32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Tweets, Turmoil, and Tough Calls

Episode Date: January 12, 2026

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman explain the retweet that went viral before digging into a busy mix of league news. They discuss Dougie Hamilton being scratched in New Jersey and his willingness to be flexible with his trade list (11:40), the Rangers’ rough stretch since the Winter Classic and Artemi Panarin pushing back on speculation about his future (23:35). Plus, James Dolan’s vote of confidence in Chris Drury (25:30). The guys touch on Rasmus Andersson trade chatter in Calgary (33:30), the idea of a “soft” trade deadline ahead of the Olympics (39:50), James Reimer’s potential return to the NHL (41:10), Philip Broberg’s extension in St. Louis (45:17), and Carter Verhaeghe’s reduced suspension (50:31). The episode wraps with an update on the Milan Olympic arena test event (53:10) and a Final Thought on Sergei Fedorov having his jersey retired in Detroit (59:00).Kyle and Elliotte answer your emails and voicemails in the Thoughtline (1:11:00). Today we highlight Quebec Dance/Electronic artist Mindflip and his song My Wave. Check out his music here.Listen to all the 32 Thoughts music here.Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates

Elliot Friedman accidentally reposts profane toddler meme. So, okay, I've done enough setting it up here. Stage is yours. Explain yourself. Welcome to 32 Thoughts the podcast, a podcast as smooth as Abby Murphy's playmaking off the rush. Well, maybe not. Maybe not. Nothing is that smooth.

Not even Amy Poller's Goodhang podcast. is as smooth as Abby Murphy these days. She stands alone, Elliot Friedman. It took me a couple of times. How many times did you watch that play to figure out exactly what happened? Well, the one angle where it's a little tighter, like more ISO on her,

then you appreciate the flip and the knock between the defender's legs. Just incredible. And then the one-handed sweep, leap on the actual pass. I didn't see that angle at first. I saw sort of a wider angle. And I remember looking and saying,

what exactly am I seeing here and had to go back and check it again? But you're right. The slow-mo in close, much better. Brilliant stuff. Brilliant stuff. 50 points on the year, leaving the nation. So I wanted to shout that out off the top. We got a lot to get to.

It's an interesting time of year around the league, Elliot. But before we get to all of that. we've got to get to this. So I'm one of only can imagine thousands that have notification set to whenever you post something on X, like the amount of times over the years. I have checked my phone in amazement with news that you have broke. And I'm going, I cannot believe what I'm seeing. The same emotions applied on Saturday night to what you, quote, accidentally reposted. but the content was a little different.

Now, there could be some people, I'm sure, that are listening to this on Monday morning during their commutes and maybe didn't see it or going, what are these guys talking about? Well, I'll just say, so I'm on the plane home on Sunday, doing a bit of work on my computer. On X, there's the little Today's News widget. I saw that too.

And the top story reads, Elliot Friedman accidentally repost profane toddler meme. So, okay, I've done enough setting it up here. Stage is yours. Explain yourself. So I was sitting, it was between 930 and 10, right? It was in the window between the early game and the late game on Hockey Night and Canada. And I was on my laptop and my 4U page, I was typing something and I thought I was

typing a text message. But somehow I got on to the. the for you page on X. And I guess that there are shortcuts. If you hit certain buttons, you, like, for example, a new tweet can come up, or evidently you can retweet something. I had no idea I did it.

And then all of a sudden, I got a text from a coach in the NHL. That was the first one? That was the first one. And I was like, what? What's he saying to me? I didn't get it. And then you know when your replies go to 20 plus and all of a sudden they just blow up?

Yeah. All of a sudden there was a 20 plus next to my name. I was like, I clicked on it. And the first one I saw was from some Rangers fan who said, Elliot, why did you retweet this? I looked down. It started to, I started to figure it out. I was like, oh, my God.

And just, like, forget everything I processed and how I got to it. Everybody who is on Twitter knows the for you page is a very screwed up place. It's not really for you. No. Like some of it is curated by the stuff you look at and you touch. But there are other things that show up there. And I see it and I say, why on earth is there this in my, like, there's nothing I've ever touched that could have brought that meme to me.

And the thing I said to Steph on Sunday was, and she was crying, she was laughing so hard. When I showed her what you point. pointed out that it was part of the news topics, like the trending topics, she, she was, like, she was crying. She was laughing so hard. But we said to each other, could you imagine what else I could have possibly accidentally retweeted? Like, in a lot of ways, I'm really lucky that it was that. Oh, yeah. Because it could have been a lot worse.

Now, people were asking, why did you delete it? it's not that bad all of that is true and you're right it's not that bad but i kind of have a philosophy is that anything that's going to cause your work a problem you better have a good reason for doing it and for and the way that it works now there's certainly people that would call my bosses and say what is that and are you discipline him for that and even though i don't think i would get discipline for that. I was like, let's just take it off so it's one less aggravation that my employer has to deal with. Like personally, I didn't care. I thought it was funny, but technically it's profane and someone could say, Elliot, like, it always comes down to somebody says,

Elliot Freeman is violating your social media regulations. What are you going to do about it? I was like, take it out of those people's hands. But it could have been a lot worse. The funniest thing is, I went and played cards with my buddies on Sunday night. And some of them were asking me, they said, how many people do you think get your notifications? And I said, honestly, I have no idea. And they were saying to me, do you think that the commissioner of the NHL, Gary Bettman, gets your notifications?

And I said, honestly, I have no idea. But they were laughing, like just howling at the idea. that that could have shown up on Gary Bettman's phone. And then they said, like, they said, does Sidney Crosby get your notification? I doubt it. I think there are some players who do, but I'm sure he doesn't care about this.

And they were just howling at the idea that that could have showed up on Sidney Crosby's phone. Anyway, it's just a reminder that you may just think you're typing on your keyboard, sending a text message to somebody, and all of a sudden, you've retweeted a meme all over the internet that says, bleep them kids. You just have to see that moment of horror on my face. You know, Ron and Kevin and Jen and Kelly,

they were on the set because they were between. So I was sitting there by myself as I realized I'd done this. Oh, man. Like the first person who sent to me, the coach, I was like, why is this person sending me this? I don't have time to look at this right now. And then I, you know, like, look, what relevance does this have? Why would I be interested in this?

And then all of a sudden, kabo, my phone was lighting up with, with replies and responses, I didn't report anything. What's going on here? So what, like when Kevin and everybody else finally caught wind, like what was that like?

I went over there to show it to them, eh? I went and I showed it to them. Oh, good. And they, they were like, no, you didn't do this, really.

And then when they started to realize it, they laughed just as hard as everybody else did. And Spearsie, Brian Spir, the producer came over the intercom, he goes, Nice tweet. Honestly, I think I,

my timing was I was waiting for William Nielander for the post-game interview. And that pops up and I'm like, I couldn't even, I don't know, I have to go back. I don't even really remember what I asked him. My mind was, was gone after that. I'm like, what is he done? That was fun. That was a great.

few minutes. Oh, again, it's funny and it's harmless in the grand scheme of things. But for a second there, for a few minutes on Sunday, I was thinking, I'm really lucky that I didn't accidentally retweet. I'm still not sure how I did it. I have no idea what shortcut or what buttons I hit that tweeted it. Yeah. No need to play around with. No, I'm not going to try again.

But let that be a warning to anyone else out there. One of those keys on the keyboard could leave something. If you're going to type, make sure you type what you think you're typing. Don't miss. Or the correct windows up. Or the correct windows up. Don't miss. Yeah.

Oh, geez. Ah, well, that's one way to break bread to start this episode here. By the way, I'll tell you how much. I'm not going to talk too much about football here, but Kyle was so mad about me ripping him about the Packers. When we spoke on Sunday night, I called him from the card game just to plan the pod. He said, how are you doing?

I said, I'm not having a good night. And he said, good. I was down on Sunday night. I had a bad night. I couldn't believe you. After the repost fiasco, a Vikings fan, you choose to come after me after that.

Anyway, I know we've got a listener in Finland that's a Packers fan that watches the games on the delay. I'm just going to say, just don't watch. That's my advice. Just don't watch. I am in no place to be authorized to providing medical advice, but I'm telling you it is better for your long-term health. Just not to watch. We'll see you in September. Okay.

Where do you want to start here? Well, it's kind of an important time of year, wouldn't you say, Elliot? Like January typically is where teams have their scouting meetings, and they start to have a lot of those tough conversations on where are we going, either as a group or maybe with certain individuals on their roster. One of the big ones you let headlines with it on Saturday was Dougie Hamilton and the New Jersey Devils. So that story has really gained traction here over the last couple of days. Healthy scratch on Sunday versus the Jets is their blue lines getting healthier.

Jonathan Kovicevich, the latest to come back. It's been a tough go for New Jersey, results-wise, but Hamilton now kind of in the spotlight with where things could be headed. You mentioned the agent J.P. Perry's been on record saying that he thinks this is a business decision by trying to initiate a trade. So where do things stand with Hamilton and New Jersey? Well, the first thing we should mention, Kyle, is that they have a game on Monday. They go back to back.

They had Winnipeg on Sunday, as you mentioned, and they play in Minnesota on Monday. And we'll see if there's any chance that they put them back in. If you heard Sheldon Keefe talk on Sunday before the Winnipeg game, he was kind of saying that, look, this isn't a total banishment, that there is a chance that, depending on what happens, he could be back in. So, you know, we'll see how this goes on Monday night. We have no indication as of now. And you assume there'll be no morning skate that Keefe probably won't meet the media till right before the game.

And then we'll get an idea of what the lineup will be. There's no question. There's hard feelings here. Like, there's no doubt at all. From the team, I think it's the overall disappointment of the season. We've talked about this numerous times on the podcast. The Promise the Devil showed early in the year, 13, 4 and 1 with so many injuries. You know, they won the first game after Jack Hughes got hurt.

You know, the Devils were playing greater than the sum of their parts. But it's fallen apart. The wheels are off the tracks. They're really struggling. They didn't get Quinn Hughes. We've talked about the no-move clauses. And the bottom line is they're just losing. And Kevin Shevoldeoff, who's the GM,

of the Jets, who beat the devils the other day, I was reminded of a line he once said, and that is, there's only two moods in the NHL. There's winning, and there's hell. And the jets have been going through that, although they've now won a couple in a row, and the devils have been going through that, and they're going through that hell right now. And, you know, the one thing you learn about situations like this is that, like the Rangers last year, the teams run risks. and they run the risk of, hey, this is how they treat a guy. It could respond negatively in the future, other free agents. But the teams will argue it's the player's job as a whole to win games.

And when you don't win games, particularly in a season with the expectations that this one has, you know, what do you expect us to do? Do you expect us to just take it? lay down, take it, not try to change anything. And, you know, statistically, Hamilton's numbers are not bad. But you can see going back to the summer, it is obvious that the devils were kind of like, okay, we would like to try to move on from this player to give us some flexibility. And he blocked the one move. We now know to San Jose. Like, we'll see. You know, the one thing about the sharks here is that they still don't have a lot of defensemen signed.

It's going very well for them. They got pounded a bit on Sunday night by Vegas. That happens. But generally, it looks like it has a chance to be a magical season for the sharks. So we'll see how anybody feels about circling back around to that one. J.P. Barry did indicate on Saturday they would be willing to consider some teams that are not on his trade list of which there are 10. But I think the devils are kind of looking at it like, you know what, I know this may be not the polite Gentile thing. And we know that our cousins across the river,

the Rangers took a lot of heat for the way they handled these things over the past couple of years, but we're losing. And there are jobs on the line. And we don't think that everybody's pulling their weight. and people may not like it, but we're backed into a corner and this is what we have to do. I know the devil's fans

are upset that they haven't done things. I don't think that's for lack of trying. I just think they have the lack of flexibility to do it, but fans don't want to hear that right now. They want to see you do something. So, backed into a corner, this is what the devils have decided to do. Yeah, I wondered about that San Jose thing too,

and it's the idea of circling back there. So that's an interesting concept, especially as you say with how fun it's been with the sharks this year and the trajectory they seem to be on suddenly. And they have a lot of D, they have a lot of holes on their blue line after this year. Right, right.

We talked about that last week. The amount of UFAs that they've got coming up in the summer. Okay, so if I'm going to, to play from the New Jersey fan perspective. All right, you're trying to do stuff to the roster. It hasn't come to fruition yet. Well, you can still make other changes in and around the organization. And that hasn't happened either.

Are you hearing anything along that path? I have not. I really think that the goal, first of all, they only hired Keith a year and a half ago. And any time you're changing a coach after a year and a half, that's a failure. And I don't think they ever envisioned a scenario where as an organization,

they were talking about changing the coach this year. So like one of the things, and we talked about this the last pod, the devils, especially after the way they started, this has gone so sideways for them that I think they're, are in shock and blindsided. And yes, they're asking tough questions. And, you know, when we were, when we mentioned in Friday's pod, we said that we think the devils are starting to ask hard

questions. I don't think this Hamilton scratch, it's a coincidence that it came after that. Now, I didn't think that when we were recorded on Thursday night and dropped that pot on Monday morning, that that would necessarily be the path they would go on. but I do think that that is one of the things they came up with as in if we want to ask hard questions and maybe do some tough things to change this, that's one of the roots we're going to go. And so I will say this, Kyle, that things that are happening now that they did not consider that they would be doing at the beginning of the year and scratching Dougie Hamilton is one of them. You know, Tom Fitzgerald, I expect the season plays out before they go down that road.

There still is time to save this and there still is time to get it on track. This is a league of streaks. But also, again, I don't think that this was anything they thought that they were going to have to consider as an organization during the year. Especially the way it started. You go back and look at what their record was after 18 games. you didn't even think you'd be having these conversations. So right now, one of the reasons I think Dougie Hamilton is the first thing they decided to do is that they can look at it and say,

what is the biggest shock decision we could make now that might actually accomplish something for us? And that was it. Now, you know, the one thing I'll say, I was talking to a former teammate of Hamilton's on Sunday. And, you know, and this is a play. who listens to the pot and he said to me, you know how you've described yourself as stubborn before, that it's like your best attribute and your worst attribute? And I said, yes. And he goes, Dougie's a bit like that too. He can be very stubborn. It's his best attribute

and it can be his worst attribute. So he was saying, he doesn't play with Dougie now, but he used to play with Dougie in the past. And he could, and he would say that it's going to be interesting here. and this is where it is going to take a little bit of a velvet touch because he's the kind of guy who's got a lot of pride, as a lot of these players do, and he might just dig in. So if you want him to bend a little bit, you're going to have to work with him a little bit.

You might have to do that. And so we'll see how this all plays out, but to me, this is number one of the hard questions. that New Jersey asked themselves, and we'll see where they go from here. And just one more thing on New Jersey, I mean, is another question,

and his name's been out there too, as they've kind of gone through, dating back to the whole Quinn Hughes conversation. But Andre Palat, he played like six and a half minutes on Sunday. The last four games, it's under 10 minutes. The production was way down this year, of course. Anything going on there, you think? All I can tell you, Kyle, is up until Saturday,

someone swore to me up and down that he hadn't been asked. Okay. Okay. Now, but as we see, the world is changing day by day now. Yeah. And you can tell us it's all still, to your point, because of how out of nowhere this has become very emotional around the devils. Yes. So that can play a role in things too.

These are things you didn't think you'd be dealing with, especially after the way they started. Yeah, all right. We've seen it from time to time. Like the Rangers did it last year with Truba and Crider. You know, like this is this is the nuclear option. And when does it happen? It happens when you're losing. Two wins in the last 10 games for New Jersey after going down in Winnipeg on Sunday.

So you mentioned the Rangers a couple of times. like why don't we head across the Hudson there now? So I got to be honest, like over a week ago, not that long ago, I'm watching them. We're all watching them, but the Winter Classic beat up on Florida in Miami, looked full value and you thought maybe this is the start of, I think back to St. Louis a year ago at the Winter Classic. Remember, like they were kind of going nowhere.

They had that big blowout wind over the Blackhawks at Wrigley. And though it didn't happen right away, eventually they got their season righted. and took a ton of momentum into the playoffs. And watching the Rangers win just over a week ago outdoors, you thought, all right, maybe this is the moment that kind of kickstarts them. And they've lost the three games since,

the most incredibly coming on Saturday, 10 to 2 at the hands of the Boston Bruins. Hatrick, Pavel Zaka, four goals, Murat Hustadinov. Mike Sullivan said, didn't have the words post-game to try to make sense of What's going on? J.T. Miller's in the crosshairs once again.

And then there's Artemmy Panarin. And we all know is in the last year of his deal and still uncertainty around his future. Do you have anything to add on Panarin specifically and with the Rangers in general right now? I mean, I watched that game on Saturday afternoon and I was astonished. You know, very quiet, you know, the Bruins just quickly on them, they just signed Asperot to a two-year extension on Sunday. Great story, six years in the American Hockey League. The Bruins, like, if you look at some of the players who really lit that up,

and Pasernock, of course, six assists, but Hustadinov had four goals, Zaka had three goals. If you take a look at the Bruins, and they're still trying to build their way back up, but Morgan Geeky, too, like just some really small scouting victories for them. just pro guys who filled in holes for them as pros. Like, you know, everybody knows about Zadora. He's kind of a big name, but they've had a couple of singles. They've just guys they've found who've played really nice roles for them this year. So I wanted to show it that.

Mark Kastelik, there's another one. Like, just guys who find their spot and guys who seem to be finding their way there. You know, Marco Stern, too, he had Minton on the power play late in that game to get him his hat trick, right? And players notice these things. Yep. Fraser Minton has a chance for a hat trick. Marco Stern makes sure that he's out there on the power play late. Anyway, I know the Rangers fans are like, shut up, get back to the Rangers.

You know, the number one thing, and this happens, you know, just days after the owner, Jim Dolan, goes on radio there and gives Chris Drury a vote of confidence. And we know it's very rare that Jim Dolan lets the Rangers take a step backwards. You know, it happened. It's kind of ironic. The last time he did it, Panarin landed on their lap, right? And when Panarin showed up, he energized them and played so well for them. It took them right out of a rebuild before they were supposed to do it.

but he was just that much of a game changer. The thing I feel about Panarin now is it's pretty interesting. A couple of the reporters caught up to him at the outdoor game in Florida, and they were asking about his future and all the speculation, and he was pretty blunt about it. He said basically stop listening to people who don't make decisions. And he was coming right out and saying, I'm the one with the contract.

I'm the one who has approval over my future. All decide. It will be my way. And we do know that the Rangers, you know, went to him before the year and talked to him about like a kind of a different contract, a kind of Kopitar style contract. And obviously he didn't have much interest in that. You know, I think that the one thing the Rangers can really do here,

is if they're not going to sign him to what he wants and there isn't a path, if that's the case, then you have to gingerly go to him and his representatives and say, can we work with you on this? Because it is in Panarin's best interests, unless he already thinks he has a contract out there that he knows about and he's happy with and he says, yeah, I'm good with that. it is in his best interests to go somewhere and thrive. It can't hurt his value. And I think what you're hoping for is if you are waving the white flag of the season is, and I'm not sure they're yet doing that, although there's six points out with, you know, five teams between them and the playoffs.

But I think at some point you have to go to him and his reps and say, are there some teams we can work with here? are there some places where you would be willing to go? And I wonder about, obviously, you always wonder about a team like Florida. You know, you wonder about a team like Washington. You know, you think about places where, especially Russian players might want to go. Since the beginning of the year, we've been wondering about Minnesota, because Caprizov is there and they're represented by the same agent.

the other team I really wonder about is Colorado. You know, don't forget when he signed with New York, Colorado offered him something like four times 13. They offered them a short-term big money deal, you know, before they had to resign McKinnon. And, you know, could you imagine Panarin on that team and what it might look like? But I think at some point in some point in time,

And, you know, like I said, you listen to those quotes that he had from or read those quotes he had at the outdoor game. It's pretty clear you're going to have to manage this and massage this. He doesn't like people who don't have control speculating about him. So I look at it like you've got to be able to sit down with him and say, look, it's not going to work out here unless there's something happening that we don't know about. If it's not going to work out here, can we work with you? to get something and put you in a place where it'll make you look even better for free agency. That's the kind of thing I wonder about here. Is that what they're going to have to do?

The crazy thing, too, is, as you know, especially in that conference, Elliot, like a couple of good weeks stacked together and at least right now, like you're right back in it. We've seen a few teams go through that. And so that's why I think this month particularly and knowing like the looming Olympic break and the trade freeze that comes into effect because of it all, the conversations that are being had at scouting meetings in the front office right now, like are there teams out there that go, we're not going to wait, we've got some business we want to take care of. If it costs us a chance to stay in the race longer, so be it. There's bigger fish to fry in the long term. that's an interesting one for me here as we march between now and when everyone takes off after the 5th of February.

Well, the thing that's the big challenge for the Rangers is right now they've got Shasturkin and I are, right? And we don't really know what his timeline is going to be, but that's one of the things you know you all wonder here, like how long is it going to be until he comes back? So that's one factor for the Rangers. I mean, you're right. There's no question about that.

You know, one of the teams, you know, Columbus got a big win on Sunday. I think a few people have wondered about them is what are they thinking and what are they going to do? They have centers. You know, Columbus has centers, guys like Boone Jenner and Charlie Coyle. What is Don Waddell going to do with them? And maybe he simply lets it play out until. the Olympic break and sees, okay, I think they got seven or eight games left before then. Maybe we see where we are at that point and make our decisions.

You know, another team is Calgary, and we'll get to them in a second. And you're right, the Rangers could wait for a little bit longer to make those choices. But watching that game on Saturday, and it's only one game, and I try not to overreact to one game, but I was thinking about Panarin's comments at the outdoor game and just saying, does it get to a point here, and maybe the Olympics is the right time with Russia not playing, you know, maybe that's the point where everybody sits down and says, can we work together to find a solution? Right.

And I will say, yeah, maybe it's the first time this year they've given up a 10 spot to an opponent, but with the Rangers, it hasn't been the first time where you leave a game after watching and going, something's off here, something's not working. and that's all fit into a lot of the, it's a frustrated, frustrated situation there. And like we're seeing elsewhere, go ahead. I was going to say, one other thing I was going to mention about the Rangers is

after the Olympic team was announced, we're talking about Adam Fox and, you know, the fact that the Olympic hierarchy didn't take him and what that means. One thing I was reminded, and he's undercom, contract for three more seasons is that he loves being a ranger. Now he's out right now. He's hurt. He's on LTIR, but he loves being a ranger. And I was reminded how many teams tried to

sign him after they drafted him, Calgary and Carolina. And he's like, nope, I want to play for the rangers. And I was reminded about that, that certainly he's stung like every pro would be, but a couple people mentioned this is a guy who wanted to be a ranger and loves being a ranger. We'll see. All right, and before he was a ranger at one point he was property of the Calgary Flames, as you say, but New York is where he wanted to end up,

but that gets us to Calgary and another defenseman in question and Rasmus Anderson. So that conversation's been there at times this year, Elliot, but probably hasn't been as loud as it could have been in part because Anderson's played pretty well this year. And the team started to win a lot more in December, so that calms things down here.

But at the end of the day, this is a player whose contract is up this year. I go back to the Euro Tour when we were over in Milan for a few days in August. And Michael Backlin had the quote, the captain saying, well, he's going to be traded. We all know that, as if they were bracing himself for what's going to be happening with one of their longest tenured players. anything new on the Anderson and Calgary front? The only thing I would just say that I've heard new,

and I kind of heard this a little bit on Sunday, is that it does seem like Calgary is getting a little bit more aggressive in trying to do something. You know, I think it sounds like there's a desire for them to do it before the Olympics, and teams know that. Now there's been stops and starts with this before, so I'm always careful, but there are times it seems more active than other times, and one of those times is now. Like if you take a look at Anderson's game log, he is playing a ton of minutes. And to his credit, he's played extremely well this year.

Like there's been a number of times I've watched him and I've been very impressed. But Kyle, you go back and you look, he played 25 minutes in the win over Pittsburgh. He played 24 in the loss to Boston. He played 26 at home against Nashville. He had another 26 minute game right back after Christmas in the big win over Edmonton. He's playing a lot. Like there's no nights off for this guy. I'm just looking, I think the lowest amount of minutes I've seen the guy play anywhere in my screen here is 2240.

I'll see a 2228. But if that's an overtime win in L.A. But this is a guy playing a lot of minutes and he's going to play big minutes for Sweden at the Olympics. But like I said, I heard that there's been some increased activity around him. And I think teams know the flames are in a window where they're. they would like to act potentially before the Olympic Games. It's interesting. You know, there was a report on social on the weekend that there was something with Detroit.

I don't know. The one thing about that is, is we talked about with Queen Hughes. Like, Hughes wanted to go to the Red Wings. He was one of the teams that they were, they were one of the teams that he was very interested in. but Steve Iserman wasn't doing that without an extension. So I would have to think that Detroit would have to know what Anderson would sign for before they would do that. And Iserman is such a vault. It's difficult to get a handle on what he's actually up to.

I don't know. I didn't get the sense anything was that close. I just heard that the noise was starting to pick up. And I do think there are teams that would be interested in extending Anderson. Just, I don't get the sense anybody has permission yet to talk to him about it. But it's, the noise is there. The noise is definitely picked up. And, you know, obviously there's been a lot of interest in Anderson in the past.

The Kings have it. And I still think Vegas is looking for another. defensemen. Big win, big weekend for them. They beat St. Louis. They beat San Jose, as we mentioned, but I still think the Kings are looking for another defenseman, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were circling around Anderson, too. You know, there's been some reporting about Nazim Cadry. I've got nothing to add there. The one thing I'd heard about Coleman, and it's been reported, there's a lot of interest in Coleman, and I think that's true. Yeah, that's a lot of sense. Well, I think he's pretty happy to stay, to be honest.

I don't think he would be upset at all if he stayed in Calgary. But the one thing is, there's been a lot of talk about Montreal. And what I understand with Coleman is that I had some other teams that were telling me not to buy into the Montreal possibility that there's other teams that may have an advantage here. So that's what they're. they were hinting in my direction is, and maybe it might not be one of the teams that they can get them to. So we'll see. We'll see what happens there, Kyle. Okay. And when I said, you know, it makes a lot of sense. I just like how many teams out there would be going, yeah, that guy can help us.

Like, he's another guy that's, that's been having putting together a pretty good season. And I'll always believe that somewhere out there is Julian Breeze-wise. He's already broken the mold of starting the reunion tour. Ryan McDonough's back. Yonite Gordon's back. Just always going to keep that in mind here as we go forward if nine wins in a row. Yes, which is apparently a fluke, according to John Cooper,

10 in a row, that's a streak. Good motivator. Really good motivator. Yeah. Excellent. Do you think, Elliot, like we kind of saw it last year. There was almost a soft trade deadline before four nations, before the actual. Do you see something similar here before Olympics?

I know it's different now with the LTIR rules, but are teams thinking that way at all? Yes, they are. We mentioned hearing about Calgary and Anderson and what they might be willing to do. but I do think if players are going to play at the Olympics, yes, teams would like to do that. However, I had another team say to me, you might not want to trade for someone before the Olympics and then they get hurt there.

But, you know, it's all going to come down to supply and demand, right? Who does everybody want? How many teams are interested? interested in them? When do you think you can get them? If you don't strike now, do you let other teams in it? How many teams are really letting you know about guys who are available? The bottom line, as someone said to me, if you really want the player, you're going to get them and you're going to say, all right, whatever the timing is, if it's our time now, we're doing it.

All right. Who's a long headlines for you on Saturday? Do you want to talk any more about Ottawa? No, that's enough. I think we've said everything we need to say. Yes. Fought with enough people. You should mention James Reimer, though.

Yes, so we did play on Sunday. They lost an overtime to Rochester. I don't worry about the goals so much. The one thing that someone who was at that game said to me is, you know, Rimer has catching up to do. And we reported that he could be signed and joined the senators later this week. And I do think that is. the plan, but with this person who has no attachment here simply said was he's got to catch up

to speed. Like, I think this is only his third game. I think you played two at the Spengler Cup and now this one in the American hockey league. Like, you're, like, the whole league's at full speed and you're like Fred Flintstone trying to run with your car to join everybody. That's a really young hip reference. It's pretty good in a pinch, though. It's pretty good to, thank you, Kyle.

I really appreciate that. But I think that's the thing he said. Like, Reimer just might need action to get to where he needs to be. He understands exactly why Ottawa signed him, but he's got to catch up to the NHL. Yeah. Feel for a guy like Levy Merlin. And, I mean, a lot of ways, he saved their season a year ago, some critical, critical performances he had when they needed wins badly.

Allmark was hurt. They really had no other options. But man, he just, he has not been able to find traction here this year for a team that so much of the story on the ice has been trying to get enough saves to win games. Okay. And their underlying numbers have been really good as a team. Yeah. Like, they weren't great five on five offensively last year.

Like that hasn't been as much of an issue. I know the penalty kill is, remains a talking point there. But I think even going into, whether it was going into the back-to-back in Utah and Colorado last week or going into the Colorado game last week, I think they still had a positive goal differential despite being down near the basement of the east. It just, yeah, they have not got enough saves this year. And we'll see if. James Reimer can help that in any capacity when the data has come that he goes up to the big club. Well, for example, if you're an expected goal guy and, you know, Ottawa is pretty good, like at five on five, they're like, for example, if you want to look at the use natural stat trick, quick look,

their expected goal is fourth best in the league after Colorado, Carolina, and Tampa Bay. Now, I know that not everybody likes this data, and they also take a look at, hey, there's things that people know publicly that we can't see privately. But five on five on, like I said, natural stat trick, they're fourth. And if you want to look at sport logic and expected goal differential, they're at 51-6, which is still pretty good. Right. I wonder if that stat or that date, if it wasn't called what it's called, like the word expected wasn't part of it,

I wonder if a lot of people would feel different about it. Like, it's basically probability. Yes. That's effectively what it is. But I understand when you throw the expected thing in is it's like, well, who cares if it's expected? Did you score or did you not score? That's what it comes down to.

But I understand the purpose. I expected to go on a lot of dates in high school. Right, right. But I didn't. Right. Your expected dates was tops among your graduating class. Actual dates. I was right down near the bottom.

That cost you a playoff spot. That's right. Good. We didn't all look like you when we were 17, Kyle. Oh, yeah. Trust me. If you saw me at 17, not that I wow. anybody now. I really didn't back then.

Really didn't back then. Speaking of players that do show well on the expected and actual categories, Philip Broberg, how about the six-year deal he gets in St. Louis, 8 million per. Sounds like just a player that's really happy in his situation in St. Louis. Obviously, the team results haven't been there, but likes the coaching, obviously the deployment, the opportunity he has gotten since signing with the blues. Guy that moves very well can carry the puck, good passer, can distribute, all of this making it seem like this could,

even though the number jumps out of you, given where he was just a couple of years ago, could be a very good value contract both ways. Broberg, I think, is a really talented player. and I'm not surprised by that contract at all. When Moser signed for 8 times 675, I immediately asked a couple of my comparables people is that where Broberg was going to end up because I heard St. Louis wanted to sign them.

And a couple of people said, no, the overall money might be about the same and actually it's a little bit less for Broberg than it is for Moser, but they said his AAV will be higher. And they were right. They simply said that it was going to be a situation where in Tampa, A, because of the state taxes, and B, because of just, you know, sort of like who's at the top of the salary structure there, some players have to take less. And in St. Louis, it's just a little bit different because he's one of the good younger players on a team where their young guys are, you know, closer to eight and a half than they're.

they are lower down. And so I'm not surprised he ended up at that number. I think Broberg's had a really good season. I think he's very deserving to be on Team Sweden. And I'm not surprised in the least bit because if you take a look at St. Louis's blue line, it is a little bit older, right? You take a look at some of their guys.

Falk is 33. started to hear his name out there a little bit. He doesn't have full trade protection anymore. Paraco was 32. Fowler was 34. You know, they have a couple of younger guys there. Obviously, they have Logan Mayhew. They have Matthew Castle, although he's 25.

You know, Broberg is really, you know, he's far, you know, he's two years old than Mayu, but he's right now, he's far ahead of Mayu. and you can absolutely see a situation where the blues are looking at this and say, this is going to be the guy for our defense for a long time. I would bet you too, Kyle, that the blues wanted to sign him for longer. I could see them saying we would have rather done it for eight years instead of six, but I'm betting if they wanted to do that, the number was going to be even higher than eight,

and they probably just said, you know what, this is good enough for us right now. Right. Okay. congrats to him long ways from that offer sheet a couple years ago and get on him for rolling that into long-term security and a life-changing deal there. All right. Quiet guy, but not afraid to bet on himself, not afraid at all. And, you know, the other thing about him is that I don't know how big a points guy that he is ever going to be. You know, he's only got 15 points this year, but he skates the puck very well. He passes the puck very well.

And, you know, when he's on the ice, generally good things happen. It was just too bad. In his first game, he got knocked out on his second shift by Mark Stone. You know, a few things I want to say about that. I was watching that game a little bit. Number one, I wasn't surprised Stone didn't get suspended. I didn't think that was going to be a suspendable play. I thought it was more of an accident than anything else.

But, you know, Stone knew it. He knew, like, when Braden Shen came looking for him, he didn't duck it, he didn't run away from it. And he took a few. He got his jersey torn. He got his hair must. And he took a few. But you could see it.

Mark Stone was like, I know this happened. I know I did this. I didn't mean it, but I'm going to answer for it. And I give him a lot of credit. He didn't back away, even though he's not really in Braden Shenz class. Like, that was a guy he knew was going to give him a couple and he took them. And then the one that did surprise me, though, was for Hagee on Saturday. They called it a five.

They reduced it to a two. I was really surprised about that. You know, obviously no hearing on Sunday. I mean, I don't know. It's a fast game. People make mistakes. You know, Verhege's never been suspended before. He has gotten boarding penalties before.

He got one on the preseason this year in that ugly game against Tampa Bay on Giergensons. I don't know. I mean, I thought there could have been a game there. My thoughts the two are just, you know, call the major. And you remember, too, in the final, I don't remember which one it was. I think it was this last one. He caught Bouchard with a pretty good hit from behind along the boards, too. But, again, I'm not trying to make a case to this guy.

Oh, that's right. I forgot about that one. That's right. Does have a history or anything. Like, I think Verheg is a pretty honest player and has earned everything he's gotten in his career. But just a very vulnerable spot. And if I'm recalling, like, I don't think, like, Kevin wasn't thrilled about it. Was Kelly or Jen? Like, I don't know if they were big on that hit.

Like, I always default to, to the players because they know where the vulnerable areas of the ice are, where you can catch guys and where you shouldn't. I just thought that with the way he sends Zub into the boards there at that spacing. and you're just asking for a lot of trouble. See, that's the thing. You know, Kyle, sometimes I think the ones with a little bit of room are worse than the ones where someone's right up against the boards. Exactly. Because then you've got time to now start to go forward.

And then when you do meet the glass or the boards, you're in a real tough spot. Like there's a reason why minor hockey growing up, we've all got stop signs in the back of the jerseys. to that, you know, even if you do get to a point where you're playing at a level like the NHL, that whole butt process is still ingrained in your mind. But yeah, I just didn't look right. No. You've talked about that. Does it look right?

I test. Just doesn't look right. Doesn't look right. Okay. I guess on that note, the arena and Milan. So we had a test event this weekend. You shouted out Carter, Johnson of Gimley, Manitoba, who sent you some great content, pictures and video of how things were looking in the arena over there over the last few days.

And a scouting report as well on the ice. So why don't you bring us up to speed there? Yeah, there was the training run this weekend, the three days of games. And there's supposed to be a conference call Monday today between the various stakeholders to discuss how everything looks. and I did speak to some people who said, we want to have that call before we make any comment. I did hear cautiously optimistic from a few people. I was reminded, Kyle, that the players are going to make this work. They're going and they're going to make this work.

But, you know, when we get there and we get there in three weeks, you know, we arrive on the eighth. I'm really curious to see what of this arena is done. Like, I think the ice will be done. I think the boards will be done. I think anything that really affects the players will be done. But I think there will be other things that will be like not done. Like I just see us walking through loose electrical wires and other.

You don't even know if you need to go through the door. They'll be like holes in the building that we'll be walking through. Just be tarps. Yeah. So one of the things that Carter said to me was the ice was really dirty. and it's because there's doors open and there's dirt getting on it and there's dirt getting on the Zambonis. And I did check this. They are ripping that ice.

These guys played on last weekend and they're putting a fresh sheet of ice on it after this tournament. So, you know, the one thing he did say is that the ice was better than he thought. You know, he did say it got a bit snowy and soft towards the ends of periods, but overall it was a much quicker game than he expected. He's a big Canada fan, as you mentioned from Gimley, Manitoba. He's a big Sydney Crosby fan. He said that, you know, the corners are tight, the neutral zone's tight. You're going to be able, if you're one of those guys who can kind of work the boards and then cut to the net like Crosby does, including on one pretty famous goal he scored, you're going to be able to do that very well, extremely well.

There's going to be a lot of opportunity to do that. And it was interesting. I got a text after that segment from Kevin Lowe, who knows something about the Olympic teams and was heavily involved on them. And he kind of said that, well, of course, he found it really tight because he's used to larger ice surfaces in the league he plays in. He says 20 inches difference on either side of the red line. And it's not quite like that. I understood what Kevin said because Osceago's ice surface is 60 by 30, which is about the same length, but wider. Like his ice would be the regular width as opposed to what this is.

But the one thing about Carter Johnson is he did play, I think, six years in the ECHL before this. I think he played in Wichita. I think he played in Maine. and I think he played somewhere else. This is only his first season overseas. Oh, he played in Wheeling. Okay, there you go. So this is only his first season overseas.

So this is someone who's kind of used to the North American-style rink, even though, as Kevin mentioned, this year, it's a little bit different. But I just, you know, I really appreciate him reaching out and sending me the information of playing because he did say the ice was better than he thought it was going to be. And hopefully that's the case.

You know, the other thing, too, is that they're going to get dressed outside and they're going to walk into the rink. And then between periods, they're going to have some smaller, closer dressing rooms that they're going to go in for the intermissions. So this is definitely not going to be the five-star accommodations that many of these players are used to. Oh, man. Especially how many players with routines that are, I mean,

integral that God forbid you get back to the same dressing room as you started the game in as the one you're in in the intermission. Holy smokes. And I just say, like you mentioned, or Carter saying that towards the end of the period, it's ice getting soft. And I saw a bit of that out there when it was reported that, you know, ice is soft when at times when it was played over the weekend and all the outrage around that. Like, oh, how could the ice be soft? This is a disaster. I mean, that's all, when you put fresh ice down, that's all part of it. Like, it takes time to build up the resiliency to the point where you've got strong, hard, crisp ice.

That doesn't happen right away. It takes a bit of time. But of course, that's the issue with all of this is that time. is not on the organizer's side here. You just outlined how soon we will be over there, and by the time we get over there, the women's tournament will have already begun on that same surface. So, yeah, time crunch for sure. They're going to make it work.

Everybody in the NHL is going to hold their breath that nobody gets hurt, but they're going to make this work. All right, let's get to the final thought then. So tonight, Elliot, Monday night, The Detroit Red Wings are hosting the Carolina Hurricanes. Coincidentally enough, that was their opponent in the 2002 Stanley Cup final. The final of three Stanley Cups that Sergei Federoff won as a member of the Red Wings.

He is going to have his jersey retired that night. Become the ninth player in franchise history to have his number up to the rafters. And I'll be honest, like I remember. certainly the tail end of his career, the last couple years in Detroit, and then as he went into Anaheim and Columbus before retiring. But, you know, you go back and just to

kind of refresh your mind of in his heyday there and the team's heyday through the 90s, an era that was offensive more so when he came in to then certainly shifting into the dead puck era and still how effective of a player he was through all of that.

And he was just like cool. He looked cool. And a big part of that was his role when Nike certainly got into hockey big time in that decade and him being one of the athletes that did an endorsement deal there. The only player in NHL history, Elliot, to win the Hart Trophy and the Selke

trophy in the same season. And I think that tells you a lot about the type of player that he was. He was a great player. And I think for a lot of Red Wings fans, this is something they wanted to see for a long time. And this should have happened a long time ago. But any Red Wings fan who listens to this podcast knows the truth. It would have been done a long time ago if he hadn't signed the offer sheet with the Carolina Hurricanes. I'm actually

really interested in the fact that Carolina is the team that is playing against them in this game. because I think it shows you just how far the relationship has changed for the better between the Red Wings and Federov. Like there were rumors years ago that Detroit would never do this, that they would never do it. And, you know, I mean, we see a lot of situations in business and hockey and sports where relationships go sideways. But years later, when everybody takes a deep breath, everybody cools down, you realize, you know, know what, this was an extremely beneficial marriage for both Sergei Fedorov and the Red Wings. For one, it was the Red Wings who took a chance in drafting him. He was the highest drafted Russian at the time.

Obviously, Jim Lites and Nick Palano, who worked for the Red Wings at the time, played a major role in getting him to Detroit when at that time, you know, people forget you couldn't get Russian players to come over. They basically had to whisk him out undercover to get him to play for them. He was the first Russian ever to win the Hart Trophy. Right away, when he joined the Red Wings, he scored and you saw his talent immediately when he hit the ice. He was a major reason they won those two Stanley Cups. I always remember the big hit he took. You know, one of the things I loved hearing about Boreas Salming, and I love Boreas

Salming when I was a player, was that he, the Philadelphia Flyers, they went out to kill him. Like the Broad Street bullies, they targeted Salming. They knew he wasn't going to fight them. But what did Salming do? Like, he played. He went, there was one game after he took a big beating from the late Mel Bridgman. he basically skated through all the flyers and scored a huge goal in a big playoff game. Like that was the way that he responded.

I remember Federov taking a huge hit from Richard Matvichuk in a playoff series and just dominating after that happened. He wasn't tough in the Joey Kosher way or the Bob Probert way in Detroit, but he was tough in the way that, yeah, you give me a hit, I won't back down. I remember actually someone told me a story the other day about how I guess one of the first times he got pranked by Kosher. I guess Kosher tied his skates together. Federov went back at him and tied up his hockey bag with tape, like just covered his hockey bag and tape so Kosher couldn't get back into it. And Kosher like he laughed. He said, this is awesome that he felt that he could do that back to me.

And, you know, it all fell apart over the big offer sheet that Carolina signed him. And that one, you know, it doesn't sound like it was that big. It was $38 million for six years. But it was structured so that if the Red Wings went to the playoffs and won the Stanley Cup, that they could offer him an extra $26 million. And that's exactly what happened. You know, there was the signing bonus. There was, I think, a $12 million bonus for making the conference finals.

I think that's what it was. But it was one of those things that at that time, Carolina wasn't going to do that, but Detroit knew they could. So for Carolina, if they got them, they'd pay. you know, the $38 million over six years, but Detroit knew they could pay $28 million of it within months. And they matched it because they knew it. The other thing I remember at the time was that Peter Carmanos, who owned the hurricanes,

he was a huge rival of Mike Illich's, and Fedorov skated with Carmanus's OHL team at the time. And there were people in Detroit who considered that a huge slap in the face. So this was all because of hurt feelings. It's like a love affair that goes bad. As I always say, Kyle, everything in life goes back to dating. Yes. This was a love affair gone wrong.

And I wish it would have happened sooner. But the thing is, it's still happening. That's going to be a really special night in Detroit. The team is playing really well. They're battling for the top of the Atlantic Division, which makes this even more special. I started to deal with Fedorov quite a bit when I came to hockey night. I remember him especially in Washington when he was there.

And he was just so nice to talk to. Like he was obviously a huge star. He was hugely respected. He was coming down to the end of his career. But he was just extremely approachable. And, you know, I bought a book called What It Means to Be a Red Wing. Detroit's greatest players talk. about Detroit hockey. I bought it a few years ago at the Detroit airport. And basically,

there's players from all the decades talking about what it was like to play for Detroit. And I really like it. It's a, it's a really good book. Steve Eisenman wrote the forward. But the only problem is in the 90s, the guys they have there, there's a lot of really good guys here, Martin LaPointe, Nicholas Lidstrom, Mark Howe, Scotty Bowman, Chris Draper, Chris Osgood, Doug Brown, Kevin Hodson, Kirk Maltby, Thomas Holmstrom, Larry Murphy, Brendan Shanahan, Ken Hall, and Chris Chelyos. And the new millennium, they have Yuri Fisher, Jason Williams, Pavel Dotsuk, Luke Robitai, and Henrik Zetterberg.

And the book was published in 2006. Well, there's somebody missing from that book, right? And I don't know if they'll reissue it with a new chapter. there was a really good video that the Red Wings released on social on Sunday about Fedorov kind of writing a letter. And I'm going to look forward to watching it on Monday night. I'm working late. We have Leif's Avalanche Regional, but I'm going to watch that ceremony. And I'm happy it's finally happening because the relationship was too good and too important.

You know, he was such a huge part of that team and they don't win the three-stance. Stanley Cops, Kyle, without him. He was the first of what became the Russian five to arrive in Detroit and so dynamic, so fun. And as you say, like, maybe not Joey Kosher tough, but he was a hard guy to knock off the puck. He was built. Yes. And I mentioned earlier, like, when he became like a Nike spokesperson back in that time, for those that haven't seen it that aren't aware,

some of the best hockey commercials ever came out of that whole Nike wave in the 90s. And he had a hand in some of them. I was watching through a few of them here on Sunday night, Elliot, getting ready to record. There was one, one commercial loan that featured Federa's brilliance and also a young Rob McElaney. who, of course, we now know from Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Really?

Welcome to Wrexham. Yep. And Eddie K. Thomas, who played Paul Finch in the American Pie films. No way. Yeah, they were like two kids. Two kids like ordering at a burger joint. And the worker on the other side of the counter was an ex-Chicago Blackhawks goalie that was all still out of sorts because Sergey Federov torched him again and again and again.

He lost his job as a goalie and was working at a burger joint instead. So good. He really went down a rabbit hole. Yeah. But you know those commercials, eh? Like, you know, the Montreal Canadiens goalie, the cab driver. Anyway, it goes on from there. It was awesome.

Even there was one years later, Marcus Naslin and Ilya Kovalchuk where they're like chasing the puck, like the puck leaves the stands and they climb over the glass and they like chase each other over the city. battling for the puck and eventually they end up back in the game. Ah, it's good times. I forgot about all these. Yeah. Yeah, commercials used to be good. They used to be like, worth sticking on the couch for.

I don't know. I think there's always good stuff out there. Yeah. It's the nostalgia in me. I got to admit. But yeah, there should be a great night. You're an old soul, old soul. That should be a really cool night.

Finally, number 91 goes to the rafters in Detroit. That was the final thought. And with that, why don't we take our first break? When we come back, the latest installment of the thought line, you're listening to 32 Thoughts, the podcast. We'll be back after this. All right, welcome back. Some listeners of a certain vintage grew up with TRL on MTV.

Well, consider this the TTL, the thought line. while I am no Carson Daly, I am trying my best. You definitely are no Carson Daly. It's like Lloyd Benson, I knew John F. Kennedy, and you are no John F. Kennedy. I can wear that one. I can live with it. All right, any want to touch on before we get any further here? No, no, no.

It's been a crazy couple days. I really didn't have time to look through my DMs or likes or anything like that. So unfortunately, I'll get back to that. later in the week. All right. Well, thankfully, our listeners have delivered again with this later. Excellent. From TTL, including Jonathan from Turku, Finland.

Greetings, my hockey friends. Greetings, my Finnish friend. From Turku, Finland. With Sidney Crosby overtaking Mario Lemieux for the Penguin's all-time lead in points, it got me thinking of milestones and more specials. specifically, the actual puck. When someone achieves a milestone like scoring their first NHL goal or getting their 1,000 point, you always see a teammate grabbing the puck and tossing it to the bench for the sake of it to be kept afterwards.

What if there would be multiple standout milestones achieved at the same time who gets to keep the puck? Is there some invincible milestone ranking? Is it a gentleman's agreement between the players or how does it work? Are you aware of any notable milestones that have been reached with? the same goal and do you know of any scenario where this have led to an argument in the aftermath between the players. This pod is a pure treasure and racuna matata to Elliot. Nice. Nice. So I will tell you that there is one I just had to look up. Kyle, in the 90s, when you were two years old,

what year were you born? 93. Actually, I'm not wrong. I think you were like a year old. Buffalo and New Jersey had a four overtime game. Dave Hannan scored the winner, Dominic Hachachan versus Martin Broder, and it ended one nothing. And I believe they cut the puck in half.

Really? Yes. Man. Yes. So they both get a piece of history. And I think if I remember, I'm trying to remember a couple other ones. I think there was one with Shifley and Blake Wheeler where one got a milestone point and the other got a milestone point. And if I remember correctly,

Shifley got the puck. Like I don't know of any fights. I'm sure there have been some out there. And there's another one that's coming up on my brief Google. Oh, yes. Jason Spetsa got 900th career a point on an assist. Rupa Hintz's first NHL goal. And Spetsa gave hints the puck.

Oh, nice. Nice. So it has happened. It has happened. Fights off the top of my head, I don't know of any. Yeah. I couldn't find any either. And asked around a little bit and there was nothing of that that came to mind.

I think typically, I mean, and you also can grab another puck from that game. Now it may not be the specific one that was involved in the, the goal in question, but it does give everybody involved, but there's multiple milestones going on a piece from that game. And I mean, it was nice. Crosby, I believe, now that I think about it in the top of my head, has caught a milestone puck before two. I don't remember what it was.

Okay. And sometimes there's game sheets that will be part of a milestone. We just saw the Matthews ceremony for passing Sundin and the frame that came with that presentation there and it had the game sheet. And so I believe that would be like a carbon copy of what would have been the one officially registered with the league. So it's easy to make up duplicates of that.

Like apparently every year for the Hall of Fame game they have in Toronto, the scorer of that game makes a identical duplicate match report. And that goes into the Hall of Fame. for safekeeping. So, but I mean, that's obviously easier to duplicate than the puck itself. But it's interesting that that's split in half if you got to do it. I just Googled for fun, fights over milestone pucks. Do you know what came up?

Does that have anything to do with Peter Puck? No, a good guess, though. It was Bittington trying to hide the Ovechkin puck. Oh, yeah. Right, right. And even that, it's, yeah, hard to hide. As Joel Hofer learned this week, too. It's tough to hide.

Jonathan, thank you for that. Okay, book in Ottawa. Happy 2026, 32 crew. Happy 2026, book. The game stats for the recent Calgary and Boston, Boston game, I noticed that the NHL gave Jeremy Swayman's stats as 19 saves on 20 shots, a 950 save percentage despite Calgary winning the game 2 to 1 on a goal credited to Connor Zerry. The other night, something similar happened with Yesper Walsdette being credited with saving

35 of 38 despite giving up four goals to the Kings on the way to a Minnesota shootout lost. The common denominator seems to be the NHL now marking some goals as over. own goals like they do in soccer. In Calgary, Boston's Hampus Linholm swept the puck past Jeremy Swamen in a goldmouth scramble and in L.A., Ryan Hartman put the puck past Wollstead after a byfield shot went off the backboards and off of Walsdet into the crease. As the NHL made a change in how goals considered to be own goals will affect a goalie stats, was this in the new CBA?

I could see the goalie union campaigning that own goals hurt a goalie stats in ways that that impact his bargaining power, though it seems far-fetched to think they give up enough own goals for it to really matter. Do you know the story here because I don't think I've heard anything about it? Give my best to the raccoons. You can't escape it.

You can't escape it. So actually, because I'm starting to see this creep up a little more and more. Looking through just game summaries, Elliot, and having that connotation of own goal, It seems to be popping up more than I recall in the past. And that is not my eyes or book's eyes deceiving anybody here. The NHL is starting to make more of a conscious effort of pointing that out when that happens.

It's something they've actually been doing for almost 20 years now. It's just a little more, it's right there saying, oh, that's an own goal. And so when that happens, no shot on goal. is credited, but it still counts as a goal against for the goalie in question so long as he's in the net, of course, and not on the bench for an extra attacker. So they get dinged with a goal against, but it does not count as a shot against or an opportunity to make a save and failing to do so. So it's a bit of a stat quirk, but it's interesting. Like there's, there's been some work recently and some talk recently about what's happening with shots on goal.

And for example, if you go back and you take a look at the Toronto game against Pittsburgh, which was the next generation game on the 23rd, it was an afternoon game, December 23rd, the first shift of the game Toronto comes down and Max Dolme gets a great chance. And there's a save mate. And a couple minutes later, someone noticed that Toronto had lost a shot. And we were like, how on earth do they have no shots now? they just made a great save. And we went back and looked at it and you could make an argument.

I can't remember off the top of my head if it was going to hit the side of the net or it actually hit the side of the net. And I was like, okay, I guess that wasn't a shot. But I think this has a lot to do with the gambling, right? Because people are doing shot props. And the NHL and the gambling companies are probably like you have to get these right. They have to be accurate. if money's going to be involved here. It's just, it's interesting how,

because it's been happening more and more where shots are coming off the board, I was actually told last week that there was a goalie coach who approached the off-ice officials counting shots and saying, you're hurting our guys. And they were like, hey, like, these are the rules now.

Wow. Yeah, it's, I just, because you see that often, especially over the course of the intermission. And I could only imagine like what the late great Bob Cole would think of it all, right? Because his big thing was always at the end of the period. He needed to know the shots from whoever the statistician was working up in the booth, right? I would say the shots 12 to 10 after the first 20 minutes as he threw to break. And he could only, again, could only imagine the look on his face that having to come back for the start of the second period.

and now the shots are like 11.8, as if the information he gave out 15 minutes previous was incorrect, he would be having none of it. It sent a lot of us for a loop, but the gambling aspect at least makes some sense to it all. I think that has a lot to do with it. All right, Elliot, a voicemail is up next. And Dom, pay close attention to this one,

courtesy of Yvonne from Bratislava, Slovakia. Hello, Elliot, Kyle, Griffin and my fellow Slovakian Dom. Nice. I'm Ivan from Bratislava, Slovakia. I listened to you since 2022 when Slavkowski went first overall and I started to watch NHL more closely. I'm a fan of all the Slovak guys in NHL. And that's why I'm calling Pavel Regenda stored, with ice time of only nine minutes, 11 seconds.

And I'm wondering if it is actually a record or what is the record of the shortest ice time that player had in the game. And he scored a hat trick. Is there any other fourth liner who did it in even short time? Thanks for the answer. And go, Hubbs go. Oh, Slavkovsky. he has definitely created a ton more Canadians fans in Slovakia. Yes.

Jeez, Dom, I know how this one got picked. It's actually a good question, too. It's a great question. So Pavel Riganda, yeah, just a few days ago, Alie, as you know, Hatrick against Tampa as a member of the San Jose Sharks in just nine minutes, 11 seconds of ice time. Wow. So is it the record?

No, it is not. And we should also point out they started, and we mentioned this a couple of times before, but just a refresher, the NHL started tracking time on ice per game in 9798. Yeah, so it's always possible. We wouldn't be able to go back all time. Yes.

That happened years before. Ah. But this is the window we are looking at, 97, 98, till now. So is Regenda? Does he have the record? No, but he is close. Only one other player since 97-98 has scored a hat-trick with less time on ice in one game. Wow. I would never know that. No clue. No clue. Some things I remember, they pop into my head. That one was not one of them.

The player in question, Ian LaPierre. Oh, really? In October of 2000, as a member of the L.A. Kings, scored three against the Boston Bruins, with a total ice time of 8 minutes, 17 seconds. I would be going up to my coaches and saying, you need to play me more. And if I was a coach, I would be saying, hey, you can't do any better than that. That's the perfect amount of ice time.

Yes. Clearly that's all you need. And we expect that production every game in your eight minutes. Yeah. So Orgenda was second, third, Zach Perise in 2012, Taylor Pryett. 2012, like that was Parise at the height of his powers. Like, I got to go back.

The Devils went to the Stanley Cup final that year. Yeah, it was that season. Yeah, March of 2012, so they were just gearing up. I don't know, I got to go back and look if he left the game early with injury. Yeah, that's a weird one. 936, three goals. Taylor Piot, three goals in 946, and Nikita Filatov with the Columbus Blue Jackets, three goals in nine minutes, 59 seconds.

Holy cow. Like that's, this whole thing is the, I, I never would have guessed that there were five guys that did it in less than 10 minutes. Yeah. That's, uh, great question. Very impressive. Yeah. Thank you for that. Okay.

It's the first time someone from Slovakia has brought something good to the pod. Oh, and not a moment too soon, Yvon. That's right. We needed that. We needed some proper representation from Slovakia. Great stuff. Thanks for listening. Yeah, that's great. I can only imagine how productive you can be in nine minutes and 11 seconds, because Lord knows nothing gets done with Dom in that time period. Okay, Alex from BC, hello, fine gentlemen. Like many of your listeners, your pod is part of my daily work week as I primarily listen. on my sea bus commute to and from North Vancouver across the Vancouver Harbor. With recent discussions about typical work routines and travel, what do you listen to when you're on the move?

True Crime Podcasts, satellite radio, maybe Elliott still listens to AM Radio. Thanks and go, abs go. So I try to read an actual book on planes, but you know what I've started? doing a lot more lately. I just finished a whole book of them. Logic problems. Really? Okay.

Tell me more. I love logic problems. I always did when I was a kid. And I liked them now. They make me think. So I'll take there. You can buy books of logic problems. Like some of them are mixed in with Sudoku and a couple of other games.

But I really like logic problems. Are you familiar with them? I'm familiar with Sudoku, but logic problems? So basically a logic problem is they'll give you maybe. So for example, one of them that I did recently was they give you the names of five students in a class. And they'll give you five subjects. And they'll give you a grid of five class times. And they'll give you about seven or eight sentences.

And from those seven or eight sentences, you have to figure out which student takes what class at what times. So let's just say that two of the kids are Mark and Stephanie, okay? They'll give you something like Mark takes math, Stephanie does not take English. And there'll be about seven or other sentences and between all of that. And they give you a grid. So you can mark an X so you know that Mark takes math class. so you put a checkmark in the math,

and therefore nobody else takes math at a certain time. Or nobody else takes math. It depends on if the students have multiple classes or you're just trying to figure out one particular class. But you'll also know that Stephanie does not take English. So you put an ax through Stephanie in English. And basically you keep eliminating spots until you know who takes what at what time.

And I love those things. I love them. So if you ever see, see me on a plane and I'm not like actually writing something or working on something. I'll either be reading a book or sleeping because I definitely do sleep with my mouth open. You know, getting fed bacon into it by you or David Amber, Kevin. It's I'm either reading a book or I'm reading or I'm doing a logic problem likely. Nice.

And when you're on the go on the car. Do you have a favorite thing to listen to? Sometimes I do listen to sports radio. Like I do listen to some of the shows that are on there. So that's definitely true. I do do that. I do try to listen to music. Sometimes I just need to unwind and listen to music.

There's a podcast right now, Jeff Pearlman, the former Sports Illustrated writer, has a podcast where he talks about. And it's great. It's in 20-minute bursts. And it's about some of the stories and people he's covered over the years. And like, the first one I heard, there's a podcast about the Dallas Cowboys. And there's a story about Michael Irvin in there.

That's pretty crazy. So that's how I, Brian Spear actually told me about it. And I listen to that one. And I do listen to some. I do try to find like current events podcasts. Like if there's a big event. worldwide, I try to find a podcast that will talk about, okay, what's happening. And I don't try to find the typical one.

Like sometimes I try to find one with people who live in that part of the world. I want to hear what somebody on the ground has to say about as much as they can, what's happening in that area. So I do listen to current events podcasts. You? Yeah. Interesting. Most of my book reading is done typically before I go to bed at night.

and then when I'm on the go, either in the car, on planes, a lot of it is podcasts usually around whichever game I'm working next. So maybe it's something about, you know, I do a lot of Toronto, of course, but whoever they may be playing and to get more of a sense of what the conversations going on and that particular market that week to try to have a better understanding going into the broadcast on a Saturday or a Wednesday or what have you. Definitely there's a music. opponent. I love Pop 2K on Series XM or 90s on 9. That stuff can, it scratches me right where I

it's, I have to tell you. And I also like, I do like, I'll go for a walk usually Saturday mornings before going to the rig for the morning skate. And I like listening to the bridge with Peter Mansbridge. Their Friday episode, Good Talk, just to get kind of a roundup of, okay, what's kind of the big stories going on, particularly in Canada. That I like also. So it kind of, it's a good mix. Good mix. Yeah.

There has to be times you do things or listen to things that aren't hockey. Yes. Yes, because it can be a lot. Can be a lot. And Alex, we appreciate you including us in your daily commutes. Yes, thank you, Alex. In the BC Lower Mainline. Okay, one more here, Fridge.

You ready? Yes. Dear Mr. Friedman. This is already starting. I write to you today on behalf of the N-A-R-U, the North American, the Nauru, the North American Raccoon Union. Oh, God. Our informants have indicated that you may have significant contacts and influence in the National Hockey League.

We also understand that the NHL may soon expand once again. We raccoons have been in an especially foul mood since 1997 due to the demise of our beloved Baltimore bandits. We yearn to see those bandits again, whether it's in Baltimore, Belleville, Boise, or Birmingham. location is not an issue, as we are everywhere. Yes, yes, that is definitely true. We just want to see that sweater and that sweet raccoon logo back on the ice. This is where you come in. We strongly encourage you, Mr. Friedman, to make this happen.

Our intel has identified a saying you like from your grandmother, Gord Stelich. Quote, if you're going to stink, God laughs. Well, if you stink with this, the raccoons will not be laughing. Your grill will be the least of your concerns. We know where you live. Yes, you do. If my grandmother's Gorge-Tellick, I got a lot more terrible problems than I thought. If you're going to stink on the road, God laughs.

That's fantastic. I forgot about the Baltimore bandits. I think they were briefly the Anaheim Mighty Ducks American League farm team for two seasons, the first year of which Dwayne Norris, father of Josh Norris of the Sabres, led the team in scoring. I remember them as Washington's American Hockey League team. Well, maybe it was a combo because I just looking at those rosters. They move around a bit, right? Yeah, but they were only around for, at least as the bandits, they only existed for two seasons.

Because there were a lot of players there. I could be getting that wrong. The HL team for the capitals might have been the Baltimore Skip Jax. Oh, yes. And then, because then they ended up in Portland, in Portland, Maine, because that's where Barry Trots coached. Ah, okay. Yeah, because there are a lot of players that ended up playing for Anaheim

that were on those teams for those two years they were there. Well, Atlanta Bandits kind of has a nice ring to it. but you never know. Arizona bandits. The Arizona bandits. Yeah. It makes perfect sense. Well, we're all counting on you, Friege.

Yeah, I got a lot of influence on this one. The Houston Bandits. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That's very good. Okay. That was the thought line. 1833, 311, 321, 32, 32.

If you would like to leave a voicemail or you can email us at 32 thoughts, at sportsnet.com. One final break. And we'll wrap up this edition of the podcast on the other side. Okay, some programming notes for you here. Before we wrap up, on Tuesday night, the Edmonton Oilers are in Nashville.

If you would like to tune into that one, you can do so coast to coast in Canada. It will be available nationally on Sportsnet 1-8-Eastern 6 Mountain Time from Bridgestone Arena. Scotia Bank Wednesday night hockey this week. The Ottawa Senators try to get things rolling again. They are in New York to face another struggling squad. The Rangers.

Rangers and Sends, 7.30 Eastern, 430 Pacific. The pregame show on at 7ET with David Amber and company who set up that one coast to coast on Sportsnet. The next time you will hear from us, we will be boots on the ground in Moncton, New Brunswick,

for our live show this Thursday in downtown Moncton. It should be a lot of fun, some live guests involved. The audience is always great. The participation with them, we cannot wait to get out to the Maritimes for a few days. Take in the hospitality over there and get to know plenty of rabbit hockey fans that we know populate throughout New Brunswick and all through the Maritimes in Atlantic, Canada.

Okay, taking us out today, a track from Mindflip, before he was earning gold plaques and crossing 100 million streams, Mindflip was an 18-year-old in Germany, rapping in late-night ciphers with kids from military families. Moving often as the son of an officer meant always starting fresh, finding new crews, and adapting on the fly, a skill that shaped the artist he would become. That constant movement turned into momentum.

Back in Canada, Mindflip built a career without a label, stacking winds through pure grind. His music carries that same spirit, motivational but unfiltered, sharp but relatable, a voice for anyone chasing greatness. on their own terms. Every release pushes the story further. Proving Independence isn't a setback.

It's the blueprint. This track, along with all the others we've featured this year, can be found on the 32 Thoughts, the music playlist on Spotify. Here's Mind Flip and My Wave on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Have a great week. To my time. I just want that real love. A good karma.

I already had enough. A dead drama. See me and my brothers up. That's what I want. I love my city. I got it on lot. The streets rolling with me. Now we're going on top.

But I ain't going to gritty. I know what I got. Won't change for the money. Be somebody I'm not. Now we step into the sunshine. The drink pours. Let me got a party all night. For damn sure.

I was born to have a good time. And break doors. If you're seeing in your money, you can have it is yours. Like, oh. Yes, I really had a little. A little bit of, yes I really had to let me lose a little bit of control. That's stressed look.

Try to muffle them far until my head you. Every second something pop on my schedule. I'll be running on stop till the next show. Drop away. I surrender, I'm gonna let the things slow today. Meditated let the universe show the way. I won't let them in a minute make a day go to waste. I'm stuck in the loop and feel lonely.

Yeah, I know what it do. Yes, I really had to, yes, I really had to let go. Lose a little bit, I know. I found I found if I know