as well. And as I mentioned during the interview, I only have 24 hours in my day. I'm guessing Ho-Sang has more. I've always liked Josh Ho-Sang. How can you not be seduced by the skill uh if you've ever met him you know he's a really cool laid-back guy who just happens to be the most skilled guy on any sheet that he's playing on your thoughts on the return of josh hosang here well i know you've

always been a fan i just want to say i thought that was a really good interview and it's it's I couldn't help but think of Cody Hodgson too Jeff I want like I wonder if Hodgson has done something here that people see Cody Hodgson and he's been scoring at the AHL level and other people are looking at him and saying hey you know I want to I want to try again too like I think it's a great thing you know josh was saying as you said was a really talented guy really fascinating guy and i like i don't see anything wrong with while you're still young saying look my first crack didn't end the way i wanted to or hoped and i still love the game and i'm going to try again it says a lot that after hodgson said i just want to crack anywhere i don't care where it is and he'm going to try again. And it says a lot that after Hodgson said, I just want to crack anywhere.

I don't care where it is. And he willingly goes to the AHL. That here's Hosang basically doing the same thing and saying, I'm happy going to the ECHL. And I wish him all the best. I hope it works out. I have no doubt that he will look back at things and say, okay, I'm not going to do this, this, and this.

And I'm going to do this, this, and this. And I understand more. And I see the world differently now. So I hope it works out for him. I'm not going to do this, this, and this, and I'm going to do this, this, and this, and I understand more, and I see the world differently now. So I hope it works out for him. It's a great story. And I really, I always root for people who say, you know what? It didn't end on my terms,

so I'm going to try another shot at that. Like, why not? Why would you root against people like that? To me, he's one of the most interesting players I've ever seen. And here's why. And I watched him plenty. I'm going to be that guy, Elliot. I apologize.

I watched him plenty when he played in the GTHL with that Toronto Marlboros team with McDavid and Sam Bennett and Roland McEwen and Jeremiah Addison and Jaden Lindo and had like a killer, killer team. And then I watched him a ton in Windsor in the OHL and watched him even more when he played with the Niagara Ice Dogs. And the thing about Ho-Sang is I never saw anybody work harder and use their skill to make the game easy for his teammates.

The one thing, and coaches will tell you like okay you got to stop doing this you have to stop i've never seen anyone like here's the thing that hosang would always do and coaches would always say he has so much skill like how many times did you watch hosang ellie and go like this guy has superstar skills he has everything he can skate he has hands he has he has everything he would do like He would get the puck. You saw it so many times. And deke through everybody because he was in love with setting up backdoor passes. Josh Hosang loved setting up backdoor plays like nobody else.

And when it worked, it was spectacular. And that's my point. He wasn't selfish like, I'm going to deke through the whole team. And I'm going to be the guy scoring the selfish. Like I'm going to dig through the whole team and I'm going to be the guy scoring the goal and I'm going to be the guy jumping into the glass and I'm going to do the big spotlight celebration at center ice. He was so fascinated with doing everything that he could. So his teammates could have a tap in. I've never seen anyone do this with that kind of consistency.

He was a, and still is a fascinating, highly skilled player. And if you've ever watched him or talk to people that have played with them, you come away shaking your head saying, how is this guy not a superstar? Because that's the kind of skill that Josh Hosang has.

I'm with you. I wish him all the best. And, and I think there there's, there's probably something there seeing the success of others, most notably Cody Hodgson with AHL Milwaukee. I wonder how many more guys decide, you know what, I'm going to come back and take a shot at it. I'm just happy that Josh Hosang is back in North America. Good luck to him. Good luck to the Florida Everblades. Good luck with his app.

Good luck with the album and all of it. Justin said it's quite good. I haven't heard it yet. I saw Justin. Yeah. I heard Justin saying it was pretty good. I haven't heard it yet. I saw Justin. Yeah. I heard Justin saying it was pretty good. That's awesome. All right. On that, we'll wrap up. Enjoy your weekend.

Enjoy Hockey Night in Canada. And we will talk to you again Monday morning. Conduct yourselves accordingly this weekend. Make good decisions. Ha, ha, ha.