32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Twelve Carat Rib Injury

Episode Date: September 19, 2022

You have to tip your hat to Post Malone. Jeff and Elliotte talk toughness to kick off the podcast before getting into some players who are currently unsigned including Nicolas Hague (4:10), Rasmus Sandin (5:55), Sonny Milano (9:50) and Jason Robertson (10:30). They also get into team identity (12:00), the fallout from the Blake Wheeler news (18:20) and contract talks around Mathew Barzal (31:10).The guys then catch up with Connor McDavid (1:03:10), Quinn Hughes (33:00), Jack Hughes (49:20) and Jonathan Huberdeau (1:17:50) in Vegas at the Player Media Tour.Music Credit: Wunderhorse - Leader of the PackListen to the full single hereThis podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.Audio Credits: Global TV and Sportsnet.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.

A couple golf trips with Jimmy up in northern Michigan. With your dad? Yeah. You call your dad Jimmy? Well, I'm not going to call him dad to you. That's right. Okay. I could say my dad or anything.

Daddy took us up. Yeah. Remember, you know, daddy took us up. A lot once again on today's edition of 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Merrick Friedman and Delic along with you. You will hear from the Hughes brothers, Jack and Quinn. You'll hear from Jonathan Huberto you will hear from Connor McDavid also want to remind you 32tour.com for all the information our tour our Ontario tour kicks off Thursday in London with our friends hosted by Boston Pizza so very much looking forward to that

that gets underway on Thursday London is is Thursday. Markham is Friday. And our tour is underway. Elliot, I want to get to some fallout from the Winnipeg Jets situation. But up first, maybe some quick hitters here. A couple of quick updates as we get set for training camp. Nick Haig, Vegas. Rasmus Sandin, Toronto. And what's happening with Sonny Milano?

First of all, Jeff, before we get to the news part of this podcast, I wanted to dedicate today's edition of 32 Thoughts to Post Malone. Wow. How about that, eh? That's tough. You want to talk hockey tough. You talk Post Malone. Falls through the stage in St. Louis, cracks three ribs, and finishes the concert. Yeah, man. That's a guy who could dress on a Stanley Cup winner. I am incredibly impressed. You tell me that's not a Craig Berube type performer right there. You tell me that somewhere Craig Berube wasn't smiling

and nodding with approval for each. I was surprised he didn't get at least a PTO. The Blues sent out a great tweet about it but i can't believe if the blues were smart they would have signed him to a like a one-day contract right away that would have been a nice little bit of show business that's one of the things that's always been true about the st louis blues just as a sidebar too and this goes back to their their origins in 1967 when you know six became 12. That was a team, not so much now because nobody really has many now.

But that was a team that always has sluggers. That was a team that always had tough hockey players. Now, if I'm not mistaken and I'm doing this off the top of my head, the Flyers fans can tell me if I'm wrong, but I think it was after a game against the blues where ed snyder said we need to have more tough guys than everybody else it was actually i mean st louis would run every single team out of the building they were before there were the broad street bullies there were the st louis blues and it was i think it was one incident specifically that put Ed Snyder over the top.

And it was Noel Picard when he went really hard and really tough at Claude LaForge. And then that was it. And Snyder was like, no more, we're not going to get pushed around by the St. Louis Blues anymore. And then all of a sudden they started drafting and trading for sluggers and they became the Broad Street Bullies. But St. Louis was a team that would welcome you to St. Louis, beat you up, take your per diem, kick sand in your face, and then send you on your way. Before the Broad Street Bullies, they were the original bullies in the NHL. That's how that team was constructed. I remember them also, and I'm really dating myself here. I had some family members who were big fans of Eddie Shaq,

and they told me the only time he ever really got himself beaten up badly was by the Blues. So post Malone, he fits. No question about it. Okay, so let's talk about some news. So there were four big restricted free agent defensemen, none of whom had any real rights to arbitration or anything else. So Mikey Anderson signed first, one year, one million.

And there's a sneaking suspicion that the Kings and Anderson kind of have an idea of what a long-term deal might look like. So that's point number one. Then Sean Dursey signs with the Kings for two years at 1.7 million two million in the second year so they're done and that leaves as you mentioned Nick Hague and Rasmus Sandin now Nick Hague was skating in Vegas with some of his future teammates while we were there I heard he was skating there so I kind of thought that that meant that maybe this was getting close. But then I had a couple of people tell me, not so fast. Don't assume anything there.

So it'll be interesting to see if he's there at the start of camp this year or he has to go make other plans to skate. You know, the tough thing there with Vegas is cap. They've got a really tough cap situation uh Laurent Barsois is coming back from injury no guarantee he's there for the start of the season I think there were actually going to be people that would be surprised if he was we'll see and the other one too there is uh Nolan Patrick now I had heard a rumor in the summer that Nolan Patrick was going to retire and I was told that's not the summer that Nolan Patrick was going to retire. And I was

told that's not the case. Uh, Nolan Patrick has a salary for this year of a 1.2 million. There's no point in him retiring. Like he has a salary to collect and you know, why not? You know, I don't really want to editorialize other than, you know, I wish him the best, but I think there are a lot of people who would be surprised to see him play this year. And they wonder about his future too. Hopefully everything works out for him. But they have a lot of cap issues here that they have to work their way through,

particularly since they're going to need Brassois during the season. I don't know how this is going to work. But like I said, I was optimistic when I heard that he was skating in Vegas last week but then I had some people say to me don't assume anything in terms of that means something's close yet as for Sandin I don't know that that's changed at all you know like I said a couple weeks ago I really don't think Toronto has a desire to trade Sandin. I think they look

at their depth chart over the next couple of years. Basically, every defenseman, aside from Lilligren and Riley, come off the cap pretty soon. So I think they have a desire to keep him. The one thing a couple of teams and even a couple of agents were saying to me, You know, the one thing a couple of teams and even a couple of agents were saying to me, that you take a look at the two deals the Kings did, and those are team-friendly deals for now. They say to me, it's a bad omen for Haig. It's a bad omen for Sandin. Unless somebody's coming out here with an offer sheet out of nowhere, they're in tough spots. So we'll see if any of this changes.

But at this point in time, it doesn't look like anything's changed in either one of those cases. You know, I think we're all trying to figure out sort of what the parameters of a Rasmus Sandin deal could look like. I'll just tell you, I'll tell you what it feels like to me. It feels like a high end of Adam Boakfest, which is 2.6 and a low end of Timothy Lilligren,

which is 1.4. Like is end of Timothy Liljegren, which is 1.4. Like is the ultimate number somewhere in between those two? It is kind of what it feels like. Again, again, this is just what it feels like to this guy behind this microphone. Does it feel the same way to you? I'm glad you mentioned Bulkvist because I had heard throughout the summer

earlier in the year when Bakvist signed the deal that that was the guy that was being used as the comparable and I had thought that too I've heard the same rumors as everybody else that the Maple Leafs wanted Sandin and Lilligren to sign the same day at two times 1.4 Lilligren said yes and Sandin said no I have also heard that the contract that's actually been kind of the conversation in this one is a different Columbus defenseman it's not Boakvist it's actually been Jake Bean and Jake Bean is on a three-year contract at 2.3 and still i have heard from a couple of different places that that contract has come up as a comparable and i've just been told that toronto doesn't want to go there so the two deals that have happened from la are very team friendly and you know what happens we get down

to this and you know the players they want to be in camp you know they want to play i sometimes the agents will say to them hey you got to be willing at least to take this into camp if you really want to stretch the best deal out and you know some people get mad when agents suggest that i think it's an agent's job to suggest that i know when i've been represented by people before, they've asked me to do things I really don't like, but I understand why they asked me to do them. I haven't always agreed, but you have to at least propose it. I think it's harder when you're somebody who's really trying to grow. Like, Dursey had a hell of a year last year. Anderson's a

really good player. I thought he had a heck of a year last year. But those guys are still young in their careers, and I can understand them saying, you know, I'm not ready to do this yet. I think Sandin's a really interesting one because I think the team really is still big on him. He had a rough year last year. Then he got hurt, and he couldn't get back in the lineup for the playoffs. He's been a little disappointed about the way the defense looks in front of him. He had a rough year last year. Then he got hurt and he couldn't get back in the lineup for the playoffs.

He's been a little disappointed about the way the defense looks in front of him. And I think what the Maple Leafs are going to do to him is say, prove it. And, you know, I think Hague is kind of ahead of those other three guys. But as you said, they've got a terrible cap situation. You know, the Sandin one to me is the Leafs are going to say, look, we're not bending here and, you know, we'll see where this ends up. Sonny Milano, what's happening here? I think a lot of people are surprised

he hasn't found a home yet. Well, I've heard he's going to do a PTO in Calgary and it might get announced by the time this podcast comes down. But as we taped this on Sunday night, I had another team tell me they're hearing he's going to Calgary and on a PTO. And that's an interesting one. I think that's a good gamble for the Flames. I think it's a good gamble for a lot of people.

You know, Milano's a really, really talented guy. And if Sutter can find the key here, that could be a big one for Calgary. Treleving has said he's been looking. And so maybe that shouldn't surprise us at all. Now you mentioned the idea of taking your situation into camp. And I wonder if this is what's happening now with Jason Robertson. If we're looking at a situation where the deal with the Dallas stars doesn't get done before camp begins?

I just heard there wasn't much going on here. I'm so careful of making proclamations because everything can change with one phone call. Robertson's in a bit of a different place than those other DR. He's more established. He just had a 41-goal season. You know, to me, if the 8x8s to players like Thomas and Kairou make Robertson think he's worth more than that, which he probably is, you know, it's going to be tougher for Dallas to do this deal. You know, I sat down with someone from another team, and we were looking at Dallas's cap situation.

They could do like an eight and a half to nine million dollar deal. He also said I could see why they wouldn't. Because, you know, that means you're taking up all your available cap space and you're ensure that Hudobin's going somewhere, right? I still think that there's a solution to this which is three times seven three times seven and a half but as we're sitting here on sunday night i had no reason to believe it was close what are the stories we're following hey by the way did you see uh did you see those visuals of chris stewart teaching uh philadelphia flyers rookies the the finer points of the old fistic arts.

Of pugilism. Yeah. Honestly, Jeff, I'm surprised when I see that in this day and age because it becomes such a lightning rod. And I thought it was really interesting, especially because when we interviewed Cam Atkinson in Vegas, one of the things they talked about was the Flyers said, we're not getting pushed around this year anymore.

Yeah, I mean, people think the Broad Street Bullies, right? And no, I mean, let's be realistic. You know, at the era of hockey and how young the league is getting. And obviously, you know, I look at a team like the Islanders, their fourth line, you know. You know when those guys are on the ice because they they can hit, they grind and they can score goals. And you bring a guy like Deloria, who's going to be playing with probably McEwen. Both of those guys are, you know, arguably a couple of the toughest guys in the league. You're going to know when those guys are on the ice and

we're not going to get pushed around next year. And, you know, going into these games, especially on the road and towards the set. And I continue to say it, people are going to know when the Flyers are going to come to the building. And that's what you want. That's what the Blue Jackets, I mean, you knew it was going to be a hard game. And I think getting the identity back that way, just with hard work and in your face, making it hard for your opponents, but also getting to the dirty areas to score goals. Torts' big philosophy is protect our Blues.

Make it hard for people to get in front of our crease, you know, towards his big, his philosophy is protect our blues, make it hard for people to get to in front of our crease, block shots, but also make it hard for the opponent, get in their crease and score dirty goals and get your nose, you know, in there. And we'll get back to it. We started this podcast, right? Talking about the Flyers identity and the blues. And in this day and age, I think we're all very sensitive about this stuff i'm not anti-fighting but i also recognize what we've learned and the damage that can be done and i'm just you know i remember years ago i was represented a long time ago by gord kirk and Gord Kirk when he was an NHL player agent he brought in Mike Marson who was a very very tough player and was long retired yeah and he would teach Kirk's prospects how to defend themselves how to how to fight and he

did it with martial arts training and all this stuff too and Marson's comment was you don't have to go looking for it, but if it happens, you have to know how to defend yourself. And I didn't see the Flyers game the other night against the Rangers. They beat the Rangers prospects 5-1 on Saturday, but I heard one of the Flyers players was pushed around a little bit and that's why they did it. They said, okay, if this is going to happen happen if you're going to get involved you better know how to defend yourself you know i look at chris and also obviously we work with anthony and i just wonder if chris and anthony went toe-to-toe who would win and of course i'm

going to say anthony because i sit next to him i don't see chris so i don't have to justify that answer to him and i understand it if it's gonna happen you have to know how to defend yourself yes just in this day and age when i when this and i'm not a squeamish guy like i'm not necessarily anti-fighting but i just recognize in this day and age people are much more sensitive to that than they were say 10 20 30 years ago the the only thing that visually was a little bit eyebrow raising for me was normally when you see this it's from one player to another you know usually it's you know one of the the older guys who knows how to scrap who's teaching the rookies how to do it and it's player to player yeah it's never someone from the coaching

staff or in chris stewart's case from player development i'd be foolish to say that this you know this stuff hasn't happened for years you have a tough guy in player development hey can you teach me the finer points of how to do something like this you know like a guy like brad stobbets for example you know is one of the assistant coaches with the with the the Sarnia Sting. I'm guessing he's probably teaching some of those kids how to defend themselves in junior hockey. Should someone older and stronger start to pick on them? But that was the only thing that looked a little bit unique to me because normally it's, if they were Nick Delorier doing that, okay. Or if that were Zach McEwen doing that with the rookies, we look at it and go, okay, that's a

player to player thing. The only thing that was different, it was someone from player development. That was the only thing that looked a little, again, I'm not going to pass judgment on it, it just looked different. Don't forget, I don't even think you're allowed to have your veterans in camp yet, right? Oh, no, no, I'm just saying normally when you have a situation where there's one kid who's learning how to fight, it's a veteran from the team, not from the coaching staff

or from player development. But I looked into it and i was told specifically that there was one flyer pushed around yeah and they just said these guys have to know how to defend themselves in case it does happen and you know what the other thing i thought about last year was the arizona anaheim thing right of course where one thing they said to troy terry was if you're gonna go in that way, you could get punched. I understand why people are going to look at that and not like it. Like I wish myself when I was a kid, I had done some kind of self-defense training.

I'm going to start doing it with my son because there were a couple of times I got in fights that I got drawn into. And sometimes I did okay. And sometimes I did not so okay. So I always kind of wish that I knew how to defend myself a little bit better. One surefire way to defend yourself, Elliot? I always remember one thing. What's that?

Five on two. That's always a good way of doing it. By the way, how about Atkinson? There's another clip I really love from his interview where we asked him if it's true that Tortorella sent them out an email saying, you better be in the city by September 1st, you better be ready for a hard camp. What did you say? I can't confirm or deny, but the boys are excited, and we know that we have a lot to prove,

and I think we're going to prove a lot of people wrong. Yeah, I think that was pretty much a confirmation right there, Frej. I want to get to some of the follow-up from the Blake Wheeler situation we talked about last week on the podcast where we talked to Mark Shifley, and no longer the captain with the Winnipeg Jets. And listen, we had about last week on the podcast where we talked to Mark Shifley and you know no longer the captain with the Winnipeg Jets and listen we had Shifley on the podcast talking about how he'll still look at Wheeler like you know he's I'm paraphrasing here you look at Wheeler the exact same way he's still a leader in that room he's still a captain to a lot of guys

you know it does sort of wink at the conversation about how hot you run your room and how demanding you can be as a leader in the room and i've always thought that there's a fine line between running it hot and bordering on bullying and no one really knows that line other than you feel it when it's happening and we've seen it from time to time with various players like on the one hand you want to have players that run the room hot because you want players to be accountable. You want players to lead. You want to show younger players what is acceptable and what is not. But at a certain point, too, you can really lose a lot of players along the way. What are your thoughts on that?

This is something I had a lot of conversations about on the weekend. a lot of conversations about on the weekend because if you ask about any of the teams that have won Stanley Cups, for example, we've talked about this now, Jeff, that Colorado-Tampa Stanley Cup final last year, there was no room for passengers. And if there was a passenger, I don't think they could have played.

We've talked about the Tampa room and other players have talked about the Tampa room. It runs itself and those players are incredibly demanding of themselves and each other. You look at Boston, which was a great team for a long time. That room led by Chara and Bergeron and then others marshand create shoes back they were incredibly demanding of themselves and each other and the thing that was really interesting to me about the jet situation in particular is that for a long time you know the jets were incredibly happy with their room and there were other teams that looked at the Jets' room. Remember when the Jets were signing guys like Wheeler to eight-year deals

and Bufflin to eight-year deals and Shifley to an eight-year deal? Nobody thought the Jets would be able to sign players like that. And teams said, wow, they must have a really good culture that they've got players who are willing to stay like that. And, you know, we did an interview with Shifley and Wheeler together at the all-star game in San Jose, and they talked about their dedication to fitness and things like that, about how they studied the, the TB12, the Tom Brady thing. And I had a couple of teams say to me that, you know, they were like, I wish we had a little more of that. The thing that happens is,

and this is what a few people said to me, the most difficult thing is, and you kind of alluded to it is you have to be demanding, but also inclusive and welcoming. And this is what, what everyone almost said. It's a lot easier to do that when you're winning as opposed to losing like there have been cultures that have been really good

cultures but when you start to lose they go sideways and you know in winnipeg we've talked a lot you and i about how when bufflin left the dynamic really changed and i think that really had a big thing to do with it but in winnipeg when you're winning everybody talks about what a great culture you have because you're demanding and all of a sudden you start to lose and all of a sudden people start to talk about are you demanding or are you getting unrealistic are you going over the line? And Winnipeg is the one we're talking about right now, but it happens all over the league and it happens all over sports. And one of the great stories I heard about Patrice Bergeron,

for example, at the 2019 Stanley Cup final, I heard a story about Bergeron that I thought was really special. So Bergeron played his 1,000th game on February 5th, 2019 in a 3-1 win over the New York Islanders at home. And one of the Bruins was in the lineup that night was Trent Frederick. That was Trent Frederick's first NHL season. It was actually his fourth NHL game. And I heard that sometime after that game was over, Bergeron gave out gifts to everybody who was in the lineup that night

and all the Bruins who were kind of around. And he walked up to Frederick at some point and said, hey, I just wanted to make sure, did you get your gift for being in that lineup that night? And that's Trent Frederick's fourth NHL game. He probably doesn't think Bergeron knows anything about him. And I think that's a small thing, but a huge thing. Now, I'll say this. I think, like we've said, I think there were a lot of talks

that didn't go that far, obviously, about Wheeler getting traded this offseason. I think the Jets wanted to see it, and I think Wheeler wanted to see it, and obviously it didn't happen. It is my opinion that the Jets had made a decision a while ago that they were going to make this change, and the question was, would Wheeler go with it willingly, or would they have to step in and say, no, we're doing this?

And I'm not surprised the way that Wheeler reacted the way he did. You know, there was some surprise, I think. You know, to have kind of your first conversation with a new coach was surprising, but I've had time to let it sink in. So, you know, he gave me a uh little headway so it's uh you know I had time to process it. I don't know how much you want to share of your reaction but you know he says he's going to do this by committee are you set out to buy for an A or how are you going to respond to this? I don't need a letter on my jersey you know I think there's a

time in my career where that validation was important to me. I don't need that anymore. You know, I'm really looking forward to watching, you know, a lot of the guys that I've had a privilege watching kind of grow up, step into sort of an expanded role. And, you know, if you think that because of this, I'm just going to fade into the back and and not be a leader on this team you know you're sorely mistaken but in just in conversations you know around the league it was just interesting how it changes in a few years from winnipeg has this great culture to now Winnipeg has to smash its culture and start all over again.

And sometimes the line is tough to figure out, as you say. Sometimes it's, are you demanding but not welcoming? Sometimes you move from, well, we were winning and now we're losing. Sometimes you get stale. But I do think it went sideways in Winnipeg. I don't think it's all Blake Wheeler's fault, but I think when you're the captain, you take an outsized amount of responsibility and you know the rules going in.

You're the captain. That's what happens. And Jeff, I just think in five years or how many years you ever want to say it, the Jets went from everybody looking at it and say, this is the way it should be, even from outside to we've got to change it. And a few teams said to me, it's amazing how quick it goes from one side to the other

right and you're seeing it play itself out right now in uh in in manitoba and that that to me we thought they're going to be a fascinating team in the off season and they have been not for the reasons we thought we thought this was going to be the great stripping down of the winnipeg jets but the bonus news caught people by surprise the The Wheeler news last week caught people by surprise. I really do believe that we should be poised to be surprised this season by what happens in Winnipeg and probably not make any assumptions about what they're planning on doing. You know, the other thing too is I think bonus is the kind of coach

that can handle this here's why i agree with you because and i i heard these stories from people coming out of dallas when rick bonus took over from jim montgomery it was a really tough situation as we all know and a really sensitive time for the dallas stars we all understand that and there were times where dallas played great and there were times where Dallas played great and there were times when they went on horrible losing streaks, right? We used to make the, you know,

the toilet seat at the stag and dough joke, like they're up and down and up and down. Like who are the Dallas Stars? And there was one losing streak that they were going through. And you could see after the game, it was a perfect recipe and the perfect moment for a lot of coaches to go into the dressing room you know kick the garbage can you know light everybody up

Roman candle everybody because he could just see it and you could feel it the tension had built up to that fevered pitch and you just got the man, I don't want to be in that room because bonus is going to explode. And as people told me, he did the opposite. He got a chair and he sat in the middle of the room and he said, really calm, something to the effect of, we all need to talk about this. And I want you to get it all out in the room right now. Whoever wants to talk, I want everybody to talk about this right now

and i'm gonna listen you guys talk that's why i think he's the right guy for this that's why i think he can handle this because he has that emotional maturity not just to react instinctively where most would just most coaches might come in just house on fire and lose it because it might feel cathartic for a couple of minutes and then you realize oh crap i've done even more damage bonus has been around long enough to know when to push and when to back off he's seen enough players he knows enough players he's he's been in enough rooms that's why I think Bonus is uniquely qualified for this job. Yeah, I agree with you on that.

I think he's blunt and he's honest and he's fair. You know what another player said to me about this was? He said that we're talking about leadership and it was really interesting. Someday I'd love to find a guest who will talk about this, like maybe a player wife or something like that. But he said to me that if you're the captain and you're married or have a serious partner, she's a huge part of the group, right?

She helps arrange all the parties. She makes sure that all the wives are comfortable or all the partners are comfortable. It's a huge, huge role. And if it's not done properly, it can cause a lot of problems. Yep. This player told me a few years ago, he played in a team where the captain's wife was very close with the coach's wife.

And that made people really uncomfortable. Someday we'll find a guest to talk about that. I think, I think that would be a very interesting conversation because as you know, Jeff, happy wife, happy life. Yep. So playing is hard enough. And you know, if you're, if you're on the road half the year and your, your family's not happy, you've, you've got a lot of problems.

So that was the other thing that another player talked to me about was you've got to make sure that in your leadership group, you also have the partners of the players who understand how important their roles are. By the way, Jeff, before we move on to the interviews that are part of this pod, first of all, there was a lot of good reaction to our Saturday four-pack of Shifley, McKinnon, Barzell, and Crosby. Yeah. Particularly Barzell being insulted that I said he was wearing Chelsea boots.

That was so good. It was so good. It was so good. It was like he was disgusted. He was disgusted at you, Elliot. It was perfect tone. But one thing I just wanted to say is I got a call from someone on Sunday, earlier today,

and they said they think that the Islanders and Barzell have begun talking here. And he said, I'm not giving you any more because the moment you say this on the podcast uh lou lamorello will have the cia out looking for the leaks but he said to me they think they've begun talking about it i don't know what the likelihood is but the conversations are underway. They're sitting on a gold mine in Matthew Barzell,

both on and off the ice for each, as we've talked about. When we return, you'll hear from the Hughes brothers, Jack and Quinn. You'll hear from Jonathan Huberto of the Calgary Flames and Connor McDavid, the other half of the Battle of Alberta,

him, of course, of the Edmonds and Oilers. 32 Thoughts, the podcast continues. You know, Elliot, when you make a list of the best skaters in the NHL, the Hughes boys, Jack and Quinn, are right up amongst the top players in the NHL when you're making your best skaters list. And also, interestingly enough, when you're making a list of the best interviews in the NHL, we're starting to find out now that the Hughes boys, and we'll find out what Luke is like when he enters the NHL once he gets comfortable, the Hughes boys are up around the top of a lot of lists as well. We're going to get to the Battle of Alberta pair here,

Conor McDavid and Jonathan Huberto. But up first on the podcast, Quinn and Jack, the Hughes brothers on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Enjoy. Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes joining us now. One word, Quinn, to describe your summer. I said, Quinn Hughes, describe your summer. I said, Quinn Hughes, describe your summer. One word. What's that word? Fun sounds bad, but I guess I'd say fun. We had a fun summer. Okay. First of all, who's we and what did you do? Me and my friends in Michigan,

my brothers. I don't know. We trained, we golfed, we went on a couple trips. We went to New York, went to Hawaii. Yeah, it was it was fun we surfed in hawaii first time uh doing that it's a lot harder it's harder than it looks man like it looks hard dude the waves like hard to be getting out there's the hardest part it's so hard to get out there like the waves just keep pushing you back so it was fun we're out there for a couple hours every day and yeah it's good see that's a true vancouverite they love going to hawaii that's where they go on vacation a lot of canadians down there yeah eastern people we go to florida the western people they go to arizona or hawaii yeah sure so that's good we're in new york i got like

20 cousins and my grandfather down there so we went there after the season and we went to the hamptons for the fourth july that was fun as well so what's it like golfing with the hughes is not that fun like my dad jimmy he he won't talk you won't get a word out of him like really yeah he's game seven he's game seven he's down and he's trying to beat us it's crazy man like uh it's fun though it's competitive we enjoy ourselves we just got into a nice course in michigan and it's actually uh right on our lake so we can drive our boat or walk over, and we just hop over. We'll hop over every night at like 7, and the sun doesn't go down until 10 in Michigan.

We'll just play like 13 holes, really peaceful. Are you the best golfer, or who's the best golfer? This is a touchy subject because last week, our last round was on a Tuesday, and we were like, all right, this is the last round of the summer. Whoever wins this is the champion of the house and the best golfer for the year. And I won it. I beat everyone. And then magically, we were like, oh, let's play Thursday.

Who said that? Well, I wanted to play too. I'm not going to say. But it just opened up that everyone was done packing or whatever. And we played Thursday. And Jack shot the lights out and beat me. So he's the champ. No, but the thing is, this is what you have to do. Because I remember when I was a kid, I entered in a badminton tournament, and I lost in the final.

And the kid who beat me said, you want to play some more? Because I had fun in the match. I go, are we putting the championship on the line? He goes, no, no, no. I won the championship, but we can still play. So you could have pulled that stuff. Oh, I did pull that card. I said, what we putting the championship on the line? He goes, no, no, no. I won the championship, but we can still play. So you could have pulled that stuff. Oh, I did pull that card. I said, like, what do you mean?

There can't be two championships. Like, what happens if I won the one championship, you won the other championship? We're both champions. No, it's like whoever won the last round is what it is. I thought I was going to win. I played good, too. He just outplayed me.

Oh, man, that would be tough because he's probably gonna let me remind you about it all season it's all good though i'm gonna try to get out and van golf a bit too this year be good nice chance to watch your brother luke played the juniors yeah i did yeah he was really good i thought those games start late though now i know my parents feel like watching me um but uh yeah like 10, 10, 10.30 starts, it's tough, especially when you're working out like 7, 8 a.m. And we watched.

It was fun. It was disappointing they lost that early, though. And he got hurt. He's still not even skating yet. He's getting better. I think he's going to start up this week. But yeah, I really liked his tournament. I thought they had a good team, too.

Those one games are tough sometimes. Anything can happen, man. Yeah. Anything can happen. So you got out to vancouver for a day yeah before he had to come back for this yeah i was telling you like i had so much stuff i didn't want to you know carry it here and then go to van so yeah i went for a day said a lot of the boys and said i'll see you later i said where are you going back to michigan i I said, yeah, enough. You guys ready? But it was good. The thing that you said, I didn't remember.

So Brock Besser drives 32 hours to Vancouver every year? I can't remember if it's 29 or 32. I mean, at that point, though, it's a big difference. But he's got the two dogs. So yeah, he drives down. So did you notice anybody who looked particularly good or particularly out of shape or anything like that i can't yeah no everyone looks good i mean i'm really excited about the team this year i think uh we added some good players and we'll see what happens um you know bruce first camp with bruce is going to be good and um yeah it should be

competitive and everyone looks you know dialed in so it exciting. I wanted to ask you about Besser specifically. He just did a really good story with Mike Russo about where he talked about how hard last year was and you're in the room with him, you know, you know, he's not necessarily saying it in the public, but you know, how excited is the group for Besser? Like just after everything you went through last year to be able to start fresh with a clear head. No one can speak on that situation. I don't know what that feels like, but his dad was not doing well. And I think the thing with him is you see him in September and then you

leave and Duke couldn't travel, obviously. So you don't see Duke until we play Minnesota. Next time we played Minnesota was in April. And I think Brock couldn't believe, I don't see Duke until we play Minnesota. Next time we played Minnesota was in April, and I think Brock couldn't believe, I don't want to say how bad he looked, but how the situation was going. Yeah, and so that was hard on him, and that's a terrible thing. His mom's an angel and was doing amazing

and was all at home alone with Duke, and then contract year's hard enough. I dealt with that a year and a half ago or two years ago and that's enough pressure too so with those two things yeah it's really tough and I'm excited from I think he had a really good summer after everything that happened he moved homes in Minnesota yeah I think he's excited he's got his deal done he really enjoys Vancouver I know that and uh I'm excited I hope he has a really good year. I think he will.

I think him and Bruce get along nicely. And same thing with Petey, you know, like tough starts the year last year, but then the last 14 games he had 13 goals. And I think they're both just going to, you know, take that going into the year. You know, Quinn, the thing that you had the contract stuff last year too, as you mentioned, I wonder you you

sort of been around hockey all your life yeah i mean it actually came out really stupidly but like you understand the business of it i think a bit more than a lot of other guys do do you think that helped you at all yeah it did to an extent where i was like not too worried about the contract i was more worried about my game like i wasn't playing that great so i was like really uptight about my game but not about the contract if that makes sense yeah i was like all right like i ended up getting 7.85 if i get 7.5 or 8.25 like i'm still doing okay it's basically just an ego thing at that point so for me i was like all right i'm gonna be in that ballpark and i can live with that obviously and i'm happy about that for me it was just like i was dashed and i was like jesus

like i wasn't happy about that that was what was going on with my contract here yeah and another thing no one talks about is like that was when everyone dealt with this but it was covid year and i would go to the rink skate at at 10 a.m., be home by one and you weren't allowed leaving your apartment. Yeah. So I'd be by myself from one to like 11 at night and it's like American and Canada, all my family's in the U.S.

So you're just sitting in your apartment alone and that was tougher than anything for the whole season. You know, we talked a lot about that on this podcast while it was happening. And the one point that we'd always end up getting to was, this has got to be awful. Just tell how you're talking, Quinn. This has got to be awful on young players.

Other guys have families to go to. Young guys, early 20s, not attached, family elsewhere, can't go anywhere. Hockey's hard enough already. A season's long enough already. The games are tough enough already. Then to have that on top of it, and that's all young kids that are just finding their way in the NHL. hard enough already yeah a season's long enough are the games are tough enough already then to have that on top of it and that's all young kids that are just finding their way in the nhl yeah that was hard for sure and like it's hard for everyone i want to say like even though guys have

kids and families it's not hard it is hard but for the single guys and we were just sitting in our apartment all day long i our team got covid you guys had a bad case i remember the whole team yeah really bad case so i was just sitting in my apartment 14 days and i did that twice because to enter canada you do the 14 days and then i did the 14 days during the year and i actually had a great apartment i was troy stetcher's place and it was it was awesome i really enjoyed it but i was like stetch sorry i can't go back there like i spent 28 days in there like i never want to see that place again and it was a beautiful spot but i was like i gotta get out of here and he's like i totally get it it's like you know it's you know you talk about that

and i do think like in in the johnny goodrow situation this year i had guys tell me that not only in the states but in canada there were players who said, I'm going close to home. I'm going close to my family. Because if, God forbid, anything like this ever happens again, I want to be able to see them. I totally understand where you're coming from. Yeah, and your parents, no one could get over the border. Yeah.

And Jack was in New York, obviously, and I have 20 cousins there. And all my family's there and uh things were starting to open up there so he was having his fun and they're doing their thing and my parents were up there and i'm just sitting in van on my phone and then the covid happened the 14 days so our season was pushed back the islanders in pittsburgh were in game three and we were playing the calgary flames and we were both out of the playoffs. You were playing the Flames like eight times in nine days. How were those games? We call it the Mud Bowl.

It was like, what is it, in semi-pro? Yeah. What do they call the game at the end? The Flint Mud Bowl, I think that's what they're called. The Flint Mud Bowl. Man, what a reference. But we played them four times in a row. Yeah.

And obviously no fans. And the playoffs were going on. And both of us were out of the playoffs. It was like, boy. I'm surprised you didn't throw those ones. Contract here. Outdoor game. Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Commonwealth Stadium.

It is freezing. It's like the coldest day of the year, and they're playing this game. And as the story goes, and George LaRock told me this like on the record this isn't like telling tales out of school larocque told me that the habs went to the oilers and said guys it's way too cold to hit like let's not do you go back and watch the game like it's a no hitter like i would be thinking like if either you guys or calgary in those empty calorie games that are outside of contract situations that are kind of meaningless. Do you say to yourself, let's just make sure we don't get hurt here? It was tough.

Yeah, I think that's the thing. No one wants to be an idiot. But like Petey was injured. We had a couple guys out like we didn't really have anyone playing. We were losing 5-1 in the second last game of the year. Going in the third, I remember Millsy just saying, we got like, this is embarrassing. We tie the game 5-1 in the second last game of the year, going in the third. I remember Millsy just saying, this is embarrassing. We tie the game 5-5.

Imagine that. The game two is going on in the Islander series. We're mucking it out. It's 5-1. It goes to 5-5. It was like a crazy game. It goes into OT. I don't even remember who won.

I think they won 6-5, but it was a crazy game. I remember we were all like... So JT Miller stood up and said, this is embarrassing. I remember him saying to me, we were walking off here, I said, hey, get going, this is bad. And we were all trying, but it was just a loose game. It was funny, yeah. That was a weird time, man.

I remember just being really excited to get home at that point. Because we all had our expectations of what the offseason was going to look like for the vancouver canucks did you have any expectations of what rutherford alveen were we're going to do in the offseason and were you surprised what they did do yeah i had no expectations i mean like that's not my job they're going to do what they want to do and i was happy with what they did i didn't know the kuzmenko kid at all but i skated with him yesterday and he's how's he look really good really good and uh the kid from toronto too okay if yeah he's so fast and uh he's given me trouble in the past i think those are great additions lazar is going to be a

great addition because he's a great guy it's always been bow that has to go take the d-zone face off and sacrificing himself and like grinding it out in the D zone, and he's too tired to go. And I think Lazar will be able to take some of that in Millsy too, and hopefully Petey can expand as well. But, yeah, so I'm really happy with what they did. But for me personally, it was all about what I needed to work on in the summer, and they gave me things that they wanted to see from me, and that's what I was focused on.

What were those things? What did they tell you? For me, I mean, I had a good year on the ice. I was happy with how my year went, and I think they were too. on. What were those things? What did they tell you? For me, I mean, I had a good year on the ice. Like I was happy with how my year went and I think they were too. I think one of the things is for me, it's all mental. Like Roman Yossi had 110 more shots than me. And I think that's a crazy stat. So for me, just shooting a bit more, but then off the ice, trying to expand as a leader, being in the rink earlier, working out, just being a professional and trying to expand my role on the team. I think that's what they want to see. And I think I'm

ready for that. So how, like, how do you do that? Like, what are they talking about with that? Yeah. Like, it's not like something that you just change and, you know, you don't want to be, you know, be fake. Like for me, I'm always going to be who I am. So that doesn't mean I have to show up to the rink and be first to the rink, but just trying to be professional, working out during the year, keep maintaining my strength, eating healthy,

just trying to push it in any way I can to try to get an edge and then bringing my teammates along as well. I mean, I'm a younger guy, but going into my fourth year and trying to expand my role, but I think that's what they want to see. I'm actually a little surprised to hear that, Quinn, because in the limited amount of time that i've dealt with you

i've never like thought like you're quiet you don't say a lot but i can tell like you you cannot stand losing like you hate it yeah so i'm actually a little bit surprised to hear that anyone would think that you need to do more of that because you always seems that you do that yeah i do do a lot of that like i love hockey i'm always there on the ice early and last guy off the ice like i really enjoy it for their aspect i think they just want to see me try to be the best i can be in every situation in every area and i like i welcome that and like i said I want to be a leader and if I'm doing those things then I can ask my teammates to do those things and try to do the

best that you know at what they do so I think that's where it comes from as well when you hear things like the Vancouver Canucks are doing this on the Hughes Pedersen timeline what goes through your mind I don't know like I will say my first year everything was perfect it was like rainbows I went in I I did very well my second year I struggled lost like not lost my confidence but I remember going in the summer like man like I gotta dial in and like I gotta have a better year and I think I did that and but at the start of last season I was like nervous going to the year because I had no camp and I remember my first game in Edmonton, I did not play well. And Greener was on me.

My second game in Philly, I played very well. Third game in Detroit, I played well, but we lost 2-1. Fourth game, I was injured. Didn't play the fourth game. So I was nervous. And then I got it on the rails, and I had a really good season, I thought. And now I feel like I'm able to, where I'm at a point where I can really push this thing and see what I can do. Were you surprised Miller got re-signed? To be honest with you I was because I didn't hear

anything about it like I didn't talk to anyone and I don't bring it up to Millsy because you know it's his thing and I don't want to be you know he, he never asked me about my stuff, so I never asked him. So just all the things you were hearing with the media was that they were trying to trade him or he was, I don't know, whatever everyone was hearing. I mean, I was mainly hearing it from you, from your podcast. Yeah, I'm always wrong. Don't listen to me. So I was listening to you.

So then I was just on my phone one day, and I saw that he signed, and I was like, I didn't know it was coming. So to answer your question, I was surprised, but I was very happy. And Bo, do you say anything to him? No. And that's another thing like Bo could sign today. I'd have no idea, but I'm hoping they get that done. I think they will. And they really like him. So. That's great. Quinn, thanks so much for doing this. Best of luck this season. Appreciate it. Yeah. Thank you. Sorry I led you astray. No, you're good. No, you're good.

Jack Hughes, New Jersey Devils. Your brother sat right there about 45 minutes ago, and I asked him the same question I'm going to ask you. His answer was fun. Let's see what yours is. If you could describe your summer in one word, what would it be? Probably fun. Yeah.

It's a great summer. We both love Michigan, so it's great to be back there just doing our thing seeing our friends and uh seeing family so we had a blast all right the golf yeah we're diving into that early like quinn basically said he won the family golf championship but then you invented an extra day so you could take it from him and you dusted the field all right yeah so this is what happened my thing was we had last round right yes so we thought it was our last round me him my dad and i think it was a buddy so the four of us like i was smoking them all summer all summer i'm probably like if we played 30 times i probably 20 wins 10 losses right so my thing is how can you not be the club champ in the family if you're 20 and 10?

So we played. He was terrible. He shot like a 92, and I shot a 93. We were terrible, embarrassing. He beat me, and I was like, are you kidding me? So then we went out to meet him and another buddy two days later, and I was like, this is it. This is the legit club championship.

We played way better. I shot like an 81. He shot an 83. And that was like the legit club championship because it's like at our best i'm better than them you know what i mean like at our best i'm better and i was better throughout the summer so why did your brother describe that differently well actually you know what it was pretty close i have to say similar similar yes he just said that the tuesday that you guys went out that was pretty close, I have to say. Similar. Similar, yes. He just said that the Tuesday that you guys went out, that was supposed to be it.

It was over. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, he could say that, but I think if I'm 20 and 10 throughout the summer, which I'm probably more than, I should probably play more than 30 times, you'd think I'd get a better crack at it. I don't have a brother.

I have four sisters. This is what I missed. I have to say, is what i really insane competition into your 20s yes yes yeah man it was everything though like a few days like 95 in the middle of summer we're all at the country club they're all whites on playing tennis guys are leaking bullets like just go on ham it's hilarious but who's the better tennis player oh we, we had some dogfights, too. Z lived with us for like five weeks. He's legit. He's a legit tennis player?

Yeah, like, you know, nice country club kid from New York, bad 30s, taking tennis classes when he was a young kid. Me and Quinn were just out there whacking the ball around. So it's funny stuff. That's good stuff. I love it. All right, New Jersey Devils. Andre Palat comes in.

John Marino comes in. Vitek Vanacek comes in, and there's Brat re-signs. There's some really good momentum here with the New Jersey Devils. How are you feeling about your team right now? There's definitely some traction. Management had a really good summer. We all want to take the next step, and I think this summer we made some really good pieces some moves uh that'll help us become a

better team you know so i think we can't just look at like the whole season like oh we got to make playoffs we just got to take it a game at a time go take it a month at a time and see where we are cliches do not suit you jack i've got to tell you they do they do not suit you like to hear you say game at a time like because i'm used to your confidence even though it's probably true it's weird to hear you talk like that yeah i mean i've been so far away from the playoffs you know so i can't sit here and act like i know what it takes because i don't so we said it last year and we didn't do this but we just gotta stay stay in the race and play important hockey down the stretch. We can't be putting the cart before the horse.

We just got to go out there and try to improve every day. The thing that interested me most about you in the offseason was, I don't know what the Devils were thinking coaching-wise, but you came out and you backed Lindy Ruff, and he's back. And I thought that was really interesting that it's clear that the franchise listened to what you had to say. Our dad probably taught us to be like stand-up people,

you know, and Lindy Ruff's treated me with the utmost respect, you know, so I'm not going to just not tell my feelings. You know, I believe that Lindy Ruff's a great coach and I think we probably, we failed him last year for sure. So I think it's only fair he gets another crack at it. So I mean, those are my beliefs and I don't know anything about the team listening to me or what, but I'm sure it had a little bit of help to do with it. But I truly believe in Lindy and I think he's a really good coach still. How has he helped you? What has he done for you?

And he's the guy that gave me a chance i had a terrible rookie year and you know he gave me a call that summer and he watched my game and he believed in me and you know even my second year he gave me every chance and we have a really good relationship and you know last year i was able to have a really good year but that's the guy that's had my back since he walked into new jersey you You know, there's an old sports saying, speaking of cliches, you are what your record says you are. Bill Purcell. But I can't help looking at the New Jersey Devils,

like at the end of last season, you know, I look at the record and I say, New Jersey's better than that record. There's a better team than the record at the end of the season. Did you guys feel the same way? I would say yes and no, you know. You know, we beat some really good teams throughout the year, but consistency just killed us. You know, we went through like a 10-game losing streak in December. Like, you go on a losing streak like that, you're so far out of the mix, it's trouble. So that's why I'm saying we just got to take it a game at a time. And if we're on a two-game losing

streak, we can't make it three. We got to get a win, you know, stop it there. So it doesn't just snowball like that. But we had a lot of injuries last year. I think we were better than we were, but, you know, it's a fresh year and we got a new team. So it's exciting.

Between beating Quinn most of the time in golf and battling Trevor Zegers and Quinn on the tennis courts, what did you work on on the ice? What did you say this is? This is what you're going to see new for me this year? You know, I just continued to work on my game. Speed, probably the number one thing in my game. Worked on a lot of that. But for me, my shot mostly.

You see what guys are able to do. I think the guy everyone talks about is Matthews. You see his shot. So for me, working on my shot, my goal scoring, you know, I think I had a pretty good year in that aspect last year with the amount of games I played and the amount of goals I scored. So if I keep that touch going, that'll make me even better. I'm curious, when you see Matthews shot and you say, I'm going under the ice and I'm working on it, what do you do? Everyone sees how he pulls it into his feet, changes the angle, can pull it in and shoot it one way.

I'm not the only guy. I think everyone in the league's looking at it and being like, whoa, I'm sure I won't be the only guy in here saying that today. But that's interesting to me. It's clear there's a bunch of players who look at what he does and say, I'm going to work on that.

Yeah, obviously guys in the past have been one-timer specialists or whatever, but this guy can just pull one in his feet and snap one and beat the goalie one-on-one. That's a hard thing to do, especially when the goalies are so good. That's something I worked on a lot. A lot of it's just the mindset to shoot the puck too, I think. Sometimes it doesn't have to be a perfect shot.

Just get it on net. We talked to Nico Hischer in Europe. Hischer, to me me is right there in that conversation for the selkie trophy like his defensive numbers five on five are ridiculous like he's next level player what's it like playing with someone like nico he sure your captain like what i'm always curious like what players see and value as opposed to guys like me and Elliot? I mean, first of all, he's a world-class person. You know, he's just a great guy, a great friend, great person. And then his game, I mean, 200 foot, hard to play against.

I think people buy into the numbers too much, you know, but this guy's matching up for everyone's top lines. He's just a horse, plays through a lot of injuries. He's our captain, you know. When you go through a five-game losing streak, I don't have to go up after a shutout loss i don't have to go talk to the media like right nico's the captain you think he wants to go talk to the media after we get shut out no but that's his duty so i think uh he deals with a lot of things and he's done a great job so obviously like the heart and soul of our team and i think he's gonna get even better this year will you search for a new roommate this year or are you going by yourself

i'm gonna enjoy one year by myself and i got the kid from michigan coming to live with me the next year so how's that how's luke doing he's doing good man he's uh i know he's dinged up but yeah he got hurt at world juniors but um he'll be ready to go for the start of season so you will be living together a year from now you wouldn't make him go and find his own way or anything like that beauty at world juniors but um he'll be ready to go for the start of season so you will be living together a year from now you wouldn't make him go and find his own way or anything like that beauty i'm gonna jump right in let's go my brother you know that's gonna be a lot of fun i think we all look at that and say like that's a cool story right the brother's story is always a great one and in any sport but i mean again i asked you about you about Nico Heischer and that skill set.

As much as you can separate yourself from being his brother, for anyone that hasn't watched him play at Michigan, what do we expect here from Luke Hughes? Yeah, I mean, it'll be fun to play with him as brothers, but hopefully we can do something great together. I don't know. It's a weird thing where he was so good his freshman year, you just don't know where his potential is like could he be a guy like that's a top 5d in

the league one day who knows he had such a good year last year and i don't know he's different than he's different than quinn obviously just because you know how unique he is how big he is and how well he can skate so everyone in new jersey has a lot of big uh expectations for luke and you know we got him in Nemec now. So I think people are pretty certain on who our one-two are going to be for the next bunch of years. So I think we're in good hands with those two. Is Quinn going to unveil anything new this season that you saw?

I don't know. Did he tell you something? I didn't even ask, I don't think. I think Quinn's going to have a good year. I think he's really focused. And, you know, he had a really good year last year, and it's going to be even better this year. And that's the thing.

I was kind of surprised to hear it. I told him because Quinn is a serious guy, and I think he obviously takes it very seriously. But they talked to him more about just off the ice being even more of a guy that people follow. And I don't know what you can do to work on that in the offseason, but he said he took it very seriously yeah I mean it's like funny when you say he's so serious because like yeah you see a different side you know what I mean but yeah like he's really motivated that's

a really good word for him he's motivated you know he's now going into his fourth year there they want him to be a leader and you know you know, they got big goals for themselves too. So he's kind of the leader back there on the blue line. And I'd say his game's been there, and they probably want him to step it up away from the rink too. Last one for me. How do you guys compete during the season? Me and Quinn?

Yeah. Because points aren't really fair. Yeah, this guy's 3-0 versus me, bud. Look at the hockey DBs. He's beat me three years in a row christ guys kill no but but the day's gonna come where you're gonna pass him as good as quinn is you're gonna pass this year this year there you go no but um you know what though like we're really competitive in the summers but when it comes to the in season you just wish for the

best you know like if quinn is a three assist night I'm pumped for him like send him a text I got a boy but like I'm not like sitting here like god like Quinn got a point like no like that's my brother you know I hope he has a tremendous year and I know it's the same for me so um you know I love watching him play and think he's gonna have a great year but I'd say the only there's probably two games of the year where we're actually competitive was when we play each other. So that's about it. How much money is on the board on that one? Get him out.

That's definitely a big game. You almost said it. Last one for me, and sort of picking up on the last question as well. I'm not much of a goal setter myself, but then I'm not an elite level athlete playing in the NHL. I know that beating Quinn

at the end of the season on HockeyDB is an important one for you. I want to see more points there. Any other goals for yourself this season? Yeah, I do have goals. Keep them in my head, but I got some goals in my mind and some attainable,

some might not be, but at the end of the day, no matter how my year goes, you know, I want to just help the Devils win and, you know, hopefully push us to have a chance at working towards a playoff spot. So I just got to continue to do what I was doing last year. And, you know, it'll work out for me. You're a fun player to watch. Thanks so much for doing this.

Thanks. Have a great season. Yeah, we'll see you. doing this. Thanks. Have a great season. Thanks very much. Elliot, I think

we're at the point now with Jack Hughes where you just know it's always going to be a good interview. Great energy, great insight. He's fun, has a good

time. He can tell he really enjoys this. Quinn of the Vancouver Canucks is a little more reserved than Jack is, but I'll tell you, I love that interview with Quinn Hughes.

When you talk about a player sharing and maybe going farther than you would have expected him to go, certainly at this point in his career, I think we really got that with Quinn Hughes. He's a great talker. Quinn's always been a little bit quieter than Jack. What it says to me is he's finally getting a lot more comfortable, right? Yeah.

You talk about demanding. We talked about that's the theme of this podcast, demanding. He's really demanding of himself. And I think what it shows to me is last year, he's a lot more comfortable in his own skin after the season he had. Certainly true. All right, we hit a pause. We'll come back and celebrate the Battle of Alberta

with two key players in it. One, Connor McDavid of the Oilers. He's been in plenty. Do you think he's a key member of the Battle of Alberta, just out of curiosity? Yeah, I kind of think he's at the center of a lot of things. Maybe at the center of the entire NHL universe, for that matter, Elliot Freeman.

And Jonathan Huberto, who has yet to participate, but will get at it soon. Huberto and McDavid as 32 Thoughts continues. Join by Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers. So elite level players like yourself always have a thing or usually have a thing in the summer. Once upon a time, your thing was, I got to shoot more. Once upon a time, your thing was, I'm going to take a million face-offs with Will Acton and get better at that.

Did you have a thing this summer, Connor McDavid? There's always a focus on rounding out my game. I think that's always kind of been the knock on me is I don't like to play defense, but certainly not the case. I focus a lot on defensive play and watch video. So just being solid in my own zone, it's always a focus of mine and something that I work on every summer just through video and stuff like that. This summer I watched a lot of video just on scoring goals and how guys score different ways.

For me, it always feels like I've got to score a highlight real goal or do something crazy to score a goal. We watch a guy like Austin score 60. It's so impressive just the different ways he scores goals in and around the net. He's got such good hands. He's so smart. It was impressive to watch.

Who's on the videos? I'm curious. Who impresses you? There's Austin's one, Kucherov. We can go through the obvious ones. Who's on these videos? I think obviously the guys that are scoring lots of goals. Obviously Austin, and like watching

Leo, how Leo scores goals. He scores them so differently. Different ways to produce offense. Offense is such a hard thing to produce in this league, and you've got to keep mixing it up, otherwise people start to figure out. Okay, I'm ruining an interview here because we taped an interview

with, I'm not actually ruining this one, I'm ruining another one. because we taped an interview. I'm not actually ruining this one. I'm ruining another one. We taped something with Leon in Europe, and we're going to use it in TV, but I can't not talk about this. We were talking about your relationship, and he says the best thing about Connor and I is that we're really blunt with each other. And I said, well, okay, so what are you blunt about with McDavid? And he said that he thinks you should score 60 goals,

but you're too unselfish and you have to be more selfish. And he thinks you can score 60 goals in this league. He always tells me that. He always tells me I could score more goals. But I think Leo and I's relationship is something that is important to me. I think it's important for our team to be successful. And we're great friends. And like he said, he's blunt with me. And I tell's important for our team to be successful. And we're great friends. And like you said, he's blunt with me.

And I tell him how it is going the other way. So I guess I've got to start by scoring 50 before working my way to 60. But scoring goals is the hardest thing to do in this league. So it's a pretty good thing to focus on. It's an interesting thing. Are you too unselfish? We're all told when we're kids, that's a bad thing. Don't be selfish.

But do you reach a point in your career, Connor, where you say, you know what, I have to be more selfish? Yeah, I mean, I play the game like I see it. That's kind of how I've always been. I want to make the right play. I like setting my teammates up just as much as I like scoring goals. But there are for sure times where I can take the shot or attack the net or do something else instead of passing it off.

So definitely can be a little more selfish, I think. What's the most blunt thing you've ever told Dreisaitl about his game? Leo's favorite thing, I think, when he talks about his game is just to kind of defer. And I think everybody kind of sees that. He obviously comes from Germany, not necessarily a hockey powerhouse, although it's getting better. So he's always kind of just deferred to other people, and I just tell him kind of how good he is, honestly. He's so modest in that sense, where I don't think he understands

how good he is and how big of an impact he has on the game. I think the more he understands that, the better and better he's going to be. So I just try to remind him that he's definitely, in my mind, a top three player in the world and you know some nights uh he can you know i guess uh be more assertive you know in that interview with leon we talked um a lot with him about how in the playoffs um after the the entry against the kings he became the world's greatest stationary player it was remarkable i don't think we'd ever seen anything like that

were there ever any moments we said to leon or maybe even thought like hey it's okay if you can't go uh to be honest no you obviously worry about future damage and you know he wants to play for a long time and i think when you're in the playoffs you're just such an uh you know we got to win right now and you know it was always his choice to play and you know obviously he's a team first guy and didn't want to let us down although you know I don't think anyone would have uh would have been upset with him you know not playing with a high ankle sprain I mean that's the the hardest thing it was hard to watch some nights I gotta be honest like I told him that after the playoffs it was hard to watch it some nights where you know he could barely get himself back to the bench and you know He's in so much pain on the bench. He goes out two minutes later and goes for his next shift.

It was pretty remarkable to watch as his teammate. As his friend, I think it was hard to watch at some points for sure. I wanted to ask you about there's a change in your team this year. Two of your most driven off-ice guys, Mike Smith and Duncan Keith, won't be back. What one of your teammates told me was that you can't underestimate how much those guys pushed people. Regardless of how they played on the ice, off the ice, they were a big part of the emotional leadership of the team.

How does that change your group? Well, I think even though there's a lot of the same faces in a lot of the same rooms each and every year, there's always a different dynamic in every room from year to year just based on your pieces you add in or the pieces that kind of walk away. And obviously losing Smitty and Dunk is massive for our team in the room. It's not something that has gone unnoticed and something that a lot of guys are going to have to pick up where we left off in terms of leadership.

Guys are going to have to step up and maybe be a little more vocal than they're comfortable being, and that's just the way it goes in hockey. Could you ever come close to Keith in the VO test? In the VO test? We didn't do a VO test last year, but he's definitely a physical freak and takes absolutely perfect care of himself. Was there anything that he did that you looked at and said like what what is that like what are you doing oh i think uh i think there's lots when

you're just you're kind of like what what is that but you know you definitely don't question one of the greats of all time one of the greatest demon to ever play what they're doing off the ice i think the funniest part about dunk and this was kind of early in the season, he would come up to me and be, you know, before games and be like, you know, what do you want to see out of my game tonight? And I'm like, what do you mean, man? Like you're one of the greatest D-men to ever do it, you know, cups, gold medals, cons mice, Norrises, all this. And he still just wanted to learn and ask questions and get better. And I thought that was absolutely the coolest thing for someone like me to see,

someone who's accomplished it all, still working on his game and obviously taking great care of himself and wanting to be the best that he can be. I thought it was really cool to see. Did you say you better hit me on the tape, Dunk? Like that's what you have to do? Like put it on the tape?

He would always say like patty cane or something like that or just tell him to give him the puck or something like that. But, you know, I always just told him, I think you know what you're doing out there, so just keep doing what you're doing. I want to ask you about the Calgary series. That was an incredible performance by the Oilers, but it seemed like that was a really determined Oilers team.

Like that Oilers team grabbed Calgary in game one, dragged them into deep water and said, we're staying here for the whole series. Did you guys feel different in that series? That was a determined... That's what you saw in game one? Well, not in the game. I shouldn't say game one.

Game one was wild, by the way. That was crazy. That was good to say. There was an element of, we're making a statement. Yeah. I think it's been a long time coming for our group to make some noise in the playoffs. You know, and obviously it's not even easy to get in.

So every time you do get in, you've got to make the most of it. And I think, you know, we learned a lot from our Winnipeg series, you know, the COVID year. Obviously it was a sweep, but I think maybe we took a little bit for granted just even getting into the playoffs. And, you know, you think it's going to be easy or something like that, and it's so hard to win into the playoffs. And, you know, you think it's going to be easy or something like that. And it's so hard to win in the playoffs.

And obviously we're starting to learn that and understand that. And, you know, Calgary is their big physical team and they thought they were going to bully us around. And, you know, we just wanted to play our game and kind of hung in there with them. And obviously game one didn't go the way we wanted to. But we have a belief in our room

that we're as good a team as any around the league, and we can beat anyone, and we kind of just hung on to that. You really looking forward to seeing Kadri eight times a year for the next seven years? Well, we only played Calgary three times this year, actually. I know. I don't like that. That's terrible. I really don't like it. No, he's definitely a pain to play against, and I would have liked to see him go other places,

but we picked Calgary, and it's something that we'll deal with. Did you watch the Colorado series over again or anything like that? In all your tape watching this summer, is there anything you looked at to try to find something on them or anything like that? I watched a lot of my games over, just shifts and stuff like that, but definitely watched those over and tried to figure out where things went wrong

and where they had so much success. And you pick up on a few things, but it's so different from year to year. So, yeah, no, I thought that they were playing great hockey and it was just their time to win. And, you know, obviously they got it done. When you watch yourself, what are you looking for? I'm sure there's a lot of kids who want to know, like what does Conor McDavid look at when he watches himself? What are you looking for? I'm sure there's a lot of kids who want to know, what does Connor McDavid look at when he watches himself?

What are you looking for? Yeah, you're looking for things to improve on. It'd be easy just to kind of sit back and watch highlights and things that you do so well. But for me, I think you want to look at things you can get better at, things you may have missed, things where things are open time and time again that you seem to miss. And just trying to get better.

I think that's obviously the focus of every hockey player in the summer is just to get better and kind of bring some new stuff into the season the next year. Speaking of that Colorado series and that Colorado team, people have noted something along the lines of, if Connor McDavid were a defenseman, he'd be Kael McCarr. A, your thoughts on Kael McCarr. A, your thoughts on Kael McCarr and your thoughts against playing against Kael McCarr.

Yeah, I think McCarr is on another world in terms of being a defenseman. He plays a position so well. He does so much for that team. He's definitely a huge part of that team and just breaks pucks out so well, defends better than I think people give him credit for, although he won the Norris, so I think they give him lots of credit, but no, he defends well, you know, he skates so well, even if you beat him,

it's still a race to the net, you know, and he can catch you a lot of times, so a lot of respect for him and his game and, you know, he's great. You know, it's funny you mentioned about getting back into the playoffs because when we interviewed Dreis sidle in in europe he said the same thing he said look we went around in 2017 we took an arm to seven games we thought we were fine and then we didn't make the playoffs for years and i just wonder when you look at that time and now after the run you guys just had what do you think is different about yourself and as an organization that that won't happen again? Yeah, I actually just got this question a couple of days ago. I think it's just the culture in Edmonton now.

I think we were so young. It was kind of all of our first time going through it. And it just became like, well, we're supposed to be there, so we'll get there. And I think we certainly learned that that's not how it works in this league. And I think the culture in Edmonton is more of a winning culture now I'd like to think same core guys that are there year in year out and just getting hungrier and hungrier to win really no one's gonna give it to you it's not just gonna happen overnight and it takes a lot of work and it takes a lot of work right from day one and I think that's the the attitude that we we try to bring every year and we've had some success uh

here the last couple years and gotten in and gone on a little bit of a run but you know it kind of starts over here and in the next week you wear your emotions on your face like when i watch your games i can tell how you feel that's not a good thing actually actually as a broadcaster as a broadcaster i love it because i know like one of the kinds of things that like if i'm connor mcdDavid's teammate, which I'll never be, what would I do that would get me the McDavid glare? Like, what gets the McDavid glare? Ooh. Don't look me off on passes.

No, that's not, that's not. I mean, we're just, we're hungry to win in Edmonton. And, you know, when things aren't going well, obviously it can be frustrating. But, you know, I think just you want guys that hungry to win in Edmonton and you know when things aren't going well obviously it can be frustrating but um you know I think just you want guys that that want to win just as bad as you do that you know you can feel that you feel they're there alongside you and they're with you and if that's not the case then it can be frustrating how do you and this is a captain's question um how do you know when to pull back on teammates like we've seen we've seen some players like some captains run the room really hot and it can burn other players out it can burn teams out

how do you know like do you have like just a sense of like okay you know what i just need to back up here yeah that's that's a great question and something that i continued to learn um obviously being a captain young in the league it's a learning experience i think it's a it's a great question and something that I continue to learn. Obviously, being a captain young in the league, it's a learning experience. I think it's a job that I certainly didn't feel necessarily ready for. I don't know if anyone feels ready for that job, but definitely more comfortable being the captain now than ever before. And I think you know when to push. I think you know when to hold back.

And I think it's just a feeling that you get. There was a time in the season, one of our younger guys, and it was a big game for us, kind of in the middle of the year. Maybe it didn't feel like a big game, but it was a big game in our room. And I was pushing on him, and he pushed back a little bit. And that, for me, was a good tell that he probably needed to be given a break. And I think it's just little moments like that. As you go through your career, you're going to have those different times,

and you learn from all of them and try to make the best read as you go. Last one for me then. Did you watch the Jordan documentary? Yeah. Like, do you see any comparison between how he did it and how you do it? It's tough to compare yourself against one of the best athletes of all time.

I get it. I definitely see his passion and I definitely understand where he's coming from when he's trying to do all those things and you know some people maybe see it as him being mean or something like that but it's just passion and it's just him wanting to be the best and wanting to win and i can definitely relate to that okay i can't let you go before i ask one geek question and i'll make it quick sherwoodwood? Sherwood. Oh, geez. Again, trying to get better in any way possible.

And if I'm a little more comfortable in that stick, give it a chance. But I think we'll stick with CSAM. Perfect. Thanks, Conor. Thanks. Thanks, Conor. New team, new deal same elite hockey player jonathan huberto of the calgary flames with us on 32 thoughts the podcast how are you today you've had a crazy summer safe to say yeah it was i'm doing well i'm really excited for a new chapter. It's interesting because you plunk yourself now right in the middle of arguably the best rivalry in hockey.

I know other teams may dispute that, but the Battle of Alberta is special. I know that Florida and Tampa was really heating up as well. You're in one now that has history and not just history in the past, but like recent history as well. How much have you thought about what it's going to be like to play Edmondson? Yeah, it's going to be something. I mean, even just watching on TV, like playing for Florida, like it was just something you can feel like the intensity and there's always fights and everything.

So I'm excited for that. And the second game of the season we're playing them already so i'm excited to get into it and start to hate the the oilers who will you hate more the oilers or the lightning obviously you hate the lightning i mean they beat us a lot of times in florida but um it's in the past i try not to think about about that so i think now it's going to be the oilers and obviously when we play Tampa, probably have a little something, but it's probably the Oilers now. Now you were basically, for people who are not familiar, Jonathan is in his regular suit with us right now.

But earlier on, you were on the ice taping some openings for us, and you're wearing your Flames uniform. So what did that feel like putting that on i think it looks good i mean it's not weird i mean now i know i'm gonna play for them and it's i like the color actually red you know it's red but it's more like it's it's more red it's more more towards the orange and now i'm excited to wear It was kind of the first time I wore it with my equipment. So that was cool. And a new number, too.

So I'm excited to rock that in front of our fans. I saw you at the Country Music Awards. Let's go, Calgary. You guys fired up. That's what we like to see. Flames fans, y'all in good hand. Let me tell you something. This man single-handedly made me not lose in my hockey pool. No, I'm not kidding.

It's the real deal. We're here tonight to present the award for Grouper Duo, and it feels good to celebrate some good old-fashioned teamwork, doesn't it? Now, John, you love country music. Real quick, what do you think about the nominees? Oh, you know, they all have solid role game. They give their all on stage. Obviously, they have a lot of good heart, a lot of energy.

They stick to the game plan, and then they're able to take a big shot. They go for it. I'm excited to see how it all plays out. Thank you. Thank you. able to take a big shot they go for it i'm excited to see how it all plays out thank you thank you here are your nominees for group and duo of the year do you really like country music or are you just playing for the alberta fans no i like country but it's been like two three years actually i started to kind of listen more really Montreal it's not really big so yeah in Florida kind of liked it it was some country festival and I like

it and they just I guess they heard it and then they said you want to present an award and I was like sure I don't really like doing that but I was like oh why not I'll do that it's going to be good for us when I saw you doing I was like if he's just doing this to embrace calgary i give hubert no credit he is all in on how to embrace calgary very well done thank you you know when you uh when you leave a team it's always tough to leave teammates who are you going to miss the most in florida i know you're looking forward with calgary but as you look back at florida who do you miss the most i'm gonna miss uh i mean I mean, we were a close team last year, so I'm going to miss a lot of guys. But, I mean, Barkey, I was with him for a lot of years.

But most, I think, Ekblad. I mean, I was living close to him, and we're driving together to the ring for every games. And it was like me, Uyghur, and Ekblad, so he's kind of the one that loves both of us. He's pretty outspoken about it. He isn't shy about saying how much this affects him. Yeah, I think it's going to take time, but it's going to be fine.

And I think it's just – but, I mean, you know, you keep your friends for the rest of your life. And even though we're not teammates anymore, it doesn't matter. We're always going to be friends and looking forward to play against them now. Jonathan, when the Tampa series was over, did you guys look at each other and say, there's going to be changes because of this?

Did you guys have a feeling? A little bit of a feeling. But I thought we were still going to have, I think, another chance at it. We still had a good season. And, I mean, you saw Tampa. They lost in four against Columbus before they started winning I was like you know kind of seeing that and saying we didn't have a lot of experience

in playoffs or team and kind of learned from that but Bill Zito decided otherwise obviously but you know now thinking about it it's like you know I'm gonna bring my experience with Calgary and I think I learned a lot from last year you know seeing seeing Tampa,

how they were playing against us and seeing Stamkos blocking every shots, stuff like that. And I think I know what it takes now to be winning and I'm going to bring that with the Flames. You know, you're part of this era of hockey has sort of heralded in the playmaking winger. And we think of Patrick Kane

and we'll think of Mitch Marner and you're in that conversation too. Have you been told what your role will be or what's expected of you in Calgary yet or is it just we just want you to be Jonathan Huberto? Not really. I mean, I talked to Darrell a little bit, but I think when training camp comes, I'm probably going to have the, you know, I don't know. I started playing penalty killing last year,

so I'm not sure if I'm going to keep doing it with the Flans. But we'll see. I think there's a lot of guys that shoot the puck real well. Lynn Holm, Toffoli, they got great shots. I'm kind of, like you guys said, playmaker. So I think I'm going to be playing with Lynn Holm, but I'm not sure how it's going to go. What was your first conversation with Sutter like?

Yeah, it was good. He doesn't say a lot. No, he doesn't say a lot. Could you understand what he was saying to you? Not at first, but he was on his farm, so the signal was not too good. Obviously, he's different, but he demands you to work hard, and I think it's going to be good for my game.

I think Calgary is the type of team they play well defensively. Low-scoring game. I mean, not the first game against Edmonton. But usually, you know, they play. They have great goaltending. And defensemen, they're big. We're a big team. So I'm excited to see, like, you know, that style of coaching.

And I'm just looking forward to play for Darryl. You could have played this out, Jonathan. You could have just this out, Jonathan. You could have just said, you know what, I'll see how this goes. Was it a really good meal in Montreal? What was it? It would have been easy for you to wait. I just wanted to know where I was going.

Instead of just going there and be like, am I going to be playing for a lot of years or until trade deadline? What is going to happen? I don't know. I'm kind of gutted. I want to know where for a lot of years or until trade deadline? What is going to happen? So I don't know. I'm kind of gutted. I want to know where I'm going in life. Sometimes you don't know it's a business, obviously. But I think Brad came to Montreal, and we had a really good talk. We didn't talk contract.

It was more to get to know each other. And I like his philosophy about where the team was going. I'm coming in with a team that we can win right now, I think. So I like that, and that's why I wanted to commit to this team and know where I'm going. I'm going to be a Calgary Flames for the next nine years. Did you say, McKenzie, I signed, so you have to sign too? Yeah, I'm telling him, but, I mean, it's a business,

and they're going to do their part on their end. But, yeah, I would love for McKenzie to sign, you know, with Calgary. It would be nice, you know, to have my friend beside me for a lot of years. So hopefully they find an agreement. You've played your whole career in the East, now playing in the West with Calgary. You have played, obviously, teams in the West. Is there a difference at all in the two conferences? That's a good question.

I mean, I'll tell you more after some games this year, but I mean, you used to say the West, you know, was bigger. They hit more. Used to be. It used to be like that. I don't know if it's like this anymore. East is pretty tough now. I think that division with Florida and stuff,

that's a good division this year. Like Ottawa, Detroit got better. It's going to be a tough division, but I'm excited to go on the West Coast. It's going to be different. You play more games against these teams. It's going to be just a different environment this year, and I'm excited. Who are you most glad that you don't have to play against anymore? Probably Edmund.

As you were asking that, I said, I bet you he says Edmund. He's such a good defenseman. He's good offensively, but defensively he's as good. He's a big, big guy. He plays hard. So, yeah, probably him. I mean, Vasilevsky too. He's grown on me.

Is there anyone in Calgary in particular you're looking forward to playing with or getting to know a little bit? Yeah, I mean, Lindholm, I think I'm excited to play if I can play with him. He's a guy that when he shoots, I think he's going to score. So I just try to get him the puck, and I think we have a good – I think Mangiapane is a good player as well. Yeah, that would be probably the two guys I'd like to play. But every guy I feel like we have.

Kadri, good you know cadre good player really good player actually just won the cup so it's cool toffoli is a great shooter so a lot of guys i'm looking forward to play with i'm curious on that was any part of you thinking about going home to montreal was there any part of you that thought maybe you were going to be a canadian i know a lot of people were saying that they were like I play one year and play for Montreal but as much as I love Montreal it's I don't know I think it's a tough city to play for a French Canadian you know Calgary traded for me so Montreal wanted to trade for me they would have traded for me so I think that's how I see it and I want to play for a team that wants me and Calgary wanted me so that's why I wanted to sign a big extension there.

The extension then, obviously coming out of that conversation with Brad Dreliving, who sort of talks to you about what this team is right now, where they're going in the next few years. This is still a team that has its window open. Yeah, and I think Daryl wants to, to you know he doesn't want to rebuild and he wants to coach for a team that has a chance to win the stanley cup so i could see like his plan and i liked it and i think you were looking at the salary cap too they had some room and you know they could sign nas and they could sign wieger too as well so i think we have a great team and i like

your team i mean that's why I didn't mind signing an extension there and I believe in this team. Now, so next year, first time you play Florida, you've got the puck, you're coming down the wing, Ekblad closes in on you. What happens? I'll probably beat him. Not probably.

Not probably. And then I got Bob. No, no. I mean, it's going to be emotional emotional I'm excited for this game though but I hope I score I mean everybody wants to score against his old team but I mean I don't like them anymore so that's you know that was my team last year but now I'm gonna play against them so this is over there's one place where you can still play with Aaron Eckblad and that's Team Canada. How much do you think about international hockey? Yeah, that would have been fun. I mean, the Olympics, that was kind of, you know, my prime and hopefully I'm going to be, have the chance to play in the next one. But playing for Team Canada, it's something special, you know,

representing your country. That's what you want to do with all the best players. I think it's a great opportunity and hopefully yeah in three years i'll be able to play uniform look great on you thank you appreciate it thanks for doing this john no problem i want to thank all of our guests today who were our guests last week when we were in vegas jack and quinn, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Connor McDavid. Don't forget, 32 Thoughts, the podcast on tour.

That kicks off Thursday in London, 32tour.com for all information and how you can be part of it. Taking us out, a four-piece band from London, England, Wonder Horse, is fronted by Jacob Slater,

a man who has played his fair share of sticky, sweaty basements up and down the country. After dropping a few singles over the last year, the band just released their debut EP. From that record, here's Wonder Horse with Leader of the Pack on 32 Thoughts the Podcast. Some people have a special kind of knack Getting what they want is just to stab you in the back Nine times out of ten, it's the leader of the pack Leader of the pack

And I get no pleasure from the pain You say I didn't need it, but I feel it just the same And yeah, you're kind of pretty when you're crying in the rain But that don't change a thing In between are you and me The puppet and the master The moon, the tide, the tides The band, the shadow and the dancer

And you and I were intertwined Forever now and always Echoed out always Oh my